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"Are you ready? Apparently there's an inspection, so let's head over early."
I grabbed my bags and called out to Jin and the others, who were checking their gear a short distance away.
"Yeah, no problems here!"
Jin answered with a raised hand, and right after, Garat, Menace, and Lina all gave hand signals indicating they were good to go.
"I'm all set too, ya know!"
Namitaro, who was perched on top of the carriage roof, also seemed fully prepared... though Namitaro's "preparations" were practically nonexistent...
Reacting to Namitaro's voice, Shiromaru and Solomon let out howls. Solomon in particular had barely been able to go outside since arriving in the Royal Capital, so he was especially fired up.
Slarin was inside the wind barrier and hard to make out, but had been making gestures like an excited horse for a while now, so she seemed plenty pumped. ...At this rate, I might not have anything to do today.
"Tenma, got a minute?"
Just as Shiromaru and the others finished their howling, Namitaro called down from above.
"What is it?"
"...Could you help me get down? My body's dried out a bit and it's getting tough to move."
That line nearly made me and the others burst out laughing, but I went ahead and hit Namitaro with a low-power water magic spell.
"I'm coming back to life~!"
Saying that, Namitaro climbed down on his own. He then burrowed straight into my bag and started saying stuff like "wake me up when we get there~."
The energy he'd shown moments ago was already gone, but I went ahead and loaded Shiromaru and Solomon into the bag too before climbing into the carriage.
Since Jin and Garat said they'd handle the driving, I climbed in without hesitation.
"Well then, we're heading out!"
After calling out to the grandparents who had come to see us off, the carriage made its way toward the venue.
Even though it was still early morning, the area around the venue was already brimming with excitement, and it took a little longer than expected, but we managed to enter the venue without any real problems.
"All right, see you after the match!"
"You bet! Don't expect me to go easy on you!"
Right after we entered the venue, it looked like they were conducting inspections, so that was where Jin and the others parted ways with us.
"This way, please."
It was still a bit early for the designated assembly time, so only one group had arrived before us, which meant we were able to get into the inspection room right away.
There were two inspection rooms, and they were located separately, so Jin and the group naturally ended up splitting off from us.
"First, let me explain the inspection process. Here, we'll do a brief check of your weapons, armor, and participating members. As before, bringing magic bags and similar items into the waiting room is perfectly fine, but right before the match, you'll need to place your body, the weapons you plan to use, and so on into a bag that you will hand over in front of our staff member. At that time, please hand your own bag to the staff member. If you're unable to do that, please make arrangements beforehand, such as leaving items with an acquaintance."
When I heard this, I laid out the weapons and items I planned to use on the table.
The staff member recorded everything, and for things like recovery potions, they noted the quantity, type, color, and even the shape of the bottles.
"After a match, if you wish to use a recovery potion, please use it in front of a staff member unless it's an emergency. Now, let's confirm the members. Tenma, you're a Tamer and your Familiars are part of your team, correct? Please summon them."
Reluctantly, I called everyone out, even though I had wanted to keep some of them secret.
"Eek... kyaaaaahhhh!"
Slarin, Shiromaru, and apparently Namitaro had already tipped off the staff member, so they weren't all that surprised by those three. But when Solomon burst out of the bag with force, the staff member screamed at the top of their lungs and collapsed.
"What happened?!"
Hearing the staff member's shriek, several knights burst through the door and charged in. On reflex, I stuffed Solomon back into the bag, but that apparently looked like I was hiding something I shouldn't have, because a few of the knights surrounded me.
"Hand over whatever you just hid, and do it now!"
The knights had their weapons drawn as they said this, but that was simply impossible.
"I cannot do that. This is my trump card. Besides, I'm not breaking any rules."
The knights, not believing my words, looked at the staff member who had collapsed to the floor.
"I-I'm sorry. Tenma hasn't broken any rules. I was just startled by the sudden situation…"
The staff member said to the knights with a somewhat embarrassed look, but the knights were still suspicious.
"If you haven't broken any rules, then you should be able to produce it right here!"
"As I said, this is what you could call my trump card. I cannot show it to anyone who isn't staff."
Even as I said this, I was wondering how to handle the unconvinced knights, when a new person appeared in the room.
"What's going on?"
The one who appeared was a muscular man I often saw at my home… it was Lyle.
Everyone except me dropped to one knee at the sudden appearance of Lyle. The staff member, however, still seemed unable to stand, which made for a strange sight.
