On the first day of the tournament, a group of high-born nobles arrived at the arena well before the gates opened to the public. Dressed in all their finery, they looked exceptionally out of place.
“Wow... I’ve never seen the arena before!” exclaimed a young girl in an extravagant dress. She peered down at the empty stadium from the VIP box seats, her blonde hair dancing in the breeze. This was Arianora Aweigkorrt, the Crown Princess of the Pajan Empire. At age thirteen, she was the sole direct descendant of the Emperor.
“Step back from there, Your Highness. You could fall,” warned a handsome robe-clad man, his expression stern.
“Hee hee! Oh, do relax, Sir Maxwell.”
Maxwell was the Court Grand Mage. Once a hero who had sealed the Great Sorceress to save the Empire, he had somehow acquired eternal youth and longevity in the three hundred years since. A living legend, in other words.
“Today I serve as your bodyguard, and therefore—”
“A Court Grand Mage as my bodyguard? Surely you mean to say my babysitter.”
“Very funny.”
As heir to the monarchical Aweigkorrt legacy, Arianora was obligated now to appear at public events such as these. Truth be told, she had no interest in groups of men throwing themselves at each other in gory combat.
Nevertheless, she held out hope that some part of this spectacle might just make the whole ordeal worthwhile...
✦ ✦ ✦
That morning, the entire capital was teeming with excitement. Adventurers of every stripe had gathered in the plaza just outside the arena.
“The big day’s finally here,” Nadine murmured, clutching her staff tightly.
In a crowd where most of the female fighters were wearing bikini armor, Lilium’s modest dress code made them stick out like a sore thumb. Even Nadine herself had traded in her skirt for a pair of pants.
Just then, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Tanya standing beside her. “Don’t worry, Nadine. You’re our Healer; we won’t let you get hurt.”
She was only Level 3, and yet Tanya called her “their” Healer without hesitation... Nadine found herself eager to prove herself worthy of the title. She nodded firmly. You can count on me.
To Tanya, this was reassuring to see. Over the past week, she’d tackled quest after quest to polish her skills as a Magi-Knight. She was confident she could defeat just about anyone. And now the time had come. Time to finally get my revenge.
“We are now opening admission to the arena!” the soldier in charge announced. “Party representatives, please form a single-file line at the reception desk!”
Cheers rose from the crowd as the line began to move. Tanya’s chest tightened. Are Ryan and his stupid friends somewhere in this mass of people with me?
“Allons-y! Make way for Laplace the Great Sorceress!”
“Settle down, Laplace! And lower your voice!”
“Let me know if you trip and hurt yourself, I can take care of little scrapes and stuff,” Nadine chimed in.
Business as usual for Lilium.
“Alright, ladies! Let’s go!”
The Adventurers’ Sparring Tournament was Ode’s oldest tradition, and it attracted competitors from all across the country.
Let the games begin!
✦ ✦ ✦
The Sparring Tournament was comprised of two smaller tournaments: the preliminaries, divided evenly into four “blocks,” and the finals, where the winners from each block would then be pitted against each other.
In the prelims, teams of three would compete until either the party leader surrendered or they could no longer do battle. In the finals, each team would compete in one doubles match and two singles matches, with the party leader required to compete in the second singles match.
Parties who placed first or second in the previous tournament were permitted to skip the prelims entirely; everyone else was sorted into blocks, and the battles began. Unfortunately for Lilium, Ryan’s party name was nowhere to be found—in their block, at least.
“Are you sure that sniveling coward will actually make it through the tournament?” Laplace asked, tilting her head quizzically.
It was a valid point. Should Ryan be defeated by another party in the prelims, all their efforts would have been in vain. But Tanya scoffed derisively. “Oh, he’ll be fine. The party landed second place last year, so they’re seeded. All thanks to me and that mercenary he hired.”
“Wow! He’s scum in every way possible!”
