On the night of the sixth day of the Thanksgiving Festival, having finished my duties for the day, I made my way toward the Grandmaster’s office.
The tournament brackets for the A-rank and above explorers had finally been announced. The matches were set to begin tomorrow. It seemed the information had already been released to the public; by now, the taverns were likely rowdy with people placing bets on who would take the trophy.
"Grandmaster, it’s Orun."
I knocked on the office door to announce my arrival. I heard a muffled "Enter" from inside and pushed the door open.
The Grandmaster was already there, along with Selma-san, Wil, and Jerome-san—an executive from the Public Relations Department.
"Pardon me. It looks like I’m the last one here. My apologies for the wait."
"No, don't worry about it. I should be the one apologizing for saddling you with so much work," the Grandmaster replied.
"I won't be able to help much once the tournament starts tomorrow, so it’s only natural for me to pitch in while I still have the time."
"Grandmaster, let’s get down to business," Jerome-san interjected. "We need to finalize our strategy for the coming days."
He was right. We had less than half a day to decide how the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky would handle its public relations during the tournament and then actually put that plan into motion. Jerome-san and his team were about to become the busiest people in the clan.
"Right. Selma, give those three the tournament bracket."
"Understood. Here are the pairings for the Advanced Explorer Division."
Following the Grandmaster’s lead, Selma-san handed each of us a sheet of paper.
A tournament format, then, I thought. Unlike the open tournament that’s been running since the first day, there aren't any preliminaries for this division. Now, let’s see who I’m up against.
I scanned the names on the list.
"This feels deliberate," Wil muttered, his eyes narrowing. "It’s a bit too perfect to be random."
The first thing that struck me was the small number of participants. There were only sixteen people in the bracket. Between the short notice and the high rank required to enter, I suppose a small turnout was inevitable.
Then there was the matter of the "deliberate" pairings Wil had mentioned. While it was possible that such a small pool could result in these matchups by pure chance, the fact that Marquis Forgas was the organizer made me skeptical.
"The official word is that the brackets were drawn randomly," Selma-san explained. "The lineup includes two members from each S-rank party and one from each A-rank party. Members of the same party have been split into different blocks."
"So, Wilkes and Orun won't cross paths unless they both make it to the finals," the Grandmaster noted.
"Putting Orun aside, I have to go through the Hero Party’s ace before I even get a shot at him," Wil said with a sigh. "The finals feel like a distant dream."
He was right—I was in a different block than Oliver. Knowing Marquis Forgas, I wouldn't have been surprised if he’d pitted us against each other in the first round, but it seemed he preferred to save that confrontation for the finals to maximize the spectacle. Of course, if I were eliminated before then, he’d likely be just as satisfied.
"Hey, Orun... honestly, what do you think my chances are against him?" Wil asked.
The room went quiet. The other three looked at me, clearly curious about my assessment.
"I think you’re a formidable warrior, Wil," I said truthfully. "I’ve never seen anyone handle a twin-bladed sword with your level of skill. I mean that. However... beating Oliver will be difficult. If you fought ten times, you’d likely lose nine of them."
The atmosphere in the room turned heavy. I knew my honesty would sting, but there was no point in offering him hollow platitudes.
Wil let out a short, dry laugh. "Heh. I figured the gap was that wide. Still, 'nine out of ten' means the chance of winning isn't zero, right? If there’s even a sliver of hope, then I can make it happen on the day. Orun, I’ll see you in the finals! Just make sure you don't lose to the Sword Princess on your way there."
It was obvious Wil was forcing himself to be upbeat, but I decided not to call him out on it.
"Yeah. I’ll be there."
If everything went according to the seedings, I would face the Sword Princess—Fuuka—in the semifinals. Before that, I’d have to get through Loretta-san, the ace of the rising A-rank party Jade Gale, in the first round. My second opponent would likely be Derrick from the Hero Party.
Then came the semifinals against Fuuka.
And for the finals... with all due respect to Wil, Oliver was the most probable contender. My second guess for that slot would be Haruto-san, the leader of Copper Afterglow.
"I’m sure you’re already familiar with the tournament rules, but let’s review them just in case," Selma-san said, pivoting back to the logistics.
She started with the schedule. No participant would have to fight more than once per day. The first round would take place on the seventh day of the festival, the second on the eighth, and so on. Even the finalist would only have to endure one battle a day.
The matches would be held at the Tsutrail Colosseum, in a standard circular arena about twenty meters in diameter. Victory conditions were straightforward: the match ended when a participant conceded or when the referee determined a winner.
"That’s the gist of it. Any questions?"
"Can I leave the promotional side to you?" Jerome-san asked.
"No problem," Selma-san replied. "I’ll be busy overseeing the overall operations anyway."
"Understood. I’ll gather my department and start brainstorming. Grandmaster, if you’ll excuse me."
"Right. I’m counting on you to make the clan look good," the Grandmaster said as Jerome-san hurried out of the room. He really was on a tight schedule.
"Wil, Orun—once again, good luck. I hope to see both of you standing in that final arena."
After the Grandmaster gave us his final words of encouragement, we left the office.
