Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Preparing for the Main Tournament (1)

That day, at lunchtime.

As soon as class ended, I headed for the front gate of the Saengterminum campus.

For things like this, I could only feel satisfied if I checked as quickly as possible.

“Wow, a lot of people came.”

“Given the scale of the tournament, there’s bound to be a lot of interest.”

Students and Visitors who had left through the front gate like me were gathered in their own groups, waiting for the tournament bracket to appear on the noticeboard.

After standing mixed in with the crowd for a few minutes, I noticed that the eyes of several people around me were strangely fixed in one direction.

‘...Did those guys come to see the bracket too?’

The three members of Team 1 were gathered in one place.

“Those are the Team 1 members participating this time, right?”

“I heard those two over there are Inquisitors who came as dispatched students this time? Then they must be really good at fighting......”

It made sense that gazes would gather. 

The team currently drawing the most attention in the tournament was precisely that Team 1.

Over the three days of the preliminary rounds, word had spread widely among the students about what kind of members Team 1 was composed of.

Grade 1 Elysia, Grade 2 Franz, and Grade 2 Bella.

Even if just one of them were on a team, that team would be a strong contender for victory. 

Since all three of them had formed a team together, there was naturally no way the students, myself included, would look favorably on it.

“That Elf’s name is Elysia, right? I heard she’s participating even though she isn’t a student?”

“She’s apparently the daughter of the chieftain who leads the Elves. Is this even right? What happened to fairness?”

The students who had been staring intently at Team 1 nodded as if they had made a promise.

“Still, she’s pretty, so let’s forgive her.”

“Agreed. Elysia looks even prettier because she’s an Elf princess, doesn’t she?”

“Bella isn’t bad either, is she?”

Goddamn it, do looks cover that for you people? 

This is why students are hopeless.

The fawning from the male students around me reached its peak when Elysia turned to look this way.

“Hey, hey, she looked this way.”

“As if. She was looking at me.”

They sure knew how to amuse themselves.

In any case, I had not expected that pointy-ear to bring Inquisitors onto her team either.

She said she had participated because she wanted to check the abilities of her kin, but if that really were the case, there would have been no problem teaming up with other Elves like in the previous timeline.

‘Hmm, it does feel like it has something to do with Karin......’

Even if Karin was a Dark Elf, she was still one of their kin, so Elysia might have taken offense at her forming a team with a Black Mage.

However, since I knew what Elysia had been like in the previous timeline, question marks rose in my head.

‘...That arrogant pointy-ear is worrying about a Dark Elf?’

After I thought about Elysia for a few seconds, mana soon rippled across the noticeboard hung at Saengterminum’s front gate.

“Please, let our first match be against an easy team......”

“We made it this far. If we get eliminated right away, it’ll be humiliating.”

Like the other participating students, I was feeling quite desperate too.

Team 1 and Team 7, which had people skilled at handling Holy Power, would be quite difficult to defeat with the team we had currently put together.

Thinking that, I stared at the noticeboard where the bracket was appearing.

FLASH.

“It’s up!”

“Who is Team 1 fighting?”

“It’s not our team?”

The moment the tournament bracket was revealed, the students and Visitors looking at it stirred all at once.

“...Huh?”

“Wow, so it turned out like this......?”

“That’s insane.”

I looked at the bracket and smiled broadly.

Because the draw luck had worked out exactly as I wanted?

If that were the case, I would not be smiling this refreshingly. 

Fucking hell.

“...Somehow, my ill-fated lot never changes.”

I grumbled under my breath and glared at the bracket.

Team 1 vs. Team 44

“Team 44 means the team with the Direct Line of the Four Great Houses, right?”

“The one with that odd Holy Magic Department student too... huh?”

The students around me recognized me as a member of Team 44 and stiffened awkwardly.

I had feared it might happen, but to think my first match in the main tournament would immediately be against Team 1, the team I had been watching most closely.

...Phew, was this karma for all the disgraceful nonsense I pulled in the previous timeline?

“Was 4 really the worst number after all?”

Around the time I was seriously reflecting on the jinx surrounding the number 4.

“I didn’t think we would compete this soon.”

“......?”

Elysia approached me with the graceful gait unique to Elves.

Seeing as she came toward me as if she had been waiting, it seemed that her glance in this direction a moment ago had not been a coincidence.

At the meeting between members of the two teams that would face each other from the very start of the main tournament, everyone’s gazes gathered on us.

“I imagine you already know, but allow me to introduce myself formally. I am Elysia, daughter of the chieftain who oversees the Great Forest.”

“...What business could such an esteemed person have with me?”

Her manner of speech was graceful, but her gaze and atmosphere were blatantly combative.

She did not seem particularly inclined to hide it either.

“I heard about you. They said you were the one who brought Lloyd, a Direct Line of the Four Great Houses, onto your team.”

“I did. Is there a problem with that?”

“You are the one who tied Karin, one of our kin, into a team with a Black Mage. Did you think I, as the chieftain’s daughter, would stand by and watch that?”

‘...Now look at this. Was she originally like this?’

I had vaguely guessed as much, but actually talking to her made it quite unexpected.

Before my Return to the Past, I had met Elysia after she became an adult quite a few times as a representative of the Dark Empire.

We had even cooperated when wiping out the hideouts of Dark Elves who had become Black Sorcerers.

