“Yeah, I’m glad. He was so fast just now that I couldn’t even see what happened,” I replied with a smile, and then Toor Deen’s face went bright red as she stepped back.
“O-Oh, sorry! I-I lost control of myself there.”
“No worries. I really am happy for you, Toor Deen.”
Still blushing, the young girl lowered her head and said, “Thank you.”
On my other side, Tia was nodding solemnly. “His attack was very impressive. It might have even caught me off guard.”
That was only the first round, though. Toor Deen’s father Zei Deen and Jou Ran stepped away from where the rest of the matches were ongoing, and a short while later, it was time for the second round. The number of participants had now been narrowed down to eighteen. After a close match, Ai Fa triumphed over Baadu Fou. Raielfam Sudra, Cheem Sudra, Radd Liddo, and Zei Deen also won. There were now nine hunters left in the running.
In the third round, Ai Fa ended up against Radd Liddo, the hunter with the most monstrous physical strength out of everyone in the six clans. He gave Ai Fa a lot of trouble, but in the end, she still managed to emerge victorious. A slender hunter like her triumphing over such a massive man made people cheer and start chattering to each other about her win all around us. Naturally, I stealthily made a joyful little sound myself.
“Hmm. So, I’ve now lost to you in pole tugging as well, Ai Fa! You certainly are quite the hunter!”
Radd Liddo had lost to Ai Fa in the combat competition last time. And yet, he seemed to be smiling at her without any reservations as she breathed heavily, her shoulders heaving as she nodded back.
After that, Raielfam Sudra beat the Deen clan head and Zei Deen triumphed over Cheem Sudra. A hunter from the Fou and another from the Liddo moved on too. It was amazing how much the matchups could change the outcome in a one-on-one competition. The only people who had gotten to this point last time as well were Ai Fa, Raielfam Sudra, and Zei Deen.
In the next round, Zei Deen faced the Fou hunter while Ai Fa went up against Raielfam Sudra, with the Liddo hunter getting the bye. Zei Deen won his match quickly enough, while the second was so close that it must’ve dragged on for five whole minutes before Ai Fa finally triumphed. She had made it into the finals.
After a short break, the semifinals between the Liddo hunter and Zei Deen began, with Zei Deen winning yet again, meaning he would be up against my clan head in the finals.
“Hmm. If I look at the two of them the way I normally would, I feel like Ai Fa should be the winner,” Tia muttered beside me and Toor Deen. I was sure that all three of us were feeling our hearts pounding in our chests. “But I’m not so sure... Asuta, would Ai Fa go so far as to let herself be injured in order to win?”
“Huh? Nobody should ever get hurt in a pole tugging competition. And if you injure your opponent in the combat competition that’s coming next, you get disqualified.”
“But if she pushes herself too hard, she will get injured. What would Ai Fa choose in that case?”
I didn’t get what Tia meant, but I understood once the match was over. It was another extremely close bout that went on for over five minutes, and I watched with bated breath, wondering just how it would end. But then, Ai Fa finally let go of the pole.
Zei Deen, who had been tugging with all his might, fell over and landed hard on the ground. With his brow furrowed in confusion, the man glared up at my clan head.
“Ai Fa, you released the pole intentionally, didn’t you? Why did you do that?”
“Because I believe the skin on my palms would have been seriously damaged if I had continued. It likely would have taken more than half a month for my hands to heal, so there was no way I could keep going,” Ai Fa calmly replied while rubbing her right palm. “Darmu Ruu of the Ruu clan suffered a similar wound in battle with the lord of the forest, and he was forced to stop hunting for quite some time afterward. I chose to stop because it’s improper to let yourself suffer an injury like that in a contest of strength.”
“I can’t see how our match could’ve caused you to be injured that badly... But thinking back, you did fight the Fou, Liddo, and Sudra clan heads to get here.” Zei Deen then rose to his feet and turned toward Radd Liddo, who was acting as judge. “I don’t feel as if I won with my own strength. Am I still to be declared the victor?”
“Of course! That is why we leave it up to the mother forest to decide who we compete against! You have nothing to worry about!” And then, Radd Liddo turned toward Ai Fa with a smile. “You showed excellent spirit as well, Ai Fa! If it had been me, I definitely would’ve gotten all hotheaded and refused to let go, even if it meant getting injured!”
“Hmph. You did hurt my hands quite a bit with your ridiculous strength, you know,” Ai Fa said, clearly trying very hard to keep herself from frowning.
Then, with an even brighter smile, Radd Liddo raised his right hand and declared, “The pole tugging champion is Zei Deen! Let us celebrate our new champion!”
Everyone erupted in cheers all at once, as if they had been waiting for that moment. Toor Deen, meanwhile, was staring at her father with tears in her eyes. I was pretty annoyed that Ai Fa had lost without being able to give her all, but that didn’t do anything to devalue Zei Deen’s win, so I was able to celebrate his victory with no real regrets.
“Now then, at last we come to the final contest of strength! Everyone, show the mother forest your skill!”
A loud roar erupted from the hunters. The final competition would be the combat one. Last time around, Ai Fa had also failed to become a champion up until this last competition, coming close each time only to suffer a narrow defeat.
“She even made it to the final three in target shooting. It’s amazing that her results have been so good in everything aside from the weight pulling,” Saris Ran Fou said. But it was easy to see the worry and anticipation swirling around in her eyes. Mine probably looked the same. We both were praying that our dear companion Ai Fa would be granted the honor that her strength warranted.
“Hmm. So the final contest is grappling? How interesting. All these big hunters are grappling like children,” Tia said not long after the competition began. She lacked the ability to use sarcasm, so she was being totally serious there, and the passion burning in her eyes was as strong as ever as she watched.
In the first match, Ai Fa was up against a large Liddo man, who she managed to take down in seconds. I was relieved that her tender palms didn’t seem to be holding her back. After that, various notable hunters won one after another. Perhaps thanks to the forest’s guidance, there weren’t any first-round clashes between powerhouses this time around.
Including the hunter who got the bye, eighteen moved on to the second round, and this time, Cheem Sudra and Jou Ran ended up fighting one another. The two of them were the young hopes of their respective clans and had fought each other last time too. Jou Ran had just barely managed to win.
The spectators were cheering louder than ever before as they watched the match. There actually seemed to be a pretty intense rivalry between the two sides. Cheem Sudra was the faster of the two, but Jou Ran was very skilled in a lot of different ways, and neither side was giving their opponent any openings.
In the end, though, Cheem Sudra was the one who emerged victorious. Jou Ran extended his arm to the side a bit too much, and Cheem Sudra was able to grab it. Then he slid one of his hands up to the shoulder of his opponent’s clothing and sent Jou Ran to the ground with a shoulder throw.
Ia Fou Sudra—Cheem Sudra’s wife—was hugging Yun Sudra as they both shrieked with joy. There were cheers coming from all around too. In the middle of all their celebrating, Jou Ran sat up and stared at Cheem Sudra with a sad look in his eyes.