Using Tanikaze, we made it to the mansion in about an hour and a half.
Jin and the others seemed nervous about meeting Grandpa, but I had a feeling someone even more intimidating would be showing up before long.
As usual, there were plenty of people passing by in front of the mansion, but when I brought the carriage close, they cheerfully made way — so people with ill intentions, like those bearing grudges,
today,
didn't seem to be around.
"Open the gate!"
When I gave the command in front of the gate, two Golems rose up from beside it, swung the gates open, and guided the carriage through.
Proceeding straight to the front entrance, I spotted a familiar, plain carriage parked at the carriage stand — one that didn't belong to the household. It seemed my prediction had been right.
"I'm home."
The moment I stood before the entrance door, it opened as if on cue.
"Welcome home, Tenma-sama."
There, greeting me with a beautiful bow, was Aura's older sister.
That older sister
had just raised her head when I spotted someone rushing toward us —
the younger
sister.
"W-Welcome home, Tenma-sama!"
"I'm back. Oh, and Aina — I brought four guests today, so please prepare meals and lodging for them."
"Understood. Aura, please escort the guests to the reception room. And Tenma-sama, your guest is waiting together with Merlin-sama."
Aina's capable handling made Aura's presence fade into the background. Lately, she'd been taking on the role of head maid for the mansion in her spare time, and I'd grown so used to leaving things to her that it had become a habit.
"Got it. The place is Grandpa's room?"
Aina nodded in response to my question.
When someone came to the house during this time of year and waited in Grandpa's room, there were only two people who immediately came to mind. Of those two, the parent would surely catch flak from those around them (especially their wife), so it had to be the son... Thinking this, I headed to Grandpa's room, and—
"Yo!"
A muscular man was standing there. And just as I'd predicted, it was the son.
"So it really was the son."
At my words, he tilted his head.
The Minister of Military Affairs.
Grandpa, on the other hand, seemed to have figured everything out from that single remark alone, and he cheerfully explained it to Lyle.
After the three of us shared a good laugh, I remembered that I had something to discuss with Lyle.
"Lyle, are you familiar with Shadow Crimson?"
At my words, both Lyle's and Grandpa's eyes sharpened as they fixed me with a piercing glare.
"Tenma... what happened?"
"The fact that you'd deliberately bring up that name in front of me means this is more than just casual curiosity. Did you get your hands on some information?"
Though slightly taken aback by their reactions, I told them about how Lina had spotted someone matching the description.
"I see... I understand the circumstances, but I can't very well dispatch the knights based solely on secondhand reports that someone matching the description was seen. Sorry, but could you call this Lina person here?"
Hearing his words, I went to the reception room to fetch Lina. The members of the Dawn Sword were there, looking considerably more relaxed. Slarin and the others were nearby as well, begging for snacks — though only the wolf and the dragon, the two of them.
"Lina, sorry, but could you come with me?"
"Me? Understood."
She seemed a bit puzzled about being the only one called, but Lina followed after me without saying a word.
"I've brought her."
She seemed to feel something off about the words I used, but I ignored Lina's confused expression and ushered her into the room.
"I heard there was something you needed, but… Lyle! I'm so sorry for the rudeness!"
Distracted by the old man, Lina had been slow to notice Lyle. The moment she realized, she immediately dropped to one knee and bowed her head.
"This isn't an official setting, so relax. More importantly, I heard from Tenma that you spotted someone who appears to be a remnant of Shadow Crimson… Is that correct?"
"Y-yes! There was some distance between us, but the person matched the characteristics I'd heard about. When our eyes met, they turned and entered a narrow alley in a rather unnatural way… However, I can't say for certain that they were definitely a member of Shadow Crimson…"
Even after finishing her account, Lina remained tense, still kneeling with her head bowed.
Lyle crossed his arms with a troubled expression even after hearing Lina's story. He seemed to be deep in thought.
"Lyle, is there a problem?"
Hearing my words, Lyle finally spoke.
"No, it's not that. I'd like this to stay between us, but the truth is, over the past month, we've received several reports of individuals matching that description being spotted in towns and villages near the Royal Capital. This calls for a proper search."
While Lyle was saying this with a serious face, I caught sight through the window of an ornate carriage pulling up in front of the estate's gate.
The carriage passed through the gate without being stopped by the Golem guard and was heading straight for the entrance of the manor.
