"Welcome back! It’s the second and final day of the Gonpetition! These two days are flying by, wouldn’t you say, Tolf?"
"I agree, MC. But if we continue to see this kind of turnout, I expect the event will be expanded in the future."
"One can only hope. Now, the main attractions for this second day are the Performance and the Mock Battle!"
"Just to explain for our audience, the 'Performance' is where each golem showcases its specialized combat techniques and the like."
"I see, that’s easy enough to understand. But what exactly do you mean by 'and the like'?"
"Well, I say 'and the like' because it doesn't strictly have to be a martial art. For example, a golem could perform a dance. Of course, the scores would be lower for that."
"Thank you. Since you mentioned scores, let me explain the system. For the Performance, five judges will each evaluate the golems on a scale of one to ten, and the total will determine the ranking."
"As a side note, our chief judge is none other than the Magi Craft Meister, Jin Nidou. We also have King Cesar joining us today as a special judge."
"Incredible! I understand the judges were selected with the utmost fairness."
"Thank you, Tolf. Now, everyone, it seems our participants are ready."
As the signal drums and gongs rang out, the gates to the staging area swung open. The contestants and their golems entered in numerical order, starting with number one.
A performance, huh...
Jin was weighing several factors. He had already cleared it with the tournament officials to give another demonstration today.
I honestly don't know how he’ll react. That’s the problem...
The biggest obstacle to his planning was that the Mysterious Man and his golem’s motives remained a total enigma.
At the very least, judging by his behavior so far, I can only assume he’s up to no good.
If his goal were purely research, there were far better ways to go about it, Jin thought to himself.
And then there’s that man, Jix...
Jin had recently dispatched Quinta to the town of Nikarai to contact Lucol’s friend, Jidan Casey. Through a subtle investigation, he’d managed to get a description of the assistant who had stolen Jidan's research. As it turned out, Jix appeared to be a different person entirely.
Gunno Asher was reportedly a much younger man, and his hair and eye colors didn't match Jix’s. Of course, it could have been a fake name or a disguise, but Jin had a hunch that this was the work of more than one person—he thought of them as criminals since they’d stolen Jidan’s work and were clearly dangerous.
Furthermore, he doubted a single individual could provide and maintain something like that kite-style airship. He realized he was being a bit hypocritical given his own secret resources, but he found it hard to believe there were many others like him in this world.
A thunderous cheer snapped Jin out of his thoughts. He looked up to see number 41 entering the arena. Since that was the final contestant, the second day was officially underway.
"All participants are present! Unfortunately, numbers 13, 21, and 37 have withdrawn from today’s competition."
They likely saw yesterday’s results and decided not to bother with the second day. Jin couldn't really blame them.
"Now then, to open today’s events, we will have a special performance by a golem created by our chief judge, Magi Craft Meister Jin Nidou!"
It was time for Steward to take the stage.
"Oh... wait?"
"That... that's the Meister's work?"
"Talk about a letdown."
Steward's exterior had been intentionally designed to look clunky and outdated, resembling an old-model golem. It was only natural for the crowd to be confused.
However, as soon as Steward began his routine, those dismissive whispers were replaced by gasps of awe.
"W-Whoa!"
"Unbelievable!"
"He’s moving so fast he’s a blur!"
Holding a sword even larger than a standard two-handed sword—a Greatsword provided by the Celuroa Kingdom—in just one hand, Steward began a series of practice swings. Since the weapon was balanced for humans, it felt feather-light to him.
Diagonal slashes, reverse diagonal slashes, horizontal sweeps, and vertical strikes. Steward was simply performing basic Kendo forms Jin remembered from manga, but his sheer physical prowess made the display mesmerizing.
"Ooh!"
Then, Steward added more complexity, weaving in sword techniques from the Shouro Empire. These were only at the level used by advanced-level soldiers—squad leader class—but performing short sword techniques with a single-handed grip on a Greatsword gave the movements incredible weight and presence. The sound of the blade cleaving the air echoed all the way to the spectator stands.
That’s enough.
Since this was a demonstration, Jin didn't want to completely overshadow the actual participants. However, he also needed to pique Jix’s interest. He had settled on a routine that used decent technique while putting maximum emphasis on raw physical capability.
It’s a coin toss whether he’ll bite or not.
As Steward finished his performance, the stadium erupted in thunderous applause.
"And so concludes the magnificent demonstration by Jin Nidou’s golem! Now, let the main event begin!"
"I’m eager to see what the participants have prepared for us."
"First up is number 1, Stahl Ritter!"
"Number 1 is also using a sword. It’s a Greatsword as well, though a slightly smaller one."
Stahl Ritter showcased its technical skill by wielding the Greatsword with one hand.
"Splendid! Those are classic Celuroa Kingdom sword techniques!"
The golem concluded its trial with a unique flourish, switching the sword to its left hand mid-motion. A loud cheer rose from the crowd.
"The judges are now casting their scores."
Jin wrote his score on a small piece of wood-paper and handed it to a tournament official. The official tallied the votes and displayed the results on the magi-screen.
"28 points!"
The crowd cheered, though at this stage, it was hard to tell if that was a high score or not. Jin had given it a 5, marking it as average.
Next was number 2, Zaberer. It used a standard short sword to display its skills. Its movements were quite refined, and Jin gave it a 6, but the other judges were apparently feeling stricter; it only finished with 21 points.
One by one, the performances continued. By the time half the field had finished, the highest score was a 31, held by number 16, Blue Knight. It was a crowd favorite, and its forms were indeed polished. However, Jin felt its strikes lacked power and gave it a 4.
Number 26 gave a rare performance with a spear. While the choice was novel, the technique was lacking, resulting in a score of 16.
Number 35, Iron Warrior, and number 40, Alte Krieger, both utilized Greatswords. Iron Warrior earned 27 points, while Alte Krieger secured 30.
Finally, it was number 41’s turn.
"Whoa!?"
"He has two swords?"
Phantom began its performance with a short sword in each hand.
Dual-wielding... or is it two-sword style?
Jin watched closely, but Phantom’s movements were difficult to track.
Is it because the internal structure is different after all?
Regardless of the "why," the golem's movements were lightning-fast and incredibly fluid. Its techniques were flawlessly executed, earning it a tournament-high score of 40 points. Jin had given it an 8, which felt like a fair assessment.
With that, the Performance event came to a close. There were no ranking points awarded for this segment, unlike the 100-point prize for other events.
"Well, Tolf, that concludes the Performance segment."
"Indeed. Numbers 1 and 40 showed us very stable routines. But number 41 was the real standout."
"Absolutely. Wielding a sword in each hand with that level of mastery is unheard of."
"Quite. It would be virtually impossible for a human to do that. The way the two swords moved as if controlled by two different people, yet never once clashing or interfering with each other... it was nothing short of brilliant."
Jin found himself in complete agreement.
Phantom definitely has a control core with extremely high processing power.
His curiosity regarding the mysterious golem only continued to grow.