The audience seats erupted with praise and applause for Amour, who had prevailed in the fierce battle, yet even after the referee declared his victory, Amour remained utterly motionless in place.
Growing concerned, the referee approached Amour and lightly tapped his shoulder—at which point Amour collapsed right where he stood.
In a panic, the referee ordered one of the attendants, who had already gone to fetch a stretcher for Jin, to bring an additional stretcher as well.
As a result, the Fighting Stage saw not just the loser but the winner himself escorted straight off to the medical room, and the audience was left in an atmosphere where nobody quite knew what reaction was appropriate, since both competitors worthy of celebration had now disappeared.
Amid that air of confusion, the referee addressed the audience and announced that today's matches were all concluded, instructing everyone to disperse.
I had considered going to check on Jin, but the thought that I might run into Amour if I headed straight for the medical room gave me pause, so I caught one of the attendants and asked them to pass a message to either Menace or Lina, whichever had headed that way.
After sending the message, I was relaxing back in my Waiting Room when Lina showed up.
"Oh good! You're still here!"
What I had asked the attendant to relay was that I would be staying in my Waiting Room for a while to avoid leaving at the same time as the audience, so whenever it was convenient, could one of them come find me afterward.
I figured it would be a hassle to leave right away and draw the crowd's attention, so I had been resting in the Waiting Room.
"Did something happen?"
Judging from Lina's demeanor, it didn't seem like Jin's condition had taken a turn for the worse—more likely he had regained consciousness.
"Yes, Jin has woken up! And there are a few things I wanted to ask of you…"
As I listened to her explain, it turned out she wanted me to share some of my recovery medicine with him.
Because the medicine I had made was far more effective than anything commercially available, she wanted to use it for Jin's treatment. She also asked if I could help carry Jin and Garat home.
"That's fine, I suppose… but are Jin and Garat really in bad enough shape that they can't walk on their own?"
It wasn't that I found the idea of carrying them bothersome—I was wondering whether their injuries were severe enough to be a concern for the upcoming Team Battle.
"No, the major injuries have mostly been treated already, but the doctor said they sustained considerable damage to the head and need complete rest today and tomorrow. On top of that, even if I were to lend them a shoulder to walk on, I'm just not strong enough…"
I understood her reasoning, but there was one small thing that nagged at me.
It was the idea that she could have asked me to arrange a carriage without bowing her head, so to speak.
After all, Lina was of noble birth, so it was unlikely she'd be refused, and I couldn't imagine the Dawn Sword was so short on funds that they couldn't arrange a carriage.
She probably had some reason, but she didn't feel like she was trying to deceive me, and our relationship with Jin and the others wasn't so distant that I'd refuse. So, I told Lina I'd handle it and began to prepare to leave.
When Lina and I headed to the medical room, Jin was there, propped up in bed with only his upper body raised, staring blankly into space with a vacant expression.
Amour wasn't in this room. It seemed they'd decided it wouldn't be good to put the winner and loser together, so they'd been separated.
"Yo! I came to see you!"
I called out to him in a deliberately bright tone, and Jin reacted slowly.
"Ah, Tenma... Sorry to trouble you..."
He was so downcast it was hard to imagine this was the usual Jin. Menace and Garat, who were nearby, also had somber expressions, as if his mood had affected them.
"You're not looking so great... Oh right, Lina asked me to bring some medicine! Let's see... here it is! This one!"
I pulled a small bottle of medicine from my bag and handed it to Jin.
"It's one of the more effective ones I've made! Here, drink it down!"
Prompted by me, Jin slowly opened the lid with sluggish movements and poured the contents into his mouth. However...
"Bleh! It's awful!"
Jin expertly sprayed the green liquid out in a mist. And moreover, in the direction of Menace and Garat...
"Ugh! It's bitter!"
"M-my eyes! Blech!"
Menace only got the medicine Jin sprayed into her mouth, but Garat seemed to have gotten it in both his eyes and windpipe. He was coughing and looked like he was about to throw up.
Lina handed towels to Jin and Garat, Menace went to wash her face, and I was being scolded by the doctor who was in the medical room.
After being thoroughly chewed out, the doctor tasted the medicine that was left in the bottle.
"Hmm, you're using some pretty good herbs... If you still have some of this medicine left, could you make another dose? Of course, I'll pay."
