'Huh? Of course I'll participate in ....... Are you telling me, Leader, that I'm not allowed to compete?''

Lucia looks at me with a scowl. It's not like she's staring at me, but she's got a great eye.
In my private room and treasure room, which is connected to the Clan Master's office, I asked Lucia to charge my magic as usual.

At first, the charging tended to take a long time, but before I knew it, it had become a smooth process.
In the past, he used to be breathless after the charge was over, but now he looked unconcerned even after charging seventeen warding fingers.

Lucia Rogers is a master magician. She has mastered all kinds of magic and was once chosen to be one of the strongest mages in the Empire. And even now, she's constantly developing new magic. As an older brother, I sometimes worry about him.

'It's certainly troublesome. In the event that you have any questions regarding where by and how to use it, please do not hesitate to contact us at .......

In the event that you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
The venue is large, but for a warrior who has absorbed enough mana material, the distance can be closed in a few steps, and chanting and certain movements are essential to use powerful magic. If you are an advanced mage, you can make the preliminary movements as small as possible, but even that is still a disadvantage, because the omission of movements is a tradeoff for power.

But Lucia seems to be determined. What she's going to do with the tickets is a mystery to me, but she seems to know some mages in the upper echelons of the Empire, so I'm sure she'll figure it out.
She's surprisingly stubborn and rebellious, and I can't stop her.

Lucia took the chain treasure that had been charged and nodded her head.

'Yeah, yeah, good luck.

'What? Why are you talking about someone else?

What? That's because ...... I'm not a stranger, but I am a stranger.
The Martial Emperor's Festival is a personal battle, and there's no way I can interfere in Lucia's fight. The only thing I've got over Lucia is her age.

'Do you need advice?

'If you've got time for that, you might as well worry about yourself.'

'I'm sorry, I'm fine. I'm rooting for you.'

Because unlike Lucia, Luke and the others, I'm not going to compete. It would be strange for a contestant to worry about the spectators.
And this Martial Emperor's Festival is just a fighting tournament, we're always fighting for our lives, so compared to that, we're safe.

''Let me tell you, this time it's a one-on-one battle. Isn't this the type of fight that the leader is most uncomfortable with?''

'Huh? No, it's not. I like the tension of one-on-one. Of course, you can't get away from melee or flashy battles.

I hate them all, but I love to watch them all.
However, I've already experienced flashy battles in the field when I was active as the Ghost of Sorrows, so I feel like I'm done watching them.

In response to my answer, Lucia, who should know my character very well, blinked her eyes.


'...... leader, you misunderstood something--'

And then I suddenly heard a light melody. In the fastest motion I could muster, I pulled my newfangled phone out of my pocket.

'Sorry, Lucia. I got a 'mail'. I'll have to return it soon. ......'

'...... God!

This is how people in advanced physical civilizations must have used their phones.

Meiru is a very useful function to send a text to another person, and it was one of the many functions of a smartphone.

He clicked on the icon with a slightly familiar hand. I received a lot of "mail".
Most of them came from unknown senders, and the wording was often unfamiliar, which is called "spam mail" among smartphone researchers. It is said that your phone will explode if you try to open it carelessly, so you have to be careful.

The sender of the mail was my sister fox, who is supposed to be a god in Toaizant. Or rather, only the sister fox and the brother fox are still registered in my phone's contacts.

There was a picture attached to the mail. The text was simply: "I grew up. The attached image is of a huge, towering tree.
It hasn't been too long since she left Toaizant, but if her sister fox is still in that place in Toaizant, ...... there's no sign of the desert anymore.

''Look, look, look how many trees have grown.''

'I see.'

'If you don't reply soon, ...... you have to return the mail within five minutes. If you can't return it, you have to return it even if the battery is out of charge. That's the rule.

'I see.

I quickly replied, 'Good for you. Soon a strange melody played again.

'Oh, this time it's my brother. ...... Goodness, it's hard being popular.

