At last, the first day of the Birth Festival had arrived.
“Seriously, how many people are there?”
Ian clicked her tongue as she looked at the people filling the streets.
She had heard that news of the festival had spread even as far as District 1, but she had never imagined this many people would flock here.
Of course, it was a good thing.
No matter how safe Tedumaya was, the fact that people had decided to leave the districts they lived in proved that, compared to before, they had gained a little room in their hearts.
Only…
“To think I have to fight in front of this many people.”
The main event on the first day of the week-long Birth Festival was the preliminary round.
A survival match that would continue until only thirty-two people remained.
The preliminary round would be held in the arena near the plaza.
Watching the people make their way there, Ian let out a sigh.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have signed up after all.”
These days, she took off her hood and wore more feminine clothes, but Ian was not the type to enjoy standing out.
And yet she had to enter a match where she would draw everyone’s attention.
If it had been the old her, she would have simply watched from the sidelines.
“He said he’d be participating in this Birth Festival Tournament.”
The boss of District 4, Captain of the Royal Guard Ravana.
Once his participation became public knowledge, Ian had no choice but to enter as well.
She was certain that this boss was not meant to be defeated in a raid, but at the Birth Festival.
Even if that was not the case, she wanted to see the strength of the man she would have to fight later.
Besides.
“Emily asked me to participate too, so I guess I have no choice.”
Many people, including Emily, wanted to use this match as an opportunity to bring more people to the front lines.
Ian did not share any grand cause like that, but she also hoped their numbers would grow.
The more people there were fighting at the very front, the less of a problem it would be if she stepped away from the攻略.
After watching the crowd for a moment, Ian checked the time.
“Nine o’clock. It’s almost time.”
Before she knew it, there was only one hour left until the preliminary round began.
Steeling her resolve, she headed toward the arena where the preliminaries would be held.
***
Though there was still plenty of time before the preliminary round, the countless people seated in the stands could not hide their excitement.
“How many years has it been since a Birth Festival was held? I never thought this day would really come again.”
The last Birth Festival had been held fifty years ago.
Even for dark elves who lived over five hundred years, fifty years was quite a long time, so their anticipation had swelled to the brim.
And even the humans, the players who had been forced into a dopamine diet, could not hide their excitement.
“They’re going to fight here? I’m really looking forward to it.”
“Me too. My heart keeps pounding.”
Erik and Rosa, players who had come to Tedumaya to enjoy themselves, had eyes that were sparkling for the first time since arriving in this world.
Then they pricked up their ears at the voices coming from around them.
“Who do you think will win this time?”
“Wouldn’t it be Lord Ravana, the previous champion?”
“Come on, fifty years have passed since then. The captain of the guard and the chief mage are strong too.”
“I heard the commander of the Durigarda Defense Force is participating as well. They say he’s pretty strong too.”
“And humans are participating this time too, aren’t they? You never know. The winner might come from among them.”
A heated debate broke out as people guessed who the champion would be.
And bets on the winner were already being made right before their eyes.
The two looked at each other and laughed.
“People really are the same everywhere.”
“Right? Should we try it too?”
“When we don’t even know who’s who? Do you have a lot of money?”
“Come on, we only have to bet a little. Don’t worry. This… big sister will feed you something even tastier this time.”
With a confident smile, Rosa leaned toward the arena and examined the faces of the participants.
“Hmm… No one really jumps out at me.”
There was still time left, so the participants likely had not all gathered yet, but she saw no one, dark elf or human, who appealed to her.
And the same was true for Erik beside her.
“Yeah. I’m not really feeling it.”
“Right? But didn’t you say you weren’t interested?”
“Th-there’s nothing else to do while we’re waiting. I can at least make a prediction.”
“Good grief. Look at the great physiognomist we have here.”
Look who’s talking.
The words rose all the way to the tip of Erik’s tongue, but remembering the meal he had eaten yesterday, he merely pouted.
At that moment, a group of people entered the arena.
When Erik and Rosa saw the person in the very center, their gazes went to her.
“Huh, that person looks familiar.”
“It’s her. The person who gave that boss briefing back then.”
“Oh, right! So she was alive.”
Emily, the player serving as the leader of the raid攻略.
At the appearance of a fairly famous player like her, the stands stirred, not only around the two of them but among the humans in particular.
Rosa, especially, studied Emily more closely than anyone else.
“Her equipment looks really good, doesn’t it?”
“Does it? I can’t really tell.”
“No, it definitely is. I’ve never seen anything like that in our district.”
Bright silver armor, and a great shield that made one want to lean on it despite her feminine build.
The two women beside her also looked plenty strong, but Rosa’s gaze refused to leave Emily.
“I’ve decided. I’m betting on her.”
“You’re really going to bet?”
“Yeah. You should trust me and try it too. You know I’m good at this kind of thing. I’ll make sure you don’t have to worry about money for a while.”
Erik hesitated.
As Rosa said, she had always had a high success rate with this sort of wager.
And if, by some chance, her prediction really came true, he would not have to worry about money for the time being.
Erik discreetly checked his inventory.
“I’ve got about 100 gold to spare.”
It was money he had saved little by little in case something happened.