"It looks like you have a guest, Lyle."
I had a good idea of who it might be, and I told him as much.
"Huh? A guest for me? …Don't tell me!"
Lyle panicked and rushed toward the entrance. Those of us left in the room hurried after him, and just as we arrived, Aina, who had been standing by at the entrance, was about to open the door.
Right before Aina opened it, Lyle quickly straightened his appearance and stood ramrod straight, wearing a rather awkward expression.
When we reached Lyle's side, the carriage had stopped before the now-open entrance, and a woman stepped out.
"I knew you'd be here, Lyle."
Hearing her voice — warm and smiling, yet laced with a sharp pressure — not only Lyle but every person in the room broke into a cold sweat.
"No, Mother. There's an explanation for this..."
"An explanation? Is it more important than your duties as royalty?"
As her voice grew sharper and things looked increasingly dire, Lyle did the unthinkable and thrust me forward in front of Maria.
"As a matter of fact, I just received a report from Tenma about a security matter that couldn't be ignored, and I was about to take countermeasures!"
"Oh, is that so, Tenma... Well, never mind that — congratulations on making it to the finals, Tenma!"
Saying this, Maria pulled me into a hug. After embracing me thoroughly, she noticed Lina standing behind me.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're from the Trinit Viscount family..."
"Y-Yes! My name is Lina. I've left the Trinit household, though, so I don't use that name anymore."
"I see... And what is your relationship with Tenma?"
Under the intensifying weight of her gaze, Lina declared firmly —
"We're friends!"
At those words, Maria's expression softened into a smile, and the pressure bearing down on Lina eased.
"Come to think of it, you registered for the Team Battle as well, didn't you? Do your best... Lyle, we're leaving! As for using Tenma as an excuse — I'll be hearing the full details in front of His Majesty. Aina, you don't need to come home today."
"As you wish."
With that, Maria collected Lyle and took her leave. Lyle, realizing his excuse using me had been seen through, turned pale but obediently followed behind Maria.
"Well then, shall we have dinner?"
Aina closed the door and headed for the kitchen as though nothing had happened.
When I brought Grandpa and Lina to the sitting room, three people were sitting there in tense silence, trying not to make a sound, while Jeanne and Aura stood beside them with wry smiles.
"What are you three doing?"
"Well, you see... when I heard stuff like 'Lord Lyle' and 'Lady Maria,' I suddenly felt this crazy amount of pressure, you know? Of course you'd stay quiet and scope things out."
Jin's words were met with nods from Menace and Garat. As for why Jeanne and Aura were smiling wryly, apparently it was because those two were already used to situations like that, and seeing the other three's reactions made them realize just how different their own sense of normal had become.
After that, there were no major incidents. It ended up being a noisy meal for the first time in a while. All four of them had initially been nervous around "Sage Merlin," but after a few drinks—even Grandpa loosened up—and then Nitaro's intrusion seemed to break the remaining tension entirely, and everyone got lively talking about me and the tournament.
That night, Jin and Garat apparently turned in early as expected, but Menace and Lina stayed up late with the women of the house, deep in girls' talk.
The next morning, I sensed a presence and stepped out into the yard, where I found Jin and Garat.
"Yo!"
"Morning training?"
I returned their greetings and looked the two of them over, confirming that they had recovered considerably.
"At this rate, you should be recovered enough to fight by tomorrow."
The two nodded at my words. They wouldn't be fully healed, and depending on how things went, they might just get steamrolled—but even so, it looked like they could avoid the worst-case scenario of forfeiting or piling the entire burden onto the women's team.
"Honestly, I'm not even sure we can make it past the first round, but at least we can step onto the stage."
"Yeah, Jin's right. The prize money for the Main Tournament only goes to those who actually enter."
The prize money Garat was referring to was something like a participation award given to all Main Tournament entrants. The amount was 10,000 G, and when you factored in lodging and living expenses in the Royal Capital, they wanted to pocket every last bit of money they could.
Furthermore, if they managed to advance through the rounds, they'd receive additional prize money on top of that.
The Dawn Sword did have Jin's Individual Battle third-place prize money, but between injuries and weapon damage, they hadn't exactly come out ahead by a huge margin.
On top of that, there might be hidden gems at the auction being held after the tournament, so they wanted to keep as much financial cushion as possible.
"Well, worst case, we just take on adventurer work around the Royal Capital—no big deal!"
