Chapter 5 is finally over.
It was a longer chapter than I anticipated…
The Wyvern subspecies let out a satisfied rumble from its throat, looking as though it had conquered the world—but this reign wouldn't last three days.
"Hado-hooooo!"
Namiutarou’s special move was fired into the sky, hitting the Wyvern subspecies. However, since it wasn’t a technique he could fire off repeatedly, its power was only a fraction of the first shot.
The Wyvern subspecies was initially startled, but it quickly realized the attack lacked significant force, and began to rumble its throat again, almost as if it were laughing mockingly.
"You idiot! That was just a decoy!"
Though the Wyvern subspecies likely didn’t understand Namiutarou’s words, it seemed to lock onto him as its target. It spread its wings wide, preparing to spit out a fireball.
"It doesn’t seem as intelligent as I thought."
Before the Wyvern subspecies could even turn to identify the source of the voice from behind, Tenma’s fist slammed directly into the crown of its head.
Taking advantage of the Wyvern subspecies being distracted by Namiutarou’s Hado-ho, Tenma had used magic to fly up and attack it from the rear.
"Gahh!"
The Wyvern subspecies began to plummet, swaying as if it had suffered a concussion.
However, directly below its fall were the Audience Seats, and the spectators who hadn’t fled began to scream.
"Shiromaru! Slarin!"
Hearing my voice, Slarin leaped onto Shiromaru’s back, and Shiromaru immediately took off at full speed toward the area where the wyvern was falling.
Then, Slarin’s body enlarged, and it extended its tentacles to grab the Wyvern subspecies, pulling it to adjust its trajectory.
As the Wyvern subspecies crashed near the center of the stage, Solomon bit down on it from behind.
The damage to Solomon must have been considerable as well, but it displayed its usual stubborn gluttony, clamping down on the Wyvern subspecies’ neck and refusing to let go.
I descended to Namitarou's side while watching that scene play out.
"Tenma, that went well. Let's finish that thing off already."
"Yeah, let's."
The Wyvern subspecies was tougher than expected — the fists that had been pounding it were red and raw.
I pulled the Adamantine sword from my Magic Bag and charged toward the Wyvern subspecies.
It spat out several fireballs trying to keep me at bay, but I dodged every single one.
One of the fireballs I evaded hit the fallen Troll instead, and the Troll writhed in agony.
Having dodged all the fireballs, the Wyvern subspecies somehow managed to stand and tried to take flight, but I reached it first. Aiming for its neck, I swung the sword down.
With a loud crunch, the neck bent at an ugly angle, and the Wyvern subspecies let out a wheezing sound as the air left its body, growing still.
"Grandpa! Bring me my Magic Bag!"
I called out to Grandpa, who had been maintaining a barrier in front of the King and the others.
Grandpa dropped the barrier and literally flew over with the bag.
"Is this the one you need?"
"Thanks, Grandpa. Heave-ho..."
Pressing the bag against the Wyvern subspecies while gripping it, the creature vanished safely inside.
That confirmed the Wyvern subspecies' death beyond any doubt.
After that, I checked on the Troll as well — it had stopped breathing.
As for the Cyclops,
its owner
had died and the collar had apparently come off, but it was sitting quietly and showed no intention of going berserk.
However, even when I looked around, I couldn't spot the mage anywhere.
I was wondering what had happened when Slarin, having returned to her original size, came over to my side and spat the mage out.
Apparently, she had evacuated him into the bag inside her body.
The venue was gradually calming down after I had finished off the Wyvern subspecies.
Then, the referee approached me…
"Winner: Orasion!"
he declared. Looking more closely, I could see knights rushing up from behind the referee, but because our subjugation had been so swift, they had effectively arrived late.
Even so, the knights were busy securing the mages, detaining the warriors, and handling the Tamer's corpse.
During all that, two knights approached me — Jeanne and Sigurd.
"Yo, Tenma, congrats on the win. I hate to say this at a time like this, but I'd like to have a look at that Wyvern."
"This isn't mandatory at the moment, but we do need to conduct a proper investigation, so it could become compulsory in the worst-case scenario. Right now, the materials and other ownership rights belong to Tenma, but if it becomes compulsory, they could be confiscated."
That was a pretty convenient argument, but I suppose the fact that they were at least bringing it up as a consultation was better than the alternative. Besides, as the knight order, since this incident had happened in front of the public, there was no way they could simply skip examining the Wyvern subspecies.
