"The Kongou matches seem to be filled mostly with dwarves."()
Morning. We were at the spectator seats as Silvia made such an observation.
"Is that so?"
"The same as with the past Kongou titleholders, same with Gauloises Kongou, Domingo, and Zidane, who is Eko's first opponent. They are all dwarves."
"So, three out of the five participants are dwarves?"
"Furthermore, this season is the first time a beast person and a human participate, Eko and Rokunchea-dono. Until now, apparently, there has been nothing but dwarves for decades."
How intense.
Still, I can see that happening. It is certainly rational if you think about it.
"Dwarves tend to have higher HP, VIT, and STR stats. They are more suited to Shield Arts due to their status growth."
"So, it's that, huh? Then, what about humans and beastmen?"
"For both of them, the only thing I can say is that it depends on their growth type. But if your growth type doesn't match, then it's best to give up on it. However, in the case of the dwarves, it's not impossible to do Shield Arts even if your growth type doesn't match."
"Dwarves sure are awesome. Then how about Eko?"
"Eko is obviously a Battle Priest growth type, so this is quite suitable for her. Huh?"
"...Hm?"
Looks like she didn't hear it.
I just told her "It's nothing", so that Eko can focus on watching the match.
She's watching intently the semifinals to decide the challenger for the Kongou Title. The match of Domingo versus Rokunchea.
The dwarf-versus-human battle was about to start.
"――Begin!"
The referee commanded.
The next moment, shield and shield collided against each other.
"Ohhh, it's quite flashy!"
Silvia commented excitedly. And sure, Kongou matches tended to be flashier than most.
If you receive, you can guard using Bishop, Lance, or Soldier; repel using Gold or Knight, or Parry with Silver.
If you attack, there's the counter effect of Silver, the rush attack of Rook, the piercing attack of Dragon Horse, or the big impact of Dragon King.
In any case, there are a lot of instances of "clashing" with each other.
However.
"...That guy's pretty good."
I noticed while looking from the seats. That human participant called Rokunchea was quite skilled.
He had black short hair and appeared to be in his late thirties, with no particularly striking feature. He stood there flawlessly with a small shield, most likely a Mithril Buckler.
In one word, he's sharp. From what I can see, the way he uses the skills is different. So much so that I can place him at the same rank as Muratti, if not higher. And he too has a Game plan.
Only at the start of the match, the violent collisions happened. As the fight passed the early game, the crashes became sparser, and as it reached the final stages of the match, it suddenly became quieter.
That was undeniable proof that the game had become one-sided.()
The bearded dwarven man Domingo stood no chance against him. And after that, Rokunchea promptly brought the match to an end.
"That's enough! Winner, Rokunchea!"
About just ten minutes into the game, the match came to a conclusion.
"A human ended up winning."
"Umu, that was quite unexpected. This is a major victory in the history of the matches."
This was the first step towards the birth of a Kongou other than a dwarf.
And it was not impossible. That man was a head above the rest.
"Eko. In the finals, you have to go all out. That guy just now is probably the strongest among the opponents."
"Sure!"
As I commented with a stern expression, Eko answered energetically, with a cheerful nod.
As usual, I don't really know what she's thinking about. But well, she at least seems to be having fun, so I suppose it's okay.
"...Eko?"
――Out of nowhere, an unexpected voice came from behind us.
As we turned around, there it was.
The figure of a cat beast-man who held a striking resemblance to Eko.
"...Dad..."
The smile immediately disappeared from Eko's face.
Dad...?
Silence flowed after those words.
"Why aren't you in the magic school? What are you doing in such a place?"
"Are you perhaps Eko's father?"
"...Yes. And who are you?"
Saying "For real!?", Silvia reacted surprised next to me.
"This here is Second Firstest, who just yesterday achieved a double crown by winning the Issenza and the Eishou titles. And who would you be?"
"I-Is that so? Well, I just arrived this morning so I'm not very knowledgeable of the current circumstances, so. My name is Sho Leafret. I'm Eko's father."
So, he really is Eko's dad.
Does that mean that he came all the way from the remote beastmen village to the Royal Capital to cheer for us?
