Today is the first day of the main competition, the day of the individual matches.
　Today's individual matches will be played until the semi-finals.

　I woke up early this morning and had a leisurely morning of light exercise with Shiroumaru and the others in the garden, sweating and eating a proper breakfast, but I was quite excited on the inside.
　I've experienced a fair amount of opponents, but none of them were training or killing each other, and none of them were a test of my strength and skill.
　So I'm starting to feel like this tournament's main competition is my debut... although I really don't think it's too late to do that now...

　I was thinking about such a strange thing, and before I knew it, my heart was beating faster.
　The excitement I had just experienced had turned into tension.
　I took a few deep breaths to ease my nerves and get some oxygen around my body.

Okay, let's go!

　I got a little fired up and headed to the venue.
　It's still early for the start of the matches, but the finalists are told to come to the venue early as the prize money will be explained to them.
　The flow of today's event is to confirm the prize money and rules, show the finalists to the audience, draw for the individual matches, and start the individual matches.
　There will be a maximum of four matches today. That means the first round, the second round, the third round and the semifinals.
　If they win today, they'll be in the finals on the last day of the tournament. No one has ever won at the age of 15 before. The record for the youngest player in the tournament is 19 years old, according to Dinh.
　Dinh has won this tournament ten times in the past, at most five times in a row. At best, he has won the event five times in a row, but he has only lost twice in the individual competitions. He lost in the second round at the age of 17 in his first tournament, and in the semifinals at the age of 18, both to opponents who were considered to be the leading contenders at the time.
　Most importantly, that opponent also ran out of steam in his fight with Mr. Dinh, and he lost both in his next match.

　So he was the dangling favorite to win the first championship.
　The reason why 5 consecutive championships are the best is because of the king's (then the crown prince's) escort and other reasons that he was not allowed to compete.

　I'm considered by those around me to be a disciple of such a person.
　As we got closer to the venue, I could hear people whispering to each other as they waited in line to purchase seats.
　Although I hadn't heard this before, it was true that Mr. Dinh had taught me many things, so I guess he was his disciple.
　When I entered the waiting room, several people were already there, and when they saw my face, they looked uncomfortable.
　They must have heard the gossip that was going on outside a while ago. Some of them look relieved, but they seem to be a pair of participants.
　The Bandit King was among the people who were there earlier, and the Bandit King was also standing against the wall, but he didn't respond, perhaps asleep.
　As he sat in the corner of the room to avoid eye contact, soon afterwards, a series of familiar faces arrived.

'Oops! I've heard that you're a disciple of the Black Lion, Temma. I heard you're a disciple of the Black Lion!
"It's not fair........the Black Lion is our dream.

　Jin was the first to call out to me, and Garratt was next. Behind them are Menace and Leena.
　The "Black Lion" is another name for Mr. Dinh. I've heard that when he was young, he wore black armor and was equipped with a black sword and a black shield, so he's still called that even now that his equipment has changed.

　As I was talking to them, Aguri came next. Beside him is also an unfamiliar young man.

'Good morning Temma. It's been a long time since I've seen you. Good morning Tenma, it's been a long time. And while you're at it, let me introduce you to my grandson. This is my grandson, Ricky.

'And incidentally that's okay. Ricky Monakert. I've heard a lot about Temma. It's a pleasure to meet you.

　Ricky is a good-natured young man who seems to be a good-natured older brother and is 20 years old, and he's a solo adventurer as a swordsman, not a tamer.
　As I was shaking hands with Ricky, the Marquis de Samoens appeared.

''Hello, Lord Temma. Congratulations on your new record.

　He shakes my hand as well as congratulates me on breaking the record for being the youngest.
　The buzz in the room grows as the Marquis de Samoens appears.

　When I think about it, this place I'm in is filled with people of note for this tournament.
　First of all, I, the youngest person to qualify for the individual and team competitions, and I'm getting a lot of attention for being Din-san's disciple.
　Secondly, the Sword of the Dawn, Jin has not yet placed in the top ranks, but he's been competing in the finals for several years now and is considered to be a strong contender. The team also participated in the finals last year and this year, and one of their members, Garratt, also participated in the individual finals.
　Aguri is the oldest player in the tournament and has participated in this tournament in the past and has achieved some excellent results.
　Finally, the Marquis de Samoens, who is the biggest reason for this. He is a marquis (...). It's not unusual for a nobleman to compete, but it's rare for the marquis class to compete. And, of course, he's the most important person in the room. Normally, there is no opportunity to see a marquis up close and personal.

　When I casually ask the Marquess about that....

'Well, royalty has competed in the past... when the current king was young...'