"Rise. More importantly, what happened here? …Wait, Tenma? What's wrong?"
The moment he saw me, his dignified voice from moments ago returned to his usual tone.
Seeing Lyle's reaction, the knights' faces turned pale, but the leader among them still reported to Lyle.
While listening to the report, Lyle thought for a moment before making a proposal.
"I understand your point. It's true that we should verify what Tenma has hidden. However, as a contestant, he naturally wants to keep his trump card hidden as much as possible, and I cannot ignore the staff member's statement that no rules were broken. So, go bring the head of the staff right now. That person and I will verify what Tenma has hidden together. Does that satisfy both sides?"
And so it was decided that the head of staff, Lyle, and the original staff member would be the only ones to verify it.
"So, Tenma. The cause is Solomon, isn't it?"
Lyle seemed to have already figured it out, correctly guessing the cause right away, but the head of staff was confused, not understanding what was going on.
"That's right. Come out, Solomon."
At my signal, Solomon popped out. Lyle, who was accustomed to seeing him, and the staff member, who had steeled herself the second time around, made no sound—but this time it was the head of staff who cried out in surprise.
The knights outside were making a commotion after hearing the shouting, but Lyle spoke to them, so none of them came inside.
"So, Solomon doesn't violate any rules, right?"
I asked the man in charge, and he nodded in a slightly dazed way.
"Tenma, are you planning to use Solomon in the first round?"
"That was the plan."
"Got it."
With that, Lyle opened the door and addressed the knights outside.
"I've just confirmed with the person in charge. The result was that there was no violation. What was being hidden was a member of 'Orasion'. They can't reveal their true identity right now, but I insisted, and we'll be using them starting from the first round. At that time, you will understand what the cause of the commotion was."
Saying that, Lyle led the knights and withdrew.
After that, the person in charge and the staff member apologized to me with incredible fervor, which ended up drawing strange attention from everyone around me.
"I really went through it..."
Muttering to myself, I headed to the designated waiting room, recalling the embarrassing 'training' from just a while ago.
For now, my plan was to center the fights around Solomon in the first round and Namitaro in the second round. So, what Lyle told the knights was partly a lie, but that lie seemed to hit the staff members harder than the knights. The staff member who had inspected me was sobbing while apologizing, which actually made me feel rather sorry.
About thirty minutes after arriving in the waiting room, a staff member came to call me, saying that all participating teams had gathered.
They said the draw for the upcoming matches would be held now and asked for a representative to come. Since there was no choice but me for 'Orasion', I left the others behind and followed the staff member.
The draw was conducted in front of the audience, just like the Individual Battle. The order was based on when teams entered the arena, so I was third. Standing in front of me was Jin, and at the very front was the leader of last year's winning team.
I could also see Agri and Marquis Samons among them.
"Tenma... I hear you did something rather quickly. You made a staff member cry, they say."
Jin spoke to me in a low voice, but it sounded like the story had gotten embellished along the way. I told him I'd explain the details later since it was difficult to give an accurate account right now.
"We will now begin the draw. Number one, please go ahead."
The staff member called up the man at the front, and the draw began.
And the results...
"Nice, we're well spread out... Looks like the earliest we'd face each other is the semis..."
Teams I knew each drew numbers that wouldn't put them up against each other in the first or second rounds.
In order from lowest number, Seigen Tamers A drew number 3, the Demon Soldiers drew 8, Orasion drew 9, and the Dawn Sword drew 13.
Among the other notable teams, last year's runner-up drew 2, the runner-up from the year before drew 11, and last year's champion aiming for a consecutive victory drew 16.
The remaining teams weren't particularly famous — it was roughly an even split between teams with members who had experience in the main tournament and teams making their first appearance.
"But there's no way, right..."
What I meant by "there" was the team we'd be facing in the first round.
Name.
That's what I was referring to.
"You've got to be kidding — the team name for Solomon's debut match is the Dragon Strike Squad..."
The opposing team's representative was standing two or three people behind me, so I was able to confirm, at least for the rep.
From the looks of it, the guy was a muscle-bound wall. Judging by appearance alone, he was a power-type frontliner. I couldn't tell from his equipment, but I was fairly certain he was a warrior.
The representative's build was slightly larger than Jin's, and with a shaved head, he gave off an overbearing impression.
Even compared to the other participants around us, he had the air of someone quite formidable.
"Well, that shouldn't be a problem either way."