If that's the case, then why did he look surprised when he saw Eko? ...Furthermore, he wasn't surprised to hear that I won a double crown. I mean, it's the first one in the history of the Title Matches, right? Plus, it was quite the ordeal to just enter the arena this morning. And even if we came in using the back door, it was so filled with fans that even the Third Knight Order was mobilized.
"Why have you come here?"
I have too many questions, so I just decided to ask straight on.
"Tomorrow is the Reiou thing, right? I came with Capito, who will be participating in that event. Today I came here to check out the spectator seats. I was hoping to stop by the magic school later and see how Eko was doing, but I never expected to see her in such a place."()
"..."
Upon hearing Eko-Papa's words, Eko's shoulders slumped and her gaze turned downward.
I see, Eko-Papa still had the idea that Eko was attending the Royal Magic Academy. No wonder he's surprised. After all, his daughter who until recently was enrolled in the Academy in the Royal Capital to study [Magic]was now at the pinnacle where [Shield Arts] skills are displayed. It's like a science major suddenly switching to something like arts and then humanities in the span of less than a year. He must be wondering what happened.
"Hee...About the Reiou match. Is this Capito person also from the same village as Eko?"
"He's the youngest monster tamer in our village. Up until now he did nothing but travel around wandering, but one day he suddenly came back and said he was going to participate in a tournament in the Royal Capital. So, thinking this was a good chance to meet my daughter, I volunteered to accompany him."
Calling it a tournament in the Royal Capital? And not being surprised by the double crown? I have a bad feeling...Could it be that Eko-Papa doesn't know what the Title Matches are...?
"Still, there's a lot of buzz around. I never expected it to be such a big tournament. If Capito plays an active role in it, I will do wonders for the village's revitalization."
I knew it! He knows nothing about it. That's why I hate country bumpkins...
"Eko. Don't you have classes today? And why are you in the spectator seats that only people involved with participants can enter?"
"...I quit."
"What?"
"I quit...school."
"...What!?"
Crap, this is bad.
A stubborn father from the countryside who lacks any understanding, and a daughter who left for the big city and is working her best. I have a terrible feeling about this.
"Eko! Do you know how hard it was to collect the money for the entrance fee!? What am I supposed to tell everyone back in the village!? I see you want to disgrace your father!"
Ahhhgg, that was something you shouldn't have said...
"Eko, you can just ignore him. Right now, I need you to focus solely on the Kongou match."
"Y-Yeah..."
I can understand how Eko-Papa feels.
However, right now Eko doesn't need to feel unnecessary pressure, make careless mistakes, and have all her hard work go down the drain.
All she needs is to face what's in front of her with a smile, as she always does. That's when she looks the best.
"What are you talking about!? This is a matter between father and daughter! Outsiders should stay out of it!"
"Eko-Papa-san, if you were going to see Eko after this, then I suppose you have time, right?"
"If so, why do you care!?"
Why? Because this.
"Silvia."
"Umu."
"Wha-!?"
Silvia and I both sat on the sides of Eko-Papa, sandwiching him between us.
A sandwich between the first double crown in history and the challenger for the Kisenshou title. There's no way he can escape.()
"What are you planning to do!?"
"Just sit quietly and watch. Maybe then you can somehow understand."
"Agreed. You can't look away, this is for the sake of my irreplaceable friend and companion, Eko."
I'll make you understand even if you don't want to.
How awesome that cute little beast girl―― how incredible your daughter really is.
"Eko, go get ready."
"...Yup!"
Semifinal to decide the challenger for the Kongou title. Eko Leafret versus Zidane.
We watched as the two participants faced each other in the center of the arena.
After a while, Eko-Papa stopped resisting at all. He probably realized that all of his struggles amounted to nothing, so he wouldn't be able to escape.
"Seems that Eko is the first beastmen contestant in 93 years at the Kongou match."
Silvia commented quietly.
I thought to myself about how surprising this was but Eko-Papa just remained silent. And although there was no reply from him, Silvia considered that he was listening and continued.
"The requirement for participating in the Kongou matches is that all the Shield Arts skills must be raised to the 9th grade."
"...Are you suggesting that Eko has done that?"
"Umu, indeed."
"Please stop with the nonsense."
And when he finally opened his mouth, it was to express his doubts. Well, it's somewhat understandable. Eko was a girl who was studying [Magic] until just half a year ago. And now, she's a Kongou participant. Going by the common sense of this world, this is definitely something abnormal.
