Sankaka, captain of the guards who protected Tedumaya.
After easily subduing Aslan in the third match of the quarterfinals, he visited Damar’s waiting room.
When he opened the door, he saw Damar lying down, having his wounds treated.
With a wry smile, Sankaka sneered at the bedridden man.
“You certainly have it easy. Since when did losers get to laze around and sleep all day?”
“Hoo… If you’re here to say that kind of crap, just leave.”
“That doesn’t sound like something a man who said he’d finally beat me this time should be saying.”
“Forget it. I’m not talking to you.”
Damar clicked his tongue.
He turned his head sharply away from Sankaka.
Their relationship had always been like this.
One teased, the other was teased.
The rivalry that had begun in childhood remained unchanged even now.
“So, how does it feel to have been beaten so thoroughly?”
“The worst. Even showing you this side of me is utterly dreadful.”
“Well, won’t you have another chance to win next time?”
“Who knows… Even if I meet her next time, I’m not confident I can win.”
“Ho?”
Damar was arrogant, but he had a fairly good eye for judging opponents.
That was why he could tell.
“That human girl is still growing. I’m certain that after some time passes, she’ll be beyond reach.”
That this very moment was when Ian was at her weakest.
He could not gauge how strong she might become the next time they met.
“Then do you think I can beat her now?”
At Sankaka’s question, Damar pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
“You needn’t be jealous.”
“Hmph. She’s a human girl with the blessing of the wind. On top of that, she possesses swordsmanship of a high level. Even for you, it won’t be easy.”
“Is that so.”
At Damar’s words, Sankaka smiled pleasantly and cast his gaze in the direction where Ian was.
“How very exciting.”
***
The third match of the quarterfinals was Emily versus Rohan.
I decided to watch their match from the spectator seats together with Naira, Mr. Mugi, and Veronica.
Of course, I had to suffer through a barrage of questions from Naira and Veronica.
“Now, tell us. Where on earth have you been wandering off to lately?”
“That’s right. We need to know now. What are you doing at night? Did you really get a boyfrie—no, a lover or something?”
“I told you, it’s nothing like that. I just have something to do.”
“So what is that something?”
“I’ll tell you later, when it’s over.”
“Ugh! This is so frustrating.”
I kept playing dumb and dodging their questions.
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the two of them, but a trump card was something that had to be hidden until the very, very end.
No, and even if they were going to misunderstand, why would they suspect I’d gotten a lover?
Putting aside the fact that I used to be a man, as if I’d ever date anyone in a place like this.
Anyway.
Before long, Emily and Rohan entered the arena.
“Who do you think will win?”
“The one who’s better will win.”
“Come on, don’t be like that. Just pick one.”
“No.”
If there were a bomb collar around my neck, I’d choose Emily, but there was no need to pointlessly make enemies with everyone around.
Meanwhile, the match between the two began.
Naturally, the one who held the initiative in attacking was Rohan, the axe warrior.
By contrast, Emily made full use of the fact that her main weapon was a shield and proceeded with the match defensively.
Rohan’s axe danced chaotically.
Emily calmly read the trajectory of the axe he unleashed and moved her shield.
When every attack was blocked, the corners of Rohan’s eyes twisted.
He had thought he would at least be able to land one blow, but Emily’s shield had not taken so much as a scratch.
In the end, the enraged Rohan’s eyes were stained red.
Excitation technique, Enrage.
A slash with destructive power on an entirely different level from before hammered against Emily’s shield.
And yet.
“Please, break through!”
Emily’s shield still did not budge.
Its sturdiness was enough to make even me, watching from the side, click my tongue in amazement.
And by this point, the outline of the match had practically been decided.
Emily was not such an easy player that she could be beaten by someone in an excited state.
Emily thrust her shield forward to meet the incoming axe.
Basic Shield Skill, Fifth Form.
Counter technique.
“Reflection.”
The shield, having absorbed the damage, fired a wave of mana toward Rohan.
“Keheuk!”
Rohan’s form wavered.
In that opening, Emily’s shield struck Rohan’s head.
In that instant, the shield became a blunt weapon stronger than any other, and its blow sent Rohan’s body flying into the air.
And just like that, Rohan lost consciousness.
The referee’s voice rang through the arena.
“Winner, the human shield warrior Emily!”
To the sound of applause erupting here and there, I also clapped for her.
But interest in the two of them quickly faded.
“So he’s coming out now.”
“I hope he lasts at least a little this time.”
That was because the main figure of the final quarterfinal match, the Zone 4 boss’s guard captain Ravana, had appeared in the arena.
The attention of everyone in the spectator seats focused on the final match.
