"I now pronounce the Royal Family-hosted 'Victory in Front of the Warriors' Martial Arts Festival' to begin!

　Master Caesar's words echoed through the arena as he announced the opening of the event.
　A little later, cheers that seemed to shake the arena erupted from the audience and the participants lined up in the arena.
　The cheers continued for a while, but they slowly died down as the King, replaced by Caesar, stood up and lightly raised his hand.

'I can understand why everyone can't wait. Since a record number of people will be participating in this tournament, I'm sure there will be a lot of exciting matches to watch. I'm looking forward to it. And participants! Unleash the strength you've cultivated so far! Grab the glory in your hands!

　When the king concluded that, there was another great cheer.
　After that, a brief explanation was given, and then the participants were dismissed for once.
　It was currently around 10:00 a.m., and the individual qualifying round was scheduled to take place around 11:00 a.m. after this, and all but the individual participants left the arena or went up to the bleachers.

　I was told that there were more than 650 participants in total, including me, and that there were nearly 200 more than last year.
　They can't all go into the waiting room, so they have to wait outside the arena for the qualifiers to be collected by group to make sure they are all fair.

　A maximum of 32 contestants can advance to the finals, with the 4 who made it to the semifinals in the last tournament being given the right to be seeded (exempt from qualifying).
　However, since one of the prizewinners was injured this year, up to 29 contestants will be able to advance to the finals.
　However, a maximum of 2 contestants per group could advance to the finals. This made it difficult to adjust the number of contestants during the preliminary rounds, so from this year's tournament, it has been decided to limit the number of contestants to three for each qualifying pair.
　In the past, if someone withdrew from the preliminary round, or if two of the contestants couldn't make it to the finals, they would be seeded in the finals and the number of entrants would be adjusted.

　Whether I was lucky or not, I was assigned to one of the groups that was able to advance to the finals.
　Jin and Garratt from my acquaintance were participating in the individual competition of this tournament, but none of the three of us were in the same group for the finals. The Bandit King also doesn't have any conflicts with us, and will appear in front of my team.

　There are 14 teams in total for the preliminary round. The qualifying rounds were divided into two groups, with my group appearing last. By the way, Jin was in the first group and Garratt was in the same group as me.
　The number of people assigned to my group was 45 for all but me and 65 for my group alone.
　There is always an attendant near each team to check the rules and answer questions.
　The rules of the qualifying round are.....

　If a fighter fails to arrive at the designated place before the start of the match, he or she will be disqualified.
　If a fighter intentionally attacks another fighter in the same group, he or she will be disqualified.
　A fighter is disqualified if he or she falls out of the venue.
　4. A fighter is disqualified when the referee decides that it is impossible to continue the match.
　5. If a fighter intentionally attacks a disqualified fighter, he will be disqualified.
　6. If the fighter dies (...), he will be disqualified.
　7. Disqualified if the referee's order or disobeys the referee's order.
　8. Items other than weapons and armor cannot be used. However, bags and other items may be used.
　These are the basic rules, but exceptions will be made only if a fighter is found to have failed to follow the rules for a legitimate reason.
　There seems to be other detailed rules, but for now, this is the only thing you need to pay attention to.


'Oops! There she is. Hey, Temma~!

　I was taking a break at my group's meeting point when I was approached by Garratt, who was in a nearby group.

'Long time no see, Temma!

　Garratt called me out loud, and the same group of guys were paying attention to me... and when I say attention, they were looking at me like one of the kids was just joining in on the commemoration... but they weren't directly involved. So let's ignore it.
　Garratt seemed to notice the eyes of those around him, and he gave a sympathetic look... to those around him.

'What can I say ... it's a cliché of those who see Temma for the first time. Until you make a fool of yourself and it hurts... most of all, it's the real idiots or less than second-rate people who get hurt.

　Garratt is muttering in a voice that only I can hear.......well, it seems that my group doesn't have anyone with any real ability. It can't be helped, so let's try to get things to turn out the way Garratt wants them to.

'So, how's it going with Garratt?'

Hmm? Yeah, there's only a few strong guys here and there... the problem is we have a runner-up from the year before, so it's going to be key to see how that guy works.

　Even though he was the runner-up the year before last, he's someone who lost in the first round of the main tournament last time, and there's not that much of a difference in strength between him and Garratt.

''Even so, he's got a track record...............First some people will rush in. I think that's going to be the catalyst for a wild fight.''

　Garratt's plan is to get through the first melee with as little damage as possible, and the rest is just a matter of getting out! This is a poor strategy, but in a way it is the right way to fight in a battle royal.

　While we were talking about this, an attendant came to inform us that the first contestant for the main contest has been decided.

''Whoa! Looks like that djinn guy made it through!

　The attendant said that Djinn had participated in the main competition, and Garratt seemed somewhat happy to hear that.

'It seems there weren't many wizards in Jin's group. If there were any, they were either intensively beaten in the first melee.



　Garratt is looking at me sideways while saying that.
　In the meantime, the attendant is reading out the names of the finalists.
　Judging from the reactions of those around me, it seems that all four of the finalists, including Jin, had advanced to the finals in the last tournament, so to speak, they won in that order.

