My right hook shattered Amour's jaw.
Amour crumpled to her knees. But I nearly went down to my knees as well.
At the same time as my right hook, Amour's left fist had struck somewhere around my ribs. Still, I was slightly faster, so it seemed I managed to blunt some of the impact—but it still hurt like hell.
As she was crumbling, Amour tried to lunge at me and grab on, but I gritted through the pain and jumped backward to dodge.
Amour's eyes, even as she lay collapsed on the ground, still hadn't lost their fighting spirit.
If I gave her any more time, she'd get back up again.
So I circled around behind Amour and then...
"Hgh—..."
I choked her. More precisely, not her windpipe—I went for her carotid artery with a technique known as a "rear naked choke."
For several seconds, Amour struggled desperately, but with her jaw having been smashed and a concussion setting in, she couldn't do much. Before long, the strength drained from her limbs.
"Referee! She's lost! Kid, let go of her now!"
Seeing that Amour had gone limp, Branca charged over with a terrifying expression.
I held Branca at bay with a raised hand and pressed my knee into Amour's back to revive her.
"Nngh..."
The moment I revived her, Amour immediately regained consciousness and began looking around. When she realized I was behind her, she hurried to stand and back away—but the instant she got up, she swayed and nearly collapsed.
"You lost. You were unconscious for a short while."
Branca, relieved that Amour was safe, seemed to calm down a bit. Supporting the staggering Amour, she relayed the result of the match. Amour looked momentarily surprised, but quickly recovered and nodded.
"Individual Battle Final—match over! Winner: Tenma!"
Having confirmed that Amour had regained consciousness, the referee declared my victory.
In that instant, the arena erupted in thunderous cheers and applause.
My acquaintances in particular were celebrating as if it were their own victory—Lady Maria was even dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.
I gave the audience a light wave and approached Amour.
Amour still seemed unsteady on her feet, standing only with Branca's support.
"Good fight. Stay still for a moment."
I held my hand in front of Amour's face and cast a healing spell.
It was only first aid, so the bruises hadn't faded much, but at least the nosebleed that had started up again stopped.
Once the bleeding stopped, I extended my hand. Amour looked back and forth between my face and my hand, then accepted the handshake.
"Congrats, kid! I never thought you'd be that merciless!"
Branca came over with congratulations and a teasing remark. She was talking about that rear naked choke at the end, no doubt.
"Well, if I hadn't done that, she never would've stopped. Amour is..."
Hearing that, Branca agreed with something like "You're not wrong" and laughed.
While I was looking toward Branca, I thought I felt the hand I'd been shaking with Amour pull away slightly.
Wondering what was going on, I looked toward Amour—and suddenly she yanked me toward her with incredible force. And then...
"Mwah—"
...Huh? Why... why did Amour just kiss me...
Without any warning whatsoever, my lips had been stolen by Amour...
Completely blindsided by this utterly unexpected turn of events, I stumbled backward as if shoving Amour away.
"Fufhyah!"
Amour grinned triumphantly. But to me, that smile looked like a predator eyeing her prey.
Branca caught Amour and looked up at the ceiling, one hand pressed to her forehead.
"Are you an idiot! Young lady!"
"Fubeh!"
Branca raised the hand from her forehead and delivered a crack to the top of Amour's head. And once again, Amour lost consciousness.
Branca picked up the unconscious Amour.
"Ahh... sorry, kid. Just pretend you got bitten by a tiger and forget about it!"
Branca threw Amour over her shoulder and hurried off the scene... Wait, wouldn't getting bitten by a tiger be a fatal wound?
As I vaguely pondered that, Grandpa—who had somehow appeared at my side—led me out of the arena.
"Tenma, what is your relationship with that girl?"
"I don't know! If anything, I'm the one who wants to ask her why she did that!"
In the waiting room, I recounted what had just happened while receiving treatment from Grandpa.
"Thanks, Grandpa. I can handle the rest myself."
Since I was better at healing magic than Grandpa, I decided to handle everything except hard-to-reach spots like my back.
After that, I'd stumbled back to the waiting room in a daze, so I didn't remember clearly—but apparently, when Amour had ambushed me, the audience had gone wild.
"Then why on earth did that girl kiss you, Tenma? And right in front of that enormous crowd, no less... Was it love at first sight?"
I didn't know, but it seemed the person who could tell me was already on her way here.
"You're going to explain that for us now, aren't you, Branca?"
I sensed a startled presence in front of the door. Grandpa had known someone was there, but he hadn't realized who—and he looked surprised that I'd figured it out.
"That's right... I'll be intruding."
Branca lumbered into the room and immediately bowed her head upon seeing Grandpa and me.
"I'm sorry! The young lady did something incredibly stupid!"
Opening with an apology and a deep bow, Branca. Grandpa, watching this, spoke before I could.
"Well, it's not as though you did us any harm... But what's the real reason behind this?"
When Grandpa pressed for the reason, Branca looked uncomfortable.
"At the very least, there was some kind of reason, right? There may have been no harm, but I was still the victim here—so I have every right to know the reason."
Those words seemed to steel Branca's resolve. She took a deep breath and began explaining.
"The reason the young lady kissed you... Actually, the reason she entered this tournament in the first place was to find herself a future spouse."
That bombshell announcement left Grandpa and me frozen. Ignoring us, Branca continued.
"The young lady's tribe... Well, it's my tribe too, actually. It's a fairly large one. You know how there's an autonomous region in the south of this country, centered on beastfolk? She's the only daughter of the most powerful faction down there."
The so-called "Southern Autonomous Region" exists in the south of this country. As the name suggests, it's home to a great many beastfolk, and while it technically falls under this country's jurisdiction, there's a historical record that three kings prior granted them autonomy due to their formidable fighting prowess.
