Massive white sheets were stretched around the martial arts tournament stage, serving as a makeshift screen for the images projected onto them.
"Shashato City’s famous establishment, Big Roof Shashato! At its heart, Maruura, dwell the four kings!"
Accompanied by dramatic sound effects, the video panned from Shashato City to Big Roof Shashato, eventually settling on the Maruura counter.
"First, the vanguard! The Curry King, whose position in Maruura is absolute: Marcos!"
On the screen, Marcos looked incredibly bashful as he served a plate of curry.
"His popularity with the ladies is skyrocketing thanks to the silent intensity with which he grills! The Yakitori Skewer King: August!"
In the video, August flipped skewers with a sharp, cool expression while women in the background cheered. Nearby, the real August was currently being withered by his wife's icy glare, wearing a pathetic expression and letting out a tiny squeak of his own.
"His new style of serving ingredients one by one has taken the city by storm! The slightly eccentric Pot-au-feu King: Bruno!"
That "slightly eccentric" pot-au-feu was definitely just oden. It seemed to be holding its own in terms of popularity even during the summer.
"And finally, our fourth monarch! The master of minced meat, exceptionally easy on the palate: the Hamburger Steak King, Shaiful!"
Shaiful. If I recalled correctly, he was the son of a former noble or something along those lines who had apprenticed himself to Maruura.
"He isn't a former noble," one of the Civil Official Girls standing nearby clarified. "He is very much still a noble, and the legitimate heir at that. He’s been pushing to be disinherited, but the current head of the house is resisting."
"Is it really okay for his father to fight him on it like that?" I asked.
"It should be fine. The current head apparently stormed into Maruura once, but the Demon King happened to be at the shop at the time."
"The Demon King was there?"
"The Demon King stops by Maruura every time he comes to the city to play baseball."
"I see. Also, even if it's just a nickname, is it really alright for them to call themselves 'Kings' when the Demon King himself is right there?"
Curry King, Hamburger Steak King... it felt a bit bold.
"I can't speak for other countries, but it’s perfectly fine in the Demon Kingdom. People call themselves 'kings' all the time."
Is that so? Come to think of it, I felt like I had heard something similar before.
The video concluded with the four kings lining up and saying in unison, "We look forward to seeing you at Maruura!" While the camera work was shaky and the composition was amateur at best, it functioned perfectly well as a proper commercial.
The ones behind the CM were Ire and his filming team. The recording device had been a gift from Raimeiren, but after a few uses, it had been brought to Ifuls Academy where Lu was staying. The goal was to see if the technology could be replicated.
The proposal had come from the researchers at Ifuls Academy, so while funding wasn't an issue, the technical hurdles were apparently immense. However, the scholars there refused to give up.
"The recording function is revolutionary!" "We can finally get accurate rulings on close calls in baseball!" "We can watch those legendary highlights over and over again!"
The researchers had spiraled into an obsession, and Lu had been caught right in the middle of it. Her time for teleportation gate research had been slashed so she could focus on the recording device instead.
"Aren't you higher in the hierarchy than them, Lu?" I asked. "Couldn't you just tell them no?"
"That kind of logic doesn't fly when faced with a researcher's passion," she replied.
Lu had returned with Ire and the filming team looking utterly spent. Even now, she was slumped in a chair, looking like a discarded rag. Still, I suppose the impressive results were a testament to her hard work. Not only did the device have a recording function, but it now featured editing capabilities as well. That explained the perfectly timed cheers in the commercial. I just hoped she would recover her energy soon.
For now, the focus shifted back to the main tournament. Starting this year, both the General Division and the Warrior Division had adopted a tournament format, though the headband rule remained in place. You won by snatching your opponent's headband, but...
Urza, is it truly necessary to beat your opponents into a state of writhing agony before taking their headbands? Just because your opponent was one of the Post-Age of Gods dragons who failed the preliminaries didn't mean you had to be that merciless.
Speaking of which, the three dragons who had failed to qualify were participating in the main tournament of the General Division under a special slot. They had been shaking their heads and begging off, but Giral had forced them to enter.
Well... the other two went down in the first round as well. I thought they would have put up a bit more of a fight.
There was one more notable entry in the special slot: Holy Knight Schneider, now going by Chelsea. Perhaps she had found some inner peace after her preliminary defeat, as she had swapped her heavy gear for feminine armor and entered looking every bit the lady knight.
She was incredibly strong—so strong it made me wonder how she had lost in the preliminaries. Perhaps that rugged, masculine armor had just been weighing her down. She moved smoothly through the brackets, eventually facing the same lizardman child in the semi-finals that she had fought in the qualifiers.
The lizardman child showed no openings. I wondered if he even realized Chelsea was the same person as Schneider. Chelsea took the stage after stripping down to light gear. I suppose her armor really had been the problem.
At first, they exchanged sword blows, but the lizardman child eventually threw his blade aside and lunged for a tackle. The fight immediately went to the ground. Chelsea seemed to have anticipated this; she discarded her own weapon and engaged in the grappling match.
After the two rolled around the stage for a while, the lizardman child managed to lock Chelsea’s arm. He had it set deep. However, as he secured the hold, Chelsea’s free hand reached out and snatched away his headband.
"The winner is Chelsea!"
Hakuren, acting as referee, made the call, and the crowd erupted in cheers. It was a magnificent match.
Then came the final: Urza versus Chelsea.
Urza... I have to ask again, is the "brutalize them until they're writhing on the ground" part of the strategy really necessary? Instead of cheers, most of the audience was let out a collective wince.
Well, Alfred and the other children were clapping and rejoicing, so perhaps I was being too critical. No, I take it back.
"Congratulations on winning the General Division, Urza. You did great."
Urza raised both hands, soaking in the victory. A massive roar of approval finally swept through the crowd.
Fouche, how is Chelsea looking? Is she still breathing? Good, glad to hear it.