The tournament will now begin. Contestants, enter!

　With Hana-san's declaration, our entrance began. The first two representatives of the unit that defeated the wyvern this time, followed by me and my grandfather, then the three who won the qualifying round, and finally Blanca. This was the order that Hana-san had instructed, the first two were first in line for this year's tournament, Grandpa and I were second in line as guests, the third was the winner of the qualifying round, and Blanca was the last in line for her family.
　I remembered the etiquette I had learned from the leaders as I went back to the waiting room to greet them on the ring, and my name was called out immediately. This year's pairings are decided by lottery as soon as we leave for the waiting room, so the players don't know their opponents until the last minute.

"I'm in luck. I can make a name for myself early.

　Laughing at that is the boar beastman who won the preliminary round. In terms of size, he's considerably larger than me, and is the third largest participant in this year's competition, after the bear beastman and Blanca.

Maybe I'm in better luck. It's called a wild boar's rush, and if you dodge it, it will go straight to the outside.

　The wild boar beastman seemed to be looking down on me, so I said a few challenging words to him as well. By the way, the physical nerves of a real boar are quite high, and it is said that a real boar can run at full speed and stop suddenly, or turn at almost a right angle while running, and can easily jump over an obstacle of about one meter in length, so the term "rushing and rushing" is a misnomer.

You little bastard!

　However, this provocation seemed to get on the man's nerves, and he was so red in the face that he would jump on me if it wasn't in front of the public. The man's face became even redder when I let out a deliberate noise while hiding my mouth with my hand.
　The crowd didn't seem to hear us, but they seemed to understand that we were exchanging words, and that the man had been provoked, and that he had been provoked. Maybe that's why the audience was so excited, even though it was still before the salt was sown. Well, from the looks of it, there was too much of a disparity in size, and yet it looked like the big man had lost a tongue-in-cheek fight against the kid (he actually lost, but I guess it didn't matter either way to the audience). To the audience, it probably feels like a good pre-match entertainment.
　For now, the preliminaries were a complete victory for me, and I was able to throw salt in the ring comfortably. But I may have been a little too aggressive. At any rate, by the time I arrived near the center of the ring, the man's face was as angry as a red devil's.

'Hakkeyi, I'm left!'

Phew!

　With the call of the event, I dove into the man's bosom at once. It's because I judged that if I made fun of him as a rush job, he wouldn't jump out at me, but he had fallen for my plan. And since it was the moment I stood up, the man was surprised in that state, and luckily for me, his waist was high.

'd*mn!'

　The guy was in a hurry to get out his ketaguri (or something like that), but I quickly cupped his thighs before I could gain momentum and tried to push him back down.

'Don't lick me, you little shit!

　The man tried to roll his body towards me and stretch out before he was knocked over, but that caused his hips (center of gravity) to be completely on top of mine (center of gravity).

'Se-no!'

　The moment the man's body was close to me, I lifted him up as if I were pulling him off his feet, and at the same time I threw him backwards, twisting his hips in a backwards throwing motion.
　The man was probably more than twice my weight, but his center of gravity was floating, and the momentum of his attempt to reach me made it easy for him to be thrown off, and he rolled out of the ring with too much momentum.
　I threw a half-ditching move and ended up with my back to the ring, but the man was clearly the first to hit the ring, so I was the victor with no problem.
　The crowd was surprised at how easily the match was decided, but they soon cheered my victory. Surprisingly, I didn't hear much harsh criticism of the man who lost. Apparently, it wasn't so much that my opponent was weak, but rather that my strategy worked. Well, there are some people who laugh at my opponent, but I suppose that can't be helped.

"Well, for now, I guess we've achieved our goal.

　Normally, the winner is announced when the man returns to the ring, but this time the man fell out of the ring and was carried away on a stretcher, so he didn't have to wait for his opponent to win.

"That was a good way to win,

　On my way back to the waiting room, I was complimented by Blanca as I headed to my next game.

'Thanks I mean, next time I'll be with Blanca or something.

　Of course, it's not yet decided that Blanca will win, but the outcome is already decided just by looking at the faces of her opponents. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work. It's a good thing that you're able to have a good time with them. At any rate, the face of the opponent who knows the difference in power the most had turned white beyond the pale.

''........Blanca, don't kill me if I'm wrong.

"Who will kill him? That guy has enough power to be able to get to the top of the South if he's able to show his true strength too...

