The Wraith Party welcomed me, a [Black Mage], to their party.
　I participated in the All Heavenly Festival competition with them, and I passed the first stage following the preliminary round.

　Now, if I win the second stage, which was explained to take a tournament system, I can fight against my master and [Indomitable Brave] Altriet-san and the others in the third and final stage.
　It can be said that everything is going well.

　However, right now, mixed emotions were swirling in my chest.

''Really, I'm happy for you.......!

　A town with a demon king's castle. A certain bar. There are four televisions in the center of the bar, and they are facing in all directions.
　No matter where you are in the bar, you can see one of the screens.

　Mr. Blitz and I were sitting across from each other at one table.

　He is the owner of the fruit store where Kash worked and a friend of mine. He is a huge man with a sharp, balding head and a scary look at first glance, but he is a kind-hearted person.
　I don't get to see him as often as I used to these days, but he was still a good friend of mine.

　Today, he came to the bar to congratulate me on breaking through the first stage of my career.
　He's been drunk for a while now, and for the umpteenth time, he congratulates me with the words, "Thank you.

'Thank you,'

Congratulations from a friend is always a pleasure, no matter how many times you get it.

"I'm so happy...!　You had so much trouble finding a new job, and now you're the center of attention!　That's really awesome...!

　Mr. Brits is even in tears.
　Seeing her so happy as if it were her own business, I am also very excited.

I'm so blessed to have such good company.

"Idiot!　At times like that, it's honestly, 'I'm awesome! And that's fine.

　I don't remember Wraith-kun saying something similar to that to me.
　It's not that I'm despising myself by any means, but the feeling that has been ingrained in me for years is not easy to get rid of.

''Yes, that's right. I did my best, so I'm glad I got the results I wanted.''

d*mn. I heard it's Leme.

　He chuckled at that, and Mr. Blitz gulped down his wooden barrel mug.
　He asked the nearby waiter for a refill while he waited for it.

'Why?　What's wrong with Miss Mira?

　This is not the second time I've been asked that question either.
　It's not unusual for the same topic to play out over and over again when you're drunk, but this one is a bit....

'I was told that you were unable to come today.

You're lying. That girl's got more important things to do than you. You got a problem with that?

'It's not like that, but...'

　At my clipped words, Blitz-san's expression becomes a little more serious.

''........Well, it's a serious game, so there's a lot of things that go on after a win or a loss. But that young lady even came to scout you who beat her, you're the one who came to scout you, and I'm sure she'll be celebrating your victory after the match.

'Oh, that's yes, Mr. Blitz, you're right about that...'

　Even if I had been the one who lost, I would have praised the girls for their victory.

'Hmm?'

　After a questioning look, his face quickly changed to one of amusement.

"If that's not the problem, then there's another reason why it's hard to see each other?

The "Hail Mary　I mean, it's not like that, I mean...

Ha-ha. That makes sense. It's obvious that your margin of influence is shattered by your love life. You've spent all your time training and you have no tolerance for it, right?

　It's not as if he cares or is kind when he doesn't say he has no experience.
　Mr. Blitz blushed, but still said with a hush in his voice.

'Did you fail to 'first time'?'

　I almost drop the mug I was carrying to my mouth to hide my expression.

''Wha........!　No, no!　We weren't really in that relationship to begin with...

　This time he looked at me like he doubted my sanity.

'Are you still saying that? No, I think it's fine for everyone to pace themselves, don't you?

　I remember the fight with Carmilla and the end of it.

　I think that last thing she said was the only thing she said that had a different meaning than 'heart' before.
　In fact, it's been somewhat awkward since then. Even when we meet face to face, Mira-san seems somewhat distant.
　When their eyes meet, they look away.

I'm not sure what's wrong with that.

'It's not like she's bad or anything. The problem is that I'm the one...

Hmm...... Oh.........is that it?　Is this one of those adventurer-love doesn't last?

　An adventurer is a profession that travels the world.
　You can't stay in one place and be with one person for long.

　There are beautiful stories of people getting together after a long distance relationship... but they are rare.
　The men at the Fenix Party were popular with everyone except me, but I don't think any of them had a long-lasting girlfriend.

　Well, let's put aside the fact that there are adventurers like that.

"I've been busy lately, but I don't think that's the case for me right now.

Yeah, well... you work there too.

　Then a moment of silence passes.
　I open my mouth, troubled.

"I'm not a genius, you know. I'm aware of that.

　Mr. Blitz is quietly listening to my words.

'But I had a dream. I can't get rid of the dream I had before I realized I was an ordinary talent. Even with all the effort I can think of to make it come true, it may not be enough. Even with the best of my friends, I may never reach it. I still want to make it happen, so I think every day about what else I can do. That's all I've been thinking about, really, that's all I've been thinking about.

　I didn't even realize how much my family back home cared for me and supported me.
　I didn't even show any interest in the kind of sweet and sour or bittersweet romance that normal people usually experience.
　So much so that if he could run up the rankings by focusing his frustration from his peers on himself, he would be okay with it.