　And that was that. By the way, it was a team competition, and the king's members were his father, mother, father Dinh, and mother Klef, and they won the championship.
　However, the king feels that he wasn't very useful to them, and to this day, he still says that he was included in the team that was capable of winning, and that all he did was drag his team down.
　But it seems that only the king feels that way, since he has beaten one of the opposing team in the final.

　Well, even if we put aside such special exceptions, it's rare for a family of high ranking nobles to compete like Primera, so the fact that the Marquis himself participated in the tournament is more than enough to raise the profile of the place I'm in.

　And it seems that there are naturally people who are seething with hatred for our being too conspicuous.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of it. It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for. However, since the Marquis himself isn't too concerned about it, his guards and member knights are also only increasing their vigilance.

　After that, the preparations seemed to be ready, and they were called by the attendants to move to the arena.
　There, just like on the first day, they were told the king's grateful story, and then the draw began, leaving only the individual contestants to participate in the individual competition.
　However, since there were only three spots left for three players this time, the opponents of the undrawn cards would be seeded.

　The order of the draw is in the order of arrival at the venue, and I was the 10th.
　The Bandit King was the first, and he had drawn 23 cards.
　As the lottery proceeded smoothly, there was a loud cheer for the player one spot ahead of me. It seemed to be the winner of the last round.
　The last time's winner drew a 10, and it was my turn to draw.
　When it's my turn to draw a card, the number is 1, which means that if things go according to plan, I will face the previous winner in the semi-finals, and I won't face the King of Bandits until the final.

　Next to me was Jin. Jin's hand was 32.
　Next to him was Garratt, but he looked very unhappy when he drew it.
　In Garratt's hand, he had 24 cards in his hand. In other words, his opponent in the first round is the King of Bandits.

　The order went on, and when the last 29 players finished drawing, the seeding rights were decided.
　The bills that weren't drawn were 9, 21, and 31, meaning that Jin, the previous winner, and one other person were seeded.

　When the names of all the individual participants were written on the tournament table, a fact was revealed.

''That's a hell of a bias...''

'Yeah, most of the guys who played in the last tournament drew young numbers...'

　Including Jin, there are 12 finalists who made it to the finals in the last tournament and are competing in this one as well, and 11 of them, excluding Jin, are in my group.
　Excluding me and the 9 slots, there are 14 of us, 11 of whom were contestants in the last round, with the remaining 3 having participated in the finals before.
　Naturally, there will be a winner, a runner-up, and a third-place finisher among the previous contestants, so I will be the runner-up in the first round, the third-place finisher in the third round, and the winner in the semifinals.

　In contrast, on the other side, most of them are first-time entrants. The only ones who had been attracting attention before the tournament were Jin and the Bandit King. And those two won't meet until the semifinals.

''There's no one much of a guy if they don't make it to the semifinals.

　Jin gave a small gut-punch when he said that. Garratt, on the contrary, slumped his shoulders and sighed.

''The first round is that guy (Bandit King) of all people.......one of the two people I least want to hit in this tournament.......''

　The other person that Garratt says he doesn't want to hit is me.
　Garratt says, 'I don't want to deal with unknown and unknowable monsters.
　Anyway, I decided to punish Garratt, who called me a monster, with a headlock. It was before the match, so I took it easy on him, but Garratt was in pain with tears in his eyes.

　While I was playing like that, the attendant called me out to tell me that my match was about to start.
　I forgot to mention that my draw was a '1'. That meant that I had to play the first game.
　The match was to be played in two simultaneous matches; the 32 slots were divided into groups of 16 each, A and B, and the match was to be played from the youngest of the number of cards in each group.

　In the meantime, you take the "Kogarasuma" out of your bag and go up to the arena.
　There was already a man waiting for his opponent.

　The man's name is Ash Borgman. He was the runner-up in the last tournament and was seeded for the main tournament.
　He is 24 years old and has never won a tournament, but he has advanced to the finals four times and finished third in the last two tournaments.
　He was runner-up last time, so he's determined to make the most of it this year.

　The way he fights, he said, "It's not flashy, but there aren't really any holes. However, all of them are organized at a high level,' he says, and he is a popular fighter equipped with a sword in his right hand and a small shield in his left... mainly from women.
　As you can imagine from the fact that he is popular among women, he is a handsome man.
　He has short silver hair and blue eyes, is about 5'8" tall, and has a good personality.
　

　Yellow cheers were coming from all over the place from the audience as such a person showed up.
　I'm glad I didn't get any abuse from his female fans against me, but to be honest, it's hard to do.

　The ref doesn't seem to want to quiet the cheering, and he's checking the rules with me and Ash.

'That was Temma, nice to meet you. I'm not going to insult you just because you're a kid. I'm going to go all out right from the start.

　Ash declared that and held out his right hand.

''Yes, we'll do our best to get there too.

