The heroes of this place were proud warriors.
Many of them also represented their respective organizations.
From the fact that the martial arts tournament was a team competition to determine the strongest party on the front, it demanded fierce competition, especially since the right to participate in the Black Dragon Subjugation Battle was at stake.
It was inevitable that they would be motivated.
"Until the fall festival, there won't be battles against monsters... but I hope this gives everyone something to do."
I had originally planned to let them rest fully, but I changed my mind.
I decided to give them something to focus on. It seemed more comforting that way.
"First, recover fully, and then start preparing for the martial arts tournament step by step."
I nodded and then stepped back.
"That's all! Then, everyone, I hope you have a good vacation."
After declaring a training season disguised as a vacation, I left the hall.
At the entrance of the hall, Dusk Bringar was leaning against the wall. I passed her and whispered.
"The one who achieves a higher ranking in this martial arts tournament will have the command in the Black Dragon Subjugation Battle, Your Grace."
"So this is how it's going to be..."
Dusk Bringar laughed menacingly.
"Good, I'll prepare with all my might. You'd better be ready, Born Hater."
I too smiled back.
"Let's look forward to it, Your Grace."
The heroes left in the hall began to hurriedly gather their parties. The look on their faces as they started their meetings with serious expressions was even filled with liveliness.
It was pitiful that they could only find peace in battle, not in rest.
And at the same time, the situation on the front becoming so extreme was also deeply unsettling.
"...Hot."
I felt the same way. My stomach started to heat up.
The strongest party on the monster front?
That's obviously the party I command.
I will win this martial arts tournament, and I will wield the command in the Black Dragon Subjugation Battle. Could there be any other outcome...!
***
Afterward, the monster front began to bustle on its own.
Officially, it was a vacation period, but the heroes trained more diligently than ever.
I felt a bit guilty for smashing their precious vacation with just one command, but they are professionals. They would take the rest they needed on their own.
Moreover, beneath the surface.
Various parties began to ally, trade members, and reorganize busily.
The martial arts tournament I announced was a 5-on-5 battle. I said I valued unity as if members were one body, but that was just a selection criterion for the Black Dragon Subjugation Battle.
The tournament itself ultimately required a full-front battle.
Existing parties were mostly clustered by their role types. A party might be all mages or all warriors, for the most part.
Being overly biased in their specialties, many were unable to exhibit optimal combat effectiveness in this kind of party-based combat.
Thus, for this martial arts tournament, the heroes began to seek the strongest combination on their own. As a result, they started trading members among themselves.
Parties that had been split up by profession, origin, gender, and age.
With the martial arts tournament season, they began to mix and create unprecedented chemical reactions.
"..."
Honestly, I never expected the situation to develop like this.
In the evenings, in the squares, in the dining areas, in bars, and cafes... People who previously barely greeted each other were now naturally mingling and discussing tactics for the martial arts tournament.
I found these scenes surprising and... it might sound strange but.
Oddly touching.
People who were divided by race, country, religion, and values.
As if they never cared about such things, mixing and dining together, drinking tea.
It was so nice that I kept watching for days.
'...Well, it's good and all.'
But as someone aiming to win the martial arts tournament, I couldn't just play around.
I had to go through a lot of trouble to withdraw my main party members and re-register them in my party.
From 'the Uncles' I took Lucas, from the Shield Knight party, I took Evangeline, from the Sniper party, Damien, from the Mage party, Junior...
It took a considerable amount of money and benefits, along with trading suitable heroes to barely manage the trades. Phew, that was tough!
"But the chaotic mixing of members, the under-the-table negotiations, bluffing, persuasion, and coaxing, all of it, can be said to be the fun of the stove league. Hahaha."
In the lord's mansion. In the office.
As I laughed sinisterly, uttering the terms of Earth's professional sports, Evangeline, who was sitting on the sofa in front of me munching on fruit, narrowed her eyes.
"What are you talking about again... What's a stove league?"
Stove League.
It refers to the off-season in professional sports, the period between seasons.
During this time, teams and players negotiate contracts, draft new players, or make trades to reorganize the team.
...But explaining all that seemed a bit much, so I brushed it off.
"It's something. Don't worry about it, four calves."
"Eh? Four calves?"
Evangeline's eyes widened in confusion.
"What does that mean?"
"That's the transfer fee I paid to the Shield Knight party to bring you over."
To bring over this calf-like lady knight, I had to give the Shield Knight party, where Evangeline originally belonged, four calves.
Of course, the cost came out of my personal vault. Sigh... my money...
Finally understanding my words, Evangeline suddenly puffed up with pride, lifting her chin and laughing.
"Indeed, to bring in a superstar of that caliber! Each of the knights ought to get a calf for themselves, hahaha!"
"...And how much was I, my lord?"
Beside her, Lucas, who had been slicing fruit with a [Bestowed Sword] downsized to a kitchen knife, casually asked. There was no reason to hide it, so I answered immediately.
"A bag of gold coins."
"What did you say-?!"
Evangeline, who jumped in shock, was the one to react. I grumbled and covered my ears.
"Ah, originally Lucas's party... 'the Uncles', right? Torkel and Zenis didn't ask for anything, but Chain and Nobody, those two scoundrels, opposed until the end. It was only after I generously handed over enough for casino expenses that they finally allowed the transfer."
"That, a bag of gold coins..."
Evangeline muttered with a grimace.
While calves weren't cheap, there were several cities nearby with large-scale livestock farming. A bag of gold coins is far more expensive than four calves.
"...Huh."
Lucas silently offered a victorious smile and elegantly placed the sliced fruit on a plate before me.