　That method was not healthy.

　[Ice Brave] Did Beulah-san say that I wasn't the only one at fault? Even if I tried to hide my power, if my companions were aware of it, we could have discussed it at that point.
　But I was the one who started it.

'When I was feeling down, I met Kash and she cheered me up. I met Mira again and she showed me a new way to dream. I'm also happy to have become friends with Blitz. I consider myself lucky to have met so many people. But I'm sure I'm still a work in progress and relationships, especially, are something I'm not used to.

We all do.

He didn't touch the refill on the drink that was brought to him, and Mr. Blitz surely didn't dare to say, how dare he?

'Isn't it?'

''Ah, even guys who think they know everything about sour and sweet can fall in love like a fifteen year old kid. It's not surprising that the best [Black Mage] can't do what a five year old can do.

Ugh....

　Certainly, if the problem is as simple as 'I'll say I like what I like and I hate what I don't like,' then my problem would be something a five-year-old could do without difficulty.
　You say what you think, just as you think. It seems easy, but it's getting harder and harder to do.

It's all about courage.

Courage...

　Am I just not getting enough of that?
　That's when I felt the store go into a whirlwind of activity.

"Oh, it looks like it's about to start. What do we do now?

Well we can talk about this later.

　That's one of the purposes of watching this today.

　Many people get up from their seats and come close to the TV screen.
　We stay in our seats and watch it.

What's the thing that's grabbing the world's attention right now?　--Yes!　It's an all-sky festival competition!

'We'll keep you updated on that today!　This time, we're finally going to introduce the second stage advancement party that has finally come out, and information on who they want to fight the most!''

　It's a special program and the facilitator is a woman with bunny ears and a human (normal) man.
　Their conversation continued for a while, and then the show moved on to the main topic.

'The world's number one ranked aerial party has passed the first stage without a single exit!　This year's 24th-ranked Loop Party and the members of the "Advanced Deep Sea Dungeon" all participated in the battle, but as expected, they were in first place!　The new player, [Gale Hero] Yuan, also seemed to be getting used to the team and showed off his brilliant wind spirit technique!''

　The second-ranked Ex Party, the third-ranked Helvall Party, the fourth-ranked Fenix Party, and the fifth-ranked Skaha Party also broke through. All of the parties in the top ten world rankings had advanced to the second stage.
　The ninety-fifth-ranked Ellie Party and the ninety-ninth-ranked Nicola Party also.

　The number of parties that had five hundred had been reduced to a hundred.
　Many acquaintances had broken through, which meant that they were that strong.
　But of course, not all of them can break through.

''The party of the [Brave Man of the Lake] Wraith, who has been talked about endlessly since his debut, has also won a great victory!　They clashed with and defeated the party of the Four Heavenly Kings, the [Flame Manipulator] I.M., and the party of the Four Heavenly Kings of the [Impregnable Demon Castle], the [Queen of Vampires] Carmilla, in this match, the Demon King's Castle in the South!　This match also featured a unique party whose members were all [Black Mages], and the composition of the party was a hot topic. About this, the [Black Mage] Leme player of the Wraith Party said this in an interview--'

　It's not just the I.M. Party or the Kermirror Party.
　In a battle full of strong people, the strongest of them are further divided into winners and losers.

　The party of the Demon King of the East, Belzebute's party won, and the party led by [Demon of Love] Sitley was defeated.

　The party of Astaroth, the Demon King of the West, won, and the party led by [Generous Sage] Ronoway's party in the [Elementary, Beginning Dungeon] was defeated.

　Demon King Pymon's party in the south won, and the 11th-ranked world rank [The Hero of Ashes] Garo Party was defeated.

　Other powerful demons and high-ranked adventurers have experienced defeat in this first stage.
　It's hard to believe, I have a feeling that it's hard to believe. I know how strong they are.

　But at the same time, I know that it happens.
　No one is undefeated in their lifetime.
　As far as I know, except for that most powerful Demon King, no one else has ever been undefeated in their lives.

''Oh no, this first stage was also full of great matches!

"Here's a special website jointly created by the Adventurer's Guild and Lucy Chamber of Commerce that will be available at a later date!　I didn't get to see it!　I want to watch it from beginning to end!　If this is the case, you're in for a treat!'

　Lucy Business Association is the company of Mr. Ferro, who is also the father of the Demon King.
　The fact that he named the company after his daughter's real name is very typical of him. The Demon King didn't like it at all, though.

The second stage is the tournament system.　The hundred pairs will be divided into four groups, and only the top of each group will advance to the final stage...!''

　In the end, there are four parties with a total of twenty people left. That may seem like a lot of people, but considering the legends that are coming up in the final stages of the tournament, it's probably not enough.

　All the participants could do was to win the tournament so that they could be one of the challengers.

Well then, let's go to the next corner!

We asked those who have made it through the first phase of the tournament who they'd like to play in the tournament!　Go ahead!

　The footage changes from showing the studio to the time of the interview.
　So many images were played.

　And some of them really shook me.