Watching the Preliminaries

"Good job, Kehma!"

"I'm back. I won!"

I secured the victory in my block and joined up with the others in the audience.

"Congratulations on making it through the preliminaries. Kehma's block will be having a second-place match after this."

"Wait, isn't it only the first place from each block that advances in the preliminaries? Why?"

"They seem to just want more fights."

"… As expected of people who live here."

Originally, the preliminary tournament was supposed to take place over three days… That's still the case for the other blocks. They're still playing games in the other blocks today.

"Master, congratulations. How bout ya treate me to curry bread as a celebration?"

"Shouldn't you be the one giving me something Ichika? Well, it's fine."

"Rokuko's Master, I want a cornet."

"At least say a word of congratulations, Aidi."

I handed out curry bread, cornets, and melon bread to each of them.

Apparently, in golf, there's a custom where the person who scores a hole-in-one generously treats others, like a hole-in-one prize. It's something like that.

"How's Niku and Sebas doing?"

"They're advancing smoothly. Uzoh and Muzoh are doing well too."

Rokuko answered, still munching on her melon bread.

"And next is supposed to be Uzoh versus Niku."

"I bet she'll win."

"I suppose so. Let's go cheer her on."

So, we decided to head over to support Niku, confident in her victory.

That said, the arena was simply divided into four sections, so it wasn't very far away.

In Niku's block, the first stage of the tournament had just ended, and they were in the middle of the second stage.

Originally, the quarterfinals were supposed to take place tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, the semifinals and finals of each block would be held in four matches. The semifinals and finals would be held in a single arena, not divided into four sections, but…

… Wait, what'll happen to my block's area?

"It'll be for the second-place match."

"Ah, I see. So that's how it is…"

"Rokuko, don't you want to cheer on your puppy? She's coming out."

"Ooh! She is!"

When I looked, I saw Niku and Uzoh standing opposite each other.

Niku was still as emotionless as ever. And she seemed to be a lot more calm. She had already fought in the first match.

"Even if you're Kehma-sans's child, I won't show any mercy."

"…"

They stared each other off—rather, it felt more like a sparring match than a real fight. She wouldn't show any mercy, but she wouldn't let herself be careless either. And she's not my child. I may think of her as my daughter, but she's not my child.

"Kehma. Since we're here, I'll say this once."

"… What is it?"

"Niku is my child too!"

Rokuko raised her thumb. Was she trying to say that she and I were married? Well, I didn't say anything about not having any children, so I just smiled and ignored it.

"Oh, looks like it's about to begin."

"Hey, ignoring me like that is embarrassing."

Setting aside the now-blushing Rokuko, I turned my attention to the arena.

"Begin!"

"[Fireball]!"

"!"

As the referee announced the start, Niku unleashed a [Fireball], which Uzoh dodged with a big leap. Niku closed the distance, aiming for where Uzoh had landed.

Taking advantage of her small stature, Niku attacked from a low position and aimed her knife to sweep at Uzoh's ankle. It connected beautifully as he lost his balance. However, instead of slashing, it was a sweep with the flat side of the knife—Uzoh fell splendidly and Niku mounted him.

With a relaxed expression, Niku placed the knife against his throat.

"I… I give up."

"Yes."

The match was decided in an instant.

"The winner, Niku Kuroinu!"

Niku got off Uzoh as the referee made the declaration and stood up before waving to us.

As we waved back, her face remained unchanged, but her tail wagged happily.

"It was over in the blink of an eye."

"Indeed, she's the daughter we're so proud of after all… come on, say something."

"Ah, yes, yes. She's our pride and joy."

Rokuko seemed quite pleased. Niku left the stage and headed back to the waiting room. Uzoh, looking dejected, slowly walked off the stage as well.

"Wait, did she just skip the incantation there?"

"One would usually shant softly so that the opponent can't hear it. Perhaps Rokuko's Master couldn't hear it from this far away?"

Aidi's explanation reminded me that the adventurers from the empire didn't do that at all. Well, there was a difference between casting spells loudly to coordinate with your teammates when fighting monsters and doing it to surprise your opponent in a duel.

"Niku deliberately chanted only the keyword so that it could be heard in order to let her opponent dodge it. It seems she underestimated her opponent's ability. Even so, considering his excessive dodging, it might still have been an overestimation."

Placing her hand to her cheek, Aidi commented, that she could have defeated him with just the Fireball.

Setting aside the slightly alarming addendum, Aidy's explanations were helpful. I hadn't realized such mind games were at play…

Niku's growing up. I'll treat her to a hamburger later. Or would she prefer a meat skewer from a street vendor?

"Ichika, did you understand the tactics?"

"Well, yah. I've been her opponent many times… That leg sweep's a tricky one, y'know. With her unexpected strength and agility that shouldn't be possible from her looks, she usually trips ya up when ya try to block or dodge."

"Although she doesn't seem to have much muscle, that puppy put on quite an interesting performance."

Ah, that's a trade secret because of her power golem. I decided to change the subject.

"How's Sebas doing?"

"He's winning without any excitement. Well, if he couldn't get through this qualifier using only one arm, I'd be worried as my master."

"Using only one arm?"

"Yes. For this qualifying tournament, Sebas has been forbidden to use his right arm."

It turns out he was playing with a handicap.

Incidentally, he was actually tied up with a rope to prevent the use of his right arm, making it a handicap in more sense than one.

"Aidi, you really have a lot of faith in that butler, don't you?"

"Oh? Rokuko, when it comes to trusting one's own Master, aren't you much more so?"

"… Now that you mention it, I guess so. Kehma, should I tie you up with a rope too?"

"Please no."

Anyway, my qualifiers are already over, so I politely declined the offer.