City of armed struggle, Luserhall!
Located in the south of Barse city, Luserhall was around a two-day journey
away from the city via a carriage.
If Barse was a paradise for hunters, Luserhall was the city of greatest armed
struggle in the Amelia kingdom.
This city had more than a hundred martial arts dojo and numerous famous
arms stores lined up along its main street. It was like the city of dreams for
every martial artist. That was Luserhall.
「Yup, Luserhall's tournament is still the same as before. The number of
participants is too overwhelming.」
I expressed my nostalgia about the memory of the time when I last visited
this city to see the tournament with my grandfather,
「Kai, have you visited this city before?」
Rose, who sat beside me, asked while looking at my face with an extremely
curious expression.
「Well, yeah.」
Although, it did feel strange. After all, the last time I visited this city was a
few years ago, but there were also more than a hundred thousand years of
my experience in that easy dungeon in between that.
「I'll leave for the time being to register for the tournament.」
「Understood. Then, I'll be going to our inn along with Faf-chan.」
「Faf wants to go with Master, nodesu!」
I gently brushed Faf's head as I did usually to calm her and stop her from
sticking to me.
「Asta is waiting for us in the inn. That's why it's up to you to protect these
two until they reach the inn.」
I tried to plead to her to make her let go of me.
「U~h, I understand, nodesu! Faf will do her best, nodessu!」
Faf cheerfully raised her right fist. Great! Faf is always a good and
obedient child.
「Well then, see you later!」
「Yes, leave the rest to me.」
After Rose nodded and replied, I turned around and walked toward the
receptionist's desk.
As part of the registration, I informed the young, female receptionist about
my gift, martial art school, and my name. According to Rose, if I stated any
falsehood in this part, I would be disqualified later. So, I just stated the truth
to avoid any future trouble. Well, the female receptionist did send a pitying
look at me when I told her that my gift was [The Most Incompetent in this
World].
By the way, my martial art school was, of course, the 『Commandment
Sword Art』 style. The Heineman sword art style wasn't my school
anymore.
I completed the registration procedure by paying thirty thousand oars from
the money I borrowed from Rose. Then, the female receptionist gave me
the tournament's pamphlet.
I was about to head toward the inn where I was supposed to regroup with
Asta and the others, but…
「OI, What are you doing here, incompetent?」
Someone called me out with a hoarse voice.
Upon turning around, I found out that this person was a burly, tall man with
cropped hair and a cracked jaw. Several boys and girls followed him,
looking at me with scornful expressions.
Their faces seemed familiar to me. I mean, they were the assistant instructor
and disciple of the Heineman-style dojo after all. Most likely, they had
come to this city to participate in this tournament.
After all, this was the biggest tournament in the kingdom. Just a young
disciple winning until the final of the preliminaries was enough to
acknowledge them as one of the strong youngsters, which also boosted the
dojo's fame. It wouldn't be strange even if my hometown dojo also
participated in this tournament.
「As you already know, I'm no longer part of the Heineman house.
Therefore, whatever I do right now or in the future has nothing to do with
you guys. Nor do you have the right to obstruct me. Isn't it?」
「STOP JOKING AROUND! The fact that you were part of the Heineman
house until just a while ago is already common knowledge. Even if you
were banished from the house, most people have no idea about it. Are you
trying to besmirch the Heineman sword art style by showing your sorry
figure on the ring! LEAVE THIS CITY AT ONCE!」
These noisy youngsters' "chirps" are annoying for sure. Well, what should I
do then?
「It's okay, Shiga-sensei. We're also part of the Heineman-style. As long as
we remain until the final of the preliminary, there's nothing that can
besmirch our dojo's name. On the contrary, this guy will be known as the
exiled incompetent of the Heineman-style.」
The other disciples nodded upon hearing the handsome, blonde youth's
proposal to assistant instructor Shiga.
Come to think of it, this assistant instructor Shiga and the blonde youth
Riku were the first ones who changed their attitude toward me as soon as
they knew about my trash gift. Well, to the current me, it was nothing more
than a trivial matter; their impression of me wasn't going to affect me one
bit.
「You're right, Riku. If it's you, I believe that you can advance until the
final of the preliminary.」
Assistant instructor Shiga nodded a few times while looking at Riku and
then…
「Listen! Do your best to not besmirch the Heineman name!」
He left after saying such a thorny parting remark.
Those small flies finally left. I guess it's time for me to return to the inn. Just
when I was about to walk away―
「Hou!!」
I felt a tingling sensation on my skin. This was killing intent. It was around
the level of the weakest monster on the topmost floor of that super easy
dungeon. In short, it was nothing more than a gentle breeze for me.
「You're strong.」
The person who released that killing intent lowered his gaze and walked
until he arrived right in front of me.
He was around two meters tall and had a muscular and extremely tempered
body. He was a man with a wild look on his face. His hand looked as tough
and rough as stone due to numerous calluses on its surface. He was a true
martial artist who abused his body to its utmost limit.
「I guess I am.」
I was already familiar with this kind of coercion back in that dungeon.
Especially when I had faced the boss of the 600th floor, the self-proclaimed
king of divine beasts; Beastman Nemea, who was as belligerent as this guy.
「What's your name?」
「Kai Heineman.」
「I'm Zack. I'm in block B. What about you?」
Block B, is it? A~h, he's talking about the preliminary tournament's group,
huh! I flipped the iron-made entry card that was given to all participants and
saw "D" written there.
「It seems I'm in block D.」
「I see! Then, let's meet in the final.」
He bumped his fists against each other while speaking with a belligerent
smile. Yup, this battle junkie personality along with unshakeable confidence
in his martial arts; he's definitely the spitting image of Nemea. Could they
get along with each other?
「Back at you.」
「Well, it seems my judgment isn't wrong.」
Zack vanished amongst the crowds of people after raising his right fist.
I shrugged, then headed toward our inn to regroup with Rose and the others.