The RINGTOSS was just as bad as what I heard.
The World Rank-1… Alice threw 10 out of her 15 rings into the air as
soon as the match started, to which Rank-16… Whose name I couldn't
remember hearing for some reason, trying to block her attacks with 5
of her rings. However, Alice's rings literally fell like shooting stars,
slipping through Rank-16's defense and scoring a lot of points.
To be honest, I wouldn't have known what was going on if it wasn't for
the Live-commentary. From what I saw, the rings that were thrown
upwards were falling down in zigzagging motion, and when the other
person tried defending herself with her rings, I heard something that
sounded like an explosion… It totally looked like I'm watching some
kind of martial arts movie.
[Well~~ That was a great match, wasn't it? As expected of Nightmare.]
[Yes, when Nightmare announces her Shooting Star, she defeats anyone
other than Rank-2 "Baby Castella Mask".]
[Yeah, that was a great fight they had that day! I thought Nightmare was
finally going to lose for the first time, but then, she had turned the
tables!]
[...…]
That's weird. For some reason, I kind of feel like I know who that Rank2 person is. Isn't that Kuro? Hey, that's Kuro, right?
[I really like Baby Castella Mask. I can't really see her face because of
her mask, but I think she probably pays her respects to Kuromu-sama
with her outfit. That's why I've always been rooting for her, but she
doesn't participate in many official games.]
[I'm sure she's powerful, so she may possess a social standing that
made her considerably busy. Still, she's undefeated against everyone
except Nightmare, which rightfully makes her World Rank-2.]
[I don't know why she hasn't been on "Night Games" since the
beginning of this year. I can only watch Night Games since it was held
after clinic hours were over, so I haven't been able to see if she had any
matches lately.]
[Maybe she's got a family now or something. That's why she's spending
the night with them.]
[...]
…She's Kuro, right? She's definitely Kuro, right? The only reason she
hadn't joined those Night Games is that she's been visiting my room
every night, right?
World Rank-1 is Alice and World Rank-2 is Kuro? This World Rank… I
have a feeling like I would know who the other people in it are.
[…I am rooting for World Rank-5 "Royal Runaway Mermaid". It looks
like she's hiding her face, but it seems like she's an ally of the mermaids,
so I rather like her.]
[Ahh~~ That Quoits Elite is also good. She puts up a great, solid fight.
But sometimes, knight-looking people would suddenly appear and drag
her away, making her lose by default, right?]
[From her name, she's most probably working for the royal palace, so
she must have been in trouble.]
[...]
I think I also have an idea who that person is… That's Laguna-san,
right? Aren't those knights coming out and making her lose by default is
because she skipped out on a meeting or something again, right?
Or rather, Laguna-san, who is known as the strongest person in the
Human Realm, is in fifth place, so I think there's a high probability that
the people higher-ranked than her are people I know. I'm sure that
Megiddo-san is one of them, since I'm sure that the battle-loving
Megiddo wouldn't let the opportunity to participate in a competition
escape… My head hurts.
[Ahh, I'm sorry, Miyama-kun. We got excited about a topic that was
difficult for Miyama-kun to understand.]
[Ah, no…]
[My apologies. I also got unintentionally excited. Well then, let's stop
with the talk about RINGTOSS, let's go see where we're going next.]
[…Yes.]
Seeing the complicated expression on my face, Dr. Vier and Neun-san
seemed to be worried that I couldn't keep up with the RINGTOSS topic,
and suggested that we go to the next place.
Well, I certainly wasn't able to keep up with them in many ways, so I
nodded gratefully and left the Battle Grounds, which was still filled with
excitement.
[Even so, there really are many people with monsters in tow. It's
amazing to see so many of them today.]
[Come to think of it, aren't monsters expensive?]
As I walked along the two ladies, looking at the stalls, we saw people
with all kinds of monsters. Of course, there are also people with normal
animals as well, so not all of them had monsters with them but…
[Unnn. That's why, one would have to be reasonably wealthy to have
one. Well, I guess there are a lot of rich people who are invited to the Six
Kings Festival.]
[…I see. However, I haven't seen this much monsters in my life, so this
feels pretty new to me. Even just looking at them feels fun.]
[Right~~ Oh, it's a wild cat. It's so cute~~]
As we walked along, exchanging small talk, a person with a cat about
two meters in size passed by in front of us. It seemed to be a monster
called Wild Cat… It really is cute and has fluffy fur. Well, Bell is a few
hundred times cuter though!
Thereupon, Dr. Vier tried to reach out her hand… but the Wild Cat
moved with frightening speed and hid behind her owner, trembling.
[…She doesn't have to be that scared…]
[Vier's magic power is enormous after all. Weak monsters are especially
sensitive to magic power.]
[…It's not like I'm going to eat her… Haahhh…]
After she unintentionally frightened the Wild Cat, Dr. Vier's shoulders
slumped and she continued walking. Chuckling at her adorable
reaction, I followed her.
Then, just as I passed the person with the Wild Cat, the Wild Cat
glanced at me…
[Nyan.]
…and snorted. The cat seriously just snorted.
I was shocked in a different way than Dr. Vier. Maybe it was because my
magic power was low.
[Gurururururu.]
As I was about to shrug my shoulders at her reaction, I heard an angry
snarl from behind me. When I timidly looked behind me, I saw Bell
threatening the Wild Cat, buzzing electricity generating in his jet-black
horns.
On one hand is the Wild Cat that got frightened just at the mere sight of
Dr. Vier, and on the other hand is Bell, a being known as a legendary
magical beast. The glaring Wild Cat clearly started shaking.
[…B- Bell, calm down, don't threaten the cat.]
[…Gao.]
[Okay, okay, you're mad for my sake, right? Thanks.]
[Kuuun.]
Looking at the Wild Cat, who looked like a frog that was being stared at
by a snake, I calmed Bell down. Then, I said a few words of apology to
the Wild Cat's owner, and followed Dr. Vier and Neun-san.
Dear Mom, Dad———— It seems like my magic power is just too
miniscule even from the eyes of a monster. Well, putting that aside…
Bell is just a baby, right? And yet, for the Wild Cat to be that frightened,
then Behemoths must be———— really powerful monsters.