Chapter 194: 179

Everyone was watching the fighting with hot-dogs in one hand.

「This is good. Yup, it's delicious」

「That's right. It's easy to eat and delicious. It's also surprisingly filling. It can also be eaten as a quick snack between training sessions」

「You guys should also take note of this drink. It's sweet, which helps to relieve fatigue. After working the body hard, having something sweet can soothe the flesh at its core. It's also in liquid form, making it easy to ingest. This means that it’s easily absorbed. You will see a tremendous difference in your fatigue levels the next day depending on whether or not you drink this」

『Ohh~』

Gladvain's kin all nodded, impressed.

As one, they turned to stare at me.

Hey, don't give me that urging look.

「G, got it. I'll bring some for you guys again in future」

Oh-ho-ho-ho, they went as their stares were replaced by broad grins.

「While you're at it, you might as well bring the pork squares you cooked before. It's something that just popped into my head, but won't putting those pork squares in this bread be delicious as well?」

「I'd like some udon. Our god's udon is delicious, but I want to eat the authentic udon made by you」

「Then make ramen too. Recently, a delicious ramen store opened nearby, and I heard that the owner learned how to cook it from you. Why didn't you let us taste-test it?!」

「Alright, alright」

I gave them a vague response.

The warriors here are all foodies for some reason. Or maybe they're just gluttons.

And then,

Cheers erupted, and I watched as the winner raised his wooden sword into the air.

………………My bad feeling had come true.

He withdrew to the back for now, leaving the arena empty. There was no sign of any other participants either.

This means that……

「Souya! Souya! You're up!」

Evetta-chan bounced up and down as she called out to me. I stuffed the last bite of my hot-dog into my mouth and downed it with the sweet drink.

Well, I guess it's time for me to fight.

「Good luck! Don't lose, alright?!」

「Well, I'll be fine, I think」

I'm more or less an advanced adventurer after all.

I handed my cane-sword to Evetta-chan and picked up a wooden sword instead. I gave it a few test swings to see how it felt.

It's light, but hard enough to break bones. It’s made by gluing several pieces of wood together so that there wouldn't be any splinters when it broke.

But if you get hit in a bad spot, it can kill you.

Without the possibility of death hanging over them, people won't improve. That’s the philosophy of the Velsvain school.

I stood in the middle of the arena and waited for my opponent.

「First up is your first opponent, munch, munch………nom, nom」

The clerical lady made the announcement while eating a hot-dog. She was a dark-skinned, dog-like beastkin. It made for a somewhat perplexing sight.

「Umm, please welcome the representative of greenhorn adventurers, Ariyanja of Metesunus!」

She stretched her hand out……

『………………』

……but there was no one there.

「Huh? Hey, someone~? Bring Ariyanja-or-whatever-his-name-is-san here~!」

For a while, there was much murmuring among the crowd.

After about five minutes.

「Thank you for waiting~!」

An exhausted-looking adventurer was dragged in by several clerical ladies.

He was a male Hemu, about five years older than me. He wore leather armor, a round shield on his back, and a longsword on his hip. A very typical swordsman adventurer.

He was in terrible shape, so I asked the ladies a question.

「Umm, what happened to him?」

「He exhausted himself during the preliminary tournament and was out cold in the back. Please wait a moment」

The three ladies stood him up, removed his weapon, and put a wooden sword in his hand in exchange.

「Alright then, begin!」

As soon as the ladies moved away from him, the adventurer slumped to the ground like a beached octopus.

He showed no signs of getting up.

「We have a winner! Souya, the foreigner!」

『………………』

The spectators and I were speechless, but I had won the first match.

Well, I didn't do a single thing though.

「Alright, let's move on to the next one~ Munch, munch」

As before, she presided over the proceedings casually as she munched on a hot-dog.

「Ketchup is all well and good, but Souya-san, why aren't you selling this mustard-or-whatever-it’s-called that's in this yellow sauce at the store?」

「If I remember correctly, it's sold on a limited basis at the specialty seasonings store next to the "A Respite From Adventuring" store. There just isn't that much of it, you see? Most of it goes into the making of the yellow sauce」

「I see~, after this is over, I'll go buy it all up immediately~」

「Please don't buy it all up」

There will be a line of resellers again. However, as Melm doesn't sell anything to those kinds of people when he's manning the store, there shouldn't be a problem. There's no problem, right?

「Hey, how long are you going to make me wait?」

As the lady and I chatted, we got yelled at by a rather angry beastkin.

「Ah, okay~. From the Beastkin Forest, Ogu―――――」

「No need to give my name! If I beat this guy, everyone will know who I am!」

The beastkin charged at me all of a sudden.