　Blanca says so, but by the looks of it, it doesn't look like he has that kind of power. Knowing what I was thinking, Blanca laughed and went to the ring. And sure enough, right at the start, my opponent lost to Blanca by a push.
　The next match was between one of the rest of the Wyvern Defeat Team and the Bear Beastman. The man from the defeating team also had a pretty good physique, but he was inferior to the bear beastman. The result of the match, as expected, was that the bear beastman won, but it was a pretty hard win... or rather, it was a loss in terms of the match.
　The bear beastman, who was superior in size, had been attacking with force all the time, but the man of the defeating team had made up for his loss in size and strength with his technical skills, and had succeeded in driving him down to the point where he was only one step away from victory. Just when it looked like the game was going to be decided, the bear beastman fired a taut blow at the bear beast and hit him in the shoulder, and he was attacked when he staggered for a moment and lost by a push. The bear beastman seemed to know best how close it was to a make-believe victory, and he left the ring with a bitter look on his face even after he was told he had won.
　The fighting style of the man from the defeating group just now was a helpful one for me. But if you ask me if it works for Blanca, I'd have to say no. Because there is too much difference in size between me and the man of the defeating team, and there is too much difference in strength between the bear beast man and Blanca. We can only consider it to the extent that there is a way to fight like that.

By the way, Temma, did you see my match?

Hmm? ...Sorry, I didn't see it.

　Before I knew it, Grandpa's game was over while I was preoccupied with Branca's countermeasures. Blanca, who said he was watching properly, told me that he collided head-on with the tiger beastman and blew him away. The opponent fell on his buttocks in the ring when he was blown away, and the match was settled as it was.
　It seems that in a tournament like this one between select players, it is very rare to see a match that shows such a difference in power, and the audience praised Grandpa greatly.

It's a shame I missed my grandpa's match, but I'll have to wait for the next one.

Oh. You have a lot on your mind, but have you got a better idea?

'I've tried to think of a few ways, but none of them seem to work.

　Can you say that? But when I told him that he should just try something else, he grinned at me... I thought that's not a very good look for a man who would be a father, but I didn't say it now because I felt that saying it would somehow make him feel depressed. I decided to

'At any rate, you called my name too, so let's go, shall we?'

　I'm getting excited, like some fighting folk! He went to the ring with Blanca, who was like, "I'm going to go to the ring and sprinkle salt on the ground and take my position.

'Hakkayi, I'm left!'

Hey!

　Almost at the same time as the event was called out, I put my hands in front of me and clapped them in front of Blanca's face. I set up a so-called 'cat trick'.
　Although Blanca is not frightened by this kind of thing, she may have reflexively tried to take my hand, but her movements slowed down for a moment. Perhaps my judgment could not keep up with the unexpected move, but thanks to that, strategy number one was successful.

'Alright! I'm in!

　I ducked into Blanca's pocket and held her left leg with my right hand while I did a kouchi-kake with my left leg and pushed her chest up with my shoulder while taking the turn with my left hand. This technique is one of the rules of sumo, and is called 'sanjo-attack'. I used this technique, which I learned from watching a special feature on sumo in a past life, in a performance, and it worked better than I expected.

Nuh-uh! I'm going to....

　Blanca, who is an experienced wrestler, had never had a small soldier sneak into his bosom before, but he had never been this close to him before, and he was able to drive him to the edge of the ring. In the strategy, he had intended to decide the game with a push, but the wholesaler would not let him do so.

"It was a close call, but we got him!

　Blanca was dexterously balancing and taking my turn with her right hand, trying to take the situation from inferior to advantageous for herself.

'Then win!'

　Before I could get to a complete disadvantage, I aimed for an inside thrown, splashing my left leg up, inner thigh style.

'That's it!'

　Blanca didn't care that she had her feet on the ground, she countered with a forceful upright throw. After a few moments of antagonism, we moved in kenken for a few paces, and me and Blanca both fell out of the ring at the same time.
　The event called the other referees, and after a few moments of conferring...

Blanca the Winner!

　It was. Some of the spectators were complaining about the judges' decision. After all, it looks like they performed a technique at the same time and fell under the ring at the same time. At the very least, it's a re-drawing! Some people could be heard saying, "I don't know what to do. There were even a few people in the crowd complaining that the judges had ruled in the Viscount's favor.
　Well, I was satisfied with the result, so I left the ring without complaining to the judges. Incidentally, the reason for my loss was the difference between the two bales. It just so happened that Branca had stepped out of the ring on a wide, virtuous bale, and my foot had cracked it first.
　I left the ring quietly, and after the referees had explained the situation in detail and the footprints of Blanca and I left on the ground, the crowd finally calmed down.

