Ladies and gentlemen!　Here you go!　We will now hold the Great Keith Martial Arts Tournament!
　The voice of the play-by-play man, amplified by wind magic, rang out.

　--Oh, oh, oh, oh!!!!

　The amphitheater (coliseum) is shaking with earthquakes and cheers.
　The arena is packed to the brim.

'Wow.'
Wow, a lot of people.
　Me and Sa-san looked up with our mouths open at the power of it all.

'Hey, Aya, are you okay?　All of your opponents look strong, don't they?
She's just fine. I'm fine, Ru-chan. I'm just a worrier.
　Lucy anxiously tugs at the hem of Sa-san's clothes, but Sa-san doesn't seem to be fazed.
　The warriors who enter the circular ring in the center of the arena are all well-built and powerful in appearance.
　By the way, only this martial arts tournament is an open-weight division - in other words, it's a gender- and race-neutral tournament.

　It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one.
　Therefore, all participants who wish to participate are given a chance to do so.
　Participants come from all over the country as well as abroad to seek honor and fame.

　At the venue, the tournament's play-by-play announcer reads out the names of the participants one after another, to loud cheers.
　Each time, the crowd cheered loudly, probably because they were famous warriors.

''Even so, for a tournament of this magnitude, it's not very many participants to have thirty-two.
'Sir, no. The preliminary contest has already been held. More than 10,000 people have signed up.
What?
What, really?
　Nina and Fujiyan's conversation startled me out of my own voice.

'Sa-san, did you ever participate in a qualifying competition?'
'Nope, I didn't answer. I just put my name on the entry form.
　Oh, why is that?

''Brave Mako. Apparently, Aya-san has been chosen as a member of this competition as a special quota because she is a fellow member of the Brave Men of the Water Country.
　Princess Sophia told me with a stiff expression.

''Hmm, could that be...?''
''It was probably because of the Fire Nation's intentions. If Aya-san hadn't participated voluntarily, there's a good chance that the heroic Makoto would have joined for some reason...
''So you're going to beat the brave men of the Water Kingdom in the tournament to show the strength of the Fire Kingdom's warriors?
　I finally got my eye on him.
　I sighed.


　-- followed by the representative of the Water Country, "Sasaki Ayaa!


　Sa-san's name was called.
　I was about to call out to him, "Good luck," when I noticed a change in the air around me.

'Pull back!' "You're a f*cking waitress! Boo!" "Get the hell out of here and lose! Don't you feel bad for the guys who qualified! Shame on you!
　They all booed at once.

'What?!　This!
　Lucy is indignant.
'Information has leaked out that Aya-san went to the main competition without competing in the preliminary round. The source of the information is probably the work of the higher-ups in the Fire Nation.
　Princess Sophia bit her lips in frustration.
'The final tournament of the Great Keith's Martial Competition is considered the highest honor for a warrior just to be able to compete. An average warrior can't even make it through the qualifying rounds.............................because of that jealousy, Shaw.
　Nina, who used to be a warrior in the Land of Fire, was very convincing when she said it.

''Hey........Sa-san. It's in this kind of atmosphere, you should abstain.''
　I was worried about Sa-san and called out to him, but his gaze was directed to the VIP seats on the top floor of the arena.

　Sitting there were the King of the Great Keiths and all the nobles around him, both domestic and foreign.
　People who looked like the Four Holy Nobles I saw in the Land of the Sun one day could also be seen.
　Gerald-san........isn't there (thank goodness).

　A dark-skinned, dark-haired female brave Olga Saul Talisker, with a sallow skin and black hair, who seemed uninterested and greatly absent, was sitting hunched over in the corner of Sa-san's gaze.

'It's okay, Takatsuki-kun. My goal is to take out that guy.
　He looked back at Sa-san and smiled.
　He doesn't seem to have any intention of abstaining.

'All right, but try not to push yourself too hard.
Yeah!
　Let's support them honestly.
　And then Princess Sophia," she said as she walked over to Lucy.

"Sophia, Lucy. I need your support.
I'm on it!　Mako.
'I understand, Brave Makoto. If Aya-san is injured, I will send a healer from the Water Kingdom to heal her. The tournament has prepared a healer, but he is under the breath of the Fire Nation, so we will be ready just in case.
　Well, at this rate, I think they'll usually do something.
　Princess Sophia's thoughtfulness is a big help.

"Hey, Takatsuki-kun, you're taking down the Order of the Snake, right? You're the one who has to be careful.
　On the contrary, Sa-san gives me a worried look.
　That's right, the day of the snake cult's meeting was oddly enough the day of the martial arts tournament.
　Could it be a coincidence?

(No, maybe I feel like they dared to go for it...)

　Just like they targeted the inauguration of the Commander of the Brave Men of Light in the Land of the Sun.
　When everyone's consciousness is turned in a different direction, the trick is to manipulate them from behind the scenes.
　Is the example Archbishop Isaac involved this time too?

Well, I'm off!
　Sa-san ran towards the martial arts ring.
　

