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Royal Family Exclusive Seating Area

After lunch, we watched the Magician Corps"s matches.
As I thought, the light that appeared whenever they used magic was really cool.

"Whoa! Magicians use many magic items other than staves! It"s so cool, Elder Brother-sama!!"

"Ah, it seems like there are many types of staves, but there are also many different accessory magic crystals attached to them."

The prince and princess were having a conversation next to me.

As they had said, magicians used different types of magic items to support themselves.

The magic items could also take the shape of folding fans, bracelets, rings, and necklaces.

It all depended on the individual"s preference.

Also, even if everyone had an individual elemental attribute, it was necessary to have a dedicated magic formation to cast spells of other elements.

However, since the magic formation for summoning magic was inscribed into my soul, I didn"t need to carry it around.

By the way, those types of magic formations were sold cheaply at the shopping district.

Blue magic crystals were also sold cheaply for the same reason.

In this world, not everybody was born with magic power.

Everyone in the Archer Corps used magic, but they amplified and enhanced their attributes by using magic stones and magic formations.

Only one or two of them were dispatched to each village or town.

Magicians who could use all elements were usually misanthropic hermits who secluded themselves in the wilderness.

The main reason was that, apart from Amy and the vice-captain, they didn"t have any physical strength!

Anyway, back to the auxiliary magic items.

The magic crystals were made to take the shape of something that symbolized the element.

There were other special shapes, but for the most part, it was those six shapes.

Since the Long Blue-haired Ikemen had a rare element, his bow had two magic crystals embedded in it.

Non-elemental magic like healing or summoning magic could use normal, unprocessed magic crystals.

That was why there were some gaudy people.

Whenever I thought about this, I was reminded that I was from a different world.

I had the same amount of magic power as the Demon Lord, but my original elemental attribute had not changed.

Of course, Yin was a.s.sociated with Darkness, Water, Earth, Plants, Females, Winter, Stillness, Cold, and the Moon.

Haha… I couldn"t believe that my Otaku knowledge was useful here.

Of course, it didn"t mean that I couldn"t use other attributes, but the effects of Fire, Wind and Light were all much weaker.

I could use Fire to the point where cooking wasn"t a problem. I could make a gentle breeze with Wind; and with Light, I could only cast "Raitoree" to the degree where it could barely illuminate a book for reading.

That was why if I just wore the armet, I could avoid using Magic Crystals.

Anyway, other than Darkness, I also had an affinity with Water and Earth.

Judging from that, rather than having the Darkness attribute, I might actually have the Yin attribute.

Maybe I needed to examine this body a little more carefully.

(TL: Amaterasu is the Sun G.o.ddess, so her power is Yang.)
(ED: "Raitoree" is probably just "Lightly", but the TL didn"t like how it looked, and I agree.)

"Chie? What"s wrong? What are you thinking about?"

"!? Aiie!"
(TL: Exclamation of surprise.)

The prince called out to me, who was lost in thought.

The emperor, empress, and princess also looked worried.

No good, no good. I was still on escort duty.

"I am very sorry. I was just thinking about something."

"Thinking about something?"

"It"s a personal matter, please don"t worry about it."

The Royal Family and the surrounding servants tilted their heads.

It was good that the Prime Minister wasn"t here.
He disliked me, after all.

"Hey, what"s Chie"s attribute?"

At this moment, the princess"s carefree att.i.tude interrupted us and saved me from replying.
Honestly, it was the best moment to change the subject.

"My element is Darkness."

"Darkness, huh~. It really fits Chie!"

"Is that so?"

I was slightly surprised by the Princess"s words.

"Uhh, it"s because Chie"s armour and sword are both black, and even your eyes and hair are black. You"re also accompanied by a black unicorn. It sounds scary, but if it"s Chie, it"s really cool!"

The princess said with a big smile.

I was always called princess-like, or for better or worse, meek.

"Ah, that"s true. The way you make calm judgements, how you excel at a.n.a.lyzing what is the best course of action, and precisely deal with every situation…the serene Darkness element suits you much better than the Light element."

The prince also gave me his evaluation of me, agreeing with the princess.

H-huh? My face feels warm?

As the Royal Family continued to shower praises on me, I felt hotter and hotter.

It seemed that being showered with excessive praise might be a problem.

Tournament Grounds, Magician Corps"s Finals

It was finally the finals.

However, as the Captain, I couldn"t not do my best!

"Al…phon…se, I… won"t… go easy… on you…"

"Understood."

The current Vice-captain of the Magician Corps, Alphonse Balcon, who was clad in a slender, dark-green robe, held out his right hand.

The bracelet had a Club Magic Crystal and the ring had a Dia Magic Crystal.

Although he was the Vice-captain, he was slightly different from other magicians.

I waited for the starting signal.

(ED: We used full suit names earlier to clarify, but we will be switching back to the original names going forward.)

"Ready, begin!!"

