Episode 115: Start of the Preliminary Match!

Liliera

“The Dragon Princess Ceremony preliminaries will now begin.”

The referee’s voice echoes through the arena.

“Due to the large number of participants, the qualifying rounds will be conducted in a battle royale format, where multiple players fight simultaneously. The preliminaries will end when there are five or fewer players standing in the arena, and those standing will advance to the main tournament. This will be done in four groups. Any player who falls out of the arena will be disqualified immediately.”

“So that means 20 people are guaranteed to advance to the main tournament, right?”

Minna, who was listening nearby, calculates the number of participants in the main tournament.

“No, it’s a maximum of 20 people.”

Lune immediately corrects her.

“Huh? Five people in four matches, right?”

“Minna, it’s not guaranteed that five people will remain.”

“…Ah, I see.”

Meguri points out, and Minna accurately understands Lune’s intention. It’s impressive how perceptive these kids are, considering they’ve been through tough situations and don’t seem like rookies.

Yeah, well, being dragged into tough situations is tough in itself. It’s more like hell than a tough situation, I suppose?

“Depending on the match, there may be only one person left. If the number of participants is too low, there seems to be a loser’s revival match.”

“I see. You really know a lot, being a local.”

“Oh, yes. I’ve been gathering information for when I participate myself someday.”

Lune, praised by Minna, smiles shyly.

“Well, there are four of us, so even if we end up in the same group, we can all make it to the end.”

“H-Heh…”

Someone who heard Minna’s words let out a small laugh.

Looking closer, it seems that the adventurers standing nearby were listening to our conversation. They, or rather one of them, was laughing at us.

“Kate, that’s rude.”

“Sorry, sorry, but it’s just so cute how you all want to survive together.”

“You, huh… Sorry, my comrades have a foul mouth.”

“No, don’t worry about it.”

For now, as the eldest, I decide to engage with them.

“Have you participated in this ceremony before?”

“Oh, you… Yes, a couple of times.”

Twice, huh… I wonder if I can gather any useful information?

“You guys shouldn’t let your guard down just because this is a tournament where only women can participate.”

It was Kate, the adventurer who laughed at us earlier.

“Even in the first tournament we participated in, some random strong person stole the victory. It was undoubtedly someone of S-rank level.”

“Kate is right. Because only women can participate, skilled women come here. Despite everything, there are more men who excel in battles, so many people participate in public tournaments to showcase their skills.”

Hmm, it’s true that in tournaments like this, male adventurers tend to win more often. It’s probably because men generally have better physical abilities and are more likely to gain strength.

However, just like how I became an A-rank adventurer, there are definitely skilled women. Even if they can’t win with pure strength, they can adapt with agility, and for magic users, strength and physique don’t matter. This is a place where people who have the ability but are not recognized can showcase their skills.

“Don’t get carried away and focus on the enemies in front of you. Even skilled participants can lose in the preliminaries.”

“That’s right, if you show off your skills half-heartedly, you might attract concentrated attacks from other adventurers.”

“Thank you for telling us so many things. You guys are nice people.”

“St-Stop it.”

“Hehe, consider it an apology for making you laugh.”

Kate blushes and turns away. Maybe she taught me because she felt bad for laughing? She might actually be a nice person.

“Now, I will announce the numbers of the participants for the first match! Those called, please go up to the stage over there.”

The announcer calls out the numbers, and the players go up to the stage.

“Number 76!”

“I’ve been called, so I’ll go.”

“Be careful, Liliera.”

“Do your best.”

“G-Good luck, Dra… Liliera-san!”

“Do your best!”

“I wish you good luck. Well, I think you’ll be fine.”

Not only Minna and the others, but even Kate and her group cheer me on. And as I step onto the stage, the players’ gazes are focused on me.

“…That’s the Dragon Princess…”

“As expected, at first…”

Ah, they’ve definitely noticed. They’re definitely coming for me.

“Now, for the first qualifying match…”

The players in the arena prepare their weapons, but their blades are aimed directly at me without hiding their intentions.

“Well… I guess there’s no helping it.”

I also ready my spear and gather magical power.

“Begin!!”

“Target the Dragon Princess!!”

With the referee’s declaration, the players rush towards me. But I’m not the Dragon Princess.

