Can't

64

◆ In front of the inn in Avangard Castle Town ◆

Even though we had only been apart for a few days, the scenery was quite nostalgic. if it hadn’t been for Hast-sama’s magic, it would probably have been a week. How could I have traveled from a continent so far away that it would have taken days to get there by boat and back to this place in an instant? I don’t know why I’m so bad at magic.

「 Hey, Roel. Magic sure is amazing 」

「 Um, Ryua-chan……」

「 Hmm?」

「 Umm, you’re stepping on……」

Roel pointed discreetly at my feet. I thought something was wrong, it was a person. I’m stepping on a person. I wondered if I had fallen on top of him during my instantaneous movement. If that’s the case, I need to get him out of the way right away.

「 Umm, Sorry 」

「 Ugahーーーー! Who the hell are you? You just showed up out of nowhere! Hmm? 」

The man who stood up was a droopy-eyed man in armor, Greyman, who I believe we fought in the finals of the preliminary round of the fighting tournament. I remember meeting him in front of the weapon shop sometime ago. Anyway, this guy is wearing different equipment again. This time, he was wearing light armor with exposed shoulders. I had an image of him as a flamboyant old man, but I guess he’s not so flamboyant.

「 You, you are! I thought I hadn’t seen you for a while, but you’re still here! 」

「 I mean, it’s only been a few days 」

「 Shut up! Don’t make me look stupid! So what do you want from me? I’m telling you, I can’t give you this equipment, and I’m not lending you any money! 」

「 Well, nothing really. It was just because you happened to be at this spot, doesn’t mean I’m here to see you specifically. 」

「 You, you annoying little……」

I didn’t say anything wrong, but it just made him angry. I wonder what’s wrong with him. I wonder if he still cares about the loss. Oh, did I make a hole in his armor during that fight. I wonder if I can buy something like that with the 150,000 gold I have, but I don’t want to spend it on something like that.

「 Hmm, it’s really become more of a nuisance. It’s not easy being the winner of a fighting tournament. 」

「 What’s that supposed to mean?」

「 Oi! It’s the winner of the tournament, Ryua!」

All of a sudden, I wondered why he did so, shouting my name in the streets. And when I was wondering what they were up to, I saw a lot of noisy people coming from everywhere. They ranged from young men and women to old people, but the one thing they all had in common was that they were all dressed as if they were going into battle. There were swords, spears, axes, knives, weapons in their hands, and some of them were bare-handed.