The total number of participants announced for the Martial Arts Tournament was approximately sixteen hundred.
Preliminaries would be held a total of thirty-two times, with fifty participants in each, and only one from each group could advance to the main tournament.
(That’s a lot of people, huh?)
(Well, the prize money is substantial. Though I bet some are just here to test their skills.)
The tournament rules were as follows:
First, if one lands a fatal blow, or forces the opponent into a position where such a blow is inevitable, the latter loses.
It’s similar to an “ippon” in kendo, but since real swords are used, stopping just short of contact (sun-dome) is frequently employed.
Translator’s note
“Ippon” (一本) is a point in Japanese martial arts like kendo or judo, signifying a clean, decisive technique. “Sun-dome” (寸止め) is the practice of halting an attack fractions of an inch before impact.
Killing an opponent results in disqualification, so extreme caution is necessary when delivering a blow.
Second, losing consciousness means defeat.
Running out of aura is treated similarly, and this is often how matches between evenly skilled opponents are decided.
Third, the opponent’s surrender.
This applies to close-combatants as well, but especially for mages, superiority is often clearly decided in the first few exchanges of spells. Furthermore, running out of mana is practically a loss, so surrender is permitted.
Finally, there’s judgment after the time limit expires, and interruption by the referees’ decision.
Matches last a maximum of twenty minutes; if no winner is decided by then, a panel of five referees will make a judgment.
Furthermore, if the referees deem a situation dangerous, they will intervene mid-match to determine the winner and loser. This includes cases like broken bones or excessive bleeding.
Additionally, a rule of disqualification by ring-out applies only to the preliminaries.
(So, those are the rules… Did you get all that, Akane?)
(Hmm… So it’s like, we should try to fight without injuring the opponent as much as possible?)
That’s right, though of course, it’s unlikely anyone will get through without any injuries at all.
This clearly reflects the underlying philosophy that “death should be reserved for wars and battles against monsters,” which I personally find very agreeable.
What’s frightening is the value of life becoming cheap, leading to a state where anything goes.
“The first group of preliminaries will now begin! Those with numbers one to fifty, please proceed to the ring! I repeat—”
An official called out the participants in a loud voice.
If it’s in numerical order, my turn will be in the fourteenth group… It seems it’ll be a while.
Since I had time, I idly watched the other participants.
The proportion of beastkin is high.
Dogs and cats are standard, but… reptilians, birdfolk… The beastkin race is truly diverse.
(Birdfolk can fly, right?)
(It depends on the individual. To begin with, there’s a lot of individual variation in the proportion of beastly features among beastkin. Some look completely like lizardmen, while others, like Lyall-san, are demi-humans. So, those whose arms are completely wings might be able to fly, depending on their weight.)
…Akane’s knowledge is incomplete in places, so she occasionally throws questions like this at me.
Well, considering how long we couldn’t exchange words, even these casual exchanges are incredibly enjoyable for me.
(Then, what about that person?)
(That one… is a crab, I think?)
Their arms were pincers, looking like they didn’t need any weapons.
Other than their arms, they looked like a normal human, giving them the air of a merman.
(There really are all sorts of people, huh? This country is amazing, isn’t it?)
(Totally.)
No, really.
Despite encompassing so many races, there’s hardly any discrimination.
Even with a common enemy like the Dao Empire, it can be said to be a rare country.
Some time after that, my turn was finally called.
“Next up is the fourteenth group of preliminaries! Those with numbers six hundred fifty to seven hundred, please head to the ring!”
The time was just before noon… about three hours since the preliminaries began.
After this group finished, there would probably be a lunch break.
I readjusted my hood, pulling it down deep so it wouldn’t fall off, and followed the stream of people heading to the ring.
“Please present the paper with your number… Yes, confirmed.”
I handed the paper to the staff member beside the exit of the waiting room and proceeded to the ring.
As I stepped out of the exit, my whole body was enveloped by the heat generated by the summer weather and the large crowd.
Perhaps because it was still the preliminaries, the crowd didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the ring.
People could be seen casually watching while eating and drinking.
…Oops, if I look up too much, my hood will…
I should be careful.
“We will be starting shortly! A bell will be rung as a signal, so please get on the ring and wait!”
I climbed onto the square ring, roughly made of stone.
It was probably repaired with earth magic after each match; there were still some faint cracks.
The ring was fifty meters square, which was rather small for the size of the arena.
The spectator stands were correspondingly larger.
The ratio of participants in this preliminary group was three beastkin to one elf and one dwarf.
There were hardly any humans.
–Clang! Clang!
As I was observing, the bell rang.
Everyone around me drew their weapons and started moving at once.
(Onii-chan!)
About three beastkin were heading towards me.
…Hmm, their footwork was clumsy, somewhat lumbering.
At this rate, I wouldn’t even need to draw my sword.
I took a light backstep and positioned myself at the edge of the ring.
Seeing it as an opportunity, perhaps, the three approached carelessly.
“Alright, knock ’em out, knock ’em out!”
“This is a good start!”
“Hyahaha, gotcha!”
These three were ganging up.
It wasn’t against the rules, but…
Dodging their slow attacks, I took a step forward.
I grabbed the first one’s arm and redirected him backward, tripped the second one, and the third one
practically self-destructed when I simply dodged.
They all tumbled out of the ring together.
“””Aaargh!”””
One of the several referees rushed over and announced their disqualification.
Pathetic…
Just then, wind swirled up behind me.
I increased my aura to avoid being blown away, but it was quite a large-scale wind magic.
Probably advanced level, powerful enough to be called a tornado.
“Hahahaha! Did you witness the wind magic of Muza, the great mage of the future? …Huh, there’s still one left.”
The young elf, speaking in a self-absorbed tone, noticed me.
Just as he said, I was the only one left on the ring.
It seemed everyone else had been knocked out by that magic.
“Oh my, were you a bit too far from the magic’s range? …In that case, one more shot.”
The young man gathered his mana.
And his casting speed was fast.
The distance was too great; it seemed there was no time to close in.
(Onii-chan, are you gonna do it?)
I shook my head at Akane’s words.
Akane’s magic is unstable, and I’m worried about using it in this situation.
I couldn’t risk something happening to the opponent.
(Aww…)
If I were to follow the Intelligence Department’s intentions, the right move here was probably to build up the audience’s expectations.
For that, it would be better to show them my magic sword at least once.
I think it would be a success if they started speculating about my true identity because of it.
(It’s coming~)
Akane, who had clearly lost her motivation, gave a lax warning.
You’ll definitely get your turn in the main tournament, yeah.
I drew Landini and slightly lowered my stance.
The opponent’s magic completed, and a mass of wind surged forward.
Magic can only be unleashed at the position targeted by one’s gaze.
Invisible wind magic is a threat, but if I read the opponent’s line of sight… there!
While being careful not to let my hood fall off, I swung my fire magic sword down at an empty space.
“This time, you’ll be blown away cleanly… huh?”
The audience gasped.
And the young elf was bewildered by his vanished magic.
It was nothing special; I just countered the wind magic by striking it with the magic resistance of my aura imbued in a slash.
Turning it into a magic sword was just an extra touch to show the audience.
I slowly approached the stunned opponent and pointed the tip of Landini, its fire now extinguished, at his throat.
A referee rushed over and declared that I had passed the preliminaries.
…After the match, what lingered in the venue wasn’t cheers, but a lasting murmur of astonishment.