As a party, they'd qualified for the Main Tournament. Individually, Garat had entered the Main Tournament, and Jin had placed third. The Dawn Sword's reputation would have risen considerably. Thinking about that, it was almost a sure thing that they'd be offered jobs with better pay than the going rate.
"But don't push yourselves too hard... If you two actually die, I'm going to have a really bad time waking up."
"Don't say such inauspicious things!"
The two of them shouted in unison, then caught their breath on their shoulders, seemingly a bit worn out.
"You two alright? Don't push yourselves too hard."
"Whose fault do you think that is? Honestly..."
"Jin, it's no use talking to him. Tenma's enjoying himself."
Just as Garat said, after enjoying myself for a bit, I took the place of the two who had sat nearby and started on my morning training.
I went through my usual routine—warming up my body first, a light jog around the yard, practice swings, my self-taught forms, Magic Power control exercises, and finally cool-down stretches—before wrapping up the session.
Partway through, the recovered Jin and Garat joined in, along with Menace and Lina who had woken up, turning it into a lively morning workout.
Just as I finished, Aina showed up with Jeanne and Aura in tow, carrying towels and water bottles. After a short break, we sat down for breakfast.
"Now that I think about it, is nobody going to watch today's matches?"
At my straightforward question, everyone shook their heads.
Apparently, none of them had any interest in matches where people they knew weren't competing.
"Well, pair battles are said to have a lot of fighters who pale in comparison to those in individual or team events."
Jin's remark prompted Menace to add some clarification.
"Most adventurers who make a living do so either solo or in parties, right? So the ones active as pairs tend to be siblings, couples, or married pairs. On top of that, pair battles fall on the middle days of the schedule, so individual and team competitors tend to steer clear. As a result, you don't see many famous fighters participating."
"Well, there are some talented people who only compete in pair tournaments."
Lina chimed in to back that up, but it did seem to be true that pair battles lacked some of the excitement compared to individual and team events.
"That's why some people every year figure it's a golden opportunity... but those guys usually end up getting crushed by the regulars who always make it to the pair Main Tournament."
The pairs who competed year after year almost always advanced to the Main Tournament, and apparently there wasn't a single pair making their Main Tournament debut at this tournament.
"So I guess everyone's staying put today, huh... Well, if that's the case, you guys should stay over again tonight."
"I appreciate that, but I still need to show my face at the inn at least."
When Jin said that, I asked him for the name of the inn, and Grandpa reacted to it.
"Oh, if that's the place, let me have a word with them first. The owner is from our hometown, you know."
I was surprised to learn that the inn was run by someone who used to run a shop in Kukuri Village.
So after the meal, Grandpa headed to that inn with Menace and Lina in tow.
The reason those two were accompanying him was that Jin and Garat still hadn't fully recovered, so they couldn't be dragged along—and on top of that, Grandpa couldn't exactly barge into the women's room the two of them were borrowing, so Menace and Lina ended up going instead.
"For now, why don't you two take your medicine after you finish eating and get some rest?"
With that, I handed them their medicine.
While I was at it, I gave Jeanne her supplementary dose as well, but she told me she had something to talk about, so I ended up heading to her room.
"So, what happened?"
When I stepped into Jeanne's room, Aura and Aina were there—and they surrounded me in a way that made it perfectly clear they weren't going to let me slip away.
"It's actually about the medicine you've been giving us..."
Jeanne began to speak as she pulled out the small vial of medicine I had handed her.
"This medicine... what is it? Ever since I started taking it, not only has my physical condition improved, but my Magic Power has been going up too... This isn't just a normal medicine, is it?"
While I was trying to figure out how to brush off Jeanne's words, Aina noticed my hesitation and spoke up.
"Tenma, we already know what
the real
ingredients in this medicine are. So please, answer us honestly. What exactly is this medicine?"
Hearing Aina's words, I realized there was no way I could weasel out of this. So I decided to tell them the truth.
"The true identity of this medicine is a potion made from my blood."
"And why did you use it on these two?"
Aina's expression didn't change at all after hearing my answer. On the contrary, Jeanne and Aura both looked rather uncomfortable.
"Simply put, Jeanne needed medicine made with my blood. You should know this already, Aina — when a creature with high Magic Power bleeds, that blood can sometimes serve as medicine... That's exactly why I used my blood in Jeanne's medicine."
