That's it!　The winner, Lord Danks!

　The tiger beast player, who had blown his opponent out of the field with overwhelming power, raised his fist high in the air. At the same time, the crowd in the auditorium erupted in cheers and applause.

''As expected of a beastman, his quickness and physical strength cannot be underestimated. I think that guy is going to go to a good place.''

　Else, who sits next to Erna, murmurs something like that as if she is assessing her wares. Is that how it is?
　We had come back to the auditorium that Erna was originally in. Graz-san suggested that we should see it in the VIP section, but I refrained from doing so because Linne would be worried if Erna disappeared like that.
　We couldn't let Linne see us, so we changed our appearance except for Erna at [Mirage].

''How many matches between Linne and Linse?''
'I'm pretty sure it's the next one. But I wonder if I'm really okay......... I'm worried about Linne, but I'm also worried about Linse........

　When I let out a small sigh, Else gave me a dumbfounded look.

You're so unbecoming of yourself," she said. She's your wife!　I'm not half-trained. If it's simply firepower, I think you're the best among us, don't you?
''You're worried because the rules block that firepower........ No, I don't want Rinne to bludgeon me....

　As I was talking about such things with Else over Elna's head, who was sitting in the seat between us, the next match began with cheers.
　It's a spearman of the dragon race and a swordsman of the dog beast race. This next match........ Please, please don't get either of them injured.
　Unable to concentrate at all on the match that was unfolding in front of me, I suppressed my stomach, which was beginning to ache.


　　　　　　　　　　◇ ◇ ◇


'Oh, Elna's back. ...Who are the people next to her?

　As much as she is relieved to see her sister, a small question comes to Lynne's mind.
　Her immediate older sister, Erna, is rather shy. There is no way she would be able to confide in a stranger, for example.
　I wondered if she might be entangled, but her sister's occasional smile told me otherwise. The sight of them laughing at each other as if they were a family made Lynne feel a little sad.
　

''That's your big sister?''
Yeah..... Elna Sis. It's rare to see your sister talking to other people so happily.

　Only Lynne, who didn't know the facts, tilted her head with a strange look on her face. In truth, they were family, so there was nothing strange about talking to each other normally.

''That's it!　The winner, Master Rügel!

　The referee's voice echoes around the ring. Apparently, the match was decided. I don't mean to be rude, but I didn't see it at all. It seems that the winner was the spearman of the dragon race.

The fifth match will be played next. From the nomination slot, the flow wizard, Ling Ling-dono!　Against the youngest contestant in this tournament, Lord Linne!

　An introductory announcement was made and Linse and Linne stepped into the hallway in front of the waiting room. A rain of applause and cheers rained down on them from the audience.

''It's a game, Linse, sister Linne!　I'm going to win this one for sure!
A game. Can't I lose?

　They looked at each other and split off to either side of the martial arts arena. They confronted each other from the front, and the judge between them descended from the martial arena.

''Both sides, are you ready?''
Okay!
Anytime.

　Linne struck a rugged gauntlet with a gun, and Linse picked up the short wand, the Wand, a star-shaped head wand that was inserted in her back hip and held it up.

''Then, begin!''

　Duh!　And with a signal to begin, Linne closes the distance between him and Linse. The basic method of dealing with the wizard. That is, a simple battle strategy: get close and attack before the magic is shot at you.

''I'm sorry, but I'll end it soon!

　In response to Rinne rushing over, Linse stepped backwards as she stepped.

''Release the light, dazzling flash, flash.''
'Ugh!'

　The flash of light suddenly emitted from Linse's short wand 《Wand》, frightens Linne, protecting her eyes with her arms. Linne couldn't move from the spot after looking directly at the light.
　The chanting was faster than I expected. Linne rushed in because there was no direct attack magic, but she didn't expect to be robbed of her sight.

''Muuuh!　It's not fair to blind them, sister!

　While shouting, I deploy [Shield] around myself. Little by little, my vision is returning. I have no choice but to endure for now.

''You can't go head-to-head with a wizard. The opponent might have all sorts of ways to get at you.
Make fun of it?　What do you mean by "tease"?　Oh, I don't know what you're talking about.

