“Couldn’t they just use a whip?!”
Especially if you had that many sections! Was it even a sword anymore if it had nine sections?! Wouldn’t you get all caught up in it while fighting?! What were you supposed to do if you got all wrapped up in a weird position?! That would be the worst! Plus, the more complicated a weapon was, the more likely it was to break! It would be hard to fight back after that!
“You’re right. I believe it’s sometimes called a nine-section chain whip.”
So they do sometimes use it as a whip. Well, I guess that’s a bit better.
Oh, who was I kidding. I was really struggling to view this as a usable weapon. It looked really hard to wield. Would they manage it okay? Would they really not consider changing to a whip? A regular whip would be much better, right? Leather whips could hurt quite a lot. They could draw blood too.
I was pretty sure a weapon like this hadn’t existed in my previous life. Or, no, perhaps I’d just never come across one. The world of weapons was vast. I think there was once someone out there who even used things like chairs as weapons. Besides, even though I was aware of the weapons I’d had to fight against, I wasn’t that interested in the weapons themselves. I was much stronger bare-handed, after all.
“It looks impressive, but certainly difficult to handle.”
See! Look, even Fressa is commenting on it, and she’s knowledgeable on weapons.
Though the competitor would have a different problem first.
“It’s a rare weapon, but this looks like it’ll be a difficult battle.”
The nine-section chain sword user did appear to be a martial artist, but their opponent was a large scarred woman currently resting a wooden sword over her shoulder—the adventurer, Jinatan. This match probably wouldn’t be worth watching. Jinatan was the clear winner.
Jinatan charged forward without flinching even as she was whipped by the sword again and again. She wasn’t even raising a defense. When she swung her massive sword, the martial artist went flying.
Wonderful.
“You were such a great help out there. Thank you.”
“Gimme a break, Lily...”
I kept telling Fressa to stay just a little longer, for just one more match over and over, and all the morning matches were done before we knew it. In the end, she ended up sticking with me for quite a long time.
Now that the camera had stopped recording, I quietly gave my thanks, only for her to quietly complain in response.
“You know why I don’t want to stand out, right?”
I did. But I couldn’t help it.
“You were much better at commentating than I expected, so it seemed a waste to let you get away.”
Fressa had been as good as I had thought she would be. She was a clever girl who was very good at reading the room. She knew how to say just enough. She never overexplained. Even when it was obvious who was going to win, she commented in a way that would build tension without giving her own predictions.
She really did strike the perfect balance, fully understanding the importance of this broadcast.
“Could you join me for the afternoon too?”
“Please spare me... You’ve already worked me to the bone enough...”
Oh well, worth a try.
“I’ll ask someone else, then. Thank you for sticking with me all morning.”
Fressa looked at me for a moment before saying, “Spare Anzel too, okay?”
Oh right, his match is today, isn’t it? I wouldn’t be recording at this spot in the afternoon anyway. I’d considered trying to give commentary from farther away, but there were no plans for it, so I decided I may as well not bother.
The first and second days were dedicated to everyone’s first matches. With seventy-five matches a day, once both sets were done, the three hundred fighters would be cut in half. The remaining fighters would be split into two blocks on the third day and duke it out tourney style. The winners of the first and second blocks would then go on to fight in the finals.
Incidentally, starting from the third day, the bare-handed division would be in a different slot. The weapons division would go first and then the smaller bare-handed division. The finals would all take place on the same day, so even though the number of matches would be fewer, they would still happen at the same time.
“Nia, may we talk for a moment?”
Hildetaura came over with her production crew early in the morning of the second day, when the spectators would soon be arriving.
“How can I help?”
I had been having a meeting with the Liston crew in front of the arena before Hildetaura had approached. Our job for today was to record the droves of arriving spectators and carry out interviews where we could. We would only move into the arena once everyone had arrived. My ringside commentary wouldn’t be required until the afternoon.
“I received a letter from my father for you. He wants you to look at it right away.”
From His Majesty?
“Nia, could you maybe open it over there?” Bendelio asked. He must have realized it was something important.
Just as I was about to do just that...
“No, it is all right,” Hildetaura reassured. “It is an order regarding the recording. As you can see, it is not sealed.”
“The recording?” When I looked down, I realized that the envelope was in fact unsealed. At least that meant it wasn’t anything confidential. May as well not waste time. “Let’s see... Ah.” Well, this certainly was to do with recording. “Bendelio, it appears we need to have a change of plans. Look here.”
I handed him the letter and he immediately understood. “Ah, I see. Your commentary was pretty fun. Quite precise too.”
The letter consisted of the king praising my commentary and then asking me to commentate on all of the matches today. When we finished recording yesterday, Bendelio had come up to me and said, “Try not to say anything too extreme. You were mentioning blood a little too much. You should take care to maintain your image as a child.” Apparently, they might have considered it too extreme to broadcast if it hadn’t been live.
Yet, it appeared that, while Bendelio might not have approved, His Majesty—or the organizers as a whole—had liked what I’d had to say.
That, or it was a process of elimination. Reliared and Hildetaura had tried their best, but they were just lacking too much knowledge of martial arts, so there were various moments where they hadn’t been sure what to say. In exchange, though, they had been very knowledgeable about the details of the fighters. It was also fairly clear that they were taken aback by all the blood and broken bones. They were children, after all. It must have been a brutal sight for them.
The organizers might have had a meeting and decided to designate me as the only one of us three who seemed unfazed by what I was witnessing. I didn’t want to force the girls to do it if they didn’t want to either. It was definitely far too graphic for children.
“Tell him that I understand. I’ll go to the ring once my morning recordings are done.”
Whatever the case, this was a royal command. It wasn’t worded like an order, but I doubted I could refuse.
“Thank you very much. There were many moments which Relia and I struggled to watch... I almost feel as if I am forcing this on you. I must apologize.”
“Hmm? You mean concerning the blood and such? Don’t worry about it, I’m completely fine with it.” You couldn’t call it a real match without a bit of blood. They could make it a whole bloodbath as far as I was concerned. “Though, in that case, our schedules will change, right?”
“Yes. As for how we will shift things...”
It was a last minute change to the schedule, but these things often happened in the magivision industry. Bendelio stepped forward to discuss the changes with Hildetaura and the director of the royal crew.
It seems today will be just as busy.
On the second day, Blocks D to F had their first matches. My students who hadn’t fought yesterday—Lynokis, Lynette, and Gandolph—won their matches without breaking a sweat.
And just like that, the first rounds had come to an end.
The roughly three hundred fighters were now down to one hundred and fifty. We now entered the third day.