Chapter 268: Tournament Grouping

The next day.

From the morning, the main tournament participants were gathering, and many familiar faces had come.

As I greeted everyone, the tournament draw was about to begin.

Including those who passed the preliminaries, there were 48 participants in the main tournament.

The tournament brackets were determined by drawing lots, and the first match of the first round—Joel-kun versus Harry-kun—was set.

This was the matchup I had hoped for since yesterday, but it wasn’t arranged unfairly.

The rule was that the person drawn could choose their spot in the bracket, and Harry-kun, who was drawn early, picked a spot at one end. Because he was still very young, he seemed hesitant about where to choose.

Later, no one filled in next to him until the latter half, when Joel-kun, drawn later, picked his position next to Harry.

The matchup was essentially determined, but judging by Joel and Harry’s expressions, neither seemed to care at all. They looked excited to face a strong competitor of their own age, promising an entertaining match.

However, during the audience’s predictions for the champion while the brackets were being arranged, Harry-kun was ranked near the bottom, and Joel-kun was considered the worst.

Being so young, it seemed the crowd underestimated them quite a bit.

Incidentally, the most votes for predicting the champion went not to Donnie-san, as last year, but surprisingly to Freese-san.

Apparently, the Sword Saint’s reputation reached a wide audience, and though it was a close call, Freese-san received the most votes.

Donnie-san came in second, followed by the heroes, including Ren-san.

Below them were the other preliminary qualifiers, and those I knew who were exempted from preliminaries were all rated rather low.

Partly this was because those who participated in the preliminaries were already widely recognized skilled individuals, but I still felt a little frustrated by the results.

Since I had announced that there would be not only sweets but also prize money for correct predictions, seeing such an outcome despite the serious voting made it even more frustrating.

I hadn’t seen Harry-kun until yesterday, so I couldn’t judge much, but Joel-kun being considered the worst was far too low, and I hoped he would show his genius pride.

Alongside pure cheering, I also rooted for them with a little personal emotion as I watched their match.

“Then, let’s begin the first match of the first round! Joel and Harry, step forward!”

“This is my first time facing someone my age who’s strong, so I’m excited! Harry, let’s do our best!”

“Yes, likewise! I won’t hold back at all, so please forgive me!”

“No holding back needed! I’ll also give it my all—let’s make it a great match!”

After exchanging these words, they shook hands firmly.

Once they took their positions, the referee signaled the start of the match.

The first to move was Harry-kun.

He closed the distance quickly and launched a furious assault from the very start.

Harry-kun’s weapons were twin daggers, emphasizing speed and multiple strikes to pressure Joel-kun.

Joel, on the other hand, calmly received Harry’s attacks.

Usually, Joel-kun looked cheerful and carefree, but now his gaze toward Harry-kun was icy cold.

Despite the flurry of strikes, he did not panic, handling everything with precision.

Harry-kun increased the speed of his attacks, but Joel-kun seemed to read his patterns perfectly, blocking Harry’s advances with preemptive moves.

Harry-kun was attacking, yet Joel hadn’t launched a single offensive strike, and yet… I couldn’t see Joel losing.

Sure enough, as if confirming my prediction, Joel landed a strike in the gaps between Harry’s attacks.

That single hit completely threw Harry off balance, and from that point on, the match proceeded entirely on Joel’s terms.

“That’s enough! Joel wins 3–0!”

“…Gah, frustrating, but you were strong. Joel, thanks for the fight!”

“Thanks to you too! I didn’t expect someone my age to be this strong!”

“That’s my line! I want to fight Joel again another time.”

“If you come here, we can fight anytime! Let’s keep pushing each other to improve!”

After their conversation, they shook hands firmly.

The two had delivered a heated, exciting match, earning loud applause from the crowd.

The audience probably didn’t expect much from this matchup, but the level of skill far exceeded expectations, raising everyone’s excitement.

It was a perfect start to the tournament, and above all, I was glad to see Joel-kun and Harry-kun’s intense battle.

I gave them the biggest round of applause and eagerly awaited the second match.