Chapter 30: Prince Kurobuta Discovers His True Identity

The Sword Dance Festival Battle Tournament has a preliminary round before the main tournament in the afternoon.

The reason for this is that the tournament is held in a single arena, and if all 200 contestants were to compete, it would take more than a day to complete.

The rules of the qualifiers are simple.

First of all, 10 or so contestants are thrown onto the square stage of the arena at once.

They fight freely, and if they fall off the stage or are deemed incapable of fighting, they are disqualified. The one who remains on the stage until the end will be able to advance to the main tournament. In other words, the main tournament would be a summit battle between the 16 strongest competitors who had won their respective matches.

The qualifying rounds began immediately after the opening ceremony, and fortunately or unfortunately, Brad found himself on the stage of the arena from the very first round.

"Now, the competitors enter desu!”

Brad, who had been in the waiting room, thought the voice of the MC sounded familiar, but he told himself that it couldn't be true, and entered the arena with the 11 students who were competing.

However, as I was greeted by the cheering crowd, I cautiously checked the commentator's booth and found that the MC was, as expected, the same person which made me hold my head in both hands.

(Why are you hosting? !!!)

The hostess was, to my greatest surprise, my personal maid, Rosie.

Basically, she came to Brad and said to him in advance “I will be busy on the day of the sword dance festival, so please relieve me of my shifts.” So he was worried that maybe something was wrong. Apparently, it was so she could host the tournament.

Rosie was chosen by Brad when he was still a black pig, so she was charming and she was also an excellent maid. She has been working for Brad for a while now and has built up a network of contacts all over the country.

(… and what's with the outfit?)

In addition, if she was just hosting the event, why was she wearing a bunny-girl outfit instead of her usual maidservant outfit?

She's a petite woman with an ideal figure and it shows off her curves, so it suits her perfectly, but it's a very revealing outfit.

My parental instinct is that a young girl shouldn’t show such a figure to others, but I am also proud to say she’s indeed my exclusive maid because of her loveliness.

“Who is that moderator? Isn’t she cute?”

“I know right? She’s my type.”

Brad’s nose flared when he heard such comments from the audience. But the maid being praised was

 (… quit winking at me for no reason)

As soon as I entered the arena, she kept winking at me. I think she should concentrate on her work.

I was worried that she may not be able to handle being the MC without any problems.

This was a big event, not only for the commoners but also for many nobles. If there was a problem, it might spread to Brad, the master of the event. Rosie, oblivious to Brad's anxiety, winked at him with the same optimistic look on her face.

(I've been feeling sick for a while now, and now my head is starting to hurt too. ......)

I've been feeling a bit sluggish in my head and body since this morning, and I think it's getting worse because I've been worrying more. I wonder if I'll be okay at this rate.

“I can't introduce all the competitors today due to the time constraints of the many matches coming up desu!... Are there any competitors of note for the three commentators?”

When all twelve competitors for the first match had entered the arena and were on stage, Rosie turned to the commentators sitting next to her.

“Hmm, I wonder if it’s Bra-chan♡.”

“I’m only interested in Brad☆.”

“I mean, I don't know anyone else.”

The voices that answered were all familiar voices

(No, why are you even there?)　

If you look closely, there were three people sitting in the commentator’s seat. The “seven heroes”, Glace, Merlin and Celie. 

I'm not sure if it's because it’s a national festival, but I think it's too much to waste the heroes on a mere student tournament.

“Sou ka! Sou ka!(I see, I see) Brad-sama who has undergone a big makeover and is a hot topic… Yes, I completely understand! Brad-sama is strong, smart, kind, and cool… He's impeccable is what I'm saying.  If I wasn’t the host of the show, I'd be cheering for him too!”

As I looked, I saw a group of about a hundred people occupying a huge area of the spectator seats, holding up a huge banner that read "Brad for life.”

When the group noticed Brad's gaze, they let out a loud feverish scream that almost broke the venue.

(Well...I don't dislike it, It makes me happy… but)

I could even feel the insanity in that scream.

