“Anyway, it’s surprising that Alina wants such a strange figure,” said Lululee.
Lowe was in the stands. At his side, Lululee smiled wryly as she looked down on the stage where they had been standing just a while ago.
“Well, weirdos like her are gonna like what they like,” said Lowe.
Since their first match had ended swiftly, Silver Sword decided to watch the tournament until it was time for their next match. Alina had said she was going to take a nap to catch up on her sleep and vanished somewhere, and Jade was being chased around by his fangirls, so he’d left them behind.
“There’s time until the next match, so we can take our time now to watch our riv—”
Just then, murmurs burst out around them. Noticing this, Lululee looked around at the people in the stands. The audience members all seemed confused and startled as they looked down at the stage.
“H-hey. Look at that…”
“One guy? There’s only one of them?”
“It looks like he’s not a tank or a healer, just an attacker.”
“Come on, you can’t go in solo just because you can’t gather a party.”
When Lowe was compelled to look, he saw a single adventurer standing in the arena with many eyes on him. The man was tall and spindly. His weapons and armor were the type that could be bought on the market, not relic arma, and he looked rather lackluster.
“He’s gotta be just doing it for the experience without really thinking about it.” One of the audience members poked fun at him, and laughter burst out. Instantly, they were whistling and calling out to him, jeering at the “party” of only one. Not only did the man lack the necessities for a party battle—a tank and a healer—from the fact that he was participating by himself, but it was also clear he didn’t plan on winning the match.
But it didn’t appear that way to Lowe.
“…!”
From the moment he’d lay eyes on him, something cold raced down his spine.
“He must be a beginner. Participating in the tournament is good experience, after all—wait, Lowe? Lowe?”
Lululee shook his shoulder, and Lowe snapped out of it with a start.
“What’s wrong?” Lululee asked.
“…Oh, nothing. Just thought the guy looked like an acquaintance.”
Lowe had been inadvertently staring at the lackluster adventurer, but he returned his eyes to Lululee and forced a smile. Of course, there was nothing at all familiar about the man’s face, but the shivers that had penetrated his whole body still lingered.
“You have acquaintances?” Lululee took the opportunity to tease him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jabbing her in return, Lowe breathed a sigh.
What was that, just now…?
It was a somehow nostalgic feeling that could only be described as “nerves that hadn’t fired for a long time going off.”
“—O-ohhh?! He’s pretty good!”
As Lowe sat there in confusion, the audience, which had been jeering in amusement, now cried out in surprise. Some of the people in the stands were even getting to their feet. Startled, Lowe returned his gaze to the arena to find that there were already two adventurers lying on the ground, incapacitated.
And neither of them were the lackluster adventurer. They were from the opposing party.
“What, what happened?!”
“I dunno, he’s using, like, some kind of magic I’ve never seen before…”
Gradually, agitated murmurs spread through the audience. On that note, the lackluster adventurer clasped his knife and walked toward his opponents alone. The opposing party’s ranged attacker and healer were still in the fight.
“S-Skill Activate: Sigurth Shade!”
The black mage hastily chanted his Sigurth skill. His own shadow extended out from him, warping and twisting to instantly attack the lackluster adventurer, as though it were a snake with a will of its own.
“—Flama.”
Lowe clearly heard the voice of the lackluster adventurer as he chanted those words quietly.
Instantly, red flames were summoned. This was a fire-type spell often used by black mages.
The moment the audience realized that the magic they’d never heard of was just a normal black mage spell, the red flames formed a thin shroud around the man’s dagger.
Eventually, the red flames flared into a new color—pure blue.
“…!”
Lowe’s eyes widened, and he stiffened.
As the audience burst into cheers, the opponent’s shadow snapped at the lone adventurer. The man indomitably held his knife wreathed in blue flame in a reverse grip, then plunged it into the shadow.
A flat pashoop sound rang out.
The shadow dispersed in the blink of an eye. The same went for the blue flame that had wreathed the man’s knife, and the clash between techniques ended with them being canceled out.
“…Huh…? The Sigurth skill vanished…?”
“That was magic, right? Huh?”
A number of people around Lowe realized the impossibility of what they’d just seen and tilted their heads. Yes, magic was a power weaker than skills—a spell definitely shouldn’t have enough power to nullify a Sigurth skill.
“What was that? Does that mean that blue thing was a Sigurth skill, after all?”
“But that guy chanted a spell, right…? Though it was one I’ve never heard of.”
“Well, if they canceled each other out, that means it was a Sigurth skill!”
“I don’t really get it, but that was amazing! He looks like nothing special, but he’s pretty good!”
“So he wasn’t just participating for the experience. But just what was that spell?” Lululee wondered aloud, but Lowe heard neither her words nor the cheers around him.
Shivers ran down his spine, and he quietly gulped, his eyes wide. As Lowe beheld the spell, words spilled from his lips.
“…Forbidden technique—”
The audience, who knew nothing of this, broke into cheers. Finally, the lackluster adventurer used the mysterious blue technique to defeat all his opponents, who had looked to be superior to him. The drama of it made everyone forget their confusion and erupt in excitement.
The lackluster adventurer seemed shy, scratching his head as he left the venue. He walked with his lanky back hunched, as though embarrassed; he didn’t carry himself like he was strong. And then, before he stepped down from the stage, he happened to lift his head—and lock eyes with Lowe’s.
It was an instant—just an instant.
The man’s face shifted and blurred. Like an elaborately crafted doll shattering upon being hit, the shape of his face undulated and crumbled—giving Lowe the glimpse of a different man’s face.
He had sharp eyes with small irises, pale skin, a mole under his right eye, and a straight nose and thin lips.
It was the assassin of the Dark Guild, Gald.
“…!”
Lowe instantly shot up out of his seat.
“L-Lowe? What’s the matter?”
Lululee startled and looked up at Lowe. The black mage was too rattled to even answer. No—it would be more accurate to say that he didn’t know what he should say. In a rare course of events, he found himself unable to decide how to proceed. Meanwhile, the lackluster adventurer—no, Gald—vanished from the stage.
“…Lululee. I might not be able to make the next match.”
“Huh?!”
It was all he could do to tell her that. Of course Lululee was shocked by his remark and got out of her seat, but by that time, Lowe had already taken off after Gald.