"That's fine… but when you dissect it, please let me be present. The Wyvern's blood is also valuable as a material."
Hearing my words, Jeanne nodded. However, Jeanne and the others didn't yet have a Magic Bag capable of preserving the Wyvern subspecies, so until they obtained one, I would be keeping it in my possession.
After that, Jeanne and the others cleaned up the Trolls and the Tamers' corpses, but as for the Cyclops, they couldn't reach a decision on what to do with it and ultimately it was handed over to the Adventurers' Guild.
Due to the post-incident processing by the knight order, the awards ceremony that was to take place after the match was delayed, and we were told to return to the waiting room for a rest before being called back to the venue.
On the prepared Fighting Stage, the first through third place winners from each category (since there was no final, this meant the losers of the semifinals) were lined up, but the only ones who had actually shown up for the ceremony were the Pair division honorees.
First was the Individual Battle, and in order, starting with:
me,
followed by Amur, and then Jin and Chaos should have been standing there, but Chaos was nowhere to be seen.
This was because they had been disqualified for a foul.
But this sort of thing had happened before.
The problem — or rather, the strange thing — was the lineup for the Team Battle.
The order was supposed to be Orasion, then Dendrobates, these two side by side, with Demon Soldiers and Blue Hornet lined up behind them.
But not a single member of Dendrobates, the runner-up, was present. This was because, during the commotion in the finals, everyone except Cyclops had been taken away, so they couldn't be lined up here.
In truth, having just Cyclops would have been fine enough, but since his master had died, he was effectively treated as something akin to a rampaging Wyvern subspecies, and they couldn't take responsibility if something happened.
The reason Cyclops hadn't been disposed of was that he was technically a former Familiar whose teammates were still alive, and he was behaving calmly without causing any trouble.
And the most bizarre part of all was Orasion.
After all, since I was over at the Individual Battle, the only ones lined up there were Namitaro and the other Familiars.
The plan was for me to head over to the Team Battle area once the Individual Battle awards were done, but there had never been a precedent of only Familiars lining up.
This was only possible because Namitaro could speak human language, but in the worst-case scenario, that spot could have been left entirely empty — leading to an unprecedented situation where neither the champion nor the runner-up team was present, even if only temporarily.
Even while thinking about all this, I had to keep my guard up behind me.
After all, behind me was Amur — not a beast of prey, but a predatory girl. Her gaze had been piercing into me for a while now, and it was incredibly uncomfortable.
I wanted to finish the Individual Battle awards quickly and get to where Slarin and the others were—
—to move—
—but at times like these, time always seemed to drag on.
The King was saying something from a distance, but I didn't have the composure to make out his words — I could only wish for it to end quickly.
Once the King finished speaking, it was Caesar-sama's turn, but my state of mind hadn't changed from when the King was talking.
After Caesar-sama finally finished his speech, the awards ceremony began. I received a commemorative shield and dagger from the tournament director along with the prize money, exchanged only the barest pleasantries before leaving the spot, and lined up at the Team Battle area where I could finally catch my breath.
Even after moving away from Amur, her gaze was still drilling into me, though it was somewhat better than before. Yet while the pair awards were being conducted, Amur's eyes hadn't wavered from me in the slightest. I thought it was quite rude, but no one was doing anything about it.
The King must have said something. The proof was that when our eyes met, his face was on the verge of breaking into a grin, and he was desperately trying to keep a straight face.
"Orasion, step forward."
Once the pair awards were finished, we were called up. The commemorative items and prize money were the same as the Individual Battle, but for the Team Battle, daggers had been prepared for each member. However, there was a problem.
"Um... since it seems only Tenma can hold the daggers, could you please take them all together?"
The official in charge of handing out the daggers, after racking his brain over how to give them to Shiromaru and the others, ended up giving them all to me in one go.
After that, everything proceeded smoothly, and the ceremony concluded with the tournament director's closing remarks.
In those remarks, he announced that the participants being honored here would be able to attend a party hosted by the royal family as a special award, in addition to their prize money.
Honestly, I'd already had meals with the royal family a number of times, so I was thinking I could probably skip it. But the champion not showing up would be a bad look, and I'd also made a promise to the stalker trio, so I went ahead and accepted.
