Chapter 2 – Battle Tournament (1st)

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One day, a messenger from Charis arrived in Dragon City.

When I asked what sort of person they might be, it was no one other than Richard-san of the FitzClarence family. Up until now, he’d always sent representatives, so I wonder what sort of business he has with us for him to expressly come in person.

As I put myself on guard a bit, we started our conversation in the parlor.

“Long time no see, Tanaka-san.”

“Thank you kindly for making the long trip to visit me in person, Richard-san.”

I had intended for us two to have a private chat as usual, but there was someone else attentively listening to us here. It was the mayor of our fine city, the Loligon. For some reason, she had been waiting for us here before we even stepped into the room.

Right now she was sitting next to this ordinary Japanese flat-face and while staring at Richard-san with a triumphant expression, she was smiling all over her face.

This is just my personal imagination, but after hearing the notification about Richard-san’s visit, she must have headed here first. Thinking back on it now, she was previously very adamant about a talk in the parlor. Back then we were together with Edita-sensei and Sophia-chan.

“Over here is our mayor…”

『What? Do you have some problems with me? I-I’m the mayor, okay? I’m important, you know?』

I don’t know where she got those, but cake and baked sweets as well as teacups with piping hot tea were placed on the table. Before we even came here, the share of three people had been prepared. I can’t really believe it, but maybe the Loligon prepared these herself.

The image of her quickly pacing around the parlor crossed my mind.

“Would it be okay for her and me to hear what you have to say?”

“…Well, if you insist, Tanaka-san, I won’t mind.”

“Thank you kindly.”

I guess it doesn’t really matter whether she’s with us. When thinking about how she precisely aimed at the opportunity of talking in the parlor, I was suddenly attacked by an urge to French kiss her. I’m hoping for a violent rape of my oral cavity with her reptile tongue that’s probably somewhat longer than that of a human. I want to directly attack the Loligon’s Jacobsen organ with busamen spit.

『S-So, what is your business with us? Yes, your business!』

The Loligon asked while looking all gleeful.

Richard-san answered her as indifferent as always, “I have arrived here entrusted with a message from His Majesty.”

“That’s yet another troublesome matter.”

“No, you don’t need to be so wary. For us it’s also a beneficial matter and that’s why I came to your place, Tanaka-san. Otherwise, I would have turned it down with some excuse at the point when the matter was brought up with me.”

“I see.”

Recently, Richard-san’s standing rivaled that of His Majesty. Finally we’ve reached a stage where refusal was a legitimate option. In retrospect, reaching this point was quite a chore.

『And what is that message?』

The Loligon urged Richard-san on. As always, she’s an impatient lolita.

“After dealing with the previous matter, our Penny Empire decided to take in the Hero of the West as official hero. This has already been proclaimed to the rest of the world. But, His Majesty seems to believe that the hero’s influence is currently a bit weak.”

“I can certainly understand what you want to say.”

The previous matter he was referring to was related to the issue that led to the dispute with the Great Holy Land in regard to the saint. Although they lost the saint, the Great Holy Land was still going as strong as ever. And since this also applied to the Hero of the East, we wouldn’t be able to avoid clashes with them from now on.

Now that it’s become like this, it was necessary to secure as much back as possible in order for us to proceed in an advantageous manner.

“What is worrying him most must be the recognition by foreign countries. The prime minister of the Penny Empire hasn’t served as top of the conservatives for no reason, despite his usual behavior. He’s a very cautious man. It seems he wants to spread the domestic uprush to other places on a grand scale. Of course, the influence of Dragon City plays a role in this as well.”

“I see.”

In short, it’s that. They’re telling us to hold some sort of event that will make everyone feel elated. Isn’t that the usual pattern where newly formed business associations and the whatchamacallit societies would rent out rather formal event locations and hold flashy conferences and such?

“Tanaka-san, do you possibly have a good idea for this?”

“Let’s see…”

In that case, it’d be smart to take the initiative and run an event that will flaunt our good parts. By the way, what would be our good parts anyway?

The first thing coming to mind would be combat power, I’d say. Ahh, there’s also that life potion which Edita-sensei and the Noble Mage created recently.

Since we do have some suitable material, it comes down to how we represent it, I suppose.

『Hmm? Isn’t that easy?』

The Loligon muttered with a broad grin.

Given that the first comment came from an unexpected direction, I was slightly startled. It looks like she’s been keeping up with our talk. She’s done really well to have understood our conversation about His Majesty and so on despite being a complete outsider. As expected, you might say this or that about her, but her head works fast.

The desire to be defeated in an argument by the smart Loligon grew inside me.

“Christina-san, do you have any idea?”

『Duels! Let us duel, okay? We just need to make known who’s the strongest』

“Oh, I get it.”

“Certainly…”

This ordinary Japanese flat-face and Richard-san reflexively agreed with her point after hearing it. The plan brought up by her was better than I had imagined.

It also got confirmation from Papa-san right away.

“In short, we’re going to gather strong fighters and hold a tournament so that they can compete against each other?”

『Hmm? Ah, t-that’s right! Is it fine like that!?』

Contrary to this busamen who had imagined a public exercise where the Hero of the West would be placed under real combat conditions like a modern army exercise, this felt like it went one step above that. The method suggested by the Loligon definitely would be able to involve a lot more people and thus become a lot grander.

With Dragon City becoming the venue, it’d also tout the city to the outside.

“Christina-san, this is a fairly good idea actually.”

『gh!? Y-You think so!?』

“Yes. I approve of it. What do you think, Richard-san?”

“Indeed, it’s not a bad idea at all. It will likely draw participants not only from our own country, but also from other countries. We will prepare prizes for the winners. If we let the Hero of the West win the championship, it will become a huge advertisement for him. And we have the power allowing us to carry that out, right?”

“Yes, please leave it to us.”

Richard-san was clearly following my train of thought.

By holding a battle tournament, we will tout the existence of the Penny Empire to foreign countries. At the same time, we will be able to show off the hero to other countries by letting him win the tournament. Unlike with a public military exercise, it won’t be much of a problem for us, although it’s going to be difficult to write a script in advance.

If this ordinary Japanese flat-face and his blond, thicc loli sense participate, it’ll likely be easy to control the flow of the tournament. And the Hero of the West will become officially known as the strongest in the world after we decorate him with the championship. He will become the sole hero, accepted and recognized by everyone.

And our Penny Empire sheltering him will become an additional, nice topping. Nice. That’s truly nice. This is a truly perfect outline for a script.

『…What’s with you people. That grinning of yours is disgusting』

“No, no, it’s just that your idea has been so wonderful,” I praised her without holding back at all.

“That’s right. As you’d expect of the mayor of Dragon City.”

Richard-san seemed to be in a good mood. too. In the end, he’s a man who respects results, regardless of races.

『R-Really? Well, I’m the mayor after all! It’s only natural! Yep!』

“Well then, it’s a bit abrupt, but let us start the preparation in line with the mayor’s idea. I will head back to Charis. I will propose the idea to His Majesty and decide on an outline of the tournament. Tanaka-san, please take care of preparing the venue.”

“Yes, I shall get to it right away.”

This duke-sama is gradually grasping how to use the Loligon, isn’t he? But well, his understanding still hasn’t reached the level of this ordinary Japanese flat-face.

Her happily wagging tail, visible between her back and the sofa, is so damn cute!

＊

As soon as Richard-san departed from Dragon City, we shifted into work-mode. If you’re asking what sort of work we’re doing, creating the event venue would be the answer.

No one else but that man called it a good plan. Without a doubt he’s going to get permission from His Majesty for it. Therefore, going ahead with the preparations while believing in his success made a lot of sense. Or rather, I’d like to see the surprise on Richard-san’s face the next time he visits our city.

『Is it really alright to set it up around here?』

“Yes, I think this place will be fine. If we pick a place close to the residential quarters, we will likely receive complaints from the residents, and if we take a place close to the business district, we won’t be able to make a profit with restaurants. And the central part of the city is already clustered with buildings.”

『But, this place quite a bit away from the city, isn’t it?』

Just as the Loligon pointed out, we’re currently outside the furthest outer wall of Dragon City. It requires several minutes by foot through a plain to reach this place from the gate installed in the wall.

“We should expect many tourists during the tournament. Gonzales-san will likely have his hands full as well. I dare to say that he and his people won’t be able to check the people coming and leaving the city as reliably as right now. In such a case, it’d result in a big number of people flooding the city without any proper checks.”

『And what’s wrong with that?』

“If you take the city’s public order into account, building the venue outside the wall has the advantage of going beyond the problematic issues indicated by Christina-san. A community can plunge into chaos a lot easier than we can imagine. And it’s not easy to get things back to normal once that happens.”

『…Is that so?』

“Yes.”

『Got it. In that case, we’re going to build it here』

“Thank you very much. Let’s do our best together.”

『gh!? T-That’s right! Building stuff together isn’t bad every once in a while!』

What I was imagining was the Colosseum which I had seen in a history book. I planned to try building the tournament’s venue in a similar fashion. If it’s our current technological skills, it’s definitely possible. The audience seating seems to be somewhat challenging, but it’s probably going to be okay.

In addition, we need lodging facilities for the participants and tourists. We must also build facilities for the sake of housing restaurant and store tenants. Moreover, the roads connecting those and installations to maintain those are also required. Of course, baths are necessary too.

Ohh, somehow I feel very hyped right now. It looks like I do love building stuff after all.

“What might you people be doing in this place?”

As I was thinking about this and that, someone suddenly called out to us.

It was Drill-chan.

There was no mistaking for that peculiar silhouette. As always, her hairstyle was perfect. Next to her was Deviant-Longhair. Very likely she didn’t know what to do with all her free time, and as soon as she spotted us, she followed us here.

Or so I thought, but Ester-chan was with her as well.

“W-Wait! It’s wrong to get in their way!”

Maybe the three of them went out together?

“Oh, Doris-san, is something the matter?”

“Oh myyy? Somehow it feels like you’ve said my name for the first time in quite a while.”

“Is that so?”

“It is, you know? I mean, lately you’ve always looked so busy that I didn’t want to bother you,” Drill-chan said while acting coquettish.

Even though I knew that she was putting up an act, this virgin reflexively felt his chest tightening. After all, the proof of her being new, unused goods was still remaining in the form of a hymen. As long as that seal wasn’t torn apart, she’d always remain a target of support for this ordinary Japanese flat-face.

“If you are fine with me, I will gladly call you by your name whenever you like.”

“So, what are you planning to start here this time? I’ve got some spare time.”

As always, she seemed to not know what to do with her time. Well, I guess it must be something like that. The reason why Drill-chan is stalking this busamen won’t amount to much more than that.

“Wait a sec, Doris! I told you, getting in their way is wrong…”

“Liz, you’re curious about it as well, aren’t you?”

“T-That’s not true! I don’t have any interest in this at all!”

On the other hand, Ester-chan was obstinately playing the tsundere. I don’t remember having had a proper talk with her ever since her memories returned. It’d be a lie if I were to say that it doesn’t make me sad. But, as I can tell from the fact that she’s keeping her distance like this, the current Ester-chan is different from the Ester-chan who was only concerned with herself.

Various things happened, but I guess she has settled down as a loli bitch who went back to Allen after all is said and done.

“As a matter of fact, there is something I’d like to discuss with the two of you.”

I informed them about what Richard-san told us a while ago. I had planned to gather some people this evening and tell them about it, but taking the chance of meeting them here like this, I think it’s not bad to inform them ahead of time.

After explaining things for a bit, Drill-chan quickly gave a reply.

“Hmm? So, what about it?”

I wonder why, but her reaction was weaker than I expected. Since she’s always bored, I thought that she’d definitely get interested in this. Maybe she hates events which smell too much like men or something like that?

No, no, I don’t think she’s that kind of a person. I’d like her to get invested in this at any cost.

“Won’t you recruit some participants from the Pussy Republic for us?”

“No thanks.”

“Is there something bothering you about the tournament?”

“The Hero of the West is going to win the championship anyway, right? Logically I refuse to go out of my way to call over some fake challengers from my home country. I mean, it’d be pitiable to do so. You surely won’t try to tell me that the matches will be suitable for the reputation of the participants, will you?”

“I see.”

“Who would willingly come in order to get publicly embarrassed?”

Shit, it looks like she realized it. Whatever you might say about her, she’s always sharp and perceptive when it counts.

“Are you possibly going to participate yourself? If you did that, it’d become an absolute kill-joy, you know? There’s nothing as boring as a match where the outcome is set from the beginning. And you’re certainly not believing that the people on the streets will blindly trust the results of the tournament, do you?”

“…Meaning?”

“Regardless of whether it’s the truth, rumors about match fixing will spread in no time, you see?”

“……”

True, her words were sound.

If the people related with the administration of Dragon City were to dominate the top ranks, it might become an issue. Getting flamed when the host country excels across the board in an international tournament is apparently a common trait shared across worlds. Of course, losing on purpose is fully included in that as well.

Also, the most important aspect of the upcoming tournament will be the support by foreign countries. Leaving aside the view that it can’t be helped because we’re simply strong, the public opinion will shift in another direction. And increasing the doubts as a result of holding this event would actually make the whole thing meaningless.

Considering it like that, there’s some room for consideration when it comes to the participation of our team members in Dragon City.

I’m happy that I was allowed to realize this, even if it’s rather late.

Most recently I became a count and regained my territory, so I might have been getting carried aways because of a rather festive, excited mood. At the very least, we should have those not belonging to the human race sit out on this tournament. But, even so it’s still my mission to make sure that the Hero of the West wins.

I’ve already promised that to Richard-san.

“So, what’s it going to be?”

Drill chan asked as if trying to rile me up. Her challenging stare gave me shivers. Whether I like it or not, she made me realize that I belonged to the world of masochists. I’d like to be trained by her from the bottom of my heart. I’d like to run past her with full speed until the reward sex including her virginity that’s going to happen someday.

“Of course I won’t participate.”

“How about the mayor?”

“If it’s like that we will have the mayor also refrain from participating.”

『W-What was that!?』

At once, Christina-san made her unhappiness heard. Or rather, she planned to participate?

As might be expected, that would have gone too far. It’s definitely going to lead to casualties. One slap of her belly would lead to heaps of corpses.

“Is that truly fine with you?”

“Yes, it’s no problem.”

It’s alright. I have my status window. At times like these, there’s nothing as reassuring as that window. Once the preliminaries are over, I’ll freely use it to coordinate the perfect route for the Hero of the West to win and advance through the rounds.

And now that it’s come to this, I can’t yield on the tournament form, I guess.

“Hmm? Well, I guess it’s fine then.”

『H-Hey! I…!』

“Of course, Geros-san won’t be able to participate either, but you don’t mind, right?”

“I don’t. Otherwise it wouldn’t be much of a match.”

“Yes, that is true.”

Perfect. I’ll get it done. I’ll make sure for this event to definitely succeed.

“W-Wait a sec, Doris! He follows his own intentions, you know? Saying such things isn’t good! I’m sure he’s acting while keeping our future in mind!”

“Oh my? Liz, you’re covering for the count quite a bit. Are you possibly having some reason for this? Furthermore, acting while keeping our future in mind qualifies as rare praise, if we’re talking about you, doesn’t it?”

“gh!?”

“What’s wrong?”

“T-That’s not true! However, I always look at this from an impartial point of view…”

“Hmmm?”

“……”

Somehow the power relationship between Drill-chan and Loli Bitch has turned around, hasn’t it? Though, I couldn’t care less.

＊

In the evening of the same day, I called all the concerned staff to my office. Concerned staff means everyone working in the administration of Dragon City nowadays.

Back when we founded the city, Sophia-chan, Gon-chan, Neumann and I were the only members, but now the numbers have reached two-digits.

As I surveyed the room, I felt quite moved by the sight. Today even Goggoru-chan was present. Sitting on the floor in a corner of the office while grasping her knees. As always I couldn’t help but be interested by the interior of her skirt, which seemed to be visible and then again not. Someday I want to lie sprawled in front of her while facing down and drill through the floorboards with the power of my erect dick.

“So what is it that you want to talk about with us?” Gon-chan asked as representative for everyone else.

As usual, his face is scary. And even though I know that it doesn’t mean he’s actually angry or anything, it’s still frightening.

“Actually, I have accepted a personal request from His Majesty.”

Standing next to the desk where Sophia-chan had been sitting, I explained everything while looking at everyone. The contents were exactly the same as I had previously told Drill-chan and Ester-chan. However, as for the crucial schedule and scale, I’m still waiting for a message from Richard-san.