At those words, it wasn't me who reacted — it was Jin.
"Hey! You're not planning to use it on the Bandit King, are you?!"
"Is there a problem?"
The doctor casually admitted that he was going to use the medicine on Amur. That made Jin's anger flare up.
"A huge problem! You know the Bandit King is Tenma's opponent in the finals, right?! Why should Tenma have to go out of his way to help the enemy?!"
"That has nothing to do with me. I simply see good medicine in front of me and want to use it on a patient. Besides, you received medicine from Tenma too, didn't you? If I'm not mistaken, you should have qualified for the Main Tournament through the Team Battle. Which means you're also an enemy of Tenma, right?"
"Guh."
The doctor's words left Jin unable to form a rebuttal. Garat and Lina also looked uncomfortable — perhaps they'd remembered that they could end up facing us in the Team Battle.
"I think that's a little different, though?"
Menace, who had just returned, interjected.
"Sure, there's a chance our team could clash with Tenma in the tournament. But our bond with Tenma isn't so shallow that we have to divide ourselves into enemies and allies just because we might end up as opponents."
At Menace's words, Jin and the others found their momentum again and moved to back her up.
The doctor, by contrast, grimaced.
"Well, sure. The kind of bond we share with Jin and the others isn't the sort of thing that breaks..."
over something like that.
"...Right?"
I nodded in agreement with Menace's words.
And as I nodded, I pulled the medicine from my bag and handed it to the doctor.
"Here, this is the medicine. Just make sure it's safe before you use it, all right?"
"Thanks. And sorry about the way I spoke earlier."
The doctor accepted the medicine, apologized to me and Jin, and tried to pay for it.
"No payment necessary. I'll be claiming the champion's prize money anyway... Tell Amour this is her share of the spoils, would you?"
I cracked that joke and refused to take any money from the doctor.
The doctor let out a rueful smile and left the room.
"Hey, are you sure about this? That medicine should restore the Bandit King to most of her strength. She'll probably be completely healed before the finals."
Jin, who had experienced the medicine's effects firsthand, came up to me and spoke.
"It's fine. Even if Amour is at full strength, I'll still win!"
"Hearing you say it so confidently... honestly, it's a bit of a mixed feeling for me..."
Jin made an indescribable expression upon hearing my words.
"No, no, I'm not saying Jin is weak at all. It's just that Jin and Amour had bad compatibility, that's all... And if Amour had taken off that fur from the start, I think you would've won by having prepared countermeasures."
I genuinely thought that, but Jin seemed to take it as flattery... Normally he'd be getting cocky around this point, but losing to Amour still seemed to weigh on him. Honestly, what a pain.
While I was wondering what to do about Jin in his slump, Menace tapped me on the shoulder. She didn't say it out loud, but it was clear she was telling me to leave it to her.
Curious about how Menace, who had known Jin for a long time, would encourage him, I yielded my spot beside the bed to her. Without hesitation, Menace slapped Jin across the cheek.
"Guah?!"
"Listen well, Jin! Listen closely!"
Overwhelmed by Menace's intensity, Jin straightened up his posture.
"There's no way Tenma would tell that kind of pointless lie, right? After all, this is Tenma we're talking about. The Tenma who absolutely loves crushing opponents without a shred of mercy! If you were really that far below the Bandit King, Tenma wouldn't just be honest—he'd exaggerate it like crazy and mock you until you couldn't recover! Besides, the Bandit King is Tenma's opponent in the finals. As if Tenma would misjudge the strength of someone like that! Got it?!"
I thought she was going to encourage Jin, but everything she said was an insult to me. However, her words seemed to have their effect—Jin looked like he'd regained just a little bit of his composure.
To Menace, who looked thoroughly refreshed after saying everything she wanted to say, I handed her a cup filled with liquid from the side.
"Oh, thank you."
Without even checking what was inside, Menace downed the entire contents of the cup in one gulp.
Downed it.
Menace, that is. However, the next instant, she spat out the entire contents in a clean spray... straight toward Jin...
"Ptooeeeh!"
"GYAAAAH! My eyes, my eyeeees!"
The true identity of the cup's contents was vinegar infused with chili peppers, mixed into the same medicine I'd made Jin drink earlier.
I don't want to imagine what that tasted like, but it was definitely not the intended way to use the medicine.