'I can't lose either! Let's work on each other!

　Garratt, who was a little excited, said that to me and went back to his group.


　So we passed the time going around the nearby stalls and watching the match, and finally, when the sun was setting, my group was called out to me.

The last group of participants, please gather at the side of the hall.

　When the attendant called me to the aisle, I was lined up on the spot to be checked by name and led into the hall. Of course, there was no one who was late.

Then please wait here.

　We were led to an anteroom where we could look into the arena, and the fight of the previous group had just begun.
　One of the groups started out as a lookout and was quiet, but the other group was in a brawl as soon as it started, with some participants being blown away as if they were flying through the air... The person blowing the participants away was the 'Bandit King'.

　The Bandit King was kicking the enemies away as he smashed his large axe into the opponents, showing his overwhelming strength.
　This naturally created a space around the Bandit King, and no one wanted to challenge the Bandit King to a fight.

　As soon as the Bandit King stepped forward, the participants around him took two or three steps back, creating a kind of rigidity that eventually led to boos from the audience.
　The bandit king, annoyed by the participants who showed no sign of coming towards him, crowded his opponents in front of him with unimaginable speed and delivered an axe blow that sent several of them flying out of the hall.
　This created an atmosphere of reluctance, but eventually the participants began to feel that they were going to be beaten down by being crowded in between them, and although there was no signal, all of the remaining participants took on the Bandit King at the same time.

　It seems that the participants are trying to defeat the bandit king with violence in numbers, but they are not enemies of the bandit king after all, such as a crowd of crowds driven by fear and unable to coordinate properly.
　With a swing of the Bandit King's axe, the Orcs were reduced in numbers by a few, and in the end, they were all (...) blown out of the field.
　The scene was just like that of the corpses of the dead, but from the Bandit King standing alone on the fighting table, there was an atmosphere that could be described as the very style of a king, and it attracted the audience.

''That's it!''

　The referees were also a little late in giving the signal for the end, perhaps due to the power of the Bandit King.
　After hearing the referee's signal, the Bandit King leisurely stepped off the fighting table alone and went to the waiting room in the arena.

　Shortly after that, the referee reported that only the King of Bandits would be allowed to participate in the finals, and it was decided that the capacity of the finals was reduced.
　The audience applauded the King of Bandits, but the team that was fighting at the same time was still fighting, and the match was not as good as the one of the King of Bandits, so the atmosphere of "hurry up and get it over with" began to waft from the audience, and the participants of that team seemed to have a hard time doing so.
　In the end, the winners of that pairing were a first-time participant in the tournament and a young man who was competing in the main competition for the first time.

　When the previous group had been settled, my group was finally called up to the arena.
　As I went up to the arena, I glanced at the seats where the kings were seated, and there were all the royals there, and next to the Lord Treasurer was Misery, who was sitting in a wheelchair.

　I continued to move my gaze to look at the nobleman's seat, and for some reason, I also saw my grandfathers there.
　It wasn't just Grandpa, Jeanne, and Aura there, but also the three daughters to Primera.....................Perhaps they used the connections of the 'Sangha Dukes' that Primera has.

　There was no more time to observe the audience. The participants were randomly placed on the fighting table........

Final qualifying round, the game begins!

　The referees' voices rang out.
　My first opponent was a large man in full body armor who was right behind me.
　The man seemed to have decided that I was the easiest opponent to take down, and without a plan, he just rushed into me.

''Doriya! What.........

　Against the man who was just coming at me, I paid off the other man's stepping foot with a low kick before it reached the ground.
　As a result, the man fell easily and was lightly disoriented.
　Before the man came to his senses, I swung the other man's legs aside and swung them around with force before he came to his senses.

'Buh! Whoa! Oh........

　I set the man up with a "giant swing" as I gradually moved into the center of the area that was becoming a war zone. Occasionally, participants were blown away by the swing, but the man's armor, which has become my weapon, seemed to be a work of art, with a few dents and dents, but no major distortions or broken parts.

　As expected, the participants in the center of the room noticed me while doing the giant swing, so I decided to take a chance and throw the weapon (the man) away... towards the center of the room.

　The man in full-body armor, unleashed from me, flew like a cannonball and sent the participants in the center of the building, who had failed to escape, flying away like bowling pins.
　I jumped into the center of the building while I was there. The center of the room was potted because everyone had escaped from the man in full-body armor, and the participants around me looked at me with dumbfounded faces as I jumped into the space, but suddenly they started to glare at me and attacked me all at once... but...

Freeze!

　When I froze the surface of the fighting table like a skating rink, the participants who tried to pounce on me slipped and fell on their asses on the spot.

''Downburst!''

　Next, I created a downburst of air around me. As expected, if I just let it happen, I'd be damaged as well, so I adjusted the magic power in my place to prevent any damage.
　With the effect of the downburst and freezing the fighting table, the bodies of the participants gradually began to move in the direction outside the field.
　The participants were desperately trying to stop stepping on the ice, but they couldn't step on the ice very well and all of them slipped off the arena (........).

