Before the main event

(Bersleid: Btw, does every guild only have five members? Wasn’t that a minimum requirement? Should have written down then, that only five members are allowed to fight from each guild in this tournament, otherwise.)

–The second day of the battle royal for determining the provisional guild rank.

Crim had come to the park in the South District, the meeting place for the main event, a little early…

“Kyaa, how cute! Is this the real Crim-chan, so cute!?”

…
She was bewildered as a woman she had just met hugged her.

“Umm, excuse me, who are you?”

“Oh, I’m sorry?”

Crim added “nojya” to her words in a panic, but the girl who had just lost her composure suddenly elegantly straightened her dishevelled clothes and spoke to her with a dignified air.

She was a girl whom it would be no exaggeration to describe as beautiful. Her dignified posture, her graceful movements filled with self-assurance, and above all, her voluminous blonde hair wrapped vertically around her head proclaimed her to be a “young lady from a good family.”

“I am the guild master of ‘Lily Garden,’ White Lily.”

“Lily Garden… I remember, you were the winner of the second block, right?”

“Oh, I’m honoured that you remember me, Crim-san?”

While saying such a praiseworthy thing, she pointed her finger straight at Crim with confidence.

“That being said… I cannot resist cute girls, so if we win, you all must join my guild!”

“Huh? No thanks, what are you talking about?”

Confidently proposing her idea to the puzzled Crim, she freezes when she questions her statement.

“Then let me ask you this, what will you offer us if we win?”

“Uh, well, of course, if it were to happen, we would offer you…”

“I don’t need it.”

Crim’s immediate response causes White Lily to freeze again.

“I do not wish to use a bet to bind the free will of other players. Therefore, it is unnecessary.”

White Lily raises her head at Crim’s words. Perhaps she realizes that she had recklessly placed her guild members in a gambling situation. It seems that she had no ill intentions, and Crim’s expression softens slightly.

“Miss, did you come here to talk about that?”

“Oh, right, I forgot. I got carried away by her cuteness,” the White Lily girl coughed, reprimanded by her attendant who stood behind her. (Bersleid: Japanese love the idea of nobility, I mean there are some wn-s and ln-s that don’t have this concept, but even if you read something playing in modern times, you’ll find something like a guy/girl with noble upbringing or servants or both.)

At that moment, the sound of metal clinking and clanking could be heard, the sound of chainmail and metal armour. The guild, “Northern Glacier,” a top contender for the championship, was now dressed in heavy armour unlike the previous day. Their imposing presence emitted an electric charge that silenced the surroundings.

Among them, the silver-haired young man in a black chain hauberk and a surcoat with a lion emblem, who led the way, momentarily met eyes with Crim.

“Come on, bring it on,” his eyes spoke eloquently, like those of a greedy carnivorous predator, to Crim.

“… They’re flaunting it in our face,” White Lily grumbled.

And no wonder. They were all wearing high-quality, black, metal armour such as chainmail, plate armour, and shoulder armour that clearly indicated their high-quality materials. This was the result of having top-quality mineral resources and production professions that were attracted to their guild.

“That’s their serious equipment, huh?”

“Yes… it seems they were hiding their true power during the preliminaries.”

And with that, they broke the record for the fastest time in the preliminaries. Now, Crim understood why they were called the strongest guild.

“To be blunt, won’t you join forces with us?”

“What do you mean by ‘join forces’?”

“Of course, we’ll form a siege to take down ‘Northern Glacier.’”

… Honestly, Crim had also been expecting such an invitation. That was how superior the current ‘Northern Glacier’ was in terms of fighting power.

“… Indeed, that may be a wise approach.”

“Then, will you…?”

“However, I’m sorry to say I won’t be joining you.”

Crim closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.

“That guy… the leader of [Northern Glacier], Soleil Leon, can’t be defeated by such a simple plan. That’s the feeling I get, at least.”

“Then are you just going to hand over the victory to him?”

“No, it’s not like I’m going into this match expecting to lose.”

Crim smiled mischievously as he slowly opened his eyes.

“I’ll defeat him.”

