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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: bchen3
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A week had passed since the day my mind became troubled.
The training was progressing smoothly. While there weren’t many status points that could be raised through training alone, the vanguard members had reached a level where they could be said to be capable of party play.
“Let’s stop here for today. Take some rest to prepare for tomorrow.”
“Haaaaah…”
“Everyone worked hard!”
“Ugh… I want to quickly go back to my room and shower because of all the sweat.”
As soon as they were told to rest, Kinoshita handed water bottles to the vanguard members who had collapsed onto the ground. Though Kinoshita still despised messy fighting, she had started showing her face more often as she gradually became closer to Amakasu and Masunaka, who were also women. While she didn’t participate in training with the other party members due to their difference in skill levels, she had been consistently training with me, even if just a little.
‘…At this competition’s level, it should be more than enough.’
While it was true that her training time was lacking, she had more than enough ability to make up for it.
‘At minimum, I can now say for certain she’s A-rank.’
She seemed somewhat scattered yet had a feeling of not easily allowing others to get close, so I didn’t ask any further questions about her rank.
“Since it would be a waste to spend time on unnecessary things, let’s talk quickly and go. According to the tournament bracket, our first opponent tomorrow is Fujikake Shogo-san’s party.”
“…Time has come to repay the debt.”
When Fatty made a serious face, Kinoshita burst out laughing, saying it was funny.
“At this point, they’re a party with a standard composition. Actually, there aren’t any particularly variable factors to consider, and I think it will be a straightforward power-versus-power type of battle. Personally, I think we’re in a higher weight class, so I believe we’ll win the power struggle without much trouble.”
Everyone’s expressions brightened at my words.
“And after that, our next opponent will be whoever wins between Bakugo-san and Tsurushima-san’s parties. And in my opinion, I predict Bakugo-san’s party has a higher probability of advancing.”
At those words, their brightened faces darkened again.
Fatty’s expression, in particular, grew dark.
With 108 people being such a large number, and with difficult training, and parties not being formed with members of similar abilities but rather with people of varying skill levels gathered together, it would have been harder for problems not to arise during the 10-day period.
During the ten days, there had been various incidents among the parties, and among them, Bakugo was considered the most problematic.
Whether or not he hoped to change classes from Warrior to Berserker was unknown, but he was quite an explosive person.
Not only did he furiously rage whenever his party members couldn’t perform well, but he also injured members of opposing parties during scrimmages to an almost cruel degree.
When the opposing side protested about this, he gave them such precious responses as:
“Isn’t it because you’re weak? Criminal. Don’t run your mouth after getting trampled.”
Or:
“After I went this far for you, you couldn’t even protect a single fruit. You don’t deserve to win.”
While none of what he said was entirely wrong when examined point by point, the fact that he could seriously say such things out loud in that tone was something I found rather remarkable.
Moreover, though it was a bit cringe-worthy, he was the first among all users to receive ‘titles’ created by other users.
And he had two of them.
[Tyrant] and [Prince].
Though both were meant sarcastically, the person in question seemed to actually like them.
He wasn’t someone with normal mental faculties.
However, separately, no one ignored his skills or cruelty, and from a few days ago, there weren’t even any teams willing to properly scrimmage with him.
It was no wonder the vanguard members who would have to fight him head-on, and Fatty who would have to block his charges with his body, were nervous.
“Well, don’t worry too much. While Bakugo-san’s party wins decisively when they win, they tend to lose pathetically when they lose. Though I don’t know about him individually, their completion level as a party isn’t high, so winning won’t be as difficult as you might think. You’ve all practiced enough, right?”
“Hmm…! Indeed that’s true!”
“If we can get through tomorrow’s round of 16 and quarter-finals, we’ll have cleared the biggest hurdle. Just do what we’ve been practicing until today, so don’t worry. I’ll take responsibility for the rest.”
“Mm! I’ll just keep believing in Kid-kun like we’ve done until now!”
Fatty responded cheerfully.
The others also nodded with smiles, showing confidence in themselves unlike when we first met.
Yeah, it would be nice if they could just hold out until the last day.
◈ ◈ ◈
“Today’s third match of the round of 16. The party led by Hero Fujikake Shogo-nim will compete against the party led by Hero Yoon Sihu-nim. Would both sides please come forward.”
Following the announcement, the party members stepped forward.
I tapped the shoulder of Fatty, who was moving forward stiffly with tension.
“Relax.”
“Uh…mm.”
“Come on, what’s the worst that could happen besides losing? Everyone relax. Don’t mind! Don’t mind!”
Amakasu and Masunaka were also completely stiff, but unexpectedly, Kinoshita put her arms around their shoulders and helped them relax.
Though it would have been understandable to be nervous with so many people watching, there wasn’t a single trace of tension on her face – she was truly as bold a gal as her usual behavior suggested.
Still, thanks to this unexpected side of her, the other vanguard members also comforted each other and released their tension.
‘…Honestly, I thought of it as a temporary party, but the atmosphere has definitely improved.’
Because of the slight attachment that had formed, I had no intention of maintaining this party as it was.
Still, even if it disbanded or if I alone left, I thought they might be able to function as a party that could get by on their own with the bonds they had built.
At least, I didn’t think these people now were bad enough to be classified as part of the loser group.
As the priests of the knight order finished healing the injured from the previous party, those parties cleared the area and crossed paths with us.
The captain of the winning party from the second match, the school kid, passed by and crossed paths with me.
‘Not even making eye contact.’
Still, the obvious hostility he had shown at first had diminished somewhat.
Though things were still awkward.
The winners of the first two matches were Saito’s party and the school kid’s party that had just cleared the area.
