The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 52

“Damn it! Just when business was picking up, it’s all over!”

Mungaga-san is in a rage after returning to the Seaweed Drift Inn.

But we don’t have time for tantrums.

“Mungaga-san, this isn’t the time to lose your temper. We need to prepare for tomorrow.”

“Huh?! We’ve been banned from selling poison cuisine at the stall! There’s no point in preparing!”

“There is a point. You heard what the Guildmaster said, right? ‘We’re prohibiting the further sale of poison cuisine at the Grand Martial Festival stalls.’ So—”

“So we can’t sell, damn it!”

“No! We can’t sell at the stall, so we’ll serve it at this inn instead!”

“…Huh?”

To be honest, I’ve been wondering about this for a while.

We’re making a killing at the Grand Martial Festival, but what happens when it’s over?

After this, will Mungaga-san go back to being the eccentric owner of a poor inn?

But the stall sold so well, and many customers fell in love with Mungaga-san’s poison soup. That shows that Mungaga-san has real cooking skills and that poison cuisine has potential.

And yet, when the festival stalls are over, that’s it?

That’s such a waste!

“Tomorrow, I’ll put up a sign with a map to the Seaweed Drift Inn in the space where we had our stall. I don’t know how many customers will come to this inn, but… I think we can serve other dishes besides soup.”

If we have them eat in the inn’s dining area without take-out, it should solve various problems, and I think Joachim-san was probably guiding us to do this.

Don’t let this money tree end with just a stall, make it continue properly afterwards — that’s what it sounded like he was saying to me.

“So I think we need to prepare for tomorrow. If Mungaga-san really thinks it’s not necessary, that’s fine, but…”

“No, I get it. If you say so, that’s what we’ll do.”

Oh, he’s more agreeable than I thought.

Did he eat something strange?

“You’re being quite understanding, aren’t you?”

“The success at the stall was because you invited me! It’s natural to believe and bet on you again!”

“Ah, yeah, I see. Thanks, Mungaga-san…”

“Stop it! You’re making me blush!”

We’ve been together for a long time now, after all.

It makes me happy to feel that I’ve somehow gained his trust.

So, Mungaga-san rushes to prepare for tomorrow, and I start making items needed for Commerce Guild requests bit by bit as I collect seawater.

Yeah, I think I’ll make the items I need to submit to rank up to B-rank with [Demon Weapon Creation].

The reason I’m not making them all at once is to avoid creating a situation where people might suspect the use of [Demon Weapon Creation] if I suddenly complete so many requests, wondering how I got those items.

So, for now, I’m making items little by little.

“Phew, time for a little break.”

I cancel [Demon Weapon Creation] when I run out of seawater stock.

I dive onto the bed and lie down.

Man, during [Demon Weapon Creation] it feels like I’m floating in the air and my body doesn’t feel any strain, but maybe because I’m not used to the sensation, it’s still somehow tiring.

Well, I thought I’d change my mood a bit and turned on the float screen, and the image suddenly switched.

“Ah, is it Bre-kun and Misaki-chan’s match?”

It’s towards the end of the preliminaries, but it seems to be the final match.

I’m not sure if Bre-kun and Misaki-chan are lucky or unlucky.

As I glance over the participants gathering on the stage, I wonder if there are any opponents who look strong? I can’t really tell.

“Oh, it’s starting. Bre-kun, Misaki-chan, do your best!”

And so begins the battle royale with Bre-kun and Misaki-chan.

At first, neither Bre-kun nor Misaki-chan actively try to fight, instead persistently fighting while running away and fending off approaching opponents.

Gradually, the number of people decreases, until it’s down to about thirty.

But when it gets to that point, just running away becomes difficult.

Bre-kun and Misaki-chan seem to be trying to find and defeat opponents who have lost their partners and are alone.

“Ah, Misaki-chan’s sword…”

Misaki-chan’s sword is enveloped in a thin magical power, cutting down an approaching [Fire Missile].

Isn’t that the [Mana Armor] that Iko-san taught her?

I see. She practiced and became able to use it…

Or maybe she took the [Mana Manipulation] skill with SP?

Either way, if she can use [Mana Armor], even Misaki-chan with her thin armor should be able to reduce damage by sacrificing MP.

In a situation where pain limits movement, that alone should give Misaki-chan an advantage.

As the chaotic battle continues and finally eases, the total number of people has decreased to fifteen.

At this point, it seems like people generally know how strong each other is, and five pairs team up to fight against what looks like a strong tag team.

And Misaki-chan and her partner are among one of those pairs.

The ones not surrounded are three people whose partners were taken out early. They seem to be unable to move and are just keeping each other in check.

Five pairs simultaneously attack the one strong pair.

Don’t call it unfair.

This is the thrill of a battle royale.

Well, I don’t actually know if that’s true since I’ve never done it…

They’re cornering the strong pair, but the five pairs aren’t unscathed either.

Still, with the power of numbers, one person from the strong pair falls.

When only the rear guard of the pair is left—

The three who had been hesitating to move start moving.

It seems they’ve formed a temporary alliance.