　When his vision returned to normal and Lynne held up her fist, there was no one in front of him. She hurriedly reversed and turned around. But again, there was no one there.

''Huh?''

　Upstairs!　And I looked up, but there was no one there either.

''It's gone........oh, it's [Invisible]!　The one that disappears!
Correct.

　While deploying the 【Shield】 behind her, she searched for signs. If we can detect the direction of the voice and the flow of the wind, we should be able to figure out the general location.......Linne concentrated her nerves.
　But then the judge speaks in.

'Wait a moment!　Lord Linlin, we would like to forbid that disappearing spell, since we cannot judge it if it falls outside the field!
'Oh, yes. Yes, I understand.
"Whoa!

　Swoosh, Linse appeared right beside Linne, and the startled Linne hurriedly left in a hurry. When did that happen!　

d*mn!

　Rinne regains his composure and fires a flying kick towards Linse, who appears. Just when you think that the kick is fixed to Linse's stomach, her body cracks.

''What?!''

　The cracked Linze shattered with a crack. It shattered into pieces like thin glass and fell to the ground.

''Or, a mirror?''
Come on.

　When I turned around, I saw Linze in the distance, nearly swinging down her short cane. The star-shaped object at the tip flew towards us, spinning and curving like a shuriken.
　The thick, deformed star struck Rinne like a meteor.

''Whoa!

　Linné ducked out of the way of it by crouching down. In a boomerang-like arc, the star docked again to Linse's staff.

'What is that?　You can't use that!
'It's not a blade, and it's not a magic attack. It's like a long flail on a chain.

　Saying that, Linse swings her short staff down again. The star that was on the staff head flies towards Linse again.
　The speed itself is not that fast. There were ways to continue to avoid it, but Linne's thoughts were different. Avoiding it repeatedly was a waste of time. If it was.

''Hmph-saih!''

　Lynne slams her right fist down on the approaching star. There's nothing that can't be shattered in this gauntlet given to me by my father. In addition, at the moment of impact, he activates 【Gravity】 to jump up the destructive power. Splendidly, the star was shattered and smashed into pieces.

''Doh!''

　Hmph, snorting, Linne stretched her chest. Such a figure also looked cute to Linse, and a smile naturally appeared on her face.
　Perhaps she took it as a generous smile, but Linne's expression quickly changed to a sullen one.

''Ridiculous!　That's it!

　Dang, dang, dang!　And Linne jumped up to the far sky with a three-step jump as if she was leaping up through the empty air. It's a multi-step jump using [Shield] as a foothold. Above Linse's head, at a considerable altitude, Linne spins her body around in a circle.

''Ryusei kyuu!

　The shoe with a mithril plate planted in the sole of the shoe is weighted and falls towards Linse like a meteor. Normally, if you kicked down with this kind of momentum, you might be seriously injured if you were to do poorly.
　However, Linne knows that Fuyao has worked on this martial arts arena. Just like Brunhild's training ground, it's a martial arena that is specialized in protecting human life. It is predictable how much damage can be nullified.
　Besides, he had been thoroughly trained by Else, his teacher and one of his mothers, to be easy on his opponent. Even if he was injured at this level, he should be able to recover.
　Linne thought so, but when she saw Linse's figure shattered into pieces when she was kicked, she knew that she had been tricked again.
　There was no magic chanting earlier or now. Was it unattributed magic?　And as Linne landed on the martial arts field, she turned around and noticed a small translucent figure beside Linze.
　It was about thirty centimeters in size. It was a girl dressed in what looked like a silver dress, with her long silver hair fluttering.

''A spirit...!　Yeah, right!　That one before and that one is spirit magic!
'It's true. A little closer inspection would have revealed this. One must keep a cool head when it's against one's will.

　The spirit beside Linze chuckled. Even if it was in Linne's time, there were very few people who used spirit magic in this era. In fact, no one had used spirit magic until they came to the royal capital of Mismid. So I wasn't paying attention.
　My own mother, Linze, my mother-in-law, Lean, Sakura, Yumina, Suu, and others can also use spirit magic. They rarely use it, though.
　Linne herself has seen many times if it's a genie because of her parents, but she's never seen that genie. He speaks our language and is probably an intermediate spirit, Linne judged.

