On the other side of the locker room’s MagiPad, those who had already advanced to the main matches of the tournament were smiling under the bright sun. It was an entirely different world to the dark, depressing room the losers had all been shoved into.
No matter. Everyone present was letting their bloodthirst simmer. There weren’t many slots available, but there was still a chance to make it to the other side.
Zeon left the room and headed in the direction the staff were pointing—out into the sun.
“Woooooooo!”
Immediately, he was deafened by the cheering. He’d been able to hear the crowd from the locker room, but being showered with their enthusiasm directly had quite the impact. The walkway through the massive audience to the ring was narrow, the hands reaching out from the audience nearly brushing his shoulders.
“Zeon! Zeon! Zeon!”
Many of them were yelling his name, almost as if this were already the main tournament. It was a weekday and yet so many people had come. Did they not have work?
Zeon wasn’t a fan of attention and he usually tried to avoid anything that would gather too much of it. But here, he understood.
He understood his fellow adventurers who wanted to stand out, who wanted everyone’s eyes on them. He understood those who took pride in their achievements, flaunted their power, and showed off to everyone around them. There were many fighters like that in the land of beastkin, but Zeon had never felt that desire...until now, that is.
I see. This is it. This is the feeling they crave.
“Zeon! Zeon!”
Zeon suddenly heard a young voice from beside him as he walked down the aisle. It was a small boy, maybe about five or six years old. He was desperately reaching out with his tiny arm and tiny hand.
Zeon silently looked at the reaching hand and then lightly tapped his own against it. He’d always hated being the center of attention. He’d never liked being treated like a show. He’d never enjoyed fighting for the sake of other people’s entertainment. He hadn’t been that enthusiastic about this tournament.
But here, he felt just a little bit more motivation well up inside him. He couldn’t care less about the adults cheering for him, but if even a small child like that boy was willing to cheer for him, then he couldn’t make a fool of himself here.
The losers’ matches were only just beginning.
The public square in the royal capital was always open for the citizens to use as they pleased. They could hold events, open food stalls so long as they had a permit, and even put on performances of any kind. It was what the space was for.
Usually, it was a quiet place to relax, filled with couples talking between themselves, musicians practicing their instruments, and actors rehearsing. But today’s event was far from relaxing—today, it had become one of the arenas for the losers’ matches.
The weapons division was having their matches inside, but since the bare-handed division had far fewer competitors, it was being held in the park instead. It was all set up so that the audience and the ring were as close as possible. In other words, it was a place where spectators could watch a fistfight from up close. They’d even prepared extra lighting so the matches could continue into the night.
If it started raining, then the bare-handed fights would be moved indoors as well, since rain was the one downside of an outdoor tournament. There were plans to use magic to fend off any rain during the main matches, but that was an expense they didn’t feel was necessary for the losers’ rounds.
“Good job, Zeon!”
Sonicspeed Zeon won his first match easily. He stepped out of the ring and the staff directed him down the winners’ path...and that was where he got caught. Lying in wait was a production crew with camera at the ready. There was also Kikirira Amon, the kid who’d run up to him once before and said he had dog ears.
He’d been caught so off guard that he’d quickly made his escape back then, but during his stay, he’d watched some magivision and finally understood what was going on: The girl had run up to him because she’d wanted to interview him. Zeon realized he’d made the right call in making his escape and he’d been running away from them ever since.
Perhaps it was pointless to bother now. After seeing everyone’s reaction, he’d come to realize this was just the kind of event the martial arts tournament was. He stood out everywhere he walked, became a spectacle to captivate and bring forth the passion of those watching. Altoire was such an urban land that such a festival only made sense.
There was something similar back home. It was both tradition and ritual, but it helped for Zeon to view it as a much wider scale version of that.
“Oh... Thanks.” Zeon stopped and responded to Kikirira’s enthusiastic greeting. He’d never been a big talker, so he hoped they would forgive how curt he sounded.
“Please let me interview you! Oh, don’t worry, it’s not difficult at all. You just need to respond to anything I ask, but of course if you don’t want to answer you don’t have to! Okay? Okay, let’s go!”
The girl didn’t seem to notice or care about his demeanor as she fired off an explanation at light speed and then planted herself next to Zeon. She was definitely the pushy type.
Kikirira turned to the camera. “Here we have Sonicspeed Zeon, a famous adventurer! With popularity and strength in spades, he was highly regarded as a shoo-in for the main matches by the experts, but he just barely lost in preliminaries and is now here for another chance!”
Only just? As far as Zeon was concerned, he lost by a mile in a really pitiful manner. This girl knew how to pour salt on a wound.
“Congratulations on your first win! You looked like you barely broke a sweat during that, but is that how it felt?!”
“Y-Yeah... I... I guess.”
“I see! It appears he did, in fact, win without breaking a sweat!”
He most definitely had. It had been a one-sided match, even with him holding back.
“There are very few openings in the main matches up for grabs. Could you tell us what is motivating you to win?!”
His motivation... There was undoubtedly a small ember smoking away inside.
“Revenge and a desire to apologize.”
“I se— Huh?! A-A desire to apologize?!”
That didn’t seem to be the response Kikirira had been expecting, enough so that even she looked flustered. But Zeon wasn’t looking at her anymore—he was staring directly at the camera, speaking to someone who was no doubt on the other side. “I didn’t underestimate him. I didn’t let my guard down. I made the best move I possibly could have and that match was the result. And yet, I can’t help but still feel I put on a pitiful display. I don’t believe I could ever apologize enough. As such, I will perform in a way that lets him go all out next time. I want to have a real match against him.”