Chapter 265: Comfortable

As mentioned before, they came once to survey the site, and three days before the mock battle tournament, they stayed over to start preparations.

This time of year was always hectic, but since Sam-san’s team handled everything, my only job was serving tea.

Despite doing it for free, they devoted a large number of people to the work and even announced this year’s mock battle tournament in the royal capital.

It was already enough that they prepared everything, but they also ran the operation itself—there was no way I could ever repay them.

“—Alright. Perfect. Now all that’s left is to run the tournament over the next two days. I’ll manage everything smoothly, so look forward to it.”

“Thank you very much. I watched the setup, and it’s incredible work—I’m deeply grateful. The biggest event is the mock battle tournament, but since we also hold regular events here, I’d like to continue entrusting things to Sam-san in the future.”

“Hehe. I’m glad to hear that, but isn’t that a bit premature? Let’s think about future events after the tournament finishes safely.”

“…Right. Then, we’ll rely on you for the next two days as well.”

“Of course. I’m counting on you.”

Even if something went completely wrong from here, I intended to keep relying on Sam-san, but I suppose Sam-san first wanted to focus on the task at hand.

Since I wasn’t participating in the tournament, I could enjoy it as a spectator from tomorrow.

Rather than relaxing, I felt excited and went to bed eagerly anticipating it.

Early Morning the Next Day

Even on tournament day, I had to do farm work, so I woke up earlier than usual… but it already sounded busy outside.

Looking out the window, I saw people coming from the direction of the royal capital.

The number of people was still small, but starting to gather this early was unusual, and I couldn’t imagine how many would come in total.

At Sam-san’s request, a temporary facility had been built for those who won on the first day to stay overnight, but maybe a facility for general attendees should have been constructed too.

Even though it’s still relatively close to the royal capital, it’s about ten kilometers away.

If there had been a lodging facility here, some people would have paid to stay, and it would have been considerate for attendees.

It’s too late to change now, but if I’m going to rely on Sam-san for future events, even a simple lodging facility should be prepared.

Watching people arrive one after another, I made that decision.

“Good morning, Sato-san. People are already arriving. Are they participants?”
“Good morning, Sheila. Judging by their attire, I think they are participants.”
“I felt last year’s event was large, but this year seems leveled up even more. Normally, we’d have to handle reception and guidance ourselves, so it’s really nice to be able to take it easy like this.”
“I completely agree. I felt it during the setup—asking Sam-san was really the right choice.”

We shared our thoughts while drinking morning coffee.

They were doing this for free, and I really couldn’t thank them enough.

Even though we planned to prepare delicious meals today and tomorrow, it still felt insufficient.

I wanted to give additional compensation, but I had a feeling Sam-san wouldn’t accept it.

That made me slightly uneasy, but for now, I focused on my own tasks.

So, to watch the matches, I threw myself into farm work.

Thanks to everyone working from early morning, all the tasks were finished by early afternoon.

Even while we worked, participants kept arriving, totaling nearly 200 people.

However, by early afternoon, more than half of those 200 participants had already been eliminated, so many who came had to leave despite making the effort to attend.

Still, as with last year, events were prepared so even eliminated participants could enjoy themselves, and some stayed to watch.

Since Sam-san wasn’t being paid for today’s work, the prizes for all-participation events were extremely luxurious.

Along with a large amount of currency from this world, sweets and useful items prepared using NP were also included.

Last year’s sweets had been well-received, and it was great to see that participants from last year had all stayed.

I was happy knowing that by increasing repeat attendees, the event would become more lively.

While thinking about that, the final preliminary rounds began.

Currently, 80 participants remained, divided into 10 groups of 8.

The top 2 from each group would advance to tomorrow’s main tournament.

Even with 200 participants, narrowing down to just 20 is harsh, but many had already secured spots in the main tournament.

Looking at last year’s results, this strictness was necessary to make the competition meaningful.

I was really looking forward to watching the preliminary matches to see if there would be a dark horse like Sylva-san from last year.