「Silence-!」

A voice echoed through the stadium.

The voice carried and overwhelming level of force that echoed through the stadium despite no magic items being used.

After hearing the voice, the general audience and invited guests in the VIP seating gradually calmed down.

Daska, who was watching from the VIP seating, let out a sigh of admiration.

「As expected of the Emperor of the Bestir Empire, his presence is on a different order of magnitude.」

True to his words, the person who had spoken out was the Tragist Gnos Bestir, Emperor of the Bestir Empire, who had watched the final match from a royal guest room.

The voice he spoke with, while his hair waved like a lion’s mane, carried an overwhelming force that calmed the confusion in the stadium, even if only temporarily.

「The people of the Bestir Empire should not be embarrassed by this level of commotion! The sound of the explosion came from afar. There is no danger to anyone here! The S rank adventurer who wont the tournament, the Immovable Noiz, is also here.」

Hearing those words, those who had only calmed down momentarily fully calmed down.

An S rank adventurer carried a strong presence and, what’s more, they had seen his level of strength with their own eyes just before.

……Well, to be precise, few people had been able to see it with their own eyes given Noiz’s speed with Overlord’s Armour active.

Even so, the battle that had take place before their eyes was enough to convince the audience who were watching it.

Furthermore……

「There is also Crimson, Rei, who was defeated by the Immovable, but was evenly matched nonetheless! Many people from the Bestir Empire know about him. Therefore, there is no need to worry!」

When Daska heard those words echoing through the stadium, he couldn’t help but feel defeated.

The words the Emperor spoke were mixed with truth and lies. It was true that Rei was present, but saying he would cooperate with them was an entirely different matter.

But, since it was said by the Emperor in front of so many people, it couldn’t be refuted.

If Daska were to refuse later on, it would cause them a lot of trouble in various ways.

「Evenly matched, huh? Either he knows or he doesn’t……no, I’m sure he’s saying that after knowing it.」

It was Elk who muttered those words.

It was his response to the comment that Rei had been on par with Noiz.

Certainly, compared to the matches leading up to this one, Noiz had barely used any strength. However, he still hadn’t been fully serious in this match, so it was impossible to say Rei was at the same level.

(As expected of the Emperor, he’s good. Using all available combat power without hesitation.)

Irrespective of Daska’s internal thoughts, Tragist continued to speak.

「It is dangerous to go out carelessly right now! I ask everyone to stay here until the commotion subsides. Of course, I will stay here as well, so you don’t have to worry. Fortunately, the award ceremony has yet to start. And, since it has yet to start, we can’t stop here now, can we?」

The audience started buzzing again at the words proclaimed so loudly.

No, it wasn’t just the audience. It was the same for those in the VIP seating.

The only people who weren’t surprised were those who knew the Emperor’s personality. The guests invited from the surrounding countries were just dumbfounded as they turned to look towards Tragist, who was showing off a dignified appearance.

「Is this the emperor of of the Bestir Empire? I never thought he would take the initiative to stay here.」

At Elk’s murmurs, Daska shrugged his shoulder slightly as he spoke.

「Actually, it would definitely be safer to stay here than to go back through the city to the castle, which would also cause chaos in this situation. Considering that, it’s a rather natural response.」

「However, unlike castles, that are well defended, this is just a stadium. I can’t really call it safe, right?」

「I can understand what you’re trying to say, Min. However, while there is no defensive wall here, there is Noiz. Furthermore, there is also Rei, who can no longer do whatever he wants due to the the Emperor’s earlier words. If you think about it, it’s probably safer here than in the castle.」

After saying that much, Daska paused. After confirming that the guest area was noisy enough and that no one was paying attention to them, he spoke again.

「So, what do you think? After all, this……」

「Yes. Probably……no, this is definitely the action of the Third Prince’s faction. However, I thought they wanted to rescue the Third Prince from house arrest as discretely as possible. In that case, it’s highly likely.」

They had been discovered and a battle had ensued. Daska nodded at Min, who paused her words halfway through speaking.

「In that case, I’m going to be busy from here on. I’d better get ready to leave the Eternal Sky Pavilion as soon as possible. ……Rei will probably be working with Theorem’s group after this, regardless of the turmoil.」

「Fufu~, was that also expected by Daska-sama?」

Daska gave a bitter smile at Min’s somewhat teasing question.

「Of course not. If I could see that far, it would be a lot more convenient in many ways. As far as things are concerned this time, it has nothing to do with me. More than that, the real question is how long we’ll have to stay in the stadium.」

「We’ll probably need to stay for a while longer. Also, since Rei participated in the tournament and awards ceremony, it won’t be possible for Daska-sama or us, who are closely tied to Rei, to leave so quickly.」

Above all, Tragist, the Emperor of the Bestir Empire, was still here. Under such circumstances, there was no way that they, as invited guests, could leave whenever they wanted.

「It can’t be helped, huh. For now, let’s just wait and see what happens.」

Then, as if waiting for those words to come out of Daska’s mouth, a large number of balls of light appeared from the participant entrances.

It was a sight they had seen several times in this tournament, and yet, no matter how many times they saw it, it was still a fantastical sight that captured their gazes.

The countless balls of light sparkled under the mid day sun, creating an even more magical atmosphere.

Two people advanced through the balls of light.

One of them was the winner of the tournament, the S rank adventurer and hero of the Bestir Empire, the Immovable Noiz.