'You can do whatever you want. I'm done charging, so I'll go now.

'Look at them, Lucia. They're very lively. Mr. Crisis should learn from them. These are human beings! Because! Oh dear, it's no wonder Telm and the others are so much more lively! I'll reply. I'm going to write a reply to the question, "Please give me the treasure you had." ......

There are still a lot of mysterious features, but smartphones are amazing. It's a dream come true.
If you can collect the number of party members, you won't have to worry about not being able to meet up with them. I wish I could have been born in such a convenient age.
I was thinking about the distant past for a while, and then I remembered that I was in the middle of a conversation with Lucia.
I turned my gaze back to Lucia, but by then she was no longer in sight. He looks down at his tiny phone and frowns.



'I see. ...... No wonder civilization is dying.'






It seems that Luke and his friends have successfully taken the right to compete. There is no one stronger in this world than a brainiac who goes straight for the goal.

Luke and the others seem to be training hard for the Martial Emperor's Festival, and Sitri seems to be busy with something. I don't really feel it, but I guess the Martial Emperor's Festival is a grand stage for warriors. Lucia seems to be busy developing new techniques, and the days go by without anyone coming to see her.

While I was lazing around in the Clan Master's office, tinkering with my phone, polishing my treasure trove, and playing with my rug, Eva walked in quickly.

'Cry, I've compiled the information. Please take a look here. It's from the preliminary round. I've left out the part about the Ghost of Sorrows.

What he handed me was a thick list. Since the contestants have not yet been officially announced, it must be an informal document used by the organizers of the Martial Emperor Festival.



'Well, I said I didn't want it.'

'Just look at it, please. There's something on my mind.

That's troublesome. What has Eva seen in me so far that she would bring me something so obviously classified?

I sigh heavily, but Eva's expression is grim, so I have no choice but to open the file.
Inside were detailed profiles of the participants. My visit to the Emperor's Festival was a spur-of-the-moment affair. Ava's hands were probably not stretched that far, but to get the materials in such a short time was a frightening feat of skill.

I skimmed through it. Unlike Luke and the others, I'm not that interested in the powerful, but there are a few names that even I recognize.

'Hmm? Are there going to be lights?

'Well, I guess it's part of their sales activities.

'I'll have to support this. ......'

'......'

The light is the leader of the party, the leader of the Order of the Light. It is said that he is a great warrior and his name is well known in Japan and abroad, but unfortunately I don't know much about him because I am not in the Imperial Capital very often.
However, including Luke and the others, it's not often that so many contestants from one clan participate in a tournament. I'm very excited. I'm sure that no matter how the game turns out, there won't be any internal strife.


'I hope they show a good game.

'Mr. Cry, you really have it easy, don't you?

Eva's voice sounded dumbfounded, but even the timid me wasn't afraid of watching the game.
I hummed to myself as I continued to flip through the pages. Then, a word that caught my attention suddenly came into my eyes.

You stop your hand and open your eyes. Ava is looking at me with bated breath.

There it was, the name of one of the contestants - Hunter. I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but it wasn't an optical illusion.


I couldn't help smiling.





'Hmm ......? The leader of the Strange Freaks,......, Krach Andrich,......? Pfft ...... that's odd.''



This is what Ava was talking about when she said she was curious. I'm certainly curious about this.

Unfortunately, there is no picture of him in the documents, but he looks just like me in name only. It's a great coincidence that we even have the same party name.
If he looks exactly like me, he's probably the real one. I smiled and handed back the document.


'Thank you, Eva. It's been a while since I laughed.

'Yeah ...... yeah .......'

'Yeah, ...... I had a good idea.'

I'll tell Luke and the others. I'm sure they'll laugh.
Depending on the cards in the tournament, it would be a great card if Luke and the others were to fight Klach. If this Krach is very strong, that would be interesting. It would be a great story to tell at the bar.

For some reason, Eva was looking at me with a worried expression as I was still smiling and thinking about trivial things.