Chapter 116: Jairo's Magnificent Debut

◆ Norb ◆

“Now then, Qualifier Match 5, BEGIN!!”

Receiving the referee’s declaration, the contestants on the arena stage started moving all at once.

People aiming for contestants with their backs turned, people aiming for those who look weak, people daringly exposing openings to lure rivals—actions vary.

Among them, the action Jairo chose was very simple.

“HEEERE I GOOOO! FLAME DAAAAASH!!”

When Jairo shouted, flames overflowed from the two protrusions slightly jutting out from the back of his armor.

The flames spread like wings, and in an instant, Jairo’s body was pushed forward as if blown away.

“ORA ORA ORAAAAA!!”

The sight of him charging forward with his sword thrust out, destroying the equipment of the contestants ahead like scraps of paper, reminded me of the Evil Boar herd that attacked us before, giving me a slight chill.

The contestants ahead were blown away by Jairo in the blink of an eye, and he leaped out from the group… but.

“Jairo, in front! In front!”

“Heh-heh, how’s th… oh? Ooh!?”

I don’t know if he heard my voice, but Jairo noticed the scene in front of him and raised a voice of surprise.

That’s to be expected; what lay ahead of Jairo, who had broken through the contestants’ melee, was the edge of the arena stage.

At this rate, Jairo will go out of bounds and be disqualified!

“NOT YEEET!!”

When Jairo shouted, flames burst from the soles of his feet, pushing his body up into the sky, avoiding going out of bounds.

And while drawing an arc in the air, he slowly returned his body towards the center of the match venue.

“Man, that was close. I almost lost in the qualifiers alone.”

Really, please don’t make me worry so much.

We managed somehow thanks to the new equipment, but if things went poorly, you would have gone out of bounds just like that.

The flames bursting from Jairo’s armor, that is purely Jairo’s flight magic fire.

Since the magic compatible with him is fire attribute, when he flies with flight magic, it seems easier for him to fly while spewing flames.

However, since Jairo is a bit erratic, magic flying with the power of fire has tremendous momentum like earlier, but controlling it seems difficult by that amount.

So Rex apparently added a flight magic assist function to Jairo’s new armor.

Supposedly, the armor automatically senses the direction the caster wants to go and adjusts the direction of the spewing flames.

So Jairo said it’s very easy because he doesn’t have to control the direction the flames burst out himself; just thinking about it makes it happen on its own.

…Yeah, it’s truly an outrageous function.

The armor sensing it on its own just by thinking about it—I don’t understand it anymore.

According to Rex’s explanation, flight magic unconsciously releases magic power in the opposite direction of where the caster wants to go.

But since it’s strictly at an unconscious level, magic power sufficient for actual movement isn’t released.

However, the armor picks up the caster’s feelings even from that level of magic power movement and guides the magic power well.

…I understood the logic, but thinking about how he executed that, the sheer magnitude of the technology used there makes me feel a bit dizzy.

I’m a priest so I’m not knowledgeable about spell formulas other than holy magic, but it was impressive that Mina, who was listening to the explanation together, made an expression one shouldn’t make in public…

“Wh-What is that fire… is that magic?”

“I’ve never seen magic like that!?”

“Moreover, isn’t that kid flying!?”

Not only the contestants on the arena stage, but even the contestants watching nearby are raising voices of surprise at Jairo’s figure.

That’s right, normally one would have this kind of reaction.

“Heheh, they’re scared.”

Jairo is delighted by everyone’s reaction.

“Kuh, at this rate, let’s target that brat! Hey you guys, if you want to win, lend a hand!”

“Tsk, don’t order me around!”

“But he’s right. First, we gotta do something about that brat.”

The contestants who perceived Jairo as a threat formed an impromptu alliance and attacked him.

“Heh, it doesn’t change anything no matter how many small fry gather!”

Jairo, we were also those small fry a few months ago, so I think you shouldn’t get too carried away.

See, we know very well that there’s always someone better.

“DON’T UNDERESTIMATE US, BRAAAAAT!!”

The contestants attack Jairo all at once.

It’s a simultaneous attack that can hardly be called coordination, where they would hurt each other if he dodged.

The pressure of attacks from all directions should be considerable.

Even for me watching from outside, it’s enough to make my palms sweat involuntarily.

“Heh, thanks for coming all at once, saves me the trouble!”

However, there was no sign of panic in Jairo.

Far from that, floating a confident smile, he readied his sword at his hip, and magic power condensed on the blade.

The magic power was converted into crimson flames, and by further compressing the magic power, its color changed from red to blue.

“Wh-What!? The sword is burning!? Blue flames!?”

“Isn’t that dangerous!?”

The contestants raise voices of agitation at Jairo’s sword that suddenly started burning.

But the momentum of them who had already started running won’t stop anymore.

“EAT THIS! MELT SLAAAAASH!!”

Along with the shout, a ring of fire was drawn centering on him.

And in the next moment, the weapons of all the contestants who attacked Jairo were severed.

“WHAAAAAAT!?”

The contestants didn’t understand what happened and froze.

That’s to be expected; their weapons were destroyed in an instant, so it’s natural to be confused.

Melt Slash—that is a melee magic for weapon destruction taught by Rex to Jairo, who is bad at using magic as projectiles.