He was massive, about two meters tall, and his footsteps thundered as he closed in on me. He had thick body hair, claw marks on his left cheek, and arms and legs as thick as a bear’s. Actually, he just might be a bear beastkin.

「Umm, please use a wooden sword inste―――――」

「UUUOOOooooo!」

Ignoring the lady, the beastkin raised his two-handed axe above his head. The power behind his swing was enough to cleave me in half. But it was too easily telegraphed. I could probably avoid it even if I was half asleep.

As I got ready to counter his attack suitably……

「Listen to me」

……a threatening voice made me shudder.

The lady's back fist slammed into the beastkin's face. His massive form spun around three times before slamming into the wall. Gladvain-sama's kin got out of the way without issue, but about four adventurers who weren't paying enough attention got embroiled in it.

「Is he alive~?」

「He’s alive~」

When the hot-dog lady asked, one of the ladies who had gone over to check on the beastkin answered.

People often overlook this, but there's no way that the people responsible for managing adventurers are weaker than adventurers. With sufficient numbers, they can defeat even advanced adventurers.

「I see~」

I heard a click of the tongue. I decided to pretend I didn't hear it.

After two wins by default, it was time for the third match.

「Alright, next up, we have Shuna of Azorido. What a surprise, it's a match between members of the same party~」

BOOOOoooooo. There was a lot of booing from the crowd.

It was mostly from those who had lost to Shuna.

「Yeah, yeah, small fry who lost should shut up~」

They quieted down when the lady glared at them.

After seeing that earlier blow, no one could do anything but shut up.

「Hey, Souya. Somehow, things ended up like this」

「Yeah~」

Shuna muttered as he fiddled with the wooden sword in his hand.

「Remember when you stopped that duel between me and Irvin?」

「Yeah~」

It felt like a long time ago.

「As you're the leader and I'm a member of the party, I've been putting it off, but to tell you the truth―――――」

「Hey, Shuna」

「What?」

The conversation was heading in a bad direction, so I changed the subject.

「Why not let me look good for this match?」

「Got it. I'll fight with everything I've got」

He was totally raring to go.

「Begin!」

The lady gave the signal, and the fight started immediately.

Shuna slashed at me head-on. It was a very direct attack, which was very typical of him. I thought about avoiding it, but it was three times faster than I expected, so I went for a block instead.

The wooden swords creaked as they clashed together.

If I hadn't put my arm behind it as quickly as I did, my wooden sword would have been broken in a single blow.

From there, a flurry of attacks was unleashed.

Sharp, fast, and heavy, the swordsmanship he displayed was simple yet effective.

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Because of its simplicity, it was the fastest, and even though I could read his attacks, my body couldn't keep up as I tried to avoid them.

This is really bad.

I've been forced onto the defensive from the start and have no way to reverse the situation.

At this rate, my wooden sword will get broken easily. If I'm bare-handed, it’ll be even worse for me. It's too late to regret it now, but I really should have countered his first attack.

When the situation is this bad, there's nothing I can do but to take a gamble. I'm not very good when the odds are against me though.

「Urgh」

I blocked an overhead slash on purpose.

Naturally, my wooden sword broke easily. The force behind the slash dampened by half, I took it on the shoulder and threw a front kick.

It was an awkward kick, but it was difficult to avoid as it was aimed at the midline of the body.

I say "difficult to avoid", but that's just what I thought.

He avoided it.

Shuna jumped up and landed with bent knees on my outstretched leg.

This guy, is he Ushiwakamaru[1] or something?

「Uwaa」

I avoided a thrust from his wooden sword by bending over backward.

For the second time in my life, I did something resembling a backflip. The momentum was stronger than I had expected, so I nearly lost my balance when I landed on my heels. My pointy hat had come off and fell to the ground a distance away.

Shuna never misses an opening, even if it's only as wide as a hair's breadth.

And because he never fails to seize an opening, that's the one place where I can read him.

I slapped my hands together in front of my throat.

I could feel the heat generated by the friction of the wood as it slid across my palms. Thanks to the extensive amount of time I had spent swinging a sword in the alternate world, the skin of my palms had grown thicker.

I stopped the wooden sword cold.

「Tch」

Shuna clicked his tongue.

I'm no fool. I'm not going to let go so easily.

「Now, Shuna」

「What?」

I kept my voice down so that I wouldn't be overheard.

「As a sign of respect for me, your leader, how about letting me win?」

「Don't be absurd. As a sign of respect, I'll beat you down with everything I've got」

That's what I thought he'd say.

It's still fine up to the part where I stopped his wooden sword, but I'm not confident that I can defeat Shuna barehanded from that point on. I really don't want it to become a slugfest like the time between Irvin and Shuna where both sides got hurt.

Hmmm, what to do, what should I do?

「Ah」

I'll be damned.

Isn't it amazingly simple?