"Oh, that’s right, Orun," Selma-san called out as we walked away. "I have a message from Sophia. She wants you to meet her in the usual room at the Exploration Management Department once you're done here."
Sophie? I wondered if something was wrong, but Selma-san didn't seem worried, so it likely wasn't an emergency. If there wasn't any trouble, why did she need me? I suppose I’d find out soon enough.
"Got it. I’ll head over now."
"Good luck to both of us, Orun!" Wil said, raising a fist to his chest. "If we do end up meeting in the finals, don't you dare hold back."
"I wouldn't dream of it," I replied, bumping my fist against his. "I promise to give you everything I've got."
When I arrived at our usual room in the Exploration Management Department, I found not only Sophie, but Log and Carol as well.
"Master, good work today! Sorry for calling you out so late," Sophie said.
"It’s fine. I’ve finished everything else on my plate. So, what’s going on?"
"Actually, we have something we wanted to give you," Sophie answered.
Something to give me?
"You mentioned that this was your birth month, Master," Carol chirped. "So, here! A present from the three of us!"
She handed me a bundle wrapped in cloth. It had a surprising amount of weight to it.
"Happy birthday, Orun-san!"
"Happy birthday!" "Happy birthday, Master!"
The three of them beamed at me. The gesture caught me completely off guard. Since becoming an explorer, I’d rarely had anyone celebrate my birthday—including myself. While other countries have a culture of celebrating birth months or specific birthdays, it isn't a very common custom here.
A warmth welled up in my chest, and for a moment, I didn't know how to react.
"……Thank you. Sorry, I’m just not used to people making a fuss over my birthday. But I’m happy. Truly. Can I open it?"
"Of course! We just hope you like it..." Log said, his face a mix of excitement and nerves.
It didn't matter what was inside; the fact that they’d thought of me was enough. I carefully unwrapped the bundle to find three books.
"……Books?"
They were all foreign editions.
"Y-yes," Sophie said, watching my reaction tentatively. "You’re always reading, so we thought... well, we thought these might be a good choice."
I probably had a strange look on my face right then. If I’d been alone, I likely would have been jumping for joy. But I had a reputation to maintain in front of my disciples, so I tried to keep my cool.
I hadn't read any of these titles, and every one of them looked like something right up my alley. I was genuinely, deeply happy.
"No exaggeration—this is the best. Thank you, all of you."
"I’m so glad!" Carol cheered. "Actually, we got some advice on what to get from the Seirei lady."
The Spirit lady? How did Carol know about Spirits? For that matter, most people couldn't even perceive Spirits, let alone speak with them... unless...
"Was this person around my age? Long, indigo hair?"
"That’s the one! Do you know her, Master? She said the Seirei told her what would make you the happiest."
"……Yeah, I know her well. I see. So it was her advice, was it? Haha, that’s so like her."
It was Luna, without a doubt. I’d shown her my "excited book nerd" side more times than I could count.
I see. So she doesn't hate me. That’s a relief.
I’d been worried that Luna resented me. I had turned down her plea to return to her party and joined a rival clan instead. More recently, I’d been involved in her father’s arrest. Even if she didn't know the full details, she knew I was there that night. I figured she had every reason to despise me.
I wasn't sure how she’d crossed paths with my students, but she must have given them that advice after the kidnapping ring was exposed. After all, the day I told Sophie my birth month was the same day the scandal broke.
Regardless of how she felt about me, I was currently gathering information to ensure she wouldn't be held responsible for the Flockhart Trading Company’s crimes. I couldn't believe she had any part in the human trafficking. The trials were set to begin once the Thanksgiving Festival ended.
"Hey, Master, what exactly is a 'Seirei'? That lady said you were the expert," Carol asked.
Under normal circumstances, most people go their entire lives without ever encountering a Spirit. Many don't even believe they exist. It wasn't strictly necessary for them to know, but if they were curious, I didn't see the harm in giving them the basics.
They all had a decent grasp of magic theory by now, so they should be able to follow along.
"All right. I’ll give you a quick rundown on Spirits. Consider this an impromptu lecture."
At the word "lecture," the three of them immediately scrambled to their seats, whipping out pens and notebooks as if we were back in a formal classroom.
You don't need to take it that seriously... I thought. They probably wouldn't be able to grasp the full complexity of it anyway.
"Before we start, Carol—"
"Mm-hmm? What is it?"
"Since you've been hitting the books lately, here’s a question. Tell me the steps required to cast a spell."
"Psh, easy! You use 'Spell Construction' to build the mental blueprint of the magic, and then 'Mana Infusion' to flow mana into it and trigger the phenomenon. Right?"
Rain-san had clearly done a good job teaching her the fundamentals.
"Correct. And as I’ve told you before, 'magic' is the general term for phenomena produced by humans using mana. Now, here’s a follow-up for anyone to answer. Suppose you cast a beginner-level spell. Once the phenomenon defined by the spell formula concludes, what do you think happens to the 'residue' of that magic?"
Take a Fire Bullet, for instance. Once it hits the target, the flames appear to vanish into thin air. But in reality, nothing simply disappears without a trace.
I wondered if they could figure out the answer.