At the referee"s signal, we both casted a spell.

""Flame!""

Bang!

The fire magic that we both cast collided with a loud bang.

The first step was to cast a chantless spell while moving to find the opponent.

I circled around him, wary of his right hand.

I could make my own walls, like the Archer Corps did, but if I had to maintain it while casting magic, my magic power would quickly run out.
Even if I had more magic power than a normal person, it still had a limit.

"Stone Edge!"

Alphonse"s Dia shone, and a sharp stone blade came flying.
I held out my staff.

"Sylph Shield."

I created a shield of wind and stopped the rock.
The shield dispersed, and

Goro! Goro! Goro!

The rock fell to the ground

Since I protected myself, I avoided what would have been an instantly fatal wound, but I would have been injured if it had hit.

Now then, what element should I use?

Military Personnel Exclusive Seating Area

"You can tell why the Black Knight kept emphasizing physical strength, based on the matches up until now."

Celestia nodded at my words.

By the way, Conrad appeared to be watching the matches, but his gaze seemed to be unfocused, so we left him alone for the time being.

"Yep, especially the finals. This is the climax."

The finals were going on right before our eyes.
The two compet.i.tors were moving around so as to avoid being hit, while alternating between attacking and defending.

"But, isn"t the outcome clear? Amy has an affinity with all the elements anyway."

Adelbert spoke, as if it was a done deal.
In response:

""Haah~""

We all sighed in amazement.

"H-hey! What is it! You all did it again!!"

Adelbert raised his voice.
He reacted badly.

"That"s why you"re Stupid Swordsman."

Celestia held her head while saying that.
We all agreed with her.

"You, I know that you don"t want to acknowledge the results of the training thought up by the Black Knight, but at least, as the captain of the Swordsman Corps, pay attention to Alphonse"s current strength."

"Guh…"

The Stupid Swordsman fell silent.

Since a long time ago, whether it was due to excessive self-consciousness or a superiority complex, he often underestimated his opponents.

The blood had rushed to our heads, but that had not been the case for Adelbert.

(TL: Since the editors got confused – Albert wasn"t acting on impulse like the others during that incident in Chapter 8.)

"Listen, just because somebody has all the elements doesn"t mean that they will definitely win."

"Huh?"

Adelbert made a strange face.
This guy really didn"t get it, huh…

"Adel, no matter how amazing the technique is, it"s meaningless if it doesn"t hit, right?"

"I know that!!"

He raised his voice in response to Celestia.

Were their mental ages actually reversed?

"That"s why Black Knight-dono told them to build their physical strength."

"Why is it like that!?"

Hey, hey, don"t just give a half-hearted explanation. I would also get angry.

"Just get it into your head that you need to raise physical ability to be able to avoid attacks!!"

Celestia, who was running out of patience, finally started yelling.
Adelbert widened his eyes in surprise at her angry voice.

"In other words! When Black Knight-dono saw that the Magician Corps"s ability to evade attacks was low, he put all his effort into strengthening them through unprecedented muscle training! Also, training one"s body has other merits. Didn"t Black Knight-dono say that? Strengthening the body leads to strengthening the mind. I heard from Amy that magic wasn"t only about magic power, but also using the mind to manifest the technique. That"s why the Black Knight"s training is very efficient."

As Celestia said, magic consisted of magic power and an element.

Chanting helped in increasing the strength of the mind.

Looking back on it, the Black Knight"s training methods were on point.

A day in the life of the Magician Corps (Oni game)

"HAHAHA!! ORAORA, you can"t move anymore, right?!!"

GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

Yea, they were trained, in various senses of the word.

Also, the Black Knight seemed to be laughing with delight during practice.

Why was he even chosen by the Unicorn?

It felt weird to watch the finals as all of this went on around me.

Tournament Grounds

There seemed to be a commotion of some sort in the military seating area, but I needed to focus on Alphonse.

Unlike other magicians, Alphonse was good at dodging.

He had more strength than the average commoner, which was unusual for a magician.

I had confidence in my strength, since I had trained with Celes even before I became a Captain.

At that time, the Captain and Vice-captain were retiring, so the match was to decide the new Captain and Vice-captain.

Alphonse and I were practically evenly matched in strength.

The reason I still won was due to my training with Celes.

If I hadn"t trained with Celes then, I wouldn"t be who I am now.

After training with Black Knight-san, his movements became harder to follow.

After all, I had never missed a day of training.

"Wrap around him! Sylph Bind!!"

The wind circled around Alphonse, sealing his movements.

If it were a non-elemental Bind spell, magicians with higher magic power would instantly dispel it.

Fire, Water, Light or Darkness were good for offensive spells, but weren"t good for restricting opponents.

Besides, Wind was basically air.

It was also easy to form an image of it, since we experienced it often.

Alphonse desperately tried to escape from the Bind.
However,

"You can"t… escape!"

I used the opportunity to chant.

