Gather Divine Coins and Gacha! - Chapter 225

 Waking up in the morning, I had breakfast, chose the plainest clothes I could from the ones provided, and changed before heading to Seriana's room.

I spent the day in Seriana's room, assisting her with her guests, breaking for lunch, and staying until evening.

After dinner, I returned to Minea's room when my escort arrived. I took a bath, heard some amusing gossip among the ladies, and then went to bed at an appropriate time.

This was the routine.

Even the guests were foreign nobility whose only purpose was to greet the new duchess. No wonder Seriana found it boring.

"Take that!"

I jumped off Seriana's knee, where I had been sitting on a floating ball, and dove onto the bed.

With a "poof," I sank into the bed momentarily before bouncing back up. It had quite a high rebound. Given my current weight, I might even be able to use it like a trampoline.

Elena had gone with Alec to the training grounds of the knights, where the venue for the martial arts tournament was set up. The arena, usually used for internal knight matches, was the site for tomorrow's main event, which Seriana would attend. They were doing a preliminary check.

"Don't just play around. Read the materials properly. Even though I'll be the one giving the greeting, you'll be there too, you know?"

With that, she tossed the materials she was holding onto the bed.

"Okay..."

The materials contained details about those who had passed the preliminary rounds of the martial arts tournament. Most were private retainers of nobles or merchant guilds, but occasionally there were independents, which led to fierce recruitment battles.

"There are two independents. Should we try to recruit them?"

"No, they're not my type."

"I see..."

Since there were no photos, only illustrations, even without the slight embellishments, they weren't particularly attractive... Elena, of course, and even the burly Alec were quite handsome, as were Jighart and Fiora. Our lady had a thing for good looks... Unfortunately, these two didn't make the cut.

"I've seen some of these people at the adventurers' guild. They didn't look particularly strong, but are they different in actual combat?"

"You're the same, aren't you? Fighting humans and fighting monsters are completely different. Maybe it's time for you to start training against humans too. We should talk to Elena when she gets back."

That sounded ominous... but I was a bit interested in watching the matches. The human vs. human battles I'd seen so far had been overwhelmingly one-sided, so I couldn't gauge the difference in skill.

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Burly guys were clashing swords near the center of the arena, shouting battle cries. They weren't using blunted weapons, so even a slight hit could be fatal... Were they crazy?

The matches were flashy but crude.

"Sera, what do you think?"

Seriana spoke up, sounding weary and not bothering to hide her boredom.

"I can't tell much difference... Yesterday's old man's match was interesting though..."

"Yes, it was."

The main event of the martial arts tournament wasn't about determining a champion; a single victory was enough. Participants came from multiple countries, each with their own sponsors. It wouldn't do to cause a fuss by eliminating everyone else, so it was probably best to keep it simple.

But the content...

The event spanned two days, but the matches were so similar that it became tedious.

The rules were pretty loose, but because of distance restrictions, no magic was used. It was just a continuous brawl.

One fighter would take a hit and counterattack. The other would block and counter in kind. They were likely testing each other's strength, but after repeating this a few times, they would discard their shields and engage in a straightforward slugfest.

Yesterday's old man showed impressive skill, dodging and deflecting attacks. In the end, though, he was caught by a tackle from someone with a shield and was blown away by a kick, but it was a good match.

"Is this what happens when you try to keep it elegant and proper...?"

"Well, most are already under exclusive contracts... They probably don't need to show off here."

In a regular tournament, fighters also aimed to sell their skills, so the battles were more varied. But here... it felt underwhelming.

"Oh, it's over."

The match concluded while we were talking. Applause and cheers rose from the audience.

I had missed the decisive moment by looking away.