The identity of the shadow that came into Tenji's sight, it was a doll.
Rather than a small doll like a toy that a child likes, a large doll like a mannequin dressed in a clothes shop crawled up from a few dozen meters away.
The size is a little bigger than the tenge, and it seems to be close to 180 on the upper back.
When the mannequin rose from the chirping of its joints, it turned its face towards the tenge and suddenly turned its eyes towards it. I felt like I had eyes that shouldn't have been there.
"You reacted to me... mannequin." Attacks from the participants are prohibited in the first place, and on the contrary, attacks from me on the participants are also prohibited by the general rules. That means you're not an assassin from the participant side, right? "
Knowing that the answer had not been returned, Tenji asked and laughed unstoppably.
When the mannequin gets up in a strange way as if it was being manipulated by a thread from the sky, it switches on hostility as if it was intent. Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk.
Tenji quickly senses it, and suddenly drops his hips slightly to prepare for battle.
The handle of the weapon in the weapon case hooked to the right shoulder was immediately ready to slip out with the right hand attached.
(The one on the mannequin's chest is similar to the indentation of fingerprint authentication. It's the same, isn't it?)
The central part of the mannequin's chest was carved with indentations of exactly the same design as the fingerprint authentication system seen in the description video. It's not a mistake, Tenzi is immediately convinced.
Thinking of it, in the video of the explanation in advance, Lotus Mackerel said that he could only earn points from machine watermelon. There's not a single way to score points, and that means leaving the way to the athletes.
This mannequin is another way to earn points.
(Not only watermelon, but also this obstacle is a proper point mechanism. I wonder if it's an unexpectedly friendly design... well, maybe it's an obstacle to shaking off a player who hasn't been able to fight. Well, it's none of my business.
Tenge was beginning to realize the intent of the qualifiers, just then.
The mannequin suddenly runs toward the tenge, lowering its posture and running at a high speed.
The running motion was more like a real person than I imagined, and I felt like the speed of every athlete. The roots of the trees seemed as light as Parcourt's, and he began to casually hang the branches of the trees in this natural forest, avoiding them like real humans.
Oh, wow.
Tenge was honestly surprised.
The first time I did a Hell Quest, I couldn't run around the woods so easily. But I'm jealous of the mannequin in front of me, who does it lightly.
Still, Tenji quickly switched to a serious expression.
Slowly pour your strength into your own eyes with the familiar motion. When I noticed it, the color of Tenji's eyes changed to red eyes that could see through all of the mannequins.
(With the MP ore embedded in the head as the nucleus, the MP atoms flow quite intricately like blood vessels throughout the body. Awesome, the MP atoms are arranged partially as delicate as capillaries. Is that where you're manipulating the mannequin? Really amazing technical ability and talent... I only know Fujiki-kun who can handle the MP atom so delicately among the students. First of all, it's definitely the Pro Explorer's doing.)
Even while thinking like that, the mannequin is approaching with vigour.
But for some reason, Tenji didn't show her panic while maintaining her posture. Rather, it seemed that he was calmly spending his brain thinking on the analysis of the scene.
Is this also the result of a year of training?
(I think the action will be stopped if the head is separated from the torso. After that, I had to accurately destroy the MP Ore or capture it and make it quiet... well, I guess I should try something. It's a waste of time to capture each encounter, and this time, let's experiment with destruction. If it doesn't work this time, we can just go in the direction of the arrest)
As soon as he decided, Tenji slowly lowered the zipper of the weapon case on his shoulder and took a weapon out of the case.
It was not a weapon of hell.
Just a five-grade weapon - the Iron Sword.
Yes, it was the first weapon that Tenji bought himself. For some reason, when Tenji pulled it out instead of his own love sword, he held it back with his reverse hand and swung it gently over his shoulder.
Using a recoil that lowers the posture for a moment, throws it away sharply.
The next moment - the Iron Sword was deeply inserted into the head of the mannequin. Tenji slowly walked up to the mannequin as he heard the sound of the MP Ore cracking.
Exactly in an instant, the mannequin slumped from his back to the ground.
Kalang, the sound of the dry puppet blow echoed through the woods.
"Yeah, the operation has completely stopped." Now, I wonder if I can earn points for breaking the nucleus. "
Without a doubt, Tenji scratched his index finger against the indentation in the mannequin's chest.
As soon as the machine sounded from there, it was confirmed that the blue text "Tenjo-en-21P" was projected around the chest where the mannequin was skin tone.
"Alright! As you can imagine, the MP circuitry that controls the mannequin and the electronic circuitry for fingerprint authentication are made separately." This shouldn't take long. ”
Tenji, who was lucky enough to score points earlier, was shouting happily.
