by Aneko Yusagi
I wanted to keep as low a profile as possible while still making people think our party was amazing. In that case, maybe we should finish them off with a single blow and not even leave anyone time to give them support. Or we could pretend to struggle and make it look like we just barely managed to win. Either way, we would have to see how strong they were first.
“For now, you lead the attack, Filo. Raphtalia, you provide support from behind. If you can show the spectators an illusion, then do that.”
“So it’s up to meeee?”
“Yeah.”
“What is the point of deceiving the spectators?”
“Make it so that we don’t stand out too much. For example, if you can make it look like we’re struggling, then do that.”
“I think it should be possible, but . . . Don’t you think that’s a bad idea?”
Hmm . . . It wasn’t against the rules, but then again, it could be problematic if the organizers stepped in. It was a risk we had to take.
“Even so, Raphtalia, at least make it look like I’m attacking the enemy. I don’t want anyone figuring out that I’m the Shield Hero.”
“Then what about your skills?”
“I’ll just have to avoid using them as much as possible. They’ll probably just think yours are special techniques you developed on your own.”
Up until now, I had been using my skills nonstop left and right, so I was a little bit worried. Regardless, it would be best to avoid being noticed if we wanted to advance through the tournament without having to face any unnecessary obstacles.
“Looks like it’s almost time. Come on, Raphtalia and Filo—cover your faces at the very least. Don’t forget to use our aliases.”
Filo put on a domino mask and tied a bandana around her head. Raphtalia was wearing a kabuto helmet to cover her face and ears so that people couldn’t tell what race she was. She had hidden her tail, too, of course. I was using an iron mask to cover my face, too.
A gong sound echoed throughout the air, and we headed out of the waiting room and toward the arena. Cheers filled the air. The venue was packed—there were far more spectators now than when I’d come to observe before. To think that there would be this many people at an underground coliseum . . . Oh, and nearly everyone in the audience was wearing masks, like maybe they were nobility that had come here in secret. It was a pretty unsettling sight, really. I bet all kinds of countries would have been in trouble if you killed off all these creeps.
As I was standing there thinking about such things, three muscle-bound mercenaries that looked like they knew how to fight came strolling out of the entrance on the opposite side.
“And now, a faceoff between Rock Valley’s Party and the Topak Family! Are you rrreeeaaddyyy?!”
The announcer was practically screaming as he stirred up the audience.
“Ha! This guy brought along a girl and some kid. Who let this bunch out of the show tent?”
“Hold up, the audience will love it if we do something brutal to that girl and kid right in front of this guy, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, you’re right. Alright, let’s start by beating this guy to a pulp and then that’s what we’ll do.”
What a vulgar bunch. Didn’t they know it was always the small fries that licked their chops like that before a fight? Actually . . . I wasn’t sure who was worse—these guys or the bandits we always ran into while peddling.
“You good?”
“Yup!”
It was probably best to assume we wouldn’t be receiving any support from the spectators. Then again, it was only our first match and wouldn’t be drawing much attention, so there was no need to worry about that . . . right?
The spectators were cheering a bit, but I could tell from their eyes that they were just hoping to see the kind of tragedy these creeps had mentioned. On the contrary, if the unquestionably weak-looking team with the girl and a child ended up winning, that might build some excitement, too. If we gained a certain amount of popularity, then we might be able to get some support, too.
“Let the battle . . . BEEEEGGIIIINNNN!!”
Another gong sound echoed out and the match began—and in the same instant, a blunt weapon that looked like a morning star was tossed down right next to where the Topak Family mercenaries were standing. From the look of it, it seemed like a pretty impressive weapon. Someone must have thrown it in, hoping the other team would use it to make a mockery of me.
“Zweite . . . Aura”
In a whisper, I cast support magic on Filo. Then I picked her up from behind and lifted her up onto my shoulders. She must have realized what I planned on doing, because she climbed onto my shoulders and held her claws up out in front of her.
There was a reason for putting her on my shoulders. I had a convenient little skill called “abilities increase while carrying (medium).” As long as someone was on my shoulders, they would receive an overall increase in abilities for a period of time. Filo was currently in her human form, so she wasn’t very heavy and wouldn’t slow me down.
“Master, what should I dooo?”
“Hmm . . . It’s probably best not to show all of our cards yet, I guess.”
Being too strong would make us stick out. We should probably just stick to a low-key strategy for this match. According to the slave trader, our opponents were relatively unknown, so there was no need for theatrics. Yeah, I’d even come up with a signature phrase to go with it.
“Alright! Make it hard, and make it quick!”
“Okaaay!”
Filo started focusing her attention like she did when preparing to use haikuikku.
“Huh? What’s that pose?! Is she getting ready to play a game?”
“This is going to be a piece of cake! Hahahahaha!” the opponents shouted. “It’s going to feel good celebrating tonight! And we even get to have some fun with a girl!”