I've never been popular like this in my previous life, and I'm happy about it, but it's so excessive that I can't help but laugh.

(It would be nice if everyone was this friendly, but I guess not.)

When I glanced at the other spectators, I could see that while there were people cheering for me, there were also quite a few people glaring at me with grim faces, as if my tremendous cheering squad was frowned upon, or perhaps I was just not that popular to begin with.

No matter how much Brad's popularity is rising, there are still many people who have been supporting Albert for a long time, and from their point of view, Brad is nothing but an unwanted presence. Since they were praising Brad so hard in public, It’s natural that they would look at me unfavorably. I hope I don't do anything that would get on their nerves too much.　

The atmosphere in the venue seemed to have completely ignited the fighting spirit of not only the audience but also the contestants around them.

Since a while ago, Brad had been feeling the stares of his opponents, as if to say, "I'm going to crush this guy.”

(Hmm…?)

However, while most of the competitors were looking at Brad with a burning desire to fight, there was one man who didn’t change his expression at all.

It was Dino Schwarzer, a huge boy who was a close companion of Albert's and who had taken the initiative in bullying Brad in the past.

The usual Dino would have taken the initiative in hurling hateful remarks at Brad, but there was no sign of him moving at all.

(There's been something wrong with him ever since the opening ceremony, isn't it?)

The appearance was definitely Dino’s, but there was something wrong with his facial expression. It's as if I'm looking at a different person.

“The match is about to begin desu! If you’re unable to fight or fall off the stage, you’re disqualified without question! Kick all your rivals off the stage and win the right to challenge for the main tournament...!”

He noticed that the contestants were lined up evenly on the stage, facing each other, and Brad followed suit, keeping his distance from each contestant.

(Whatever the case, nothing changes. I just have to defeat all the enemies that stand in front of me and move on to the main tournament.)

As Brad braced himself with renewed determination

"The match is about to begin desu!” Rosie's voice echoed loudly in the hall.

 At that moment, a light shot out from Merlin's fingertip on the commentator's seat, and it shot straight up into the sky, popping like a firework.

That was the signal for the start of the game, and the competitors began to move in unison.

(...... I knew this would happen.)

After checking the competitors' movements, Brad breathed an exasperated sigh.

The match had just started. In the midst of the shouting and cheering, almost half of the competitors attacked Brad without even batting an eye.

...... Well, I guess it was the right call.

Whether you like it or not, there's no doubt that Brad is the favorite to win this year's tournament based on his reputation. It’s natural to want to crush him as soon as possible.

"Crap, Brad-sama, look out!”

Rosie’s scream echoes in the arena.

(Hey, you're showing favoritism!)

Brad is amazed by his maid telling him to be careful while scratching his head 

“I have to fight properly.” I said while slowly turning to the competitors who are approaching me.

"What!!!"

At that moment along with his enthusiastic voice, magic power overflowed from his whole body.

Brad’s extraordinary power was just so much that the overwhelming magic produced a wave that spread with him as the center.

“… Ahh!!??”

The attacking competitors were blown away as though they were hit by a dragon’s wind gust and they screamed as they were slammed outside the arena.　　　

(It was so easy to get them off the field.).　

Brad breathed a sigh of relief after successfully knocking the initial attackers out of the field in an instant.

“Energy Bomb.”

 An incantation reaches his ears.

The next thing he knew, a glowing sphere the size of a human head was heading straight for him, exuding tremendous magical power.

It was a single attack magic of the fourth rank.

It's magic that you can learn at level 15 in Final Quest, but while it's powerful, it consumes a lot of MP, making it impractical for everyday use, and until you reach a higher level and have enough MP, it's only used in boss battles.

The fact that they unleashed this magic in their first move shows just how much they were committed to this tournament. In the first place, magic of the fourth rank is high-level magic that only a handful of talented people in this world can master. I have to say, they’re truly students of Windstar Magic Academy.

However, though for ordinary people, it should be a one-shot deadly magic,

"......"

Brad caught the attack with one hand without even batting an eyelash and throws it exactly as it was back to the person who released it.

“No way! Why didn’t it detonate?”