Evangeline, trembling beside him, snatched the plate of fruit meant for me and shoved it into her mouth, then urgently exclaimed.
"Then, how much did you pay for sister Junior! How much!"
"Junior was... When I said I was taking her, Dearmudin, who's currently in charge of the overall management of the mage workforce, opposed. It was tough, but we managed to negotiate..."
Junior awkwardly scratched the top of her hat at the follow-up, while Evangeline's mouth fell open in shock.
"I ended up promising some land for the construction of the Ivory Tower Crossroad branch. I parted with some land in the northern deserted village."
"Land?! LAAAND?! You transferred land rights?!"
"Well, yes..."
The value of such land in this wilderness wouldn't have much real estate value.
But even so, it's far more expensive than four calves, a bag of gold coins.
Evangeline trembled with clenched fists, and Lucas, shoulders drooping, moaned, "Woong-" What are you doing, you two.
"Then lastly! What about brother Damien?!"
Evangeline pointed towards the door as she shouted, and Damien, who was just entering the office, jumped in surprise and shivered.
After quickly signaling Damien to come in and eat some fruit, I picked up the teacup in front of me and confessed.
"...I agreed to make a magic gun for each member of the Sniper party."
"Magic guuuns?!"
And at an SR grade, no less.
Four pieces of SR-grade equipment are worth a fortune. Essentially, among these four, the most expensive cost was incurred.
"Hehe, our Sniper party members also work hard... Having good equipment will help take down stronger enemies!"
Damien, now seated, mumbled with a costly... no, a naively kind face.
Thud!
Eventually unable to stand it, Evangeline collapsed to the floor on her knees. Then, with a trembling voice, she uttered.
"I'm... I'm the cheapest... I'm the bargain sale...!"
"Hey, don't underestimate calves. They plow fields, carry loads, and grow up to be a strong foundation for the household."
Cattle have been among the most helpful livestock in human history. Even in the Joseon dynasty, a cow was really the root pillar of a household.
Throwing out such nonsensical talk, I savored the aroma of the tea in my hand. At the same time, I thought.
'I wanted to split Dusk Bringar's party as well...'
Unfortunately, the four knights under the Dragon Lady were so loyal to her that they didn't budge at my transfer offers.
Destroying the transfer market of a competing team is a legitimate strategy in the stove league, so I was considering all sorts of dirty tricks... but the Dragonblood Knights were too tight-knit for it to work. Tch.
'...Am I, perhaps, getting too immersed in playing as a team owner?'
But it's okay if it's fun. This is also a way to enjoy the vacation, the off-season, right?
The costs paid as transfer fees, well... broadly speaking, it can be considered as giving bonuses to the hardworking heroes.
"Anyway!"
I looked around at the main party gathered - the strongest force on the monster front - and opened my mouth.
"Calves, a bag of gold, land deeds, expensive equipment. You four have been recruited to my command for this martial arts tournament."
"At least call us by our names! By our names!"
A calf mooed. I ignored it and continued.
"As we've been breathing together for a long time, there's no doubt about our team synergy... but even so, moving as one body requires separate training."
I've said it many times before.
The Black Dragon Legion must be attacked by an elite strike team, each of them powerful raid bosses in their own right.
And to counter the wide-area patterns used by those dragon kinds, we need to train in advance to move as one.
'This training will be useful in the martial arts tournament as well.'
In a team battle, a 5v5 PvP situation, being able to move as one will naturally mean we can fight better. It will definitely be helpful.
Setting the teacup down on the desk, I was about to inform our five of the training we'd undergo.
That's when it happened.
Dududududu-!
Suddenly, a massive mechanical sound tore through the air. Huh?
The teacup on the desk vibrated intensely enough to rattle. The startled party members stood up abruptly.
"Oh, are they here already?"
Only I, who had been informed in advance, remained calmly seated and spoke. Lucas urgently asked me.
"My lord, what's this vibration...?!"
"Ah."
I smiled bitterly, slowly grabbed my coat, and rose from my seat.
"It's a guest who saw my proclamation and came straight from the north... I should go greet them."
***
Tutututu-
The clamorous noise filled the skies above Crossroad.
Rushing out to the front of Crossroad's south gate (where it used to be), we looked up at the sky.
Massive ships made of steel, flying in formation from the north across the city... were slowly approaching the southern plains.
The Everblack Empire's aerial fleet.
The remaining aerial fleet forces stationed in the Imperial Capital, New Terra, had been dispatched to Crossroad all at once.
Geeing- Thump!
More than ten airships began to lower the cargo containers they had been carrying beneath them onto the southern plains.
All except for one.
Thump-!
Chiiik...
Among them, a particularly ornately decorated airship, the only one not carrying a cargo container, landed first in front of the ruins of the south gate.
The hatch slowly opened, and soldiers neatly filed out from inside the ship.
And, at the end of the procession of soldiers...
"Hmm~"
That man descended.
A middle-aged man with black hair took a deep breath and grinned, showing his teeth.
"I felt it last time too, but there's indeed a good scent here, different from the cramped capital. The frontier."
The ruler who governed half the world laughed.
"I like it."
I rushed in front of him, bowing deeply.
"Thank you for coming all this way, Father...!"
The sole emperor of the empire.
Traha 'Peacemaker' Everblack patted my shoulder.
"Good. My Born Hater. Have you been well? I came in person after reading your proclamation."
The Emperor looked around and then whispered in my ear.
"...So, when does the festival start?"
I smiled awkwardly.
It's still a few days away, Your Majesty!
--TL Notes--