Players, who seem to be thieves, attack me from the front and both sides. They have good coordination, but are they allies? Or did they plan to work together beforehand? Well, it doesn’t matter.

“Gotcha!”

“No, you didn’t.”

I activate my body enhancement magic to strengthen the ice attribute.

“Whoa!?”

Naturally, as the ground freezes, the three of them slip and lose their balance. As they try to regain their posture in a hurry, I continuously thrust the pommel of my spear into their solar plexus.

“Guh!?”

“Gah!?”

“Guh!?”

The players who charged at high speed collapse to the ground, writhing in pain from the counterattack that took advantage of their own speed.

“Fire Arrow!”

“Wind Arrow!”

“Ice Arrow!”

Immediately after the three of them fall, magic attacks are launched from behind.

“Too naive!”

I infuse the ice magic into my spear and intercept all the magic attacks.

“What!? The magic was repelled!?”

“Could it be a magic item!?”

It is indeed a magic item, but the reason is that your magic was weak. They were probably not professional magic users, but rather learned magic as a support to exploit their opponents’ weaknesses. So compared to the magic Minna and Rex-san cast, their attacks were significantly weaker. Because their magic was at that level, I could easily intercept it by just enhancing my weapon with body enhancement magic.

“Haha, you let your guard down!”

Finally, the group that had been approaching me from the beginning reaches me. They spread out and surround me.

“What should I do?”

I block the sword of the warrior who attacked from the front with my spear and thrust it into the ground.

“Whoa!?”

Now, the front is blocked by this player, and the following players can’t attack.

“Haah!!”

Players jump from the left and right to attack. I make sure not to slip on the frozen floor.

“But with that, you can’t dodge.”

I evade their attacks by moving my body.

“You’re fast!?”

Actually, I’m not moving that fast. It just looks that way because I’m sliding on the ice-covered floor using the thin ice blades I created with magic on the soles of my feet.

These boots are a magic item that creates ice blades on the backside by channeling magic power. It’s a reproduction of the ability snakes have, and it’s supposed to make it easier to sense the enemy’s body temperature. Thanks to this, I can feel the body temperature of the players attacking from unseen directions and counter them without turning around.

Furthermore, this ice can also be used as a weapon. By adjusting the amount of magic power, I can control the length and hardness. Like this.

“Haah!!”

I raise my leg high and perform a spinning kick, and the ice blades on the back of my boots extend, mowing down the players who surrounded me.

Yeah, it’s a good thing I tested this equipment with a dragon before the match. If I had tested the new equipment’s functions on humans in a real battle, it would have been a disaster.

While sliding my body, I evade the attacks of the players and swing my spear using the speed of rotation. I thrust it at the front enemy, then without turning around, I hit the back enemy with the pommel.

“Kyaa!? W-Why is she attacking without looking at us…?”

This equipment that Rex-san made for me had an interesting additional function. It was a sensory function that intuitively detects the surrounding temperature.

It seems to be a magic item that reproduces the ability of snakes, making it easier to sense the enemy’s body temperature. Especially with my ice magic, which lowers the temperature of the surroundings, I can perceive temperature differences more clearly. Thanks to this, I can feel the body temperature of the players attacking from unseen directions and counter them without turning around.

“It’s quite useful.”

Well, it’s more accurate to say that other equipment is too dangerous, and there are only a few pieces of equipment that can be used in situations like this.

“But I can’t stay surrounded forever.”

Even though I can now deal with surprise attacks from behind, being outnumbered is still dangerous. I evade the attacks of the players while avoiding being surrounded and move towards the outside of the encirclement.

“Don’t break the encirclement! Attack from all directions at once!”

The players outside the encirclement gather in the direction I’m moving and try to bring me back to the center of the encirclement.,”Not bad coordination for an improvised team.”

The players who brought me back to the center of the encirclement launch a simultaneous attack from all directions.

“Ah, I can’t dodge this… at this rate…”

I infuse magic power into the ice blades deployed on the soles of my feet, extending the short blades, which were like knives, to the length of a greatsword.

“What!?”

The ice blades deployed on the soles of my feet extend, pushing my body higher than the surrounding players.

“Here we go!”

By leaping even higher, I soar into the sky above the encirclement.

“And with this, it’s over!”

Since they gathered around me, let’s take them all down at once.

“Ice Blizzard Sphere!!”