They launch a surprise attack from behind on the five pairs exhausted from fighting the strong pair!

Man, caught in a pincer attack, the chaotic battle accelerates, accelerates.

Bre-kun acts as a shield to let Misaki-chan escape, taking attacks, but he seems to have taken heavy damage as his movements are off.

Misaki-chan can still move, but in this huge melee, it’s impossible to tell who has the advantage!

Amidst the chaos of everyone fighting, Misaki-chan finally makes her resolve.

“Ah! Misaki-chan’s [Death Scream]!”

A shock wave of wind explodes perfectly in the midst of everyone fighting.

It seems to have caught everyone completely off guard, as multiple participants turn into polygons.

But that one strike seems to have been judged dangerous, as now the surviving participants all rush towards Misaki-chan at once!

But Bre-kun tackles the leading participant!

It’s not an attack, just a tackle.

But it seems to have succeeded in disrupting their balance, as the leader falls and the participants trying to follow involuntarily stop.

Then, as if the cooldown has ended, it’s Misaki-chan’s second [Death Scream]!

Including Bre-kun, all the participants who had lined up are caught in it!

When I realized it, everyone except Misaki-chan had disappeared into polygons.

Huh, did they win?

They won, right…?

They did win, right…?

As I was staring intently at the float screen, I realized I hadn’t turned on the commentary, so I turned it on and heard:

“The winners of this chaotic preliminary battle are the Bre & Misaki combo!”

That seems to be the case.

Yay! Good for them!

That’s what I think, but Misaki-chan’s expression doesn’t brighten.

Maybe she wanted to keep [Death Scream] as a trump card until the very end? Or is it guilt for taking out Bre-kun too?

Well, I guess I’ll send a message to encourage them for now.

I watched, congratulations, I’ll send to both Bre-kun and Misaki-chan.

Ah, I got a reply from Bre-kun.

“Thanks. It feels like I was destroyed from the inside, my whole body still hurts.”

So that’s what [Death Scream] feels like…

I don’t want to experience that…

Ah, I got a reply from Misaki-chan too.

“I used up my trump card. It might be difficult to make it to the finals.”

Ah. As I thought, she wanted to keep [Death Scream] hidden and survive.

But in that situation, I think it couldn’t be helped?

We still don’t know what will happen, so I reply with “do your best.”

Just as I was thinking of resuming work, the float screen switched again. It’s busy, isn’t it?

“Ah, this time it’s Tatsu-san and Lili-chan’s preliminary final.”

The preliminary final where the 34 pairs that survived the preliminary battle royale all stand on the same stage and fight at once.

The tag team that wins here will advance to the main tournament, but…

“Ah, as expected. Lili-chan is being heavily marked.”

Most of the participants seem to be marking Lili-chan, directing tense gazes at her.

Also, there are many participants equipped with bows.

Probably a countermeasure against Lili-chan?

“No, but Lili-chan’s equipment is more like…”

Before I could finish my thought, the match begins.

And simultaneously, Lili-chan starts running, sliding across the ground while emitting.

Like a figure skater, she gracefully glides across the ground, scattering magical bullets from both palms.

The participants who were about to take out their bows all at once couldn’t deal with this unexpected movement and seemed to take several magical bullets defenseless.

Yeah, well, that’s how it goes.

“Cog-2 is designed for high mobility in land combat, so it’s actually better at ground battles. Too bad for those who brought bows.”

A black shadow weaving through the gaps between participants.

The participants try to catch it with their swords, but they don’t hit at all.

And the terror of magical bullets that were supposed to be fired in a completely different direction suddenly changing course and hitting the man who swung his sword.

What is this, it’s scary.

“Fast! Fast! And the attacks don’t hit at all! But all of the Demon Lord’s attacks hit their targets! Is there no hero who can stop this Demon Lord!?”

Even the commentary is calling her a Demon Lord.

And Lili-chan is still fighting with most of her armaments sealed.

Probably a strategy for the final tournament.

She races around the stage freely with just high mobility, intuition sensors, and high-power homing magical bullets.

I mean, isn’t Lili-chan alone enough?

I wondered what Tatsu-san was doing, but he was firing [Fire Magic] from above as a check against opponents in positions that Lili-chan might not notice.

It’s not flashy, but is he doing a good job?

Eventually, although it took longer than the first round of preliminaries, the Tatsu-Lili combo won in an almost complete victory.

With this, they advance to the final tournament.

I immediately send a congratulatory message, and Tatsu-san replies right away.

“Is it really okay to go to the final tournament like this? I’m worried.”

Well, from Tatsu-san’s perspective, he probably feels like he didn’t do much.

And after a while, I get a reply from Lili-chan too.

“Take-kun sent me a ‘Congratulations’!”

Wow! What? Doesn’t that sound good?

I’ll reply saying I hope Take-kun becomes more positive too!

Yeah, yeah, if they do well in the final tournament and Take-kun recovers, that would be perfect.

As I’m rolling around on the bed alone with the float screen left on, the screen switches to Bre-kun and Misaki-chan’s match.

It looks like this is their preliminary final too?