「It was a fight worth watching……if it wasn’t for that friend of Crimson, even though he is an adventurer of the Bestir Empire, deplorable.」

After the battle between Luzi and Rejuruta ended, such a voice echoed out within a guest room.

At the same time, the other nobles present also raised their voices in agreement.

「Seriously. As Count Schwindel said, he will cause great harm to the Bestir Empire in the future……」

「Indeed. In fact, he has already caused so much damage to our army on the Selemus Plains. It’s disgusting.」

「What are those people from Requiem’s Toll doing? Now that Crimson’s greatest strength, the Griffon, is stuck in the stables, his individual strength has to have dropped enough.」

While listening to the discussion of his comrades, Count Schwindel watched on as several members of the management committee carried the unconscious Rejuruta away from the arena.

There were five of them, all as well built as Luzi, as they carried everything, including the heavy weapons and armour off the arena.

(Wind Dragon’s Fang……huh. According to the investigation report, they weren’t that famous in the Imperial Capital, but that was because their main base of activity wasn’t in the capital. They are quite well known in some other cities. That said, it’s probably because they have a good balance of a warrior, thief, and mage.)

Since the number of mages was small, most adventurer parties were unlikely to have one.

Thieves were not as rare as mages, but they weren’t that common either. It wasn’t uncommon for an adventurer party to consist of just four warriors.

However, in many parties, it was normal to have an archer for long range attacks.

「Anyway, the only people who haven’t lost yet from Crimson’s group are the son of the Axe of the Thunder God, Luzi, who just won his battle, and Crimson himself……well, Luzi will probably lose his next match.」

The other nobles present nodded at Count Schwindel’s words.

Luzi’s next opponent would be Noiz, the Bestir Empire’s S rank adventurer. Luzi might not be weak, but he definitely wasn’t a match for Noiz.

「There has also been talk that Requiem’s Toll will start moving soon.」

「Eh? Is that so?」

The noble who had just been complaining about the uselessness of Requiem’s Toll couldn’t help but question Count Schwindel’s words.

He had felt both angry that they hadn’t done anything so far, and also relieved that they might actually start to do something. Count Schwindel nodded back at those mixed feelings.

Part of the reason was that Moonlight Bow had started to become active, but more than anything else, it was because they had started to collect enough information.

In that sense, the fighting tournament was a great place to gather information.

「In any case, there seem to be others working on various things besides us, but we will definitely take Crimson’s head. Everyone, please keep that in mind.」

Everyone nodded at Count Schwindel’s words.

Within them was held light excitement and great awe.

If they were able to take Crimson’s head through their actions, the Emperor would also accept it. After all, they would have eliminated an enemy and obstacle to the Bestir Empire. In fact, they might even receive rewards.

However, if they failed……

(There’s no doubt we would be cut off. In the literal sense. We might even be beheaded and our heads given to the Mireana Kingdom as proof of the Bestir Empire’s apology.)

There were many nobles in the Bestir Empire. In a situation like this, where the nobles here were not high ranking ones, they could be replaced in many different ways.

Knowing this, the nobles present renewed their resolve and strengthened their unity.

Now, the only way for them to survive was to take Crimson’s head.

(It hurts that His Highness Kabajid knew about our movements. It’s both painful and annoying. But, it’s also because His Highness now knows that we can receive help from behind the scenes.)

On the arena, another match was starting.

While glancing over, the nobles present, including Count Schwindel, continued to discuss how they should act against Crimson.

That said, the basic premise of leaving the work to Requiem’s Toll hadn’t changed.

But, with Requiem’s Toll having slowed down their work for a time, some nobles had started to wonder how much they could trust them.

Since they were an underground organisation after all, it was impossible to fully trust them to begin with, however, that sentiment had started to grow stronger since.

As he watched his friends discuss, Count Schwindel hid his hatred of Crimson in his heart as he reached for a glass of wine.

 

 

「……Here I come!」

With such a shout, a woman in her 20’s closed the distance to her opponent with long sword in hand.

Waiting for her was Noiz, who was in a stance so relaxed it could only be described as natural.

His gaze flashed sharply for just a moment……and the next moment, the woman felt that something was wrong. The blade of her sword had been severed at the base and a blade was pointed at her neck.

「Eh?」

That was the only sound she could make.

She really had no idea what had happened.

Seeing how the blade of her sword had been sliced away without her even sensing it, she could tell how advanced of a technique it had been.

「What do you want to do? Are you still going to keep trying?」

Normally, with the tip of a sword pointed at her neck, the woman should have already lost.

However, Noiz moved his sword away as he asked her a question.

「……I’ll keep trying!」

The woman shouted as she pulled a dagger out and readied it.

Seeing that, Noiz’s mouth formed a smile.

Despite being shown such overwhelming power, she still didn’t give up.

It was true that the difference in skill was overwhelming, but even so, her strength of will made Noiz feel good.

Especially since his opponent in the first round had basically surrendered while barely doing anything. As a result, it was only natural for him to have some fondness for the woman’s response.

「I see then, come.」

「HAAAAH-!」

With a sharp shout, the woman repeatedly attacked with her dagger.

Unlike her long sword, the blade was much shorter, so her attack speed was also faster.

Having made it to the second round of the main tournament, her skill was solid.

She used thrusts, slashes, and even mixed in martial arts with kicks and elbows.

Noiz repelled all those attacks with minimal movement.