I glossed over some details here and there, but the effects of the blood were the real deal. You could think of it as being similar to drinking soft-shelled turtle blood, more or less.
"I see, so that was the reason... But did Aura need it too?"
"No, Aura was just an add-on to Jeanne's treatment."
"How cruel!"
Aura immediately threw in a reaction, but I and Aina completely ignored it.
"Then why did this medicine make both Jeanne and Aura's Magic Power stronger?"
"It's probably because my own Magic Power is that strong. Have you ever heard the occasional tale of someone whose Magic Power increased after consuming the flesh and blood of a powerful monster? It's the same kind of thing."
Stories like that exist in the legends and folklore of my previous world, too. For instance, tales of someone bathing in dragon blood and becoming immortal, or eating mermaid flesh and gaining a long lifespan — it's no different from those.
However, in this world where monsters — those fantasy creatures — along with Magic Power and magic actually exist, the phenomenon of consuming a monster's flesh to temporarily or even semi-permanently increase one's power has been thoroughly confirmed. It is an exceedingly rare occurrence, though...
"I think my blood just happened to be compatible with both of their constitutions. Still, drinking too much could actually become poisonous, so I was planning to have them stop soon anyway."
"I see... Understood. However, you must never tell anyone about this. Jeanne and Aura, that means you too. If word got out, there would absolutely be people with ill intentions who would come after you."
At Aina's words, Jeanne and Aura nodded silently. I had no desire to get tangled up in that kind of trouble either, so I nodded readily as well.
Name... Jeanne
Age... 14
Species... Human
Title... Holy Maiden, Former Viscount's Daughter, Tenma's Slave
HP... 3000
MP... 12000
Strength... C-
Defense... C-
Speed... C+
Magic Power... A+
Mental Strength... C+
Growth Power... A+
Luck... B
Skills... Light Magic 6, Life Force Boost 5, Magic Boost 5, Endurance 5, Water Magic 4, Swordsmanship 4, Abnormal Resistance 4, Recovery Boost 4, Fire Magic 3, Earth Magic 3, Staff Techniques 3, Growth Power Boost 3
Blessings... Blessing of the Goddess of Love, Blessing of the Goddess of Earth, Blessing of the Goddess of Life
Name... Aura
Age... 16
Species... Human
Title... Maid, Tenma's Slave
HP... 5500
MP... 6500
Strength... C+
Defense... C+
Speed... C+
Magic Power... B
Mental Strength... B
Growth Power... A
Luck... B
Skills: Cooking 9, Endurance 7, Spear Arts 5, Fire Magic 4, Water Magic 4, Archery 4, Sword Arts 4, Hand-to-Hand Combat 4, Abnormal Resistance 4, Light Magic 3, Earth Magic 2
There was a slight improvement in their Statuses as well. The increase in Magic Power could be attributed to the influence of my blood, but the rise in Strength and Endurance was almost certainly thanks to Aina's grueling training.
Once that conversation was over, I had nothing left to do, and I found myself with time to kill.
I was mulling over how to spend it when it seemed like someone had arrived at the gate, and one of the Golem gatekeepers came heading my way.
Since Aina went with the Golem, I headed back to my room and was getting ready to polish my weapons when Aina came to call for me.
It turned out the person who had been at the gate earlier was a visitor for me, so I made my way to the reception room—and there sat a woman I didn't recognize.
"Who might you be?"
I asked, and she explained she was a staff member for the tournament. Apparently, there had been an urgent matter she needed to relay in person.
I took a seat across from her, and a short while later Jin and the others filed into the room. Menace and Lina were with them too—they must have been flagged down by Aina right before they headed to the inn.
"So, what's this news?"
"Y-yes! Actually, I know this is sudden, but a partial rule change has been decided!"
"Huh?"
The female staff member answered with a tense expression, and we all cried out in unison at the abrupt announcement.
Startled by our reaction, the woman flinched slightly. Still, she gathered herself and began explaining, visibly nervous.
"The, the rule changes are: 'prior registration of weapons and armor to be used,' and 'loaning of tournament-exclusive Magic Bags.' Because Player Chaos's rule violations were deemed especially egregious, it was decided that we need to have a record of all weapons and armor being brought in beforehand..."
"That's awfully sudden... I mean, sure, the tournament rules were pretty loose, but changing them mid-event seems like a bad idea, doesn't it?"
