Epilogue
The martial arts tournament had finally begun. However, this time, Fran had a seeded spot, so she wouldn't participate in the preliminaries. Well, Fran wanted to participate, but Diaz and the others managed to stop her. They asked her to be patient for the sake of the other preliminary participants, so she reluctantly gave up on participating this time.
『Fran, over there.』
「Huh? Our seats are over there.」
『No, if Fran were to sit in the regular seats, it might cause a commotion. We won't attract too much attention in the special seats for affiliates, so let's watch from there.』
「Alright.」
Today, we came to watch the preliminaries. We didn't know if strong opponents would be participating, but we didn't have anything else to do.
With food from a food stand in both hands, we headed towards the special seats. On the way, we spotted some familiar faces. Fran called out to the girls walking in front of us.
「Kaitly.」
「Onee-sama!」
It was Kaitly, the aspiring adventurer girl who admired Fran. She was accompanied by a man who appeared to be her guard and was walking in the same direction as Fran.
「Onee-sama, did you come to watch the martial arts tournament too?」
「Yeah. You too?」
「Yes.」
Kaitly looked delighted, but there was a young girl beside her who appeared anxious. Holding tightly onto Kaitly's hand, she clutched her own skirt with her other hand.
「Who's this?」
「She's Nilfe. She's Dimitris-sama's granddaughter.」
「Ni, Nilfe... yes.」
Nilfe muttered her name in a voice barely audible, like a mosquito's buzz.
Dimitris's granddaughter? Is she Hilt's sister? Her green hair color certainly matched. However, she seemed entirely lacking in presence. She appeared timid and fragile, with no sign of assertiveness. Apart from their hair color, Nilfe had no obvious similarities to Hilt.
「And this is Michael-san, Nilfe's guardian.」
「Nice to meet you.」
Standing behind Kaitly and Nilfe was a bald, muscular man who politely nodded his head. His facial features were reasonably well-structured. He appeared to be one of Dimitris's disciples.
「Grandfather asked me to guide her. He said that if she intends to become an adventurer, she should learn how to be a guardian and guide.」
Aurel seemed to fully approve of Kaitly's decision to become an adventurer. He entrusted the role of guiding the young girl to Kaitly. Well, people of the same age would probably get along better. However, Kaitly's words seemed to bother Fran.
「I see. In that case, the introduction just now doesn't count.」
「Eh?」
「Even if it's not a formal request, if you've accepted it as an adventurer, you can't casually talk about information regarding the client or the guard. Even if they're acquaintances.」
It seemed that Fran's guidance was not over with the completion of the request. She probably felt like taking care of her newly acquired junior, someone she could clearly influence.
Kaitly, who had been admonished by Fran for her carelessness, quickly realized her mistake.
「...You're right... I'm sorry, Nilfe.」
With an expression like that of a novice adventurer who had failed a request, Kaitly bowed deeply to Nilfe.
It wasn't something to be overly concerned about, in my opinion, but diligent Kaitly seemed to take it to heart. It was probably because of her respect for Fran.
「Nilfe is the granddaughter of a famous person. So, even more so.」
「That's true...」
「No, it's fine...」
Nilfe shook her head vigorously in response to Kaitly's apology. She seemed young, but she clearly understood the conversation.
「Did Kaitly come to watch the preliminaries?」
「Yes...」
Instead of Kaitly, it was Nilfe who nodded in response to Fran's question. It seemed that Kaitly's admiration for Fran had been conveyed, piquing Nilfe's interest.
「Then, let's go together.」
「Yes!」
「Yes...」
As they walked, Kaitly explained Fran to Nilfe.
It was the typical episode full of exaggerated feats and incredible strength. It had been slightly toned down since the previous time I corrected it, but it was still quite exaggerated.
Fran didn't interject much because she was quite indifferent to such matters.
As Kaitly passionately recounted Fran's exploits, Nilfe's expression began to change. She clearly held a sense of respect for Fran. I thought it sounded quite unbelievable, but it was probably due to her admiration.
「Wow, that's amazing.」
Nilfe, who trusted Kaitly, didn't think those words were lies or exaggerations. Well, she was young.
With her small body trembling, Nilfe listened excitedly to Kaitly's story.
「It's cool.」
「Indeed. Fran-oneesama is amazing.」
「Yes.」
The sparkling look in her eyes was exactly the same as the one Kaitly had when looking at Fran. It was the birth of a new Fran-respecting child.
Even after arriving in the special seats, Kaitly's praise for Fran didn't stop. Perhaps in Nilfe's eyes, Fran seemed like a great hero on par with Dimitris?
Fran didn't have any intention of stopping that conversation, but she asked Kaitly about her recent activities.
「What have you been up to lately?」
「I've been training every day to become an adventurer. Besides that, I'm doing odd jobs in the city.」
In the current Ulmutt, it seems there are jobs available for apprentices who haven't officially registered as adventurers yet. It's probably meant for true beginners. Due to the martial arts tournament, there are plenty of odd jobs available during this period, and various tasks are being posted.
For Kaitly, these apprentice-level odd jobs seemed quite enjoyable because not only could she earn money, but she also heard various rumors. Especially during this period, rumors spread throughout the country.