''This one is a mirror spirit. ''It's 'Miroir.'''
"It's Miroir. 'Goodness.'

　The doll-like girl greets Linse with a curtsy.
　The reason why Linze used this spirit magic was because Erna had given her approval that an intermediate spirit would not be able to reveal her identity. According to Erna's story, when the future Linze used spirit magic, it was almost always an advanced spirit.
　Well, the current Linze still couldn't handle advanced spirit spirits completely, so it was inevitable that this was the case.

''Spirit of the Mirror........ I was making a fake one with it earlier!''
Yeah. I'm sure if you got a good look at it, you'd recognize it right away.

　Ha. As I recall, when I first met her in the waiting room, the star-shaped badge on her chest was on the left. But on her chest, smiling in front of me, the badge is on the right.

''.........''　This is another fake.........!

　I turned around and there stood Linse and Miroir, this time with a badge on their left chest. Linze behind them shatters quietly.

''Well, you'll notice, as expected.''
'Mmmmmm!　If you're a spirit user, you should say spirit user!
"It's a fool's errand to give away all your cards in the first place, you know?　Lynne, you still have some hidden powers too, right?
Mmmm...!　This is what it comes down to... "Mode Change, Panzer!

　Lynne's gauntlet, which had been snarling, crashed!　It transformed and expanded, becoming one size larger. The entire gauntlet was covered with a magical pattern 《Aether Line》, and two jet nozzle-like things extended from both elbows, two on each side, for a total of four.

''If you want to see it so badly, I'll show you!　I don't even know if I regret it!

　The flickering 'battle qi' rising from Linne's body was becoming one with her magical power. Linse quietly watched its strengthening appearance.

''The Fighting Qi Method...!

　Fighting Qi Method. A combat technique in which one's magical power is fused into a part of one's body, changing its characteristics and boosting one's physical abilities. In the Eastern Continent, it is a profound technique that is passed down to some dragon people and others.
　Ende's daughter, Alice, and Linne, are said to be both disciples of Else. It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

''Ha!
What?

　Boom!　And a mass of chi released from the bottom of Linse's palm attacked Linse.
　The mass of qi passed right beside Linze, who ducked with a sideways dive, and it hit the martial arts magic barrier and dissipated.

''It's not enough!''
Wait, that's a lot!　That's a lot!

　Linne fired a series of baseball-sized air bullets in succession. As is to be expected, Linse was also shut down by this. I'm not going to be able to get it right. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

''Miro-chan, please!
I understand, Master.

　As Miroir waved his arm tentatively, multiple mirrors appeared in a circle around Linne. The countless images of herself reflected in the matching mirrors slowed Rinne down a bit, but she quickly aimed her air bullets at the mirrors.

''I'm going to break them all!

　The mirror itself is thin and fragile. When the air bullets hit it, it was easily destroyed and fell to the floor as glittering fragments. The target was off Linze for only a short time, but it bought enough time.

''Rain, rain, pure grace, Heavenly Rain.''
What?

　Linne let out a goofy voice. In the next moment, a heavy rain began to fall only on the martial arts field. The judges thought that this might be an attack magic, but since it wasn't a [Waterball] or any other kind of magic that would hit a water ball, and it didn't look like it was attacking them, they passed it by for now.
　In fact, the rain that was falling immediately stopped. There are two people in the martial arts arena who have become wet rats in the rain.

''Woo!　I love this dress, my mom made it for me...!　No more forgiveness, yuck!

　Sutte!　And then Lynne slipped off her feet and fell on her butt in place. She felt a coldness in her feet and buttocks, and when she looked down, the martial arts arena was frozen all over, like a skating rink.
　Then Linne looked up in front of her and noticed a second spirit there.
　A girl spirit with a slightly more mature appearance than the mirror spirit, a translucent, jade phosphorescent girl spirit with a slightly more mature appearance than the mirror spirit.

''We have to save our trump card for last. Air, please.
"Yes, sir. Aerialism, here I come!

　With a light reply, a mysterious force approached from the front of Rinne.
　Like a balloon inflated with air, the elastic 'something invisible' pushed Linneh gingerly.

'What is this!　You.........!