But once the match began and I saw them exchange their first blows, I clicked my tongue.
‘It’s over this time too.’
Because in the process of exchanging blows, his opponent looked extremely precarious.
It was not a match worth spending time watching.
In the end, the only person I could trust was Emily, who would be fighting him tomorrow.
While people were focused on the match, I quietly rose from my seat and left the arena.
At that moment, a roar came from the direction of the arena.
It was the signal announcing Ravana’s victory.
I lifted my head.
The sky was still clear and bright.
However.
“I have to endure.”
Though I had not slept and was filled with fatigue from the aftermath of the fight, I forced myself to move my feet.
Two days remained until the closing of the Birth Festival.
I still had to become stronger.
***
The semifinals of the main tournament.
A match to decide who would advance to the finals, held with only one day remaining until the end of the Birth Festival.
The atmosphere was extremely heated.
Part of it was because there was little time left in the festival, but it was also because the performance shown by the four remaining warriors had been impressive.
As a result, the line that began at the arena stretched endlessly from early morning.
However, inside the arena, the participants’ waiting rooms were already noisy.
“No, where does this human keep disappearing to?”
Ian’s waiting room.
While everyone else had arrived, the person in question, Ian, was nowhere to be found.
Even though they had thoroughly searched everywhere, from the restroom to other people’s waiting rooms, and even the nearby streets.
Veronica and Naira breathed heavily in anger.
“Today, I’m really not going to let her go anywhere.”
“Me too. If I lose her again this time, I’m not human.”
They had only focused on the match for a bit, and she had vanished in that time?
Her outrageousness had truly crossed the line.
That was why the two of them ground their teeth.
It was the moment they resolved that, no matter what happened today, they would not leave her side.
“Do you have nothing to do? Why is everyone here?”
The door opened belatedly, and Ian appeared.
But Naira and Veronica, who had been about to nag her, froze stiff the moment they saw Ian’s face.
“H-hey… your f-face…?”
“A-are you sick or something?”
Her complexion was dark, as if she might collapse at any moment.
Ian waved them off and sat down in a chair.
“I’m fine, so stop making a fuss. It’s making my head ring. I just need to shut my eyes for a bit.”
Then she became so still it was almost as if she had fainted, and neither of the two could bring themselves to touch Ian.
Instead.
“Could it be her lover isn’t letting her sleep at night…”
“Ugh, how can you say that after seeing her like this?”
“But it’s suspicious.”
“Well, I think so too, but… Ah, whatever, damn it.”
They merely whispered while imagining what could have happened.
After some time passed, and the spectator seats were filled with people, a staff member entered Ian’s waiting room.
“Lady Ian, it’s time for you to enter.”
It was time to enter the arena.
With difficulty, Ian lifted her eyelids and staggered to her feet.
Everyone looked at her with concern.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
Ian left the waiting room and entered the quiet passageway.
‘Now that I’ve rested a bit, I definitely feel better.’
Of course, her body was still as heavy as if sandbags had been tied to it, but her head was not as heavy as before.
In this state, she could fight well enough.
As she was organizing the match against Sankaka in her head, the announcer’s voice came from the direction of the arena, announcing Ian’s entrance.
Following those words, Ian entered the arena, and cheers poured down upon her.
The rumors about the flower holding a sword had already spread not only throughout Tedumaya, but even as far as Staria.
If Ian had known this fact, she might have put her hood back on and gone around like that again.
But right now, her mind was in no condition for proper thought.
Taking the pouring cheers simply as something natural because it was the semifinals, she cast her gaze toward Guard Captain Sankaka, who appeared from the opposite side.
After confirming Ian’s face, Sankaka looked at her with widened eyes.
“Guest? Your complexion looks very poor.”
“I’m fine, so don’t worry about it.”
“Even so, fighting someone in your current state would hardly be something to boast about.”
“We’ll find that out once we fight.”
Ian raised her sword and took her stance.
“If you don’t come at me with everything you have, it’ll be dangerous.”
“If that is what you wish, Guest.”
Sankaka also pointed his spear and readied his stance.
The fighting spirit of the two dyed the arena.
At the heated atmosphere, cheers once again erupted from the spectator seats.
“Then, from this moment on, the first semifinal match to decide who will advance to the finals. The duel between Ian and Sankaka, Sankaka and Ian, will now…”
The announcer’s hand shot high above his head.
“Begin!”
The moment his hand dropped toward the ground, the two of them stepped forward at the same time.
“Sword Rush!”
“Drive!”
A feast of sword and spear that created fierce sparks.
It was the moment the curtain rose on the first match of the semifinals.