The party was apparently going to be held at the royal castle a week later, on the final day of the festival.
The moment the awards ceremony ended and I stepped out of the venue, I stuffed Slarin and the others into the Magic Bag and quickly moved out.
Needless to say, it was to counter Amur. I rushed back to the waiting room, linked up with Gramps, and—
—only—
pulled Slarin out of the bag, then had him swallow us up.
Then I sent Slarin off toward the King and the others.
By going through all that, I was finally able to shake Amur.
The King and the others were genuinely surprised—they hadn't expected me to show up out of the blue—but they quickly figured out why I had come.
"Oh, Tenma! Congratulations on your victory. But my, what an intense approach you were getting!"
"Well, I always figured Tenma would take the win for sure, but... I never could've predicted that!"
The King and Lyle both teased me at almost the same time.
"Darling. Lyle... step back."
The grinning faces of the two froze the moment Maria appeared, and they meekly made way for her.
"So, Tenma. What's your relationship with that girl?"
"We just met for the first time!"
I reflexively straightened my back and snapped to attention as I gave my report.
Just then, Grandpa started to chime in, but he had been called over by Caesar-sama and the two were deep in conversation.
"I see... Well, her bloodline is legitimate, and she has real skill, so I have no objections personally... But if Tenma truly doesn't want her, just say the word. I'll eliminate her for you completely."
Maria smiled sweetly while saying something terrifying like it was nothing. Still, it seemed she had already figured out Amour's true identity.
"No, I'm really fine..."
I turned her down because that was honestly too scary, but I couldn't help wondering what she would have done if I'd actually asked... I didn't want to imagine it.
"A-Also, where's Jean? I wanted to talk to him about the Wyvern subspecies."
"Oh, Jean? He's currently attending an interrogation. As for the Wyvern matter, I'm already aware. I'll make sure to emphasize on my end as well that it's Tenma's quarry and should be treated with care."
Using the change of subject to my advantage, I also got the King to officially recognize my rights to the Wyvern subspecies. So when I tried to leave, Maria pressed me with a smile...
"Let's continue this conversation another time."
—and I got a reminder of my own...
Grandpa happened to have finished his conversation as well, so it was the perfect time to head home.
Rather than riding Slarin, I had the knights escort me out of the venue, and just as I was about to leave, Tida and Luna came rushing over.
"Tenma, congratulations on your win! Your fight with the Wyvern was amazing!"
"Big bro, congrats on winning! Congrats to Slarin too! Let me play with Solomon again, okay?"
Luna delivered her congratulations while sneakily slipping in her own request, which was mildly endearing. I told her sure and headed outside.
At least Amour's presence was nowhere to be felt, which was a relief, but the fact that my stalkers were multiplying was a bit worrying.
I slipped out of the venue by blending in with the crowd of spectators.
That way, I'd be harder to spot, and even if Amour had been lying in wait, finding me would have been considerably more difficult. The people around me wouldn't suspect I was mixed in among them, either. I was in disguise, after all.
Sure enough, I sensed Amour's presence near the venue's entrance. I glanced toward where the presence was coming from, and there was Amour perched on Branca's shoulder, peering this way and that. Without a doubt, she was looking for me.
People who noticed Amour and the others had naturally stopped in their tracks, forming a crowd at a safe distance. After all, this year's Individual Battle runner-up and last year's third-place finisher were both there. Plus,
*runner-up*,
...with the added bonus of eccentric behavior on top of that. If I, too, weren't the
*target*,
I might have joined the onlookers myself.
I made my way forward from that spot, careful not to draw Amour's attention, and slipped past the danger.
When Grandpa and I arrived back at the mansion, there was a crowd gathered at the gate. I thought, "Here we go again," but this crowd was a little different from the last one.
That was because the people at the front of the gate and the group keeping their distance had clearly separated into two clusters, and among those right at the front, there were unmistakably people dressed as knights.
I slipped through the outer group and made my way toward the gate, where I finally learned who the group at the front really was.
The group turned out to be the people of Kukuri Village—Uncle Mark, Aunt Martha, and the rest—along with Duke Sanga's knights.
None of the knights were familiar faces, and Duke Sanga himself wasn't there either, which made me a bit suspicious. But the armor bore the crest of House Sanga, and surely no one would dare pull off such a fraud in the Royal Capital, so I decided to hear them out first.
