kscans

Chapter 103 - From You, at the Last

—Teleport to the Eastern Faction Wartime Base [Otherworldly Subterranean Castle - Ruvalest]?

YES.

—The Four Pillar War Selection Match is currently being held. Do you wish to participate?

YES.

—Participation request accepted. Assessing player's performance record.

—Assessment complete. Player [Haru] will be assigned to the first selection preliminary round.

—Welcome to the Joyful Struggle, [Haru]. We look forward to your valiant efforts.

What the heck is a Joyful Struggle???

That's Istia of Conflict for you. Even the system messages speak in some mysterious battle-crazed language.

Parting with a waving Nia, I was drawn into the light of teleportation.

My 'performance record,' which shouldn't have even existed, was being assessed, but that part was just as Kagura-san had explained beforehand.

Your participation record in past Four Pillar Wars, your experience in large-scale battles that leave a record, or your battle record in official—that is, Arcadia developer-planned—tournaments and other so-called public arenas.

All of that information for every player is meticulously recorded, and based on the performance status calculated from that data, this "assignment" is carried out.

Incidentally, some people are apparently rejected at this stage. If you apply to participate with a casual attitude like, "I'm not serious, but it's a festival, so I'll just join in," the system will detect it and reject you… Detect your thoughts? Well, they have thought-based controls, so I guess it's a similar field of technology?

And yet, even if you apply with a festival mood, if you approach it with the enthusiasm of "Yeehaw, it's a festival!!!" you'll apparently get through just fine. It's likely just a mechanism to weed out those who aren't serious beforehand.

I was assigned to the first selection preliminary round. In other words, a preliminary battle for players whose records don't qualify them for the main selection tournament—a prelude, you could say.

The number of participants in the main tournament is fixed by the Four Pillar Operating Committee… that's too long, let's just say the Committee. The preliminaries have some fluctuation, but the number of participants is generally more or less decided.

Of course, since it is a selection 'match,' support-specialized players like healers and buffers don't participate in this.

They have a separate screening process from the selection match… but well, that has nothing to do with me right now.

Also, non-direct combat damage dealers, like artillery-type mages and archers, are screened separately. It makes sense, since if they were thrown in with melee-specialized players, they'd just be sitting ducks.

Conversely, all other players are thrown into this selection match.

Light warriors like me, heavy warriors clad in solid armor, even perverts who use bows in close-quarters combat, and martial artist mages who engage in full-on physical brawls are apparently in the mix.

The number of preliminary participants is roughly ten thousand.

Some might be surprised by how many, others might be underwhelmed by how few.

I was in the latter group. Having been repeatedly shown that "this game is not a game" recently, I had expected a ridiculously large-scale festival with an incomprehensible number of people.

This is Istia of Conflict. Even though it's said to have the smallest population of the four factions, it should have around four million affiliated players.

There's a gap with the active population, but to think only about one-four-hundredth of them participate… Kagura-san and Nia answered that question of mine together, but it seems there are various reasons.

Even though they belong to Istia of Conflict, not everyone has the combat sense to fight on the front lines.

Some enjoy conflict, but prefer to cheer from the sidelines as spectators rather than participants.

Some want to admire the 'Princess's' face, but if they were to try to approach her on the battlefield, they'd be turned to ash in an instant, so they choose to watch from a monitor.

It seemed that not all players belonging to Istia were equally muscle-headed yeehaw types. I couldn't help but feel a strange sense of relief.

In the very early days, it was apparently a huge mess that couldn't be controlled, but the first Four Pillar War main tournament was said to have been a "hellscape"—that's right, because every single participating player was a monster.

That apparently caused the vast majority of general players to think, "Nope, can't do this," and the number of participants dropped sharply from the second tournament onwards.

In any case, the selection preliminary round where about ten thousand participants gather. As for what format it takes… well, you can guess, right? Even if it's a fraction of the player population, there's no way they could hold individual matches for tens of thousands of participants.

—A battle royale. The content of the selection preliminaries is an all-out brawl, with participants divided into blocks of about a hundred people each.

…Since it's a multi-person battle between solo players, it's not one-on-many, but having to be on guard in all directions in a many-on-many fight doesn't seem to suit me well, since a light tap could be fatal—

"Oh."

The block assignment process and other things must have been going on. The teleportation process, which was longer than I'd experienced before, suddenly came to an end.

The torrent of blue light that had swallowed my body and consciousness ceased—and my vision cleared.

I was transported to a wide, square space with nothing particularly noteworthy. A huge Istia symbol was drawn on the floor, but it was covered by the figures of many players standing around sporadically.

