BSPC 05

Chapter 5

“Cough, cough! So it seems the Count is completely under his daughter’s thumb. When a father orders his daughter to get married, it is only proper for her to obey.”

Duke Dupont clicked his tongue in displeasure.

“Isn’t she the one getting married? Besides, my daughter happens to be out at the moment. I’ll ask her as soon as she returns.”

“You’d better not take too long. You said you have to pay back one thousand der within a week, didn’t you?”

“……Yes. I’ll contact you without delay.”

“Tsk. Fine. I’ll be waiting.”

Duke Dupont abruptly rose from his seat, making no effort to hide his displeasure.

[Ah, ladies and gentlemen!]

The announcer cleared his throat and brought the amplification magic tool up to his neck.

[Welcome to the Fifteenth Monster Hunting Tournament for the Preservation of Marital Love! With divorce rates rising higher and higher these days, we hope this tournament will deepen the affection between all the participating couples.]

“It’s finally starting, husband!”

Standing at the very front of the contestants, Tamia bounced excitedly on the spot.

The announcer continued.

[This tournament is won by the team that hunts the most monsters within the allotted time. For your safety, the monsters are not real. They are illusions created by magic tools.]

“I’d be fine with real monsters, though.”

Tamia grumbled under her breath.

[However, in keeping with the theme of ‘Preserving Marital Love,’ if the wife sustains even the slightest injury, the team will be immediately disqualified. Husbands, please keep this in mind and protect your wives carefully while hunting. And with that, let the tournament begin!]

Tooooot—!

The moment the trumpet sounded, Tamia shot forward at terrifying speed.

With Leon’s wrist firmly clutched in her hand.

“Run faster! Time is money in a tournament like this. We have to catch them before everyone else does!”

“Wait. This arena is enormous. It’s impossible for us to hunt every monster—”

“Are you saying you’re not going to give it your all? You don’t want the prize money?”

Tamia abruptly stopped and glared at Leon.

That was when it happened.

The forest rustled, and tiger-shaped monsters emerged from every direction.

One, two, three…… ten in total.

“You take that side, husband. I’ll handle the ones coming from this direction.”

Tamia released Leon’s wrist and drew her sword, assuming a determined stance.

“I’m telling you this just in case, but if you get injured, we’re immediately disqualified. Understand?”

“You think I’m going to get hurt fighting these oversized kittens? That’s insulting.”

Without even looking back, Tamia casually cut down the monster that lunged at her first.

Bang!

The monster burst apart.

[Oh! Right as I say that! Team 25 has taken down their first monster!]

“What? This is being broadcast live?”

Tamia grumbled as she looked up into the air. A flying magic tool was hovering there, giving it an unobstructed view of the entire arena.

“Don’t get distracted!”

Leon shouted as he stabbed a monster that lunged at him.

But Tamia, still staring into the air, casually swung her sword and cut the throats of two more monsters charging toward her.

[Team 25! That makes four already! What incredible speed!]

“Ugh, you’re so noisy. You’re getting in the way of my hunting.”

The remaining monsters slowly backed away after watching three of their companions explode in an instant.

“Huh? They’re running away? You can’t do that!”

Tamia swiftly drew her bow and arrows, nocked two arrows at once, and fired them toward the fleeing monsters.

—Yelp!

Bang! Bang!

Leon cut down two more monsters, but he glanced at Tamia in disbelief.

Was there ever a knight in the Griffin Order with skills like that?

No.

Not even in the Griffin Order, which was unrivaled when it came to fighting monsters, was there a knight capable of killing monsters at such a speed.

By then, Tamia had already taken down all five monsters assigned to her.

Now she turned her arrows toward the monsters on Leon’s side.

Bang, bang!

[Th-the ten monsters have been slaughtered in an instant by Team 25! Ah! What on earth is this team?!]

“What do you mean, what are we? We’re the team that’s going to win! Come on, let’s go!”

After annihilating all ten monsters in an instant, Team 25 joined hands once more and raced deeper into the forest.

How much time had passed like that?

The announcer, who had been excitedly providing commentary, suddenly began to speak with a tremor in his voice.

[Once again, Team 25 has…… Huh? L-ladies and gentlemen, apparently there’s been a minor problem with the monster-generation control device.]

“Huh?”

[The monsters are all illusions and cannot actually harm anyone. So please remain calm……!]

“What’s that supposed to mean, husband? Monster control device?”

Tamia asked while simultaneously shooting three monsters that were about to ambush Leon from behind.

“It means exactly what it sounds like. There seems to be a problem with the machine that generates the monsters.”

“Then what happens?”

“In that case……”

Leon couldn’t answer Tamia’s question.

The monsters, which had previously appeared in groups of ten or five, suddenly began pouring out from every direction in explosive numbers.

