CHAPTER 317: MARTIAL TOURNAMENT REGISTRATION

 

『Shurasaki Festival Martial Tournament Participant Registration Office』

Inside the enormous samurai estate adorned with that particularly eye-catching banner, a multitude of warriors had already gathered.

Swordsmen.

Spearmen.

Archers.

Martial artists.

There were even enormous men carrying great axes and clubs as tall as they were.

Every last one of them looked like trouble.

「Man, I love this atmosphere.」

Seeing someone who looked strong always got my blood pumping.

As I realized that the corners of my mouth had unconsciously curled upward, Kinu quietly murmured beside me.

「Aun, you look like you’re having fun.」

「Of course I am. How could I not be when I might get to fight guys like these?」

「Hehe. You’re like a little boy.」

「You’re one to talk. You’ve got a pretty good look on your face too, you know?」

When I stroked her head, Kinu narrowed her eyes contentedly.

Seeing Kinu express her emotions so openly and without the slightest pretense couldn’t help but warm my heart, even in a tense place like this.

「Next person.」

The clerk’s voice rang out. It was our turn.

We stepped forward, and the middle-aged man seated behind the long table held out a sheet of paper.

「Please write your names here.」

「Sure!」

I took the paper and wrote ‘Aun Doumeki’ with the brush.

After Kinu and I had both finished, the man reached out to take our forms—then his hand stopped dead.

「…Doumeki?」

The moment he quietly uttered that name and raised his gaze, the atmosphere around us changed. Every participant within earshot turned to look our way.

「Did he say Doumeki?」

「It can’t be…」

「No, but there’s no other family in Bukyo that bears that name…」

「Hah! No fool brazen enough to use a false name would dare show his face here!」

「…Then he’s the one we need to watch out for most.」

「I’d rather not get matched against him right away…」

「Don’t be an idiot. Isn’t that exactly what festivals like this are for?」

「You’ve got a point!」

A hushed murmur spread through the crowd as I tilted my head.

「Is my name really that famous?」

「Famous does not even begin to describe it.」

The clerk answered with a wry smile.

「There isn’t a soul in Bukyo who doesn’t know the family name of Lord Daigoku, the man known as the 【War God】.」

「Huh. Guess Grandpa’s been doing flashy stuff as usual.」

「…Wait. Are you telling me that you’re—」

「Yeah, I’m his grandson. Our races are different, though, and I was raised in another country.」

A brief silence followed my answer.

And then—

「Hahahahaha!!」

The clerk burst into thunderous laughter without the slightest concern for everyone around him.

「I see, I see! So you’re that man’s grandson! In that case, a little difference in race means nothing! Besides, everyone in Bukyo knows Lord Daigoku has Kijin blood in his veins!」

「…Huh? Grandpa’s a Kijin?」

「You bet! Only half, apparently. But why the hell don’t you know that?」

「Grandpa never told me anything like that…」

「I see, I see! Well, you’re descended from that father and son who caused such a massive disaster. I suppose nothing should come as a surprise! Man, this year’s festival is shaping up to be a real blast!」

By ‘massive disaster’, he probably means the time their father-son quarrel blew away an uninhabited island…

Why does that make this guy look so damn happy?

Maybe the values of people from Bukyo really are bugged.

「Your grandpa really is an amazing person, Aun. I’m looking forward to meeting him.」

「Well, he’s definitely pretty insane in a lot of ways… You’ll understand once you meet him.」

「Mm. I need to greet him properly! And I want to hear all about what you were like as a child!」

「…I just hope Grandpa doesn’t say anything weird. Anyway, we’ll have to win the Shurasaki Festival first if we want to meet him.」

「That’s the spirit! I’ll be rooting for you, so give it your all! Before you leave, make sure to read the tournament overview in the room at the back.」

With our registrations complete, we followed the man’s instructions and headed toward the bulletin board in the back room.

Beyond the crowd stood an enormous wooden board bearing the tournament regulations and an outline of the event.

《Shurasaki Festival Martial Tournament Regulations》

• Participation is limited to 256 competitors. If the limit is exceeded, places will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Thirty-two competitors will advance through the preliminaries to the main tournament.
• The tournament champion will receive prize money and the 『Right to Challenge the Naraka Dungeon』.