''Hey, Princess, give me some support too. But if you weren't feeling well, you could have run away first.
　Ever since he saw the future of the King's Landing being destroyed, Friae didn't want to go out.
　She seemed a bit mentally unstable, so I suggested that she return to McAllen first.
　But in the end, he remained in the Fire Nation's royal capital.

'I don't want to. I don't want to run away alone with my tail between my legs. Besides, my knights and the others aren't running away, are they? Well, then, you'll have to change the future.
Yeah, okay.
　I nodded, taking it as a pep talk in Friae's way.

'Let's go, heroic Makoto-dono.
　The old guardian knight called me.
　This time, it was decided to borrow Princess Sophia's old guardian knight and some senior knights as guards for the defeat of the snake cult.
　As expected, it seems that there is no such thing as a brave man going alone.

(.........good luck. (Sa-san)

　We left the martial arts tournament hall, which was still booing, and headed to the meeting place for the strike team.


　◇


We have been expecting you. You must be the Water Kingdom's Brave Lord's troops.
That's right. So you're the special forces that General Talisker was referring to.
　The Knight of the Fire Nation and the old man, the guardian knight, are talking.
　Neither of them are wearing exaggerated armor, and their armament is minimal (I was originally lightly armed).
　At a glance, they look like adventurers or mercenaries.

　This mission must not be noticed by the Order of the Snake.
　Therefore, we are going to form a special unit of a dozen or so people that we created for this mission and aim for the target point.
　The young Fire Nation knight in front of me is the guide.

　As I followed the knight who was guiding me for a while, I noticed that the town was becoming desolate.

'This area is called the favela. It's the most unsafe area in the royal capital, Gamelan.'
　The knight who was guiding us said.
　I didn't know what to say, but I nodded anyway.
　Looking at the city's inhabitants, I see that, as I understand it, most of the clothing is boloi, and the children are barefoot.
　Some were drunk and some were gambling while the sun hadn't even risen yet.
　The word "favela" didn't feel right.

(It's just ... well ... the inhabitants seem to be in good spirits.)

　The difference between this city and the lowest city in the Land of the Sun was that although they were modestly dressed, they all had a lot of life in their faces.
　The races are all different, humans, beastmen, dwarves, elves and everything in between.
　Could it be that there is a race of demons as well?

　We didn't have any problems along the way.
　On the way, bad boys and beggars got involved, asking me to give them something, but when the knight who was guiding us showed us some markings, they scattered with blue faces.

'What was that earlier?'
　I was curious and asked a question, and the young knight answered.

'Brave Lord, I showed you this emblem of the 'Executive Knight'.
　In his hand was a coat of arms with the pattern of 'Goddess with Book and Sword'.

''Ho, being an 'executive knight' at such a young age is excellent.
'No, no, I've just been doing the same thing since my grandfather's generation.
　When the old guardian knight praised him with admiration, the knight laughed a little shyly.

　An execution knight is - in a word - an occupation that is like a combination of the police and the judge.

　Its authority is large, and it can not only catch criminals, but also execute the sentence on the spot.
　It's scary, but it's legal for an execution knight to say 'you're a sinner' and cut down the opponent.
　It's reasonable that the bad boy escaped.

　By the way, execution knights are not a profession unique to the Fire Nation.
　They seem to be found in every country.
　I've heard that the sun country has the most, and not a few from the water country as well.
　In order to obtain the qualification of an executive knight, the blessing of the "Goddess of the Sun (Althena)" who controls justice and victory is necessary, and it is necessary to overcome severe trials and exams.
　In other words, the young knight in front of me is the elite of the elite.

''Brave Lord, we have arrived at the entrance.
　After walking for a while, they arrived at what looked like a lonely garbage dump from a deserted back alley.
　In the direction that the execution knight was pointing, I could see a stone gate and a staircase leading to the basement.

''This is the entrance to the Catacombs in the Land of Fire, brave lord.''
'It is hot during the day in the land of fire. It's our country's custom to want the dead to sleep peacefully in a cool place.
Well.....
　The old guardian knight and the executive knight told me.

'It's dark, so be careful.
　We slowly descended the stairs to the basement.


　The heat above ground seemed to be a lie, and the basement was filled with cool air.
　There are air holes in the basement passage here and there, and light is leaking in some places, but it's almost completely dark.
　We used our 'night vision' skill and proceeded through the darkness.

　The grave markers on both sides of the aisle are endlessly followed by grave markers.
　Now, it's daytime and we're a group, so it's not so scary, but do you want to come alone in the middle of the night?　I can confidently say no when asked.

'How far does this catacombs go?'
　After walking for a while, I couldn't help but ask the executive knight a question to the cemetery with no end in sight.
''This cemetery and the passageway lead to the outside of the royal capital. It's one of the emergency escape routes if the capital falls. That's why it's built like a maze, so it's best not to come here alone.
　Yeah, I'll never go there.

'The Knights of the Fire Nation will all have a map of these underground passages drilled into their heads. You will not be allowed to have a paper map. The reason........you know why, don't you?
　The execution knight was smiled at meaningfully.

''It's a matter of life and death if the enemy takes it from you, isn't it?
　After all, it's a passage that allows you to sneak inside from outside the royal capital.

