Despite its name, the Gladiatorial Festival allows the use of weapons other than swords.
Naturally, bare hands are also permitted.
The participating nations are Hordia, Vester, Barshark, Garius, Filat, Ranleo, Seraeno, and Tuban, eight nations in total, each sending four participants.
“Who are the favorites?” Marius asked, and Barra tilted her head.
“Hmm? This tournament is meant to figure that out,” she replied.
“If I had to pick someone, perhaps Catherine. she’s much stronger than most knights,” Lovisa said, sounding half-skeptical.
“Now that you mention it, that’s true,” Marius recalled Catherine delivering a blow to a foe’s groin. With strength surpassing knights and remaining hidden until now, she might be exceptional, unless someone even more formidable has emerged.
“No, no, Filat also has strong contenders,” the King of Filat interjected. His rudeness could be interpreted as such because he is Marius and the others’ adoptive father.
“Were there people like that?” Lovisa asked, looking perplexed at Emma.
The maid, sensing her mistress’s gaze, shook her head silently. She also had no recollection of such individuals.
“It’s no wonder you don’t know them. He’s Yaders’ son. Also, Chandler’s eldest son, the ‘Slaughter General,’ is apparently participating.”
“Oh?” The women reacted to this, while Marius remained clueless.
Seeing his reaction, Lovisa explained, “Chandler was known as the fiercest general in the west and the only one who could truly fight the King of Boltner.”
Barra continued, “He was feared as the ‘Slaughter General’ for mercilessly killing enemy soldiers in battle.”
“That’s incredible,” Marius said, honestly impressed, wondering if he was a legendary warrior spoken of in history, one who could fight a thousand foes alone. Fortunately, no one around misunderstood his genuine admiration.
“Do you want to know who’s strong?” a voice suddenly came from behind Marius.
“No, I don’t,” Marius replied without turning around.
“What? I was going to tell you,” Auraniess, the voice’s owner, pouted.
“Knowing beforehand would spoil the fun,” Marius said.
“Hmph,” Auraniess scoffed at his excuse but said no more.
The matches were about to begin. The first match of the first round was between Catherine and a fighter from Barshark. Catherine, dressed in practical leather armor and trousers, fought bare-handed. The Barshark fighter was clad in full plate armor and wielded a spear.
“Even if you’re a princess, I won’t go easy on you!” the man declared, glaring at the young woman.
“Yes, I’ll be counting on your guidance,” Catherine replied with a polite bow.
The man assumed a fighting stance with his spear, while Catherine stood relaxed and natural. Those who truly understood combat might have seen her subtle opening, but the man did not. As the referee signaled the start, he charged forward, thrusting his spear. He intended to win with the first strike. However, Catherine was more skilled than her appearance suggested. With fluid footwork, she dodged the spearhead, closed the distance, and struck the man’s abdomen with an open palm. His body registered the swift, efficient movement only as he took the full force of the blow.
“Gah!” he gasped, then collapsed.
The cracks on his armor testified to the power of the palm strike.
“Th-that’s enough!” the referee hastily declared the match over. The audience was silent, stunned by the swift victory.
“As expected,” some were not surprised. Marius and the Boltner Kingdom representatives were among them.
“Yes, she certainly held back,” King August III commented with a chilling admiration.
“Ahhhhh!” someone shouted loudly. “I remember now, that’s Catherine!”
The troublesome individual who shouted was Auraniess.
“You finally remembered? Did seeing Princess Catherine’s movements trigger your memory?” Marius asked, and the Demon Lord nodded vigorously.
“She’s gotten stronger since I last saw her. She’s been training diligently,” Auraniess seemed pleased. Marius felt a pang of sympathy, thinking this turn of events might be troublesome for Catherine.
The first round proceeded smoothly, with the other three Boltner representatives also winning their matches. Yaders’ son and Chandler’s son also won, but the Tuban contingent was entirely eliminated.
“Oh dear…”
“Well, that couldn’t be helped,” Marius and his companions accepted it with a matter-of-fact expression. One of them had been matched against a Boltner participant, and the other against Chandler’s son, so bad luck was a plausible explanation.
“You guys are taking this pretty well. Want me to train you?” Auraniess was the only one to express discontent, to everyone’s surprise.
“Please don’t. It would result in a pile of corpses,” Marius said, stopping her with a serious expression. While Zofi and Barra might have endured it, Marius doubted Auraniess would patiently train weaker individuals.