At a rough glance, there were definitely over a hundred people. Spectators who had accompanied participants were probably sent to the waiting room as well—see, right next to me.

"—…Ah, thank goodness."

Whatever it was, I understood the feeling of being nervous about a first-time experience. Although Nia had explained it in detail, she must have been anxious about whether we would actually be able to meet up properly.

Finding me right beside her, Sora, who had come to cheer me on, relaxed with relief—or so I thought, but then she gave me a strange expression I'd never seen before.

Her gaze was directed at… ah, this.

"Does it suit me?"

"It's wonderful, but… um, Haru?"

When I posed, placing a hand on the [Agaphanthus Amulet] I'd received as a parting gift, Sora nodded honestly—but what's with that fidgety feeling?

Was she not even sure of her own feelings? Sora-san was being more indecisive than ever before. Her eyes, peering up at me, held… suspicion? Confusion? I really had no idea.

"Um… Nia-san said that today was only the third time you've met her, right?"

"That's right. She's been like that from the start, so I ended up having a pretty casual relationship with her without holding back."

Hearing it from someone else makes me realize it again, our sense of distance is all messed up.

But somehow, I feel like Nia and I both understand that we're comfortable with the way things are… I'm aware that this isn't the kind of distance you have with someone you've only met three times, but for us, this is probably fine.

"Casual…? More than casual… eh, from the very beginning…?"

I wasn't sure what to say to Sora, who was tilting her head in confusion and doubt—then, as if shaking off her tangled thoughts, she shook her head and gave a small bow, seemingly having collected herself.

"I'm sorry, it's nothing. I think I was just surprised that you could become so close after only meeting a few times."

As she said, Sora herself didn't seem to fully understand what she had been suspicious of.

If she put it that way, I could only agree. To have a relationship without reservations like old friends after just three encounters—if you called that special, then it was.

"Again… it suits you very well. You look cool, Haru."

"Yeah, thanks—…man, this is actually pretty embarrassing, huh?"

I was happy when the two artisans showered me with praise, of course… but, well, Sora's words were a little different. Being praised so openly by my one and only partner came with a strange, ticklish feeling.

As I uncharacteristically blushed from her direct smile—perhaps because our usual roles were reversed, Sora let out a small, amused laugh.

"…Haru."

She took a step closer.

At the same distance as Nia was earlier—her amber eyes looked up at me.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help with anything."

But there was no cloud in Sora's expression as she apologized like that.

I guess we're no better than that pair with the skewed sense of distance after just a few days. Even though we've only known each other for less than two months, we can already tell what the other is thinking.

"This was a sudden development for me too. There's nothing for you to apologize for, Sora."

She must have known I would say that. She smiled gently again—and her small hand took mine.

"It really was so sudden, you know? You surprised me."

"I was surprised too. Kagura-san really fired me up."

"I heard. Kagura-san is cool, kind, and a wonderful person, isn't she?"

"The way her polite 'big sister' tone comes out when she's flustered is also a plus."

"You shouldn't tease her too much, you know? If you get into a fight, I'll be on Kagura-san's side."

"Couldn't you side with your one and only partner for once?"

"Even if I don't help, you'll just get through anything with a cool face anyway, Haru."

"That's some mysterious confidence you have in me… this is confidence, right? Not resignation?"

"Hee hee, I wonder."

"Kagura-san's character breaks are a plus, but your mischievous side is a plus too, Sora."

"…! Th-That's not fair! I won't just let you tease me like that forever, you know!"

"Doesn't have much of an effect when you say it while turning beet red and looking away."

"Jeez…! You're as mean as ever!"

She tapped my chest with the hand that was still holding mine.

I don't know, it just feels so comfortable. Talking with Sora like this.

"Haru."

"Yeah."

We're partners, not lovers, but there are times when we're conscious of each other as members of the opposite sex—but still, it's different from the relationship between men and women in the real world.

What I feel from her presence when she's close is not the tension of being with the opposite sex.

It's just the unparalleled sense of security built up through the countless adventures we've shared.

What I feel from the warmth of her touch is not the excitement of a woman's softness or warmth.

It's just the unshakable sense of trust born from overcoming immense obstacles hand in hand.

We hold hands, and our eyes meet. That's all.

We're past the point of feeling embarrassed about it.

"I'll be cheering for you—do your best."

"Thanks—I'll do my best to show you something cool."

So, I'll pretend I didn't notice the faint blush on Sora's cheeks.

My cute partner can be pretty scary when she's angry.