　I replied and shook Ash's hand.
　The ref waited for us to let go of his hand, then instructed us to take a moment between each other, and then he raised his right hand...

First match of this first round, Temma vs. Ash Borgman. Match begins!

　I swung down and gave the signal to start.　

　I took the first move. Faster than Ash could advance, I closed the gap between us while pulling Kogarasumaru out of his scabbard and slashed at him in an iaigiri fashion.
　Ash was slightly slower to react, but just in time, he blocked with his left hand shield and was about to attack with his sword, but my strike was stronger than he thought, and his stance collapsed slightly, and it was a blow wielded only by the force of his arm.
　In response to the blow, I blocked it with my scabbard and kept my distance for a moment.

　The time between them was only less than five seconds. The audience couldn't keep up with the fact that the two sides had struck each other in such a short amount of time, and the hall was silent.
　When Ash and I paused and stopped moving, the crowd finally caught up with us and the venue became a crucible of excitement.

　As the crowd cheered, we started to move and closed the gap between us.
　Just as the crowd was about to start cutting again, Ash thrust his left hand out in front of us.

'Light!'

　The magic released by Ash occurs in my eyes. The magic itself is a light magic 'light' that is in the simplest category.
　It's the easiest magic to light up, but it's also the easiest, so instead of having no attack power, the time it takes to activate is very short and the amount of magic power it consumes is low.
　Ash has turned 'Light' into a blindfold and now swings a hip blow at me.
　However, I'm not at the end of the sword swing, and the moment I swung the sword off, Ash's body was blown to the side.

　While rolling, Ash managed to regain his position, but he didn't seem to understand what had happened.
　Out of Ash's gaze, there is me standing in a half-body position, hunched over.

　Ash hurriedly tried to stand up, but as he did so, he seemed to feel a considerable pain in his left side and fell to his knees with a frown on his face. And just like that....

I give up...

　I raised my right hand and declared it to the referees. The hall went quiet as Ash declared his surrender and the ref came between me and Ash and pointed at me.

'Winner, Temma!'

　The crowd began to praise me with loud cheers and applause as the referee's voice echoed through the hall.
　Some of the crowd seemed to see what I did, and some of them were excitedly reenacting my moves with others.

　Ash shook hands with me as the first-aid team helped him on his shoulders, and then he was taken to the first aid room.


'Oh, Temma. Congratulations.　

　On my way back to the waiting room from the arena, Jin and Garratt greeted me.

'Thanks.... or rather, that's a pretty appropriate way to put it.

　When I said this, Jin looked at Garratt and laughed.

'I knew we were going to win, so this is how it should be.'

I knew they were strong too, but I knew Temma was better than me.

　It was a matter of time.

'By the way, what attack did you blow that guy up with?　

　From the position of the djinn and the others, it was hard to see my movements, so he asked with a tilt of his head.

'I merely ducked under Ash's left arm. The arm made it hard for Ash to see me, and I guess the light's magical effect made it hard for him to see me for a moment. I just dodged and then took an elbow iron to Ash's side... probably a couple of broken ribs. And by the way, I might have damaged my lungs and heart as well.

　At my words, Jin and the others knew that more damage had been done to Ash than they thought, and they felt sorry for him.

'Egregious....'

'Well, well, Ash was getting serious about Temma too, so maybe that's all it took...'

　The matches are going on as we speak. My match is over early, so Group A is moving on to the next match, while Group B still has its first match going on.

　The finalists are free to stay in their respective waiting rooms and watch the matches of the players they are watching until their own matches.
　I separated from Jin and the others and went back to my waiting room, but Jin and the others followed me.

'Go back to your own waiting room,'

　When I say that.　

'We've got a Garratt game coming up soon, so let's get together and cheer them on!

　Jin said.

You're just looking for the Bandit King...

　Garratt muttered.
　The djinn ended up staying in my waiting room, telling the attendant that they were in my waiting room and to come here to let me know when it was their turn.
　Apparently, it was not against the rules to go to each other's waiting room when two acquaintances proceeded to the main contest, and the attendant agreed to it.

　While they were killing time exchanging opinions and so on, they were informed that Garratt's match was about to start soon.
　Garratt began to move his body and prepare his weapons with a nervous look on his face.

　About 15 minutes after the news came, Garratt was called, and we decided to follow him until the last minute.
　When Garratt came up to the arena, Jin spoke to him.

''Hey, who do you think has the advantage?''

"Bandit King at 8-2.

　Jin laughed lightly at my words...

'That's a tough one I'm 6-4, bandit king.

''Jin also thinks the Bandit King has the advantage...''

　At the sound of my dismay, Jin continued to say more.

'That's if you do it right. Perhaps, but I think the Bandit King is a young guy. I've seen him around town a few times, but his behavior was a bit childish. So, if Garratt can take it to his own pace, the difference in experience might be reversed and Garratt might have a 6-4 advantage... most of all, there are substandard guys like you, even if they're young like you...'' ...

