The Mobile Forces tournament kicked off toward the end of that summer. I’d heard that the number of applications had exceeded one thousand, so there’d even been some preliminary matches. I was deeply moved to think that they had gotten that popular. The best one hundred, who had been picked in the prelims, included many familiar faces, like Meryl, Mira, and Garmr. The veteran adventurer Mister Komusai, who had gone up against Michelle in the Hot Spring Yahagi tournament finals, was there too.
The main tournament’s venue was located in the town’s arena, which looked like a small-scale Colosseum. It was a pretty spacious venue, yet it was packed with people. I once again opened up my shop at a location Baron Ethel had prepared for me. I planned to set out the Mobile Force units in a short while.
To my amazement, the king and queen would be among the tournament’s spectators, so a royal VIP enclosure had been prepared for them. The king would soon give his opening declaration.
“Minerva, do you want to see the opening ceremony?” I asked Michelle.
“No. I don’t want to see the king and queen. I don’t even want to hear their voices.”
Michelle might cast a curse on Queen Chichi if she went, so that was fine. There were also several hundred imperial soldiers stationed around the venue. I’d rather this tournament not become a bloodbath...
“Well, I’m going to take a peek, so I’ll leave the shop to you.”
“Sure.”
I was a little curious as to what kind of people the king and his queen were. Neither of them seemed to be popular among the people, but I still wanted to know. They’d done terrible things to Michelle, so I didn’t have any positive feelings toward them myself. Thinking I ought to at least get familiar with their faces, I headed into the venue.
I saw the king while he was making his speech, and to be frank, he seemed like a shady man. He was fairly good-looking, but he was also oozing shallowness and arrogance. Right then, I thought how glad I was that Michelle hadn’t wound up with a man like that. Also, his speech was both long-winded and dull. Everyone at the venue looked like they were bored out of their minds. Listening to him any further would’ve been a waste of time, so I inconspicuously headed back to where Michelle was minding the shop.
“I’m back,” I said. “I saw the king and queen’s faces.”
“Hm,” Michelle responded indifferently. She probably truly wanted nothing to do with them.
Everyone else was at the venue, so the area around the store was deserted. This seemed like a good chance to have a private conversation without worrying that anyone might overhear us.
“I thought that maybe you’d look a little similar since you’re sisters, but you two really do look totally different.”
“We’ve been told that since we were little,” she said, sounding glum. “Chichi looked way prettier than me, right?”
“You think?” I asked. “Everyone hyped her up as a woman of ruinous beauty, so I admit I went with high expectations, but she isn’t my type at all. Well, sure, her face has striking features. She does also have a sexy allure. But you can really see the kind of terrible person she is on the inside.”
Michelle remained silent.
“I would definitely choose you any day of the week, Michelle. No doubt about it.”
“Yusuke...”
“Whoa, your mask got red!” I exclaimed, shocked. “What’s up with that?!”
Even if her face got red, her mask shouldn’t, right?!
“I’m sorry. I got so happy, my cognitive obstruction spell just...” Her magical powers had apparently become discombobulated. I looked around us in a panic, but nobody was looking our way.
From there, the tournament proceeded without incident, and Meryl was left standing as one of the best sixteen. Mira, Garmr, and Rigal hadn’t made it that far, so it was truly worth a pat on the back. She would’ve received a prize if she had won the next match but unfortunately, she was defeated. In a stroke of bad luck, she’d been put up against the previous tournament’s runner-up, Mister Komusai.
“No one can use Zako better than I can, and yet...” She was slumping her shoulders, heartbroken. I could hardly bear to look at her in this state.
“I was thinking about earning a million rims to put into a reserve fund so I can open a small general store one day...” she continued glumly.
Adventurers worked a trade that required them to dance with death. It wasn’t something you could keep doing forever. It seemed Meryl and Mira were both saving up enough money so they could eventually head into a different trade.
“Cheer up,” I comforted her. “I’ll treat you to some lunch today.”
“I don’t need lunch,” she said. “More importantly, give me that thing, Mister Yusuke!”
What Meryl pointed her finger at was a Mobile Force unit that wasn’t for sale.
Product name: Jhar Zako
Description: A custom model with a thirty percent increase in propulsion. Its power-up makes it more difficult to pilot. It’s painted a deep crimson color.
Price: Not for sale
Probably as a result of my level-ups, I’d gotten some Mobile Force units to use in sales promotions. The Jhar Zako was a special model meant for display. Not only did this model have a high performance, but it had a certain panache as well. For those who used Zako, like Meryl, it probably had them drooling.
“I can’t,” I said. “This is a prize that’ll go to the grand champion.”
“Make an exception for me!” she pleaded desperately.
Meryl was my dear regular, but I couldn’t give in to this request of hers. It would clearly be favoritism.
“If you keep that model on display, Meryl will keep wanting it,” said Michelle. “How about you quickly hand it over to the baron?”
“You’re exactly right, Minerva. I’ll go, so wait here for a bit.”
“I’ll go with you.”
The baron was taking a breather in the arena’s VIP lounge before the best-eight matches commenced in the afternoon. It was off-limits to members of the general public, but they might pass along a message if I showed my special Mobile Force unit. Michelle and I walked there together.