"Good day, Temma.

If it wasn't for Blanca, I could have just thrown it like that.

　Honestly, if it hadn't been Blanca and it had been Grandpa, who still had a small size difference, I would have made it to the finals. Most importantly, though, Grandpa would have taken some countermeasures before he got into that position.

I see, the reason for Tenma's defeat is a lack of luck. Well, it's strange to compete with me under those conditions.

　Blanca came back late and joined me and Grandpa in talking. It's not the kind of relationship where you can be awkward about the outcome of a match, so although he was in a good mood, he was the same Blanca as usual.

You can't blame me for losing, but I'll get my revenge.

I'm looking forward to it.

　The two of them talk lightly about such things, but the match for Grandpa to advance to the finals is just beginning. I mean.........

"You're ignoring me~~!

　The other bear beastman is also here. The two of them had apologized to the bear beastman after making a face that said they had completely forgotten about it, but that seemed to offend the man's instincts and only made him more angry. Well, judging by the content of the first round match, the bear beastman would be no match for my grandfather... most of all, I forgot to watch my grandfather's match, but...

Winner, Merlin!

　In the end, Grandpa won the game, as expected, and the game was over. The bear beastman returned to the waiting room, stunned, and was depressed in the corner. By the way, the clincher was 'hanging out'. Grandpa had lifted his opponent completely out of the ring right after they had teamed up. It was understandable that he was depressed.

"Well, he's so tall, it's not hard to lift him up.

　According to Grandpa, he was able to do it because of the difference in strength between him and his opponent and because he got under the center of gravity, but it was still not a weight that the old man could lift.
　At any rate, this means that the final match is between Blanca and Grandpa, which is just as I expected or planned.
　We decided to finish eating before the final, because it seems that they are going to take a break before the final, and decided to buy food at the stalls that are lined up around the venue. Since there was still time to spare, I thought I could leave the waiting room in time for the finals, but something unexpected happened at the stalls.

'Take this one too!'
Ours is the best because it's freshly baked!
If you eat more and get bigger, you'll beat Blanca next time!

　And so I was surrounded by people who were watching the wrestling. But as more and more people came to watch me, the shopkeepers, realizing that I had come to the stall to buy something, competed with me to bring me what they were selling.
　I was surrounded by so many people that I couldn't move, and I was in trouble, but I couldn't despise them because they were just doing me a favor, and it was only a short time before the final game started that I was freed. The reason I was freed is because one of the people who surrounded me remembered the relationship between me and my grandfather and told the people around me, which paved the way for me to be freed.

'We managed to make it in time...'

That was a dangerous part of the... Gefu!

　When I returned to the waiting room, Grandpa and Blanca had just entered the ring. In a few more minutes, the match would begin. By the way, when Amur said 'dangerous', he wasn't referring to the fact that he arrived on time, he was referring to the fact that he almost choked on a piece of meat that he got from a food stall while running back to the waiting room from the stall, and almost choked on it. Amur, however, has not learned his lesson, and he is still eating the skewers in the waiting room. With my two gourmands in tow........

We'll just have to watch it while we eat.

　I moved my chair to where I had a good view of the ring, took out the food I had just received, and the match started at the right time....

Temma, I'm tired of this.

Well, there hasn't been much movement since a while ago.　

　About five minutes into the match, Grandpa and Blanca were still deadlocked in the middle of the ring. Grandpa and Blanca were still deadlocked in the middle of the ring in a four-way stalemate. I can't take my eyes off the two men because they don't seem to be moving, but I can see that there are a lot of small feints and tactics going on, but it doesn't go down well with the audience, who are expecting a spirited resolution like Amur. Another five-minute stalemate continues...

Get away from me! Let's start over!

　The event was announced as a water-induced reshuffle. The crowd, which had been complaining, watched the two wrestlers with bated breath, and perhaps in reaction, they cheered loudly as the event unfolded.

'You should have started over earlier,'

　There were a good number of spectators who wanted to see a spectacular fight, and naturally there were a few who felt the same way as Amur.
　Amur, instead of concentrating on the wrestling, was competing with Shiroumar and Solomon in eating food from the stalls. Because of that, my portion of food is greatly reduced. In the meantime, I was grabbing some easy to eat food such as grilled skewers while watching the sumo wrestling, so I'm not hungry, but this amount is definitely not enough.