Just as he was wondering whether to use it…
“Hm? Who’s that?”
Erik’s gaze shifted toward a woman in a pure white leather coat standing in a corner.
She was someone he had never seen before, yet for some strange reason, she drew his eye.
Perhaps it was because of her beautiful appearance, or perhaps because of the unique composure she exuded even in such a tense situation, but Erik could not take his eyes off the woman for a long while.
Seeing her friend like that, Rosa playfully raised the corners of her mouth.
“What, did you fall for her?”
“N-no, I mean, it’s not like th-that…”
“You’re already completely smitten. Let me see too.”
She had only meant to tease her friend, but when Rosa saw the woman for the first time, she too found herself unable to close her mouth easily.
“Wow. She really is incredibly pretty. I’ve never seen anyone like her.”
“Right? I wasn’t staring for no reason.”
“But that woman isn’t championship material.”
“Do you have a reason?”
Rosa spoke in a tone full of certainty.
“Do you think it makes sense for a woman like that to be fighting on the front line and for us not to know her name? She’s probably just participating for the sake of it.”
“You never know, though.”
“Hey, and look at the state of her armor. It’s obviously the kind of outfit that only cares about style. Something like that won’t hold up if people rush her all at once.”
“I guess you’re right?”
But why was that?
Erik could not stop thinking about the woman in white.
At that moment, a betting attendant carrying a wooden box passed in front of the two of them.
Rosa quickly raised her hand and called the attendant over.
“Excuse me! We’d like to bet too!”
Hearing Rosa’s shout, he approached the two of them with a businesslike smile.
“Oh my! Human guests, are you? Yes, yes. You’ve made a wise decision. A match like this needs a proper game to go with it, doesn’t it?”
“Exactly, exactly. You know what you’re talking about.”
“Now then, please write your name and the participant you wish to bet on here, then submit the amount.”
Rosa wrote her own name and Emily’s name on the paper the attendant handed her, then passed over the money.
The attendant bowed deeply to her, then looked at Erik beside her.
“And will you be participating, sir?”
“Uh, I… I’ll do it too.”
After hesitating for a moment, Erik finally took the paper and wrote down his name.
But he could not bring himself to write a name in the space for the winner.
Instead, he pointed at the person he had been watching intently.
“What’s that person’s name?”
“Ah, you mean that lady? Of course, I should let you know. Now, let’s see. That person’s name is…”
After briefly scanning through the list of participants and their photographs, the attendant gave Erik the answer he wanted.
“Ian. It says her name is Ian.”
***
The preliminary round to select thirty-two contestants.
Before I knew it, the time for entry had arrived.
Standing among the 182 people participating in the preliminaries, I looked around.
As expected, most of the participants were dark elf sentinels.
There were only forty human participants like me.
Because of that, everyone around me was a dark elf.
And their top priority was none other than me.
They were not staring openly, but I could continuously feel sharp gazes bordering on hostility.
“They’re not going to gang up on me, are they?”
Well, it wasn’t impossible.
Eliminating the biggest variable first was a decision anyone could make.
Especially when one person was of a different race, making it even easier for them to become a common enemy.
If you asked whether that scared me…
No. To be honest, I didn’t find it all that threatening.
Had this rubbed off on me from hanging around the scouting party?
There were certainly a lot of them, but… it just felt like a bunch of weaklings huddling together.
If there had been a named dark elf among them, maybe it would have been different.
But there wasn’t, so I wasn’t particularly nervous.
“Well, even if there were, it wouldn’t change anything.”
My goal from the start was not the preliminary round, but facing the boss who was leisurely observing the situation from far away.
All the more reason I could not be eliminated in an unsightly manner during the preliminaries.
Just as I was moving the wooden sword I had been given this way and that…
“Her Majesty the Queen enters!”
To announce the start of the preliminary round, Kalinia’s older sister and the queen of Limbahitam, Maharani, appeared.
Everyone in the arena, including those in the stands, paid their respects to her.
Naturally letting the greetings of countless people pass over her, she swept her gaze across the arena and opened her mouth.
“My proud people, and honored outsiders. Today, we shall drive away the darkness that has hung over us for so many long years, and rekindle the sacred flame.”
The queen’s congratulatory address continued from there.
The sight was rather like a principal speaking at a sports day, but not a single dark elf failed to listen to her words.
Because this scene was precisely what they had so desperately longed for.
The queen’s emotions grew more and more heightened as well.
And at last.
“My people, raise your fists high! For our new mother, who shall be conceived from the ashes of the past, and for the brilliant dawn that will finally come to us!”
Along with the queen’s powerful cry, a thunderous cheer rang throughout the entire arena.
Even I, an outsider, felt a hot flame suddenly flare up in my chest.
After watching the stands for a long while, the queen showed her palm to the people.
At the same time, as if it were a lie, a quiet silence fell over the crowd.
The queen looked over the people for a moment with a smile.
“Then, as of this moment, I declare the Birth Festival open.”
She shot her mana into the sky.
“Waaaaah!”
Once again, fierce cheers erupted.
“May the Mother’s blessing be with all who participate.”
The preliminary round began in earnest.