The Topak Family mercenaries all grabbed their weapons and started running our way. One of them swung the morning star—the thing seemed like one of those special named weapons—and I blocked it with my shield. It struck with a heavy thud and flames burst from the tip of the morning star, engulfing me in hellfire. So it had a special effect, huh? I guess it was a nice weapon, after all. I deflected the flames with my cloak, but there was a pillar of fire rising up from under my feet. Although, with my high defenses, the flames were kind of just bouncing off.
“It’s hot!”
The heat was getting to Filo. Her arms and legs had extended just a bit outside of the area I had protected. The pillar of fire itself was still down there, although it wasn’t burning me. I flapped my cape and the remaining pillar of fire dissipated for a moment, but then it reappeared. So it even had a residual effect . . . That weapon was even better than I thought.
“Hahahaha! This thing is awesome!”
The mercenary was maintaining a bit of distance from me, as I stood there in the pillar of fire. He started whirling the morning star around like he was going to come after me, and then he swung it at me from the side. Paying attention to the path of the morning star, I reached my left hand out and grabbed it by the chain, bringing it to a sudden halt.
“What?!”
“Ah! Raising a hand to Chief? How dare you! Take this!”
“Hiyaaa!”
I held on tight and the Topak Family mercenaries all crowded around me, swinging at me with the weapons they had been given. Oh! How nice of them to gather up in a tidy little group for us!
“Humming, you ready?”
“Yup! All set!”
“Alright then!”
After jerking the chain and pulling the mercenaries closer, I grabbed Filo and . . . hurled her at them as hard as I could.
“Goooo!”
Filo activated haikuikku just as I threw her and then followed up with Spiral Strike, plowing into the Topak Family mercenaries.
“Uwaaaaa!!!”
Filo’s landing was showy, yet graceful. It was kind of like she had used a finishing move. She di
d look pretty cool. Her wings added to the elegance, too. Gasps were coming from the audience. Moments later, the Topak Family mercenaries fell to the ground, completely covered in lacerations.
That was Filo’s haikuikku-Spiral Strike combo, performed from my shoulders and bolstered by my Zweite Aura support magic. Even if our stats were only one-third of what they usually were, would they be able to withstand an attack like that?
“Huh? Is that all you’ve got? You must be a bunch of low-levels. This is what happens when you underestimate the coliseum.”
I flashed a cruel smile and made sure to speak loudly while trampling on the faces of our fallen enemies. The spectators had been speechless, but they must have liked that, because they erupted into cheers. I was still holding on to the bundle-of-fun morning star that created fire pillars.
That’s right . . . The only reason it ended so soon was because the opposing team lacked training. That’s the impression I was going for. Being high-level might have been a prerequisite, but what high-level meant would depend on the tournament. With no classes, the definition was unclear.
“Im . . . impossible . . .”
One of the enemies let out a groan.
“Shut him up.”
“Okaaay! Smash!”
“Ugh!”
Filo trampled on each of the Topak Family mercenaries, knocking them out cold. The match itself had gone smoother than I thought it would.
“We . . . we have a winner! Rock Valley’s Paaarrrtttyyyyyyyy!”
The announcer must have realized that the opponent’s team was done for, because he declared our victory. Just like I expected, being forced to either kill the opponent or render them unconscious sure was a hassle. I would have preferred knocking them out of bounds or something, but there was nothing like that in this tournament.
“Phew . . .”
Raphtalia finished casting magic from her position in the rear and whispered to me.
“I made it look like you finished them off, just like you asked, Mr. Naofumi.”
“Nice work. Thanks.”
That should clear up any suspicions of me being the Shield Hero, up to a point. I waved my hand as a declaration of our victory and then nonchalantly picked up the morning star that the Topak Family mercenary had dropped and headed back to the waiting room.
“Umm . . . Mr. Naofumi? What are planning to do with that weapon?”
“Huh? I figured it was ours to keep.”
No one had said anything, and this was a coliseum where people fought to the death. There was no rule against stealing an opponent’s weapon. The merchant-looking guy that had provided the support for the other team did seem a bit bitter, but he obviously wasn’t hurting for weapons.
“Make good use of that weapon!”
He may have looked bitter, but that’s what he yelled out at me. He was probably thinking that if we used the weapon and won, it would be lucrative for his shop or the merchant guild he belonged to. But I could only use my shield, and Raphtalia couldn’t use anything other than her katana, either. That left Filo, but Filo was fond of her claws. I figured I’d ask her anyway.
“Filo. You want to use this weapon?”
“Umm . . .”
She didn’t seem to like the idea. Besides, even if Filo went swinging the thing around violently, there was no guarantee she could actually make good use of the weapon.
“Alight, Filo, how about this . . . From now on, when a match starts, you fling this weapon at our opponents.”
“Okaaay!”
With Filo’s superhuman strength, if she flung the weapon at the opponent it would probably intimidate them a bit, at least. After that, who cares? Then we could just use it at the village or maybe sell it off. As long as we used any weapons we grabbed at least once in a match, it would be free advertising for the merchant guild that we took it from, and they might even decide to provide us support later on. Oh! That was a good idea, even if I do say so myself.