　The referees are stunned by the audience, who are stunned by the outcome of the fight. However, it was the participants who didn't understand (or didn't want to) what had happened the most. Although all of them had fallen off the fighting table and retired, most of them had no serious injuries and were healthy enough to fight again from now on.

　I'm still standing alone on the fighting table. I still can't get off the table because the referee hasn't given me the signal to end the fight.
　I wanted to give the signal, so I looked not at the judges, but at the kings.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to get out of it.

Referee! The game is over!

　He told the umpire.
　The referee came to himself at the king's words and hurriedly gave the signal for the end.

　As I was about to get off the fighting table, three participants began to complain to the referee.

'You've got to be kidding me! I can still fight!

　The most pompous of the complainers, equipped with luxurious armor and a great sword, began to shout.

''I can't accept a result like that!
''There's no way a kid like that would be able to use that much magic unless he was cheating in some way! It's invalid! A match like this!

　I started screaming at the man's side, another two men equipped with gorgeous armor.
　But I ignored them and got off the fighting table. As I got off, I heard the men cursing from behind me, but I didn't care and walked straight to the waiting room.



'Oi! The kid's getting away! Get him!

　The man who started complaining first shouted that to the participants around him, but the other participants just gave him a cold look and didn't move. On the contrary.....

Guards! Get those three! He is a sinner who has defiled the Gomae Martial Arts Festival!

　Before long, the three participants were immediately taken into custody by the guards brought in by the Warlord Lyle von Bluemail Krustin, who had descended below the seat of royalty .............
　The three who had put up considerable resistance to the guards at that time were attacked when they were seized by the guards and were knocked unconscious when they were tied up.

''Some of those who lost this match will be unconvincing, if not like them.... However, including that, you are inexperienced, and that guy is just one step ahead of you. This will be a lesson to you, and you will do your best to be on your guard at the next opportunity.

　Lyle called out to the participants of the earlier match on his way back. The participants seemed to understand that this kind of match (battle royal) could end like this, and they were kneeling on the spot with their heads hanging down.

　The crowd applauded Lyle's swift action, and in turn, applauded the participants who were leaving the arena in defeat... but the other match was still going on.

　While the crowd was focusing on Tenma's actions, the three idiots' ruckus, and Lyle's deftness, the participants in the other pair were down to less than a third of the participants, and it looked like it was going to be settled in a few moments.
　In the end, it was Garratt and the veteran adventurer who won this pairing...


"Hmmm........thank God I have Temma's protection (resistance)!

　Garratt, who came into the waiting room much later than I did, started to say such a thing at the opening.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in your group, but the confusion that some of the participants felt when they saw the magic I had released spread to the other participants, and as a result, it all came down to an all-out brawl. It is said that most of the participants were unable to demonstrate even half of their abilities in the chaotic brawl and were defeated.
　How does that lead to my backup? I asked him....

What? Because if you're a Temma, there's nothing funny about what you've done... if you suddenly have two big magic shots in a row on the other side, most people would be surprised and confused. I knew the source of the outbreak better than anyone else in there. I was able to show my strength without confusion.

　I'm not sure if it's the right thing to do, since Garratt was originally one of the most influential members of that group, so if people around him hadn't been able to show their abilities, it would have been an easy win for him, but... I don't see why not.
　A staff member came over to us and started talking about the future.
　Simply put, congratulations on your participation in the finals, the pairings will be announced in the morning of the day.
　After hearing that, me, Garratt and the other finalist tried to leave the waiting room quickly, but...

'Ah! Only Temma will be waiting for a moment.

　He stopped me by name.
　With me at his side, Garratt left, telling me not to leave first as the djinn and the others were waiting for me, and the other one left without saying a word.

'What can I do for you, sir? I'm not cheating when it comes to the game, though.

　The attendant is shaking his head tremendously in denial at my question.

'Yeesh! I don't suspect a single word of fraud, sir! However, some noblemen who saw the fight just now have asked to meet with Temma and we have been informed by our superiors that we will take measures to do so, so we would like to ask you to wait a little while.

　I said that I didn't know what to do. I said I didn't have the courage to shake off the aristocrats, but the attendant was in tears, so I decided to wait in the waiting room for a while.

　It would take about 10 minutes to wait. The countermeasure came to the waiting room where I was waiting.



　I headed for the exit with those two men.



　In the vicinity of the exit at that time....

That little boy Temma is a very slow learner...
''Baroness, it hasn't been too long since the game ended. Perhaps you have used some big magic and are taking a short break.

I think he's after that Temma or something like that and he's trying to get to me before I can get to him, even though he's a baron.
Calm down, sir. You will be more than happy to follow me.

　and so on, the lower nobles were talking to their followers. The nobles there must have recently arrived in the royal capital. Otherwise, they would have heard at least a rumor about Tenma from their fellow nobles of their own faction.

　Temma appeared in front of these nobles from the exit.
　It seems that it is difficult to see the person next to Temma from where the nobles are, and besides, it's a pity that they only paid attention to Temma in an attempt to outdo the other nobles here.

　The aristocrats rushed to Temma's side and...

You rude little bastards!

　I was blackmailed by the person next to Temma.