"That's right, Jin. I'm the kind of guy who loves this sort of thing... So if Jin really was that weak, I'd have tormented him way more thoroughly and had a much bigger laugh about it!"
It was less directed at Jin and more aimed at Menace, but neither of them was in any state to listen.
Menace had already bolted out of the room again, and Jin was dabbing his face with a towel soaked in water from the pitcher.
While we were making all that commotion, the doctor returned just as expected — and gave us an earful.
The doctor took the opportunity to examine Jin and Garat, who had both stripped off their clothes, and told them they absolutely had to rest for the rest of the day before sending them home.
I had my doubts about the medical professionalism of it all, but it seemed the venue's closing time was approaching, and he couldn't very well keep the two of them laid up in bed forever.
With no other choice, I carried Jin on my back, Menace offered Garat a shoulder to lean on, and with Lina leading the way, we headed for the venue's main exit.
We didn't run into anyone other than venue staff until we got close to the entrance, but there was one person behaving suspiciously right at the gate.
The moment Lina spotted that person, she inexplicably tensed up and pulled a staff out of her bag.
I felt something was off about Lina's reaction, but before I could say anything, the man acting suspiciously up ahead called out to us.
"What are you doing all the way out here? Ash?"
The suspicious man turned out to be none other than Ash Boughman — my first-round opponent.
The man stopped in his tracks, startled by my voice, but when he realized it was me, his expression relaxed with relief.
"Oh, Tenma... Don't sneak up on me like that."
Ash wiped the sweat from his forehead as he said that.
"Wait, you're the one who startled me. I mean, you were standing around acting like a textbook suspicious person. If I didn't know you, I wouldn't have called out — I would've reported you to staff. What on earth were you doing?"
Hearing my words, Ash took a step back and examined his own behavior.
Once he realized I was right, his face turned red and he scratched his cheek sheepishly.
"You've got a point, Tenma... I can see how that would've gotten me reported to staff."
Lina, who had been watching the exchange between Ash and me, seemed to let her guard down somewhat. She tucked her staff back into her bag.
"So, Ash. What were you actually doing?"
My question made Ash look troubled, but since he could tell I had no intention of dropping it, he reluctantly told me.
"Tenma, can you see that woman standing over there?"
Given that Ash had been acting suspicious, I carefully peeked in the direction he indicated. Outside the venue, I could see a woman accompanied by her attendants. I couldn't make out the details, but she was clearly quite a bit older than Ash. Judging by her well-tailored clothes and the fact that she had attendants in tow, she was most likely a noblewoman.
I decided to try using Appraisal on her...
Name... Midia Oriol
Age... 36
Species... Human
Title... Third Daughter of Viscount Oriol
That's what came back. Something felt off about it. She was thirty-six and her title was still "Third Daughter of Viscount"... Was there some kind of circumstances behind that?
While I was puzzling over the Appraisal results, Jin — who had been behind me — and Lina, who was peeking over his shoulder, seemed to recognize who Midia was.
"Oh great... We've caught the attention of someone troublesome."
"That's true... of all people, to have some late-blooming old lady like that..."
She really did seem to be just a late bloomer. In my previous life, being unmarried at thirty-six wasn't exactly uncommon, but in this world — and as a noble, no less — I was pretty sure this was the first time I'd seen it.
Well, looking at her, I could understand why Midia was unmarried.
After all, she couldn't be called beautiful even with the most generous of praise, she wore heavy makeup, and she had a nasty look in her eyes. On top of that, she'd been berating and kicking the attendant standing beside her this entire time. Yeah, it was no wonder she was still single.
If her family had been of count rank or above, or if there were some house that still stood to gain something even after factoring in a marriage to Midia, there might have been suitors — but with a viscount's house, that was a pretty tall order.
"So why is Ash hiding from that old woman?"
I'd already figured out most of it from what Jin and Lina had said, but I decided to ask Ash directly to confirm — only before Ash could answer my question, Lina spoke up.
"'Become my lover!' ...or something along those lines, I bet."
Ash nodded silently in confirmation of Lina's guess. It looked like he was dealing with a stalker.
If she were just some ordinary person, Ash could've solved the problem with force and no one would've blinked. But since she was technically nobility, he seemed reluctant to resort to any heavy-handed methods.
"Couldn't you just leave through a different entrance?"
