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　　"Alright, gather around, everyone! It's time to pick which of you are going to be representing the Rustlands in the upcoming World Combat Championship, to be held in Abyss!" Exclaimed Belia loudly. 

  　　It was currently the 15th of June, and on Belia's behest, the Adventurer Guild had called all Adventurers to gather outside the Guild today. Belia had just finished explaining the whole tournament situation to us, with all four nations having agreed to participate. 

  　　The rules had been decided, and would consist of thirty-two competitors, with the restriction that their power levels must be below 100,000. So, you know, that rules me out. Anyway, there were going to be eight participants from each nation, and the tournament was to take place at the end of this month, or at the start of next month at the latest. 

  　　A specific date hadn't been set just yet, but it's all but confirmed to take place in less than three weeks from now. The tournament has been named the World Combat Championship, to be held annually with a different host each year……also, that name is so bland and uncreative, like, seriously. 

  　　Also, in addition to the main tournament, there were also going to be a series of exhibition matches made up of those with higher power levels. I'm guess that I'll probably be a part of one of those, if I'm selected to participate at all. 

  　　The idea of going to Abyss again isn't a very appealing one. During Valentine's day, my anxiety was through the roof in that festival, and that was while I was being disguised by a powerful illusion spell from Belia. 

  　　"I wonder what kind of criteria they're going to use to select the participants," Said Minise curiously. 

  　　"Knowing Belia, if she had any say in the matter, it's bound to be anything but normal," I sighed in response. 

  　　"Okay, so if you've got a power level of more than 100,000, you're not eligible, so……you can leave, if you want to," Stated Belia, before continuing, "Alright, as for the rest of you……you're gonna race from here to the castle! The first eight to get there will be the participants for the tournament! There are no rules beyond that, feel free to sabotage the others and play dirty, by all means! Oh, and the race starts in……ten seconds! Ten……nine……eight……!"

  　　"Oh, boy, I should have expected something like this……good luck, babe, I'll be rooting for you," I said to Minise, before giving her a quick kiss and flying up, getting some distance away from the crowd. 

  　　Huh……I'm just realizing, I'm the only one in the Rustlands, besides Belia, with a power level of more than 100,000. And I'm pretty sure than the next highest is Minise, with a power level of a little bit over 50,000 or so. 

  　　Lily Curran, the last remaining member of the group that Belia had summoned to this world, is probably the next strongest in terms of power. She was depressed as hell for quite a while after Shin died in the battle against Samsara, but she seems to be picking herself up now……well, kinda, she's a lot more sullen and pessimistic than she used to be. 

  　　Not sure she should be participating in this tournament though, most of those that obtained the weapons of her friends are probably going to be in attendance of the tournament. Let's see, who did each weapon end up with again……Kuro got the twin blades, Rai got the hammer, Rion got the axe, Sylvar got the spear and……wait, who got Shin's sword? 

  　　I remember Kuro managing to nab it after Samsara was defeated and sent it to Abyss using his monsters, but I don't know what happened to it after that. I'm guessing someone must have claimed it by now. 

  　　So, that leaves Lily's trident as the only one of those weapons still with the original owner. I bet she's super rusty at this point, though it does look like she's among the frontrunners right now in this race……yeah, I was following along from above, out of curiosity to see who was going to make the cut…… 

  　　"Aw, man, I was hoping for a lot more sabotaging between the candidates, but most of them are just racing normally," Sighed Belia in disappointment, as she flew up alongside me. 

  　　"Well, think about it, most of them down there are just normal Adventurers with no power boosts or anything, they'll be hopelessly outclassed if they end up making the final cut. Fact is, we just don't have that many genuinely powerful people in the Rustlands excluding the two of us. Minise and Lily have power levels well below ours, and very few others come even close to their level……yeah, the odds aren't great," I stated realistically. 

  　　"Maybe so, but it's all going to depend on the match-ups……our battle against Samsara is all the proof you need that a higher power level doesn't guarantee a victory. I mean, he had a power level of over 1,000,000, none of us even had half that amount! And yet, we still won, and while only sustaining two casualties, at that!" She pointed out optimistically. 

  　　"I mean, I guess you've got a point there……"

  　　"And another thing, the safety barriers remove that real sense of danger, and with it not being a life or death kind of deal, there's every chance that the stronger participants could get complacent and let their guards down," She remarked convincingly. 

  　　"Alright, fine, I was wrong……with enough luck and tenacity on their side, anyone could end up winning this," I replied, as the finish line of the race came into sight. 

  　　The castle gates were open, and a white ribbon had been put up at around waist-height between the two open gates. And a few seconds later, the eight who would be representing the Rustlands in the World Combat Championship were set. 

  　　Minise had reached the finish line first, and by a fairly significant margin at that. Surprisingly, Cusnai had ended up finishing second……her power level is fairly normal, but she's very crafty and adaptive, plus there's her serums and stuff that she uses to boost herself, she must have used those to bridge the gap. 

  　　Lily was the next to cross the finish line, followed by Zave Inreck, an S-Rank with no power boosts, and Lidui Uensh, who's probably only participating to try and finish the tournament in a position where she'll win a cash prize. All those who make it to the top eight of the tournament will qualify for that. 

  　　And the final three that made the cut were Niski Torfa, Lonfi Nemowd and Oreg Dinwiy, none of whom had any power boosts. In other words, that's half our participants with power levels of less than 5,000. Yeah, I know what Belia said and all, but still, a few more with power levels at least in the quintuple digits would've been nice. 

  　　"Hey, no need to look so worried. Those from the other races will mostly have power levels of below 15,000……well, there are rare cases of those with power levels of around double that amount, but there are a very few of those. Excluding the Elemental Sages, there shouldn't be anyone with power levels of more than 50,000……no, I'd say 40,000-among the other races. So, it's the participants of Abyss that are going to be the strongest competitors," Surmised Belia, as the Adventurers who lost the race began to disperse. 

  　　"Hey, I just had a thought……why aren't we having any Demons participate in the tournament? And what about the Demon that possessed the former King of Goldway's body, Druj?" I inquired curiously. 

  　　"Well, because the Demons weren't interested. They said that they'd stay back and keep guard in the Rustlands……but the real reason is that they've gotten used to the routine they follow here, patrolling during the day and having fun at night, drinking and whatnot. Unless a war breaks out that threatens their routine lives, they're not going to be interested in doing any fighting."

  　　"Huh, you'd think that Demons wouldn't be that pacifistic."

  　　"See, this is part of the reason why I sealed up my monsters two hundred years ago……humans were starting to slowly but surely live more comfortable lives, and once the monsters got a real taste of that, it was entirely possible that they'd be unable to resist. So, I sealed them in order to have their resentment and frustration balloon up and take it out on the humans once they were finally set free. But look at all the intelligent monsters now, they're all living peaceful, relaxing lives."

  　　"……you know, you should probably never repeat any of that to one of the intelligent monsters, they'll almost definitely kill you," I sighed in exasperation. 

  　　"Hehe, yeah, I know. I probably won't say anything, not anytime soon, at least. Everything that's happening in the world right now is really fascinating, and stuff like the upcoming tournament seem like they're going to be really fun……so, I'll try not to disrupt any of that for the time being," She smirked wistfully. 

  　　This, coming from the person who triggered the current overhaul of the Rustlands' leadership. And yet, I could tell that she really meant what she was saying. It's kinda unsettling to think of how her mindset could change at the drop of a hat like that…… 

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