「Shuna」

「What now?」

I discussed it with him secretly once more.

「I'll leave an opening at an appropriate timing, so I’m counting on you to deliver a nice blow that looks painful but actually isn't」

「Huh?」

「I'm telling you that I'm letting you win」

It had slipped my mind.

I had been caught up in the heat of the moment and had fought unnecessarily.

I honestly don't care if I win or lose here. That's the kind of person I am. Or rather, when it's against a party member, I care even less about who wins or loses. I'll concede victory as much as needed.

「Souya, are you serious?」

「Of course. You can have the win」

And then,

I felt the rush of wind as Shuna threw a spinning back kick at me.

「What?!」

I just managed to avoid it. If it had hit me squarely, my lower jaw would have been shattered.

「H, hey! Shuna!」

「You're pissing me off……… I've never been more pissed off with you than I am right now!!!」

Shuna was shaking with anger. Veins and muscles popped out on the hand that held the wooden sword.

Did I mess up somehow? Is winning or losing a fight really that important? I know I’ve made him angry, but I don't understand the root of the problem.

I’ve never had any friends that I could fight with before……

「Shuna, I'm sorry for what I――――――Uwaa!」

The wooden sword was thrust at me.

I dodged it by the skin of my teeth again. If it had landed, the thrust would have ruined my eyeball.

「You…….that's too much, isn't it?!」

「Shut up! Just die once!」

In a frenzy, Shuna yelled and swung his wooden sword at me. To top it off, all of his swings were filled with killing intent. Some of them I needed to avoid with all my might or I would have suffered a mortal blow.

I was forced onto the defensive again, this time facing an even greater disadvantage.

I had messed things up completely.

For some reason, I heard cheers from around me.

Most of them were cheers for Shuna by the kin, but all sorts of abusive words were being hurled at me as well.

With the way things are going, I know better than to even think about defeating Shuna unscathed.

I have no choice but to face him with everything I have as well.

How did it come to this? Will my adventuring time be cut short again because of a stupid event like this?

「Shuna, don't think badly of me, alright?」

「That's the thing that pisses me off the most! Souya! That hubris of yours!」

I have a hard time understanding the feelings of a young boy.

When I raised my fists and switched gears……

「Oh, it's already started」

「We're late, huh?」

「It's because you spent so much time buying fruit」

「Well, they don't sell these kinds of fruit over there. I've been craving sour things lately」

Amidst the raucous cheering, I picked up the voices of people I knew.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted two figures.

One was a dark-skinned elf.

She had her hood up, but since we lived together, I could recognize her no matter what she wore.

The other was a silver-haired beastkin with strikingly white skin.

She was taller than the young elf, but still in the petite category. She was also baby-faced. Her loose and fluffy hair was cut in a short bob hairstyle and she had rabbit ears on the top of her head. I could also see a short, cute-looking tail.

Last I saw her, she wore the revealing clothes typical of beastkin despite the cold climate, but she was wearing a modest gray one-piece dress with a jacket on top instead.

And her belly was―――――――

「Huh? Shisho(master)?」

That's right, that rabbit beastkin is Shuna's swordsmanship teacher. She's also the original owner of the sword he holds so dear.

It was Regure the Graceful.

「Shi………………gah」

It was a touching reunion, but Shuna's eyes rolled back into his head.

That Regure had a round, protruding belly.

In other words, she was pregnant.

I witnessed the instant a young boy's heart shattered into a million pieces.

How would it feel to reunite with a woman who's older, cute, sexy, strong, the object of your admiration, and the person who entrusted her sword to you, only to find her pregnant with someone else's child?

I've never experienced anything like that before, but I would imagine that most young boys would probably go all white like Shuna did.

「Alright, Shuna」

As the leader of the party, I should put him out of his misery.

I clenched both fists together and raised them up……

「Go take a nap」

……and then brought them down on Shuna's head, knocking him out.

I've won.

But it's a painful victory.

[1] Ushiwakamaru(牛若丸) is the childhood name of Minamoto no Yoshitsune(源義経). Yeah, that super famous general who defeated Benkei and made him his retainer. He’s considered one of the greatest and the most popular warriors of his era, and one of the most famous samurai fighters in the history of Japan.

“With sufficient numbers, they can defeat even advanced adventurers” You talking about the time when they beat you up for trying to abduct Evetta-chan, Souya?

Urgh, I don’t want to use “Master” in place of Shisho because it would overlap with what they call the barkeeper… If you guys hate it, let me know and I’ll think of something.

When Souya met Regure back in volume 3, there were so many comments about how Shuna would react if only he knew… Well…

Anyway, what is Regure doing in Lemuria? And it’s actually been a while since we’ve seen Maria, isn’t it? More antics to follow, so stay tuned!

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