The plan was for Solomon to handle things at the start, but if it looked dangerous, I'd send Slarin and Shiromaru in early. And in the absolute worst case, if that representative turned out to be
the weakest member
of the Dragon Strike Squad, I'd jump in myself right away — though realistically, that was unlikely. If he was any stronger than that, he'd be ranking high even in the individual battles. It was hard to imagine a bunch of people like that all choosing to skip the individual competition. That representative looked like the kind of person who wouldn't be out of place competing in the main tournament of the individual battles.
This time, since there was a stretch before my first match, I decided to take my time with a meal.
As for food, apparently the rules hadn't changed — I was free to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. However, before each match, I'd have my body examined with a magic item, and depending on the situation, I might be forced to drink a potion that would neutralize any drugs or magical effects. Naturally, disobeying that instruction meant instant disqualification.
That said, apparently it wouldn't be an issue as long as the food was prepared from ordinary ingredients, so there was nothing to worry about.
Just as I started preparing the meal on the table, the first match seemed to have begun — loud cheers could be heard from outside.
"I'm pretty sure the runner-up team from last time is competing in the first match."
Muttering that to myself, I continued prepping my food. The reason I hadn't gone to watch was that I didn't have much interest in the opponents, and more importantly, the pressure from the four eyes that had been staring at my meal preparation from beside me this whole time was overwhelming.
Preparing the meal under that pressure, I put together rice balls, miso soup, rolled omelet, and pickled vegetables.
For the rice ball filling, I used flaked fish with
umeboshi,
and the pickles were lightly pickled cucumber and eggplant... I'd learned since arriving in the Royal Capital that what I'd been calling "komai" was apparently a regional term — normally, they were called "ume." In fact, many of the names I knew from my previous life apparently still worked.
The person who had popularized the name "komai" was apparently a reincarnator — and Japanese, no less — who, upon seeing a small ume fruit, had said "
komai, small ume,"
and that supposedly became "komai-ume," eventually shortening to just "komai," or so Namitaro had told me.
To make matters even more confusing, the village where I'd first learned the word "komai" was called "Komai Village," and the umeboshi from that village were sometimes referred to as "komai-zuke"... Namitaro had told me that as well.
It was one of those moments where I no longer understood what Namitaro even was. Since then, I'd been calling them umeboshi.
"Tenma."
"What is it, Namitaro?"
Namitaro poked his face out of the bag hanging on the wall and called my name.
"Don't mind!"
...Sometimes Namitaro would say things that seemed like he'd read my thoughts... and almost all of those remarks were the kind that irritated me to no end.
I quietly stood up and pushed Namitaro deep into the bag. Then I closed the bag so he couldn't get out and wrapped the shoulder strap around it in a tight coil... I'd leave it like this until it was Namitaro's turn.
Fortunately, everyone besides Namitaro was already outside, so there wasn't really a problem.
I went ahead and started eating, serving Slarin and the others the tendon meat that had been simmered until tender... The bag on the wall seemed to move now and then, but that was probably just my imagination.
Just as I'd finished preparing the meal, a huge roar rose from the direction of the Arena. It sounded like the match had reached its conclusion.
Roughly twenty minutes from start to finish? Apparently that was about the average match time for the first and second rounds of Team Battles.
"It didn't go to the judges' decision, huh?"
In truth, Team Battles had time limits. This was because with up to ten combatants clashing at once, splitting the Arena in half was a bit cramped for Team Battles, so first-round matches were capped at thirty minutes, second rounds at forty-five minutes, and the semifinals at one hour. Only the finals had unlimited time.
Because of that, there weren't many teams that went full defense, which meant matches tended to progress quickly and dramatic exchanges of blows happened frequently—making Team Battles the most exciting category overall.
I'd heard that in the past, someone had proposed reducing the number of teams in the Main Tournament from sixteen to eight and increasing the time limit per match. However, the idea was shot down on the grounds that more teams meant more excitement, shorter match times led to more spectacular fights, and the economic benefits were greater. So the number of teams had never changed—that was what the head of the Financial Bureau had told me.
The judging was carried out by a head referee and four assistant referees using flags, with no draws allowed—a winner and loser had to be determined every time.
Because there had been a few cases of referee corruption in the past, the King now personally appointed all referees. A referee caught rigging decisions could, in the worst case, be charged with treason. In exchange for such harsh penalties, referees were awarded an honorary title after the festival ended as a reward.
"Oh, looks like the next match is about to start... Wait, that's Agri's team?"
