The king, Mondol Virtella Galania, was troubled. And the problem was on a really big scale. It's regarding Galania's lands. Most of the country's income came from local tax and ore trades. Another big part came from tourism caused by the battle arena, and thus the country's finances were somehow stabilized. That financially stable state was reached 10 years ago.
Changes have appeared around a few years ago. The cause was definitely the prophecy of the shrine maiden of the sacred empire La Veil Radd.
That prophecy was 『The Birth of a Demon King』.
According to the news, it was said that it appeared in the country of beastmen. The 5 major countries surrounding it, including Galania, formed an agreement to attack the country of beastmen. Of course at that time Mondol was one of the leaders that didn't have any motivation to agree. However, in that conference, there was no country that could disagree and oppose Hallia. Because the country of Hallia successfully summoned heroes, and they declared that they will be the ones to keep the balance of the world.
But the result of the summoning this time was incomprehensible. The number of Heroes summoned was the highest compared to previous summonings. And not to mention, they were extremely self-centered.
They took over Hallia and tried, or more like forced all countries to attend a world conference. Of course, it is fine for a country to decline, but they will suffer greatly by becoming alienated to those who have attended the conference and cooperation between them would be extremely limited.
And so the war against the beastman country began, but it did not really last long since there were too many Heroes and they were easily overwhelmed. The remnants of the demon army were then finished off by the heroes, since there is an incomparable difference in fighting power between them. Until all of the remnants were annihilated. Through that overwhelming victory, the countries that attended the conference began worshiping the heroes...
After that, the Heroes even asked for compensation to help in the rebuilding of Hallia. Not to mention the amount they asked for was just unbelievable. It was a huge amount equalling 40% of the country's total tax. Something like that is just too much to accept.
But the heroes suggested that using the beastmen as slaves will be the compensation in exchange for it.
Surely there were people among the aristocrats who disliked beastmen, but that's not even part of the majority. Or rather, most kings and higher-ups got along with them, not to mention the technology they use in making magic tools is more accurate than the human's. Many countries would fight just to acquire that technology.
In the end, that country had no choice but to fight against the heroes. The bestmen were then shunned and blamed as the source of the demon king's birth, and had no choice but to end up as slaves.
They all understood soon, that the heroes were more horrible than the demon king itself.
A few years later... Hallia dominated this world as a powerful country and dispatched heroes to various places, with the excuse of improving the defense of the country. But it was actually to monitor them so that they won't be able to do anything suspicious behind their backs.
And regarding this battle tournament, it was set up to display the power of the hero to the public. That was also the same in regards to the bets. By distributing money to the public, the heroes would be loved by the common people, while slowly weakening the country's power. Mondol was already able to grasp that the country will slowly lose power after several years if they keep on doing this in the championships of the battle tournament.
But today, something unbelievable happened.
「That is... Just what is that...」
A fluffy young woman with pink hair and dressed in a white robe showed up and took over the stage. She summoned a huge red dragon, made it shoot a breath towards the sky, froze that breath and then she created a rain of flowers made of ice. Any person could tell just how ridiculous it is even just by looking at the eyes of the spectators who witnessed that.
「Be it a Hero!! Or a Demon Lord!! From this day onward, I will declare myself as the strongest!! Remember well!! My name is Aidle!! A woman who will never be bound by anyone or anything!!!!」
Right after the girl's declaration, Mondol asked for information about her. And what he understood was that one month ago the girl registered in Haval's Adventurer's Guild, and in just that month alone she was already promoted to Rank S. Moreover, the request that resulted in her promotion to Rank S was the subjugation of a huge red dragon by herself.
(Are you telling me that the red dragon she had supposedly subjugated was that?)
Mondol had no idea if that was really the truth or just a bunch of lies. But Mondol, who saw that unbelievable sight, couldn't help but hope that all of those rumors were true.
「What's that your highness?」
And he was pulled back to reality. The man who was standing beside him was also one of the heroes dispatched to this country.
「I don't really know about it... but apparently she came from the countryside of this kingdom, but...」
「Hee, a white challenger is it?」
「Fo, for someone like that to appear, I have never... Anyway here's the application information of that adventurer...」
The face of the hero who was reading information about her didn't change a bit. He just absorbed it and accepted it as facts. Although he should only be around 20 in terms of looks, he was way too calm about it. Because of that, Mondol was quite terrified.