With his eyes filled with fighting spirit, Crim declared straight. Lily Garden’s two members stared at her in disbelief.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m itching to defeat him.”

“You’ll regret it… Let’s go.”

After giving Crime an incredulous look, the two members of Lily Garden turned around and left.

“So, I’m sorry. I should have accepted the offer if I wanted to increase my chances of winning, but this is my selfishness. If you’ve had enough of me, feel free to abandon me.”

Crime said to her teammates who had been watching the situation behind her. They shrugged and said nothing.

“What, aren’t you going to lecture me?”

Crim tilted her head in confusion, but then Freya took her hand.

“We won’t. We believe you’ll do it, Crime-chan.”

“Huh… uh, okay.”

Crim was flustered by Freya’s innocent smile.

“Well, we’re used to your recklessness.”

“Hinagiku will focus on her job and believe in her mentor’s victory.”

“I won’t complain today either…!”

“Thanks, everyone.”

Although they all gave wry smiles, they all agreed with Crim’s words. Seeing their response, Crim bowed deeply in gratitude.

“So, what about Ryunosuke?” (Bersleid: Completely forgot about him…)

“Well… I think it’s almost time.”

“I see… he had an important task for today.”

In response to Freya’s question, Crim looked around. She hadn’t seen Ryunosuke since yesterday. She had entrusted him with an important task for today.

However, the countdown for transferring to the battlefield had already begun. If he didn’t arrive soon, it would be too late… Just as he began to feel anxious, she saw Ryunosuke running towards them in a panic.

“Sorry… I’m late! I was being reckless until the last minute.”

“Thank goodness, you made it!”

Crim breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Ryunosuke with a large package in his arms.

“But… I asked Ryunosuke to throw away all the materials I had stored up, as well as the ones we’ve been gathering recently, and make High-quality products with them!”

Saying that, Ryunosuke opened the package he had brought with him, revealing…

“Oh…this is our uniform, Sensei!?”

“Amazing…it’s completely different in performance from our previous equipment…!”

Hinagiku and Licorice let out slightly excited voices at the sight of the new outfits. Frey and Freya watched their reaction with a smile, but had already begun changing into their own uniforms.

There were five outfits dyed in two colours, with a main colour of crimson and a sub-colour of black, creating a brilliantly shining outfit that resembled a knight’s formal wear.

They were rushed to be made by a tailor that Ryuunosuke had introduced, and were custom-made with no hesitation in pouring materials into them. The battle attire was designed to have a uniform design, with slight differences in the shape of the skirts and jackets in accordance with each person’s requests.

“Well, we don’t have any mineral resources like [Northern Glacier] after all,” said Crim, holding her own outfit and changing her equipment by operating the status screen. As a result, the gothic lolita-style outfit she had been wearing changed into a knight’s uniform in a matter of moments.

“Schwarzwald beast leather and insect silk… we shouldn’t lose in the quality of our resources.”

She confirmed the appearance of the new clothing woven from the giant caterpillar silk found in the Black Forest and the black leather breastplate made from materials of the [strongest magic beast] they had defeated before. Then, she nodded in satisfaction and turned to everyone, flipping the lion-red emperor’s coat she was wearing on top of it.

On the edge of her vision, the countdown to the start of their transfer to the battlefield was about to end.

“Then… Guild [Lua Cheia] use all of your skills and tactics, and charge out with everything you’ve got!!”

“Understood!!”

Crim raised his hand to the sky once and then thrust it forward, giving the command high and loud… Everyone raised their voices resolutely and was transferred to the battlefield–…

　◇

Immediately after transferring to the battlefield

“However… I also think that pants would have been better like Frey’s.”

Restlessly, Crim complained while swinging the black knee-length skirt of her new outfit – for some reason, it was adorned with cute lace trim.

“That’s not good.”

“That’s not good.”

“That’s not good!”

“Oh… it seems that’s not good.”

“Wha, why are you all in sync!?”

They were all collectively scolded, causing Crim’s eyes to widen in disbelief.

(Bersleid: Seems like five is the limit. That’s all for today.)