Chapter 277 Part 1
I logged in.
Last night was truly exhausting.
I feel like praising myself for somehow avoiding a ban crisis.
Who saved me from the crisis at the last minute?
It was Mio.
I can’t call his ability to hold back Saki-san’s provocations at the last moment anything but miraculous.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
The time is 5:40 am.
I can already see lots of players flowing in.
Today is the day of the tournament.
I have an appointment with Lambda-kun, and I’m in a good mood.
Since I’m not participating.
I should be able to be a relaxed spectator.
「Oh, over here, over here!」
「Breakfast is ready!」
Giedre, and Kaya.
The main production workers of the north and south.
They have truly downcast expressions
「I’m sorry about last night」
「I wasn’t strong enough to compete with those women.」
「Oh?」
I guess you could say that about me, too.
Powerless.
I’m powerless.
Men are useless!
「It seems you had a complicated conversation last night」
「Mm」
「Well, it’s not much more than planning for what’s to come」
I asked him about it while we ate.
It’s about how right after the last tournament, Majins appeared all over the place.
Based on that, the GMs will probably do something again.
He said that’s basically it.
「The tournament isn’t the only reason players are gathering in Remut」
「There are also some production players like us trying to get some business, so. I’m a little worried 」
「What do you mean?」
「People are bringing in goods to trade from all directions」
「For the guide team too, there’s an advantage to having all the equipment gathered here in Remut」
「Well, it’s mostly ready-made goods, but it’s become a big reason why players come here」
「I see」
That’s true.
If you go to the west, you can find Fighting Bull and Ghost Horse Skins and crystals.
If you go south, you can find Heavenly Zebra Skins and gems.
If you go north, you can find high quality iron products.
Even in the eastern sea, there are various natural materials like pearls and coral.
I’m sure there are more as well.
If there’s a gathering of such goods, it must be a good opportunity.
「There’ll be an unusual concentration of players. With that opportunity the GMs will start some sort of event, is that it?」
「I’m sure Fiona is aware of that possibility, but. She seems to think she can somehow handle it」
「Well, it seems to have worked last time」
「Both the North and the South wasted a lot of time with that, so. We’d like to avoid a repeat」
I can accept that.
I think the Majins rampaging in the east were the first to stop?
「By the way, I heard Keith didn’t enter the tournament?」
「Yeah」
「That’s too bad.」
「Oh, yeah. I kind of want to buy one of those expensive Fool’s Lithographs, but what do you think?」
「Kaya. Don’t」
「But come on. Escorting a merchant party south to S5E1 or something. We could also do a personal quest but」
「Give it a rest」
「I guess you’re right, Giedre. I guess I’m fortunate just to know that there’s treasure before my eye, but」
Giedre also gives a bitter smile..
Various discourses are occurring about all sorts of things.
The bronze dragon video seems to have become famous overnight.
Something happened in a place I don’t know about.
Scary.
I finished my meal and moved on.
The time is 7:30 a.m.
Now, remind me of the scale of this event?
According to Konohana, there are more than 130 Summoner-type players alone.
If you include the production workers and others, there’re more than 170 people.
Uh.
What the hell!?
Each of the Summoners summon their monsters.
Of course, I do too.
I went with Volff, Zangetsu, Helix, Obsidian, and Oma.
By the way.
Our surroundings are incredible.
Between the players and monsters, we probably number around 700.
Umm.
Was the plan to attack the town of Remut?
Very clearly this is an army of demons.
「Then let’s go!」
With Adele in the lead the pack of monsters moves.
There’s an unnatural concentration of wolf-type monsters around her.
I understand Haruna and Konohana being there, but it seems that Margrid is as well.
She must be happy.
Adele looks like she’d be diving into a sea of fur if she wasn’t on horseback.
I also follow slightly behind Adele.
I’ll leave the rest to Zangetsu.
As for monsters attacking us?
There are none.
If any showed up to face this group, they’d be a legend!
The town of Remut is bustling. It’s amazingly vibrant.
No really, there are so many that it makes me question if this many players even exist.
They’re filling the town.
The town itself is larger than it used to be, but it’s even more densely populated.
「Ah, Keith-san. Can you give us a moment, please?」
「Yeah?」
「There’s a Summoner here who’s in a union with me. I’ll introduce you」
There is indeed a summoner where Hyodor’s looking.
He has a hawk and owl summoned on either shoulder.
At his sides are a wolf and a tiger.
He looks to be a young man.
Heraclius Lv.11
Summoner Standby
Level 11, huh.
With four summoned at once, his summoning magic must also be level 11.
He has a staff.
He looks to specifically be a magic-wielding type summoner.
「N- nice to meet you. I’m Heraclius」
「Hi. I’m Keith.」
Now that I think of it, wasn’t Hyodor unable to log in for a while because of something?
Hyodor also gets off of his horse and changes his summon monster team.