I briefly debated going to watch, but figured Agri's team wouldn't lose, so I decided to keep eating.
By the time I finished my meal, the third match was about to begin, and as expected, Agri's team had pulled off a decisive victory.
I hadn't been worried in the first place—Agri's team was well-balanced and cohesive at a high level—but even so, hearing that an acquaintance's team had won still put me at ease.
The real issue would be the runner-up team from the previous tournament, whom they'd face in the second round. I figured it would be a good match. However, from what I'd heard, the opposing team hadn't fielded their full roster in the first round, so I was curious about who the remaining members were.
The third match was apparently between two evenly matched teams, so I didn't expect a quick finish. But the match after that was Marquis Samons's team, so it would be wise to start getting ready for our own fight sooner rather than later.
The Marquis's opponents apparently had a lot of back-line fighters, so Garibar's performance would definitely be worth watching.
While I waited and stretched—killing two birds with one stone by getting some post-meal exercise in—the audience erupted in a massive roar. It seemed the third match had ended and the fourth was about to begin, so we moved closer to the Arena.
When we shifted near the entrance, we were checked by a staff member. "Checked" was a generous description—they asked what we'd consumed during the break and had us place both hands on an item that looked like a stone tablet. It didn't take much time at all.
Right after the check concluded, the fourth match began, and I could see Garibar charging forward with tremendous force.
The Demon Soldiers' opponents had two warriors in the front line, while the back line consisted of two archers and one mage.
The two front-line warriors looked startled when Garibar came barreling in at them, but they quickly recovered—one raised a shield while the other readied an axe. The back-line archers fired arrows over the heads of their front line, but Garibar batted every single one aside with the club in his hand. A mage positioned between the archers began chanting, but Garibar sent the shield-bearing warrior flying before the incantation could finish.
Garibar's sweeping horizontal blow sent the shield warrior tumbling backward. Unfortunately, the mage happened to be right behind him, and the mage had to cancel the chant in order to dodge the warrior rolling toward him.
The other warrior stepped up in front of Garibar to shield the back line, but the outcome was already decided at that point.
Overwhelmed by Garibar's sheer intensity, they seemed to have completely forgotten this was a Team Battle. The moment the axe warrior noticed the knights hiding in Garibar's shadow, the knights burst out from behind Garibar with shields raised and charged straight for the back line.
From there, it was one-sided. The warriors were pinned down by Garibar, the archers drew short swords when the knights closed to melee range but were unable to fight them off and got mowed down, and the mage managed to land a quick-casting spell on one knight but couldn't fire a second volley before another knight body-checked them into a daze.
The axe warrior hadn't technically lost to Garibar yet, but he was at a severe disadvantage—and with his entire back line eliminated, he surrendered.
"GYAAAAAAAR!"
The one most excited by the overwhelming victory was Garibar himself. So worked up that he was swinging his arms around while roaring.
The sudden outburst startled not only the audience but even the knights, who should have been used to it, and they instinctively gave him some space.
As for those watching Garibar's roar with clapping hands and delight, I could confirm exactly two people.
One was his master, Marquis Samons, and the other, for reasons I couldn't fathom, was Luna.
Luna was leaning forward from the royal box and clapping enthusiastically, while behind her Tida was desperately trying to hold her in place so she wouldn't fall out.
Perhaps Luna's applause was the trigger—the stunned audience finally erupted into cheers and applause of their own.
Through it all, the members of the Demon Soldiers made their dignified exit. They were on the opposite side from where I stood, so we didn't cross paths, but Marquis Samons looked thoroughly pleased that Garibar had put on such an impressive showing.
"Orasion participants, please make your way to the staging area!"
A staff member called out to us once the previous group had cleared the Fighting Stage. It was the same staff member who had handled my inspection that morning.
"Let's go!"
I pulled Slarin and the others out from standby inside my bag, then removed the collars from Shiromaru and Solomon.
"Huh?"
The staff member let out a strange noise and froze solid the moment he saw Shiromaru and Solomon, whose bodies had grown enormous the instant their collars came off.
From the opposite entrance, the opposing team—the Dragon Strike Squad—was making their way out while playing to the crowd.
(Sorry about this, but you're going to be Solomon's stepping stone.)
I started walking forward, imagining the reaction the spectators were about to have.
Solomon is finally participating in a match, so I added "Full Deployment" to the title.
Postscript: Regarding feedback.
I read all of the readers' comments.
However, due to the way the story has been developing, I've held back on replying lately.
I apologize, but please understand.