(She’s a woman with a bright future to look forward to.)

Contrary to Noi’s internal thoughts, the woman’s face began to show signs of impatience as time passed.

No matter how many attacks she made, all of them were blocked or evaded. What’s more, Noiz hadn’t moved an inch since she started attacking.

(Immovable. I never expected the gap to be so big……no, as an S rank, it’s only natural. But!)

She already knew she had no chance of winning. Still……she wanted to at least give it her best shot and go out with a bang. With those thoughts in her mind, the moment her next dagger attack was dodged, she poured magic power into her weapon.

In an instant, the blade of her dagger flew out, as propelled by some force.

If Rei had seen it, he would have been reminded of a weapon known as spetsnaz knives, which he seen in some manga back in Japan.

Spetsnaz knives used a powerful spring to shoot out its blade, but the woman’s weapon was a magic item. The blade was instead shot use using magic power.

Since it meant losing the blade, the disadvantage was that once fired, it could no longer be used as a weapon until the blade was recovered, but it was a very effective weapon in terms of catching an opponent off guard.

Furthermore, as a magic weapon controlled with magic power rather than a spring, the speed of the blade could be adjusted to some extent.

Naturally, since she was dealing with an S rank adventurer, there was no way she would go easy. Using the maximum level of magic power, the blade flew out as fast as it could.

(How’s that!?)

Even if she couldn’t defeat Noiz, she should still be at least able to inflict some damage. In other words, her attack should connect.

That was what she thought.

「That attack was pretty good.」

However, in front of her, Noiz was completely unharmed.

His right had was still holding onto his long sword, while his left hand was in front of his face……and between the index finger and thumb of his left hand was the blade of her dagger.

「Im……possible……」

Seeing that, the woman couldn’t help but whisper out.

Using her magic power, she had fire the blade at its maximum speed.

Despite that, Noiz had stopped it with just two fingers.

It was impossible. ……Or rather, in this case, she wanted to believe it was impossible.

Seeing her trump card stopped so easily, the woman’s expression turned downcast……

「Don’t give up-!」

A voice came from the audience, bringing her back to her senses as she looked up.

That was because it was a familiar voice. It belonged to a man in the same party as her, who was also her lover, which she planned to visit his parents after the tournament to tell them they were getting married.

(Yes, it can’t be helped that I will lose here. But……but!

Just by hearing her lover’s voice, the woman could feel her fighting spirit welling from within.

「I can’t give up so easily……I can’t do it! I have to do it to greet my father-in-law and mother-in-law with pride!」

Shouting out loud, the woman dashed forward towards Noiz as she threw her fist out.

Noiz gave a wry smile at the woman’s actions as he put away his long sword back into the sheath at his waist and blocked, parried, and evaded the woman’s attacks.

The man from the audience cheered loudly for the woman, inevitably drawing looks with hints of jealousy from the neighbouring audience.

「HAAAAAH-!」

She swung her fist, kicked, kneed, and elbowed again and again.

Noiz responded to such attacks by focusing on defense, but……

「It’s about time, good night.」

With those words, the woman lost consciousness as she collapsed to the ground.

『……』

Not knowing what had happened, there was silence all around.

It was only natural. The woman had been pressing the attack furiously, but the next moment, she was lying on the ground.

A similar scene had happened before during Rei’s match. However, the difference was that even those with a certain level of skill had no idea what Noiz had done.

How strong was the man on the arena right now? Even in this vast stadium, there was barely anyone who knew his exact power.

(One hit to the nape on her neck, huh? And it was a very slow attack. If he hadn’t slowed his attack down before hitting her, the woman’s neck would have been sliced clean off her body.)

One of the people who could see was Rei, who had watched Noiz’s actions from the audience seating as he muttered to himself.

It was a movement he could only see due to his enhanced senses.

However, even he could only understand what had happened because he was watching from a distance.

If asked whether he could have handled that attack from Noiz in the arena, Rei could only wonder.

It wasn’t like he couldn’t react in time. However, it was also questionable if he could fully react in time.

Honestly, it would have been a 50/50.

(However, that’s only if I hadn’t seen his speed before. ……I’ve already seen it, so I know how to deal with it.)

Now that he had seen it once, he could deal with it on his own. Judging that, Rei clenched his fist under the Dragon Robe.

From what he had seen so far, in terms of pure physical ability, there were on par……Rei might even be better. However, there was no doubt that Noiz won out in terms of pure skill.

There were only four battles left before he would face Noiz. The difference between victory and defeat lay in how far he could improve his skill in those four matches.

The more combat experience the better……and if possible, real combat experience.

(Did they call themselves Moonlight Archers? Wouldn’t it better if I focused on attracting those guys as well as members of other organisations that are targeting me, including Requiem’s Toll, to gain combat experience?)

Thinking to himself, Rei immediately shook his head.

Although he wanted real combat experience, it was also true that he needed his opponents to be of at least a certain level of skill.

In fact, if he engaged in many battles with opponents of weaker strength, there was a high possibility it would have a negative impact on him instead.

(I’m not saying A rank is required, but if an opponent with strength around B or C attacked me, I’d welcome it.)

As the audience cheered on Noiz, one of the heroes of their country, Rei got up from his seat. Members of those underground organisations, including Requiem’s Toll and Moonlight Archers, would have been furious if they had known his thoughts as he left the stadium.

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