ENTERING THE TOURNAMENT ①

“Phew. I made it to the capital before the tournament began, somehow.”

I lightly exhaled as I entered the gate to the royal capital.
On the way, I took a monster subjugation request at a village I stopped by, so I barely made it here on time.
If not for that, I would have reached a few days earlier.

I’m so glad Lain trained me!
Thanks to him, my travel time was even shorter than I expected it to be.

“That was too close, seriously.”

The soldiers were preparing to shut the gate I just came from.
It’s already evening, and if I were any slower, I wouldn’t have made it in time for the gates closing.
It was worth the effort to run with all my might using [Body Strengthening], for the last 2-3 days.

“I have to register myself by the end of this day.”

Registrations seem to be taking place at the arena on the side of the imperial castle.
I started walking slowly towards the towering imperial castle, located in the middle of the capital.

***

“Um, excuse me. Are registrations for the tournament taking place here?”
“Yes, that is correct.”

I spoke to the receptionist at the small reception area outside the arena.
She conducted herself elegantly, so she must have been a maid from somewhere.

A simple tent was set up outside the arena, with a signboard saying “Reception”.

Apparently, registering outside the arena was a tradition.

Well, in reality, it was set up because they didn’t want to let small aristocrats from the frontier into a place they regularly used, while the ones around the capital expressed their will to participate from their homes, so they wouldn’t come all this way.
I won’t have to meet any aristocrats here, which is lucky for me.

“Please show me your invitation letter.”
“Yes.”

I hand over my invitation letter to the lady.
After confirming it, she used some kind of magic on it.
It was void attribute most likely, but since I couldn’t hear the incantation I couldn’t tell what sort of magic it was.

“There is no mistaking it. May I ask for your name?”
“…It’s Aria.”

The invitation letter had nothing but my first name.
Traditionally, it’s a step taken to formally recognize those that fought valiantly, as full-fledged aristocrats.

Though in reality, you’re asked your family name at the reception and your opponent is decided based on that.

“…I am not allowed to use my family name.”

As soon as I said that, the reception lady’s attitude changes drastically.

“There always are a few. The ones that don’t get it. This is a tournament for aristocrats. Ex-aristocrats are not needed here.”
“Wha!?”

I almost lost it for a moment, but then I remembered Sui’s and Reno’s faces.
If I got angry and lost my right to take part in this tournament, they would be left at a disadvantage.

“…As long as my invitation’s real, I can participate, right?”
“Of course. Even for me, it would be a shame if all the entertainment were gone.”
“Entertainment?”

As I ask that, the receptionist gives a nasty smile.

“Entertainment, where noble aristocrats purge ratchets like you. It always humors me to see their sobbing self, crying and begging for mercy.”
“Wha!? But they could surrender, right?”
“If your surrender reaches the referee then sure? If. But would the wails of a ratchet truly reach him? His Majesty isn’t even present for the initial matches after all.”
“!?”

I’d never heard about that!
Even though I wanted to surrender as soon as the first match started!

As I stiffened hearing what the receptionist had to say, she quickly took the invitation from my hand.

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“Luck is with me. This tournament even allows betting, but if one party surrenders then the match becomes invalid, since it’s rude to the surrendering aristocrat after all. But you are different. The odds are usually skewed in fights between fallen aristocrats and aristocrats, but that shouldn’t be the case till a while from now. I wonder if I can afford a round of drinks if I bet all my savings?”
“Ah, wait.”

The receptionist quickly processed the registration.
Right after, the sound of a bell could be heard.
It was probably the bell at the clock tower, located in the imperial castle.

“Done~. Registrations are over. We’re done for the day so get lost.”
“Wa-, wait a second!”
“So annoying. Guards, throw this fallen aristocrat out of here!”

The guards standing close to the gate start approaching us.
I didn’t want to mess with those strong-looking men.

“…I’ll go.”
“Good. As long as you behave.”

The receptionist lady smiles satisfactorily.

Seeing me pull back quietly, the guards also retreated.

“Ah, don’t even think about running okay? The guards won’t let you by, and you’ll be punished by death for desecrating a noble tournament.”
“…I understand.”

The receptionist called out to me, seeing my retreating figure.
There was an undeniable joy in her voice.

***

“What do I do…”

I went into a cheap inn near the ramparts, and lay down on my bed.
To think that I wouldn’t even be allowed to abstain.
I had never seen the tournament properly till now.
Though I did see elder brother’s match in the finals, I had never seen lower aristocrats or fallen aristocrats fight on the first day.

I never imagined it could be like this.

Those who were no longer aristocrats always fought clumsily and died, but I always wondered why they never surrender.
Just like me, they must have been unable to withdraw and were tortured to death.

If this is how it was, I should have seen it once with my own eyes.

Come to think of it, my elder brothers who went to see the martial arts tournament used to always talk about it excitedly.
To think that they were enjoying talking about killing other people.
I could never imagine aristocrats being this rotten.

“I have to, win somehow…”

I wobbled onto my feet and started cleaning my weapon.

The blood and meat from defeated monsters was stuck to it.
I carefully try and scrub the dirt off the sword using a cloth.
But I couldn’t wipe everything off, and you could even see small scratches on its surface if you looked closely.

“Kili…”

It won’t get fixed as neatly as when Kili does it.

“Ow!”

I accidentally cut my fingertip shallowly.
Putting the wound in my mouth, I wait for the bleeding to stop.
Unlike Milia, I couldn’t use healing magic to fix my wounds.

“Milia, Reno, Sui…”

As I stop working, everyone’s faces start floating in front of me one after the other.

“I don’t want to die, Lain.”

Wiping my tears, I continued cleaning my sword.

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