One week later, many adventurers swarmed Iffole Counter the moment applications to participate in the fighting tournament opened.
Alina’s counter had been converted into the window for the tournament. Even though business hours had yet to start, there was already a long line in front of Iffole Counter.
While the adventurers in line waited for their turn to come, their eyes shifted nervously to a statue that had been placed on Alina’s counter.
The statue was like an avant-garde art piece and appeared to be shaped like a person. Strange patterns were carved into the surface of its body, and there was an eight-pointed magic sigil inside it—the mark of Dia, which signified it was a relic.
Though it was exposed by being on the counter, a barrier of Sigurth skills had been erected around it, preventing anyone from touching it.
“That’s the prize for this year’s tournament…! An ultra-large pure relic, entirely untouched and unaltered!”
The adventurers who were waiting for reception to open looked at the statue placed on Alina’s counter and broke into murmurs.
A pure relic. Unlike relic arma or crystal gates, which were made from processing relics in some way, these types of relics were completely unaltered.
Pure relics were more expensive than processed relics, but the pure relics that were lying around in dungeons were palm-sized at largest. Small items or common pure relics that could be obtained in any dungeon were practically worthless.
However…the pure relic that was the prize for this year’s tournament was a little different. It had to be about as long as a dagger. It was noticeably larger than the pure relics that were lying around in most dungeons, and it looked fairly rare, too.
“Whoa, I’ve never seen a pure relic that big!”
“They say that if you sell it, you’ll come out with enough cash to buy a relic arma and get change…!”
“If I can get my hands on that thing, I can kiss my worn-out equipment good-bye!”
As the adventurers gawked at the pure relic like wild dogs looking at a feast, the service windows of Iffole Counter finally opened.
“Welcome! You’re here to apply for the tournament, right?” With a taut smile, Alina greeted the first adventurer who came running over to her.
She had zero experience with this job, but the workflow was about the same as receiving ordinary quests. She had the entrants fill out the participation form, and after checking that they were qualified to participate, she finally asked them to present their license cards and sign.
The annoying part, however, was that she had to do this for every single participant. When adventurers were signing up for a quest, you could normally just have the party representative check and sign, cutting down on the amount of people you had to process.
“A full party for the fighting tournament.”
“Understood. Well then, please fill in this application form and have every member of your party present their licenses and provide their signatures.”
“Huh? All members? I’m the only one who came.”
“…”
Look. See, right there.
While losing it behind her smile, Alina said meaninglessly, “Oh, I see.”
The guild headquarters had, in fact, publicized how to apply for the tournament via the bulletin board for several days now. But dim-witted adventurers who couldn’t even register for ordinary quests right would never read those explanations beforehand.
“Signatures and license cards from all party members are required for application, so please come back again with your entire party.”
“Huh? I have to come back later? What’s the problem with me being the representative?”
“We need all participants to provide their licenses and signatures. Otherwise, you’ll be disqualified from the tournament.”
“…”
Beneath her cold smile, the first adventurer left with his half-filled-out form.
All right! Next!
Alina greeted the second adventurer. Unusually for adventurers, who were often rough and unkempt, this man was well-groomed and had a nervous look on his bespectacled face. Alina’s instincts as a third-year receptionist instantly kicked into gear and told her that this intellectual adventurer would be okay.
“Here’s the application form. Please fill in everything beforehand, signature included, and show me the license card for every member of your party.”
Sure enough, the intellectual adventurer submitted the form with everything filled out on it like he was used to this, plus the license cards of his entire party. She was grateful he’d done everything perfectly.
Th-thank you!!
It wasn’t every day you came across an adventurer who’d read the explanations beforehand. Alina sighed in relief. This might have been her first tournament, but veteran adventurers would have already experienced it multiple times. Of course they would know how to do it.
“Thank you very much. Well then, we will accept your application to par—”
“Hey! You!”
But then a man cut in.
No, not just one man. Two other adventurers, probably members of his party, stood behind him as he roughly grabbed the intellectual adventurer by the hand.
“You’ve always done it with us before… You never said you were gonna apply with another party just for the tournament!” The adventurer who had just barged in was bright red in the face as he yelled at the intellectual adventurer.
But his aggression just made the intellectual adventurer glance at him in scorn. And then, to top it all off, he sighed blatantly. “Ahhh, sorry. Didn’t I say? I was scouted by a stronger party, so I figured I would join them this time.”
“What?!”
“I do feel sorry for you all, but I’m serious about trying to win. Wouldn’t anyone want to join up with the strongest adventurers they can?”
“Asshole! What makes you think I’m gonna let that kind of selfish—?”
“I’m allowed to switch parties. Could you stop following me around?”
“Bastard! Now you’re asking for it!”
The argument between the short-tempered adventurer and the intellectual adventurer heated up comically.
“…” Alina watched expressionlessly. So much for a smooth application.
With a little sigh, she butted into the adventurers’ exchange. “…Sirs, I’m very sorry, but if it seems that you’re not ready to apply, then please come another day.”
“Wait, please. I’ll apply right now. I waited a long time, and I can’t bear to do it all over again.”
“But you’re keeping the customers behind you waiting…”
“Shaddap! Butt out of this, receptionist!” The intruding adventurer turned the brunt of his irrational anger on Alina. The next instant, he finally grabbed the intellectual adventurer by the lapels.
“Ha, resorting to violence when you don’t get what you want? I was never happy with you people in the first place. Do you understand that you’ve only gotten this far because I was always covering for you? My new party is higher level overall compared to you three, and I don’t have to babysit them, either. It’s obvious which I’d choose, isn’t it? I could even take this as an opportunity to leave you for good.”
“Y-you asshole! Now you’re really in for it…! Get ready for a beatdown!”
Immediately, the adventurers went to blows.
“…”
Alina just watched quietly as the scene descended into madness.
Things were not looking good.