Chapter 50 "Match"

　"Ladies and gentlemen, gathered in the arena! Welcome again tonight!"

　An old man with a naked upper body made of muscles is raising his voice.

　It's quite a feat for him to raise his voice so loudly that the entire arena could hear him.

"This is my first time in this kind of thing, so I'm very excited!"

Heidi, who is sitting next to me, is looking at him with sparkling eyes.

　It is nighttime.

　The preparations for the arena are finished and the evening session is about to begin.

　The facilitator, an old man, is giving a brief explanation of the arena and the matches in a loud voice.

　"Come on! Tonight, too, a challenger has appeared to challenge the guardian of the arena!"

　The crowd goes wild.

　Woah. Should I say "wow" or "kya" too?

　Heidi, next to me, is oohing and aahing.

　"What a surprise, there are two of them tonight! Enter the daredevils!"

　Two men appeared. Both were walking with sure footsteps, both with well-trained bodies and well-used weapons in their hands.

　"These guys are Hyde and Geddon, a party of blue second-level adventurers! They're not yet a big seller in these parts, but they're bragging that they're going to make a triumphant return to the guild with this battle as a foil!"

　Oh, wow! The audience was even more excited.

　Hyde and Geddon, just like that? Couldn't you have done something about the names?

　I don't know which one is which, but Hyde and Geddon are showing off their guts.

　"Against them are our arena guardians, Dusty and Peggy!"

　Two arena players come out from the other side and... what's with those guys?

　One is nothing special. She's a slender woman with sallow skin. She's wearing light leather armor and a weapon...like a Merikensack on her fist. From the name, I'm guessing that's Peggy.

　...And the problem is the other one.

　His equipment is the same leather armor as the woman next to him.

But the appearance is unusual. His body is covered with plant ivy, so I can't see him.

I can barely see what looks like eyes through the ivy where his face is.

Is this what you call a human plant?

　Or is he even human to begin with?

　Some of you may be surprised at Dusty, so let me explain! This guy is a survivor of the adventuring party that took part in the conquest of the labyrinth "The Host of Dreams and Realities " in the southeast of Strata a few years ago."

　...A survivor of the dungeon...huh?

"The wounds he sustained during the attack have left him like this! But Dusty overcame it with his indomitable spirit and gained even more power! We'll see what he can do when the match starts!"

　The crowd cheered again.

　The two challengers each readied their battle axes.

　The two from the arena side also take a fighting stance.

　"It seems they are getting tired of it, so it's time to start the match!"

　The old man who is the facilitator steps back quickly.

　"Let me make sure for the last time! The decision will be made when the opponent surrenders, dies, or I, as the referee, decide that they cannot fight! If you don't want to die, surrender early!"

　When he was far enough away, he raised his hand...

　"Begin!"

　...and lowers it.

　Instantly, the two challengers slashed at the woman at the same time.

　Ah, so you want to crush the weaker one first. That's a good move.

　It's not cool, though.

　Woman--Peggy, with a light, boxer-like step, dodged the two attackers and with one blow after another, slammed a sharp hook into the side of the body, and when the two bent over and their faces dropped, she uppercut them from below with a right followed by a left.

　The huge body collapses.

　...Wow. That went in perfectly. Didn't you just lose consciousness?

　As expected of a blue adventurer. He seems to be keeping his consciousness. He is somehow trying to stand up.

　Peggy's mouth moves slightly. Because of the distance, it is unclear what she is saying, but it is probably some kind of provocation.

　As proof, the two men stand up with murderous intent in their gazes.

　Peggy smiles thinly and turns to Dusty, who has been standing behind her, and points at them with her thumb.

　Dusty silently steps forward.

　In the meantime, the two men seem to have regained their footing, picking up the weapons they had dropped and readying them.

If it was me, I'd give up right here.

　No matter how you look at it, the two of them don't stand a chance. Any more...I mean, it looks like taking on that Dusty is going to cost them their lives.

This Peggy woman is aware of her audience, and I think the reason she went to the trouble of going easy on them when she could have put one away was to avoid having the match end too soon.

　They're being played completely.

　I don't know if those two realize it or not, but I'm sure they're angry, and their judgment is impaired.

Now that I know how strong that Peggy woman is, I'm interested in Dusty's fight.

I wonder what he is going to do with that ivy.

　The ivy twining around Dusty's arms grows in a number of strands.

　The two quickly block the whips with their battle axes.

The whip attack does not stop, and a hard sound echoes repeatedly from the battleaxe that receives it.

　Looking closely at the ivy, one can see thorns growing all over the surface.

　It would have been unbearable to be hit by those thorns.

The two people on the receiving end of the thorns also seemed to understand this and were desperate to prevent it from hitting them.

　I thought to myself, "This is no good." Dusty is deliberately aiming for the axe.

I don't think they are aware of it, but I think he is doing it to prolong the game.

　But still...what has Dusty been doing since a while ago?

"Huh? ...What is that?"

　Heidi is also tilting her head as she stares into his eyes. You've noticed.

　A thin but smoke-like substance is leaking from Dusty's body.