At Menace's remark, the female staff member shrank in on herself. It really was too sudden, and implementing it now would only cause confusion.
"As for the reasoning behind the decision, I'm just a low-ranking staffer, so I don't really know the details. Apparently, there were also discussions about things like 'restrictions on weapons and armor,' but those were deemed impractical and dropped. Based on the delay in the judging during this incident, they've decided that using any weapons not registered in advance will result in a disqualification loss. The goal is to keep matches running as smoothly as possible."
"But wouldn't that make hidden trump cards completely pointless?"
Jin nodded at my words, and the rest of us agreed.
"As for that, all I can ask is that you trust that the tournament officials won't let any information leak to outside parties."
"Easy for you to say… What are today's participants saying about all this?"
At Garat's question, the female staffer's expression turned slightly troubled.
"There was strong pushback at first. However, when we insisted on conducting inspections, nearly half of the competitors were found to be carrying items that could violate the regulations."
"Such as?"
At Lina's question, the female staffer pulled out a notebook and listed examples while checking it.
"Let's see—the most common were potions for restoring Magic Power and such. Some of these were small bottles with divided doses, or pill-type ones. The next most common were drugs that boost resistance; those also came in small bottles and pill form. On top of that, we confirmed some single-use barrier-type items as well."
I didn't think any of those items were meant to be used during matches. But pill-type items, in particular, could potentially be consumed without the judges noticing, so perhaps there was merit in changing the rules after all.
"In order to eliminate violations as much as possible, they plan to address other rules as well, adjusted in ways that won't cause significant inconvenience to the competitors. I'm sorry for the trouble, but we'd appreciate your cooperation."
The female staffer bowed her head as she said this. When you actually conducted inspections and found items with suspicious purposes, there was probably no way around it.
"Well, I understand the reasoning now, and I'm willing to cooperate to the extent that I can. But please make sure the fairness of it all is demonstrated in a way everyone can clearly see."
Jin and the others nodded in agreement at my words. Seeing that, the female staffer visibly relaxed with relief.
"Thank you so much! As for fairness, we've already requested cooperation from the Knights' Order and received their acknowledgment. Oh, I'm so glad! That I was able to get Player Tenma's support!"
Unlike when she'd arrived, the female staffer now seemed almost buoyant. When I asked her the reason for the shift in mood, she gave me a surprised look.
"Huh? Well, because you could easily say Player Tenma is the most talked-about competitor in this entire tournament! They told me upstairs that if word got out that such a player had thrown their support behind the change, others would be much more likely to agree as well!"
Saying that, the female stafferskipped off—or rather, walked away with such a light, bouncy step that it was half a skip.
"When did I become that influential?"
When I casually let that question slip, everyone who was there looked at me as if I were some kind of oddity.
"…What?"
Seeing my reaction, Jin came over and placed a hand on my shoulder. Then Jin headed back to the room without saying a word. Seeing that, the others each started moving as well.
"Tenma… your performance is, no matter how you look at it, completely abnormal!"
Namitarou, who had crept up at some point, said that with a grin.
…It was a little irritating how he was trying to strike a thumbs-up pose using his pectoral fin.
After that, while still feeling a bit off, I moved on with preparations for tomorrow's tournament.
A scene I considered adding to the main text but ultimately cut.
Aina: "I have returned."
Maria: "Welcome back. Sorry to be abrupt, but I need your report."
Aina: "Yes. This time as well, no new women have appeared around Lord Tenma. I returned together with the Dawn Sword group, so there shouldn't have been any sign of women along the way either."
Maria: "Good, that's a relief… but I think from now on, more and more of those"
"pests"
"will come crawling after Tenma, so report anything suspicious right away."
Aina: "Understood… Also, I feel like Aura has become even more of a klutz lately… What should I do about it?"
Maria: "You really are so harsh toward your"
"little sister"
"…you know, people don't grow from harshness alone."
Aina: "That's true. The carrot and the stick are the essence of"
"taming."
"I forgot to mention the fundamentals of taming."
Maria: "............"
That's how it went.
The rule changes might seem sudden, but I'd been planning to make them at some point. There's no such thing as perfect rules — they change with the times, so I decided to include this in the story.
Chapter 5 looks like it's going to be quite long, so I hope you'll stick with it until the end without getting bored.
Thank you for your continued support.