「Apparently, the appearance rate of undead in the Ulmutt area has increased.」
「Why?」
「The reason is unknown. However, during this time, there are many travelers around Ulmutt, and many of them die. According to the merchants, there's speculation that the corpses of such unfortunate travelers might turn into undead.」
「I see.」
「And because of that, many mercenaries are coming in as escorts for those travelers. So, there are more fights.」
「Between adventurers and mercenaries?」
「It seems there are also fights among mercenaries themselves. And there's an increase in pickpockets and swindlers, too, so Grandfather seems to be quite busy.」
The festive atmosphere seems to attract all sorts of unsavory characters.
「Oh! It's starting soon!」
「Yeah.」
As Kaitly mentioned, a large number of participants were entering the arena.
The preliminary round of the martial arts tournament is once again a battle royale this year.
About five or six participants face off as a group, and the one who survives advances to the next round. It was exactly the same as last year.
Brawls among small fry aren't very exciting, but there are some groups with skilled fighters mixed in. In addition, matches involving acquaintances had their fair share of spectacle.
For example, the three Crimson Maidens who worked as salesgirls in Bulbora were each doing their best.
They had improved significantly since last year. They must have trained quite seriously over the past year. Their skill levels had also increased.
However, they still couldn't advance in the preliminary round.
They prioritized cooperation over individual combat strength, and their party excelled in dungeon and outdoor battles. Moreover, Maia, a thief, and Lydia, a mage, were not suited for the martial arts tournament. In the end, Judith, the leader and a swordsman, was targeted by everyone as the strongest, and she unfortunately lost.
As for Judith, she had faced a tough opponent.
The opponent was one of Dimitris's disciples, although she was still in training. In terms of skill, she was probably equivalent to Rank C. It seemed she had caught Hilt's eye, one of Dimitris's apprentices.
Colbert had heard about the Dimitris style from Dimitris himself, but it appeared that Hilt was mainly responsible for instructing the apprentices. Originally, Dimitris prioritized his own training, and he wasn't overly concerned with preserving the Dimitris style he had created.
Nevertheless, he had disciples, and there were dojos in various places because there was no shortage of people aspiring to become his disciples.
At first, it was said that adventurers who admired Dimitris learned the basics of martial arts during their adventures and outdoor activities in their spare time.
As time went by, Dimitris himself developed some interest in nurturing disciples, and the number of practitioners in his martial arts school increased, eventually becoming a massive school with over a hundred disciples.
Well, considering that this includes freshly enrolled trainees, it's not that many, is it? However, it seems that the training is extraordinarily strict, causing most of those who enter to quit.
Of course, if you have the rank S adventurer's sign, it wouldn't be strange to have over ten thousand disciples, let alone a hundred.
And if you manage to advance in your training without giving up and become a top disciple, you can officially receive personal training from Dimitris himself. However, due to the incredibly Spartan nature of this training, many disciples are broken by it.
Colbert and Hilt were among the few who managed to endure.
Moreover, even someone as skilled as Colbert is treated not as a master but as a top disciple.
The masters who passed the trials must be truly exceptional.
In fact, since the promotion trials for masters changed to the current format, only three masters have been produced.
Well, it involves sealing one's abilities and becoming a Rank A adventurer, so it's likely that very few can pass.
「Sister, do you know the person who just lost?」
「Yeah, they're adventurers from Bulbora.」
It seemed that Fran was also cheering for Judith. She let out an "Ah" when Judith lost, and Kaitly didn't miss that.
「I see. That's too bad.」
「...I'm sorry.」
「Why is Nilfe apologizing?」
「Because she's my grandfather's disciple.」
Nilfe bowed with a face on the verge of tears, but Fran stopped her.
「Nilfe has nothing to do with this. It's a matter between the individuals themselves.」
「Is that so?」
「Yeah.」
「...Thank you.」
Nilfe smiled in relief. Fran didn't fully understand, but it seemed like she had gone through a lot.
Just being from a famous family would draw attention, and she must have received unjust complaints at times.
Especially for someone like Dimitris, who didn't hide his arrogance, it wouldn't be surprising if he had earned resentment from various quarters. Being a grandchild, she might even be blamed for his actions. Just by seeing how quickly she apologized in the current situation, it was evident that she had experienced some tough times more than once.
「Miss, this way.」
「Thank you, Michael.」
Michael gently handed a handkerchief to Nilfe, who had tears in her eyes. Michael's quite the gentleman, not just strong!
However, Fran was cautious of Michael. Somehow, he occasionally stared in their direction. Most likely, just like Hilt, he might hold a grudge about Colbert's situation.
Although there wasn't a strong sense of enmity, he observed them with a vigilant eye. It was an eye that searched for weaknesses and openings. Faced with this, they couldn't let their guard down.
「Oh! Sister! That person participated in the main tournament last year, right?」
「Yeah, Charlotte.」
Charlotte seems to be participating again this year. Her adventurer rank is similar to Judith and the others, but her combat style is more suitable for the martial arts tournament compared to Lydia and Maia. Will she go far this year too?
Even now, on the arena, no one can catch her graceful movements, and opponents are falling one after another. Moreover, when appraised, she's considerably stronger than last year.
Her level has gone up, but her occupation has also changed. She used to be a Battle Dancer, but now she's a Battle Dance Fighter. She has acquired a unique skill called the "Dance of Fainting," and she has even learned magic.
Last year, she lost to Elsa due to a lack of attack power. It seems like she has taken measures to address that this year.
Should we go and comfort the Scarlet Maidens for now? She seemed confident this year but was crying a bit after losing.
Also, I want to greet Charlotte.
Now, who will we encounter as participants this year?
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