　Jin said and looked at Garratt with serious eyes.
　As for Garratt, he was facing the Bandit King without any particular qualms.

　The Bandit King's expression is unreadable due to the tiger fur covering his face, but he never shows any pretense of being careless.

''The tenth game, Amur versus Garratt. Let the match begin!

　The referee gave the signal for the match and stepped back.
　It was only then that I learned that the Bandit King's name was Amur. Most likely, it could be a fake name...

　The Bandit King's weapon is a large axe called a bardiche, a weapon that seems to be nearly two meters long when the length of the handle and the blade are combined.
　Garratt, on the other hand, is a two-handed sword. He usually used something a little smaller, but this time he used something a little bigger.

　Against the Bandit King, who is jitterily closing the gap, Garratt takes nimble steps and steps backwards for the distance closed in by the Bandit King.
　The Bandit King occasionally attempts to close the distance between him and Garratt with a feint, but Garratt deals with all of this calmly.

　As the distance between Garratt and the edge of the arena gradually disappears, Garratt now begins to move to the side.
　The bandit king was closing the distance at an incredible speed here and there.
　However, Garratt suddenly ran towards the Bandit King from the side movement and the Bandit King hurriedly tried to intercept Garratt by waving his weapon.
　However, Garratt avoided the blow with a deft move and came around behind the Bandit King.
　The Bandit King is fast in straight lines, but he is not good at small turns, and he was hit in the back by Garratt's repeated blows.
　It's a good thing that you have a good idea of what you're looking for, because you can't afford to lose it, and you can't afford to lose it.

　The bandit king, despite his inadequate stance, blocked Gulat's attacks with his axe, but he was hit by several shots with his body.
　Garratt's attacks continued. The Bandit King is driven to the edge of the arena by his momentum.

'Hey, hey, hey! Garratt's a piece of work! I'm completely holding that bandit king guy down!

　Jin is quite excited to see Garratt on the offensive. The crowd seems to be just as excited as Jin is, and they can be heard cheering Garratt from earlier.

　When Garratt swung his sword at the Bandit King as if to respond to their cheers, the Bandit King's strike struck Garratt.

''Guoh!''

　Barely, Garratt prevented the Bandit King's blow by crossing his sword, but Garratt's body was flung backwards nearly 20 meters.
　Garratt managed to land safely, but one of his swords was broken and the other was also missing its blade.

''d*mn! You stupid power!

　Garratt swears at the Bandit King while the Bandit King rushes at Garratt.
　Just as the Bandit King swings his axe, Garratt throws his bent sword at the Bandit King's face.
　It's a good move, I think. ...

　Sure enough, the Bandit King didn't apply to a normal person, and slammed the axe down on Garratt while eating the sword thrown at him on his head.
　Garratt thought that the Bandit King would show some kind of opening, but his guess was off, and it was in the form of an opening in the opposite direction.

''Guhuhu.''

　He was able to mitigate the damage somewhat as he quickly blocked the axe that was struck with his remaining sword as soon as he could, but the momentum of the axe couldn't kill him and he was blown away and slammed straight into the ground.
　Garratt's body rolled nearly 20 meters while bouncing several times, and finally stopped moving.

　When the Bandit King saw this, he looked back at the referees and asked them to end the match.
　The referee was also about to raise one hand to end the match, but he looked at Garratt and stopped his arm in the middle of the fight and brought it down.
　The Bandit King dubiously followed the referee's gaze and saw Garratt standing up in a wobbly fashion.
　Garratt was almost in a state of unconsciousness, but he walked to the Bandit King with his broken sword at the ready and a dazed gait.
　Seeing Garratt, the Bandit King approached Garratt as soon as the referee called out for the fight to continue, and knocked Garratt down to the side with the back of his axe.

　Garratt rolled again. The spectators, the referees, and even the Bandit King who were watching felt that it was over, but contrary to that, Garratt got up again.
　This time the time between standing up was shorter than before, so the referees didn't call out to him.
　When the bandit king noticed this, he approached Garratt and was about to unleash a thrust with the tip of his axe blade.
　Garratt does not react well to the Bandit King's move. The crowd screams and covers and deflects their eyes as they think of the carnage that will follow.

　Jin also jumped out and tried to stop the bandit king, but it doesn't look like he's going to be able to stop him in time.
　I did jump out with Jin, but the place where Garratt was standing was a little far away from where we were, so even if I said I was quicker than Jin, I was still a few seconds short.

'Shit! We won't make it in time!

　The Bandit King's blow reached Garratt faster than we could stop it, and the Bandit King lifted Garratt's body with the tip of his axe to stab it.