　Don't tell me it's pollen? You're not saying it's pollen, are you?

　It's a standard poison, but....

　The two of them are vigorously defending themselves against the whip, as if it's ineffective. Not poison?

　Just as the audience was getting tired of the offense and defense, Dusty changed his move.

　The moment he hits one of the axes, the whip unravels and entangles the axe and arm.

　Blood spurts from the ivy-tangled arm. The man's mouth is gaping, but he has no voice.

　Is he in too much pain to speak? No, he can't get it out.

　Then I realized what that smoke meant. Paralysis, and he's only unable to speak.

They don't want them to surrender. That's a bad idea.

　Dusty extended the ivy in his other hand, bunched it up, and stabbed him with it like a spear.

　The ivy pierces the man's belly. The man convulsed and stopped moving.

The other man tries to say something, but realizes he can't speak, so he turns away and runs.

　Dusty waves his arm and throws the impaled man away, then pulls back the ivy and holds out his hand to the man who ran away....

　There was a popping sound, and the man's head shattered.

　What is it? Did he send something flying? Was it a seed or something?

　The man who lost his head walks one or two steps and falls down.

The arena falls silent, and when the facilitator walks over to the two corpses and confirms their deaths, he shouts out.

"Finished! After a gripping battle, it is our arena guardians, Peggy and Dusty, who win this battle!"

　The place was filled with cheers.

　It was an interesting fight, but in the middle it was a complete farce.

　After that, the proceedings ended with the promoter congratulating the winner and the loser on their good fights.

　We left the arena and went to a nearby bar for dinner.

　It was a little crowded, but we were able to sit down without any problem.

　"It was a great battle, wasn't it?"

　As soon as the food we ordered arrived, Heidi speaks somewhat excitedly.

　People were dying with all their might, but was it because it was the result of a fight they were prepared for? She didn't seem particularly bothered by it.

"Ah. But I could see the game was over at the beginning."

　"I guess so. That Peggy person alone was enough, wasn't it?"

"No doubt. How would you have attacked those two?"

　Heidi thought about it as she took a bite of the food that was served to her.

"Especially that Dusty guy, he's pretty dangerous. ...But from what I've seen, he doesn't move very fast, so I think I'll attack mainly with fire magic, and if it's not effective, I'll use wind magic to cut him down and see how it goes...?"

　Hmmm.

　"Then how about that woman Peggy?"

　"Hmmm.... Her movements are quite fast and unique. I think it would be difficult to catch her. If I go in there without thinking, I'm likely to get hit one way or the other. I think I'll concentrate on either letting the wind blow up the sand and take away her vision, or on making the ground muddy and slushy with water to make her movement difficult."

　Or maybe it's a flying leap. I added.

　What do you think? I gave my opinion.

　The conversation was quite lively and the meal went well.

　After we finished eating, we headed back to the inn since we had nothing special to do.

I let Heidi go back to the room first and went to the stables to check on Savage, just in case.

　I looked inside, but it was quiet, and Savage was crouched down with his eyes closed.

　It looks like that kid have given up.

　I've already checked the place out and I'm going back to the inn.

"Um...excuse me."

　As I was about to enter the inn, I was approached by a strange woman.

　"Yes?"

　"Do you know my son? His features are..."

I talked to her and she said the aunt's kid was missing during the day.

　He was characterized as a little shit who was poking around ...... Savage.

　After confirming that he had disappeared, I hurried back to the stables and went inside.

　"Savage wake up."

　I call out and Savage slowly opens his eyes.

　"Do you know the kid who were poking you around during the day?"

　I have a bad feeling about this.

　Savage's mouth falls open and he burps.

　This son of a bitch he's done it.

　I'm going to check the perimeter just to be sure. If there are any traces left, I'll have to erase them...

　Savage let out a light guffaw and sent me a message that he'd erased all traces of it.

　Are you sure? When I looked at him with suspicion, Savage activated his "water ball."

　A large "water ball" floats in the air, spinning around and around.

　...Oh, so it washed off.

　I guess they didn't notice...oh well.

　I decided to go back to the inn.

　When I returned to my room, I found it empty.

　Hmm? I thought she had returned, but... oh well.

　As I approach the bed to lie down, I notice a piece of paper on the bed.

　I tilted my head and opened it. I raise my eyebrows at the contents.

　[The woman is in my possession.

　If you want her back, take the dragon and hurry to the abandoned fortress northeast of the city.

　If you fail to do so, the woman's life will be lost.]

　It was easy to tell whose letter it was.

　By the way, Heidi's been kidnapped? What an unnecessary hassle for her.

　There is no sign of a struggle as far as I can see in the room.

　The possibility is that he either killed Heidi instantly or tricked her into taking her out.

　I'd say the latter is the most likely scenario.

Well, several people on the level of Dusty and Peggy who were in the arena might be there, but I didn't think that the rich man would be able to prepare for it.

　I don't know what to do.

I could abandon her, but I don't think that would be the end of it.

　They're just out of sight, so let's kill them all.

　Let's just go for now.

　It's a hassle, but let's get it over with.