「I see... she seems to be a rare genius... There are a lot of idiots who think they are the strongest after all. Not to mention that flashy appearance, also projecting a dragon and pumping it with magic special effects projected on amplified magic formations, that is just a common pattern that everyone does.」
He then threw away the paper he was holding. Mondol didn't move as he stared at the paper that fell.
The Red Dragon's status was camouflaged and when the hero tried identifying her status with the skill Heroes possess what reflected back were modified values.
「But if we leave someone like that alone, they might become the head of a rebellion which will come from Haval – If I am not mistaken, there was someone else that was watching her... That person over there.」
In the line of sight of the Hero, there was a girl with light blue hair wearing clothes resembling the attire of that peach colored girl on the stage. The Hero used Identify to check the status of the blue haired girl.
「It's probably around middle levels... Good, I'll just take note of it just in case...」
The Hero left while having a thin smile on his face as he walked away from Mondol.[ED: If he/she targets Arena, it's doomsday for the Heroes!]
Mondol was relieved by the disappearance of that Hero and sighed in relief.
(Whoever you are, I'm begging you... please end this deep dark painted world...)
**
At that time, Aidle was reporting to Testania-san.
『You really made a contract with an ancient dragon. You gained some levels, right?』
「That's right... Right now I think I have enough power to destroy a country alone...」
『Oh, weren't you that strong before? That's strange~』
That's strange~ not. Even for me it was my first battle on the edge you know. All I know is that the ecology and power of a dimension fairy are full of mysteries. I'm afraid of not knowing my true nature.
『And so, you're in the kingdom now, right? Although you sold a fight to the Heroes, are you sure you can win against them? 』
「If I compare them to La Veil, then fighting La Veil in her Red Dragon form would be much harder...」
『For you to break through her defense using your bare fist is completely out of normality already. Well, I didn't really say avoid crossing dangerous bridges, but do take care of yourself out there, OK?』
「Yes, I will contact you once more when the Battle Tournament ends and if I come in contact with the king.」
『Alright, enjoy yourself out there~』
**
「And that's done... Now it's about this」
Idol was looking at the changes of the magnification after the previous round.
A Block First Round
『Set 1: La Veil vs Horomir』
3250 – 1200
『Set 2: Abil vs Chuck』
1890 – 2960
『Set 3: Suvia vs Morial』
850 – 1310
『Set 4: Largo vs Hero Ayane』
1110 – 5
B Block First Round
『Set 1: Onore vs Genkaku』
2065 – 6543
『Set 2: Sylvester vs Jasper』
4820 – 2460
『Set 3: Aleid vs Mathew』
1423 – 1295
『Set 4: Twire vs Aidle』
1550 – 10000
The difference was ten thousand times. This... Just how much am I going to win with this? .........Let's just stop thinking about this. More importantly, other players also reached 4 digits which are way much higher compared to what they originally have. It seems that most of the people are betting on the Hero.
「That is how it's expected if it's against the Hero, Master. It is common sense that those selling a fight against them won't win, but how are you going to fight against a group of them? 」
「Eh?」
「Don't tell me, you didn't know of such things? Well you see master, the number of heroes is not just one. They are summoned generally in groups of 5 to 10.」
I didn't know anything about what La Veil just said... Wha, what should I do. If I don't show myself, other heroes won't know me, right?
「Mou, I hate it~ It will be annoying~... That's right, when the Battle Tournament ends, let's quickly have a conference with the king and then leave the kingdom」
「Quick Escape~!!」
「Wait idiotic Master and daughter. Whether this is a crime or not don't rush anywhere. If you defeat the Hero, then there is a chance that the country will be willing to protect us from the Heroes」
「It seems you know a lot of details, can you explain?」
「A teaching from my great grandpa. I am a diligent person-noja!! And also, Aidle, you should refer to myself as Mama-san-sensei!!!」
「Hai, Mama-san-sensei!!!」
That sounds fun... Let's think more about that. The battle against the Heroes is already a fixed event. After the tournament, let's try negotiating with the king using the money Arena accumulated. I want to see with my own eyes just what kind of person he is. If it's no good then escape when the Heroes come. Perfect!!
「By the way, La Veil, why are you still here, isn't your battle going to start soon?」
「Ah, right, then I will be going. Arena, Master please cheer for me」
「「Ou, you can count on us」」
________________________________________________
「Arena, you can call me Onee-chan too」
「Eeh, but I'm older~?」
「Then, should I call you Onee-chan?」
「.........Hmmm. It's weird. Then, just as is~」
「Oh, alright」
It seems like Arena wants us to be equals.