"Hah! We have been placed under orders from Duke Sanga to serve as bodyguards for the people of Kukuri Village! Given the dangerous state of affairs, we have also been ordered to defend this position at all costs! The Duke himself will be arriving shortly!"
It seemed their real purpose was to do me a favor under the guise of protecting Uncle and the others, while also creating an excuse for the Duke to come see me.
If they had been some noble I'd never met, I would have simply thanked them and asked them to be on their way. But I had at least some connection to House Sanga, and I didn't dislike them, so I agreed and invited the knights inside. However, they refused to budge from their post, insisting they couldn't leave until the Duke himself arrived—so I decided to interpret at least half of this as Duke Sanga's goodwill.
Besides, I had made quite a spectacle of myself at this tournament, so it was only natural that my dealings with nobles would increase going forward.
If that was the case, I needed to put on a show of being on good terms with Duke Sanga before any strange nobles started circling—since you have to be selective about which nobles you befriend.
I already had connections with the royal family, but the more friendly Great Nobles on your side, the better.
Still, troublesome things would only increase...
After wrapping up my business with the knights, I turned back toward the uncles and was suddenly seized in a hug by Aunt Mersa. Then I was carried to the center of the crowd and unceremoniously tossed into the air.
Being tossed up didn't bother me in the least — I just wished they'd picked a more secluded spot... Honestly, being thrown skyward for all to see, I wanted to call it some kind of humiliating display! But since they were all people who doted on me, I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud... Grandpa was also cheerfully joining in on the tossing.
Maybe tossing me around had loosened everyone's emotions, because some people were even crying after they set me down.
Then someone shouted.
"It's a feast tonight!"
Today
too —
Surely that's going too far! I thought, but since my own celebration was included in it, I had no room to complain.
At the signal of the word "feast," the people of Kukuri Village immediately dispersed and ran off. They each seemed to understand what they had to do, deciding who would prepare what through brief exchanges.
Duke Sanga's knights were stunned by how efficient their teamwork was.
Leaving the knights behind and entering the mansion, no one else had returned yet, so it was quiet inside.
"I feel bad for Aina and the others, but let's get a head start on the preparations!"
Aunt Mersa headed straight for the kitchen as though it were her own home. Several other women followed after her, while Uncle Mark set about preparing the garden for the feast.
"Must be nice having nothing to do, Grandpa..."
"Indeed... though it does feel like things are running away from us a bit..."
While I was chatting with Grandpa, Slarin and the others crawled out of the bag.
They each went their separate ways — Slarin to the living room sofa, Namitaro to the garden pond, Shiromaru and Solomon to the kitchen...
The last two would just get in the way of cooking, so I grabbed them by their collars and forcibly dragged them to the living room.
On the way back, Jeanne and the others had returned. Aina and Aura were expected, but the three girls and Jin's group were there too.
"Welcome home, Tenma-sama. And congratulations on your victory."
The first one to greet me was Aina. With her words, the three girls who had been about to rush toward me stopped. It seemed there was an element of rivalry in her words too.
The three girls looked displeased, but judging by the fact that they didn't complain, it seemed
the hierarchy
was clearly established.
Jin and the others apparently had predicted there would be a banquet tonight, so they'd come looking for food. They'd even properly brought gifts.
Primera wasn't there, so I asked the three girls, and apparently she would be coming together with Duke Sanga. It was probably insurance, just in case.
I figured it was their way of thinking that even if I refused Duke Sanga's visit because I disliked the fact that the knights had been there, as long as Primera came, there'd still be a chance.
In short, Primera's teammates — the three girls — would be attending the banquet, so they couldn't leave Primera out. If that was the case, then refusing the Duke
alone
would be a bad scandal.
That might have been the thinking behind it. I got the feeling they didn't fully trust me, but as nobles they had their pride and would do what they could... If this were anyone other than
Duke Sanga
I wouldn't have been so lenient.
Well, he was a scheming man, but whatever, I thought... and just then, the members of Seigen Tamers arrived.
This was also a sudden visit, but they were familiar faces and fellow guild members, so I let them in right away.
With that, almost all of my acquaintances — minus the nobles — had gathered.
All that remained was to start the banquet once preparations were ready, but just then, an incident occurred.
The Golems lurking near the gate activated in unison, shifting into a defensive formation.