After I explained things for a while, a question was soon hurled at me.

“Is it fine for us to participate in that as well?”

And just as I thought, the first one to speak up was the Noble Mage. His face was beaming with the desire to participate.

“Yes, that’s right…”

The Loligon, Edita-sensei, and I might be out of the picture here. But, the Noble Mage enters the category of humans, when it comes to his abilities. Besides, I feel like it’d be a problem in itself, if the participants from the host country would be zero except for the Hero of the West.

Considering it like that, the Noble Mage is perfect as representative of the Penny Empire.

“It will be difficult for everyone to participate, but since it’s going to spice up the tournament, I don’t think it will become a problem for several of you to take part. However, I would like people like the mayor, Edita-san and me to refrain from joining.”

“Yeah, if you guys were to join, the other contestants wouldn’t have much of a chance. Very likely you wouldn’t be able to call the tournament normal at that point anymore. Of course, it’s a scene I would like to witness someday, leaving out the tournament and all that.”

The eyes of the Noble Mage shifted back and forth between his ordinary Japanese flat-face, the mayor, the blond, thicc loli sensei, Goggoru-chan, and Deviant-Longhair.

It’s not like I don’t understand what he’s trying to say. But, personally I’d prefer for such a development to never occur. It’s casual bantering, but sometimes those things can turn into genuine fights.

“Was my explanation sufficient to make everything clear?”

“If such a reason exists, you won’t mind someone like me participating either, right?”

He requested with glittering eyes.

“Yes, feel free. I also believe that it would be preferable for you, Fahren-san, to participate as representative of the Penny Empire. I’m more than sure that His Majesty and Richard-san will also look favorably at your participation. I will ask from my side to represent us as the host country.”

“I see. You can fully entrust that important task to me!”

He looks incredibly happy.

Well, if it’s that much, Drill-chan won’t complain about it either. It’s my arbitrary imagination, but even if a similar event were to be held in another country, this magic freak would likely rush over, using his own prized airship. Or he would join after being invited by His Majesty. Either way, that’s the kind of guy he is.

“Umm, i-if it’s like that, please allow me to participate as well!”

“In that case, there’s no way I can afford to not participate as the representative of my town’s knight order, I s’pose.”

“I’m going to participate, too.”

“Kyuun kyuun!”

The others also started to raise their voices. I had assumed that Allen and Gon-chan would volunteer, but Sophie-chan is kind of unexpected. Or rather, who was it? Who even brought a nui here?

I didn’t realize it and now it’s hanging out around Loligon’s feet.

Anyway, a small number of people in this room looked keen to participate.

“I understand. Let us decide the representatives of Dragon City on this occasion.”

I’d hate it if I adjusted things discreetly in a wrong way, causing someone to be unhappy later on. In such things, I prefer to proceed in a way everyone can agree on.

Still, in this scenario, the individual stats of everyone matter. Recently I didn’t really check them. Not a few of them might have raised their levels through private activities. Checking this before the tournament is extremely important.

Putting aside the group of non-humans, I will take the liberty to check everyone who seems like they could become participants. Thinking back on it now, I feel like it’s been quite a while since I last looked at the status of Ester-chan and Princess Bitch. I think I’ve looked at them during the dragon subjugation last.

First I’m going to check Team Orgy.

Name: Allen Anderson
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Level: 52
Job: Knight

HP: 12600/12600
MP: 1120/1120

STR: 3750
VIT: 4002
DEX: 2752
AGI: 4942
INT: 1190
LUC: 4839

Name: Elisabeth FitzClarence
Sex: Female
Race: Succubus Half
Level: 118
Job: Mage

HP: 14230/14230
MP: 32100/32100

STR: 2500
VIT: 6562
DEX: 8601
AGI: 5134
INT: 45190
LUC: 1030

Name: Cyan Bitch
Sex: Female
Race: Human
Level: 65
Job: Underground Idol

HP: 7700/7700
MP: 16500/17300

STR: 1900
VIT: 1662
DEX: 4752
AGI: 1620
INT: 24190
LUC: 180

Allen and Sophie-chan have been leveling up properly. I feel like Mercedes-chan, back when I met her for the first time, had the same stats as those two right now. If you take that into account the Royal Guard Lesbo is quite high-spec for her age.

On the other hand, Ester-chan alone has grown outstandingly. Probably the many eccentricities, which repeatedly occurred across the last few weeks, have given her a huge chunk of experience. Maybe she’s even surpassed the Noble Mage.

Name: Gremoria Fahren
Sex: Man
Race: Human
Level: 131
Job: Mage

HP: 15550/15550
MP: 31010/31010

STR: 2300
VIT: 6058
DEX: 10840
AGI: 3130
INT: 53842
LUC: 3991

Even though it’s in jeopardy, he kept his dignity as elderly man here. Also, his level has gone up, but his obsession with magic alone is going as strong as ever. But, let’s not touch on that since I’m in no position to criticize people in this regard. I think it’s inevitable for humans to have strengths and weaknesses in everything.

By the way, I wonder about the Hero of the West. If he, the key player here, is weak, our plans will become quite difficult to pull off.

Name: Star the Illusion
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Level: 152
Job: Hero

HP: 45300/45300
MP: 21130/21130

STR: 29101
VIT: 14750
DEX: 23023
AGI: 10010
INT: 20140
LUC: 21490

Given his level, his stats are pretty high. Maybe something like a hero adjustment actually exists. Still, if you consider the breakthrough power of the Noble Mage and Loli Bitch, a bit of anxiety remains when it comes to his defenses. He feels like a Jack of all trades and master of none, making him somewhat unreliable.

It looks like it’s necessary to be cautious about whom to pair him with in the tournament.

And the last person to be checked is the unsung hero of Dragon City, the leader of the Twilight Troupe, Gon-chan. I never checked it in the past, but going by the way he fought on sight, I can somehow guess the values to an extent.

Name: Gonzales
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Level: 105
Job: Knight Captain

HP: 29050/29050
MP: 1850/1850

STR: 22300
VIT: 31958
DEX: 8821
AGI: 9030
INT: 942
LUC: 9291

A musclebrain through and through. But, in reality, he’s an intellectual ikemen. Glasses would definitely suit him.

His Vitality is best. If I were to convert a reliable man into numbers, the stats would probably look just like that. He’s got proper weak spots and his being-loved points are high. Also, I’m personally delighted to see that his Job has become Knight Captain. Thank you for your service all this time.

“Boss, how many people can participate?”

“Let’s see…”

Since we can’t see the number of participants from other countries, we should make sure that it’s fair either way. If there’s a big response, it’ll be impossible to send forth too many participants from our side. On the other hand, if we don’t gather enough participants, we’ll likely need to call out to people from our side.

If we consider it like that, I’ll ask everyone, who volunteered to participate here, to join the tournament. In the worst case, we can cut down the numbers through preliminaries. They’re not the Loligon, but if I turn them down at this stage, they’ll likely lose some of their motivation towards the event itself.

“I think I would appreciate all those, who spoke up about participating, to do just that.”

“You truly don’t mind?”

“I assume that the final selection will be carried out in a tournament style, so we will ask all of the participants to first enter the preliminaries. Winning and advancing to the next round will become the precondition for all of you as well. Is that fine with you?”

“No problem.”

“Well, that’s only natural.”

Other than Princess Bitch and Gon-chan, who spoke up, everyone else also nodded.

But, that’s great. It looks like I got them to understand.

“However, forgive me, but I would like only you, Hero of the West-sama, to participate in the final part as seeded contestant. I feel sorry since it will force you to go along with our circumstances, but you’re alright with the participation in the tournament, right?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I think it’s something I can do, so I will our all my strength into it.”

“That’s a bit of help.”

I safely acquired a consent from the Hero of the West. It’s probably fine to consider the event’s format to be set with this.

『…Humph!』

There was a single dragon who snorted while looking bored, but I didn’t care about that. There’s no way I’ll let her participate after all.

“Very well, I thank you for your understanding. I also plan to ask you to help out in various matters as we approach the day of the tournament. Please forgive me for only bothering you with troublesome matters, but please help me out on this.”

As such, the members to appear in the tournament were set. If it’s like this, it seems like we’ll be able to somehow guide the Hero of the West to victory.

＊

A few days later, a letter was delivered from Charis. The sender was Richard-san.

It sounds like he managed to get a Go from His Majesty. As usual, he’s a man who gets the job done quickly. His letter gave an attentive account of the total budget, the meeting times, and the outline.

By the way, 1,000 gold would be paid out to the winner of the tournament. This apparently caused an argument with the prime minister, which eventually resulted in us being able to get a subsidy from the Empire.

I don’t really want to owe the country anything, if possible, but this time it seems inevitable. Richard-san said he’d like me to keep the money without using it. Given that he also plans to contribute as Duke FitzClarence, in addition to the budget allotted by His Majesty, he’d prefer me to freely talk it over with him, according to a note.

The independence of Dragon City, which I previously mentioned from my side, might be more advanced than I thought.

With that said, this ordinary Japanese flat-face arrived in his office and had a talk with Sophia-chan.

“Eh? U-Umm, is this true…?”

I had handed the letter, which I received from Richard-san, to Maid-san.

“Yes. It’s a slightly urgent matter, but we plan to go ahead with the preparations.”

“Umm, b-but, you see…as might be expected, this large amount of money is…”

Her face being ghastly pale with the letter right in front of her was kinda cute. She started to tremble while sitting at her desk. But that makes sense. The sum was by three digits bigger than the budget Dragon City usually handled. It might be enough to fully finance a smaller country.

The 1,000 Penny gold paid to the tournament winner had this sort of dizzying force.

“I truly feel very sorry about it, but could I entrust you with the financial affairs for the upcoming event, Sophia-san? Of course, I will support you as well. But, since I will also need to look at the progress of the whole in addition, I have to leave the details to those who I can trust.”

“Huh…?”

Maid-san was becoming remarkably pale while her armpit was very fast changing colors in front of my eyes. It seems like it’s going to become drenched, if left unattended like this.

“Of course, I will take the liberty to prepare a reward corresponding to the work. If it’s a bit, we will accommodate you with a framework that you’re allowed to use with your own discretion. So, how about it? Can I count on you? I don’t have anyone else I can rely on for this issue.”

“N-No, no, you’re overestimating me! It’s impossible, you know!? I’m a simple maid, so handling such a huge sum of money is d-definitely impossible for me! I think it would be better for you to leave it in the hands of someone trustworthy like Neumann-san.”

True, I must get Neumann to come back from Charis too. Otherwise, this won’t work at all.

“I will take all the responsibility, so could you at least take care of the accounting register?”

“That’s…u-umm, but…”

I bowed deeply, repeatedly begging her.

“Sorry, I have no one else I can depend on besides you, Sophia-san.”

“……”

After bowing my head many times over, she started to ponder after a while. I patiently waited for her.

But, I’m super excited. My heart is beating really hard. It’s almost as if I confessed my love to her.

Then I finally got to hear her answer.

“U-Understood. If it’s that, I-I will fill that role.”

“Thank you. That is a big help for me.”

“But, u-umm, I have one request in exchange…”

“What is it? Please tell me whatever you want.”

Being asked with nervous, upturned eyes, Sophia-chan’s spontaneous request was also quite unusual. Her helpless, pleading expression tickled my sadistic heart. Anyway, I will promise her to work towards making her wish come true with all my strength.

“I think there are m-many h-handsome men among your acquaintances, Tanaka-san. If possible, would you kindly introduce me to a man of my age from among your acquaintances, if you know such a man?”

“gh…”

For real? I didn’t expect you to throw this at me, Sophia-chan.

Or rather, I’m pretty sure all my face muscles are trembling right now.

“I-I feel very sorry for requesting something like this from you, Tanaka-san, but you see, you could describe me as being of marriageable age and it’s not like I’m not aware of that myself, but I keep failing at meeting someone suitable and a-at this rate, it looks like I will miss my chance in getting married…”

“I-I see.”

If I remember correctly, the marriageable age of people in this world starts early. A single woman beyond an age of twenty causes her surroundings to worry about her missing her change to get married. If it’s a single with an age above 25, they will be looked at with eyes full of pity.

Well, that’s a natural viewpoint, if you consider the life expectancy of humans. Then again, those are very precious values for me as a lolicon. But, it’s a different matter, if the aim of that attack is directed at me.

“I-Is it no good after all?”

If it’s now, I might be able to understand why Richard-san and His Majesty are such doting fathers. Fathers simply resist giving their daughters away. At the same time I’m envious of Neuman since his daughter might be extremely estranged from this world’s values as a fathercon.

It’s not like I’m Sophia-chan’s father though.

“…I understand. I will try to choose the best for you.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Yes. After all, I’m doing this for you, Sophia-san, and no one else.”

“T-Thank you kindly!”

“N, no, don’t mind it. It’s give-and-take in matters like this.”

Shit, what should I do? Seriously. What can I do?

In the first place, there’s not a single free hunk in the same age bracket as Sophia-chan available among my acquaintances. I don’t know whether he’s available or not, but if we go by the guy closest in age to her, it’s probably the Hero of the West.

No, no, no. Why would I obediently introduce them to each other? Sophia-chan is going to end up becoming his bride.

For the time being, I’m putting this on hold. Yep, let’s shelve it. I think it’s okay to revisit this issue after getting through the upcoming event.

＊

【Sophia’s Point of View】

Finally, this maid has requested it.

I asked Tanaka-san to introduce me to a man. At first, when he heard of this, he looked very surprised. But I guess that’s only natural. It’s quite a ridiculous request after all.

But, he quickly agreed to it. I was very nervous, but it is wonderful that he went along with my wish without giving me any problems. With this, my future should be set as well, I guess. It looks like I will not end up missing my chance to marry.

“…I’m looking forward to it.”

I imagined all sorts of things while doing paperwork by myself after Tanaka-san left the office. Just thinking about what sort of gentleman would be introduced to me made my heart thump a lot.

“Hehe…hehehe…”

Maybe a noble sir will be introduced to me or someone of similar status? No, no, as might be expected, that won’t happen. No matter how much I wish for it, a noble would be asking too much. Regardless of how nicely I dress myself up, I am just a town girl.

But, there is no problem with me imagining it.

“Hehe…hehehe…”

It looks like I will be able to have an enjoyable dream tonight.

＊

Only a few days after this ordinary Japanese flat-face wrote his response to Richard-san, the martial arts tournament was officially announced by the Penny Empire to the domestic and international audience. Following that, a letter reached this ordinary Japanese flat-face’s place. It used a very extravagant envelope which had been sealed with wax.

It said, the demon queen has been finally revived after five hundred years. The world is currently in a dangerous situation and now is the time for humanity to band together in order to break the deadlock. Those confident in their skills and those believing they are up to the challenge are to gather in the Penny Empire, and so on.

His Majesty has apparently decided to confront the Great Holy Land from the front on the international stage.

Well, you could also say that a fire has been simply set under his ass.

And then, another ten days after His Majesty adopted his new, aggressive stance, people started to gather in Dragon City, making it obvious just how fast rumors spread. Most of them came from other areas in the Empire, which made sense when considering the distance, but participants from the neighboring countries, such as the Pussy Republic, also began to show up slowly.

Thanks to that, we on the administrative side became genuinely busy. A new desk was carried into my office, becoming this ordinary Japanese flat-face’s temporary work space. It was set up to face Sophia-chan’s desk, and because of that, it offered the wonderful occasion for this busamen to look at Maid-san’s upper boobs as much as he wanted.

I must give a pay raise to the one who placed the desk in this spot. I don’t know who it was, but I want to thank them by all means.

Yet, all of us were extremely busy in the mansion.

“Boss, I’m sorry, but please change the arena’s construction a bit. The current version sucks for bringing in goods efficiently.” “Tanaka, about the guard stations planned to be set up around the arena…I think we will also need the nui for this. Forgive me, but could you please bring it up with the mayor.” “T-Tanaka-san, umm, the budget here…if we don’t add a bit more, it will become a bit tough…”

The office was filled with constant work-related matters being discussed. The number of people coming and leaving this room was ridiculous too. The door leading to the corridor was basically constantly opened and closed. Thanks to that, I wasn’t even given the chance to gaze at Sophia-chan’s boobs, even though the setup was perfect for it. Damn it.

“Great Brother! Sorry, Great Brother!”

As all of this was going on, the dude with the mohican hairstyle suddenly rushed into the office. He’s one of the Twilight Troupe’s members whose name I still don’t know. As he seems to hold a position akin to being Gon-chan’s aide, I often encounter him in the mayor’s mansion.

