Volume 4 Chapter 1 Individual Battle, Start
Individual Battle, Day of the Event.
Elk was eating breakfast, changing into his battle outfit, and stretching in his room.
After finishing his preparations, he left the room.
When he stepped outside the dorm, he saw Gambo, Fine, Merry, Nickes, and Emma.
They had promised to meet outside the dorm last night and head to the venue together.
Nickes, still in his uniform, said.
"Let me confirm. The lottery venue is in the central square. There, you'll draw lots to decide the preliminary match venue."
"You don't need to confirm that; I already know."
"Don't say that. Elk might forget."
"No, I haven't forgotten."
Gambo snorted, and Nickes gave Elk a light pat on the shoulder.
Then, Merry, dressed in knight-like armor, spoke up.
"Well then, I'll go ahead. From here on, we're rivals."
"Hey, Merry, let's go together!"
"You might not understand, Elk, but Mr. Gambo and Ms. Fine feel the same way, right?"
"Huh?"
When Elk looked at Gambo and Fine... their expressions were different.
They smiled confidently and nodded almost at the same time.
"That's how it is. We were teammates before, after all... But Elk, Fine, if we face each other in the individual battle, I won't hold back."
"Me too. I couldn't shine in the team battle because of Ms. Sarissa, so I'm really going for it! Merry, I won't hold back either!"
"Of course, Ms. Fine. Well then..."
"I'll take my leave now."
"Me too!"
The 3 of them left.
All that was left were Elk, Nickes, and Emma.
"Um, Mr. Elk... are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm just the same as always, Emma."
"It's good that you're acting normal... agreeing to meet was also a way to see each other."
"Looks like it. Alright, let's go!"
"Yeah. I'll stick with Emmy until the lottery is over. I'll cheer for you."
"Thanks. But you should cheer for Merry."
"Idiot. I'll cheer for Merry during the main event, so it's fine."
"──Hehe, you're really confident about winning, huh, Elk?"
Saying that, Nickes laughed.
* * *
Galatine Royal Academy, Central Square.
The main gate connects to the main building, making it the largest area in the academy. In the center, the lottery for the martial arts tournament's individual matches was taking place.
The participants were students from the 'Skill Department' who were new first-years.
A few students were in uniforms, but most were in combat gear with weapons.
Many people were lined up at the lottery venue.
Here, they would draw lots and be assigned to one of the 4 preliminary venues.
Elk also lined up at the lottery counter and drew a lottery card.
"Um, A5."
"Okay. Please proceed to Training Ground A. The preliminary tournament will be held there."
"What does this number mean?"
"It means Venue A, Preliminary Number 5. Now, off you go."
"Alright!"
With the card in hand, Elk joined Nickes and the others.
Following the sign that said Training Ground A, they headed to the venue.
When they showed their cards at the reception, the staff looked a bit surprised.
"Oh, Senior Elena!"
"Hey there, Elk!"
The receptionist was Elena, who had guided Elk during the team event.
Nickes smiled and said, "Wow..." at the beautiful senior.
"Are you Elk's friend?"
"Y-yes! I'm Nickes from the Commerce Department!"
"And, um... I'm Emma, also from the Commerce Department. So, Mr. Elk... who is this person?"
"Ah, it's Senior Elena. She guided me during the team battle."
"Nice to meet you, both of you."
Elena finished checking in and returned the card to Elk.
Then, she cleared her throat and explained.
"The preliminary round is about to start. The rules are simple: if you get knocked down twice during the battle or step out of the stage, you lose."
"That sounds easy..."
"Well, there are a lot of participants, so we plan to finish the preliminaries today."
"I see. But it's good that it's easy to understand."
"Hehe. Do your best, Elk."
"Yes! Thank you very much, Senior!"
Elk thanked Elena and headed into the venue.
Nickes and Emma went towards the audience seats.
"Elk, do your best!"
"Yeah, thanks, Nickes."
"Mr. Elk, please do your best!"
"Yeah. Thank you too, Emma."
"...So, about Senior Elena..."
"Huh?"
"Oh, it's about to start, Emmy! Let's go to the audience seats!!"
"Ah... mmm, Mr. Nickes."
Dragged by Nickes, Emma went to the audience seats.
Elk tilted his head but quickly focused... because all the participants' eyes were on Elk.
"Hey, that's the one who won the team battle." "Rosho got taken down by that guy."
"He's strong." "What kind of skills does he have?" "Be careful..."
There were many wary glances directed at Elk.
He wonders if Gambo and Fine feel the same way. Just as he was thinking that...
"Whoa!?"
"Huh? Oh."
Someone bumped into Elk and fell down.
"Ouch... I'm so sorry!! I wasn't looking ahead!!"
"Oh, are you okay?"
"Y-yes."
As Elk reached out a hand, the boy grabbed Elk's hand and stood up.
A boy in a white coat had several knives at his waist. His face looked young, and his brown hair swayed gently. He seemed somewhat like a feminine boy.
"I'm sorry. I'm really nervous..."
"It's okay, it's okay. I'm nervous too."
"R-Really? Ahaha... I'm Lolo. Nice to meet you!"
"I'm Elk. Nice to meet you."
"Mr. Elk, right? The Mr. Elk who won the team battle yesterday?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Wow!! It's amazing that someone so strong is in this block... Ugh, I'm so unlucky."
"No, no, it's not like that. Besides, you── I mean, Lolo, you're strong too, right?"
"No way, I can only do close combat with my 'Dagger Technique' skill, and I'm only level 9... Haha, I'll probably lose in the first round."
"Don't give up before you even start. It'll be fine."
"Y-Yeah..."
There was something about this boy that made Elk want to help him.
So, Elk patted Lolo's shoulder.
"Lolo, let's go to the main event together."
"Ugh... I'll do my best."
Just then, a voice echoed through the venue.
'The lottery is over, and we will now begin the preliminary round. Everyone in the venue, please look at the screen.'
Images appeared on a large glass panel hanging on the wall of the venue.
It was the tournament bracket.
There were quite a few names. It was easy to see why 2 knockdowns and being out of bounds were rules.
"Ah, my name!"
"Mine's there too."
"Thank goodness... I'm in the opposite position from Mr. Elk."
Lolo felt relieved.
Elk also felt a bit relieved because he didn't really want to fight Lolo.
"Now, let's start the first match."
The names of the students were called, and the two participants stepped onto the stage.
One person has a sword, and the other has an axe.
'Then, the first match───start!!'
It began.
The martial arts tournament's individual competition for the new students has started.
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