　In an attempt to break it down, Lynne thrusts a straight right with her full strength towards 'something invisible'. However, that was not good.
　The "invisible something" is not destroyed, but rather it bounces back like a cushion from Rinne's power as it catches it. The recoil caused Linne to slide backwards on the ice with great force.

''Mazu........!　Guh, [Grubby........]

　Linne increased her own weight with her weighted magic and tried to kill the momentum. However, the power of his own fist was quite powerful, and his momentum was hard to stop.
　Suddenly, with a thump!　I heard a noise, and I noticed that Rinne was standing outside the martial arts hall. Her feet were slightly dug into the ground under her own weight. He didn't make it in time. Linne had fallen out of the field.

''Ah........''
Outside the hall!　The winner, Lord Linlin!

　Cheers and applause rain down from the audience as the referee's voice is heard. The referee approaches Linze, aka Linlin, who lets out a small breath of air with a huff.

''Li, Lord Lin Lin. Just to be sure, that wasn't an attack magic, was it?
'Oh, yes. It's more of a defensive spell, if you will. It's a magic that protects you with a soft wall of air and rebounds the impact.
''I see.... So Linne-dono was played by his own power, right?　I'm sorry, we have to check for any uncertainties as well.

　The judges signaled that there was no problem with the decision. Once again, an announcement in the arena announced Linne's victory.
　Linse looks down at her feet and heads towards Linne, who is standing dumbfounded.
　Was it such a shock to her that she had lost? It was inwardly impatient with Linse, wondering if she had suffered some kind of strange trauma.

''Li, Linnee-chan........''
Spirit of the Wind...
What?

　Linne muttered and looked at Linse with bewildered eyes.

''I remember. That girl next to big sister Linne, that wind spirit........
"Oh. You know who I am?

　When the translucent girl in a light green robe, who looked amused, asked, Rinne nodded her head honestly.

''Wind Spirit, Aerial. One of the greatest of the spirits, one of the great spirits. But the spirit of the wind...!　Ah, but I guess it's different in this day and age...

　Muttering something to himself, Linse huffed and smiled as he looked at Linne, who was becoming panicked. It was the wind spirit that was her trump card, but she knew that if she summoned her, her identity might be revealed. Because according to Erna's story, it seems that Linze is still using the wind spirit in the future.
　Linze's magical aptitude is fire, water, and light. Wind is not included.
　Spirits are closely related to magic, and the attributes for which they have an aptitude are easier to handle. However, Linze wanted to sign up with a wind spirit.
　Normally, a high level spirit, a wind spirit, would never sign a contract with a human. However, Linze was Winter Night's wife and subordinate. From Aerial's point of view, she was the wife of the absolute sovereign, the Spirit King. He couldn't refuse. It was not a power harassment.
　From the way Linne was looking at this, she misunderstood that the spirit that her mother was using was being used by someone else in the past.
　In front of Linne, who continued to be troubled, Linse took out a badge identical to the one she was wearing from her pocket.

''Linne-chan........ No, Linne. You are strong. But there are many people who are even stronger. Your family isn't the only one who is strong.''
''................ I'm sorry........

　Lynne apologizes in a muffled voice. She seemed to be sorry for what happened in the waiting room. He actually lost, so he can't say anything back to Lynne.

''──But I am your family too........ It's not very convincing at all, though.
...What?

　He looks up and puts a matching badge on Rinne's chest. This badge has no illusory effect on the person wearing it. In other words, as of right now, Linne's eyes should be able to see Linse as she is.
　Linne's eyes widen.

''Oh, Kaa-san...?''
'Haha..... It's still a strange feeling. Being called mother by my unborn daughter........wow!

　Linne kicked the ground as if she had been played and jumped towards Linse. With a gulp, she clung to the girl, her own mother, with all her strength.

''Mother........!　Mom.　　

　Lynne cries loudly as she hugs Linse. Linse also gently hugs her daughter from the future.
　She's a strong girl, just like her sister. I'm sure she's been holding back her desire to cry all this time. Linse sincerely wanted to catch all of her daughter's tears as she sobbed as if her tear glands had broken down.

''Finally, I've met you...!　I've missed you...!
''Yes........................ Sorry..........

　They met across time and held each other forever, as if to warm each other's wet bodies.