Chapter 95

The perspective changes in the second half.

While I was aimlessly killing time, it was finally my turn to fight, so I returned to the waiting room.

"Ah, Mr. Orun, I’ve been looking for you! Why weren’t you in the waiting room? Really—"

They had been looking for me. Complaints started pouring out from the person in charge as soon as they saw me.

"Sorry, I was just taking a walk."

"…Well, it’s fine. The previous match has already started, so please get ready."

Just as the person in charge said that, the previous match seemed to have ended. Derrick entered the waiting room from the arena. When he caught sight of me, he glared at me with a look of intense anger.

"Hey! Win and come over! I’m going to beat you up in front of the crowd tomorrow!"

As always, he’s so noisy. Even though I told him not to bother me, he still comes at me. Well, I do have some responsibility for this.

"It’s nice to have your support."

"I’m not supporting you!"

While exchanging banter with Derrick, I left the waiting room.

As I walked deeper in, a circular arena spread out before me.

"That bracelet is a magic tool, right? Bringing magic tools into the arena is prohibited. Please hand over the main body or the magic stone attached to it."

I wasn’t surprised, as I had heard this rule during the pre-match briefing. I put away the bracelet on my right arm and took out my sword belt and two swords for the martial arts competition. Then, I removed the magic stone from the bracelet on my left arm and handed it to the person in charge.

I don’t really want to hand over my magic tools to others. I wrapped the sword belt around my waist, sheathed the long sword on my left hip, and the short sword on my back.

While I was preparing, I heard the voice of the announcer.

"Alright, there’s only one match left for today! The ace of the 'Silver Hare of the Night Sky' and the top contender for the championship, 'Dragon Slayer' Orun Doura! His opponent is the 'Emerald Gale's' Laurette Weaver, who has reached the 89th floor in just one month and is now considered the closest to an S-rank party!"

The cheers from the audience were as enthusiastic as during the first match.

Everyone seems to be in high spirits...

After finishing my preparations, I slowly walked to my designated position in the arena.

◇

"Nice to meet you, 'Dragon Slayer.' I never thought I’d face a top contender in my first match. I’m starting to feel like my luck is really bad. But if I beat you, we’ll become a famous party. So I’m going to win!"

"...I don’t think the popularity of your party will change much, whether I win or lose. After all, you’ve reached the 89th floor from the 86th in just one month."

That’s right. As of last month, the party with the highest floor progression among A-rank parties was the one Bernard from the 'Silver Hare of the Night Sky' belonged to. However, your party has rapidly risen to the top of A-rank parties in just one month. This rapid progress is genuinely commendable. It’s not easy to advance in the lower floors in such a short time.

"We’re not done yet. We’ll surpass the Bronze, the Hare, and the Dawn to become the 'Hero'!"

Laurette held two long swords in her hands. Can she handle them well without any buffs? Physically, I doubt it. She has a standard build, and I think she might be overpowered by the swords.

"I see. I’d like to support your goal, but I have my own reasons to win, so I’ll take this match."

I drew the long sword from my left hip, slightly lowered my center of gravity, and relaxed my entire body.

"Both sides seem to be ready. Let’s begin the first round, eighth match!"

As soon as the match started, Laurette approached me.

I didn’t move and closely watched her movements.

When Laurette entered the range of my sword, she swung her right sword horizontally from right to left. As I had predicted, she was slightly overpowered by the weight of the sword.

Because the sword was too heavy for her, her attack was slow.

I easily dodged the attack, and without hesitation, her left sword followed almost the same trajectory as the right one.

Judging that a large opening would be created after she swung her left sword, I prepared to counterattack.

—But immediately from my lower left, the tip of a sword aimed at my throat.

"—!"

I immediately stopped my attack, dodged the thrust by moving my body, and jumped back to create distance.

Laurette had launched a thrust with her right sword immediately after swinging her left one. This movement requires a solid core.

(Showing that she was overpowered by the sword was a bluff.)

"Ah, you reacted to that. I wanted to overwhelm you with that attack!"

Laurette spoke in a light tone, closed the distance, and swung her swords again.

Her sword speed wasn’t that fast, so I could handle it.

But she had a lot of attacks. She was making the most of her dual-wielding advantage.

I could dodge or block Laurette’s attacks, but I couldn’t counterattack.

"This is unexpected! Orun can’t seem to turn the tide and go on the offensive! Is he just barely holding on!?"

We clashed swords dozens of times.

(I’ve pretty much figured out her movements. —It’s about time.)

While receiving her attacks, I had thoroughly observed her movements and decided to take action to go on the offensive.

Laurette was compensating for her slow sword speed with a high number of attacks. However, the rhythm of her attacks was almost constant and easy to predict.

First, to break that rhythm, I drew the short sword from my left hip and struck her right sword before she attacked.

"—!?"

At the moment her rhythm was broken, I swung my long sword.

Laurette immediately went on the defensive, blocking my attack with her left sword while stepping back to create distance.

I closed the distance to follow up, but she immediately swung her right sword as she regained her stance.

Unfortunately, her attack didn’t reach me. I had already read the starting point of her attack and the range of her sword.

Her attack fell short and missed me.

I swung my long sword at her right arm immediately after her attack missed. Although the blade was pulled back, I felt the sensation of her bone breaking through the long sword.

I tried to follow up with the short sword in my left hand, but she jumped back to create distance again. Instead, I threw the short sword at the timing of her landing.

Taking advantage of the moment she lost her balance to dodge the thrown short sword, I closed the distance and swung my long sword horizontally with all my strength.

She managed to block my attack with her left sword while losing her balance, but she couldn’t hold her ground and fell on her butt, dropping her sword.

I pointed the tip of my sword at her.

"Yeah, I lost."

"Decision! The winner is Orun from the 'Silver Hare of the Night Sky'! Once he turned the tide, it was one-sided! He’s really strong, the 'Dragon Slayer'!"

The audience’s excitement rose in response to the announcer’s enthusiastic voice. ...It’s still noisy.

"Ah, I couldn’t win after all... You’re not that easy to beat with a makeshift combat style without buffs."

"I see, so that wasn’t your usual way of fighting."

"Yeah, but it’s just an excuse."

She fought well, but if this is the strength of an A-rank party’s ace, I have my doubts.

"And sorry about your right arm."

"No, don’t apologize. I was prepared for injuries when I decided to participate in this tournament."

Injuries are common in martial arts competitions. Therefore, several excellent healing mages are always on standby. She will receive treatment and should recover by the end of the day.

"Well, good luck in the next match! If you win, I can say I lost to the champion in the first round."

"Understood. I intended to win from the start."

Thus, the first round of the martial arts competition ended in victory. Through this battle, I reaffirmed that the rules of this tournament and explorers are a poor match.

It’s fortunate for me, but I don’t like the idea of the public thinking that this is the strength of high-level explorers.

Thus, the first day of the 'Martial Arts Competition for High-Level Explorers' came to an end.

Three more wins to go for the championship. The semi-finals and finals won’t be easy, but I can’t afford to lose for the sake of the clan and myself.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Good morning, everyone! The excitement from yesterday hasn’t died down, and the second round is about to begin!"

The audience was as enthusiastic as yesterday, pulled along by the high-energy voice of the announcer.

"Now, let’s confirm today’s match-ups! The first match is Oliver from the Hero Party against Wilks from the '