Fran was in high spirits this morning as she headed for the event. In her hands are skewers of grilled meat from the food stalls, this has become her routine for each morning while we’re here.

Of course she also had breakfast at the inn. Or rather, after waking up, she took various things out of her dimensional storage and ate them. To Fran, a skewer is like a cookie to the average person.

「Mogu mogu」

「Momu momu」 (Munching SFX)

Urushi also got his own snack. It was a huge beef bone that had been used to make soup stock that was given by an Obaa-chan (Elderly lady) from a soup stall.

He seems to enjoy sucking the bone, which is over a meter long, and chewing on it as if it were sweet.

It makes him look a little dumb, like a silly dog walking around with a long wooden stick in his mouth.

Fran complimented the soup stall yesterday, and it seems that their customers have increased, so they gave us some soup for free. Well, it has disappeared into Fran and Urushi’s bellies though.

I think it also had some pretty big ingredients in it.

「Mogu mo… gu」 (munching sfx)

『What’s wrong?』

「That is」

Fran suddenly stopped in her tracks, and right in the direction of her gaze, stood a familiar man.

「It’s something kingdom’s something」 (1)

『It’s Viscount Emmert from the Kingdom of Shallus. Well, you don’t have to remember that though』

「What should we do?」

『Hmm』

He is obviously waiting for someone. There’s a good chance that it is Fran he’s waiting for.

As a matter of fact, I learned a few things from Katley yesterday. This made me remember what she said to us.

「The Kingdom of Shallus? They had approached me too」

「Really!? I heard that grandfather is very busy because of all the commotion those people are causing. He said he was going to send a letter of protest to the Kingdom of Shallus because they didn’t stop even after he warned them」

A letter of protest to the country? It seems to have become more serious than I imagined.

「They’re not keeping their words at all」

「Do you think they’ll approach me again?」

「It’s not impossible… I also heard that some of them were so persistent that even made an adventurer hit them. The other party is a nobleman, so the guild and the feudal lord can’t protect him」

「Even though it’s their fault?」

「Umm, it is not a crime to solicit people, and they are noblemen, that must be why…」

In the end, it seems that they’re trying to make the adventurers look bad for laying their hands on them. I wonder what their goal is… Was it to disqualify a promising contestant by provoking them? Or maybe to make them listen to their request by making them looks bad?

「Fran-oneesama too, please be careful」

「Okay」

That was the exchange we had yesterday.

『Let’s keep going for now. And if Viscount Emmert comes to us, let’s escape with teleport』

「Okay」

『Well, we also could simply hide our presence from him though』

As the spectators enter the arena, we pass by the man who looks like Viscount Emmert and his attendant.

And sure enough, Viscount Emmert and his attendant did not notice Fran who had removed her presence.

「That black cat girl hasn’t arrived yet?」

「I think it’s about time she’ll arrive…」

「Keep looking!」

I knew it, they were really after Fran. Well, we could just keep running away like this. We’ll be leaving this town in a few days anyway.

Then, half an hour later.

『Today, a certain young girl will make her appearance in the first match of the day! The mightiest of the Black Cat kin, the Black Lightning Princess, Fran!』

There was no one coming to interrupt us in the waiting room, and we were now on top of the stage facing our opponents for the day.

In front of us, was a giant shield user holding a huge tower shield in matted metal armor. He is the man who is suspected of being a spy for the Kingdom of Raidos, Biscot.

I saw him in the first round, and he is a very solid defensive type.

『Fran, what do you want to do today?』

(…I want to try to fight him by myself)

『Got it』

(You sure?)

『Why not?』

(But I got cornered in the previous match with Mordred because of it)

『I would say no if it were a real battle with your lives at stake, but this is just a mock battle. You can fight however you want. Besides, you want to try fighting a shield user, don’t you?』

(Nn)

Fran had never fought a high-level shield user before. She would definitely like to experience it.

That’s why she wants to experience a battle that challenges her to the very edge instead of instantly defeating him with all her might.

『But be careful, okay?』

「Nn」

I also think it would be a good experience for me to see some of his moves first. Besides, it wasn’t a bad idea to save our trump card for the next match.

「Hey, it’s been a while since we last met in the dungeon」

「Nn」

「Let me see how strong of an adventurer you are」

「You too, show me that your shield isn’t just a decoration」

The match between Fran and Biscot then begins as the two clashes for the win.

「Haah!」

「Shii!」

Fran, who immediately used her Awakening, attacked him at full speed right from the start. She was so quick that even Biscot could not respond to her.

She slipped through his shield and managed to land some good attacks. Though the metal armor is quite a masterpiece, it’s not strong enough to completely repel her attacks.

What a disappointment, I thought, but Biscot somehow become more persistent after that.

「Haa!」

「Weak! That’s too weak!」

No matter how badly he was injured, he was not intimidated at all. He was obviously bleeding profusely, but he made no attempt to recover. He must have some kind of auto-regeneration skill then.

He frowned from time to time, it’s proof that he didn’t have pain nullification. So, it’s not a damage lessening skill like Sibylla’s, but just a strengthening and resistance type.

「I often deal with huge magic beasts! A wound like this is normal!」

Does he mean that he often fights head-on against huge magic beasts? That would certainly make him strong.

Fran is unharmed at the moment, but I don’t feel like she is making any progress. It was probably because Biscot was not showing any response to her attack.

「Getting chewed and swallowed by an earth dragon was a lot worse than this!」

「Earth dragon?」

「Yeah! When my knight co――oh, shit! Anyway, this is where it gets real! You better get serious too!」

「Just as I wanted!」

He was going to say knight corps, wasn’t he? I knew it, he really was a knight from Raidos.

[TLN]

(1) Raw: なんとか国のなんとか, nantoka kuni no nantoka, referring to “Kingdom of Shallus’ messenger” but Fran forgot the kingdom’s name and Emmert’s official role.