It was already getting dark when I arrived at the forest.

A few tents have been prepared at the base camp, located some distance away from the entrance to the forest.

The stupid noble was nowhere to be found.

I was first led by a knight in charge of guiding, and we made our way to a tent allocated to me.

「Myne-dono, this is your tent」

After the knight said that to me, he looked around our surroundings restlessly before telling me in a low voice.

「……I don’t think it will happen, but there’s a possibility Claude-dono and his group may do something to Myne-dono.

This tent is adjacent to our knights’ tents so please call out to us immediately if anything happens」

Un, there’s certainly such a possibility.

He’s a man who looks like he’ll act cowardly without hesitation, so he’ll probably pull something like sabotage off without hesitation.

「Yes! Thank you very much! Please take care of me when that happens!!」

Hearing my reply, the knight-san grinned and returned to hit post.

……Now then.

I activated 【Presence Detection・LV3】 and searched my surroundings.

Hm〜, this presence is the knight-san from before.

That means the presences around here are the ones who know about this matter…… I guess?

Well, that’s not necessarily true, huh.

Perhaps they might be the adventurers the stupid noble hired.

……There’s quite a lot of people gathered in the direction of the forest, huh.

Maybe they’ve just exited the forest and are returning to the base camp?

Thinking about the fact that they weren’t here when I looked around, this group’s probably those guys, I guess?

1,2,3…… There’s quite a lot of them, huh.

Around 40 people, I guess?

It’s obviously one too many people if you think about the 9 people including me who will be participating in the game.

……They’re firing themselves up quite a lot to cheat, huh.

It’d be good if they diverted that enthusiasm onto something else though…….

As I dumbfoundedly investigated the situation, I could feel the presence of a person coming towards me.

……Hm? I wonder if it’s the stupid noble?

Knight-san’s worries might be spot on.

「Good work commoner, for going out of your way to lose to me」

As I expected! It’s the stupid noble.

Suddenly entering someone else’s tent rudely and throwing such words around…….

「By the way, commoner, your loss has already been decided. Go propose breaking off the engagement to the King.

If you do that, let me see…… I’ll give you a platinum coin.

What do you think? A commoner like you probably never seen one before, have you?」

…….

This guy’s rude to the core.

「I’m fine, I have more than a hundred platinum coins, and I’ll win this game」

As I said that, he was wide-eyed in shock, before he flew into a rage with his face completely red. (TLN: An expression like a pigeon who’s been shot by a peashooter = wide-eyed in shock)

「You bastard!! A commoner like you going against a noble, what’s with that tone!!

You should just obediently obey my words!!!」

He probably never had a commoner say such things to him before this.

He suddenly swung his fist, aiming at my face.

……Such a slow attack, there’s no way it’ll hit.

After seeing the Orc King and Brother-in-law-san’s movements, this looks like slow-motion.

I quickly caught his fist with my palm.

「In the first place, the one who proposed this game is Claude-sama, wasn’t it?」

「Y, y, you bastard!!!!」

He has been shouting loudly since just now.

There’s no way the knight-san who had been waiting in the tents right beside ours haven’t noticed it.

See? The knight-san who guided me earlier’s rushing over here!

「Claude-dono, what are you doing!?

Myne-dono is your opponent for tomorrow. If you try to harm him before the match,

the game will be called off right here and now, and it will be your loss!」

「……This guy, a commoner, won’t do as he is told by me, the next head of the Roselia family!!!

Eei, you insolent fellow!! Let go of me, let go!! I’ll kill you for disrepecting me, eei!! Let go!」(TLN: Google bureiuchi for more info)

He was then pinned down by knights who came after that, and forcefully taken out from the tent.

Come to think of it, I haven’t appraised him, have I?

He’s that self-important, so he may have quite the good Skills, I guess?

Name: Claude Roselia

Race: Hume

ＬＶ：16

Gender: Male

Age: 21 years

Occupation: Heir of the Roselia family

【Skills】

Two-handed Spear・Extreme

Fine Art・Singing

……Honestly speaking, I think it’s questionable.

I do think that 【Two-handed Spear・Extreme】 is a good Skill.

As for 【Fine Art・Singing】, it’s…… not really geared towards battle.

【Fine Art・Singing】: Can sing skillfully.

Looking at it from a noble’s perspective, having an interest in fine art is probably a good thing, but…….

Thinking about how he proposed a battle, this Skill feels a little out of place.

Well, the ones appearing in the game tomorrow will definitely be the adventurers he hired with money, so there’s no problem, I guess?

……If he will be coming out, I’ll pay him back for badmouthing my house, but too bad!

As I thought that while looking at the mouth of the tent where that guy had been dragged out, the knight-san from before once again entered.

「Myne-dono, we are sorry.

It was a negligence in our management, we will restrain him from moving about tonight.

Also, since we cannot let even a one in a 10000 chance of anything happening, we will perform night watch around this tent.

Please have a rest without any worries」

Aah, I feel a little guilty towards the knights but I feel a little relieved.

I was thinking what I should do if the adventurers he hired attack when I am asleep…….

I’m really grateful to the knights, thank you! I’ll have to properly express my gratitude.

「……Thank you very much!! I appreciate it.

However, the knights won’t be able to sleep, will they……, I am sorry」

As I apologised, knight-san laughed as he answered.

「Hahaha, it’s alright. We’ll take turns standing guard so we’ll be able to get some sleep.

Besides, taking care of Myne-dono like this is our important duty.

Please don’t worry and have some rest, and prepare for tomorrow.

All of us knights will be rooting for you」

Thus, thanks to all of the kind knights, I was able to rest.

Yosh, although the result has already been decided, let’s do our best tomorrow!

That’s all I can do for now, after all!

……Good night!

AN:

Thank you very much for always reading.

Please take care of me from now on as well.

Sponsor: Han W., Sayfdin A.

TL: Izzy