"You should take a good look. That is what your daughter looks like now."
"――Begin!"
At the same time as Silvia spoke, the referee's command sounded.
Not a second later, Eko used "Rook Shield Arts"'s rush to close the gap between her and her opponent.
"She used that skill for the sake of movement since it won't hit like that."
I added some commentary just for the sake of it.
Just as I finished saying that, Eko's "Rook Shield Arts" ended just before hitting Zidane and she immediately started preparing "Dragon King Shield Arts". This is an extremely powerful attack skill, which is rare in [Shield Arts]. If you receive it at close range, defending against it is basically a waste of time.
"It seems her opponent was aiming for a counter after completely guarding using Bishop. But that was within Eko's expectations. The question now is, how will her opponent respond to the Dragon King...?"
After noticing Eko's Dragon King, Zidane prepared "Rook Shield Arts" without missing a beat.
"It seems like he's planning to break through while Dragon King is in preparation using the Rush from Rook."
"...tactics?"
"Yeah. Surprise tactic number one..."
[Shield Arts] surprise tactic number one――"Diverting Rook".
"――Here I come!"
Eko saw Zidane begin his preparation for "Rook Shield Arts" and 0.2 seconds later she canceled "Dragon King Shield Arts" and began preparing "Rook Shield Arts" as well.
The distance between them is too close. Therefore, there is no way to prepare the same skill and have it finished in time. Everyone would think so, the audience, the other contestants, and even her opponent, Zidane.
"It's a simple plan. Make the other person think "I can do it"."
0.3 seconds after preparing "Rook Shield Arts", Eko once again canceled it and began preparing "Gold Shield Arts".
"――!?"
Now, what will happen? Strangely enough, Zidane finished his preparation and activated "Rook Shield Arts".
This is why the part of "I can do it" becomes important. At first glance, the act of interposing Rook in between the other two skills might seem completely useless, but it serves to make the opponent think "I can do it" with that exquisite timing of 0.2 seconds.
...And we practiced this many times.
Together with Eko we practiced this, learning of each other's positions, the timing of activation, and other things, over and over and over again.
We practiced all those things for three weeks.
That was concentrated teaching. Packed to the brim with serious and honed techniques, polished and refined to the point of giving them the sharpness of a sword.
"That guy can't stop it anymore."
Zidane had already activated "Rook Shield Arts". However, he had no chance to cancel it anymore. The reason?
"Look, he's already being sucked in."
That's right, "Gold Shield Arts" is a range-guiding defense + knockback skill. It guides your opponent's attacks within a certain range towards your own shield.
In the blink of an eye, Zidane rushed forth as if being sucked in towards Eko's shield.
And then, he was flung back.
"Guooo!"
With the knockback activated, Zidane was blown backward.
Not overlooking this chance, Eko immediately prepared "Rook Shield Arts"...
"It's settled."
She relentlessly gave chase to Zidane, who was just about to get up from the grown.
Then, Zidane, who was hit by the large shield on his unprotected head, was sent flying as if he had been hit by a truck and collapsed headfirst against the ground.
"――Match over! Winner, Eko Leafret!"
Excellent.
It was an uncontested match in which the surprise tactic number one, Diverting Rook, was perfectly executed.
I stood up and applauded, so did Silvia, cheering and energetically applauding Eko.
Eko-Papa had a sullen look on his face and didn't get up from his seat...However, his hands quietly moved.
This might not have been enough to convince him just yet.
However, the only thing he could do was to give a small round of applause to his daughter, on her shining stage.
I guess I don't have to overly worry about this parent-child relationship. Or at least I thought so when I saw Eko waving at us with a huge smile on her face.
"By the way, Second-dono. Eko isn't yelling the name of the surprise tactics. Isn't that against common courtesy?"
"There's no such courtesy."
"...? ...!? You screwing with me!? Again! And again!"
"'Take this! Lance Rocket!' remember that?"
"Se-SECOND-DONOOOOOOO!!"
"Sorry, my bad."
"I've never been so embarrassed in my entire life! And, and in front of such a large crowd!"
"I won't do it again; I won't trick you again."
"LIAR!"
"...Sorry but, can you leave the quarreling for after I'm no longer between you?"