This put almost everyone who could fight here — myself included — on alert, while those who couldn't fight immediately moved inside the mansion.
Not long after the Golems activated, someone vaulted over the gate and broke through. There were two intruders.
The intruders had been trying to fight back as the Golems swarmed them, but perhaps stunned by the strength of my custom-built Golems, they were scrambling around trying to escape.
Before long, one of the intruders spotted me and charged straight in my direction.
From the gate to
where I stood
was about a hundred meters.
That intruder closed the distance in the blink of an eye. And that's when I realized who it really was.
The person behind that rush was Amour—stalker number four, the one who had snatched a kiss from me right in front of everyone and now chased me around relentlessly.
While I was still processing that,
Amour
had already closed right up in front of me.
When Amour had closed to within ten meters of me, she spread both arms wide and launched herself forward. And she was intercepted... by Namitarou.
Namitarou caught up to Amour—who was running at a speed that would have set a new world record (by my previous life's standards)—at an even greater speed, then leaped forward with all his momentum.
And he delivered a spectacular body check straight into Amour.
Amour took the full force of Namitarou's tackle, went spinning through the air, and crashed to the ground.
"Halt! Halt!"
Namitarou held, in one
hand,
what looked like a lantern, while the other
hand
...held what looked like a jitte and subdued Amur. Surrounding Namitarou and the others were dozens of Golems.
If Amur was here, then the other intruder was undoubtedly Branca.
That Branca was struggling against the Golems.
Even if my Golems were stronger than average, they certainly weren't enough to surpass Branca.
She was probably holding back. She couldn't just destroy my Golems on a whim, yet they kept coming at her full force, so she'd been pushed onto the defensive.
"Cease combat! Don't attack that man! Instead, restrain the one collapsed over there! As gently as possible!"
The Golems heard my order and immediately stopped attacking Branca. Then two of them carried Amur over, each holding one arm as they brought him along. They'd even been kind enough to put a gag in Amur's mouth.
"Hah... Sorry, kid! I couldn't keep the young lady in check!"
The first thing out of Branca's mouth was an apology... I was starting to feel like that was all Branca ever did.
"You've been through a lot, huh, Branca..."
When I gave Branca a sympathetic look, Branca returned one right back at me.
"Yeah, but it's actually gotten better now. Half the trouble has shifted onto Tenma, after all..."
"Pfft!"
The ones who reacted most to Branca's words were Grandpa and Namitarou. Namitarou was adjusting the tool in his hand while leading the Golems that had been restraining Amur, approaching as he did so. Grandpa seemed to have come over as the head of the family.
"Anyway, sorry for all the trouble. Hey, young lady! We're going home! ...Don't look at me like that! Normally, you'd be arrested and handed over to the military police, you know!"
Branca grabbed Amur by the scruff of his neck and tried to drag him away, but Amur grabbed onto the Golems with both hands in resistance, shaking his head side to side in refusal.
Meanwhile, the Golems that had been restraining Amur released their grip the moment Branca grabbed his neck, attempting to free him.
"Now, now, Branca. What's the harm? Today is supposed to be Tenma's victory celebration... or rather, a banquet under that pretense, but as it happens, many of those who performed well in the tournament are attending. Why don't you two join as well? What do you say, Tenma?"
When Grandpa said that, I glanced at Amur. Noticing my gaze, Amur looked back at me with pleading eyes.
"Hah... Fine. But! You are not to cause any trouble for anyone! Can you do that, Amur?"
Amur's eyes lit up at my words, and she nodded her head vigorously, over and over again.
"Once again, I'm truly sorry…"
Branca said that as she removed Amur's muzzle and set her down on the ground. The moment her feet touched the floor, Amur darted toward me with blinding speed, leapt into my arms, and clambered onto my back.
"Tenma, I love you!"
From her perch on my back, Amur whispered the confession right into my ear.
Her words were so direct that I couldn't help but blush, but that embarrassment was wiped away almost immediately.
"STAY AWAY FROM TENMA, YOU DIRTY THIEF CAT!"
The three sisters — Lily, Nelly, and Millie — came charging over, screaming at the top of their lungs.
In response to the furious trio, Amur simply said…
"You're the cats. I'm a tiger."
…which was technically accurate, but clearly not what Lily and the others meant at all…
My computer has been acting up lately, so some of the sentences may flow a bit awkwardly. If you notice anything off, please let me know.