“Is something the matter?”

“T-The crown princes of the C-Cherry Kingdom has arrived!”

“…Okay?”

And who’s that? Also, crown princes…isn’t that a slightly weird place to use plural?

But well, it’s definitely a good piece of news for us. Now that the world is in chaos due to the demon queen’s comeback, I’ve been hoping that other nations would be using this event to gauge their chances to enter under the Penny Empire’s protection or to form an alliance with the Empire. Since this is yet another task assigned to me by His Majesty, I think it’s essential for this to happen.

And for some reason it feels like we pulled a winner right away.

“Sorry, but could ya come to the parlor as soon as possible…”

“I understand. I will be heading there right away.”

“T-Thank ya a lot!”

The Mohican dude humbled himself awfully as he bowed his head. It caused me to reflexively bob my head at him as well, before leaving my seat. Goodbye, boobies.

While muttering in my mind that I’d be back here soon, I took a last glance at Maid-san’s upper boobs. The shading of her cleavage was pure bliss.

Following the Mohican dude as he went ahead, this virgin hurried to the parlor.

＊

At the same time of entering the room, I directed my attention to the sofa. Two men were sitting over there next to each other. Going by their attire, there can be no doubt about them being royalty. The expensive-looking clothes seemed to be of superior quality and appearance when compared to the outfits worn by Penny Empire’s nobles. The dresses, adorned with shiny golden and silver handiwork, were a clear demonstration of wealth and luxury.

“Please forgive us for making you wait here.”

I walked over them in a great hurry. After all, the other party are royals, and crown princes to boot.

Thereupon, for some reason…

“Whoa! It’s really Tanaka-san! “I told you, didn’t I? Listen properly, man! Father has talked with the folks of the Penny Empire though the magic communicator!” “Heyas, Tanaka-san! I’m super happy to meet you again like this! “Yo, Tanaka-san! It might not seem like it, but right now I’m really overcome with emotions! Yeah!”

…I was unexpectedly faced with the playboy brothers. Their attires made them look like different people, but I remember those faces. And for sure I haven’t forgotten that overwhelmingly annoying way of talking either.

“Man, I’m really hyped to be able to meet you again like this! Today is my Tanaka-san anniversary.” “Hey, wait a sec, the Tanaka-san anniversary is my achievement, you know? You just followed me around, so butt out!” “No, no, I believed that Tanaka-san would make it big for sure.”

As usual, those two were yapping away like crazy. I’m sure they would continue this skit forever, if left to their own device. But, if the Mohican dude is right, those two are princes from another country. Because of that, I now find myself in a position I really hate a lot. It feels like two classmates, who used to always fight with each other, have now become big shots in your client company.

“Umm, excuse me, but you two are…”

For starters I’ll have them confirm the situation. After making sure that the Mohican dude had left the room, I tried to talk to them. On the Dark Continent I had ignored them for the most part, so if they held a grudge by any chance, things could become quite troublesome.

However, their attitude has always been quite frank.

“We wanna participate in your fighting event, Tanaka-san!” “Tanaka-san, please let us join as well!”
“We can’t hold a candle to you, Tanaka-san, but we’ve trained hard ever since then.” “Please give me
the opportunity to show you the fruits of my training on stage.” “Opponents like those ropers would be
easy going nowadays.” “Ah, but the turtle ones would still be bad news.” “Hey, what are you saying, man?”

In short, they want to participate in the martial arts tournament. And I appreciate their wish quite a bit.

“But, with you being royals from another country…”

It looks like it could cause various issues. Even though we already have to watch out for the nobles in the empire, important celebrities of other countries can be called nothing other than ticking time bombs. Even if healing magic exists, we cannot exclude the worst from happening. Increasing the number of worrisome elements when setting up a tournament is bothersome.

At the same time, I’ve realized one thing only now. The harem, which had accompanied those two on the Dark Continent, probably weren’t their sexfriends, but royal guards tasked to ensure their safety. Considering the exaggerated behavior of those women towards them, I can easily come to terms with that assumption.

Of course, I can’t deny the possibility of them being their sexfriends as well, though.

“Tanaka-san, please! We believe that we’ve grown sufficiently!”

“Ayes! We’ve worked hard in order to be acknowledged by you!”

As usual, they hung on persistently. With their eyes sparkling, they looked at me as if praying. Their way of talking makes me believe that they haven’t been forced by someone else to do this. It looks like they truly desire to participate in the tournament. For this reason, it’s also so difficult for me to deal with this.

“Father told us that he wouldn’t let either of us succeed the throne until we got you to approve of us, Tanaka-san.” “That’s only natural, isn’t it? Don’t bother him with boring stuff like that. It’s embarrassing. After seeing his actions, no one will be able to find any value in trivial work such as governing a country, right?” “No kidding. It’s literally impossible.”

I don’t know anything about such heavy topics like crown succession and so on. Don’t throw such matters at me all of a sudden. Moreover, sorry for having been doing that trivial work until just moments ago. Fuck.

I can’t tell whether those two are tolerant or not at all. However, there’s no doubt about their style being twisted.

“Excuse me, but would it be alright for me to consider this matter for some time?”

“Of course, man! We gonna to wait for you, no matter how long it takes!”

“Just thinking about you considering things for our sake makes me hard!”

Now I feel like letting them wait forever. Moreover, since they aren’t accompanied by their royal guard harem today, I don’t feel any motivation either.

If this busamen could at least look at their beautiful figures, his spirits would get boosted.

“By the way, where did the knights, who went to the Dark Continent with you, go?”

Now that it’s come to this, I can’t let the chance go to ask them about this. As the host, who will be taking care of foreign royalty, it’s necessary to get in touch with the ones in charge of the royals’ security. This alone is something I won’t yield on. I’ll personally go and meet them to iron out the details, yep.

“The Royal Knights? We have them wait in an inn.”

“We thought it’d be too rude to crowd this place with a big group of people.”

It’d have been great if the two in front of me were beautiful girls. That would have been the correct approach. Tanned gals in high spirits. Yep.

Even if it’s just once, I’d love to experience being told by such gals, “Tanaka-san, you’re so gross,” while having them stare at my dick with indecent expressions. And then I’d like them to stab it with their overly long, and flashily lacquered fingernails.

“There’s no way we could have bothered you during such a busy time, so we decided to stay in an inn.” “Or rather, those girls are always thirsting for men, so it’d have turned into a disaster for you, if we had carelessly brought them with us. Seriously, man.” “Right? As expected, that is definitely out.” “You think so too, eh?”

“……”

I wanted it to become a disaster. I really wanted that disaster

Sadge.

“Tanaka-san? You okay? For some reason, you look terribly exhausted.” “If you like, I’ll give you a nice and relaxing massage, you know?” Ah, hey, wait a sec, I’ll do it as well, the massage. Rather, I’m much better at it. It’ll immediately blow away your accumulated fatigue.” “Don’t fuck with me, I was the one who suggested it first, no? Don’t try to steal the show.”

“…I understand. As I told you earlier, I would like to think it over for a bit, so please give me some time.”

“Sure thing!”

“We’re already extremely grateful for you taking it into consideration!”

It’s impossible to come to a conclusion under the current circumstances. I’ll give them a reply after investigating the national power of the Cherry Kingdom.

＊

After parting with the playboy brothers, I walked through the corridors in order to return to my office.

Suddenly, the Noble Mage appeared from the other side of a corner, just several meters ahead of me. A few moments later, his companion, walking next to him, appeared as well. Both seemed to be absorbed in a heated discussion and didn’t look like they noticed me.

Just as I was about to reflexively open my mouth to greet them, I suddenly realized that the Noble Mage’s partner was no one other than Professor Journal.

“Umm, could it possibly be you, Professor Journal?”

I took the liberty to call out to him. Only then the two noticed this ordinary Japanese flat-face and simultaneously turned their faces in my direction.

“Oohh, you’ve come at the perfect time. We were just on our way to you.” answered the Noble Mage instead of the professor.

The last time I was able to meet the professor in person was when I stepped into the academy city as His Majesty’s messenger. Only a few months have passed since then, and yet I feel like it’s been such a long time.

But, this busamen wonders what sort of business those two might have with him.

“Do you have some business with me?”

“Forgive us for approaching you without any prior contact.”

“It’s no problem. It’s just that I didn’t expect that you’d be in the Penny Empire, so I was slightly surprised. When did you get here? Please allow me to properly welcome you by all means. You treated me extremely well in the academy city, too.”

It should take quite some time to move all the way here from the academy city. Considering the matter on the Dark Continent as well, this old man is quite quick on his feet in contrast to his bombastic title. I’m sure he must give the assistants around him quite some headaches. He has a macho build and is pretty tall, so I can’t sense any aging from him.

He’d be a good match for Ester-chan’s power geezer.

“I arrived here just moments ago and met this person at the gate by coincidence.”

“I see. But, why would you come to this place?”

“Do you think I haven’t heard any information about the Penny Empire at all? When I spotted your name, Tanaka-dono, among the organizers for the tournament that’s slated to be held close to this city, I couldn’t stop myself from immediately coming here.”

“I understand.”

“I would like you to give me the permission to participate at any cost.”

No, wait a sec. I’d like you to hold up.

Even more so than dealing with the playboy brothers, it’ll become a major issue if something happens to him. Even I, who’s quite ignorant towards international relations and matters, fully understands the scope of problems this would bring with the academy city as a nation.

The academy city’s doors have been widely open for all sorts of foreign students and many of them have wormed their way into the center of their respective countries. Moreover, the academy city owns many outstanding research facilities and many of their results have been freely published without leaving any countries out.

With such a neutral player assisting as well, their international influence compares to the Great Holy Land. Moreover, the professor himself is known as a renowned researcher across the globe in addition to his position as representative of a country. On the other hand, even if he maintained a youthful body, the number of years he has accumulated is nothing to scoff at. It seems quite likely that he could knock people out cold by just lightly hitting their heads.

No matter how you put it, I can’t laugh at this. And I also must avoid international criticism.

“If I allow you to participate, Professor, it’ll be equivalent to our event having succeeded. However, if I let someone, who’s extolled in the world for his intelligence, join the tournament and something happens to you on the off-chance, it might turn into an incorrigible situation.”

“Lord Fahren over here will be participating, no?”

“Yes, well, it was planned for that to happen.”

What a loose mouth he has, that blasted Noble Mage. Though I think he leaked it while following the natural flow of their conversation.

“Just once would be fine, but I really feel like having a wand duel with this man here.”

“Tanaka, could you make an exception? I’m begging you from my side as well.”

“…I understand.”

Being told so by the Noble Mage makes this difficult. Now I cannot turn this down anymore.

But then again, I wonder what stats the professor has. He had a tough time on the Dark Continent, and I doubt that he’s all that different from the Hero of the West, but considering the matter with the Saint-sama, it’s not like it’s impossible for him to have strayed off the path of humans.

Name: Word Journal
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Level:１４２
Job: Wizard

ＨＰ：２１２００／２１２００
ＭＰ：２９０８８／２９０８８

ＳＴＲ：６３２０
ＶＩＴ：１００５８
ＤＥＸ：１２００３
ＡＧＩ：４２００
ＩＮＴ：４８９００
ＬＵＣ：８９０１

I see. He’s up there together with the Noble Mage. It looks like these could have a good match. And it’s not like I’m adverse to watching it myself either.

Given the overwhelming predominance of brute force approaches around me, I’m keenly interested in a technical fight of sorts. Besides, he especially came here all the way from the distant Academy City.

“Understood. I shall approve of your entry, Professor Journal.”

“Oohh, that’s a huge help, Tanaka-dono. I thank you for your generosity.”

“It is I who has to thank you for coming all the way here from far, far away. It will be necessary for you to go through the preliminaries first as a participant, but would that be okay with you?”

“Mmh, of course.”

“Thank you kindly for your understanding.”

Oh, right. I recall now thanks to Professor Journal. The Noble Mage is conveniently together with him as well. So I should consult those two about Shotachinpo’s future. Previously, the matter of the temporary absence application ended up leading to an awkward and ambiguous state of affairs. But, since he enrolled at that wonderful academy after going through all the hardships, I’d like them to at least allow Shotachinpo to graduate.

“By the way, please forgive me, but there is one more thing I would like to discuss with you.”

“What is it?”

“My acquaintance has been enrolled at the Academy City, but recently he was given the rank of a noble in the Penny Empire, and at present it seems like it will be difficult for him to go back to the academy. However, the person in question is an extremely outstanding student and I also hold high hopes for his future.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“Accordingly, I wanted to ask whether it would be possible to examine the interchangeability of the courses at the Academy City and the Royal Academy of Penny Empire? Or, if they aren’t interchangeable, I wouldn’t even mind something like an acknowledgment or certification for having taken those courses.”

“Hmm, you say interchangeability of the courses, right? What do you mean by that?”

“I would like you to approve of the education carried out at the Royal Academy of the Penny Empire to be equal in level with the education carried out in the Academy City. Basically it means, when taking a class in one of the academies has been certified, it’s treated as having taken the class at the other academy as well.”

“I see. that’s yet another very astounding idea.”

If it’s the academy in Charis, Shotachinpo can attend it in regards to the distance. And he could attend the courses at the Academy City only when it’s absolutely necessary.

“What do you think? Of course, I’m not talking about all courses. It’s plenty to go with what is possible, could you consider it in a positive light? Even if it’s hard to commute to the Academy City all year long, it would be a big help if commuting at a suitable frequency until graduation would be an option.”

I also cast a fleeting glance at the Noble Mage.

“It’s certainly not a bad idea. It’ll widen the circle of education and produce a bigger diversity in studying than now. The exchange of cultures will also lead to new inventions. However, the necessary assessment for this might need to be changed to a higher level than usual.”

“I agree with Lord Fahren’s opinion.”

He’s fine doing this, but in return he’s demanding for the exams to be assessed a lot more relentlessly. And if this old man talks about hard exams, he probably means a significant rise in the difficulty level.

He doesn’t have the personality to be soft on exam takers just because they’re family or relatives. Rather, he’s the type who would swing the whip of love even harder at those people. And I’m sure that Professor Journal is pretty much the same as well.

However, something is telling me that Shotachinpo should be alright with this. You can say this or that about him, but in the end he seems like a genius, so he’ll probably do pretty well. After all, he didn’t enroll as a top student while skipping a grade for show. Even my blond, thicc, loli sensei has praised him.

“Thank you. I’m terribly sorry for bothering you with my personal affairs, but could I ask this of you? He possesses a talent which is simply too good to waste like that, so I would be delighted if I could have him tap into his full potential under you.”

“Hmm? Someone like you goes this far with the praise?”

“I’m most certainly looking forward to it then.”

“I know that I’m troubling you with this, but please take care of him for me.”

With that cleared, all that’s left is to contact Shotachinpo and then it’ll be a done deal. With this, it’ll also end the allegation that I’ll fuck and dump him someday. A boy with a bright future will be able to continue his scholarly studies in the Penny Empire while reviving his own family..

Meanwhile, this busamen will brazenly explain to everyone that nothing went down between him and Shotachinpo.

How wonderful. Connections with higher-ups is something that makes life so much easier.

＊

【Sophia-chan’s Point of View】

It’s a disaster. I encountered the Hero of the East.

After finishing my assistance with the lunchtime rush at home, I went back to Mayor-san’s mansion. On the way I passed through a square with a conspicuous amount of pedestrian traffic, even for the southern district of Dragon City. It happened in the middle of that square where you could see many people going back and forth.

I couldn’t see any of Hero-sama’s party members next to him. Apparently he was here alone. Just like when I met him in the past, he was covered in full armor. Moreover, an expensive-looking sword was hanging at his waist.

And right now this maid is being interrogated by that man.

“Speak! Tell me everything you know!”

“U-Umm, I am…”

I think the last time we saw each other was at Academy City. He seemed to be very angry.

When I was peacefully walking across the square and turned around upon being suddenly addressed, his face was already right in front of me. Considering the matter with Elf-san, it’s not like I can’t understand his anger. But, being on the receiving side of his yelling is very unpleasant, to say the least.

“I know that you people kidnapped Saint-sama!”

“Eh? U-Umm, what a-are you talking about…?”

“You’re the woman of that guy called Tanaka, right? Spit out everything you know!”

“Hiii…”

In response to him loudly shouting at me, the pain of having my foot cut off by him in the past crossed my mind. Maybe he will hurl a spell at me again at any moment now.