"Oh Wind that blows around the Earth, bear my grudge and rip my enemy to pieces! Sylph Sonic!"

I casted the intermediate spell Sylph Sonic, and a blade of wind hit Alphonse.

"Gah!"

Due to the Protection, he wasn"t maimed, but he was sent flying with great force.

"Winner, Amy Arnold! The winner of the Magician Corps bracket is Amy Arnold!!"

Woooooooooo!

The crowd cheered at the referee"s declaration.

He seemed dazed, but was uninjured.

“U…Uhm, he isn’t injured……I think, but… Please…… bring a stretcher.”

I immediately approached the referee to arrange for the stretcher.

I was really bad with people, so I wanted to leave this place as soon as I could, but I couldn"t just leave Alphonse there.

In a certain part of the slums

Gakin!

"Tch"

"……"

I was in the middle of investigating Chie"s request, but a blunder had led to a fight.

He was agile, wearing an a.s.sa.s.sin"s preferred attire of a sleeveless shirt and gauntlets.

The man was taller and more slender than I was, but I could clearly see his muscles.

As an a.s.sa.s.sin, being as light as possible was important, so we used those.

It wouldn"t have been strange if he was well-known in the underworld, but unfortunately, I didn"t recognize him.

While clashing daggers, I looked for an opening of some sort.
I threw darts from a distance, but he blocked them all with his dagger.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, who do you work for?"

The a.s.sa.s.sin suddenly started to talk.

The fact that I am Chie"s… the Black Knight"s subordinate, was a secret to most of the world.

That was why I didn"t say a thing during my missions.
It wasn"t only because it was my job, but it was also to protect my best and close friend.

"I see, you"re quite a skilled a.s.sa.s.sin, huh."

I kept silent at the a.s.sa.s.sin"s words.

The main mission was to investigate, then to subjugate with Chie.
I was once an a.s.sa.s.sin, but my line of work was now completely different, so I didn"t want to be a.s.sociated with them again.

"I was thinking of having someone torture you, but it looks like you won"t talk, even if you die."

The a.s.sa.s.sin prepared his dagger.
I took out three of my few, remaining darts.

"It can"t be helped, don"t blame me for your death!"

He leapt forwards, closing the distance instantly.

I couldn"t dodge it from this close.

This would take all my strength.
I readied myself for the blow.

Bashi!

Something hit the man"s hand, and the dagger tumbled out of his grasp.
We didn"t know what had happened.

"Shadow Smoke!"

We heard a voice above us, and we were wrapped in a pitch black smoke, unable to see anything.

Toh!

"Here."

That person landed behind me, grabbed my left hand, and started to run.
Wait a minute! That voice is!!

"Wait! Wha!?"

"Shh! Run first!"

Once we snuck out of the smoke, I was able to see.

However, I recognized that voice.

We kept running until we arrived next to the shopping district.

"We should be fine here. We don"t have to worry about him chasing us."

"Y-you…"

I was a bit fl.u.s.tered.
Why wasn"t she wearing her armour!!

"Hurry and wear your armour! Isn"t it bad if others see you without it!?"

I spoke to the robed figure, Chie, in a hushed voice.
I didn"t say her name as a precaution.

"It"s fine. This voice is my normal voice, and no one saw my body through these robes and gloves."

"That"s true, but…"

"Didn"t Alice mention it before? About my occasional outings like this. If I always wore armour, I"d get tired of it."

If she said so, then… I relaxed with a sigh.

"Haah, whatever. More importantly, why were you there?"

I asked.
I had heard that she went to bed earlier, since tomorrow was the final day of the tournament.

"Ah~, well, I felt a strange presence and had a bad premonition, and since my armoured figure would stand out, I dispelled it after I left the castle gates, and went looking for you. When I saw you, you were about to be cut, so I grabbed a rock, jumped, and threw it at the opponent"s hand. Then, I cast a smokescreen spell, and all that led to the present."

"You"re as unreasonable as always."

I shrugged and made a bitter smile.

"Anyways, thank you, you saved me."

"……"

The edges of Chie"s lips raised.

Anyway.

"You said you followed a strange presence, but…"

"Ah, the a.s.sa.s.sin that was your opponent, it seems like he was holding onto something."

"That guy? What in the world was it?"

Chie shook her head in response.

"I don"t know, since I was focused on you, I didn"t see clearly."

"Is that so?"

"But I do know one thing."

"Ah, me too."

We both nodded.
Somehow, that a.s.sa.s.sin was involved with whatever we were investigating.

To be continued…

Afterword

I was able to update earlier than I thought.

Well then, there are five more matches in the long preliminaries.

As soon as I finish that, the real tournament begins!
Please take care of me next time too!

TL: Thanks for reading! Please do visit my other site at I translate something else there! This tournament is really long… And to those who read the april fools chapter, sorry for my non-fluent grasp of Indonesian writing… My parents tell me that since I only speak it, I suck at writing it…

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