Ah, I guess a horse is pretty inconvenient in the town.
I’ll also get off of Zangetsu and recall him.
And I’ll summon Keimei.
The surrounding Summoners are also swapping out their horses.
Adele, well…
She summoned Orthros.
Irina immediately jumps in to scold her.
Well, that’s fair.
That very presence itself is basically a threat to everyone around.
「My current goal is to get a class change. I’ve somehow managed to keep up with Hyodor」
「Oh?」
「He’s an aspiring Necromancer. I’m looking forward to seeing it」
From the look of it, his coat seems to be made of Heavenly Zebra skin.
There are several jewels embedded in his staff.
He’s got some pretty good gear.
If he just keeps going like this, won’t he get a Class Change pretty soon?
By the way, Mr. Hyodor.
Is that a foil you’re wearing on your hip there?
He got a rapier, huh.
I think it’s a secondary weapon though, since he also has a bow and arrow on his back.
As an elf, and a summoner at that, going out on the front lines has gotta be pretty dangerous.
Well, I’m not gonna comment on it.
I’m not really one to talk.
「Okay, let’s split up here!」
「Later!!」
The Summoners scattered.
Some went shopping.
Some went to their respective masters.
Of course, most of them seemed to be spectators for the fighting tournament.
The production workers were busy setting up stalls and food stands.
Everyone’s begun to move according to their own plans.
Well then.
I’ll do the same.
「Ah, Keith-san! We’re over here」
「Am I late?」
「You’re right on time」
「I don’t see any of the others」
「We’ve got two-man surveillance teams. Even now one is close by」
I look around, but I don’t see any other Avengers besides Lambda.
It is possible that they’re disguised with a different face.
Although I can’t find them with my【Discern】.
The old man to Lambda’s right gives a nod.
Huh?
Is he disguised?
Lambda silently nods in response.
Wow.
My【Discern】can’t tell at all.
「So, where’s the Half-solobard?」
「I’ve been able to confirm that he’s participating in the tournament as a Drachma. He’s in the waiting room」
「I see」
「He’s in the intermediate league, so his venue is the former training grounds.」
「Is it crowded there?」
「The tournament hasn’t started yet. There aren’t that many spectators yet」
「Should we go ahead and secure our seats」
「Sure. Let’s go」
Same venue as last time, huh.
The former training grounds’ll probably be a pretty cramped venue
How full is it?
I’d say about half-way.
It seems that the opening ceremony will be held at the new training grounds, so there might be more NPC spectators there.
It’s a bit late, but I’ll finally check the management information.
There are 256 participants for each of the two leagues.
The venues are the Former Training Grounds, the New Training Grounds, and temporary game fields.
There will be four, eight, and twelve game fields respectively at each location.
The tournament is scheduled to end in just this one day.
It looks like just in the morning the first and second rounds will finish.
It’s hard to believe that 8 straight victories are needed to win.
The morning is one thing, but the afternoon will be hard.
If you don’t have any form of recovery through spells, it’s a murderous schedule.
Well, for the first round I guess it helps that the venue is so tight?
The audience and fights are relatively close.
Although closer isn’t always better.
While I was reading the tournament outline, the number of spectators suddenly increased.
Ninety percent of the spectator seats are filled.
That said, the area around us is still relatively open.
That’s because we have summoned monsters with us.
The guild staff is already waiting inside the venue.
A rumbling sound echoes in the distance.
Cheers, I guess.
「It’s time for the opening ceremony」
「It’s started, has it」
Participants are starting to appear on the field over here too.
Applause.
Cheers.
There are eight players on the four fields.
There’s no sign of the half-solo bard, Drachma, among them.
But.
Among those eight players, Hannes was there.
In the venue even【Identify】won’t show his name, but I can tell.
Since he’s not wearing a full-face helmet that’s natural.
But still, you know.
I knew you were participating, but.
The Chief Farmer Hannes’s opponent seems to be a pretty heavily armed fighter.
And a dwarf at that.
Although they haven’t changed classes yet, will he be able to handle a genuine combat class?
Although I’m expecting he will.
The state of matches can also be seen through the battle log.
Hannes made the right choice, in a way.
No, since he’s winning now, I think calling it right after the fact is wrong.
However, I do think that the choice was a pretty dangerous gamble.
Emphasis on speed.
And yet at the same time, built around the support of Tree Magic spells.
No shield.
Main weapon is, believe it or not, a sickle.
I’ve seen the tournament outline, and it seems that the higher your level, the more difficult your conditions become.
From that, it was a good match that managed to hide the level difference.
And while it’s true Hannes is higher in level, it’s somewhat strange that a production job is winning.
That’s a victory of ingenuity.
「An acquaintance of yours?」
「Yeah, pretty much」
「Your cheers slipped out a little」
Really?
Maybe they did.
Thanks.