Chapter 214: I’ve got no intention of losing

“Luke, I made it to the main round!”

“Yeah, I saw.”

“It’s so much easier than I expected though!”

Selen won all her fights and has now advanced to the main round of the tournament.

She won her fights quite easily, but from a bystander’s point of view, each fight was still full of excitement.

“Not that I’m complaining. I want to be the champion no matter what, after all! And then…anything I want…”

“Huh?”

“I-I said I want to prove that I’m the best in the village!”

At that point, Selius arrived.

“I have also made it to the main round, sister.”

“Selius!”

“If we ever face each other there, be ready to be defeated.”

Selius-kun seemed to regard his sister as a rival.

“You two are impressive as always.”

“Ah, Philia-san.”

“~~~~~~~~!”

As soon as Philia-san arrived, Selius-kun’s face grew red. To make things worse, he followed up by hiding behind me.

If this was how he still acted around her, I couldn’t help but worry for the future.

“Have you made it to the main round as well, Philia-san?”

“I have. I’m relieved to be given this chance to demonstrate a little of what an elven commander can do.”

While we were chatting like that, our surroundings suddenly got dark.

When I turned around to look, I found a muscular giant…err, I mean, I found Gori-chan.

“Ufufu, I’m so glad I made it to the main round.”

“You’ve advanced too, Gori-chan?”

“Yup. But I must say, there are so many strong people here in the village.”

Said the person who sent a muscular villager flying out of the ring with one punch.

I witnessed that scene with my very own eyes.

“Still, I’ve got no intention of losing. I’m going to fight and win against strong people, no matter what. And then, I’ll have the chief-chan grant me anything I want.”

“~~~~~~~!”

I suddenly felt a chill down my spine. I wonder what she’ll ask of me…

But it didn’t seem like I was the only one wary of Gori-chan; Selen was too.

“It’s looking like you’ll be toughest opponent I’ll have!”

“Take it easy on me, okay? ♡”

“No way! I’m going to fight you will all my strength!”

“Oh my. Then, I guess I’ll have to fight with all my strength too.”

From then on, the other people I expected to advance did so one after the other. Balrath-san, Noel-kun, Goate-san, Perun-san, Rando-kun, Alec-san, Hazena-san, Gai-san, Dorial, Banba-san, Bazara-san.

Before long, all 32 participants have been determined.

Based on the fact that each one of them had a Gift was any indication, the main round of the tournament was bound to have high-level fights.

◇　◇　◇

And so, the main round was about to begin.

“““OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”””

The crowd gave a thunderous cheer as they eagerly awaited the start of the first fight.

I built the venue for the main round to be able to accommodate up to 50,000 people. That was an extremely generous estimate, but to my surprise, about 30,000 people were in attendance today.

“Ehhh…what’s going on? The total population of the village is just 20,000 and yet…”

“Word of mouth probably have made people from outside the village want to check it out. As to be expected of the event you’ve thought up, Luke-sama! It has managed to draw in so many people!”

Millia was praised me like that, but it wasn’t like I thought up of the whole thing from scratch or anything like that…

Anyway, if this was our turnout already for our first event, it might be a good idea to implement a ticket system later on.

“Luke-sama! I’ve come to watch as well!”

“Huh? Princess? And Your Majesty!?”

“We’ve heard in the train that you were hosting a fun event.”

Even the royal family came to watch.

As such I tried to offer them seats reserved for nobles, but…

“No, that won’t be necessary. We’re here as simple guests.”

“I-is that so? Then, around here are the seats for participants. Please seat wherever you like.”

Near the entrance to the fighting area were the seats participants who were waiting for their match or those who have just completed theirs.

One could view the fights easily from here, making them excellent seats.

“Excuse me.”

“………”

For some reason, the princess chose to sit next to me.

Meanwhile, on my other side, Millia’s face twitched.

…don’t fight, okay?

Other notable personalities in the audience were Riesen’s governor Mitchell-san; Viscount Dolz and Viscount Frenco; and Selen and Selius-kun’s father.

They also preferred to mix in with the general audience rather than in the reserved seats.

“Alright, they should be announcing the matchups anytime now…”