''Yes, you will be severely punished for taking notes. That punishment is unique. If a soldier is found holding a map of the underground passage on a piece of paper, he will be left alone in the deepest part of the underground passage and asked to come back on his own. Isn't that frightening?
".........
　Is this a black joke?
　Me, the old guardian knight, and the knights of the water country looked at each other.

''What happens if you can't come back?''
　I asked the question that bothered me the most.
　The executive knight turned his gaze outward at the question.

''You see, the tombstone over there belongs to a new knight from the Fire Nation. Once a year, there's a soldier who can't come back and it's the rookie's job to mourn for him. I used to be depressed too.
".........
　The people of the Water Country are donkeys.
　The soldiers of the Fire Nation, you're too Spartan!

What a joke.
What?
　Seeing our expressions, Mr. Execution Knight shrugged his shoulders.

　Which, to what extent is this a joke?
　Is it a joke that the gravestone you pointed at earlier is the new knight's?
　Is it a joke about the nature of the punishment?

(Let's not ask too much...)

　We then proceeded in silence.


　◇


　Behind the crypt was a veritable labyrinth (dungeon).
　The grave markers were gone, and the pathways continued up and down the left and right sides of the crypt.
　There were many forks along the way, so I was convinced that I would definitely get lost on my first visit.

　By the way, one of the 'RPG Player' skills, the 'Map' skill, is in full effect.
　In the unlikely event that the defeat of the snake cult this time was a lie, and it was a trap to trap me and the knights of the Water Country in the underground labyrinth.....I don't think it's a quandary.


There's someone here.
　The execution knight quietly signals with his hand.
　They all stop.

　At the end of a long single street with a long bend.
　Looking at the depths of the darkness with my 'night vision' skill, there is indeed someone standing there.
　Due to the location, it could be the undead (undead)........

''It's someone from the snake cult, isn't it? It's probably a sentry.
　It seems that the executive knight has pretty good eyesight.
　After all, she seems to have the blood of the beastmen who can see at night.
　By the way, the Fire Nation is based on the supremacy of strength, so even if you're a beastman race, they don't discriminate against you much as long as you're strong.

It's a problem, there's only one road ahead. It will take quite some time to go around.''
　At the words of the executive knight, the old man folded his arms.　
　The execution knight didn't hurry and took out a magic tool.
　It looks like an hourglass.

''It's to be expected that there are guards. And I knew that it would be difficult to eliminate it due to the structure of the underground labyrinth. Therefore, if there were guards in the vicinity of the expected meeting place of the Serpent Sect's meeting, we plan to take them by surprise all at once when this sand has fallen away. If that's the case, it won't matter if the guards find us.
I see.
　The old man nodded to the strategy that the execution knight talked about.
　Then, it looks like we're going to have to wait for a while.

''Why don't we try to neutralize the guards?''
　I just suggested it, since I hadn't been useful by just following along until now.
　But the old man, the executive knight and the guardian knight, gave me a dubious look.

''It would be impossible to take down the guards without being noticed by the quicksilver.
'It's more than a hundred mel from here to the lookout. We'll find them for sure.
　It was the opposite, as expected.

'Then I hope you don't see it,'
　I replied, calmly.


　◇


You're asleep...
It's so easy to just...
　We came close to the guards, but the snake cultists were in a deep sleep.
　Incidentally, there were two guards, but we put them together and put them to sleep.

''Brave Lord of the Water Country. Is the technique you just used the Elementary Water Demon Technique 'Fog'?
　Mr. Execution Knight is looking at the small bottle in my hand with interest.

''Yes, I made the water in this bottle into a mist and had the guards suck it up. The contents of this bottle are a trade secret.
　In fact, it's the water that the Moon Priestess (Friae) put a sleeper's curse on me.

''How could you incapacitate them at such a distance without making them aware of it!　Oh no, it's great.
　The old guardian knight is honestly happy.
''........It's an interesting technique. It's a good reference.''
　On the other hand, the executive knight's gaze became sharp for a moment.
　But it quickly returns to a calm expression.

''Thanks to the brave Lord Makoto, we can move forward. Those from the snake cult will be restrained and one knight will be sent to watch them. We will head onward. The target point (goal) is near.
　We nodded quietly.


　Then we moved slowly down the dark passage without conversation.
　The expression of the executive knight guiding us was tense.
　Probably, our target point is very close.　

　After a while, a red light came into view at the end of the passage.
Confirming it with my 'clairvoyance' skill, I found that it was the light of the flames.

''You're here.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is where the Order of the Snake meets.
　We were trying to wait, being careful not to get too close.
　There was some time left before the hourglass fell off.
　But Executive Knight's eyes widened in astonishment.

''Bah, that's ridiculous!''
　Suddenly, the execution knight started running.
　Huh?　I thought they were supposed to be waiting.

What would you like to do, Mister Brave?
Let's go with him.
　Me and the old guardian knight couldn't understand the situation, but we followed at any rate.

　The place was like a huge circular theater (hall) that doesn't look like a basement.
　There were torches burning around the theater (hall), illuminating the inside in red.


　At first I didn't know what it was.

　I thought the floor was covered with nanika.

　There were hundreds of people lying there - folded together - and hundreds of people.