Last year, Ryan had insisted that the party needed to make a reputation for themselves... but when it came time to actually compete, he barely lifted a finger. Instead, he entered Tanya into nearly every match and had her spam all of her best offensive spells until they won.
Worse still, he’d hired a mercenary specifically to compete in his name—talk about spineless! It was an affront to all those who tried to compete on their own merits. He’s just a lazy mooch who would rather make everyone else do all the heavy lifting! And the entire party’s full of enablers! Now he thinks he’s better than everyone!
“Goddamn it! He’s probably hired another mercenary this year too! Rrgh... Just you wait, asshole... We just gotta make it to the party leader match...!”
“And that’s where you’ll beat him black and blue, non?”
“OUI, OUI!!!”
If anything, Ryan’s seeded status was a boon that ensured he would be waiting for them in the finals. But to get there, first they needed to win the prelims.
Round one... was a piece of cake.
Commentary from Lilium, the winning team:
T: “Gosh, what can I say? That match went by a lot faster than I was expecting!”
N: “Agreed. I was surprised our opponents put all their stats into Charm.”
L: “Heh heh heh! Clearly they need a real goddess like yours truly to show them the true meaning of seduction—”
T: “Thank you, Laplace, that’s enough.”
Commentary from the losing team:
“Man, fuck this! After all the trouble I went through to hire a high-level Shaman chick who could use Charm... We were gonna defang all the meathead guys and ensure ourselves an easy victory, damn it! How were we supposed to know we’d be up against three women and zero men?! Who does that?!”
Losers, indeed.
This greasy middle-aged man was supposed to be the backbone of his party, but after Lilium knocked him around like a piñata, he was reduced to little more than sour grapes. He was such a pushover they didn’t even need to use magic.
Next!
Round two... was also a piece of cake.
Commentary from Lilium, the winning team:
N: “Well, we were up against two female Healers and one male Knight. I assume their strategy was to have the rear guard spam heals and buffs on the main attacker. However...”
T: “Laplace, I can’t believe you took advantage of the Healers’ skimpy clothes like that! I’m starting to think maybe you are evil after all!”
L: “Non, non! I was just being efficient! If anything, it’s their fault for walking around with their midriffs exposed! Besides, I wanted to take the spotlight for a change!”
N: “Hahaha... No, I don’t think it was their fault. You have to remember, immodest equipment is the norm for women in our society... that, and I really doubt they were expecting you to make it start snowing. Oh, and it’s a good thing that Knight wasn’t all that strong once his buffs were gone. Right, everyone?”
T: “Right you are, Nadine. But just for the record, Laplace, it’s okay if you’re secretly a Villainous Witch or something. I’ll still like you.”
L: “Villainous Witch?! How rude! I already have an alternate title, and it’s much more impressive than that, thank you very much!”
T: “...You mean the Wicked Dragonwhore?”
L: “No, not that one!”
N: “Hahaha... Let’s keep it down, ladies. We entered Laplace under a pseudonym, remember?”
T: “Oh, right! God, that stupid alias! Only Laplace would try to enter a tournament under the name ‘Stone Cold Stunner’!”
L: “Don’t judge me! Besides, you know what they say: always judge a book by its cover!”
T: “No, they don’t! I swear, you’re so obsessed with yourself!”
N: “Guys! Seriously! No fighting!”
...You can imagine the rest.
Commentary from the losing team:
“Man, fuck this! After all the trouble I went through to hire high-level Healers who could cast heals and debuffs... With their help, I was gonna take all the glory for myself, damn it! How were we supposed to know the temperature in the arena would suddenly plummet to sub-zero and make the girls sick?! They ran off to the bathroom and took forever getting back because it was ‘crowded’ or whatever! And for that matter, why the hell were those other chicks wearing all that armor?! Tits or GTFO!”
Losers, indeed.
This arrogant young man was supposed to be the backbone of his party, but after Tanya used Wind Magic to boost her speed for a lightning-fast punch, he promptly passed out. He was such a pushover she didn’t even need to use her sword.
Next!