《Preliminary-Round Overview》

• The preliminaries will take the form of a free-for-all in which participants compete to steal the 『Oni Tags』 issued to each competitor before the start.
• The venue will encompass the entirety of the White Mist Basin outside Amane-kyo’s eastern gate, commonly known as the Battlefield of Scattered Blossoms.
• Competitors must collect a total of five Oni Tags, including their own and those taken from others, and return to Amane-kyo’s eastern gate within the allotted time. The first competitors to do so will advance through the preliminaries.
• Combat will begin ten minutes after every participant has entered the Battlefield of Scattered Blossoms. The ringing of a bell will signal the start.
• Any participant who has not entered the venue by the designated date and time will be disqualified.
• Losing one’s Oni Tag does not result in disqualification as long as the participant remains capable of fighting. It is permissible to advance by collecting five Oni Tags belonging entirely to other competitors.
• The time limit will be sunset on the day of the preliminaries. Alternatively, the round will end as soon as all thirty-two qualifying places have been filled.
• If fewer than thirty-two competitors have qualified by sunset, the remaining places in the main tournament will be awarded in descending order according to the number of Oni Tags held.
• Participants killed in battle will be considered disqualified.
• Participants may withdraw at any time. To do so, they must wrap the red towel provided beforehand around their head, place their Oni Tags on the ground, and leave the preliminary-round venue.
• Any means, methods, magic, weapons, and tactics may be used. However, attacking or pursuing a participant who has declared their withdrawal is prohibited. Violators will be disqualified, and all Oni Tags in their possession will be confiscated by the tournament organizers.

《Main Tournament Overview》

• The thirty-two competitors who advance through the preliminaries will compete in a single-elimination tournament.
• Matches will consist of one-on-one battles held in the Amane-kyo Arena.
• After the preliminaries conclude, all qualifying competitors will draw lots. Their names will be entered beside the numbers they draw, determining the tournament bracket.
• The referee may stop a match if they judge that one of the competitors is incapable of continuing.
• A competitor will be eliminated upon surrendering, losing consciousness, becoming incapable of fighting, or dying.
• Attacking after the referee has stopped the match, or pursuing an opponent who has surrendered or lost consciousness, is prohibited. There are no other restrictions.

「Whoa… Those are some pretty extreme rules.」

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

In short, the preliminaries would be a massive Oni Tag free-for-all between every participant outside the city, with the first thirty-two to return qualifying for the main tournament. Those thirty-two would then face one another in a series of one-on-one matches.

The only thing prohibited in either stage was attacking someone after they had already lost. In the most extreme terms, that meant killing someone during the battle was perfectly acceptable.

「Mm. But looked at another way, that means only strong people who won’t die easily take part in this festival.」

「Probably. Every person here has the face of someone who’s survived at least one brush with death. Still, why are they holding the preliminaries on an old battlefield?」

Zen approached us from behind after completing his own registration. He answered my question with a meaningful smile.

「The Battlefield of Scattered Blossoms… That nickname was given to the area before Bukyo Kingdom was unified. People consider the entire White Mist Basin a memorial to the dead, despite it having no grave markers. Even now, nearly everyone living in this region calls it by that name.」

「No, no. That’s exactly my point. Is it really okay to start a huge fight in a place like that?」

「You have it backward, Aun. The purpose is to keep the warriors whose names have gone down in history from growing bored. We are to ‘fight with all our might and turn it into a festival’. Incidentally, it is said that the name Shurasaki Festival was also derived from the Battlefield of Scattered Blossoms.」

A festival where the flowers of shura bloom in all their glory, only to scatter away, huh? Now that’s one hell of a stylish name.

Bukyo as a country—and the culture and beliefs that lived within it—surpassed everything I had ever considered normal.

「That’s fucking perfect. Then let’s go wild enough to wake every dead warrior sleeping beneath that battlefield.」

「Heh. A very Aun-like answer indeed. But before that—」

Zen turned his gaze away from the bulletin board and surveyed the people around us.

「First, you should learn who this year’s favorites to win are…」