I thought it was a perfect handicap

At Barbaros-sama's request, the format of this tournament had been changed so that he would fight ten matches as a "warm-up," with the eleventh match serving as the equivalent of the first round for the other contestants.

Aside from Barbaros-sama's declaration to open the tournament, there were no other announcements for individual matches. It was simply a format where the next challenger would step up once the previous one was defeated.

This was the request of Barbaros-sama, the tournament favorite and indeed a regular champion. We had no objections, and thought it made for a perfect handicap.

"The first ten matches are just warm-ups, right? Let's just throw in whoever."

"How about this one who just submitted an entry form? Says she's a D-rank adventurer from the Paverkant Kingdom."

"Yeah, not too weak, not too strong. A good fit. Should work fine as a warm-up for the first bout. She's a woman too, so getting to face Barbaros-sama will make for a nice memory."

That's what we'd said when we set up the match yesterday. The payout odds were a thousand to one.

And yet—

"Okay, I'll bet eighty-two gold coins on my victory!"

"… Huh?"

Saying that, the woman herself bet eighty-two gold coins on herself.

… This is going to make calculating the odds a pain, I thought, but I crunched the numbers properly.

As a result, the odds miraculously settled down to ten to one.

"What the hell, if we'd just skimmed a little off the top, we wouldn't have had to recalculate anything."

"As if we could. This is a tournament Barbaros-sama is competing in, you know? … Besides, skimming off eighty-two gold coins would be way too scary."

"True. That much money is terrifying. Still, how full of herself is that young lady? All dressed up in fancy clothes, think she's here to bring Barbaros-sama a betrothal gift or something?"

"Yeah. Then we definitely can't skim anything. If she puts up a good fight, she might get picked as one of Barbaros-sama's concubines."

That's what my colleague and I had been laughing about this morning. And then—

"What do we do?! What's going on?!"

"Uh, what. Huh? What?"

Barbaros-sama was… instantly defeated. He'd been thrown just once and wasn't moving.

Too much time had passed for this to be mere shock-induced paralysis. The referee had no choice but to declare Barbaros-sama's defeat—and Karina's victory.

"Um, excuse me. What happens with the proceedings now?"

"Hell if I know! Barbaros-sama getting taken out in the first match? This is an upset beyond all upsets!"

My colleague was losing his mind.

And who could blame him? For Barbaros-sama to lose to some little human girl like that…

While we staff were still reeling, Barbaros-sama came down from the stage and spoke to us, his tone brimming with excitement.

"My, my! To think I'd be finished before I could even use my hands, feet, or fangs! That woman is incredible! Hey, what kind of person is she? Show me her entry form!"

"Uh, um, y-yes sir!"

"Hmm, Karina Shounin… A peddler adventurer?! Gahahahaha! And D-rank at that!! Is she a ringer? No, the feel of her hands was definitely young and soft, even more so than her age would suggest. She certainly can't claim to be a veteran."

Barbaros-sama smiled happily as he looked over Karina's documents.

"U-Um, B-Barbaros-sama! What should we do about the tournament proceedings?!"

"Hmm?? Ah, right. Come to think of it, I was supposed to fight eleven consecutive matches… No matter, just proceed as planned."

"B-But sir, that would mean Karina has to fight consecutive matches…"

"She's a woman who beat me like that, isn't she? There's no problem. She'll win through. I'd bet my kingdom on it."

"U-Understood, sir!"

Regarding the eleven consecutive matches, we did as Barbaros-sama instructed. Challengers came at Karina one after another.

And just as Barbaros-sama had predicted, Karina defeated her opponents one after another.

Barbaros-sama watched with eyes sparkling like a young boy's, looking genuinely happy, genuinely entertained.

And just as Barbaros-sama had predicted, Karina won all eleven matches effortlessly—up through what was supposed to be the first round.

"Gahahahahaha! What absurd strength! Even I cannot fathom the depth, no, the very limits of her power! What's the trick?! No, even if there is a trick, I don't care!! I want to know the secret of that strength!!"

"You speak so highly of her, Barbaros-sama."

"Of course! How many years has it been since I've felt this excited?! She would surely bear strong children… Hmm, shall I have my son propose to her? Or perhaps I should myself… Ah, but I can't win! That's right, I couldn't win! To think I couldn't even pin down those slender arms, that soft skin! Gahaha! How pathetic as a male!!"

Saying that, Barbaros-sama bared his fierce fangs in a wicked grin.

For one of the white wolf tribe, it was a smile of pure, genuine enjoyment.

… Still, to think she'd breeze through eleven consecutive matches without breaking a sweat.

If we could place bets partway through this tournament… Karina's odds now would probably be one to one, or at most one point five to one.

And then it hit me.

… What if, when Karina bet those eighty-two gold coins, I'd just done a rough estimate instead… and she'd gone on to win the whole thing?

The losses would have been catastrophic!

"… I'm so glad I did the math properly! I'm so glad I didn't just wing it…!!"

I genuinely praised myself for doing my job seriously.