Ash shook his head at Menace's suggestion. Apparently, that old woman had posted lookouts at every exit.
I felt bad for Ash, but this was looking like way too much trouble, and I was starting to want to just leave already.
But for some reason, Lina was looking dead serious as she tried to think of a countermeasure. She was so focused that even when I whispered to her about leaving, she didn't even notice.
I wondered if maybe Lina had fallen for Ash and was taking this seriously because of that — when suddenly she turned to face me.
"Tenma, can't you do something about this?"
Lina's expression was so earnest that I figured, if she really had fallen for Ash, I could at least pitch in a little as a friend — so I decided to offer up a plan.
"First things first — we need to get out of here. Leave that to me, it's easy. But the real problem is getting that old woman to give up on Ash. The quickest fix would be for Ash to"
"find himself a noble girlfriend."
"That's the way to do it. Ideally..."
Something on the level of a viscount's house
"or something like that..."
"That does sound like the best approach. Lina, your family was a viscount's house, right? Do you happen to know anyone?"
Menace, having caught on to what I was getting at, offered an easy pass to Lina.
But Lina...
"Can't think of anyone, I'm afraid... I haven't really been the sociable type..."
A clean miss. And to make matters worse...
"Forget that — let's get out of here first! Tell me the plan!"
Lina dismissed Menace's well-placed pass as just "something like that," not even deigning to give it a moment's thought.
Menace and I exchanged glances and tilted our heads, but Lina didn't notice — she was glaring daggers in the direction where Midia presumably was.
"A-Ah, got it... just hang on a sec, it should be here any moment... There it is."
Right on cue, something liquid came welling up out of the drainage grate.
"Why is there a Slime here?!"
Ash, startled, reached for his sword, but Jin and Garat — standing on either side — pressed down on his shoulders to hold him back.
"Relax. That's one of Tenma's Familiars."
With Jin's explanation, Ash seemed to recall that Slarin had been on my team during the Team Battle, and he kept apologizing over and over.
"So, why is Slarin part of the plan... Don't tell me!"
Ash wore a puzzled look, but the members of the Dawn Sword seemed to have a pretty good idea of what the upcoming plan involved, and
they wore
truly miserable expressions.
"The infiltration and escape plan. Slarin... Go!"
On my signal, Slarin spread her body wide and made a gesture like opening a mouth.
The part that looked like a mouth also resembled a dim curtain or door, which only stoked Jin and the others' unease even further.
"Are you seriously going through with this?"
"Seriously. This is the least likely to be noticed."
In response to Jin's question, I answered with a straight face. In truth, this carried less risk and was easier than a brute-force breakthrough—and as a bonus, it had a proven track record. When I'd used this method before, I'd confirmed that its practicality was remarkably high, so ever since then, Slarin and I had practiced it several times.
"If you understand, then get in already."
I hoisted Jin onto my back and stepped inside Slarin.
"Wait just a second! At least give me a moment to prepare myself mentally..."
Jin was squawking on my back, but I decided to ignore him.
Once Jin and I had gone in, the rest of the group followed warily. After confirming that everyone had entered, Slarin shrank herself small, just as she had on the way here, slipped into the drainage ditch, and retraced our path.
"Tenma, old boy... This is really hard to believe as the inside of a Slime."
Jin was seated on Solomon's favorite sofa—the one we'd set up inside Slarin's bag—and murmured in a tone of utter disbelief.
It didn't seem to be Jin's opinion alone; the others nodded along when they heard his words.
"Is it that surprising? But if it's a place I'm going to be spending time in, even temporarily, it's only natural to make it as comfortable as possible, right?"
Jin was exasperated by my remark. However, the words seemed to resonate with the women, as Menace and Lina both nodded in agreement.
Incidentally, Ash had apparently thought Slarin was nothing more than a powerful Slime, so he'd been more or less half-lovestruck by the string of things about Slarin that were completely off the charts.
"By the way, Lina. Have you been hiding anything from me?"
I decided to come right out and ask Lina directly—she'd been on guard from the moment she stepped inside Slarin, and I wanted to cut to the chase.
"H-Hiding... Whatever do you mean?"
Lina was trying to play it off by looking away, but it was completely obvious to anyone that she was trying to play it off.
Menace, suspicious of Lina's behavior, pulled her and me off to a corner.