“……Tamia, look straight ahead!”

“Huh? What is this?”

Unlike Leon, whose face had gone completely rigid, Tamia spun around and her face lit up.

“Why are there so many monsters? Yes, this is more like it! Ten at a time was way too boring! Come on, all of you, bring it on!”

With a sword in one hand and a bow in the other, Tamia began hunting monsters at a speed ten times faster than before.

Arrows for monsters attacking from a distance.

A sword to stab those that tried to ambush her up close.

Whenever there were too many of them, she would appropriately hurl throwing knives into the fray.

Watching Tamia hunt like that, one could only describe her as the very incarnation of hunting.

And the fact that not only did she remain completely uninjured, but she also prevented a single monster from coming within a meter of her was so astonishing it nearly made one’s jaw drop.

[Attention, all participants currently taking part in the tournament!]

Once again, the announcer’s frantic voice rang out.

[Although there is still some time remaining, the tournament is being terminated immediately as of this moment. I repeat, the tournament is being terminated immediately—Kweeeek!]

From beyond the amplification tool came a loud crash, followed by the sound of the announcer apparently being crushed by something and tumbling backward.

“Did you hear that? So does that mean I’m in first place? Yes!”

Tamia tossed her bow aside and jumped up and down, pumping her fist into the air.

“I’ve got to go collect the prize money! Husband, hurry up and follow me!”

Thrilled beyond measure, Tamia changed direction and began carving a straight path toward the tournament headquarters.

“Tamia, you can slow down a little……”

Leon started to stop her, but soon shook his head.

There was no way anyone could stop Tamia now that she was already so far ahead.

The monster-generation control device, which had been running completely out of control, gradually exhausted its magic power.

By the time Tamia and Leon reached the headquarters, it had finally stopped functioning.

The only problem was that the monsters it had already generated were still running amok through the spectator stands, terrifying the audience.

“There aren’t many left.”

Tamia grinned, drew her sword once more, and danced through the remaining monsters in a final flurry of swordplay.

Before her dazzling swordsmanship, the monsters fell like leaves in an autumn wind.

When the final monster met its end at the tip of Tamia’s sword, she turned proudly toward the spectators.

“Everyone, you can relax now! I’ve taken care of every last monster!”

“Whoa! Wooooah!”

“Unnie, I love you! Aaaah!”

The spectator stands erupted into a frenzy of excitement.

Tamia happily went around high-fiving the audience members one by one.

[Th-this is incredible! Let’s give a huge round of applause to Team 25, who put on an amazing performance all the way to the very end!]

The announcer, who had been knocked flat on his back by the unexpected monster attack, had finally recovered and grabbed the amplification tool again.

[The winner of this tournament is, without a doubt, Team 25, who demonstrated overwhelming skill!!]

“Husband, they said we came in first!”

Unable to contain her joy, Tamia rushed over to Leon and wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing him so tightly it felt as though she might crush it.

“Khk—Tamia. Could you let go of me for a second……”

“It’s the prize money! The prize money! Hehehe, Father is going to be so happy!”

Just when Leon could no longer tell whether his dizzying lack of breath was caused by Tamia’s incredible strength or his shock at the unexpected physical contact—

[You two certainly seem to be very close. But I’d appreciate it if you could separate for a moment so we can proceed with the awards ceremony.]

“Ahahaha!”

The audience burst into laughter at the announcer’s playful remark, and Tamia awkwardly loosened her arms.

“Sorry, husband.”

[The Fifteenth Monster Hunting Tournament for the Preservation of Marital Love certainly seems to have been more special than usual! Isn’t it wonderful that Team 25 has shown not only overwhelming skill, but also such deep affection for one another?]

“That’s right!”

The audience cheered as one.

[Excellent. Now, everyone! Before we officially begin the awards ceremony, I have one more special announcement to make.]

The announcer looked around the audience, pausing for effect before continuing.

[As our tournament has grown more and more popular, apparently the number of fake couples who simply take the prize money and get divorced immediately afterward has been increasing. Ladies and gentlemen! Does that sound right to you?]

“No!”

“Those shameless bastards should all be arrested and thrown in prison!”

[Hahaha, exactly! And so, starting with this tournament, the married life of the first-place couple will be serialized for the next year in the Empire’s leading monthly magazine, Babble-Babble. If it turns out that they’re a fake couple, the prize money will be reclaimed immediately! What do you think? This should make their marital love even stronger, don’t you agree?!]

“W-what……!”

Leon’s face instantly went rigid.

“That sounds great! It fits the theme of the tournament perfectly!”

[And now, we’ll finally proceed with the awards ceremony. Team 25, please come forward and reveal your identities!]

“W-what do we do?”