Chapter 215: Why didn’t you invite me to join?

The first match of the main round has begun.

Right from the start, it was bound to be a good match.

It was, after all, between Philia-san and Hazena-san,

“I’ve gotten a good grasp on your abilities from our expedition in the ruin the other day. This should be a good fight, I think.”

“I agree! Let’s have a fight worthy of the main round!”

Both of them participated in the said expedition, so they had some idea of what the other could do.

Philia-san had both [Bow Techniques] and [Green Magic] Gifts, making her what was known as a Double Gift. Her arrows were powerful and accurate, but they could be made deadlier through her control of the wind. As such, it was no wonder that she excelled in long-range combat.

On the other hand, Hazena-san had the [Red Magic] Gift. She could fight at long-range, but she wasn’t the best at it. After all, her flames were less powerful the farther away the target was.

Considering those things, I couldn’t help but think that Hazena-san was at quite the disadvantage. Especially so when also factoring in that fire didn’t interact well against wind.

While thinking about how the fight might turn out, it finally began.

Both of them acted right away. Philia-san fired an arrow of wind while Hazena-san unleashed an arrow of flames.

The two arrows flew towards the center of the ring until they clashed against each other. Upon which, sparks and explosive sounds erupted. That spectacular sight caused great excitement for the audience.

The both of them continued to use the same attack, but as things went on, Philia-san’s advantage became clearer.

Not a single fire arrow was reaching Philia-san’s side, while a few wind arrows have made it toward Hazena-san and prompted her to do evasive maneuvers.

Moreover, it should be noted that Philia-san still hasn’t used any actual arrows. They were limited in amount, so she was probably saving them for when there was enough of an opening.

“Now!”

And then, that opening presented itself. Philia-san, with lightning-fast speed, nocked a wind-clad arrow into her bow and released it right away.

It was close, but Hazena-san managed to notice the attack. And somehow, she was able to dodge it by basically flinging herself out of the way.

On top of the arrow being fast, the sparks flying about made the visibility within the ring poor. So, while Hazena-san might have managed to dodge this time, it didn’t look like she could do so every time.

“Just like I thought, I can’t win in a long-range fight with you! But what if I do this!?”

Hazena-san admitted so. From then on, she pulled out all the stops.

“Fire Javelin!”

Hazena-san launched many spears made of flames toward Philia-san. In truth though, she used her best attack simply as a distraction in order to close the distance between them.

Like that, the fight evolved into one where Philia-san sought to keep it a long-range battle while Hazena-san was desperate to make it a close-range fight despite being a mage herself.

This was the first match of the main round, yet the crowd was already going crazy with the back and forth between the two.

However, in the end, Philia-san managed to avoid a suicidal attack by Hazena-san and win the match.

The crowd cheered not only for the winner but to the exhausted Hazena-san as well.

“What a great match. It’s almost like the grand finals already.”

When I said so to myself…

“Oi, looks like you’re doing something fun.”

“Huh!? Raul!?”

When I heard a voice from behind me and turned around, I found Raul.

He seemed to have also journeyed from the royal capital all the way here.

“Why didn’t you invite me to join?”

“You see, it’s because we made it a rule that only villagers may participate.”

“Tch.”

Raul clicked his tongue and sat down.

Looks like he’s gonna watch from here.

After the second match, Balrath-san appeared on the stage for the third match. His opponent was strong, but he managed to win in the end.

Noel-kun competed in the fourth match. I was wondering how he would fight with only a shield, but apparently, it was by charging forward with great force in order to knock the opponent off of the stage. With such a drastic move, Noel-kun won.

As for the victors of the fifth and sixth matches, it was Gai-san and Selen, respectively. Selen’s opponent was Goate-san. Goate-san, through his absurd superhuman strength, swung around a gigantic iron pole. While such display of strength impressed the crowd, it wasn’t enough to defeat Selen.

“Too bad he got paired with Selen.”

Despite being defeated quickly, Goate-san—with a face full of zest—said something to Noel-kun.

“Noel, fight for my sake as well, okay?”

“Mhm, I will.”

Upon seeing the friendship between two people of vastly different ages, Gori-chan said ‘ahh, how wonderful’ while shaking her hips left and right.