"Lina, what are you hiding? Whatever it is, you shouldn't keep things from Tenma when he's gone out of his way to help us."
Pressed by Menace's stern tone, Lina finally gave up trying to hide it and began explaining the real reason she had called me over.
"It might be a misidentification, but... I think I saw people who looked like members of the 'Shadow Crimson'..."
Menace's face tightened at those words, but the name meant nothing to me.
"What's that?"
Both of them seemed a bit surprised by my question, but they appeared to come to some kind of understanding on their own and told me in low voices.
"It's the name of a party made up of the worst kind of scum. They were so awful they used adventuring as a front for theft, murder, kidnapping, and even human trafficking. Jin and Garat took on a request along with other adventurers and wiped them out."
"Most of them got the death penalty or were sentenced to criminal slavery, but three members were never caught, and they're still wanted criminals."
That meant Jin, Garat, and by extension Menace and Lina, who were connected to them, could be targets.
"Did Menace and Lina not participate?"
When I asked that, it turned out that the request had been handled by Jin, Garat, and a group of male adventurer acquaintances who formed a temporary party for the job. The reason Menace and the others were left out was that Jin and the others believed the operation would almost certainly escalate into a killing, so they only called men to join.
"Apparently, the criminals weren't particularly strong for such violent offenders, but the three who escaped were cunning and slippery, and that's why their crimes went undetected for so long."
"So to ensure our safety, I used Tenma. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too... but Lina, something this important — you should have reported it properly to your teammates!"
After apologizing to me, Menace punched Lina in the head while she was still bowing beside her.
Lina writhed in pain, but while clutching her head, she began explaining why she had stayed quiet.
"However, Jin and Garat are both seriously injured, and I didn't think it would be right to worry them further just by saying someone suspicious-looking was spotted... Menace just simply forgot about it... Ouch!"
For adding that unnecessary remark at the end, Lina received her second punch of the day.
"Not telling them would have been more dangerous!"
Watching those two interact, I found that I no longer cared about being used.
"Well, considering Menace punched her for using me, I'll let it slide. As for the survivors of those scoundrels, I'll have my contacts at the royal palace report it, and I'll keep an eye out myself."
With that conclusion, the three of us headed back to where Jin and the others were.
"Hey. What were you three talking about all by yourselves?"
Jin asked, a little irritated at being left out. Garat didn't seem as bothered as Jin, but he still looked a bit uneasy about Menace taking me instead of them.
"W-well, that's..."
"Umm..."
Seeing them struggling to answer, I decided to explain it to Jin and them instead.
"Actually, Jin..."
"Y-yeah."
Seeing me suddenly put on a serious expression and start talking, Jin and Garat naturally adopted serious expressions too.
"...Lina confessed that she brought me along because you're heavy and sweaty, and carrying you was too much of a burden. That's why Menace was scolding Lina earlier."
Saying something so ridiculous with a serious face left Jin and Garat momentarily unable to process what they'd heard. However, the instant they understood what I'd done, Garat burst out laughing, and Jin immediately started sniffing at himself in a panic.
"Hah hah hah... Jin, you really ARE sweaty right now!"
Jin slumped even further as Garat pointed it out. Lina tried to say something, but Menace covered her mouth from behind, rendering her speechless.
"R-right... Sorry about that. I'll rush to take a shower as soon as we get back..."
I apologized to Jin in my heart, but decided not to tell the truth for now.
"Ah, right, you should all stay at my place tonight."
When I said that, Jin and the others looked like they wanted to say something as they gazed at my face.
Just as Jin was about to open his mouth, Slarin's mouth opened first, and an exit connecting to the outside appeared.
Just to be safe, I stepped out first, and found myself in an alleyway quite far from the venue.
After confirming there was no one around, I led Jin and the others out from inside Slarin.
"Ash, are you fine around here?"
Hearing my words, Ash—who had been quiet until then—checked the surroundings and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine. My inn is close from here. I managed to get a pretty decent place, so once you're inside, even nobles won't be able to just waltz in and cause trouble. Thanks, Tenma—you really helped me out."
With that, he shook my hand, and Ash left the alley.
"Well then, shall we head out too?"
Saying that, I pulled Tanikaze and the carriage out of my bag, hitched them up, loaded everyone in, and headed for home.