When I considered this, I became very afraid. Naturally my body froze and I could feel the sweat starting to gush out all over my body.

“Or do you want to go through a painful experience once again?”

“gh……”

Ah, it went pssshh. It’s the fastest record thus far.

I could tell how something warm was running down along my thighs.

Please resolve yourself. I cannot stop it anymore at this point.”

“…Do you think you can trick me with such a silly performance?”

“P-P-Please s-show some f-f-forgiveness. I-I-I have n-n-nothing to d-do with t-t-this…”

What should I do?

With it being daytime right now, there are many pedestrians around us. As Hero-sama already stands out by just being present, there’s no way for this maid to not draw any attention. Her peeing herself in public in broad daylight is a great show.

“How dare you run a martial arts tournament while arbitrarily looking down on the Great Holy Land! Saint-sama is the only person who can guide the heroes in this world! If you say you will oppose this order, I shall punish all of it in the name of the Great Holy Land as the true hero!”

“Even if you tell me all that…”

P-Please save me. Tanaka-san, please. The Hero of the East is in a terrible mood. It’s impossible for this powerless maid to deal with him.

But, although I wanted to run away from here as soon as possible, my shaking knees proved to be very unreliable. It seemed as though they’d stop supporting my body at any moment now. I’m about to crouch down on the spot.

“Or was it the Hero of the West? Did that guy kidnap Saint-sama…!?”

The life of this maid was in a dire state with a hero, who was rapidly getting more furious, right in front of her.

If there’s one regret I have, it’s the bottles I hid away in the kitchen. I dearly pray that they fade away without anyone ever spotting them after my death. If they were ever to be found by some freak chance, my whole family wouldn’t be able to escape a public execution, I fear.

“You don’t plan to confess, no matter what happens, huh? In that case, I have my own means to get you to talk.”

Hero-sama reached for his sword. Him smoothly drawing it made me be amazed about its magnificence. It seems much too precious to use it for execute a lowly maid like me.

“Hii…”

I reflexively averted my eyes from Hero-sama to not have to look at the sword’s point. But then I noticed a nui quickly dashing towards me from diagonally behind for some reason. While swiftly passing underneath the feet of the passerby, it headed my way with an incredible speed.

And then, just as this maid realized what was happening, it became reality. The nui rammed itself into the flank of the Hero of the East, using its momentum just like that.

“Gahh!?”

He probably hadn’t expected to be attacked publicly in the middle of the city with no questions asked. His armor bent in and he was blown away. A loud crash could be heard next.

On the other hand, the nui in question positioned itself between me and the Hero of the East at the same time as it elegantly landed on the ground. Next it threatened Hero-sama by growling deeply. Its sharp canines showed and it looked as if it was going to leap at him any moment.

“U-Umm…”

Nui-san, you’re cute. Yet, I wonder what to think about this reliability. I cannot bear the feeling of being protected. You’re so cool.

My heart throbbed.

“Ugh, w-why is there a nui in this place!?”

The Hero of the East raised his body. It seemed as if he took quite a blow, but it wasn’t enough to make him lose his fighting spirit. Rather, it appears as if his feelings were hurt even more by the tackle.

『Garurururu』

“You intend to protect that woman? Bring it on! I will get rid of you here and now.”

Hero-sama started to run towards Nui-san. The tip of his lifted sword was clearly pointed at Nui-san. Nui-san, on the other hand, jumped once more to deal with this. As soon as it jumped sideways, it directed its fangs at Hero-sama’s throat while simultaneously dodging Hero-sama’s sword.

“Hah, I got you!”

Hero-sama’s arm moved, delivering an elbow strike against the nose of the approaching nui.

“Kyuuun!”

Because Hero-sama was wearing a very sturdy-looking metal armor, even Nui-san couldn’t shrug off being hit by it. Accompanied by a splash of blood, its body was sent flying. Drawing a loose arc, its small body flew all the way to this maid’s feet.

“A-Are you alright!?”

I embraced it by reflex.

The twitching nui looks so miserable. Let’s run away while carrying it. If it’s Tanaka-san, he should be able to heal it without any problems.

Now is not the time to pee around.

“Going around to ask each and every person is a chore, too.”

Immediately after I made up my mind, my path was blocked by Hero-sama. Just when I thought he had leaped into the air after kicking off the ground, I found him standing in my escape route the next moment. Moreover, his sword was unwaveringly pointed at me.

“gh…”

“If you cry and scream, that man won’t stay silent either.Grief over having allied with evil and repent for your own foolishness in front of God! Pay for the sin of mocking our Saint-sama and sullying the holy deeds of the Great Holy Land!”

My whole body stiffened up. I couldn’t move my legs. This was the end. I was at a stalemate now. Not even a drop of pee was coming out below anymore either.

“It’s going to be a problem if you can run away like earlier, so I’ll take those feet of yours.”

“Hii…”

The Hero of the East took one step towards me. I reflexively closed my eyes. Then I turned my back on him, crouched down, and curled up my body while hugging Nui-san. I’m sure I’ll be stabbed from behind and that will be my end.

Or so I thought, but a feeling of pain never came. Instead, I was hit by a voice hurling a question at us.

“What are you doing out in a public place like this?”

It was a tone I remember to have heard somewhere. I timidly opened my eyes, looking for the owner of the voice. Thereupon, I discovered the Hero of the West for some reason. He was gazing at this maid and the Hero of the East from the side.

“Y-You bastard!!”

Spotting him, the Hero of the East’s attitude completely changed. He turned away from this maid and put himself on guard against the Hero of the West.

“Is what you call a hero a brute who would one-sidedly cut down nonresistant citizens? I cannot believe that the girl over there is such a heinous person that she’d be able to do anything to you.”

The Hero of the west briskly walked over, forcing his way between this maid and the Hero of the East.

It seems like he’s going to save me.

On the other hand, the pedestrians naturally distanced themselves after this chain of incidents. After all, it’d be a tragedy if they got dragged into this. However, probably because of their interest in the heroes, many people watched the situation over here after having taken some distance. It all slightly had the appearance of an event on the roadside.

“S-Shut up! You traitor!”

“I don’t recall having betrayed anyone. Though I might have been deceived.”

“You betrayed a lady, who treated you so kindly, out of pure self-interest! I looked at the long term, thinking you might change your thinking if you’re under Saint-sama, but any more of this is pointless. I will definitely not forgive you!”

“You have changed quite a bit as well. You were more honest with yourself in the past.”

The Hero of the East was very angry now. In contrast to him, the Hero of the West seemed somewhat cold and detached.

“No, you became like this because you’ve finally shown your true colors, I guess.”

“Speak! What happened to Saint-sama!?”

“I cannot tell you that.”

“W-What was that!?”

“You think I’m at fault?”

“Of course!”

Hero of the West-sama, I think saying any more will be dangerous. It would be bad to instigate him any further, this maid would like to argue.

I don’t know the circumstances between you two. But, you’re fellow heroes, so I think it would be better for you to be on good terms. And even if you must fight, please do it in a place far away from this maid. I must take Nui-san to Tanaka-san as quickly as possible.

“Do you know about the martial arts tournament in this city next month?”

“The tournament dubbed after you? Yeah, I heard about this fucked up event.”

“If you like, you can participate in it as well. Of course, I’ll participate. And, if you’re truly the one and only hero, I think you should prove it in front of everyone by defeating me with your own power.”

“…What was that?”

“If you win the championship, I won’t mind telling you the whereabouts of Saint-sama.”

“S-Sure! That’s just what I wanted!”

Things have taken a bad turn. It looks like the Hero of the East is going to participate in the tournament on top of the Hero of the West.

＊

Touting the success of the event as a goal, all of us concerned with Dragon City worked for dear life. The construction of the arena, the organization of the schedule until the appointed day, and many more tasks kept us continuously busy. Just trying to largely wrap up one of those tasks required us tolling away like a work-horse.

And as we were doing all of this for dear life, people started to feel like the time was passing much faster and before any of us noticed, the day before the tournament had arrived.

That one month since His Majesty had announced the tournament in the Empire had passed in the blink of an eye.

“Well, you gotta admit, quite a few people have gathered here.”

“This is slightly beyond expectations.”

This ordinary Japanese flat-face and Gon-chan were in the office.

The two of us were staring at the mountains of wooden tags, which had the names and affiliation of people written on them, piling up on the desk. Each single tag represented one of the participants. When we counted them yesterday, we were shocked that their numbers reached four digits.

During the initial planning we had expected two to three hundred participants at most, but now a lot more than we had anticipated had assembled. And if course participants don’t refer to the tourists, but those actually participating in the tournament.

By the way, there was no obligation for the participants to record their affiliation. After all, it wouldn’t be realistic to check the affiliation noted on the application for each participant. It’d have been possible to require a guarantor to cover that side, but this would have driven up the management costs. The hurdle for becoming a participant would have risen significantly, too. Accordingly we decided to not require that piece of information this time.

With the circumstances helping in this manner, the concrete numbers of participants per nation remained unclear. However, if we limited it to those applicants who had specified it in their application, approximately half of the fighters were coming from outside the Penny Empire. Meaning, the participation of foreign participants was much higher than I had assumed it would be.

Given that they only had a month since the tournament became public news, they did quite well to have gathered in such numbers here. It was no underestimation to claim that we were receiving quite a lot of attention from other nations. Inevitably, the outcome of the main event would heavily influence the future political situation.

“Can’t this also fail by some freak chance?”

“The day when such a freak chance occurs would basically spell the end of the Penny Empire, without even requiring the demon queen’s intervention. His Majesty would be decapitated through a coup d’etat by a faction that hates the current government. Richard-san and his whole family wouldn’t be able to escape a massacre.”

“Hahaha, are we going to start over on the Dark Continent in such a case?”

Gon-chan must be quite scared as well. His frivolous talk is cute, compared to normal. It might be my first time to see this man buckle under pressure. But it also shows just how big our job is this time around.

Looking at it like this, nobles sure live the lives of rockstars.

“You’re right. At such time, I shall be counting on the assistance of the Twilight Troupe.”

“Sure.”

When it concerns the revival of the demon queen and so on, it’s an extremely important issue for all the nations. If we’re deemed useless by society, the Penny Empire will be finished as a country, no matter the real circumstances. Likewise the Hero of the West will be done as a Traitor Hero.

The ones who are building the world of humans are humans. But the majority of those people exist in obscurity. They often only listen to the nice-sounding truths. Be it at school, at work, or within the country, politics are everywhere the same. On the other hand, I’d hate to jerk off all by myself in a world with no people and fap material.

“By the way, what’s the hill over there? It’s full of tags that look very similar.”

“Ah, those are our name tags.”

“Name tags?”

“I have been planning to make it convenient for Richard-san on the very day, so I thought it might be best to avoid causing confusion in this area, so far as it goes.”

“I see, so that’s the plan.”

“Also, since we simply had too many tags, I used the rest to waste some time.”

“Does that mean there are tags for me and the missy, too?”

“For the time being, I’ve prepared them. I will formally hand them over to you tomorrow, so please attach it to your chest at that time. As far as you’re concerned, Gonzales-san, I don’t think you actually need it, but if you wear it as a representative, I think it will increase the willingness of other people to also wear name tags.”

“Alright, got it.”

“That’s a big help.”

Afterwards we talked about various matters, but then the door of the room was suddenly slammed open.

It was the Loligon. I didn’t hear her footsteps, so maybe she had used flight magic to get here?

『Hey! It’s tomorrow, you know!?』

Moreover, this is yet another, abrupt greeting, isn’t it? She roared at me in passing while looking awfully excited.

“Yes, true. It’s tomorrow.”

『Y-You know what I mean by that, so don’t play coy with me, alright!?』

“You might be saying so, but…”

『…』

“…”

I wonder what it is? She’s closely staring at me.

Maybe is ‘that’?

“Let me just say to make sure, but what is not allowed stays not allowed, okay? Especially your personal participation in the tournament, Mayor.”

『Gururururururu』

“Growling at me won’t change anything.”

『Isn’t just a tiny bit fine? You’re such a stingy guy!』

“I feel very sorry, but this alone is something I cannot permit.”

『Gu…gururun』

“…What’s that?”

Her acting frustrated and passionate was somewhat cute. Every once in a while I feel like wanting to thoroughly rape the Loligon.

『gh…S-Shut up! Be silent! No more words from you, miser!』

“It’s not like it’s a substitute, but mayor, the celebratory speech at the beginning…”

『At this point, I don’t give a fuck about the likes of you anymore! I don’t know you!』

Without letting me finish, she blurted out some harsh words with a loud voice and stormed out of the room. But seriously, what did she come here for? Did she think that she’d able to push the matter through the day before the tournament after I had told her so often that she wouldn’t be allowed?

“Man, that sounded bad. Will you be okay?”

“Well, even if you say so, there’s no other choice anyway.”

“That’s definitely true, but still…”

Well, it’ll probably be alright.

＊

【Sophia-chan’s Point of View】

When I headed over to clean the reception room, I sensed the presence of people inside.

Most recently, this maid had repeatedly encountered dangerous situations, so she has become very sensitive to the presences of others. Right now, at this very moment, I didn’t feel overly great after having guessed the other person’s presence while being isolated by a single floor.

“…Who might you be?”

For the moment, I pressed my ear against the door and asked into the room. Because Fahren-sama and Richard-sama are present in the building.

Most recently, nobles with a high position have been visiting Mayor-san’s mansion with a fairly high frequency. Just the other day, foreign royalty has apparently stopped by. As the maid in charge of the tea-making, all my nerves were tingling.

In the evening on the day before yesterday, I encountered Princess-sama in the hallway as I was on my way back to my room after taking a bath. I thought my heart would stop.

“……”

As I eavesdropped, I could hear voices being exchanged inside the room.

“…So, h-how about it?”

『I saw them. There were plenty of them on top of the desk. Just as you said, I saw many wooden splinters』

“I see. As I thought, those wooden tags are being managed inside the room.”

『Next! What should I do next!? I investigated it properly!』

“Mmh, about that…I guess, first would be the map of this city’s southern area…”

There’s no doubt about it. Those are Elf-san and Dragon-san.

Recently, the opportunities where those two were together had increased and it was unthinkable for me to not identify their voices. Even Dragon-san, whom I considered as scary when I met her first, possesses an unexpectedly kind side. I wonder why, but I feel like she’s a nice person on a personal level.

『Understood. I will do as you tell me to. But, only this time. Got it?』

“Y-Yeah. It’s a bit sudden, but let us carry it out tonight. Alright?”

『Yep』

I could acutely sense that they were scheming something. But, those two are my allies. Let’s pretend I didn’t see them and head over to clean outside the rooms. I don’t know what they’re trying to achieve, but it’d be nice if it goes well for them.

This maid secretly rooted for them from the bottom of her heart.

＊

The next day, we finally greeted the opening of the martial arts tournament hosted by the Penny Empire. The opening ceremony will be held in the morning and it’s planned for the preliminaries to start in the afternoon. A special arena constructed in the outskirts of Dragon City will serve as the venue.

Loligon and this ordinary Japanese flat-face built it together and the members of the Twilight Troupe, under the leadership of Gon-chan, worked on the interior design.

Originally, I planned to participate in this as well.

This ordinary Japanese flat-face was supposed to work as host, receive words of gratitude from His Majesty, get Richard-san to announce the main points of the tournament, and much more. It was a perfect opening ceremony with its schedule adjusted down to the minute.

However, just as I was preparing for the ceremony right around the corner, an unexpected problem cropped up.

“Hey, Boss! We’ve got a huge problem!”

“What is the matter?”

“My troupe members found something like this in the venue.”

Gon-chan rushed into my office as I was doing the last confirmations. He seemed to be awfully flustered. He was carefully carrying a candy-box-sized, wooden container in his hands.

Is he possibly planning to give sweets to this ordinary Japanese flat-face? No, no, that cannot be. If it was, it’d be weird for the people of his troupe to have discovered it in the arena.

“…And that is?”

“Let me ask you in advance: Please don’t get mad, okay?”

Gon-chan opened the lid of the box and showed me its inside. What drew my attention first was the magic circle drawn on the bottom and the gems of various sizes placed at various places inside the box. They were all blinking and shining. And between the gems were wood scraps, animal bones, and something weird.

To be honest, I don’t get it at all. It’s something similar to the mysterious object I created for the free handiwork assignment for summer vacation at elementary school.

“…What would that be?”

“It was placed underneath the seat where His Majesty was scheduled to sit during the opening ceremony, you know? I don’t think I need to explain this to you, but when I showed it to an expert in magic, he told me that it was most likely a magic explosion tool.”