“Hmph, what do you mean by that?” Auraniess grumbled. Marius sighed and asked, “Can you quietly watch someone weak gradually become stronger?”
“…That’s annoying,” Auraniess admitted after a moment’s thought. While she didn’t have ill will towards the weak, she questioned her ability to endure the slow progress of training someone.
“Princess Auraniess isn’t exactly patient, you know,” Sophia and Iris, who had known her for a long time, chimed in. Marius entirely agreed. This development effectively ended Auraniess’s plan to nurture and train them. Upon hearing this through unofficial channels, the Tuban people shed tears of joy and expressed their gratitude for their king’s wise decision.
As the tournament progressed, Catherine, Yaders’ son, and Chandler’s son all advanced as expected. The first quarter-final match was between Catherine and a fighter from Seraeno, whom Catherine defeated with a single blow. The second match was between Yaders’ son and a Boltner participant.
“Damn it, just like savages, they’re all strong,” Yaders’ son cursed as he readied his sword. He wanted to make a good showing here and join the knight order without relying on his father’s name. Ideally, he wanted to win the tournament. As the match began, the Boltner fighter closed the distance in an instant. Yaders’ son blocked the sword strike with his own weapon and retaliated with a kick. He deliberately performed a maneuver that a traditional swordsman would never attempt, but the Boltner fighter, remarkably, charged forward even while taking the kick.
“I messed up,” Yaders’ son thought. Standing on one leg, he shouldn’t have been able to maintain balance. His confidently delivered kick had no effect, throwing off his calculations. He fell to the ring and received a headbutt.
“You… you bastard!” He quickly used a body enhancement technique to push the Boltner fighter away, but to his disbelief, the fighter didn’t budge. The Boltner fighter pinned Yaders’ son with his sword and continued to headbutt him repeatedly. The sheer power and force of the headbutts quickly knocked him unconscious.
“What in the world…” Marius exclaimed, dumbfounded. The others reacted with wry smiles or disbelief. Such a fighting style was unheard of. The next match also saw a Boltner fighter emerge victorious, and a murmur began to spread through the arena.
“Hey, don’t tell me all the semi-finalists are going to be Boltner people?”
“Who even taught those Boltner people body enhancement magic?”
Such voices arose from various corners of the venue. Marius, the culprit, felt the words “balance destroyed” flash through his mind. The fourth match was between Chandler’s son and yet another Boltner participant.
“Someone stop the Boltner people already!” Chandler’s son responded with a wry smile to the near-screaming cheers. The match began, and both fighters charged simultaneously. Chandler’s son thrust his spear, and the Boltner fighter intercepted it. The spear that was then used in return was also easily blocked. After five, then ten exchanges, Chandler’s son gained the upper hand. This prevented the Boltner participants from dominating the top ranks.
“All the Boltner people are strong. Were there no military personnel participating this time?” Marius’s comment was addressed by Lovisa.
“No. Aside from Princess Catherine, they were all supposed to be ordinary people.”
“Could they be a battle-hardened race?” Marius muttered quietly, so only Auraniess could hear. The Demon Lord ignored him, her attention having shifted entirely to Catherine. Catherine won her subsequent match against a Boltner opponent, advancing to the finals, as did Chandler’s son.
“Everything so far has been a one-hit finish,” Marius remarked, impressed by Catherine’s victories. Auraniess was watching intently, which suggests it was quite a feat. He concluded this.
Finally, the final match began. Catherine stood in her natural posture, while Chandler’s son, with a stern expression, remained immobile, gripping his spear. Marius understood why; Catherine had defeated all her previous opponents with a single blow. Catherine, with a composed expression, slowly closed the distance and leaped into her opponent’s guard. Chandler’s son immediately thrust his spear. Catherine dodged it with her usual efficient movements, but this time, unlike before, Chandler’s son reacted to her movement and transitioned into a sweeping attack. Catherine caught the spear with her small hand and snapped it in half.
“…Huh?” Chandler’s son, whose steel spear had just been casually broken, froze in surprise. Catherine then delivered a palm strike.
“Guh!” Like his predecessors, Chandler’s son fell. However, Chandler’s son was no ordinary fighter. Gritting his teeth, he stood up. His steel armor, now bearing multiple cracks, indicated a resilience different from his previous opponents. Catherine watched with admiration and then closed the distance in an instant. She evaded a blow from his left hand, which was swung reflexively, and struck his jaw with an open palm. Chandler’s son’s head violently recoiled, and he fell backward onto the mat. This time, he could not get up, and Catherine was declared the winner.
