kscans

Chapter 706 - One Guest, Coming Right Up

“—And it’s a wrap!!! The fourth match, the first round of D-Block, goes to the [Long Legs & Full Auto] pair!!!”

“Oh.”

“That’s about what I expected.”

And so, with four matches of ten minutes each plus five-minute intervals, the first program, scheduled from eleven to twelve, came to an end. With the time saved here and there, there were still about ten minutes left until noon, but for now, we had reached a stopping point.

The victors of the final first-round match were a tag team with a subtle sense of unity in their blue-themed avatars: the Southern Faction’s fourth-ranked Fuji-san and eighth-ranked Record-shi.

The fourth match, which was an all-Southern Faction affair including their opponents, the [Knight & Heroine] tag team… well, let’s just say it became the first clear-cut accident match of the tournament.

After all, it was a matchup of perfect synergy versus the absolute worst synergy.

On one side, you had the ridiculously evil pair, as the announcer called them, where [Full Auto]-sama multiplied the already overwhelming number of attacks of [Long Legs]-dono, who boasted such power thanks to his Narrator's Armament.

On the other, you had the exquisitely mismatched pair of [Knight]-sama, who drew her power from protecting someone behind her, and [Heroine]-dono, who shook the ground and charged ahead of everyone else.

It’s true that Fuji-san is a versatile character who can synergize with anyone, but that aside, the utter lack of synergy on the latter team played a huge role in this result.

Still, the fact that the female pair managed to hold out for nearly five minutes against the blue team with their insane compatibility was, I suppose, impressive. They both fought hard, but… being from the same faction, they already knew each other’s moves. It would have been difficult to stage a surprise comeback in a situation where the advantages and disadvantages were so clear.

At any rate, after the match, the [Thread-Weaver & Bell-Mail] pair went their separate ways, and I was returned to the waiting room with my partner.

In this instance space that now felt twice as large, I relaxed my mind and body—or rather, my mind and spirit—alongside my Onee-sama, and my thoughts after watching the match were—

“Reco-san is insane when he gets serious…”

“Indeed. As a solo combatant, he’s one of the top five mages in Arcadia right now.”

Putting aside the rule-breaking [Full Auto] with his power to casually double his forces, the [Long Legs]-dono I had briefly fought in the Four Pillar War was also monstrous.

The number of water magic types he used wasn’t just around ten. He was constantly and seamlessly weaving incantations, mercilessly deploying a vast array of moves suited to the situation. His performance was so robotic it was as if he, too, were on full auto.

On top of that, his precise control over the magic he cast, and the coordination with the barrage of attacks produced by his Narrator's Armament, [True Theory: Branch Staff Silencing Hymns]’s power, `[Endless]`, was nothing short of perfect.

…And so, a single thought welled up from the bottom of my heart.

“I want to do that kind of stuff, too…!”

“My, you’ve suddenly said something cute.”

Honestly, I was captivated.

What was with that picture-perfect ‘mage’? He was too cool.

“Well, setting aside my cute tag-team partner for a moment…”

“Please spare me the teasing, it’s embarrassing.”

It might be that the image of me, still in my transformed body, daintily nibbling on a cake is a bit strange, but please, I beg you, don’t say it out loud—

“If the program goes as planned, our Eastern Faction is the opening act. Are you ready?”

“……………I’m, fi…ne.”

“Haru-kun?”

“No, uh, I’m fine. I’m used to it… well, not at all, not even a little bit, but I’ve pretty much steeled my resolve, or rather, I’m starting to calm down out of resignation…”

What are we talking about? The ‘job’ scheduled for later.

Only those whose roles are finished get called to be personalities during the matches, but that’s not the only opportunity to liven things up.

The grand festival, which lasts until the evening, naturally has break times. The first of these is the lunch break, scheduled for two hours from twelve to two…

And that’s when it happens. The invitation.

Each faction gets whisked away as a group for a thirty-minute slot to chat, hold a Q&A session, and just generally have fun. It’s a crazy plan.

Of course, it’s broadcast on the big screens at the venue and live-streamed to living rooms around the world. Again, I’ve already reached a state of resignation, but this is true outward-facing entertainment, a world away from the Four Pillar War where I could just enjoy myself without worrying about ‘outside gazes.’

In other words, a stomachache is unavoidable—Ping—What???

“Eh, wh-what, hey, what’s that?!”

“Wh-What is it? Is something wrong?”

And so, with just ten minutes to go until that hellish event, as I was on the verge of enlightenment, trying to calm my mind and surrender to the flow of time, I received…

…what must be a feature exclusive to this event. A receiver icon I had never seen in the virtual world… in other words, an icon signaling an incoming call.

““………………””

Seeing it blinking before my eyes, I exchanged a glance with Hina-san, who was tilting her head in confusion—then, slowly, tentatively, I tapped the floating icon.

“—Ah, hellooo? Haru-san? It’s me, me, me!”

The voice that echoed through the room was extremely casual, a voice I had grown quite accustomed to… in fact, on this day, it was the voice of a friend I had heard more than anyone else’s.

And that voice, terrifyingly, dreadfully, awe-inspiringly, was perfectly synchronized with the beckoning figure of the commentator on the screen—

“—Could you spare just a little of your time?”

…she was calling for me.