“That is quite a disturbing story.”

Hey, hey, wait a minute. For real!? Isn’t this what you call terrorism?

“Right after we found this, I gathered all the tight-lipped members of the troupe and we went around to check other places. So far, I haven’t heard back from them yet. But, isn’t this very bad news, Boss?”

“…Does anyone besides you, Gonzales-san, know about this?”

“If you exclude the ones searching right now, it’d be only you, Boss.”

“Thank you. That is a huge help.”

“Either way, the question is what we’re going to do after knowing about this. Do you have any ideas?”

“Let’s see…”

Terrorism definitely is scary. If Gon-chan’s comrades didn’t notice it, His Majesty would have gone boom with the tournament ending right then and there. Not only Dragon City, but even the Penny Empire would be in a huge predicament. We would have lost everything before even taking a single step forward.

I thought that such things are other people’s problems. I’ve understood for the first time that I’ve shifted to the side protecting something other than myself. Now that I’m on the side of being challenged, a shiver is running down my spine.

I frantically tried to not show it on my face in front of Gon-chan. At this moment I think I can slightly comprehend the reason for a certain Saint-sama to reinforce the security around her.

But, why?

Maybe it’s the Princess?

“………”

No, no, no, I don’t want to believe that she’d go as far as blowing up her own father in front of a huge audience.

However, it’s Royal Bitch’s scary part that you cannot fully exclude that possibility either. For the time being, it might be best to check back with Mercedes-chan on the recent actions of the princess. Also, in regards to a future, focused monitoring.

I guess it’d be preferable to have her locked up and trained. After all, this ordinary Japanese flat-face will use her after the tournament.

“In the worst case, we can come up with a random reason like His Majesty’s health being bad or our guest arriving late. I think it could buy us one or two days, but what’s your take? I don’t mind either way.”

“No, let’s proceed just like this.”

“You sure?”

“It’d be okay if we could catch the culprit during the extra time we gained, but in case we fail, we will very likely give our opponent time to set up their next move. I would like to avoid a stop of the tournament, so I think we should keep that as the last option.”

“…I see.”

“Thanks to the members of the Twilight Troupe having discovered this for us, it’s not too audacious to think that we’re one step ahead of our opponent. Hence I believe it’s correct to go on with the tournament and use our advantage to search for the other party.”

“Nothing less of you, Boss.”

“All of it is only possible because of your and your troupe’s cooperation, Gonzales-san,”

“I can tell since I’m working as clan chief myself, but although you might be doing the same when moving after receiving orders from above or giving orders while actually leading yourself, it’s completely different. Making a decision while accepting the risk involved isn’t easy by any measure.”

I’d prefer if he stopped sucking up to me in situations like this, though. Right now, I feel very lost. So much so that I want to escape reality by burying my face in Edita-sensei’s thicc thighs from the front.

I’m 100% sure they’ll smell nicely. By the way, these days she’s started a diet. I must stop her by all means.

“However, I’m sorry to say this, Boss, but we have to divert a significant number of the personnel slated to patrol the venue to the search effort. This alone is something we cannot handle as if doing it in our spare time as an odd job. But, will that be okay?”

“Yes, of course. I will contact the mayor and get the help of the nui.”

“Yeah, it’d be a big help if you could do that. Their mobility is nothing to scoff at, after all.”

“Very well. Let us go ahead with this right away. I will also join the search.”

“Hey, wait a minute! Is that fine for the host of the opening ceremony? Isn’t it right around the corner?”

“It’s going to be quite abrupt, but I plan to ask Neumann-san to take over my duty as host. It’d be bad if I couldn’t move due to my obligations during the ceremony, if something were to happen. And there’s no way we can let the audience learn about this either,” I answered while directing my eyes at the box in Gon-chan’s hands.

It doesn’t seem like a situation where I can grumble about my fate.

“Still, you say all that, but won’t Neumann have to deal with all sorts of big-shots then? Since not only nobles, but even royalty will attend, he was lamenting by himself about all sorts of things, such as how your networking with all those important people is going to work out.”

“Ah, I see…”

Okay, it’d be mean to ask more of him then. But, that’s a problem. What should I do? Is there anyone else with some free time during the ceremony?

No, I doubt that.

“What are you going to do? This is something you cannot ask the mayor to handle either, I’d say.”

“Then I shall entrust it to Sophia-san.”

“…Is the little missy going to be alright?”

“Since she’s just sitting on a seat during the opening ceremony, I don’t think it’s that much of a problem. It’s planned for that seat to be on the same floor as Her Highness the Princess and His Majesty, so I will tell her to have them look after her in case of something unexpected happening.”

Given that she will be simply sitting there as representative of our city, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Yet, that “I’m sure it’ll be fine” would never apply to Loligon.

“I see? Well, if you say so, I won’t mind it either, Boss.”

“Okay, I’m sorry, but please have things proceed in this direction.”

“Aye. I’m going ahead of you.”

“Yes, please do.”

Gon-chan rushed out of the office while holding the fake candy box with one hand. His footsteps quickly faded in the distance. Only this ordinary Japanese flat-face was left in the office. With the place being silent as the presences of other people were nowhere to be found either, I used the chance to think things over once more.

I really wonder just who was trying to kill His Majesty. Considering it normally, it’d be someone disliking the Penny Empire. Going by that train of thought, the first coming to mind is the Great Holy Land.

“………”

No, no way.”

She’s already gone. Moreover, it happened in front of this ordinary Japanese flat-face’s eyes. In the first place it’d be weird for her to have planted this under the chair reserved for His Majesty.

In all likelihood, it’s an internal affair.

＊

【Sophia-chan’s Point of View】

The martial arts tournament’s opening ceremony has finally started.

As we were welcoming this day, I too took the liberty to help out in various ways. Thanks to that, I also feel very strongly about this whole event. I can sense a feeling of accomplishment that goes beyond what I initially expected welling up inside my chest. Working together with everyone as a team gave me a strong sense of unity, too.

All of that is very nice and comfortable.

“I truly thank everyone for taking time out of your busy schedule to gather here on this fine day.”

The arena is very huge. It has a stage for the fights set up in its center while being surrounded by audience seats which fan out in several, vertical layers. Those audience seats are covered by a hemispheric roof, making rain less of a problem.

Luxurious booths have been set up on the northern and southern sides of the audience seats, standing out as they have been constructed in relatively high places. I could see domestic and foreign nobles as well as royals looking down on the center from over there. Their seats are extremely extravagant, drawing a clear line between them and the seats of the common people.

However, there’s also different qualities of seatings among those audience seats besides the ones for the nobles. Accordingly, they cost differently. It might be impertinent of this unworthy maid, but she helped with the pricing of the seats.

“I am called Neumann and shall serve as your host for the opening ceremony.”

I could see Neumann-san in the center of the fighting stage. Originally he was supposed to be seated in a noble booth, but since Tanaka-san had urgent business to attend, Neumann-san apparently had to stand in for him.

In spite of the sudden change, his conduct could be rightfully called flawless. He was splendidly moving along the opening ceremony as he faced the audience. Even this maid could clearly hear his voice as it was amplified through magic.

He’s very cool at the moment. Moreover, he’s currently single as he apparently divorced his wife. That made him look very attractive to this maid’s eyes.

“The tournament price for the winner amounts to unbelievable 1000 gold. In addition, many royals and nobles shall be watching the matches in the noble booths. Dear participants, please use this glorious stage to fully exhibit your own prowess and win your way through the preliminaries.”

But, right now I don’t have the leeway to leisurely stare at his appearance. Neumann-san is leading the ceremony as host in Tanaka-san’s stead.

And as such, this maid here was forced into one of the noble booths in his place.

Yes, right now I’m sitting next to nobility and royalty. Each and every of the seats with their grainy luster was shining so much that it seemed to dazzle me. I wonder how much they must have polished those chairs for them to sparkle so much.

When I tried to lightly touch them with my fingertips, the surface felt so smooth that I couldn’t believe it to be made out of wood.

And for some reason, this woman in a maid uniform was sitting in such a luxurious location while looking all important.

I don’t get why, though.

“……”

Because of that, I have been sweating buckets since earlier.

I could spot maids other than myself as well. But, all of them, without any exception, were standing in the corners of the booth. At times they’d respond to the guests calling out to them and prepare drinks, take orders, or do other stuff like that.

Only this maid alone was sitting on one of the seats for guests.

I wonder why that is so. I feel like I’m going to lose heart.

“…Girl, is something wrong for you to pull such a stiff face?”

“A-A-A-A-Ab-Absolutely n-n-n-n-not!”

“Really? Then it’s fine, but…”

“Y-YESH!”

Moreover, His Majesty was sitting right next to me.

His Majesty.

It’s His Majesty.

If you want to know which majesty, it’d be the emperor of Penny.

“That man asked me to keep an eye on you, so if anything happens, feel free to tell me.”

“T-T-T-Thank y-y-y-you k-k-k-k-kindly!”

Moreover, Her Highness the Princess was sitting next to His Majesty. On top of that, the Prime Minister was sitting next to the princess. And on the opposite side of His Majesty sat rows of other, very important-looking people, although I didn’t know any of them.

At this point, I don’t get what is going on anymore. My head is completely blank.

“Very well. Allow me to pass the word to Hero-sama.”

Even Neumann-san’s voice didn’t quite register with me. It went in through the right ear, just to immediately leave through the left. Currently my body was frozen in place as I was praying for the ceremony to end as soon as possible.

I really don’t understand what Tanaka-san is thinking here.

＊

Going from the conclusion, nothing happened during the opening ceremony.

Now then, was that the result of the precaution by the members of the Twilight Troupe and this ordinary Japanese flat-face, or did our opponent simply have no other hand to play?

I can’t tell which is true. Even so, I can probably take a breath in relief as we scaled the first hurdle without a hitch for now.

Of course, we’re going to stay alert from now on as well. The rotation of the security and guard members is going to become somewhat straining, and I feel really bad for putting them through so much trouble.

But, during the time from the start of the preliminaries until the beginning of the main tournament, there won’t be any other occasion where His Majesty and the other VIPs are going to be together in one place. We can use that time-frame to switch from defense to offense. I intend to use that period to carry out a thorough investigation.

It’s very likely that the criminals are going to strike next during the main tournament. As such I’d like to catch them before it starts.

Moreover, the tournament must also proceed at the same time. Seeing how we have the important mission of letting the Hero of the West win the overall championship, this ordinary Japanese flat-face shall oversee the preliminaries personally. This alone is something he cannot yield to anyone else.

With that said, I visited the place for the tournament’s preliminaries next.

“Okay, please allow me to explain the preliminaries from here on out.”

Completely different from the gorgeous Colosseum-styled arena for the main tournament, the preliminaries would be held inside a big room that looked more like the gymnasium of a school. There were plenty of other facilities requiring my attention, so I couldn’t spend too much time here. Thus, I just applied the most basic design to the room. But, compared to outside, you can only call it plain.

Given the big number of participants in the preliminaries, I had assumed that the participants would be a wild mix of good and bad fighters. Accordingly we had decided to gather only the participants and proceed with the event without inviting the guests in the arena.

Of course, the gymnasium was big enough that all participants could easily enter. The ceiling was quite high up, too. It had been designed so that long-handled weapons wouldn’t get impeded during the battle.

The participants would face each other on top of stages that had been elevated a bit in comparison to the rest of the gymnasium’s floor.

The rules for the preliminaries are extremely easy. The participants remaining standing on these stages last would secure the right to appear in the main bracket. By the way, several participants would enter one stage during the preliminaries.

In other words, the preliminaries for the main tournament would be a classic battle royale.

“You need to get through the preliminaries over here to make an appearance during the main tournament. Everyone participating will be divided into groups. Each member of a group will fight the other group members, and the one remaining standing last will be able to move on to the main tournament.”

This busamen explained the rules to all participants who had assembled in the preliminary venue.

We have prepared several stages for the preliminaries, so the preliminary fights will be carried simultaneously. Each of them will have a referee from Dragon City, and this ordinary Japanese flat-face will act as the one controlling all of it as chief referee.

“Very well. Please use the ballot you received as reference and head to the stage with your name and number according to the guide over here. In case you find any mistakes or inadequacies on the list, please check back with the nearest member of our staff.”

Alright, it’s finally time.

＊

【Sophia-chan’s Point of View】

No sooner than I thought the opening ceremony was over, I had to help with the tournament preliminaries next. As far as I have heard, we seem to be lacking personnel.

As such, this maid was recruited on site, too.

Since I prefer this by leaps and bounds over being close to all the VIPs, I immediately accepted the call. With the circumstances being like this, I was now standing in the venue for the preliminaries.

In my hand I was golding a leather bag filled with many wooden tags. Those tags had the names of the participants written on them.

Moreover, I could see several stages, which were slightly higher than the ground of the venue, having been prepared in this place. The tournament participants will apparently compete against each other on those stages. And overseeing that is the task assigned to me.

Or to be more precise, I will only call out the names of the duelists as the preliminaries will be repeatedly carried out on those stages. It’s a very simple job.

And that’s good.

It sounds like I must also call out foul play during the duels, but the members of the Twilight Troupe are luckily supporting me on that part. I’m told it’s no problem for me to focus myself on managing the participant pairings.

“Jim-san! Johnny-san! Woodford-san!”

After having done this process several times, I started to gradually get used to it.

This maid took the liberty to call out nice-sounding names. Her task is to take the tags out of the bag hanging from her neck and call the names written on those tags.

It’s a simple work that requires no smartness, but it soothed my heart which had become all stiff thanks to sitting in the booth for nobles earlier.

Once I announced the names, I tossed the tags in another bag which had been prepared for this.

Oops, it’d be bad to become careless here.

“Sophia-san!”

Somehow it’s a name I feel like I’ve heard before.

I only realized after calling it. When I looked at the surname, I was stunned to find the rare occurrence of the participant having the same name and family name as me. Maybe she’s a relative of my Bacon family? I recall I have a distant cousin called Sonia.

“Sophia-san! Sophia Bacon-san!”

However, no one answered the call.

I tried to look around me. But, there was no sign of anyone giving one of those lively replies I’ve heard from the participants so far. At this rate, Sophia-san will be disqualified. Though it’d be a bit of a shame.

“Are you possibly participating as well, Big Sis?”

“Huh?”

Suddenly a member of the Twilight Troupe asked me. It was the guy with the Mohican hairstyle whom I have often met at Mayor-san’s mansion. His face is extremely scary, but he’s a very kind soul. At present he has been paired with me, doing the same sort of work.

“I’m totally looking forward to it! I mean, I was convinced that you’d be bad at stuff like this, Big Sis, but no wonder you’re working under Great Bro! I’ll use your match today as reference for myself!”

“No, u-umm, I’m not really…”

It looks like there has been some sort of misunderstanding.

I checked the name once more, to make sure that it was my name and surname. The tag definitely had Sophia Bacon written on it. There was no mistake in the writing style either. It used the letters which I had grown so accustomed to. Or rather, looking at it once more, the handwriting is extremely similar too.

At that point, I suddenly realized. For some reason, the tag in my hand had no reference number. Usually, the tags should have a four-digit number noted down together with the name of the participant. The numbers started from one and were assigned according to the order of the participants attending the reception. Every participant should have been assigned this number for management purposes.

Checking the participant by comparing their number with the one written on their tag was necessary to be accepted for the preliminaries. This had been set up by Tanaka-san.

So why is there a tag without a number in the bag?

“……”

The inside of my head suddenly blanked out.

Come to think of it, I remember having written my name on a tag. Tanaka-san had created name tags and distributed them to everyone belonging to the staff. I remember having wondered why he would use the same wooden tags for our name tags as the ones used for the tournament participants.

And then he had collected all the tags to create a list of names. He also announced that they would be re-distributed to everyone on the day of the tournament. But, I never got mine back. Maybe there was some sort of mistake with the distribution?

“……”

Looking closely, I could see a name tag attached to the chest of the Mohican person. I guess they must have been handed out while I was shaking by myself in the noble booth. But, I never expected for it to come around to me in such a way.

Didn’t you actually throw it into the bag with the other tags, Tanaka-san?

Meanwhile, people started to stir around us.

“That’s Sophia, one of the parliament members of this city, isn’t she?”

“I heard she’s a close aide of Earl Tanaka.”

“No way. Such a young and cute girl…”

“If you say all that, what about this city’s mayor? She looks like a small girl, but she’s quite the big shot.”

