Five hours had passed since the start of the final qualifying round.
In the general rules, the players who had not yet reached 100 points were starting to feel nervous and impatient because the "end time is a minimum of six hours" indicating the end time of the qualifying round.
In no hurry, there was a female athlete who walked slowly along the suburban mountain roads in search of watermelon clues. She always had a four-grade spear weapon in her hand, and her inner suit seemed to be wearing a blue four-grade. Compared to the other participants, her equipment grade was slightly inferior.
Besides, she was a rare non-vocational player in the final qualifiers.
Still, she had the feeling of being superior to other athletes.
Ability [Hearing Enhancement].
It was a category called Hazard among the so-called Loser's unique abilities, and it was not excellent for explorers who could interfere with external objects. If there is no direct fighting power like the [Thunder Spear] that Inagaki Takumi has in the main seed frame of the tournament, it is not able to interfere with things like Tenji's inherent ability.
It's just a little bit better.
Such minor changes only benefit the individual.
But she had this unique ability.
When she was a college student, she suddenly discovered that she had unique abilities, and she ran up to this point in just a few years. True genius.
"Oh, no more." There's a trap. "
The woman suddenly grumbled as she stopped her feet and listened to her unity of mind. As she continued to change course, she walked away somewhere.
"What... I thought that monkey had a clue or something from the tournament management." Could it be that monkey-chan was the ability of other athletes? How can you do that? Or perhaps it was a ground-bound spirit around here. Well, let's not get involved anymore. I don't want to be told to take points. "
With this lightness, I was able to evade the trap set by Tenji.
Of course, Tenji doesn't know her natural abilities.
† † †
Tenge was sitting on a thick tree trunk, shrinking and sitting in physical education.
After setting a trap around her to lure her out of the ancient cage fire, an ambush was set here and 45 minutes were about to pass. No matter how long it took, Tenji looked up at the clear sky in the quiet suburban forest and sang a song with ease.
"One day, I'm going to melt, I'm going to melt, I'm going to melt, I'm going to melt, I'm going to melt, I'm going to melt, I'm going to melt, I'm going to melt... I'm not coming."
When Tenji was singing with pleasure, Koro-chan, who was napping over Tenji, stood up. When it fluttered up, I heard it yawning in front of Tenji.
(Third generation ~, I don't want to see so many bears.)
I don't want to see a bear.
(I'm sorry, I don't have to look for it. Now I'm going to find out. I'm in a competition. The third generation loses ah, I don't like it.
"It's okay. Maybe this qualifying round will be a long chrysalis, and we'll have to take a break." I can't concentrate if I stay focused. [M] This kind of graceful time is also important. Because humans can't always perform at 100 percent without resting like Koro-chan. "
(Human beings are inconvenient.)
Koro-chan was moving fluffily over Tenji's head again.
Tenji was also singing lots of songs, and succumbed to the pleasant sound of the trees and bugs around him. I thought that if I had a treat in my hand, it would be elegant three o'clock snack time.
That was exactly when it happened.
Above the tall trees in the woods.
The red shadow slowly flew over the pale blue sky.
"Oh, what's that?"
Tenji unexpectedly turned a gentle glance at the unsuitable sight.
A figure that I didn't expect to see during the tournament was flying gracefully through the sky.
She was dressed in red, and the hem of the costume was painted in white, fluffy, soft-looking material. A man dressed as an old man with a white, voluminous beard and a red and white stiff hat on his head. No red-nosed reindeer seemed to be there, but grandpa was gracefully flying across the wooden sled.
And there were three presents hanging from the bottom of the sleigh, wrapped in a large white bag.
Tenji suddenly noticed and muttered.
"Ah, it's Christmas today." It's Santa's day. "
If you think about it, the final qualifying day was December 25.
This is also an event prepared by Lotus Tsubaki who wants to entertain the audience. However, what do athletes think of a performance that is not very similar to the atmosphere of the tournament?
At least, this is what was reflected in the tenge that was singing a song.
"As expected of you, Pelican... after all, you are the greatest hero [Hero]!" It's a great show! This is the best part of Lotus Mackerel!! You're a professional, aren't you? "
Tenge stood up joyfully as he spoke so loudly.
When you knock down the dirt and grass on your buttocks, your back is stretched wide and your body is loosening up. And when I picked up the weapon case I cared about, I put it on my left shoulder.