I handled the Demon Worshippers, and Elysia handled the Dark Elves.

It had been a joint operation made possible because our interests aligned in their own way.

Originally, Elves avoided Black Mages like me, but at that time, Black Magic or whatever else aside, the Luknica Continent had been racing toward destruction. 

When both our lives were on the line, caring about such things had been a luxury.

‘Filthy things...... We finally killed them all.’

‘They were bastards who deserved to die, but still. Aren’t these guys your kin?’

‘Haha, kin? Kin, you say? Dark Elves are a disgrace to our race, an unclean breed. Why would I care about these things?’

To think someone who had not cared what happened to Dark Elves at all before my Return to the Past would say something so textbook.

Then did that mean this was what she had originally been like? 

And her personality changed once she became an adult?

To me, that was rather interesting information, but.

“A Holy Magic Department student joining hands with a hideous Black Mage just to win is utterly disgusting. If this were not Saengterminum, winning the tournament would not even be the issue. I would make you prostrate yourself and beg right here with my magic. What a shame.”

“Hah, honestly......”

I was not the kind of saintly figure who would sit still after hearing that kind of abuse at a first meeting.

I did not know why everyone was so desperate to get under my skin.

Do you even know that the person standing right in front of you is a Black Mage?

“A pointy-ear who threw her manners to the dogs sure talks a lot.”

“...Wh-what did you say?”

“Your mouth may be crooked, but your words should be straight. You’re openly guaranteeing you’ll beat our team. But in the end, didn’t you change your team’s lineup because you were worried you’d lose to us?”

Elysia, struck where it hurt, frowned.

Pure magic had a hard time dealing fatal damage to undead by nature. 

From her perspective, she must have wanted a sure victory.

“That’s why you teamed up with Inquisitors. Isn’t it pretty pathetic to get scared and tuck your tail before the fight even starts, then talk now as if you’ve already won?”

“You......”

Elysia pressed her lips together, apparently furious, but she probably had nothing to say.

It was not as if I had said anything wrong.

“Phew... Yes. I won’t bother denying what you said. But what of it?”

Elysia glared at me in silence.

“In the end, all that matters is winning.”

“Right. Winning is what matters.”

It was not as if I particularly disliked that attitude.

I also thought winning was more important than anything else.

Perhaps it hit me harder because my life had often been the collateral.

But.

“That said, I don’t think that gives pointy-ears like you a reason to hate Black Magic.”

“For us Elves, keeping Black Magic close at all is absurd, is it not?”

“Oh, is that so?”

Honestly, whether it was those Inquisitors over there or this sheltered princess who knew nothing of the world.

Someone was worrying about the destruction of the world, and seeing them drag up this petty nonsense did not sit well with me.

Just wait until destruction comes for you. 

See whether you have time to care about that shit.

I, now displeased, glanced around.

There were plenty of people watching. 

It would not be bad to bring it up here.

“Good. Then let’s make a wager here.”

“A wager?”

“Yeah, a wager. There are plenty of witnesses here, so it’s perfect.”

Team 1 was difficult to beat, but difficult was all it was.

After rolling through a war, I did not think I would lose in a tournament like this.

Our team was going to win anyway, so it would be fine to screw them over a bit along the way.

“You said all that matters is winning, right? If you beat our team, I won’t defend Black Magic ever again.”

““......!””

Franz and Bella behind her widened their eyes and flinched. 

It seemed they found it quite unexpected that I would go this far.

“In exchange, if your team loses, you acknowledge Karin’s association with Black Magic. There should be give-and-take, shouldn’t there?”

It was just a verbal wager anyway. 

Even if many people were watching, neither side had an obligation to keep it.

However, Elysia was the princess of the Elves. 

She had her own status, so if she accepted here, she would not nitpick over Karin again.

“...They said you were an eccentric who didn’t hate Black Magic despite being a Holy Magic Department student, and you are exactly that.”

Elysia smiled coldly.

“Fine. Let us try it, then. Not that it will matter, since our team will win.”

“Good. Let’s try it.”

Because she was a haughty pointy-ear, perhaps, this kind of provocation worked quite well.

Let’s see whether she could still say that after losing in the tournament.

But......

‘Why do those guys look like that?’

Ever since I declared the wager with Elysia, the atmosphere around Franz and Bella, the two Inquisitors, had been unusual.

A moment ago, I had thought it was simply because my words were unexpected, but now, some unknown solemnity even hung around the two of them.

“Haha...... I’m surprised, Damon. I didn’t think you would come out this strongly.”

“Indeed. To be honest, I have gained a new respect for you, seeing you even make a wager here.”

“......?”

Was this really something they needed to praise me that much for?

It was not as if I had written a contract or stamped my thumbprint, so why were they saying that?

It seemed Elysia felt the same.

“Pardon? Ah, no, why are you two suddenly acting like this?”

She also hurriedly turned back and pointed at me.

“This is just a wager made in words. Honestly, even if that man loses the wager, do you really think he will properly honor it?”

Good, Elysia. 

I have no idea why they’re acting like this either.

Even at Elysia’s protest, which was thick with bewilderment, the two of them quietly swallowed groans.

Then, soon, they looked at me and nodded.

“Yes. Damon will certainly try to keep the wager.”

“He will. Even so, he is an Acquired Holy Power Awakener.”

“...What?”

...What did they say?

Elysia’s voice spoke for my feelings.