On the evening of the sixth day of Thanksgiving, I was on my way to the office of the President after finishing my duties for the day.

　I was told that the pairings for the martial arts competition for A Rank or higher explorers that starts tomorrow had finally been announced.

　This has also already been announced to the public, so I guess there must be a lot of excitement going on in the bars right now, betting on who will win the tournament.

“President, it’s Orn.”

　Arriving at the office, I knocked on the door to let him know I was here.

　I hear a voice from inside saying “come in”, so I open the door and enter the room.

　Four people were already in the room: the President, Selma, Will, and Jerome, the executive of the Public Relations department.

“Excuse me. –I ended up last, huh. Apologies for keeping you waiting.”

“No, that is no issue. It’s my apology for entrusting you with so many tasks.”

　I apologise for being late and the President apologises in return.

“I’m not going to be able to help out much from tomorrow, so it’s only natural for me to assist when I can spare the time.”

“President, let’s get right to it. We have to decide our plans from here on.”

　Jerome suggests we start the discussion.

　Right, we have less than half a day to decide on a policy for how we will be disseminating information about “Night Sky’s Silver Rabbit” at the martial arts tournament and we have to carry that plan out.

　The busiest person from now on will definitely be the Public Relations Department led by Jerome.

“Agreed. Selma, please give the three of them the bracket for the martial arts tournament.”

“Understood. –Here is the bracket for the ‘Advanced Explorers Division’ of the martial arts tournament that starts tomorrow.”

　Following the President’s instructions, Selma hands the three of us a piece of paper with the matchups written on it.

(Tournament means that there are no preliminary rounds, unlike in the martial arts competition that was open to everyone from the first day, right? Well then, I wonder what kind of matches we are going to have.)

　With this in mind, I checked the tournament bracket I had received.

“……This feels too fake. You ain’t telling me this is random.”

　Will, who had verified the contents, voices his opinion.

　The first thing that struck me when I looked at the bracket I received was the small number of participants.

　There are 16 participants in this tournament.

　Well, I guess one of the reasons for this was the late notice for participation, so part of it can’t be helped.

　And the second thing was the artificial nature of the matchups that Will mentioned.

　Because of the small number of people, the possibility of these pairings isn’t zero, but the organiser is the Marquis Forgas. 

“They said these matchups were created randomly. Two participants from S Rank parties, one from an A Rank party. And those from the same party are placed on opposite sides of the bracket.”

　Selma gives the provided official reason.

“First of all, it’s become the case that Wilkes and Orn will only meet in the finals.”

“Don’t even mention Orn, I’m going to have to face the Ace of the Hero Party before I can even fight Orn, so it’s gonna be hard for me to make it to the finals, ain’t it?”

　Yes, I’m in the opposite bracket from Oliver. 

　I had thought since this was something planned by Marquis Forgas, we might bump into each other in the first round, but it looks like we’ll match up only in the finals to make it the most exciting. 

　And assuming if I do lose before that, it would still be good for him. 

“……Hey, Orn, give it to me straight, what’s my odds of beating this guy?”

　Will asks.

　The other three are interested as well, they’re all looking at me. 

“Will, I think you’re a skilled fighter. I’ve never seen anyone use a double-bladed sword that well, there’s no doubt about that. –But it’ll be hard for you to beat Oliver. Maybe if you fought ten times, you would lose more than nin.”

　The air in the room grows heavy with my statement.

　I knew it would turn out like this, but there’s no point in saying comforting things here.

“……Huu, I guess there’s that much difference after all. But the possibility of winning ain’t zero, right? Then it should be possible to win during the actual thing. Orn, see you in the finals! You too, don’t go losing to that Sword Princess, alright?”

　I immediately understand that Will is trying his best to put on a cheerful front. But I shouldn’t mention that.

“–Ah, got it.”

　As Will mentioned, the other likely matchup will be with the Sword Princess — Fuuka, in the semifinals before going to the finals.

　The other people I’m likely to face are, confirmed for the first round, Lauretta, the Ace of the up-and-coming A Rank party “Jade Gale”.

　The second round, probably Derrick of the Hero Party.

　The semifinal, Fuuka.

　And in the finals, sorry to Will, but Oliver is highly likely. The next likeliest would be Haruto, the leader of “Lacquered Evening Mist”.

“I think you already know the rules of the martial arts tournament, but let’s go over them just in case.”

　After Selma says this, she begins to explain the tournament.

　First, the schedule. Participants will not fight twice on the same day.

　The first round will be held on the seventh day of Thanksgiving, the second round on the eighth day of Thanksgiving, and so on.

　An arena in Tutril will be the venue for the fights. 

　This arena is a very common circular arena with a diameter of about 20 metres.

　The victory condition is simple.

　The opponent must concede defeat, or the judges must decide that the match is over.

“That’s all for now. Does anyone have any questions?”

“Can we handle the publicity?”

“No problem. But I’ll continue to be in charge of the whole operation.”

“Got it. I’ll discuss the details with my department as soon as possible. –If you’ll excuse me, President.”

“Ah, the Clan’s publicity, we are counting on you.”

　Jerome leaves the room as soon as he says that.

　Looks like he really doesn’t have much time.

“Will, Orn, once again, good luck in the martial arts tournament. I hope that you both will be able to meet during the finals.”

　After receiving words of encouragement from the President, we also leave the room.

