“W-What on earth… That guy definitely wasn’t here last time.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

Ray tightly shut his mouth. But he couldn’t hide his gaze, so I could tell what he was looking at. At the end of Ray’s stare was a noisy mob of warriors.

Ugh, so loud. What’s with them coming to gawk at the tournament bracket like that?

I furrowed my brows like Ray. Just as I was about to say, “Isn’t it noisy? Should we just leave?” I spotted a warrior stepping out from the mob.

He was such a large figure, and with his bold actions, he naturally caught attention.

His laughter was…

“Wahhahaha!! I am number one, you know! Naturally, of course!”

Seriously huge.

He lightly tapped on the tournament board with his finger.

Is it okay to treat public property like that?

I was surprised by his rudeness and ignorance, but he seemed to be a contestant in the main event, so I became curious about who this guy was.

Looking at where he pointed with his thick finger, it read A-1, ‘Arpen Albasete.’ He must be the Great Warrior of the Albasete Tribe.

It seemed like he used an axe… Wait a minute. A-1 means he might be facing me?

I realized I had forgotten something and shifted my gaze back to the tournament bracket. The truth was, I had my reasons for checking the bracket.

– “You’ll meet Ray in the finals? But you’re in Group B, and Ray’s in Group C? Hahaha!”

Uncle Elson had laughed loudly at me. He wouldn’t tell me the reason. He just said I’d find out once the brackets came out.

Both Uncle Elson and Ray definitely looked down on me. Just you wait. I’ll show you.

I compared the bracket with my finger in the air to confirm the tournament sequence. I would be climbing up from the second match in Group B, and Ray would be starting from Group C…

“…Huh?”

I understood why Uncle Elson had laughed at me. My face burned, and at the same time, disappointment washed over me.

“W-What? We can’t meet in the finals! If that’s the case, you could have told me.”

I couldn’t meet Ray in the finals.

Before that, we would face each other in the semifinals.

It was evident from the bracket.

The victor in the Round of 16 of Group B would match up against the winner of Group A in the quarterfinals, and while I wasn’t sure if that opponent would be that Great Warrior, beating him meant I would eventually face Ray. It was a somewhat disappointing arrangement.

After all, Ray and I would both win anyway! Wouldn’t it have been great if we could face each other in the finals?

If Ray had slid down three slots and gotten seed E-1 instead of C-2, it would have been perfect.

But then again… if I thought differently, maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

I shifted my thoughts to the worst-case scenario. We could have faced each other in the Round of 16 or the quarterfinals, but avoiding that was a stroke of luck.

If we got eliminated in the Round of 16 or quarterfinals, whether it was me or Ray, we would have to face the resurrection battles.

That would be somewhat embarrassing, so it didn’t seem so bad that we got to settle it in the semifinals.

In the semifinals, we could both become knights and cheer for whoever advanced to the finals.

It would be even better if I won and said to Ray—

– “You just wait. I’ll win, and if I win, we’re getting married.”

That felt nice to imagine.

Even if I lost (to be honest, that probability was slightly higher), there was something I wanted to say. To Ray, who would advance to the finals by defeating me—

– “I can’t accept that. I need to settle this; let’s get married. We’ll find the conclusion in marriage.”

I wanted to insist.

You’re so good that I need time to catch up. It’s payback for all the times you’ve made me kneel.

Honestly, either way, the conclusion would be the same.

Whoever wins, we would become knights and get married. This would end my life with the happily ever after of “And they lived happily ever after.”

But something I hadn’t even imagined happened.

Ray got eliminated in the Round of 16.

And… I got eliminated too. In the quarterfinals.

*

“Mauin, the popular star of the Letii Tournament! Coming from the Albasete Tribe~ A~~~~~ rpen!!”

“Arpen! Arpen!”

“Is he setting the record for the highest score in the quarterfinals? Hahaha! Hang in there, Arpen!”

I didn’t want to recall it, but I was on stage in the quarterfinals.

Feeling a bit gloomy since Ray had dropped out in the Round of 16, I stepped onto the stage. The host’s introduction was already extraordinary. The audience erupted into cheers.

Arpen Albasete.

The colossal warrior I had seen the other day came on stage with some bizarre moves. He stretched an axe to one side and then turned it around to strike a pose like he was showing off; a showman of sorts. He shouted.

“I have not died yet; here I am again! And I’m still hungry!”

“Hahahaha! Right, right. Wasn’t it last year? He dropped out because he had a stomach ache.”

“No. The stomach ache was two years ago. Last year he forfeited due to oversleeping. He really is the unluckiest guy around. With bad draw luck, he keeps meeting the winner in the Round of 16… Arpen! Go for it! Please make it to the semifinals!!”

Later I learned that this warrior, Arpen, was a symbol of terrible bad luck in Barnau.

He had been trying for nearly 20 years to compete in the Mauin-Letii Tournament, but various reasons had caused his elimination each time.

