Chapter 2 After Clearing
The Regular Fighting Tournament in the game was like a side quest that you could participate in from the beginning.
However, if you started right away, you were guaranteed to lose in the preliminaries. It felt like content designed to make you feel your growth as you got stronger and progressed further.
And the Knight Commander, the character you faced in the final match, was ridiculously strong. Winning required a level of 50 or higher, making it an end-game challenge similar to the God of Creation.
I also participated in this tournament as the representative of the Royal Ukyak Academy Swordsmanship Club and was beaten to a pulp by the Knight Commander in the final match. At the time, I was probably around level 35-40.
But now, my level should be close to 80. More than half a year has passed since I came back here, and I’ve fully regained my sense of combat.
So, my semi-final match against the Knight Commander ended up being heavily influenced by the kind of guidance I gave my brother before.
“Th-That’s enough! Winner, Geld Wasrein!”
At the referee’s declaration, the packed audience erupted in cheers. They seemed excited by the upset of an unknown young man defeating an accomplished Knight Commander.
“Could it be that besides the heroes of salvation, there is such a strong person at such a young age…? Where on earth did he gain this strength…?”
The Knight Commander used his sword as a cane to support himself, looking at me with astonishment. It seemed that surprise outweighed the frustration of losing.
“Well… I, uh, trained in a forest far from civilization. Excuse me.”
I made up a plausible excuse and left the arena. The final match was thirty minutes after this match, so I wanted to finish quickly.
I don’t think I used a sword when I was a feral child wandering in the forest, but that’s a minor difference. The experiences from that time still live on within me.
“Claire has made it to the final as expected. …What should I do?”
I tried to figure out how to deal with Claire in the waiting room for the participants, but since I don’t know what Claire, who has repeated the Loop alone, is like, there’s no way I can know what to do.
I had previously seen Claire participating in the main tournament when I was sightseeing at the Regular Fighting Tournament in the abandoned town I was traveling with Millie. At that time, I was just happily cheering her on, thinking I had seen a familiar face, but I realized that it was strange when I was participating in the tournament in the game in Japan.
No matter how hard Claire, who has no talent, tries, she won’t be able to participate in the main tournament at that age. She worked harder than anyone else in the Swordsmanship Club with me, but she was still hopeless.
If Claire is participating in the main tournament, there is only one answer.
Claire has inherited her memories and strength, and she has been swinging her sword all this time.
“Geld-senshu, it’s time for the final match. Are you ready?”
“Has it been thirty minutes already? Yes, yes, I’m ready.”
In the end, time ran out without me being able to come up with a plan. I have no plan.
But in the end, this is probably the best for me. I’ve always acted on the spur of the moment, ad-hoc, with an emphasis on momentum, somehow, and depending on my mood. That’s how I’ve always been.
I might need to be more careful since I’m not looping anymore, but it’s already become a habit. I’ll probably live my whole life on a whim.
Following the staff’s guidance, I walked through the passage and passed through a particularly large gate at the end, leading to a circular dirt arena about thirty meters in diameter. It was the Fighting Tournament’s arena.
The perimeter was surrounded by a wall about two meters high, and beyond that, there were tiered seats for the audience. Being the final match, the packed audience was extremely excited.
As I walked through the gate towards the center of the circle, my opponent appeared from the opposite side.
She was a small girl who didn’t seem to belong in such a bloody place, but her presence was that of a veteran swordsman. She had somehow acquired a certain dignity, the cheeky one.
We both walked to the center, and finally, I faced the nostalgic Claire. The referee next to me was saying various things, but I ignored him and just observed Claire.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Claire up close, but she hasn’t changed at all… or has she? What’s going on? It’s like she hasn’t changed, but she has.
I can tell that her physique hasn’t changed in particular. Her large breasts, which she has been appealing to, are still there. Her hairstyle was also the same as before, a brown bob cut.
“Hmm.”
However, was her face like this?
Perhaps because Claire doesn’t appear in the original story, she isn’t as strikingly beautiful as the main characters Millie and Shino. I remember her being a pretty girl with an approachable charm, but she seemed to have lost her inherent amiability.
Claire was staring intently at me with anxious, wavering eyes, but I could also see a hint of expectation in them. It was a bit forceful, but I’m glad I came to find Claire after all.
“Begin!”
“Whoa!”
I was surprised because the old man next to me suddenly shouted. But that’s right, it’s a match. I seemed to be too engrossed in Claire.
I turned my gaze from the old man back to Claire, but Claire was frozen in place. I didn’t move either. The old man next to me was confused.
I should probably speak to her first.
“Well then. It’s been a while, Claire.”
“………Senpai, is that really… you?”
Claire muttered as if clinging to me. Although she was almost certain, this completely confirmed it. I was Claire’s Senpai only once, several Loops ago.
“Yeah. Has it been about ten years?”
“Ah! Senpai… I, to Senpai…”
“Ah, wait, wait. I’m sure we have a lot to catch up on, but right now, it’s a match. You’ve been working hard, right? Show me what you’ve got.”
“…Yes!”
Claire wiped away the tears in her eyes, jumped back, and lowered her stance.
I stood there calmly, waiting for Claire to make her move. That’s how it always was when I was training her.
“Eh? Ah, b-begin!”
The old man next to me declared the start of the match for the second time and hurriedly left the arena.
Now, let’s see how much stronger that hopeless junior of mine has become.