Chapter 233

We walked Lemon back to her inn before continuing on to our own. The cool wind felt especially nice on our hot bodies after so much drinking. Lemon’s inn was quite fancy. Daniela had already been jealous, but her face was full of despair once she saw the building for herself. I asked her about it later, and it turned out that it was one of the places that had turned her down. Right…I would have felt the same in her shoes.

“The nights are getting colder.”

“It will really start to freeze once the Imperial Sword Tournament is over.”

“I see…winter, huh.”

A lot of time had passed since I came here. As there hadn’t been anything as hot as summer, I had assumed that there was just one season all year round. But apparently, they had winters. This was good because I hated the summer. And I had the ice attribute as well.

“Winter… Is that what they call it where you are from?”

“Yeah. A season where the temperature drops, plants die and the snow falls.”

“Hmm…”

So they didn’t call it that here then. It seemed like the kind of thing that Heroes of the past might have spread… But maybe not, since they didn’t have summers.

“We call it the Icesnow Phase. A harsh time when water freezes over and all is covered in snow.”

“Then I’ll call it that too. People will understand me.”

When in Rome, as they say. There are many times when it is best to follow the customs of the land.

We talked about such things on our way back. The clear sky above was filled with beautiful stars.

□ □ □ □

The next morning, I forced Daniela to get up with me and head for the arena. The food stalls were early this time, as it was the second day of the preliminaries. We had been eating a lot of street food recently, and so I restocked our supplies before going in through the same entrance as before. The same guy greeted us.

“Good morning, Mister Asagi.”

“Ah, good morning. I’m back again.”

“Yes, thank you.”

We submitted our status cards and were granted permission to enter.

“Miss Daniela, yes. Good luck in the main event.”

“Thank you.”

We took our cards back, bowed and moved along. There was just one door and then we were inside with the other spectators. Yesterday, it had been hard to find a seat. But today…

“Hey! Over here!”

The trusty junior Adventurer had secured seats for us. We sat down with Lemon between us. Yes, they were good seats.

“Thank you, Lemon.”

“Oh, I am just so happy to be of use to you, Miss Daniela!”

Last night, Lemon had offered to save seats for us and so she had. And this was in spite of the fact that her room was much further… But Daniela’s refusal to wake up on time gave Lemon a distinct advantage. I could have abandoned Daniela and reached here first, but the consequences for that were too scary to imagine.

“It’s about to start. The C and D-Rankers will be fighting today!”

“I see. There are only four days, so they have to do some of them together.”

“Um, but it was in the instructions…?”

I put on an expression of pure ignorance and she looked at me with exasperation.

“E and G are on the first day. C and D on the second. The third day is B-Rank. The fourth and final day is for A-Rank.”

“So it’s balanced out then.”

“Yes. The differences really show themselves at B-Rank.”

They really put a lot of thought into this. I mused. Just then, the audience erupted into cheers. The fighters were now entering the arena. Like yesterday, there were about fifty of them. I would have been among them had I not ranked up. But then again, maybe not, since I had the recommendation.

“At this point, skills and magic have really started to develop, so you can expect them to be faster. I would pay close attention!”

“If you say so…”

I closed my eyes and concentrated. Then I slowly opened them. They were now a different color. It was Eyes of the God Wolf. A skill I had received from Rachel. All-seeing eyes.

“Huh. Was your eye color always like that?”

“It’s a unique skill. It allows me to see far away.”

“Amazing…!”

Her excitement was rather adorable. If I adjusted it correctly in conjunction with Jack of all Trades, Master of None, I was able to see the fight as if I was just outside of the boundary.

But Rachel hadn’t taught me to use this skill, so it was still difficult…

I wasn’t able to focus properly without using Jack of all Trades… I would need practice. Maybe I could do it while looking out of the window in my room.

“And it feels odd not being able to hear things that appear to be close to you.”

“Stop whining. We have to strain our eyes to see.”

“Oh…I’m so sorry. I will get you better seats tomorrow…”

“Ah, it is not your fault, Lemon. I did not mean to hurt you.”

“Miss Daniela…”

“Hey, it’s starting.”

I ignored the odd atmosphere to my left, and looked towards the center of the area, where the fight had begun. The crowds cheered once again as I stared hard at the scene.

It had only just started…but a lot seemed to have happened at once. Fireballs, ice attacks, and thunder flashed. The attacks were unleashed on a small scale, but magic was magic. I wasn’t an expert on much of it, but I could see that the ice magic being used was very basic. It was more like tossing ice blocks than a magic attack. Well, they were the size of basketballs, so it would still hurt if you got hit.

“There is something very exciting about seeing magic.”

“Yes. But the last day will put this to shame.”

As Daniela and Lemon said, it did seem like the audience were more thrilled than they had been the previous day.

“Who is that…”

“Hmm? Which one, Asagi?”

“The woman in the corner to the right.”

She had a great staff that left no question about her being Sorceress. She was surrounded by four other fighters. But for some reason, they had their backs to her. What did this mean?

“Are they…protecting her?”

“It sure looks like it.”

Daniela and I looked on with puzzled expressions. Lemon explained.

“Oh, she is a noblewoman.”

“A noble?”

“Yes. They become Adventurers for the experience… Often younger brothers and sisters without inheritance do it to find their own path… As nobles, they are highly educated. Swordsmanship, magic and the rest. They can hire instructors to teach them what they need.”

“I see…”

I hoped none of the Adventurers I had beaten were nobles. I somehow doubted you could keep your good manners for long once you become an Adventurer. It changed you.

I thought back on my early days with a sigh. Just then, the noblewoman raised her staff and began to use magic. The color of the magic energy was a deep blue. So it was ice, just like me.

“Huh…”

I couldn’t help but stare. The magic she had used was Frostheim. This magic involved sending energy into the ground in order to freeze the enemy’s feet. She just tapped her staff on the ground and it activated, though, not over a wide area. Those who were suddenly caught by it either tripped or bumped into one another. Some of them lost control of the magic they were in the middle of activating. People were being hit by stray bullets and explosions. It was a great way of creating chaos in a battle royale. Hell, I was thinking about using it myself. I don’t mean to boast, but I was sure that I could freeze the entire arena floor.

And with that, her shield-bearing guards attacked the trapped enemies. They bashed their shields and swords against them until they either lost consciousness or surrendered.

“Woah…”

“It’s a dirty way to play, but I guess it isn’t against the rules.”

“There’s always someone like that each year. Of course, I was in Arkaroid, so I’ve never witnessed it.”

Lemon said that she had heard the stories from merchants and Adventurers. You learned a lot when you were a town guard.

Ultimately, the noblewoman won the day with her strategy. Magic attacks came her way ever so often, but the shield-bearers protected her as she launched her counterattacks. It was usually blocks of ice, but she shot out an ice arrow once.

There was one time that she was in danger. A man who used fire magic had unleashed a most impressive ball of fire at her. The panic in her face was very visible, but the shield-bearers came to her aid yet again. However, she also lost them, as they were blown out of the area. She might have been in trouble, except by then, there were only two left on the stage. And so the game was finished.

“So the winners are both magic users.”

“That was quite incredible…”

“She would have been out if there were just one other fighter.”

We left the arena but continued to talk excitedly about what we had witnessed.

I walked behind them and thought back at what I had seen through Eyes of the God Wolf. Even when her face had gone pale, there was a strong resolve there. Almost as if she was ready to use some hidden trick… I was curious, but I guess I would find out if we ended up fighting each other. I looked forward to it.