“Name’s Zarda, eldest of the Kedo Brothers!”
“Name’s Gegeru, youngest of the Kedo Brothers!”
Oh, it’s those tygre siblings. I was just checking out what was on magivision as I got ready that morning and was greeted by two familiar faces.
At long last, the main matches of the tournament would begin tomorrow. Right before the festival would enter full swing, two familiar tygres made their appearance on magivision. It might not have been an exaggeration to say that they were the competitors who had done the most to get their names out there.
So they’re called Zarda and Gegeru. I felt as if I should’ve heard their names multiple times before now, but for some reason, I had no memory of them. I didn’t recall them entering the losers’ matches, though they likely would’ve been eliminated if they had.
“We’re now on the floating island where the tournament will be held! Very soon, the matchups will be revealed!”
“The matchups will be posted all across the city! Get there quick to see who’s fighting who!”
Ah, so we’ll finally get to see the matchups. Well, the tournament did start tomorrow. The opening ceremony would be in the morning and then they’d be going straight into the matches, so this was really the only time they could be announced.
I took another moment to assess the men on-screen.
You know, these two are pretty good. Beastkin were rare around these parts, so they drew a lot of attention, and it turned out their big tiger faces were pretty eye-catching for magivision. Since their voices were deep and loud, it was easy to hear what they were saying. They were a bit excitable, but we didn’t have any presenters like these two in the industry right now. Even though this was the first time the two of them were being recorded like this, they didn’t look the slightest bit nervous. They might not have been strong, but they were confident, that was for sure.
What a magnificent change of career... They had great potential. They were so confident I was starting to think they were more suited to magivision than martial arts. There was no indication that they were hosts who’d been chosen at the last minute. They still weren’t strong, though.
Who recorded this? Altoire? Man, they scooped up some great talent, that’s for sure. What happened to Scarlet? I brought her to Bendelio’s attention. Did he make sure to nab her?
No, no, I needed to stop thinking about work. I’d been recording for so much of the year that my thoughts always automatically wandered right back to the business. It was one of those “occupational diseases” people sometimes mentioned.
The main matches started tomorrow. The real part of the tournament that I had been anticipating for so long would finally begin. Honestly, there wasn’t anyone who stood a chance against me, but there were at least those who had piqued my curiosity. I would happily watch over the young martial artists and witness their brilliance.
“What’s this?! It appears everyone will be able to watch the matches at almost the same time as the khamera recording!”
“You serious, bro?! Now it won’t matter that we can’t fit everyone in the arena!”
Just as I was cheering for the young martial artists in my mind, my thought process was completely disrupted by their announcement. People would be able to watch it nearly simultaneously with the recording? It would be shown in real time? I had heard mentions that the technology was in place to allow for that, but...
“If you can’t make it to the arena in person, then go gather in front of the nearest MagiPad! But make sure you’re still going to work!”
“Right! Or you’ll be fired! If you become unemployed, you’ll be as no-good as us adventurers!”
“Gah hah hah hah!”
Whoa, they’re pretty good at keeping up the banter. I want them... Wait, stop.
Hadn’t Bendelio said once that they had the technology for real-time broadcasts but there was no merit to doing it? Apparently, the systems were quite complicated and took time to set up, and he’d expressed his worry over the fact that it was risky to just show the recording unedited—there was no telling what incidents could end up happening.
I agreed with him then, and that opinion still held true.
The king was certainly brave. Then again, if he didn’t do this much, the citizens might be underwhelmed after all this hype. It seemed pretty likely that there would be those skipping work to watch... Not a lot that could be done about it, though. Altoire right now really was completely overrun by the tournament.
“Nia! It’s time to go to school!”
Ah, there’s Reliared. I wanted to see the rest of the broadcast and I was very engrossed in the tygres’ dynamic, but I had to go. The last thing I heard before turning off the MagiPad was the mention of “big shots coming from all across the skies.”
“Big shots are gathering from across the skies! Even those from our homeland!”
“Yeah! We beastkin love strong fighters! We live for festivals like this!”
As Kaffes Jacks watched the somewhat suffocating tygre duo, he thought to himself, We’ve got a bad bunch gathered right under your noses too. Notorious underworld dwellers from nearby countries had answered Kaffes’s call and were now gathered in the extravagantly decorated warehouse the man used to host his guests.
Kaffes, a man with a distinct scar on his face, was the ruler of the Altoire underworld. He was known for his exceptional ability to keep his true emotions hidden. He was the host and organizer of this gathering.
From Vanderouge came Grieg Klett, Frozen Geitz, and Lesten. The one Kaffes had to keep his eye on most among the three was undoubtedly Grieg. The man wasn’t known for his strength, but for his calculated decisions—in other words, he was a man who had made his way up the underworld ladder through sheer profits. He was even said to be the one truly in control of his country’s economy.