Chapter 20: Entering the Tournament
Ren was amazed at how well-informed the king was. The incident at the city gate had reached his ears with incredible speed. To be king in a place surrounded by magical beasts, to develop a kingdom to be so prosperous, and to have the guts to plan a dragon-slaying... this man is truly no simple character.
Erza, however, quickly composed herself. "Your Majesty, since you already have preparations in place, why did you post an SS-Rank mission for us?"
The king explained, "The purpose of the request is simple. The dragon's seal is deep within the Great Forest of Monsters. The beasts in that part of the forest have been influenced by the dragon's power for centuries and have all mutated into terrifying monsters. I sent an army to subjugate them once, but the losses were disastrous. It is impossible to reach the temple without clearing out those monsters."
"So our job is to clear out those monsters?"
The king nodded. "Yes, but that is not your main objective. Your primary mission is to protect the dragon-slaying swordsman—or, to be more precise, to protect this sword."
"With all due respect, Your Majesty, if we are dealing with an evil dragon, wouldn't it be more reasonable to report this to the Magic Council?" Erza asked, puzzled. An evil dragon was a magical threat, and all magical matters were under the Council's jurisdiction.
At the mention of the Magic Council, the king's expression soured with disdain. "The Magic Council? I reported it to them two years ago. Do you know what their solution was?"
Ren and Erza both looked at the king, curious.
"It was to use Etherion."
"Etherion!!"
Erza's face went pale. Etherion was the Magic Council's ultimate weapon. From its satellite magic array, it could pinpoint a strike anywhere on the continent of Ishgar, unleashing enough power to destroy an entire country.
"Exactly! Leaving aside whether Etherion could even kill the dragon, the moment it fired, this entire city would be in danger of annihilation. Even if it missed the city, the Great Forest of Monsters would be obliterated. That forest is our kingdom's most important strategic resource! If it's destroyed, our entire economy will suffer a devastating blow!"
Ren thought for a moment and realized it was true. This kingdom's proximity to the forest was a great danger, but it was also the source of its prosperity. Firing Etherion would be like shattering the foundation of their entire nation. As king, it was no wonder he was furious with the Council.
"And so," the king continued, "I have told you everything about this mission. What is your decision?"
Erza turned to Ren. "Ren, what do you think?"
Ren sank into thought. He knew how terrifying dragons were. As the saying went, "a starved camel is still bigger than a horse." Even if the dragon was in a weakened state, it wasn't something a normal human mage could fight. Dragons had immense resistance to human magic, and their scales had super-strong physical resistance, making them impervious to most blades.
Without that special sword, their chance of victory was less than ten percent. With the sword... maybe it rose to thirty.
Thirty percent. It sounded low, but for a challenge like this, it was actually quite high.
Logically, any odds less than fifty-fifty should be abandoned for safety. But he could feel his blood starting to boil, his heart leaping in his chest. Dragon slaying... just those two words were enough to make any young man's blood race.
And, more importantly, there was the system's reward: two 10-pulls.
"I think... we should try it," Ren said.
"Hmm... I feel the same way," Erza agreed. "The king will not abandon this plan, and he is right. If that dragon breaks free and regains its strength, it will certainly take revenge on humanity. The casualties would be catastrophic. I cannot stand by and let that happen."
She turned back to the king. "Your Majesty, we've made our decision."
"And?"
"We will accept this mission."
"Excellent!" The king was clearly pleased. Though he didn't know the full extent of their abilities, he knew that anyone who could take an S-Class request was an extremely powerful mage. This raised the chances of the plan's success even higher.
"For now, please rest at the palace. The preliminary rounds for the 'Strongest Swordsman Tournament' will be held tomorrow. If you are interested, you may participate. The prizes for the victor are quite generous. After a winner is decided, we will proceed with the dragon subjugation."
Erza shook her head. "There's no need to trouble you, Your Majesty. We will stay at a hotel in the city. It will give us a chance to see the sights."
The king nodded. "As you wish."
Ren and Erza left the palace and found a nearby inn.
The three-day journey had left Ren exhausted. He checked in and fell asleep almost immediately, not waking until the next morning.
When he woke, Ren found that Erza was not in her room; she had probably gone out sightseeing. He decided to go for a walk himself, and maybe buy a few souvenirs.
The moment he stepped out of the inn, he saw the streets were bustling and lively, with everyone heading in the same direction.
Ren overheard the snippets of conversation and remembered: the king's tournament preliminaries were starting today. These were all spectators.
Although he had absorbed Yoriichi Tsugikuni's memories, that didn't change the fact that he was a complete swordsmanship novice. He naturally wouldn't overestimate himself and go make a fool of himself.
But he was very interested in this kind of large-scale event, so he followed the crowd toward the arena.
A short while later, Ren arrived at the arena entrance.
Like everything else in this country, the arena was massive. It was easily twice as big as any soccer stadium he'd ever seen in his past life.
"The deadline for the preliminary registration is in ten minutes! If you haven't registered, hurry up!" an official was shouting.
"I heard His Majesty is offering an insane amount of prize money for this!"
"How much?"
"First place gets 20,000,000 J!"
"Twenty million?! That's a fortune!"
"I know! That's why it's attracted masters from all over the country, and even from foreign kingdoms!"
"This is going to be incredible to watch!"
"You bet! I can't wait!"
At that moment, at the registration desk.
"Hmm... time's just about up. Doesn't look like anyone else is coming."
Suddenly, a voice rang out: "Wait! I want to register! I want to enter the competition!!"
"Your name."
"Yoriichi Tsugikuni."
~~~~~~
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