The equipment he was wearing was the same as when he had fought in the finals with barely any scratches at all, as if to show that he had defeated Rei almost unscathed.

『UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-!』

The moment Noiz appeared, a loud chear echoed throughout the stadium.

There was admiration for his very existance, but other than that, it was certain that the explosion from earlier and the Emperor’s words that accompanied it also had an effect.

Then, following that noise, Rei appeared……

『UAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-!』

Although it was quieter than when Noiz entered, the cheers were still loud enough to echo through the arena.

(That……was surprising.)

Daska muttered to himself as he looked at the audience.

It was true that by winning up to this point, Rei had recieved a fair amount of support from the audience. But even so, it shouldn’t have gone this far.

However, the current cheers were definitely aimed towards Rei.

Both Noiz and Rei walked onto the arena with weapons still in hand.

Normally, it woudl be unthinkable to participate in an award ceremony with weapons out, but this was a fighting tournament.

Furthermore, since hte Emperor wasn’t directly participating on the arena but from the seat of honour instead, they were allowed to keep their weapons out.

That said, the Emperor didn’t think that Noiz, who was also his friend, held any malicious intent towards him. Even if Rei were to attack him, Noiz could still easily stop Rei.

Furthermore, even if Noiz were unable to stop Rei’s attack due to some mistake, the guards around the Emperor would block the attack, even at the cost of their lives.

Therefore, as the Emperor, it was a perfect act to show that he trusted the champion and runner-up of the tournament.

『The champion of the fighting tournament, the S rank adventurer, the Immovable Noiz, step forward.』

It was a different voice to the commentator from before. Noiz, who as standing beside Rei at the side of the arena, stepped forward, following the instructions to continue the ceremony from what was likely a noble.

He headed straight for the center of the arena. This was where those who could be called executives of the management committee had gathered.

Moving in front of them, Noiz stood their silently.

The audience buzzed at the sight.

Normally, the flow of the ceremony would be to bow and kneel before the Emperor, but NOiz just stood there, staring at the Empeoror……and at his friend, Tragist.

「Noiz, kneel before the Emperor.」

A member of the management committee, standing at the center of the stage, said that to Noiz, but NOiz simply turned to look at Tragist.

『……』

The audience, who were initially agitated by Noiz’s attitude, gradually quieted down as they watched to see what would happen.

「Fuahahahahaha-!」

The silence continued for about a minute. What eventually broke the silence was the amused laughter of Tragist himself.

『Your Majesty!?』

The voice of the noble in charge of the award ceremony proceedings spoke up, but Tragist didn’t seem to care as he continued laughing.

Then, as if laughing enough to satisfy him, he turned to look at Noiz as he spoke.

「Alright. This person is one of only three S rank adventurers in the world. He is inhuman, so to speak. Since that is the case, there is no need to bow down to me, the emperor.」

Those words were both true and false.

It was true that Noiz was at a inhuman level, but it probably wasn’t that interesting for Tragist to make his friend bow towards him.

In any case, after speaking those words, the nobles couldn’t blame Noiz for his attitude.

Deciding that saying any more would only anger his lord, the noble turned to Noiz before speaking.

『Champion of the fighting tournament, Noiz. What do you want as your prize for winning?』

Silence.

Even those inside the stadium couldn’t imagine what Noiz would want as a prize for the tournament.

Honour? By the time he had reached S rank, he had already achieved the highest honour.

Money? He had earned a lot of money in the process of getting to S rank in the first place and could now earn as much money as he could ever want.

Nobility? No one would believe that someone who had achieved the level of S rank would want to go through the trouble of serving as a government official.

Women? It was certainsly something that could have been desired under normal circumstances, but it was obvious to everyone that with Noiz’s personality, that wouldn’t be what he would ask for.

A magic item? Those watching on predicted that it would be the most likely request.

It was true that Noiz had a magic sword that could be imbued with different attributes using magic power and he was also wearing a set a magic armour. However, wouldn’t he look for an even more powerful magic item?

……If it had been Rei, who liked to collect such magic items that could be used in battle, their thought process might have been correct.

However, Noiz didn’t say anything as he looked towards Emperor Tragist, sitting in the seat of honour.

His gaze was imbued with the intention that he knew what he wanted.

And, in fact, Tragist knew what his friend wanted. Stimulation. A stimulus that was worth risking his life for.

It was precisely because he had reached the heights of S rank that Noiz was now hungry for stimulation.

In that sense, it could be said that his match against Rei in the finals was a rewards of sorts for him.

Eventually, the nobles and audience started to grow noizy as the realised Noiz and Tragist were exchangings words with their eyes and……perhaps fnishing their silent exchange, Noiz spoke up.

「I would like to request permission to explore the Demon Mountain.」

Noiz’s request caused a huge commotion.

The Demon Mountain. It was a mountain on the outskirts of the Bestir Empire where B rank, A rank, and even S rank dragons were said to exist.

It was a place similar to the Demon Forest where Rei had awakened in this world.

In fact, Rei had already guessed this when he heard what Noiz had to say offstage.

It was meaningless to seek out a half-hearted oppeonent for stimulation. It had to be someone at least at the same level as Rei.

There was no way that such people could be found that easily, and there was no way he could challenge another S rank adventurer to a fight either.

But……in the Demon Mountain, there were monsters powerful enough to take his life.

After hearing Noiz’s request, Tragist slowly nodded.

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