Musou Slime 74

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74. Incident Occurrence

And so the day of the tournament arrived. After finishing my morning preparations, I dashed towards the venue where I was supposed to meet Irena.

Today, the town seems particularly lively. Skinhead men walking in the same direction and even that old lady with a cane walking slowly, they're probably all going to watch the tournament.

The Heroic Fighting Tournament is a major event in the city. People from all over gather to see the fierce warriors take the stage.

I never thought someone as lanky as me would participate in such an event.

Now, the venue is in sight. The massive brick-built colosseum stands out even more today.

I'm sure Irena and I were supposed to meet around here, but—

"Hey, what the heck's going on here?!"

I heard a distinctive high-pitched and angry voice.

I immediately had a bad feeling. I ran in the direction of the voice.

"Hey, calm down. This seems to be your problem!"

"What are you saying?! There's no way I'd bring something like that!"

As I arrived at the scene... I saw Irena arguing with a staff member.

Beside her were Raize and Sierra-san, looking troubled.

"What's going on?"

"Arkus! Listen to me! My sword!"

Irena almost lunged at me with an air of impending violence and pointed in a certain direction.

Looking in that direction, I couldn't believe my eyes. The sword Sierra-san was holding. No, to be precise, it wasn't just one sword.

The sword Irena made that day cleanly got split in two.

"W-What's this!?"

"This is definitely not right! You were the one responsible for managing the swords!"

"I have no idea about that! The organizing committee was responsible for keeping the swords safe! It's your fault for making something that breaks so easily!"

Ignoring Irena's protests, the middle-aged man with the organizing committee armband spoke sternly.

Raize and Sierra-san seemed like they wanted to intervene in this commotion. However, as you can see, both of them are quite heated, so there's no room for interference.

"Wait a moment. Let's sort things out. At what point did the sword break like this?"

"The swords were securely kept in a box by the committee. There's absolutely no doubt about it!"

"So, the sword wasn't broken until it was put into the box, and it was already broken when it was taken out?"

"It's absurd to think the sword broke on its own while inside the box."

As Raize pointed out, a sword can't move on its own and break.

Something must have happened while it was being kept inside the box.

"...So, someone must have taken it out of the box and broken it—"

"That's impossible!"

As soon as Sierra-san said that, the committee man raised his voice sharply.

"Why is it impossible?"

"No one in the committee would do such a thing! It's not our responsibility!"

"That's odd. Maybe an outsider sneaked in and broke it? Why are you dismissing that possibility first?"

"T-That's..."

As soon as Raize pointed it out, the man seemed flustered. It seemed like she hit a sore spot.

Isn't something strange here? Watching this man's behavior, I can't help but feel that way.

At that moment, someone put their hand on the man's shoulder.

"Hey, old man. Feeling good today?"

"Barry...!"

Casually addressing the committee man was Barry from the S-rank adventurer party, Demon's Fist.

He smirked as he looked at us. What's up with these two? Are they close?

"Hmm... hmm..."

"It's good if you're feeling well. So, what were you guys talking about? Let me join in."

Sweat formed on the man's forehead. His legs seemed to be trembling.

Something's been off about him since earlier.

"Hey, hey, what's with that sword? It's split in two, isn't it?"

Barry pointed at Irena's sword with a grin. Sierra-san quickly hid it behind her.

"Seems like you made a miscalculation with your swordsmanship even before the match, huh?"

"Shut up! There's no way I'd do such a sloppy job..."

"Then why is it like this? And shouldn't you be spending your time somewhere else? The match is about to start, you know?"

What Barry said was true. I'm scheduled for the second match. I've been told to prepare right after the opening ceremony.

"Irena, there's no other choice! Let's focus on our strategy for now!"

"But, this guy..."

We were in a hurry. At that moment, Raize grabbed my shoulder.

"Calm down. What's done is done, we should focus on what to do next."

Raize said, calming us down.

"You guys focus on the match. Especially you, Irena, concentrate on fixing the sword."

"But don't we have to submit the weapons for the tournament in advance?"

"I have a plan."

Raize whispered to me.

"...Got it. Let's go with that."

Her explanation accurately pinpointed the source of my discomfort. I can understand it now.

"Al, leave the rest to us and focus on the tournament. We believe in you."

Sierra-san continued.

That's right. There's no use panicking now. We have to do what we can right now.

"Counting on both of you! Let's go, Irena!"

"Y-Yeah!"

We hastened our steps towards the waiting room for the players.