First, let's eat as much as we can before the match resumes.
That's good.

　Ignoring Amur, who didn't know whose fault it was that I had to make such a choice, I focused on what I hadn't yet eaten and secured it to my plate. When I secured it, Shiroumaru and Solomon naturally took up a position beside me, but I ignored them since I didn't have enough room to share it with them.　

'Hakkayi, there's some left!'　

　It looked as if the division would change the way things were played out, but the two men stopped moving near the center of the ring, just as they had done before. There was one difference, however. That was that Blanca had decided on a morozashi (putting both hands under the opponent's armpits to take the turn).
　Blanca brought him into the morozashi position, which is generally considered an advantageous stance, and after a while of antagonism in the center, he gradually began to push his grandpa. Granddad seemed to be doing all he could, but in vain he was leaned against and lost.
　When he broke the ring, the crowd was excited to hear that a local competitor had won. The one who cheered the most for Blanca was Sana.
　Sanna was more excited than one would expect from her usual ladylike demeanor, and was soothed by the women around her who knew of Sanna's pregnancy.

'Was the difference between Grandpa and Blanca in terms of support?'

　Then you'll be told to support me, but since Sana-san wasn't the only one who supported Blanca, I wouldn't have been able to fill in the amount and quality of support on my own.................I'll think of an excuse now. Because my grandpa will definitely say something to me.

'If anything, if I couldn't win with that much support, every time there's a wrestling match in the future, Blanca will be teased by those around her.

　Sure, no offense to anyone around them, but I'm sure it will be talked about as a talking point. Especially those southern top-ranked people.

''Come to think of it, there's no prize money in this sumo tournament even if you win it.

"It's a 'ritual' in the making, so all you get is honor. For that, though, I'm allowing myself to gamble.

　It may seem like a contradiction, but even if it's a 'ritual' for the fighter, it's a 'festival' for the observer.

I feel sorry for them, though, that it's only an honor. I wonder if there was something I could give you along with a pregnancy gift?

　As I was fishing through the magic bag while saying this, Slarin, who had been quiet until then, came up to me and went into the dimension bag.
　As I waited for Slarin to come out of the bag to see if he had any good ideas, Slarin came out with Gol and Jill a moment later and spat out two round balls of gold and silver in front of me.

''Is this ... Gol and Jill's thread?''

　The ball of yarn was silky to the touch, and when I unraveled it a bit to check its color, it was a transparent gold and silver color.

How much would you get for it if you sold it?　

I don't know.　

　I had never seen it before, so I had no way of knowing its price. But if Aguri's story is true, the value of this ball of thread (about 15 cm in diameter) is immeasurable.

Well, okay.

　I've been taking care of Blanca and Sana-san, and since I didn't know they existed to begin with, I decided to give these two balls of yarn away separately.

I've been asked by Hana-san and Sana-san to give you a piece of armor similar to Amur's. I should get to work on it soon.

　The size will be fine if you refer to Amour's, so you don't have to ask. If it doesn't fit, Sana will probably make some alterations.
　I have some tanned spear elk skin, so you can use that. By the way, I tanned it with slarin. Slarin takes advantage of the properties of slime (to melt and eat prey inside the body. On top of that, Slarin can choose what to dissolve, so it only digested the meat, oil, and other unwanted items on the skin), so it was possible to start working on it right away.

''Temma~ why didn't you support me right there........''

　As I was planning for the future, my grandpa came back, as expected, and he opened up about his support. That's where I mentioned my earlier excuse, but still Grandpa wasn't convinced.
　As he was thinking about how to wrap his mind around his grandpa, Blanca came back with Sana after the award ceremony. When Grandpa saw her, he seemed to have lost the urge to complain to me. By the way, I was also unwilling to make an excuse to him because........ By the way, I didn't want to make an excuse for him either, because....

It's so annoying.

　Because she felt the same way as Amur. Blanca appeared while holding Sana-san as a princess, and Sana-san also put her hands around Blanca's neck to be close to her, and from earlier, she was giving off an annoyingly pink aura by pulling her face close and kissing her.

'Alright! Now that the sumo tournament is over, let's go for a stall!
Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go!
Yeah.

　The three of us ignored the (seemingly) glowing pink pair and hurriedly escaped from the waiting room.
　I heard later that they continued to make out in the waiting room without noticing that anyone was gone, and they told Hana-san, who was suspicious of us not showing up for a long time, "Enough! He was angry with me.