A fierce blizzard envelops the players below from above, and in an instant, the arena is covered in snow and ice.

“It’s… so cold!!”

The players desperately brace themselves, freezing but not being blown away. But this magic doesn’t just create a blizzard.

“Kyaaaaaahhh!!”

Hidden within the blizzard, the players are blown away by large chunks of ice, each the size of a human head. Yes, this magic not only brings forth wind and snow, but also ice. The players are blown away one after another, falling from the arena.

And when the ice blizzard created by the magic subsides, I am the only one standing in the arena.

“Th-the winner, Liliera!!”

The referee declares my victory while trembling from the cold.

“Phew, I managed to win safely.”

This magic is amazing. I’m glad I learned it from Rex-san before the match. But it might be a bit difficult to activate it on my own without the magic support from the new equipment.

A certain female adventurer

“What’s that…”

Kate, who was standing next to me, mutters in astonishment. But that’s to be expected.

She, who was called the Dragon Princess in town, effortlessly dealt with the other participants who attacked her all at once, and even swept them away with a huge magic that I had never seen before.

In just a few seconds. In just a few tens of seconds, the Dragon Princess annihilated dozens of participants. To put it bluntly, it’s not something a human can do.

“As expected, Liliera, a complete victory.”

Someone else said the words I was about to say. It was the girls who were with the Dragon Princess.

They were not surprised by the Dragon Princess’s fighting prowess. On the contrary, they seemed to take it for granted.

“Yeah, even though there were some pretty strong people, it was an easy win. I can’t use magic that can deal with everyone, so I might struggle if I’m targeted.”

Moreover, they are discussing how they would fight if they were in her position. Could it be that those girls can do the same thing as the Dragon Princess? No… it’s impossible, right?

“Dragon Princess is amazing… ugh, I wonder if I can win.”

A girl with a spear mutters anxiously next to them. No, no, it’s impossible for her to fight against that. She’ll end up dead.

We were also marking the Dragon Princess, who defeated the dragon, but we never thought she would be such a monster! I won’t say anything bad, but please don’t try to fight her.

“Don’t be discouraged. Just give it your all.”

Wait, you can’t say such irresponsible things! Her life is at stake!

“I’m back.”

As we were talking, the Dragon Princess returned from the arena. Seeing her up close, she didn’t even show any signs of fatigue from using the powerful magic.

“Welcome back. It was an easy win, right?”

“Not really. Being targeted by everyone, I didn’t feel alive.”

Don’t lie! You were totally fine!

“Really? I didn’t look fine at all?”

That’s right! Say it!

“Not at all. I was struggling just as much.”

…Is that true?

“By the way, the matches over there should be starting soon.”

The Dragon Princess looks towards the outside of the arena. Is she talking about the Dragon Emperor’s Ritual?

“Yes, they must be putting on a show over there too. After all, Rex is there.”

Rex? Is she talking about the Dragon Princess’s companions?

“I’m sure the situation over there is even more chaotic than here.”

More chaotic than here? …Wait, what? Could it be that there are monsters like the Dragon Princess participating in the Dragon Emperor’s Ritual too?

“Oh, it’s so pitiful for the other participants.”

Yes, yes, one of the Dragon Princess’s companions laughs, but it doesn’t sound like a joke to me. After all, there are three of her companions right next to her, who are calmly watching her fight. And all three of them haven’t even had their matches yet. In other words, there is a very high possibility that they will fight against us…

“Hey, Kate… what do you think about withdrawing from this tournament?”

I suggest to my partner in a low voice if she wants to give up on the tournament. But she doesn’t say anything.

Is she really planning to say that she wants to fight the Dragon Princess? Is she such a hot-blooded character? I turn my face towards Kate, who remains silent.

“…”

Ah, no, it’s no use. She’s just in shock and stunned.

Gyro

“Now, let’s start the next group’s match.”

The referee calls out the player numbers. I urge the referee in my mind to call out my number quickly.

“Number 27.”

“Alright, here I go!”

Finally, my number is called, and I quickly head towards the stage.

“Good luck, Gyro-kun!”

I hear Norbu’s cheering from behind.

“Yeah! Gyro, Rex’s youngest disciple! I’m gonna go win the victory real quick!!”

I answer without looking back and climb onto the stage.