“In that case, we can expect a lot of this missy, right?”

“I wonder what sort of duel she’s going to show us.”

“I’m itching to put my skills to a test against her.”

I think this is bad.

“Umm, I-I…!”

“Big Sis, leave this place to me and go to your stage!”

“Ah…”

The bag with the tags was quickly taken away from me. In the blink of an eye it was in the hands of Mr. Mohican.

“Please go ahead!”

Immediately following, he lightly pushed my back.

This frail maid stumbled forward. Her foot naturally crossed the ramp which marked the boundary of the stage where the preliminary would be held.

Inside stood many people whose names I had called out earlier. And all of them looked at me with eyes full of curiosity.

“……”

I think stuff like this is really bad. The voice of Mr. Mohican, who continued calling the names of the remaining participants, sounded awfully distant.

＊

It was sudden, but this busamen changed his clothes in the toilet of the preliminary venue. If someone asks why, it’s for the sake of me taking part in the preliminaries.

Drill-chan declared that she wouldn’t join in, but the chance for unforeseen, tough fighters to have blended in isn’t zero either. In case that happens, it will be necessary to crush them during the first duel and default during the second match. That much insurance is necessary at the very least.

Therefore it has become necessary to participate in the main round as Masked Warrior X. I don’t plan to reveal my identity and if it’s this much, she won’t complain either.

If no formidable enemy exists, it’s going to be fine to leave my slot to someone tight-lipped from the Twilight Troupe.

“…Alright.”

My body was covered by full-body armor in order to hide my yellow skin and flat face. I mean, full plate is just cool. Wearing shiny, metallic armor and brandishing a greatsword is every man’s dream.

I didn’t know how it’d go when I came to this world at first, but now that I’ve repeatedly leveled up, I can move around without any issues and wear heavy armor. Thanks to that, this busamen can finally fulfill his long-cherished dream.

By the way, I had hidden the armor and sword above a booth’s ceiling in advance.

“Time to head out, huh?”

Masked Warrior X peeked at the preliminaries while holding a tag with a fake name in my hand. In accordance with the names called out by the official, the participants moved to one stage after the other. Blending in with them, this ordinary Japanese flat-face also went up on stage.

A corner of the stage moved while rattling. The only one in full armor was me. And because of that, I drew all the attention to myself.

As I was considering all that, the Twilight Troupe member in charge of running the preliminaries ordered the announcers to let the participants know about the start of the competition. More and more participants started to move on a stage.

“Going by the way you walk, it’s completely clear that you have no experience in wearing armor!”

One of the participants, who held a sword in his hand, lunged straight for me. And certainly it’s my first time to experience my entire body being covered by armor.

By the way, the armor itself comes from Richard-san. When I consulted him about the goal and details, he prepared it for me. As for the weapon, it was given to me to match the armor.

“gh…”

I almost did my Fireball out of habit. But, that’d be bad. It’d be a disaster if people found out about this being me. Accordingly, I brandished my sword.

I knocked away the opponent’s approaching sword point with all my strength. At once I could hear a high-pitched clink, followed by my opponent’s sword breaking in the middle. The fragments flew off in all directions, stabbing the legs of a participant who stood quite far away.

“Wh-…!?”

The participant, who had his sword broken, looked at MAsked Warrior X with shock on his face. He very likely saw my equipment and considered me to be a beginner.

“M-My sword broke!?”

I compensated my lack of technique with the raw power of my stats. Even though I may look like this, I’ve grown enough to be able to duke it out with a red dragon from the front. Even without being able to use magic, I likely won’t be defeated in these preliminaries. In that case, isn’t this the perfect opportunity to swing around my sword as I please?

“……”

I didn’t answer anything in particular. I could be identified from my voice. Let’s go with a cool and taciturn character in full armor.

While focusing on not injuring my opponents as much as possible, I leaped into the melee, swinging my sword. As I did, I hit as if this was funny. One person after the other retreated from the stage. But, every little bit counts.

“Hey, t-that guy is bad news!”

“Even though his movements are those of an amateur, his power and speed is one step ahead!”

“Moreover, that armor…is it mithril!?”

“A mithril full plate armor? Just where did that rich kid come from!?”

“A n-noble as an opponent?”

“Hey, wait a sec. This is going to become a pain after this, so I’m out.”

Voices of awe could be heard from the participants together with me on this stage.

All said and done, this is flattering.

“……”

Thanks to that, I feel super good. This could become a habit.

＊

【Sophia-chan’s Point of View】

The preliminaries for the martial arts tournament have finally started. And although it’s unclear what stroke of destiny this is supposed to be, this maid has also risen to the stage, standing in the ring with other participants.

Moreover, I’m clearly in the center of attention. The people, who are participating in the same preliminaries, have been staring at me intensely.

But, there’s no way I can go along with such a terrifying event. I think it’d be best for me to quickly resign. After all, I will only suffer heavy injuries, if I compete here normally. Fortunately, contestants are allowed to withdraw with the leaving of the stage being counted as defeat.

As such, I will hurry over to the edge of the stage.

“Allow me the honor to take you on!”

“Hiii…”

Just as I managed to run a few steps, my path was blocked by a large man. He was looking at me with a very scary face. He was standing with his legs widely spread, holding his arms so as to threaten me. His entire appearance reminded me of a monster. What a dreadful person he is.

In addition, his hand was clasping a drawn sword.

That’s right. Just as it’s allowed for the main tournament, the usage of weapons has been permitted for the preliminaries as well. And as if it was logical, everyone was holding a dangerous weapon of sorts in their hand. I could even spot people clad in full armor here and there.

“Right-hand of Count Tanaka, I’ll show you everything I’ve got now and here.”

“No, u-umm, I-I-I’m…”

Recently my reluctance to pee myself in front of others has been weakening. Since things that have to come out will come out anyway, it cannot really be helped, can it? Besides, if I pee myself, the attacks by the others will weaken, this maid remembered. My life is in danger. Let’s get it over with instead of pointlessly grumbling about it.

“Eat this!”

The man approached. In response, this mad crouched down on the spot and got ready to release her pee. Miraculously, the man’s sword passed over my head.

Is this what you call a dodge?

“Hngh!?”

“gh…”

Without even putting any strength into my lower half, something hot gathered at my crotch out of overwhelming fear. As soon as the faucet is wrung open just a bit, a lot more will swiftly start to leak out, I think.

But, the instant when I tried to loosen my urethra, the man, who had been getting closer in front of me, was suddenly blown away to the side. At the same time, I could hear a short scream.

“Gyaaa…”

Moreover, it was filled with quite a force.

Apparently, he had suffered an attack from the side. Next to where he stood until moment’s ago, I could see another participant finishing the motion of swinging the sword.

“That woman is my target. Taking her down will put some weight behind my name.”

“Hiii…”

This is yet another man with a scary face.

With him glaring at me, my body naturally got up and backed away several steps. However, the stage’s size was limited, and thus I quickly got close to another participant.

And before I realized, I was surrounded by many participants. Moreover, all of them were staring at me with bloodshot eyes.

“A-Aahh…”

If I don’t run away… I have to get away from here. This isn’t a situation that can be solved by peeing. I will be killed while doing it.

According to the tournament rules, murder isn’t counted as crime as long as it occurs during a match. That particular rule has burned itself into my mind.

I must survive.

Harboring this strong will, I ran towards the stage’s edge at full speed.

“Wait!”

“Hey, you fuckers! You think I’m going let you kill her!?”

“I’ve told you that she’s my target, haven’t I!?”

“Tsk! She’s darting around all over the place like a rat!”

“Damn it, move it! Don’t stand in my way!”

“You’re the one standing in my way!”

“Argh!? Asshole, you sure got some nerve to mess with me!”

“The hell did you say?”

I must get off this stage no matter what it takes. If I don’t, I will be killed.

“Hiii…”

If I get killed I won’t even be able to leak my pee. I’ll become unable to enjoy adding all sorts of things to Tanaka-san’s meals. That thrill is really the best. For some reason it doesn’t work with other people. But, meddling with Tanaka-san’s meals is pure bliss.

＊

This ordinary Japanese flat-face received a task from His Majesty when the martial arts tournament started. As for the task in question: it’s proving the sturdiness of the wall surrounding Dragon City. The wall is not being praised for having stopped a demon invasion for show. Apparently His Majesty has been questioned every day whether it’s really such an amazing wall.

Accordingly, an ingenious idea took form in my head, using this as an opportunity. The outcome of the idea took concrete shape in the venue for the preliminaries, leading to its reveal today.

“W-What the hell is this wall!? It’s freakishly hard!”

“I hear it’s the same as the wall surrounding the city.”

“Fuck! I can’t even put a single scratch on it!”

“Hey! Gimme a hand here, you lazy bums! It isn’t budging at all!”

“SHIIIIIIIIT! My sword…my beloved sword brooooke!”

I was participating in one of the preliminaries. And just moments ago, a wall had shot out in the center of my stage. It goes without saying, but that wall was of my making.

The other participants had gathered underneath it, attacking it together. As a participant you had to remain the last one standing on the stage to pass the preliminaries. Furthermore, for the preliminaries over here, the participants have been told that the wall would also be treated as a participant.

In other words, the contestant with me on the stage needed to tear the wall off the stage and carry it outside the ring. Of course, the wall was nothing more than a wall, so it wouldn’t take any actions from its side. But, because the wall and stage were made by the ordinary Japanese flat-face, it was quite a hardship for an ordinary person to damage the wall.

“Fuck, what the hell is this!? It doesn’t move at all, does it!?”

“Is this really a wall!?”

“Don’t tell me it’s a new sort of magic life-form that pretends to be a wall!?”

“Move aside! I’ll blow it to smithereens with my magic.”

“In that case, I’m going to cooperate with you!”

“Wait a sec, you could injure the other folks, if you attack the wall right now!”

I feel sorry for the other participants, but the wall is the winner of the neighboring stage. I plan to make it get through the preliminaries and have it confront Hero of the West-sama during the main tournament. It’ll allow me to mess with the tournament in a natural way through a game piece that I can fully control. A great idea of killing two birds with one stone.

Of course, the maker will eventually deal with the wall quickly through the remote controller. It won’t be any problem if I have Hero-sama cast explosion magic on the wall and make it quickly fall apart while it’s hidden by the smoke.

This is a n act to liven up the tournament even further. I feel bad for Drill-chan, but I’ll have her accept at least this much interference.

After all, it’ll become a major issue for the Penny Empire, if the tournament fails. And that wouldn’t be unrelated to her who shares a territory with us.

“Ugh, you piece of shit betrayed us!?”

“This guy is using the fucking wall as shield!”

“Don’t screw around!”

“I’m going to get rid of you people before dealing with the wall!”

“Sure, bring it on, shithead! I’ll beat that snout of yours until it becomes flat!”

“W-Wait a moment! Won’t it be a problem if we don’t do something about this wall first!?”

“Ah, wai――…”

Just when I thought the attacks on the wall had stopped, it had shifted towards a brawl on the stage. It’s not like I don’t feel sorry for them, though. Maybe it’d be good to send out little gifts to the participants of this block later on.

Maybe they’ll rejoice if I hand them a shield made out of the stone wall, which they’re currently facing? I should think it over for a bit.

With this going on, I gazed at the stage for a while. As one contestant after the other went out of bounds, the noisy melee calmed down. And eventually, when one of the final two remaining contestants gave up, only her and the wall were left on the stage.

“……”

It was a woman in her twenties. She was hatefully glaring at the wall. She attempted several things like slashing away at the wall with her sword or casting magic at it. But, neither yielded any worthwhile results.

But, that’s only natural. Even that Noble Mage was unable to put a single scratch on the wall.

Cheering for the woman arose from the venue. Telling her to somehow destroy the wall. Quite a few of the spectators also shouted advice.

However, no matter how much time passed, the wall didn’t budge.

“…I give up.”

Those words finally left her mouth after having challenged the wall for a while. She looked incredibly disappointed. Thanks to that, my feelings of guilt were nothing to scoff at either.

Annoyingly loud voices from the participants, who had watched the match, filled the venue.

“The wall won!? Are you fucking kidding me!?”

“What’s the idea for the main tournament!?”

“Or rather, seein’ how she was unable to break the wall, wasn’t her level just too low!?”

“That’s impossible, right? Put some effort into this, girly!”

“Swap with me! I’ll definitely break that thing!”

“Me too! Swap with me! I can do it!”

It’s just as this busamen expected.

While listening to the announcement about the wall having won this block, I breathed out in relief. Speaking of the preliminaries, this block has been the easiest. If someone capable of kicking through the wall had participated, Hero of the West-sama’s defeat would have been a foregone conclusion. If that had happened, I’d have considered opening up the tournament for our non-human combat forces.

But it looks like all of it has been needless worrying.

After making sure of the wall’s magnificent efforts, I made my own move as well. I have to get through the preliminaries as Masked Warrior X.

I went around on the stage and hit the remaining participants with my sword. Since I’d likely cut my opponents apart with their armor and weapons, if I hit them with the sword’s blade, I struck them firmly with the sword’s flat part.

“Whoa, stay away from me, you damn armored menace!”

“Shit, we have to take that guy down first!”

“It’s impossible to fight him alone. We need to charge him all at once!”

“Aim at the gaps in the armor and helmet! If it’s an ordinary word with a magic enchantment, the blade won’t work on the armored parts!”

“Fuck it! I can’t hit him at all!”

“Why is he so fast while wearing full plate armor!?”

I think it took several minutes, but when I hit the last person out of bounds, the referee announced the victory for this ordinary Japanese flat-face. I apparently managed to safely pass the preliminaries without exposing my face. It was a big help that the other participants were much weaker than I expected.

Suddenly I could hear loud cheering from another stage.

“Uoooohhh!”

“What the fuck!? She ended up winning without attacking even once!”

“Aiming for that last double knockout was just genius, wasn’t it!?”

“No wonder she’s being called Count Tanaka’s right hand.”

“Wooooot, big sis! As expected of you! You’ve impressed me from the bottom of my heart!

“Holy shit, what an achievement.”

Maybe something happened.

I naturally directed my attention to the voice from over there. Thereupon, I spotted Maid-san standing in the center of the stage for some reason. Unconscious, fallen contestants could be seen scattered around her. All of them were wounded. On the other hand, she alone was unhurt. Not even a single drop of blood had hit her.

However, she was trembling badly. She was shivering like mad.

“……”

Flustered by the sight without understanding the circumstance, this ordinary Japanese flat-face hurried to the toilet.

I have to quickly take off my armor and then head to her side.

＊

【Sophia-chan’s Point of View】

I suppose being absorbed in something points to this sort of situation.

After having given up on urination as a way out, this maid ran towards the edge of the battle ring while entrusting herself to her own survival instincts. At this point, it was already a deed she was devoting all her body and soul to. You could maybe say she was challenging her own limits.

It’s fine. I don’t feel as hopeless as the time when Hero of the East-sama cut off my foot. I can still move my legs.

This maid had learned the preciousness of being able to walk the earth with her own two feet.

“H-Hiii…”

Even so, I screamed since scary things remain scary, either way. When I escaped to the right side, a guy with a scary face came swinging his ax at me from the right. And when I ran to the left, a woman with a scary face came swinging her sword at me from the left.

It’s hell.

All I had left at that point was to run from one place to another with a drive as if groveling. Thanks to this, I had no recollection of where I ran, starting halfway through. The distance from our restaurant’s counter to the entrance door felt like something very distant.

Fortunately, I never got tired, no matter how much I moved my body. Recently, my body has been in top shape. And because of that, I was able to escape all the swords and spears closing in on me.

I guess it’s only natural for me to be reminded of the matter with Hero of the East-sama. Compared to that, my current situation still feels like a light breeze. If I think of the feeling when he cut off my foot without any hesitation or scruples, the swords coming at me on this stage can easily be evaded by just running around.

At some point, the end arrived.

Immediately after I squatted down vigorously, a remarkably loud and shrill sound reverberated above my head. And just several moments later, I sensed people collapsing with a thud from the left and right side. It seems like some hard objects had collided over my head.

I turned towards the direction of the sound while taking distance in a hurry. Thereupon, for some reason…

“…Ah.”

…it had become very silent on top of the stage which had been very noisy until now.

As far as this maid could see, not a single person was left standing on the stage. What caught her eyes were all the participants who were now laying on the ground.

“……”

Of course, I turned around to Mohican-san. Our eyes met.

In the next instant, he loudly yelled, “Winner, Sophia Bacon!”

This maid’s name was announced.