Its content is very simple: compress ultra-high temperature flames onto the sword blade and burn through the opponent’s equipment with heat.

Saying just that sounds very simple, but in reality, fighting while concentrating such ultra-high temperatures in a very narrow range is a near-impossible feat.

Moreover, burning through enemy weapons means that flame constantly requires heat equal to a workshop furnace melting iron… no, even more heat to melt it completely in an instant.

Furthermore, it is also necessary to be careful not to burn the caster.

Rex solved such numerous problems by modifying a certain magic item.

Tinder Knife.

That is apparently the name of a magic item Rex received from a certain adventurer before.

Originally, it was a magic item just for starting a fire when camping, but Rex modified that magic item and created Jairo’s sword.

Yes, a knife became a sword.

You’d think that’s not a modification but a new product. I think so too.

But from Rex’s perspective, he said it’s a modification because he’s reusing the magic circuit parts used in the Tinder Knife.

It seems for Rex, the magic circuit is the main body, not the knife itself.

Rex said, “Man, with the materials on hand, this level was the limit no matter what. If I had a more proper workshop and materials, I could have made something better, but bear with this for this time, Jairo.”

Thus, the modest magic item that only started fires was reborn into an outrageous weapon that burns through enemy equipment to neutralize them.

…Truly, it’s outrageous.

“Hahahaha! Did you see my power! If you’re gonna surrender, now’s the time, old men!”

Seeing the contestants with destroyed weapons shaken, Jairo makes a statement convinced of victory with a broad smile.

But that was a mistake.

“D-Don’t underestimate us, kid!”

“Don’t get carried away!!”

The contestants, angered by Jairo‘s provocation, threw away their destroyed weapons and attacked with bare hands.

“Uoh!? Seriously, old men!?”

Jairo was caught off guard by the unexpected bare-handed charge, but immediately smiled.

“Heheh, you got guts!”

As soon as he said that, Jairo sheathed his sword while dodging the contestants’ attacks and started fighting with bare hands himself.

“…Wait, why are you doing thaaaaat!?”

Why are you going out of your way to do something disadvantageous when you destroyed the contestants’ weapons!?

“Heh, it annoys me if people think I won with the power of the weapon! I’ll hammer my true ability into your bodies properly, old men!?”

“Impudent! I’ll teach you the power of adults, you braaaat!!”

What a turn of events; the arena stage transformed into a tavern brawl in an instant.

Even for Jairo, fighting this number of people without using a weapon is reckless, and he’s taking quite a few good punches.

“Or rather, when did he take off his armor!?”

When on earth!?

“Hahaha! ORAAA!”

“Take this! URAAA!”

Punching once and getting punched back once, punching one person and getting punched by one person; before I knew it, the brawl was unfolding not just with Jairo but also among the surrounding contestants.

And so, contestants fell one by one, and one by one, and when it reduced to the last 5 people, the referee’s declaration of the match end rang out.

“…Really, what are you doing, Jairo?”

“Nah, my bad, my bad. Just got carried away.”

When I complained while casting recovery magic on Jairo, who managed to survive, Jairo apologized without seeming to reflect at all.

“S-Sorry, but heal those old men’s injuries too.”

And Jairo, whose treatment was finished, asked for the treatment of other contestants too.

“Is it okay? They were enemies until just now, you know?”

“We weren’t killing each other, so no problem, right?”

“…Understood.”

I think this part of Jairo is amazing.

Once the fight is over, whether he wins or loses, he treats the opponent as if nothing happened.

He says, “We fought and settled it, so it’s fine.”

I think just a little bit that maybe that’s why he’s our leader.

“Heeey old men! Once the injuries are healed, let’s go eat, eat! Tell me a delicious shop!”

…Yeah, isn’t he a bit too quick to switch gears?

◆ Noble of the Royal Capital ◆

“It seems a contestant of tremendous ability appeared in the qualifiers. Reportedly, he not only has swordsmanship skills but also manipulates magic, and furthermore possessed a powerful magic item.”

Hearing the report from the assassin sent to the match venue, we raised voices of surprise.

“To fight evenly or better against dozens of people alone, could that person be the Dragon Emperor?”

“We cannot conclude yet. The matches have just begun.”

“That’s right. There is a possibility of a powerful traveler, or a counter sent by a faction hostile to us.”

Indeed, the tournament has just begun.

It would be premature to conclude here.

“Also, that contestant was powerful, but it seems he was also quite a frivolous person.”

“Frivolous? What do you mean?”

“According to reports, after destroying other contestants’ weapons, for some reason, instead of finishing them off, he fought everyone with bare hands to settle it.”

“WHAAAT!?”

Why did he do such a thing, that man!? Is he an idiot!?

“Apparently, he didn’t like being thought of as winning with the power of his weapon.”

My comrade reading the report frowns as if to say it’s hard to understand.

I understand that feeling well.

Why throw away an advantageous situation yourself?

That contestant must have been an idiot.

There is no other reason to explain it.

“Well… that man is probably not the Dragon Emperor.”

“Umu, probably not.”

Thinking with common sense, there’s no way such a fool is the Dragon Emperor.

After all, if he loses, he loses everything.

“Then let’s remove that contestant from the Dragon Emperor candidates.”

“No objection.”

It was the moment one more Dragon Emperor candidate decreased.