「See you later Kazuha~. Let’s meet again in the arena.」

Finally, Alzein, the “Kyonyuu” onee-chan, went home. [TN:Giant breast]

「Haaa……. I’m beat……」

Exhausted, I flopped onto smithy jii-san’s sofa.

「You found one heck of an opponent huh?」

Jii-san said while preparing a bath.

「I had no choice……. *mutter mutter*……」

Alzein’s『Deal』had two conditions.
My『Reward』for fulfilling these conditions is she will not disclose my secret for the rest of her life but…… .

First, if I found myself needing a 『leader』while I was『founding a nation,』I had to invite ‘someone.’
In short, it was to hire her for that role. So scheming, aiming for a good position…
The other condition is――.

「Making promises without consideration has limits too, right」

「Gunuu… . But, you know, if I had refused I would be crushed to death…」

By those “Giant b.r.e.a.s.t.s.”

「……What do you plan on doing then?」

「Yeah~ Well, for the mean time I’ll go to the arena and immediately end my entry.」

I stood up from the sofa.

「And then I’ll proceed towards the Maou’s castle.」

「Winner! KAZUHA AXEPLANTTT!!」

Ten days have pa.s.sed since the『Deal』was made.

I easily ranked up, while moderately losing, and now my stats are 176 wins and 54 losses.
My rank is Rank 185/ 15463.
Other than not outright winning, I made sure to also lose a few times because if I didn’t lose then I’ll attract attention due to having a good record.

(This is hard after all… Holding back only to such a degree that the enemy won’t notice….)

I don’t know if I’ll meet another knight as sharp as Alzein.
Very carefully, I’ve been stacking the effects of my 『Restraint Play,』and now I’ve become tired of it…

(There’s still a bit until I reach my target of Rank 100…)

I left the stage and headed towards the reception desk.

「Good work.[Otsukaresama desu] Kazuha Axeplant-sama, right. What is your business here today?」

「I would like to process my 『Ranking Settlement』 please」

「Certainly. Please wait for a bit.」

Fuu, I exhaled, and sat down on the chair beside the reception desk.

In this arena’s ranking system, those partic.i.p.ants that are Rank 50 and below can, after confirming their target rank, raise their rank by using the 『Ranking Settlement.』
This will become the proof of their rank, which means they can then register as a『Mercenary』 in the guild.
However, while the tournament is ongoing, each person can only use the『Ranking Settlement』once.
After this is recorded, until the next tournament your personal rank will remain that rank.
In short, once you’ve decided on your rank and have processed your settlement, you can use this to prove your current strength and receive a 『certificate.』

However, only those that are Rank 50 and below can process their settlement.
Those who are above Rank 50 are a special case and have a compet.i.tion card prepared. They will be forced to comply with the wishes of the guild.
Well, the partic.i.p.ants that are favored to win can’t conveniently decline the guild’s invitation, according to management’s plan.

Ah, by the way, about reaching Rank 6 when I joined last time, I selfishly resigned~.
‘Cause I lost interest.

Besides, during that time I had no plans to register as a 『Mercenary,』and I already had a lot of money, enough to make the prize money appear a pittance.
Also, if I hadn’t already decided to stay in order to learn 『Nitou Ryuu,』then I probably would’ve exploded midway the tournament~.

Un…… .
I don’t wanna be that kind of hero…….

「Thank you for waiting, Kazuha Axplant- sama. Do you want me to settle your rank at your current Rank 185 standing?」

「Yes. Please do.」

After I received my ranking proof card from the receptionist, I left the arena.

(Alzein… Just how much prize money is she aiming for, huh……)

With that much strength she can enter the top 10, right.

(Whatever… I just need to finish my end of the『deal』 with her…)

With that, I left 《Etherclan.》

「Otto. I don’t need  to use『restraints』 anymore.」

I opened the status window, then selected and used 《ＳＰ Pot》 from the item list.
My Sp recovered all at once.

Next, I chose 《Two Edge Blade》 and hit the 『Cancellation』 b.u.t.ton.
I finally cancelled the effects of the inhuman (lol) double edge blade.

Then, I chose 《Shadow》 from the magic list and cast 《Curse Solution.》
After doing that, the item on my right chest, 《Drain Badge,》immediately fell to the ground.

With this, my ability to automatically recover Sp has returned.
I also stored the fake 《Zwei Hander》 in the item bag, and once again equipped the best j.a.panese sword.

「Haa…… . A one handed blade is better than a greatsword after all~」

There are approximately 20 days left till my first meeting with my accomplices.
So, I practiced swinging my sword before that.

Ah, right right, I again forgot to mention.
I should’ve said this before while talking about how the weakness attribute for each person has 『2』certain weaknesses.
In connection to that, my weakness attributes are 《Light》 and 《Darkness.》
There is another kind of attribute called the 『Specialty Attribute,』 which everyone also has two of, regardless of who they are.

So, the kinds of『magic』 that I can learn are… Basically, those in my 『Specialty Attribute』 are the only magics I can learn.
However, mages within the『Magic profession』can learn types of magic other than their 『Specialty Magic.』 Although, compared to the power of their『Specialty magic,』other magic will be weaker I guess.

That’s why those in the high ranking jobs like『Mage knight』are really bad news…….
Because they are endowed with at least the average knight’s attack power, they are always superior on the battle field.
Also, after understanding the enemy’s weakness attribute, using『Magic』 they can attack at that part.
I can’t use enchant magic, but being able to do that would immediately become cheat, right?
And the Sp automatically recovering is too…… .

Ah. My bad.
I was once a human known as the hero of cheats!

There it is! Wait! That’s not my point! [ DETA! Ore ga iitai no ha soko jyanee!]

My 『Specialty Magic』 is 《Fire》 and 《Shadow》.
Therefore, I can only use these two 『Magics』.
That’s why I can use the 《Shadow》 magic called 《Curse Solution》 and remove the curse item 《Drain badge,》 Watson-kun. [don’t know about that “watson-kun”, don’t ask me bout that!]

(……Who the h.e.l.l am I explaining THIS TO–!!)

Now that the feel of the two swords has come back, I sheathed both on my back. [ Is that you Kirito?!?!]

「Well then…… Let’s do this!」

Beyond, in the great distance there lies a large mountain, there, you will see the castle where I am headed to.

「Now, to steal the my second sword of the demon lord!!」