I couldn’t immediately perceive the meaning of those words. Even so, a cheering so loud that it made my ears ring hit me from the venue.

“Uuooooooooohh!”

“Incredible! She won without attacking even once!”

“Her aiming for them to take out each other at the very end was the best, wasn’t it!?”

“No wonder she’s called Count Tanaka’s right-hand woman.”

“Oooohhh, Big Sis! Nothing less of you! I’m deeply impressed!”

“Man, that was quite a feat!”

With that spectacle in front of me, I finally grasped the situation.

“……”

What should I do, Tanaka-san? Maybe I’ll be scolded after all?

＊

After having returned from being Masked Warrior X to a yellow flat-face in the toilet, this ordinary Japanese flat-face headed over to Sophia-chan in a hurry. And then he confirmed the situation on site with the Mohican guy of the Twilight Troupe.

I learned that she had apparently read out her own name during the preliminary announcement.

To be honest, I don’t get it. Aren’t such self-deprecating jokes part of Princess-sama’s role?

“I-I was sure that everything was correct about this…”

He held out a small wooden tag to me while looking very dejected. After taking it from him, I could quickly tell that it had Sophia-chan’s name written on it.

“……”

However, this wasn’t an official tag from the reception. It was a name tag for the staff that had been created from the leftovers at the reception. Thanks to that, I understood what was going on.

The name tags for the staff, which had been stored in the office, and the official tags for the participants at the reception probably got mixed together. However, we had put both in different bags to make sure to keep them apart. Naturally.

Maybe someone tampered with the bags’ contents. I can’t tell.

Either way, since it doesn’t change the fact of them having mixed together, we can’t do anything about it now. I think it’s best to focus on moving on with the tournament.

“Sorry, it’s very likely my mistake.”

“Your mistake, Great Brother?”

The Mohican guy cocked his head. I feel sorry, but I’ll skip a detailed explanation for now.

“Please let me take care of this. Also, I ask you to continue with the preliminaries as before.”

“A-Ayes! As you wish!”

He bowed his head respectfully and then rushed back to his own work. While watching him leave, I considered various things.

If you keep Maid-san’s high LUC in mind, it’d be a very unusual accident for her. Or maybe her participation in the tournament’s main round leads to a much better future for her? I don’t know. But, no matter how much I think about this, I won’t reach a conclusion either.

However, if there’s one thing I can say with absolute certainty, it’s the fact that Maid-san can’t avoid appearing in the main round now. She got through the preliminaries with so many people watching her. If she pulls out without fighting even once, the backlash from the other participants will likely be quite fervent.

“……”

For the time being, I should check her status. It’d be a disaster if her LUC decreased by some odd chance.

Come on, Status Window.

Name: Sophia Bacon
Sex: Female
Race: Human
Level: 57
Job: Secretary

HP: ２４５３０／２４５９２
MP: １１４１／１１４１
STR: ３０３９
VIT: ９０２１
DEX: ７８４９
AGI: ６８７３
INT: ９０１
LUC: ７８４９３８２

Maid-san’s LUC is really wild.

Her level-ups probably stem from the many scenes of carnage she survived since the dragon battle. But, even if we take this into account, it’s a fairly crazy increase. She apparently has gained experience while I wasn’t looking. Moreover, overall her stats are high, considering her level.

In her current state, she could one-shot an orc with a belly punch. Even with a high orc as an opponent, she should be able to hold her own.

Thinking of it like that, it doesn’t seem luck alone allowed her to get through the preliminaries. Most of the participants are at the same level or below Allen when I met him for the first time. On the other hand, Maid-san’s evasion ability has increased by 50% on top of her level being higher than his current level. And when it comes to stamina, hers is more than twice as high as his.

If she devotes herself to escaping, many of the participants won’t be able to hit her, I suspect. In addition, if I think how she, who doesn’t know how to hold back, could have recklessly swung her fist, I get shivers. It wouldn’t be funny if she was the one responsible for the first casualties during this tournament.

Fortunately, Maid-san possesses a gentle and timid personality.

Her LUC value has become quite something. At this point, it sticks out as much as this ordinary Japanese flat-face’s INT. It has completely deviated from what humans can achieve. Isn’t she actually above even the demon queen when it comes to LUC?

Especially because of that, Sophia-chan’s appearance in the main round poses a problem. That only leaves the question just how she has been guided to this destiny.

“……”

I don’t get it. I have no clue.

“G-Great Brother Tanaka! Forgive me!”

For some reason, the Mohican dude, who had left just moments ago, came back to me. I wonder what’s going on.

“Is something the matter?”

“B-Boss Neumann is calling for you over there…”

“Neumann-san?”

“Aye.”

Once I looked in the direction he was pointing, I spotted Neumann-san at the entrance area of the preliminary venue. Our eyes met in no time. It was an immediate, passionate eye contact, as if he was telling to come to him right away. Him having personally shown up here means something happened to the dignitaries.

“Understood. I will head over right away.”

“T-Thank you a lot!”

There’s no point in dwelling on things of the past now. Let’s redraw the tournament chart once more this evening.

＊

As I was led by Neumann,we headed for the reception hall, an annex of the tournament arena. It had been built for the sake of welcoming guests such as nobles, royals, and wealthy merchants.

Over there I was told by Neumann that the various dignitaries had filed a request with him, asking for an occasion to extend greetings to this ordinary Japanese flat-face. Unable to deny their wish, he had come to the venue of the preliminaries to fetch me.

Thinking back on it, I completely forgot to prepare for such an event. It seems like my head has been full of thoughts on how to make this tournament succeed. Having Hero of the West-sama secure the championship title is important, but I cannot afford to neglect this side of things either.

After all is said and done, one noble has the influence of hundreds or even thousands of commoners. Accordingly I proceeded towards talking with those dignitaries as organizer of the tournament.

The exchange over there wasn’t all that different from the party hosted by Richard-san, which had been held at Ester-chan’s home. It was a social gathering with everyone present that wasn’t limited to just talking to this ordinary Japanese flat-face. In short, it was something akin to a study group with colleagues from your company, but outside your workplace. If I dub it sutdy group on how to defeat the demon queen, it’ll fit to a tee.

Of course, we had assumed that some of the matches would rile up the moods of everyone, leading to quarrels. But, speaking of just this time, it was an unnecessary worry. Probably because they shared a common, terrifying problem called demon queen, I could see many positive attitudes towards Dragon City, which was leading in this by one step.

Thanks to that, I personally feel I was able to have a fruitful time. It seems the damage to the other countries by the demon queen has been more severe than we thought. At the same time, the rumors generated by Dragon City spread extremely wide and far.

“Count Tanaka, please lend me some of your time.”

“Talks about you, Count, are a hot topic in the palace of our country. Please allow us to welcome you by any means.”

“I’m very thankful for you preparing such a wonderful occasion. This here is a little something, but nothing special.”

“Well, I must admit, as a matter of fact, I have a soft spot for these kinds of things as well. This is my prized merchandise!”

Maybe because of that, everyone brought small boxes full of sweets with them for the participation at the study group. The people visiting the venue successively offered their prized goods to this ordinary Japanese flat-face. It’s what they call a symbol of acquaintance. After all, it’d take quite some guts to show up empty-handed.

Going by the various exchanges, I managed to gather that the evaluation of Dragon City by foreign countries wasn’t low at all. This was something very delightful. However, when it comes to the sweets boxes of this business world, they were slightly powerful. But that made only sense, seeing how all the participants of the study group belonged to the privileged class.

And what came into play at this point was the ill reputation that has been following this ordinary Japanese flat-face around. The majority of the sweets were living beings. The human type.

“This is…”

“What do you think? She is quite a beauty, don’t you think?”

“No, not at all. In that case, mine was born into a Viscount family and her lineage is outstanding as well.”

“Over here is a rare elf who has lived in the Forest of Inraln. I think she will very likely suit your taste, Count Tanaka.”

“Isn’t it important to have numbers in matters like these? I have arranged for around fifty of the same at my place.”

It was a bit of a competitive show where a fairly big number had gathered.

Even so, it’s a fact that I pulled a triumphant pose in my mind at first when I was offered them. My dearest wish, a harem, has come true for me on its own accord without me doing anything. And because those are articles I received from dignitaries of foreign countries, I had to cherish them as well. At this point I was obligated to refine them diligently and at great efforts every day.

The eyes of this virgin shifted from their faces, past the chests, to their nether region. They all wore very revealing clothes. Their skirts were so short that it looked as if they were competing over having the shortest skirt.

I continued to check them with my eyes in order to get a read on the state of their bodies.

What caught my eye at that moment was a tent. And not just one either. Looking to my right and left, I could see an array of tents. There were several tents as if I was facing a group of nomads who were wandering the plains together with their horses and cows. The line extended on either side to such an extent that I couldn’t count them all with two hands.

I wonder, what’s the idea with having a camp in a place like this?

When I peeked at the faces of the gifts I received once again, all of them had shady expressions. They were all breathing very roughly while staring my way with moist eyes. Many of them were rubbing their thighs together. Several of the tents looked like their top part had been soaked. Probably because rain had fallen.

“…These are?”

I asked a noble who stood right next to me.

“We too have repeatedly heard your heroic tales, Count Tanaka. We have soaked them in drugs so that you can enjoy them at any given moment. Though I also think it will be fine if you use them tonight.”

“……”

I forgot about the ethical savagery of this world’s nobles. Thinking about it now, they have this sort of moral values.

“Will you be accepting them?”

There was no way I could refuse their presents here. All of the nobles were smiling brightly as they lined up. They were staring at this ordinary Japanese flat-face with happiness written on their faces. As if telling me to quickly take these gifts back to my room and enjoy them to the fullest.

If I were to refuse these here, the whole tournament would partially turn into a failure, even without having to wait for tomorrow’s main round.

This time was different from the time when I had received presents from the domestic nobles. Refusing the year-end gift from your subordinate, which they gave to you to kiss your ass, is on a whole different level. It’s like giving back a souvenir, which you received from your customer, because you don’t like it. I’m definitely unable to do anything like that.

“Thank you kindly for the wonderful present. I shall respectfully accept them.”

Naturally it’s impossible for me to release them at the slave market. It’d turn into a scandal if someone found out.

What should I do? Seriously…just what should I do?

This was an incredible number of them, and all were gasping hard. And without me noticing, Neumann had disappeared at some point. He’s quite capable, I must admit.

＊

The bring-down-the-demon-queen study group came to an end as soon as the present exchange phase ended. For Dragon City, I gifted the members of the study group with Edita-sensei’s life potion and a bathing powder made of our prized purple chive. Moreover, in case they wished for it, we took the liberty to combine these gifts with an import authorization of the potion.

All of them looked doubtful when they heard about the existence of the potion. But, as soon as I showed them the actual results of its effect right then and there, their evaluation made a full turn. Every single of them begged for the right to import it, leaving the venue while chuckling to themselves.

Going by the outcome, the study group could be called a huge success.

“……”

Only this busamen and the hundred Shotachinpos surrounding him remained in the hall that had fallen silent after the others left. The count of Shotachinpos is just a rough estimate, but since around that many cross-dressing, pretty boys were standing here, it was quite a spectacle to behold. As for their gender, there wasn’t a single exception. It was a field filled with nothing but dicks.

“Count Tanaka, these are?”

As I was wrecking my brain with what was going on here, I was suddenly addressed by someone. Once I turned around wondering who it was, I found out that just the right person for the right occasion had shown up.

“Oh, what a pleasure to see you again, Viscount Gay. What is the matter?”

“I heard from Baron Neumann that I would be able to find you here.”

“Do you have some business with me?”

“No, it’s nothing that serious, but…”

Naturally the eyes of Viscount Gay wandered to this ordinary Japanese flat-face’s presents. But that makes only sense. Even without his sort of taste, one would be curious about such a crowd of tents. Maybe he actually heard about my precarious situation from Neumann and came here to hunt for the Shotachinpos. Ah yeah, now that I think about it. The possibility for that is pretty high. Extremely high, to be precise.

In that case, I won’t hesitate to meet his expectations. Or rather, washing my hands clean here by handing them over to him looked like a good idea.

“I was given these wonderful presents because of a trivial misunderstanding. Unfortunately, my tastes are of a somewhat different nature, as you might know. I was wondering whether I could ask you to take care of them in my stead, if possible.”

Indirectly I also touted my own normality. It’d be a disaster if suspicions of me being gay were to be leaked to the real Shotachinpo. The day of me getting attacked while being asleep would be just too terrible to look at.

“Is it fine? I can only see first-class male prostitutes over here…”

“We have been relying on you and given you trouble during this tournament.”

“Now, but I have taken the freedom to one-sidedly stay in the city, so it’s unthinkable for me to desire any more. Besides, if I think about a person, who should be lovable above all, there’s no way for me to betray his will in such a manner…”

“You think so?”

“Yes, I do.”

What, isn’t he unexpectedly dutiful? I should respect Allen’s lower body half a bit more.

“I see. That’s a pity.”

“gh……”

In response to my short muttering, Viscount Gay’s shoulders trembled lightly. I guess he wants them after all. No, he clearly desires them.

It’s different from my taste, but I suppose people with such a taste can’t resist. Currently the Shotachinpos are looking at us with moist eyes and tents in their pants. The canton of gasping sounded strangely graphic as it echoed across the room.

If it didn’t rise from this, this busamen’s story would be over here and now.

“If it’s like that, could I have you helpt me with their transport? As a matter of fact, there exist clients other that you, Viscount Gay. But, since their numbers are so big either way, I have been wondering what to do about it.”

If I requested this from someone unskilled, bad rumors about me would spread.

In that case, it’s still better to be labeled as what seems to be a pervert who loves to fool around with women. If that happens, I might be able to properly receive pretty guilds next time.

If it’s gifts from outsiders, there is no other way and we must bring them up under our control.

“Well, if it’s something of this level, I can help you out as much as you want…”

“Thank you kindly.”

Yay. I quickly passed them to someone else before someone was able to see the previous sight.

＊

The place we visited was the building containing the married wife’s hot bath. After it had been locked down by the Twilight Troupe to preserve it due to its connection to life potions, the flow of customers has dropped significantly. Even today we got all the way to the bath without meeting a single person besides the person on watch duty present.

Even so, it looked like the building was being cleaned regularly as its facilities were neat and tidy. When I met them at first, I thought the Twilight Troupe was nothing more than a gathering of delinquents and ruffians, but now that I have been working and living with them for a while, I know they’re much more adaptable than anyone would expect.

“Whaaat? Did you come here to pity me once again!?”

As soon as we entered the bathroom, a certain wife appeared in front of us. Mrs. Nannuzzi exposed her semi-transparent spirit body, seemingly surfacing from the hot water.

“No, not at all. I would never do such a thing.”

“Who is the man over there? Quite the handsome hunk, isn’t he?”

“This here is Viscount Gay. He has been studying how to govern a city under me.”

“Hmm?”

The wife stared at the ikemen as if licking his body all over. I feel like recently she has been gradually losing all restraints.

“I thought you had promised me a slightly cuter boy before, but did I possibly misunderstand? Or did I forget some things because I was left behind here for a fairly long time?”

Her words were spiked with thorns. But I guess you can only call that natural. A lot of time has passed since the day I made that promise with her.

Feeling that this was heading in a bad direction, this ordinary Japanese flat-face is going to quickly present her something in compensation.

“Viscount Gay, please bring them here,” I asked Viscount Gay who was standing next to me.

“Y-Yeah, of course.”

We had finished arranging this ahead of time.

He left the bathroom, just to return a few minutes later. Behind him were the tents who we made wait outside the bath until now. All of them entered the bathroom with entranced expressions while panting hard.

“gh!?”

With this spectacle in front of her, a change could be observed in the wife. It was a fairly remarkable change, too.

“H-Hmm? H-H-Hmmm!?”

She started to fidget so badly that it actually looked suspicious. Mrs. Nannuzzi lost all of her composure with the Shotachinpo hell in front of her. She kept glancing at the wieners, pork bits, and frankfurters. At this point, her eyes were darting around at full throttle.

“But, I-I can’t see the boy from b-back then.”

“I have something to report about that matter. He had come here together with me previously, but just last month he was granted the rank of Viscount by His Majesty. Because he is now busy after having obtained peerage and land, it is difficult for him to hang out over here.”

“Eh?”

“I took the liberty to replace him in such a manner, although I know he is hard to substitute. This is the extent of what I can do. Asking for more would put me on the spot as well, so if possible, I would be happy if you could pardon me with this.”

