All three of them were wearing Order of Knights uniforms, with swords hanging from the same spot at their waist.
Amy had never seen him in this kind of armor before.
He almost looks like a stranger.
Ed looked awe-inspiring as he waved his hand in response to the cheers. He looked so unlike himself, Amy felt a strange sense of loneliness. She brushed aside those feelings and strained her eyes, concentrating…
I don’t see any visible injuries… It doesn’t look like he’s hiding anything, either.
He looked tired, but unscathed. Amy breathed a sigh of relief.
Edward smiled and looked out over the venue, packed with people. His searching gaze finally landed on the staff viewing area. When his eyes finally found Amy, they sparkled so happily that her breath got momentarily stuck in her throat.
Edward gave her a tiny wave from his position, close to the ground, and Amy somehow managed to wave back at him.
It was just a smile and wave, but in response, something welled up inside Amy that made her ears ring and her heart start racing. Amy wasn’t sure what was louder—the cheers, the audience stamping their feet on the ground, the applause, or the hammering of her own heart?
She reached down for Tigger, who was all too happy to be picked up, and pressed her face against his body. She focused on the tiny beating of his heart, his soft, fluffy fur, and the warmth of his body. Surrounded by these relaxing sensations, it became a little easier for Amy to breathe.
“He noticed you, Amy!” exclaimed Isabelle. “Amy? What are you doing?”
“My heart can’t take this…”
“You were just as nervous during Hal’s kraken hunt before, too. I know you’re not quite used to it, but you have to put your fears aside and properly show him your support!”
Amy groaned.
“I’ll try…”
“The match hasn’t even started yet!” Isabelle added with a teasing grin.
Amy timidly poked her head out from behind Tigger.
With Tigger’s triangular ears periodically twitching at the bottom of her field of vision, Amy watched Edward as he turned back toward the general audience seating. Just then, his opponents walked out from the opposite end of the stage.
Her eye was initially drawn to their clothes, which were clothes typically worn by adventurers. Three of them wore cloaks and had a sword, a spear, and a crossbow, respectively. The last member was covered from head to toe in a hooded robe and seemed to be an archer.
There were four members on the opponent’s team—one more than Edward’s team.
According to the tournament rules, if the difference in the number of team members was less than two, the match could go on. It wasn’t uncommon for the team with fewer members to win the match, but you couldn’t help feeling uneasy about the odds.
When the four team members got close enough that Amy could see their faces, her eyes widened in shock.
“What? Is that…Harold?”
It was her older brother, Harold, who raised his right hand and responded triumphantly to the huge applause from the audience. Looking more closely, Amy realized the two members flanking him with a spear and crossbow were Gilbert and Nicholas.
Amy nearly stood from her seat in shock.
She had remembered Edward and Jahal’s placements had been nearly on opposite sides of the tournament bracket, but she hadn’t known the details of the lineup, like when they could expect to take on Harold’s team. Team withdrawals or unexpected absences shook up the order quite frequently.
Amy was frozen in shock, but Isabelle was very excited.
“I bet you were so surprised!” she cried.
“Of course I was! Wh-Why is this happening?!”
“There’s no deep meaning behind it,” said Joshua. “It’s just how tournaments work.”
“They both won their matches, and now they’ll face each other,” Isabelle added helpfully.
“Face each other?! How can you two talk about this so lightly?!”
For whatever reason, Amy had firmly believed that Edward and Harold wouldn’t have to fight each other, so the thought never crossed her mind that the bracket would come to this.
No matter how many times Amy rubbed her eyes, Edward and Harold stood on opposite ends of the stage.
Harold finally noticed his family watching and gave them a thumbs-up. Isabelle waved her hand back excitedly. This was their son’s moment in the spotlight—even Joshua looked a little proud. Amy was the only one plagued by turmoil.
“So which side are you going to cheer for, Amy?”
“Which side…?”
She remembered that Prince Jahal had asked her the same thing.
But the question just caused her more anxiety. She wanted Edward to win, of course…but she didn’t want Harold to lose, either!
As Amy struggled to come up with an answer, Isabelle gave her a small smile and changed the subject.
“Have you met their new party member yet?”
“O-Oh, Yasmine! No, not yet. I went to their waiting room this morning, but she and Harold were out training.”
“I see. Well, look—she’s the slightly shorter one next to Hal.”
“Hm…” Amy looked down at them. “There she is. I see her.”
Yasmine was the one with the bow wearing a hooded robe. She was about a head shorter than Harold.
Amy was a little surprised. Even though Yasmine had fulfilled a support role, she had still been a freelance adventurer, so Amy had imagined she’d be a little more muscular.
“Her hood’s in the way, so you can’t really see her— Oh, she’s taking it off.”
Yasmine removed her hood with a flap, and underneath, a pink blonde ponytail was revealed.
That was not a common hair color. Amy’s heart pounded against her ribcage. Harold pointed in their direction and whispered in Yasmine’s ear. She turned to look where Amy was sitting, and their eyes met.
“What?!” Amy cried.
She’s the heroine!
Her looks had changed a little bit with age, but there was no mistaking it. She was the girl Amy had seen in her grandfather’s territory, the port city of Wallum. However, Amy didn’t have any proof that the girl was the heroine, and she hadn’t seen her in the four years since that trip.