"oooh."

Saraswati stares in amazement at the boy, who is still shrinking back with a frightened gaze at the three of us.

'Oh, what is it?"

"it's nothing."

An atmosphere of no feeling of strength at all. But that is the scary thing about Raymond.

He can launch a ridiculously sharp spear in this state. If one is even a little careless, he will strike at that moment, and before you know it, you will be defeated.

　I don't know how strong he is at this point, but he's not weak when Lucy is evaluating him.

Okay, I've made up my mind.

　I smiled at Raymond, who looked frightened, and gently extended my hand.

"Are you okay? You have a match next , right?"

"Yes "

　Raymond was confused by the sudden situation, but I continued to hold out my hand to him.

　I'm not going to let the situation get out of control and end up in a hostile relationship in the future.

　Therefore, I want to build a good relationship with him if possible .

　With this intention, I kept smiling for a few seconds. After a few seconds, Raymond slowly shook my hand.

"Are you afraid to go into the waiting room?"

Yes, I am. My mom and dad say I can win, but I don't want to get hurt.

"Hey, Norwin. What are you doing?"

"well. I'll take care of it."

Saraswati, who looked as if she wanted to say something, and turned to Raymond.

My name is Norwin. I was at a match earlier, you know?

"Master told me to watch that match, so I did, and I know. I thought it would be tough to beat . Norwin.'

　Wow. You watched and you don't say "I can't beat you"? Well, he's still not serious about his spear skills, and he's also got a secret weapon called magic."

　I didn't let my inner thoughts go unnoticed as I continued to smooth out the conversation.

'Wow, you have a master! I know him !"

　Knowing that it was Gardias, I met him and talked to him. It would be easier to get to know each other if we had something in common.

'I think you know him too, Norwin. It' s Mr. Galdias. ------"

, I know! I said hello to him earlier!"

"Really?"

"Really! I can't believe you're his disciple."

"i am still not ready "

Raymond's attitude suddenly softened, perhaps because he felt a sense of closeness among those who knew Ghardiaz. He seems to trust me a little more now, partly because I was kind to him earlier.

I smile a friendly smile in acting. But in contrast, Saraswati and Lucy were shocked to hear the name of Ghardias.

'The General's disciple, are you by any chance Raymond?"

"Uh huh."

When Sarasvati approached, Raymond shook his shoulders and hid behind me.

No, Saraswati, don't stare at me there. I don't have to do this either, you know.

"Hey, which side are you on?"

'Of course I'm on Saraswati's side. It's almost impossible for me to give priority to anyone but Saraswati."

"Well, I don't know."

She looked satisfied while turning her face away from me

"------ Saras, are you envious?"

"No, way !"

"Well, I'm flattered that you're jealous ------ ."

　I got kicked in the shin when I was fooling around on Lucy. It was rather serious and painful.

"That's enough! I'll go ahead!"

　Saraswati quickly entered the waiting room with a thudding sound of her footsteps.

　I look at her with my eyes and smile at Lucy with a sideways glance.

"That joke was meant to break the tension, wasn't it?"

"---- half of it, yes."

"What's the other half?"

"------don't mention it."

'What do you mean, don't mention it?"

　In the middle of the lighthearted exchange of words with Lucy, Raymond spoke up.

"Oh, um..."

"I'm sorry, Raymond. It's almost time to go, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, but ------ that."

"Are you worried?"

"No, I mean, you know. But, I'm leaving!"

Raymond, who looked like he wanted to say something, walked into the waiting room with a flustered look on his face.

He was still restless, but at least his fear had definitely lessened from the first time.

This would result in me helping him to be scared, but, well, if I'm right, he'll be fine for the qualifiers.

'------ maybe Saras won't be pleased".

'I know, but he' s strong, isn' t he? That boy."

"I'm sure he's strong. He's a little weaker than Norwin.'

"Really? Is it with magic or without? No?"

"------, no."

　Good. If it's with magic and a little weaker than me, it's pretty serious.

　But, yes. The pure skill with the spear is almost equal to me. It might be a very tough opponent for Saraswati.

Then we went back to the guest of honor's seats and looked at Saraswati and Raymond in the arena. (By the way, it seems that Vasel was also an escort. , always close to us.)

'Well, this is the turn of the preliminary rounds! This is another high-level block with several candidates for the championship.'

The audience is excited by the actual speech. It was so loud that I invoked the magic of boundary warding to cover the area around my ears. I had no knowledge of soundproofing magic, so I had to make a hasty preparation, but it was better than nothing.

"Do that for me!"

　A tap on my shoulder made me turn around to see Lucy staring at my ear with a piece of paper with that written on it.

　Oh, I knew Lucy's mumbling wouldn't be able to carry my voice over the cheering crowd.

　With a wry smile, I cast the same spell on Lucy, and we stood side by side looking down at the arena.

"Fighter number one!

The last of the geniuses the General son !

Raymond von Eisenburg! Six years old!

The greatest talent in the history of the Marquise of Eisenburg, the twin pillars of military prowess of the Dukes of Waldheim, rumored to be the greatest in the history of the Dukes of Waldheim!

Can he win this tournament with the ability that General Gardias says will make her the face of the next generation?"

　"Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

　The crowd cheers with a crackling cheer. Raymond, who is bathed in it, is so freaked out that he immediately evacuates to the edge of an arena, but I wonder if she will be okay.

After a few introductions, it was finally Saraswati's turn.

'Following him, competitor number seven!

The bloodline of the mighty sword shines through here!

Saraswati von Waldheim! She is seven years old!

Saraswati, who trained with Norwin and Lucy, who won the previous match, is considered one of the favorites to win this year's tournament!

She is no slouch in a block full of strong opponents! Will he win here and prove that he has the blood of a hero!"

　Because of our two spectacular victories, even Saraswati's introduction was flamboyant.

　Saraswathi's strength is not inferior to mine, but her fighting style is the humble.

　Such an introduction may have the opposite effect, but I wonder if he will be okay.

　My worries aside, the match was about to begin.

　The fighters were evenly spaced around the arena by the referee's order, and as I had expected, Raymond was closest to Sarasvati.

A surprised Saraswati says something to Raymond. I can't hear what she says from here, but I don't sense any hostility in her appearance.

　Well, there's nothing wrong with that. I guess it's what I was expecting.

"Let the match begin!"

At the same time as the signal to start the match, many of the competitors either avoided Saraswati and the others, or surrounded them in large numbers and tried to take them down first.

　Against such opponents, the two of them ----.

"------ won."

"Right."

Lucy lost interest in the match and started eating some snacks.

　It is only natural that she did so. The two of them were not fighting each other individually, but instead they were forming a clique and began to deal with their opponents who were attacking them in teams of two.

There was no way to lose.

I am sorry to Saraswati, who likes serious fights, but I am glad I got along with Raymond there.

　With his personality, I don't think he would have wanted to antagonize the girl who was with me.