TWEM Vol. 6 Chapter 3 Part 1
Chapter 3 – The Second Day of the Preliminary Rounds
The next day.
Early in the morning, the qualifying round for block-E, in which Kuzel would compete in, began.
Muscular contestants surrounded Kuzel as soon as the event started.
It was a similar scene to yesterday.
Well, there weren’t many female participants, so it’s only natural for this to happen.
“Kuzel can win, right?”
“Of course. I’m unsure how Kuzel could lose to a group of that caliber.”
I responded to Finne’s mutterings.
It sounded like a flag, but it didn’t matter, because Kuzel’s level was high.
We turned our eyes to the stage.
◇◇◇
One of the participants surrounding Kuzel opened his mouth with a grin.
“Heh heh. Girl, if you don’t want to get hurt――fuggghhhh!”
The next thing you know, the guy was blown away and burrowed into the arena wall.
“Where…?”
Such dumb voices rose from the men surrounding Kuzel.
What happened?
The answer is simple.
Kuzel just got into the man’s opening and kicked him away.
The men simply couldn’t keep up with Kuzel’s movements.
“Hey, are there any other strong guys in the group? These guys are not enough!”
At the sound of Kuzel’s voice, the men took one step back and another.
“Hm.”
Kuzel looked at the participants, nodded, drew her sword and―― disappeared.
The next moment, the players surrounding Kuzel were blown out of the arena.
‘‘Oops! What the hell happened!? Who is she?!’’
Nina looked at Kuzel’s rampage.
Once again, Nina was handed a paper by the staff.
“Well, according to the information we’ve just received――what? What a surprise, she is that ‘Scarlet Princess’!”
The audience was excited by Nina’s information.
‘‘The youngest knight in the history of the Kingdom of Glicente to become vice-captain of the Knights, Kuzel! The battlefield where she appeared is stained with blood, so she got her nickname, ‘Scarlet Princess!’ Will this tournament also be stained with blood!?’’
The venue was once again enveloped in cheers.
However, Kuzel herself showed no particular interest in the excitement.
“Is there anyone strong enough?”
She shouted as she defeated her opponents one after another until finally, only two people stood on the stage.
One was Kuzel. The other was a woman of the same age as Kuzel, holding a rapier.
“I’m Rain.”
“Kuzel.”
With that, they fell silent and―― ran toward each other.
The moment they entered each other’s range, a sharp blow was fired from Rain towards Kuzel.
Kuzel easily dodged Rain’s blows, but Rain still delivered sharp and sophisticated thrusts over and over again.
However, Kuzel was not all beaten.
While calmly handling the barrage of blows, she took advantage of an opening to launch a counterattack.
For several minutes, an intense exchange of swords ensued.
The tension in the hall was so great that even Nina, the commentator of the event, was watching the action without commentary.
But that time did not last forever.
Kuzel escaped from the opening by retreating backward while avoiding Rain’s attack.
“I won’t let you get away!”
Rain stepped further in order to keep Kuzel from escaping.
At that moment, Rain saw Kuzel’s mouth lift up.
Then she realized. that it was a trap.
Rain hurriedly retreated and tried to distance herself from Kuzel, but it was already too late.
“Don’t run away.”
Kuzel entered Rain’s range with a quick movement.
“――damn it, Earth Wall!”
Rain activated earth magic and created a wall between her and Kuzel.
“Get out of my way!”
However, Kuzel didn’t look surprised, instead activating the skill Arm Vigor that increased her physical strength and smashed the wall with the arm that was not holding the sword.
“No way? You broke it with your bare hands!?”
Rain was surprised to see Kuzel breaking the wall, but she fired a rapier thrust at her as Kuzel came into her range.
Undaunted by this, Kuzel tilted her head slightly, scratching her cheek as she pushed forward.
“Damn it!”
Rain let out a cry of anguish as she saw Kuzel approaching.
Kuzel raised her sword in a reverse thrust toward her.
Rain, while losing her stance, backstepped to avoid the attack――
“This is the end!”
Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Kuzel threw a kick at Rain’s stomach.
“Gah!”
Rain, who Kuzel’s kick had hit, was blown horizontally and crashed against a wall, knocking her out.
Only Kuzel remained on the stage.
Thus, Kuzel also was able to qualify for the main tournament without incident.
◇◇◇
“As expected, Kuzel is amazing!”
“…I never thought of charging into a series of rapier attacks myself.”
The two who said that were Finne and Iris.
I nodded at their words.
Indeed, I never expected to get into a barrage of attacks with that rapier.
It’s not impossible, but I don’t think I’ll force myself to do it.
“I believe Iris-sama’s movement speed is also not that bad, right?”
“What are you talking about, Asha? I don’t have that kind of courage.”
Iris replied to Asha, but then Suzuno and Ephyr joined her.
“Kuzel-san is certainly amazing. As expected of an A-rank adventurer.”
“I learned a lot from training with Kuzel, so I will have her teach me again!”
Everyone had high praise for Kuzel’s combat skills.
Kuzel’s match was over, but we will watch the rest of the matches.
The one who stood out among them was an S-rank adventurer named Fance.
This was the first time I had seen an S-rank adventurer other than Dyne, Norverne, and Ranze, whom I had met in the Kingdom of Perdis.
Fance was wielding a spear, his weapon of choice, and using magic to trample other participants.
He was a terrifyingly strong man.
After watching all the matches, we went to the inn to celebrate Kuzel’s entry into the main tournament.
Thus, Finne, Iris, and Kuzel were safely selected to participate in the main tournament.
～