The competitors shouted in astonishment.

They were astonished…

It's an explosive magic that detonates the moment it hits a person or object. If you catch it with your hand like this, it should have exploded without a doubt.

So why did it not detonate this time?

The answer is simple.

The answer is simple: Brad had stretched a membrane between the sphere of light and his own hand with his extraordinary magic power and had not touched the sphere itself in the first place.

It was only possible with his extraordinary magical power and the ability to manipulate it. It was like art.

“Whoa!!!”

Immediately the sphere Brad sent back reached the player who released it, It detonated in a flashy manner, sending the player flying out of the field.

(All that remains is…)

There were three competitors still standing on the stage, not including Brad.

Like the other competitors, all of them are in the middle of chanting their magic. And it seems they had just finished chanting at this moment. When the other competitors cleared out, they all unleashed their special attack magic that they must have been practicing for this day.

Fireballs, ice pellets, lightning bolts... they came fast and furiously.

(I want to take it a little easy, but Marie is watching me. I decided not to cut corners)

Brad glanced at Marie who was in the VIP section and grins.

Brad’s strength is irregular for the inhabitants of this world. Considering how hard the competitors prepared for today’s tournament, I wouldn’t want to play an active role on this stage and show off too much, but unfortunately, this time, I can’t cut corners.

“…”

The next moment, Brad did not block the magic that attacked him from all sides. He avoided them by narrow margins due to his inhuman agility.

“This isn’t possible… he’s too fast!”

He threw one of them over his back, then went behind the other and kicked him in the butt, knocking him off the ring without a second thought.

He then slowly made his way to the last remaining competitor on the stage, a female student who took a frightened step backwards.

“It’s not appropriate for a pretty girl like you to be fighting.”

Brad supports the body of the female student who is about to fall while saying that with a smile and lifts her up lightly.

Then while holding her in a princess carry, which girls commonly love, I walked calmly to the edge of the stage and calmly lowered her outside the arena.

The female student staring at Brad’s face seemed to return to her senses, holding her blushing cheeks with both hands.

(Are we done now?)

He noticed that everyone who had attacked him earlier had been disqualified from the competition and there was no one standing on the stage besides him.

“Wow! What an unbelievable sight from the first match desu! As soon as the match started, Brad was attacked by all the competitors and seemed to be out of luck, but he quickly turned the situation around and knocked them all out of the stage desu!.”

The crowd was taken aback by Brad’s unbelievable prowess, but Rosie’s comment finally brought them back to their senses and they cheered.

“Waaaaaah!” the audience cheered wildly.

“And his gentlemanly behavior towards the last female player… as expected of Brad sama. I also want to be in a princess carry desu!”

Rosie’s face turns bright red and she twists herself in excitement.

(No… why can’t she just comment properly)

When Brad gazes at her quietly, Rosie seems to have noticed it and clears her throat as if to recover.

“Anyway… the competitors who went out of the arena have been disqualified. Then with this, the person who qualified in the first match is Brad sama”

When Rosie says so much, Brad frowns.

He recalled all those who fell outside the venue and realized one person was missing compared to when the game started.

And immediately after that…

“…?”

From the sky above, he felt a very strong murderous intent.

Brad hurriedly jumps backward.

At that moment, with a harsh sound of wind, a sword was swung down at tremendous speed at the spot where Brad was standing.

When the sword made contact with the cobblestone of the stage with the momentum of its swing, it caused a great explosion scattering rubble and dust all around.

“…”

Brad squints at the person that ambushed him.

“Oops… what a surprise attack from the sky by Dino Schwarzer! He was still there! He now stands in front of Brad as if to defeat him in place of his master Albert.”

Brad turns to Dino who has an eerie smile while listening to Rosie’s snorting voice.

Looking at Dino’s gestures and facial expressions as well as the magic that was clearly different from previous, Brad was convinced that the uneasiness he felt this morning was not for nothing and he was that his guess was correct.

As they were facing each other again, ready to fight,

“You’re not Dino, are you?

He asked the figure who was taking the form of Dino.

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