Anyways, there wasn’t much point in sticking around at the venue. The teams that would be fighting in the next match were already standing by, so we could either watch their match or just leave as soon as possible and get some rest. Being our first match, the fight purse was pretty insignificant. Filo must have thought that the morning star I gave her was a new toy, because she was having fun swinging it around in the air.
“Jingle-jaaaangleee!”
It was an adorable sight, but then again, that was a weapon she had in her hand.
“Be careful. That thing is dangerous. Make sure the ball doesn’t hit anything, at least.”
“Okaaay!”
In the end, Filo took the morning star with her back to the village and played with it like a toy together with the slaves. It was a fun weapon that made pillars of fire wherever it hit. The little brats even wanted to use the weapon to make a campfire. It wore me out just making sure they didn’t set any buildings on fire.
Our second match was the following day.
“Our next opponent is . . .”
I guess there was no point in checking our opponent’s team name or anything, really. Our objective was to win every match and come out on top, after all.
As I stood there thinking, the gong rang, and then we made our way into the arena, and . . . when we saw our opponents, we all immediately went on the defensive. There were three griffins inside of a cage.
“Kweeeeh!”
They were all riled up and ready to go. So these were those dangerous wild monsters, huh? We’d never fought a griffin before . . . griffin elite. The griffins’ monster name appeared in my field of vision. I guess they were some superior type of griffin, then. I had no idea what level a normal adventurer would need to be to defeat one, but apparently it was a relatively interesting fight card, because there were more spectators than yesterday.
We just had to get stuck with a troublesome opponent, didn’t we? This was exactly the kind of match that drunkard woman had warned me about.
“Grr . . .”
Filo started acting menacingly. That reminded me, filolials and griffins apparently didn’t like each other. I seemed to remember reading something about griffins regarding horses as enemies in some fantasy book once. I see . . . It must have had something to do with both taking pride in being used as a means of transportation and fighting over who was the best. Filolials didn’t get along with dragons, either. It sure seemed like were a lot of monsters filolials didn’t like. Oh well . . . At least it had gotten Filo motivated.
“Humming, are you going to be able to hold back?”
“Grr . . .”
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. She was probably going to go all out.
“Alright, Humming. When the match starts, you fling that morning star I gave you at them. Whatever you do, don’t change into your filolial form.”
There were sure to be nobility and others among the spectators that would realize we were the Shield Hero and crew if they saw Filo, the bird god. Never mind the fact that a monster that could turn into a human would surely draw way too much attention. I wanted to defeat the enemy before that happened and without standing out, if at all possible.
I guess there was no choice. We’d have to give up on the “moderately strong dark horse rises to the top, out of nowhere” scenario. Still, I wanted to keep the fact that I was a hero hidden, if possible. There was just too much of a difference in the burden that would come with being a hero versus some powerful yet nameless fighters.
“Okaaay!”
What else?
“Ra . . . Shigaraki, can you handle those things?”
“I’ll try.”
“Let the battle . . . BEEEEGGIIIINNNN!!”
When the gong rang, the door of the cage that the griffins were in opened.
“Kweeeh!”
The griffins rushed out of the cage, glaring at us, and approached at a ridiculous speed. They were moving so swiftly that it seemed as if they might pounce upon us at any moment. Several of the masked nobili
ty in the audience were whispering and watching us, their eyes brimming with curiosity. More than likely, these things had probably brutally murdered their opponents in a previous match or something. There was even still blood on the griffins’ claws.
“I’m going to end this in one blow.”
“Yeah, it would be a hassle if they ended up getting assistance.”
Raphtalia placed her hand on the handle of her katana.
“Zweite Aura”
Whispering once again, I cast support magic on Raphtalia, who then lunged forward into a sprint. She may have been suffering from the effects of a curse, but with her level adjustments, she could still be quick. The more I focused, the slower everything around me seemed to move. That was probably true for the griffin elites too, though.
“Take thiiissss!”
Filo flung the morning star at the griffin elites with all of her strength.
“Kweeh?!”
That must have caught them off guard, because the griffin elites started flapping their wings in an attempt to get out of the way. The morning star smashed straight into one of them and a pillar of fire shot up, engulfing it in flames.
“Hiyaaa!”
Raphtalia drew her katana and started moving even faster.
“Instant Blade! Mist! Thrusting Technique! Lethal Formation One! Lethal Formation Two!”
She delivered a strike to the alpha griffin elite that had been standing at the front and then quickly cut down the other slightly smaller ones behind. Sure, it might not have been Kizuna’s Blood Flower Strike, but she still cut through them pretty damn fast. Raphtalia spun her katana around, flinging the blood from the blade, and then returned it to its sheath.
“I’m sorry. I’m still a bit slow, unfortunately.”
The alpha griffin elite was practically split in two at the chest, and the other two griffins behind had splattered blood all over the place before falling flat on the ground. Was that a bit too much?