Both were S-rank and had stood out in a good way during training, so I thought they might be closer to one-man teams with their aces carrying since their party members’ levels were lower compared to other parties, but surprisingly, they were parties that properly worked together as units.
While it made sense for Saito’s party, which had shown decent leadership from the start, I was surprised that the school kid’s party also managed to work together properly as a team.
Thanks to that, my internal evaluation of the school kid rose a bit.
From an ill-mannered middle school syndrome kid to someone who could unexpectedly cooperate when needed.
As I watched him descend from the training ground without even giving me a glance, I turned my attention to the man approaching me with a tense expression.
“Please take care of me today, Kid-nim.”
“Please take care of us as well, Fujikake-san.”
My thoughts had wandered too long.
I needed to focus on what was in front of me.
◈ ◈ ◈
Contrary to the expectation that it might flow boringly since it was a battle between orthodox styles, the development unexpectedly progressed with a sense of speed.
If it weren’t for the presence of Kinoshita, who acted as the crack, it would have truly been reduced to a simple battle of endurance, determined by which side’s priest tired first.
“Bang!”
Unlike before, Kinoshita now had trust in Fatty’s ability to properly guard the front.
As a result, Kinoshita used [Thunder Bolt] while making her hand into a gun shape with her thumb and index finger, like someone at a shooting range with just their index fingernail exposed.
If aimed accurately when first activated, it was an unavoidable lightning strike.
Though the damage was random, the attack was inevitably burdensome as it caused momentary paralysis like a stun gun, even if just for an instant.
Moreover, whenever they weren’t entangled and were keeping their distance from each other for mutual checks, Kinoshita’s [Thunder Bolt] would invariably fly.
Thanks to this, a manly engagement occurred where the vanguards became entangled without worrying about their backs.
“Ab…solutely won’t let you through.”
What stood out there was definitely Fatty’s performance.
While Fatty had improved miraculously in terms of mental fortitude over the 10 days, he still lacked not only shield techniques but also spatial awareness like viewing situations and positioning movement.
Naturally, there couldn’t be no openings throughout the fight against Fujikake and the opposing vanguards who had practiced hard for 10 days while receiving the priest’s buffs.
However, even when it seemed like they would break through, there was his determination to absolutely not let Fujikake advance forward, marking him desperately to the point of seeming pathetic while grabbing his pant legs.
Thanks to this, when they started to lose balance in confusion at the disparity between the Fatty from before and the current Fatty, despite only 10 days having passed, I and Kinoshita moved to create cracks, and it ended with breaking the Flower Turtle’s fruit through the gaps.
At the rather anticlimactic ending, Fujikake looked dejectedly at the group of four vanguards who were excited about their victory.
“It was a good match, Fujikake-san.”
“…It was a good match.”
Fujikake shook my hand but made a bitter expression at the situation that was completely opposite from 10 days ago.
This is how it should have been from the start.
◈ ◈ ◈
After receiving healing from the knights’ priests and coming down from the training ground, we took a short break.
Since the turtle’s fruit needed time to recover, people gathered back at the training ground after finishing an early lunch.
And the party members watched the next match with somewhat tense expressions.
The next match was between Bakugo and Tsurushima’s parties, one of which would be our next opponent.
While one side was closer to a one-man carry team supporting Bakugo, Tsurushima’s team had a decent offensive balance with Tsurushima as the captain and mage, and the glasses guy who could serve as a B-rank vanguard backbone.
However, they weren’t suitable for long battles as they didn’t have a priest.
‘Both sides are offensive parties that concentrated their resources on attacks.’
Thanks to this, the match was decided quickly.
The vanguards needed to block Bakugo’s advance couldn’t stop him, and Bakugo ignored Tsurushima and approached the turtle, destroying the fruit.
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!”
And afterwards, he even did a celebration, stretching his arms toward the sky and shouting.
Apart from his troublemaker aspects, some knights and users who were watching applauded and congratulated Bakugo’s victory, impressed by his showmanship.
However, Fatty, who had just watched Bakugo crush Tsurushima’s party vanguards, turned as pale as a pig about to be dragged to the slaughterhouse.
◈ ◈ ◈
The next match was incredibly, incredibly impressive.
It was Samurai vs. Samurai for the aces.
The handsome delinquent versus Himura Takeru, an A-rank samurai who, like Bakugo, hadn’t been chosen until the end.
Right at the start of the meeting between captains, Himura immediately provoked the handsome delinquent.
“You have tarnished the name of samurai.”
“Huh? Picking a fight right away?”
“No matter how excellent the katana is as a sword, and no matter how invincible battōjutsu is as swordsmanship, it’s meaningless if the user is just a lowly delinquent.”
“…You bastard. You’ll have to pay the price for running your mouth.”
“A warrior’s rebuttal is made not with words, but only through duels.”
I think the battle between these two parties was the most unique fight.
The two aces who played the biggest roles were both samurai, and not the type specialized in chaotic battles like the school kid, but rather the type that seemed focused on spiritual sword techniques.
Without paying any attention to the other party members, it was the ultimate battōjutsu showdown between just the two of them.
And the end was.
Thuk-!
“Once again, I’ve cut down something worthless.”
“Damn it…”
When Himura sheathed his wooden sword, the handsome delinquent staggered and fell with a red wound across his chest.
Cheers erupted at the same moment.
“…Hmph, as expected, everyone cheers at seeing battōjutsu, the strongest sword technique-”
“The winner is Hero Oda Ryosuke’s party for destroying the Flower Turtle’s fruit!”
“Oh no!”
Well… it certainly was entertaining to watch.
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