“Well, I wonder what kind of Christmas present Santa will give us. Confectionery, meat, fish, canned goods. it's just....."
So Koro-chan unintentionally listened back to Tenji, who was dumbfounded.
(What the hell?)
"No way... no matter what I think, I feel like there aren't enough presents." I mean, if you want to give it to all the athletes, you can just give them one of the bags as a supply from the beginning. "
It's true.
"However, this time, it was forbidden to bring in supplies, so I couldn't bring in a single plastic bottle." Only weapons and small items can be brought in for battle. I wonder if the shepherd wants us to take away the presents? "
Confident, Tenji immediately started chasing bright red Santa.
Santa Claus smashed the atmosphere at three o'clock in the afternoon.
He appears in the air in an attempt to disturb the final qualifier, confusing the athletes.
Athletes cannot fight each other.
In other words, the battle for supplies was about to begin with a complete quick win.
The participants, who were struck by hunger, move all at once.
† † †
As Santa Claus dropped one present, he flew enough to drop it, and another enough to drop three presents in total. Of the 52 participants, only three can get supplies.
The white present bag slowly falls toward the ground, drifting in the wind with a small parachute. Tenge dared to drop off the first and second presents, and decided to challenge the third supply.
(Five competitors......)
Tenji's eyes glowed red as he ran at a tremendous speed, confirming the trend of the athletes who were nearby. All five of them seemed to know how to run in the woods, and everyone ran towards the presents while avoiding obstacles in a straight line without being stopped by the wonders of nature.
Surely no one stops.
Five people run through the woods in a sophisticated movement that they would have trained in guilds and schools.
(As expected, no one will fall behind on this level.)
Tenge was honestly surprised at the high level of his students.
That was the level that Majorca might be able to reach. But it's also true that to get to Majorca you need luck and real strength. Tenge outperformed them in at least two respects.
(Well, what should I do? If we keep running like this, all five of us will be close to each other.)
As soon as you switch your minds, you start to think about how you can beat the players around you.
From here on, two people were normally captured in their sight, one wearing the white uniform of the Explorer High School, and the other wearing the blue attacker uniform of the Explorer High School. In addition, Tenji was able to see the trend of the three players with his own eyes.
Suddenly, a young man in a white uniform smiles.
Did you see the competition in the vicinity wearing blue and black uniforms and feel sure of winning?
On the contrary, the young man in the blue uniform suddenly opened his mouth when he saw the white uniform as if it had crushed a bitter insect.
"Kurohao [Kokugou] Senpai!" Why don't you cut it in half? Kurohao-senpai will take it, as it will interfere with the other players I'm chasing! It's okay, I've checked the line beforehand, so I can do it!! "
"2: 1 is fine, Cheng Ya [Sue Ya]." If I have points, I'll get them all. "
"Ugh... that's fine!" Let's fight together to make sure we get the supplies! As it is, Kurohao-senpai will supply the supplies, and I will do it this way. "
I'll take care of it, I'll make sure you get the supplies!
Declaring to fight in a voice that could be heard by other participants following the third present, a student in a blue uniform turned a sharp gaze to Tenge. And it's getting closer and closer.
Suddenly, he spoke to me.
"Are you really one of our students? What grade are you in? Are you kidding me?"
"I'm a third grade student, just like Kuroko." And... I'm sorry, I think the person you're looking after is just kidding. "
Tenge answers calmly to him with a desire to sabotage.
At the same time, I remembered Leon's lowly smile and apologized for being really sorry.
"What, senpai!?" So why do students I don't even know compete in the final qualifiers? Did you buy that uniform from someone? You're not really my student, are you, Bluff? "
Um... I'm really a student at Explorer High School.
Tenji frowns as if he was in a bit of trouble.
However, it is true that Tenji did not go to Japan Explorer High School for that long. A few months after I enrolled, I moved to Majorca, where I spent the following months, and I soon trained for nearly a year in an overseas dungeon. Even though he didn't know Tenji, he had no choice.
To Tenji, who had a troubled expression on his face, wearing a red uniform, he suddenly clung to his body as if he were leaning against each other. And then I realized that I was suddenly pinning my strength to my trunk.
"I'm sorry, fake senpai! I don't know who you are, so I don't feel sorry for you. I need you to fall down here."
Don't worry, he bumped into Tenge vigorously.