He had stomach issues, lost his way and fell, even forfeited mid-tournament to confess to his loved one, and returned without even qualifying due to his child suffering from illness.

At this point, it was right to say the gods themselves were denying him victory.

But his skill was such that it wouldn’t be surprising if he won at any moment, and because of that, many citizens of Barnau supported him. Thus, this was his first time reaching the quarterfinals in this tournament.

It was something to celebrate, but… tsk tsk. Guess this is it for him again.

Because he directly faced me, Leira Ainar! (It’s embarrassing, but I was thinking that at the time.)

Having effortlessly demolished the Round of 16, I confidently drew my sword. As my unusually long and blood-stained white sword appeared, the audience fell silent for a moment.

This is why I wield this sword.

I rested the blade on my shoulder to conserve my arm strength.

“Hahaha. What’s with that sword? If you’re going to use that, you might as well use an axe.”

As I focused, my opponent began talking to me. He seemed to be quite the chatterbox.

“Don’t you want to become a knight, old man? A knight wields a sword. At the very least, use a spear. Axes are no good.”

“Why? What’s wrong with axes?”

“They’re simple-minded. It’s hard to bring about change.”

“Oh please, you little girl don’t know what you’re talking about. Is it the Ainar Tribe? You don’t hunt, just farm, huh?”

“What?!”

“What’s so hard about axes bringing about change? I don’t feel like explaining it since you’ve irritated me, but try getting hit once. Come on, kid warrior.”

He charged.

I quickly visualized the clash of the two heavy weapons meeting.

My longsword and their double-edged axe are fundamentally limited in their attack frequency.

Each swing requires effort, reinforcing the need for strength and exceptional agility, as well as a significant level of mental competition.

I responded by slightly pulling back my left foot, my stepping foot. This way, I could direct my center of gravity forward, observing my opponent’s movements and calculating my strike.

‘Right, come right in.’

That Great Warrior named Arpen seemed overconfident in his strength, charging in while gripping the axe handle with both hands.

He clearly intended to block my downward strike, but ha! Let’s see you stop this! Using the elasticity of my shoulder, I flicked the blade up and swung down with all my might.

– Swaaaash-!

My long sword cut through the air. With its length, it picked up centrifugal force and struck down quickly…

“Eep, no!”

“I didn’t think you wouldn’t dodge!”

I assumed he wouldn’t evade, and sure enough, he didn’t. But his stance was unique.

He let go of the axe handle.

Holding the axe heads vertically with both palms, he tried to block my sword. The handle dangled in between.

And that was crucial.

– Clang!

Since he lifted the axe head to his head height, my sword didn’t gain enough momentum and was blocked. Moreover, his stance (which looked absurd at first) was extremely stable.

Standing upright, he raised his arms high to defend.

Typically, one would lie the axe down and accept my sword with the handle, which would have broken the handle. But he blocked the attack with the strongest part of the axe, the axe head, and quickly transitioned to his next move.

“Uhhhhh. You say the axe is hard to change? Hahaha! Right, that might be true. But I’m so good that I mastered that simple method when I was young. Take this! Stick!”

“Ah!!”

That was really a bizarre move. If you could distinguish the left and right blades of the double-edged axe, he crossed his hands to grab the lower part of the left blade with his right hand.

He swung down the protruding part sticking out from the ‘T’ shape with his right hand, sending the dangling axe handle whirling as it crashed down.

Right onto my head!

I gritted my teeth.

Returning a heavy weapon immediately to a defensive posture after expending a breath to attack is no easy feat.

Fortunately, the sword was lifted, so there was a chance to pull back and block. I leaned back into my sword’s weight.

– Thud!

Just as I brushed aside the axe handle that was about to crash down on my head, I barely had time to react before a whistling sound came from my right.

“Ahh!!”

“Wow! Arpen! Arpen!!”

I almost got slapped in the face.

He followed up with a slap from his remaining left hand. Thankfully, I managed to lift my shoulder to block it…

“Mmm~ not bad. There are only a handful of people who manage to block that on the first try. How about it, young lady? Do you still think the axe is a simple-minded weapon?”

“…Tch! Yes. It’s incredibly simple-minded.”

“Hmm. You still haven’t had enough.”

Strangely enough, at that moment, winning or losing didn’t matter to me anymore. The key to freely wielding my sword was right there. I charged in, enchanted, and was beaten badly.

Arpen Albasete.

He truly was an outstanding warrior, bringing me immense realization and defeat, and advanced to the semifinals. Whether it was a joyous occasion or not, he turned to his wife and children in the audience and shouted,

“Dear! Kids! Did you see? You saw it, right?! I achieved my wish! I’m winning this year! I won’t be back again!! Hahahaha!!”

He let out a refreshing roar.

However, as a true symbol of terrible bad luck, the very next day, he met a warrior named Reb in the semifinals.

The incredible fighter who overcame Ray had some grudge against Arpen; on a rainy day, he beat him to a pulp.

In the end, he said, “Thank you,” but… my eyes weren’t wrong. He was definitely a bit crazy.