“Ah, right, Orn. A message from Sophia. She would like you to head to the usual room in the Exploration Management Department when we’re done talking, she said.”

　Sophie? I wondered if something had happened, but Selma doesn’t seem to be in any particular hurry, and there doesn’t seem to be any trouble.

　If that’s the case, then what’s the reason for calling me?

　Well, I guess I’ll find out when I get there.

“Got it. I’ll head there from here.”

“Orn, let’s both do our best! If we’ve got to fight in the finals, let’s give it our all.”

　Will raises his fist to his chest as he says that.

“…..Yeah. When that time comes, I’ll fight you with everything I’ve got. I promise.”

　I reply, matching Will’s fist with my own.

　　◇ ◇

　When I reach the usual room at the Exploration Management Department as  requested, not only is Sophie there, there’s also Log and Carol.

“Master, thanks for your hard work! Apologies for calling you so suddenly.”

“Nah, I’ve already done everything I had to do today, it’s no big deal. So, what’s the reason you called me here?”

“Actually, we have something to give to you, Orn.”

　Sophie answers my question.

　……Something to give me?

“This month is Master’s birthday month, you said. Yes! Presents from the three of us!”

　Carol says and hands me something quite heavy wrapped in a cloth.

“Congratulations, Orn!”

“Congratulations!” “Congrats-!”

　Then the three of them congratulated me on my birthday month.

　This is too much of a surprise……..

　Since becoming an explorer, I have pretty much had no one celebrate my birth month, including me on my own. 

　In the first place, the birth month — no, other countries have customs of celebrating birthdays, but in this country, you don’t hear about it happening very often.

　I’m filled with joy, but honestly, I don’t know how to react.

“……….Thank you. Sorry, I rarely have my birth month celebrated for me. But I’m happy, truly. May I see what’s inside?”

“Yes. With pleasure…..”

　Log looks half-expectant and half-anxious.

　This is something they got for me with me in mind. I’ll be happy no matter what it is. 

　I open the package with excitement and find three books.

“…………Books?”

　These books are all published in other countries.

“Yes. Orn, you’re always reading books, um, so we thought these would be nice…….”

　Sophie answers in a tentative manner, paying attention to my reaction.

　I think I have an indescribable look on my face right now.

　If there had been no one here, I would have been in high spirits right now, expressing my joy.

　However, I don’t want to show that in front of my students.

　All of the books I received were ones I had never read before, and their contents were of great interest to me.

　From the bottom of my heart, this present makes me really happy. 

“Not kidding, but I’m really happy. Thank you, all three of you.”

“I’m glad Master’s happy! Actually, this gift was on the advice of Seirei sis.”

　Seirei, sis? How does Carol know about spirits? Or rather, In the first place, to be even talking about spirits, or even aware of…… –Hmm? No way.

“Is that person about my age, with long blue hair?”

“Yeah. Maybe that person is someone you know, Orn? That sister said Seirei told her what would make Orn happy.”

“….Ah, I know her very well. I see, that’s her advice. Haha, as expected.”

　That person was definitely Luna.

　I have shown Luna the sight of me being excited about getting new books more than a few times……

　I see. She didn’t come to despise me? That’s great.

　I thought Luna would have hated me.

　I ignored her wishes to come back to the party and joined another Clan, and had recently been involved, albeit not directly, in Luna’s father’s arrest.

　I don’t know how much Luna knows about the situation at that time, but she must have known that I was there.

　So I thought it was only natural she would resent me for it.

　And I don’t know how Luna and these guys met, but I think she gave them this advice probably after the child abduction incident came to light. 

　The day I told Sophie about my birthday month was the same day the incident was discovered after all.

　Whether she hates or resents me, I had been gathering information with the intention of working to prevent Luna from being charged with any crime related to the Flockhart Trading Company.

　Because I can’t imagine Luna is involved with child kidnapping. 

　Just to mention, the trial will take place after Thanksgiving.

“Hey hey, what is ‘Seirei’? That sis said Master knows all about it.”

　Carol asks about “seirei”, or spirits.

　To begin with, those leading normal lives will never come into contact with spirits. 

　The majority of people go their entire lives without knowing about the existence of spirits, so I don’t think it’s something they need to know about, but if they’re interested, I’ll at least give an overview.

　They all have some understanding of magic, so I think it’ll be fine.

“Got. I’ll teach you about ‘seirei’ now. It’ll be a special lecture.”

　When I say lecture, the three of them take their seats and pull out their pens and notebooks, just as they would during a normal lecture.

　This isn’t content that has to be taken that seriously…….

　And they probably won’t completely understand it.

“Before we start the lecture, Carol–“

“Hmm-? What-?”

“This is a question for you, Carol, who has recently started studying magic. Tell me how to activate magic.”

“Mmm-hmm! That’s easy! You have to imagine the plan of the magic in your brain with ‘formula construction’ and then change the surrounding mana into magic power with ‘mana inflow’ to activate that magic, right?”

　As expected of Lain, she’s taught her the theory well.

“That’s correct. You remember that I’ve already told you that magic is a general term for phenomena caused by human beings using mana, right? –Now, here’s another question. Anyone who knows the answer can reply. Suppose you invoke elementary magic. What do you think will happen after the phenomena described by the formula ends, the ‘residue’ of the magic, so to speak?”

　After attacking an enemy with [Fire Bullet], that fire will disappear.

　But in reality, it’s impossible for it to completely disappear.

　Now, can you answer this?

–

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