Nowadays, there are still a few beastfolk nobles, and thanks to their influence, relations between the two sides remain amicable.
However, discrimination against beastfolk still persists, and some have migrated to the Southern Autonomous Region because of it. Among those migrants, there are apparently those who harbor resentment toward humans.
As a result, every few years, the king still finds himself troubled by problems stemming from the Southern Autonomous Region.
"In other words, that girl declared she would take Tenma—who is stronger than her—as her husband?"
Branca nodded at Grandpa's words.
"There are people in my tribe and neighboring ones who are stronger than the young lady, but... they're few in number, and they're all considerably older and already married. Those close to her age can't hold a candle to her. Yet the young lady insists, 'If I'm going to marry anyone, it'll be a man stronger than me.' Her parents essentially sent her off with the attitude of, 'We don't care about race—just catch whoever catches your eye!' They assigned me to keep an eye on her during this tournament..."
Incidentally, Amour's father had been granted the honorary title of viscount by the kingdom, but in terms of actual military strength, he was reportedly on par with an above-average earl. Moreover, in Amour's tribe, it was common for someone outside the bloodline to become chief after the previous one died, so there was apparently no insistence on having Amour inherit the chieftainship.
"But you've got veto power, kid! Worst comes to worst, we can handle it by force! The real question is whether she'll give up... So, kid. I'm sorry! Just chalk it up to bad luck and accept that she'll be sticking to you!"
According to Branca, there were only three ways Amour would give up: one, someone around her age who's stronger than me shows up; two, Amour falls for someone regardless of strength; or three, I kill Amour.
Option one was a long shot since even the gods had vouched for my strength, and option three was obviously out of the question.
So all I could do was hope for option two.
As I sighed, Grandpa muttered something like, "Another one has been added..."
The time for the pair battle finals was approaching, but after that conversation, I wasn't in the mood to watch, so I decided to rest a bit longer.
When I asked Branca how Amour was doing, she answered with a smile...
"As expected, even she wouldn't go that far right away. As punishment, I've got her wrapped up in bandages on her bed and left her there. So don't worry! She won't show her face in front of you until this tournament is over! ...At least, that's how it should be."
With that, she left the room.
While we were eating lunch in the waiting room, it seemed the pair battle finals had concluded, and a staff member came by.
Apparently, since the timing had become awkward, they'd pushed back the start of the team battle finals to two hours from now.
This included consideration for my consecutive matches, and the opposing side had apparently agreed as well.
"Got it. When the time comes, I just head to the same corridor as before, right?"
"That's correct. A staff member will come to fetch you, so please be ready."
After the staff member left, I opened the bag I'd left with Grandpa.
"Grrrrooowl..."
And then came the immediate duet of growling stomachs... Despite having been fed properly, apparently it still wasn't enough for the two of them.
As I carefully gave them seconds, making sure they didn't eat too much, Namiitaro sidled up to me with a grinning face.
"Tenma... You've drawn closer to the grave of life!"
He was thrusting his pectoral fins toward me with what he apparently thought was a winning smile. He was probably trying to give a thumbs-up, but it was impossible to tell.
"Shut up!"
Namiitaro's expression got under my skin, and I reflexively kicked him—but his scales were incredibly hard, and I ended up hurting my foot instead.
"Are you okay~ Tenma~"
Grinning the whole time, Namiitaro pretended to be concerned while making fun of me.
"...I'll zap you with lightning."
"I'm sorry, so please, just let it go!"
Even Namiitaro was afraid of lightning. He immediately dropped to his knees and apologized right in front of me, so I let it go.
"By the way, changing the subject—how are you planning to fight in the finals?"
What Namiitaro meant was: who would be fighting whom?
After a moment's thought, I settled on the matchups.
"First, the wyvern subspecies will be an aerial fight, so Solomon is the best pick. The opponent is bigger and faster, but within the boundaries of the arena, Solomon's agility could give him a shot. If there's an opening, Namiitaro, back him up too. You've got at least one or two ways to hit things in the air, right?"
If anyone could pull that off, it was Namiitaro, who had a knack for everything.
I had that odd conviction, and when I asked Namiitaro, he grinned fearlessly.
"Who do you take me for! I'll show you my trump card!"
Namiitaro snorted through his nose, fired up and ready.
"Next, I'll handle the troll and the cyclops. They've got power but slow movements, and striking seems like the way to go—so I'm the best match for them."
I'd hunted ogres a few times before, and since they were all the same giant-type species, there shouldn't be much difference.
"Then the remaining two are prey for Shiromaru and Slarin!"
Namiitaro said that while looking at Shiromaru and Slarin, but that wasn't quite right.
"No. Shiromaru and Slarin will only fight those who aren't tamers."
Slarin and Shiromaru tilted their heads at my words.
"Then what about the tamer?"
Namiitaro looked puzzled too, but I had a plan for that.
"I'm going to ignore them on purpose. If they attack, that's a different story, but I don't think they'll go on the offensive until we get close. So we beat down everyone else first, then take them on!"
The strongest among them was probably the tamer. If someone like that wasn't going to join the fight from the start, it was best to leave them alone for as long as possible to minimize damage.
Well, the easiest thing would be if they just retired once they were the only one left...
"If we fight them normally, they shouldn't be that tough. But let's not let our guard down!"
Each one of them responded to my words with a burst of fighting spirit.
"There's still plenty of time... Impatient little ones."
Just as Grandpa muttered, we'd gotten fired up too early. About ten minutes later, we all deflated and had to hype ourselves up all over again.