When I pulled the Iron Sword from my head without any trouble, I opened it again with a movement that made it into a weapon case. I was zipping down the case and storing it - that's when it happened.
That's right, Tenjo.
Someone suddenly called out to Tenji.
Tenji, who had already noticed someone's approaching footsteps, slowly turned his gaze toward the forest in front of him without panicking. There was a shadow approaching with a slow footstep without hostility.
"It's been a long time, Mizue-kun."
Tenge replied in a gentle tone.
Yes, I was there--Shengcheng Suijiang.
He was one of the friends who fought together in the Chariot entrance examination, and he was an older young man.
I was already over 19 years old, and I felt that my body had grown about two times larger than it was then.
His height didn't seem to grow that far, but his muscles grew nicely from normal to full-bodied. That's right, Mizue Katsumoto joined the Chariot and trained in Japan's top guild for over a year.
Such a water ridge looks a little unhappy, a dazed expression.
"I thought it was even more surprising."
Without malice, Mizue walks up to Tenji.
He also seemed to have room for his expression, so Tenji casually decided to return the words.
"I'm growing up properly, too." Mizue-kun, you can already see (...), right? "
"Oh, I see you're not as good as the Commander." That's why I also noticed the existence of Tenjo. "
"Ahahah, I knew it. But it's been a long time since I've seen Mizue-kun's work on the news in Majorca!" Oh, my friends are going far and far. I thought I'd better call you "Mizue-senpai" next time I see you ~ "
Tenji was joyful as he was about himself somewhere, and said the words.
Immediately after joining Chariot, Mizue awakened to her vocation with her own strength, and she emerged from this industry at an astonishing speed. Recently, as a fairly high-profile share among young people, it ranked among the top 30 in terms of expectations for 25-year-olds and younger. It became a true popularity.
Mizue leaned down a little shyly, but smiled a little clumsyly.
"I didn't know you were watching me. Thank you."
"Ha!? Mizue-kun laughed!? That Mizue-kun!?... you haven't been praised as usual, have you?"
"Hey, you're leaking your malice."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I'm really happy."
To celebrate the resumption, the two exchanged high-five jokes.
The two large, tough, growing palms echo the dry sounds of nature.
"On the contrary, I didn't hear any of your news." I didn't think there would be a single story coming out of it. I've barely heard from you in the past year. That's why I've always wondered what Tenjo was doing... but I guess I didn't have to worry about that. I was relieved to see you today. "
"Probably more than me, the world is fooling around with Fuyuki-kun." By the way, my shadow is not thin, Fuyuki-kun's sun is just too big. "
"I miss the light words with no contents." Well, I didn't come all this way to talk about it today. "
Can I help you?
Mizue suddenly reached for one of the pair of swords she had on her waist.
Don't pull it out, open your mouth with your hand on the handle.
“Do you know why I already have a professional contract with Chariot to participate in the Explorer Olympia, which only has students?”
"Well, it's not that people with professional contracts are prohibited from appearing." I thought professionals would come out this time because of the easing of the age limit. Well, maybe the goal of professional appearances is to improve the guild's reputation, or to appeal to the existing fighting forces? And who wants to belong to a higher level guild? ”
"Yeah, that's right. I am appearing under the official direction of the Kujo leader. It is said that they will advance to the main election with overwhelming strength, and that they will definitely win the top prize in the main election. He even asked me to defeat the Black Tree of Winter. But that's not all--"
When Mizue took a breath, she turned her serious eyes toward Tenji.
Then pulled out one of the two swinging swords that he had never seen on his waist, and declared the tip towards Tenji.
I volunteered to compete with the Kujo leader to fight you in earnest.
"... is Suie-kun with me?"
"Yes, I've been losing to you since that day." No matter how many achievements I built up in the professional world, no matter how hard I worked, no matter how blessed I was with my current environment... there was always a phantom of your demon in one corner of my head. I've always had the subconscious feeling that you're still no match for me. That's why-- "
A sharp antagonism takes us to Tenge.
The eyes of Mizue were burning hot and shaking.
Tenge realized that his words were not lies or modesty and that he meant it.
"I'll beat you." That's why I'm here. That's all I'm here to say. "
After completing the declaration, Mizue puts the sword into the sheath in a familiar motion and turns away from the tenge.
At the end, I threw these words.
"I will definitely fight you during this tournament." If you have no reason to refuse, take it. "
Yeah, I'm looking forward to that fight.
Tenge didn't want to deny his resolve.
I was a little surprised because I didn't know that Mizue, who was young and had a proven track record, still felt inferior to himself. But Tenge decided to take on his battle.
I didn't want to waste my friend's resolve.
"But I'm going to win."
"Yeah, me too."
At the end of the conversation, the two began to walk in separate directions.