They must be making good money

The waiting room turned out to be a private competitor's suite, and surprisingly spacious at that.

Complete with carpet and a bed, it was practically a hotel room. Light refreshments and fruit sat waiting on the table.

"Good work out there, Onee-san."

"Great job, Master!"

Dea-kun was allowed in as a party member, apparently. Aishia got in too since she's my slave and counts as property.

"Alrighty, looks like the main tournament starts from here, so let's aim for that championship!"

"Huh? Were all those matches just now the preliminaries?"

"I just signed up for whatever big tournament seemed good since I figured Master could win anything. Didn't really look into the details. So that's how it was."

It seemed like I was the only one who had to go through preliminaries, but that's probably because I entered at the last minute. The other participants must have already cleared the preliminaries beforehand.

… Hmm, without a proper guide, there's so much you end up missing.

Maybe I should've insisted on bringing Mashiro-san along after all.

"But hey, all I have to do is keep winning! Even if a king shows up as my opponent, I'll definitely beat them! There's 82 gold coins on the line here."

"Yes! Master could definitely beat even King Barbaros!"

"That's right. Onee-san would surely win. But please be careful, I hear King Barbaros tries to recruit strong women as concubines."

I see. I'll have to watch out for that. Can't have Dea-kun getting snatched up.

The mysterious beauty who dominated the Tamer tournament with a dragon under his command. I absolutely cannot let Dea-kun get taken!!

"Hmm, if I'm up against a king, I'll have to act like I'm weak and won by a lucky punch or something."

"I hope that deception works…"

"If it doesn't work, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Master could easily escape anyway… Should I gather some information for the upcoming matches?"

It feels a bit late for that, but… it's probably better to ask.

Information is important after all!

"Yeah, let's do that. I'm counting on you, Aishia."

"Yes! Leave it to me!"

"By the way, Onee-san, how many more matches until the championship?"

"No idea, but well, if I beat everyone, I'll win. Yep."

I helped myself to some of the fruit. Apparently this kind of service is standard for main tournament contestants. What a nice tournament. They must be raking in the money. Munch munch.

"… Onee-san, that doesn't have poison in it, does it?"

"It's fine. I scanned it with Spatial Magic, and it's just normal muscat grapes."

I plucked one of the plump grapes and popped it in my mouth. Mmm, sweet. Juice flooded my palate.

With a satisfying snap, I used Spatial Magic to split a red apple into eight pieces and offered Dea-kun a slice.

"Nom… It's crisp and delicious. This is really good quality, you know."

"Really?"

"Yes. I think this is the high-grade stuff they serve to royalty… Maybe there's royalty participating in the tournament, and this fruit is just overflow from their share."

"Master, may I have a slice too?"

"Sure. Here, say ahhh."

When I brought it to Aishia's mouth, she bit into the apple with a crisp crunch.

"… Th-this is really delicious! Master, we should definitely duplicate this for the food storage!"

"That good, huh? Well, as long as we're not selling it, I suppose it's fine. Yeah."

"Hehe, unlimited supply of this… Master's base really is the best…! And when Master feeds me by hand with an ahhh, the deliciousness multiplies!"

"Ahaha, thanks."

I should let all the Five Elders try some too… Actually, they might be used to eating this kind of thing. Mie-chan is a queen and all.

"I bet everyone back at the base could make Magic Tools to grow stuff like this, right?"

"With Magic Tools? … Actually, if we make good use of the base's environment, it does seem possible. No storms or pests to worry about."

"A fully automated farm using Magic Tools… that's definitely an option."

Growing seeds from the fruit I got here would feel like cheating in my book, but sourcing quality seeds through Mie-chan's connections? That's fair game.

"A farm at the base, huh… at this rate, we might end up with a whole country inside the base."

"It would be easy enough to make one if you wanted to, but it would be too dependent on you, Onee-san, so I wouldn't recommend it."

Dea-kun's answer was surprisingly earnest. If Dea-kun says so, I'll drop the idea.

I couldn't take responsibility for something that big anyway. And I don't want to. I only intend to look after what I can personally cherish.

"M-Miss Karina. Please prepare for your next match! Oh, and this will be the last match of the day!"

A staff member came to call me.

"Hm? Ah. So it's a two-day tournament format. I see, I see."

"Yes. Please feel free to use this room for today. Win or lose, you're free to use it for the night."

"Got it. Well then, I'm off… to the main tournament!"

"Then I'll go gather information. I'll leave notes in the base as I find things, so please check them!"

"I'll be cheering from the spectator seats!"

Along with me, Dea-kun and Aishia left the room.

The match? Well, it's still just the first round of the main tournament! I won easily.