I honestly informed her of the situation.

Thereupon――apparently having misunderstood something――Mrs. Nannuzzi began to become flustered.

“Oh my, i-is that so? Your sincerity has been transmitted to me as well, I guess? Yes, gathering such a big number is quite a feat in and by itself, I believe! As expected of you, Baron Tanaka. You did a very fine job!”

“I’m delighted to hear you say that.”

It might be a bit late for that, but you don’t have the qualities of a Viscount, do you Shotachinpo? Being the pet of a wife would have definitely suited a lot more.

“When you are shown utmost respect, I think it is only natural to answer it properly.”

“Thank you very much.”

It looks like I got her to agree. With this, it’s probably going to be alright for the time being.

“Also, I feel terribly sorry, but could you please take care of them. If I can have you handle them in a way so that it doesn’t cause any problems outside, I won’t mind for you to do with them as you please. As for this facility, I will entrust the entirety of the building to your management, Mrs. Nannuzzi,”

“R-Really!? A-Are you sure it’s okay!?”

“Yes.”

“H-Hehe…hehehehehe.”

“Mrs. Nannuzzi?”

“If that’s how it is…yes, I think you can leave it to me. For the present you won’t have to worry about the creation of life potions. You’re quite an understanding man, aren’t you? In the end, sincerity matters most, right? It’s the most crucial component in relationships between people.”

“It is just as you say.”

Her long live in this bath might have turned her heart to be upfront. The married woman in her thirties, who raised her voice in joy over the prospect of getting to gobble down some young dicks, was a very free spirit. If it’s her, it looks like she won’t be belly-punched by Loligon in the future either.

“Very well. Please forgive me, but I leave them in your care.”

“Yes, you can count on me! Please leave everything to me!”

Being seen off by a wonderful smile, this ordinary Japanese departed the married woman bath together with Viscount Gay. After stepping out of the building, the two of us walked towards the mayor’s mansion.

The feeling of my body, which got all sweaty due to the steam in the bath, getting slowly cooled down by the wind blowing through the streets was very nice.

As he gazed at Viscount Gay next to me while walking along the road, this busamen suddenly remembered.

“By the way, there is something I would like to confirm with you, if that is okay.”

“What is it?”

“What was your business with me?”

Having had him tag along for my troublesome business was disrespectful towards his own business with me. If I remember correctly, he said he’d expressly come all the way to the mansion to visit this ordinary Japanese flat-face. And here I almost forgot all about it.

“No, it’s nothing so important.”

“Is that so?”

“I was curious about the tournament’s main round.”

“I see.”

This is a very natural attitude to have. His beloved Shotachinpo is participating as well, after all.

“As soon as tomorrow’s preliminaries end, I plan to make an official announcement.”

“I see.”

There’s no way this ordinary Japanese flat-face can reveal his plans to someone else at this point in time. But maybe I should casually mention that they’ll draw lots or something like that. Either way, the overall victory of the Hero of the West-sama is the most important mission.

“According to the rumors I’ve heard, the Hero of the East is going to participate as well.”

“Indeed. It seems like Hero of the West-sama talked to him about it in person.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Oh, Viscount Gay showed some interest. Maybe he’s finding even a piece of shit like him delicious enough. I mean, he should be growing hair down there. Be it his body, face, or voice, it’ll be a communication with his asshole specifications as precondition.

In such a case, Shotachinpo is still less objectionable.

“What did the Hero of the East say? I don’t know how it was before, but these days he’s the only person promoted by the Great Holy Land. He should have a poor relationship with you who is supporting the Hero of the West. So I can’t believe that the talks would proceed so easily.”

“He apparently accepted based on the possibility that he would be able to participate in the tournament fair and square.”

“…Hoh.”

In reality, it had been quite some drama when Sophia-chan had rushed into my office while holding a bloodstained nui. If Loligon had been present at that time, Hero of the East-sama’s body parts would have been scattered all over the place, making his participation in the tournament a pipe dream.

“The objectives of the main round are to raise the morale towards taking the demon queen down and to find talented personnel. Also, the evaluation in regards to the personnel won’t be monopolized by the Penny Empire either. Rather, I would like to see it utilized for the good of other countries as well.”

If you asked well-informed people, the Penny Empire’s motives would likely be open secrets to them. But, I think it’s important to make public claims in matters like this. No matter how obvious the motives of a host might be, there’s meaning in repeatedly giving lip service in public. After all, it’s quite difficult to bluntly criticize a nice story that has been repeatedly mentioned in public. And that applies even more so, if the contents of the story sound nice.

Viscount Gay should understand as much. And the majority of the participants are taking part in the tournament while being aware of these circumstances.

As a matter of fact, you can easily consider the Demon Queen-sama market to be under the control of the Penny Empire and the Great Holy land. Getting shares in a red ocean always needs one to overcome a high entry barrier.

“I wonder, is that the common consent in the Great Holy Land?”

“It probably doesn’t go that far. Very likely he’s acting on his own accord there.”

“I see…”

“For this reason, we must brace ourselves and confront him.”

Still, you came at me with quite the topic, didn’t you ikemen?

I thought he only came here to steal away Shotachinpo, but maybe not all of his talk about studying how to run a city under me has been a lie. In such a case, I think it won’t be bad to have him get some work experience through the martial arts tournament.

Let’s first try to entrust him with various issues.

＊

Just like that, the preliminaries, spanning across a period of two days, finished. The winners were now lining up in the venue where they had won their battles today and yesterday. They numbered thirty-one in total. Adding the Hero of the West, who we had set as seeded to begin with, to this figure, increased the total count to thirty-two. As such, the tournament is going to have thirty-one matches until a champion will be found.

With the main round taking place the next day, I’m currently in the midst of explaining the above-mentioned to the participants.

“Everyone who passed the preliminaries, allow me to first congratulate you on advancing to the main round.”

This ordinary Japanese flat-face was filling the role of host. The atmosphere on-site was similar to that of a preparatory meeting before a sports meet on the next day.

While I was talking about various things to the participants, I focused my attention on the statuses of the participants. This occasion was the perfect opportunity, seeing how they were all gathered here right before the main round. Hence, it was necessary for me to memorize their names and all of their skills.

“You have been chosen from among more than a thousand participants, meaning all of you possess rare talents. I am certain that the participation in the main round itself will become an irreplaceable, eternal achievement, regardless of how high your final rank might be.”

Based on their stats, I would finish the tournament order tonight. In other words, this was the most important period of time during the tournament for this ordinary Japanese flat-face.

“Very well. Please allow me to explain various matters about the main round.”

By the way, Sophia-chan, Ester-chan, the Noble Mage, Gon-chan, Allen, and a nui would be joining the main round for Dragon City. If you add the Hero of the West to our side, I think it’s a fairly good result for us to field eight of the thirty-two fighters.

Only one person, Maid-san, was trembling with a ghastly pale face. So cute. Even if she’s going to pee herself while being watched by everyone present, it’s going to be alright.

“As for questions, please wait for the end. We will have a question and answer round then. I feel very sorry as you must be very tired after having finished the preliminaries just today, but I would be obliged if you could spare me a little bit more of your time. Okay, first off, these are going to be the general rules while attending the main round…”

As I listed the rules we had prepared in advance, I let my eyes wander across the group of participants.

Professor Journal and Hero of the East-sama were the only ones whom this ordinary Japanese flat-face had previously met among the participants without any ties to Dragon City. Since I had a rough idea of their abilities, there was no particular need for me to check them again.

The problem would be the participants besides those two. I was approached by many concerned parties about several of them. In other words, their sponsors were kind of urging me to take care of their protegees. Those sponsors included Josée Pectin-san, a high-ranking mage from the neighboring Pussy Republic, Mason Ainsworth, a knight captain serving in the Nipple Kingdom which neighbored the Pussy Republic, and many more. I had been asked the same even during the previous study session.

By the way, a person called Imperial Guard Lunaluna-san would be participating in the main round for the country of the playboy brothers. Those very same brothers were defeated by her during the preliminaries. They were both knocked out from the side as they were having a little sibling duel on the battle stage. Thanks to that, she apparently could proceed to the main round without having to worry about them.

On the other hand, several of the participants were wandering warriors who hadn’t greeted me in advance. There were also some guys from some villages present. Including all of those, I was faced with many new names, but I doubt it’d be much of an issue to consider them as mob characters. When I checked their statuses, the majority were at most at the level of high orcs or wyverns.

At the very least I couldn’t spot any person who would be able to fight against a red dragon by themselves, basically meaning they were all nowhere near the Hero of the West. Since there would be a list waiting for me once I returned to my office, it’s probably not going to be a problem if I match their first names with their faces.

The problems are starting with the participants besides those mob characters.

We didn’t establish any rules about the equipment when participating in the tournament. I wanted to have everyone wear the armor and use the weapons they like. This would also lead to a diversification of the fights, which would in turn delight the audience. In the first place, the existence of magic makes the existence or absence of equipment irrelevant anyway.

In addition, there seemed to be extremely many religious, racial, and cultural issues. If one were to hold the Olympics while forbidding the wearing of niqābs (※ the veils worn by muslim women), many countries would definitely stay away. Thus we lowered the restrictions on clothing to the utmost. To begin with, I don’t know the customs in this world, given that I come from another one.

Because of that, a little problem has now cropped up on-site.

“Moreover, about the prohibited actions…”

I’m pretty sure that at least one person will have joined a tournament like this in disguise. Maybe they want the prize money, but don’t want their identity to be revealed. So to say, anonymous accounts. Since I’ve also made various service accounts as a corporate slave, I can totally understand their feelings on this. Above all, the prize money for the championship is a whooping 1000 gold. Even the runner-up gets 500 gold, and we prepared fairly good monetary prizes for the remaining ranks of the best eight. Furthermore, if you cling on to the upper ranks, it#s very likely that various countries will try to scout you as well. So there’s a value in participation, even if you have to brave a bit of danger for it.

However, the number of disguised people is a problem for the main tournament. There’s eight of them. All of them are hiding their faces and bodies under robes and masks. Going by their name tags, they’re called 「Galileo」, 「Comment」, 「Nancy」, 「Josef Williams」, 「Charlotte」, 「Mara Totto」, 「Lutoral Bachelor」, and 「Sunny Goodall」. But, all of them are actually shady as hell.

Naturally, I’m going to thoroughly check them.

Name: Khan
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Level: 73
Job: Thief

ＨＰ：６０２０／６９５０
ＭＰ：２０００／２１００
ＳＴＲ：７３００
ＶＩＴ：５０１０
ＤＥＸ：６１２１
ＡＧＩ：８３３０
ＩＮＴ：３１１２
ＬＵＣ：５０３４

Name: Bacchus
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Level: 73
Job: Bandit

ＨＰ：３０２０／４１２０
ＭＰ：７０００／８９００
ＳＴＲ：３３００
ＶＩＴ：３１３０
ＤＥＸ：５０１１
ＡＧＩ：６１３８
ＩＮＴ：１０１００
ＬＵＣ：４１０４

Name: Dark Boo
Gender: Female
Race: Dark Elf
Level: 98
Job: Fugitive

ＨＰ：３０８５０／３０８５０
ＭＰ：９０００／１０００２
ＳＴＲ：１０３００
ＶＩＴ：１２０００
ＤＥＸ：９９２１
ＡＧＩ：１３０３０
ＩＮＴ：１１８４０
ＬＵＣ：92

Name: Osborne Peacock
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Level: 67
Job: Prostitute

ＨＰ：７０２０／７１５０
ＭＰ：８０００／８００２
ＳＴＲ：５３００
ＶＩＴ：６０００
ＤＥＸ：９９２１
ＡＧＩ：３０３０
ＩＮＴ：９１００
ＬＵＣ：54

Name: Doris von Ahan
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Level: 37
Job: Drill

ＨＰ：５１００／５１００
ＭＰ：３１２０／３１２０
ＳＴＲ：６５０
ＶＩＴ：９００
ＤＥＸ：９５２
ＡＧＩ：１０４２
ＩＮＴ：１２０１
ＬＵＣ：９００９

Name: Mara Totto
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Level: 167
Job: Cumdumpster

ＨＰ：７０２０／７１５０
ＭＰ：３１０００／３９００２
ＳＴＲ：１３００
ＶＩＴ：５２００
ＤＥＸ：１０２１
ＡＧＩ：９３０
ＩＮＴ：３０１１２
ＬＵＣ：３０５４

Name: Millennium Marseilles
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Level: 73
Job: Holy Knight

ＨＰ：３０２０／４１２０
ＭＰ：７０００／８９００
ＳＴＲ：３３００
ＶＩＴ：３１３０
ＤＥＸ：５０１１
ＡＧＩ：６１３８
ＩＮＴ：１０１００
ＬＵＣ：４１０４

Name: Lilith
Gender: Female
Race: Elf
Level: 334
Job: Spy

ＨＰ：１３０１００／１３０１００
ＭＰ：２０１０００／２０１０００
ＳＴＲ：１８００１
ＶＩＴ：１００２０
ＤＥＸ：４３１００
ＡＧＩ：６０４００
ＩＮＴ：９０８００
ＬＵＣ：９０１０

There’s a lot of fucked-up in various senses mixed in here. Moreover, four of them are acquaintances of this ordinary Japanese flat-face.

Suddenly recalling the dark, thicc and ample thighs, I as assaulted by urge of wanting to be reverse raped. If it’s in that glamorous condition, I’m confident that the pussy will swallow all sorts of junk, even if it smells a bit. As expected, there’s nothing better than reverse-rape for a virgin, right?

Conversely, the presence of Pii-chan is regrettable to the extreme. It’s highly likely that he didn’t manage to obtain enough pacifier sticks to become a patron ever since escaping the academy. It looks like he participated with the goal of securing prize money alongside Dark Thicc-san.

What bothers me, on the other hand, is Drill-chan’s participation. Even though she had previously turned down to join the tournament when I had asked her, it’s somehow very typical of her to enter nonetheless while hiding her face.

But, it’s beyond my expectation that she managed to get through the preliminaries. It’s also a questionable outcome, if you consider her status. Maybe Deviant-Longhair helped her out in secret. But, since she still has her hymen, I shall forgive her all of it. Her presence restrains the tournament on top of being extremely convenient as a pawn.

I’ll pit her against Sophia-chan in the first match and ask her to handle it gently.

And the person bothering me the most among the eight is Cumdumpster-chan.

I feel like she was finally able to discover her personal pleasure in this tournament. I don’t have any proof for it, but I’m pretty sure she’s the cumdumpster of Mercedes-chan. My intuition as a virgin clearly tells me that is so. Though I don’t understand at all why she’d hide her identity under a robe.

“Those breaking the rules of the tournament will be judged by the tournament administration and will be punished according to the laws of Penny Empire. As for those wishing to review the information in detail, I will gladly lead you to an imperial judicial officer who has been waiting on standby…”

As far as I lightly checked, there’s no problem in regards to those four people as I know their background and personality.

Rather than them, the remaining, unidentified, masked people make me feel slightly uneasy. Khan, Bacchus, Millennium Marseilles, and Lilith. Given their participation while in disguise, it’s probably best to pay close attention to what they do. Especially the last person, Lilith, seems to be as strong as the monsters on the Dark Continent.

She’s an elf with a level in the three digits and in addition to that, she’s as tall as an adult man, so I guess her age is in the three digits just like her level. She has shown up at a tournament like this, so she likely possesses a reasonable amount of experience when it comes to fighting.

Hero of the West-sama probably can’t win against her.

It might be a bit sudden, but it’s time for Masked Fighter X to make his appearance. Or rather, I’m really glad that I participated in the preliminaries.

On the other hand, I suspect Khan-san and Bacchus-san to be ruffians who are simply targeting the prize money, going by their jobs. Both are probably optimistic people who like to flex their skills. I think it’s going to be fine to leave them alone.

I’m going to have those two clash during the first round of the main tournament. It should be a good, even fight, going by their stats, and if their masks come off by chance, we’ll arrest them on the spot. But, even without doing that, I’ll ask Drill-chan to take care of the winner. If she gets Deviant-Longhair to deal with it, it’s going to be settled quickly.

Apart from that, Holy Knight Millennium Marseilles very likely participates here for the Great Holy Land. At least, that’s the vibe I get from his job. Just in case, I’ll check back with the Noble Mage and Professor Journal as soon as I get back to the mayor’s mansion.

This tournament has become much more of an assembly of international fighters than I initially expected. As the organizer, this makes me very happy, too. I think at this rate His Majesty will be satisfied with it as well.

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