"I see, so that's what happened to you when you took the test at San Minerva City. Luckily, you were able to overcome those knights. That means that of the three Dukes we suspected, Duke San Minerva is the one who wants the ~Matchmaking Battle~ to continue, which is why he sent so many knights to finish you off. As for the other two Dukes, whether they also want to finish you off or not, we don't know yet," said Miss Karina.

  "Hmm, maybe I'm late bringing this up because I already told you quite a long story, but why are we talking while I'm cleaning this room, Miss? You could have just invited me to your room to chat," I said.

  I was currently still cleaning the room on the 8th floor while chatting with Miss Karina.

  "I couldn't find a suitable reason to call you to my office. I wouldn't call you to my office just to chat,"

  "When I couldn't find a reason, I heard that the Elevrad members were preparing for the Tournament and Festival, so I decided to look for you in person to check on the preparations. You can continue with your work, I don't mind chatting with you even while you're working," said Miss Karina.

  "Ok, miss," I said.

  "If Duke San Minerva is among those who want to kill you, is it possible that someone who tried to infiltrate this academy at that time was also on Duke San Minerva's orders?" Miss Karina asked.

  "Someone who wanted to infiltrate?" I asked.

  "You don't know yet, do you? Well, I didn't spread the news about this case for fear of disturbing the students. But I think it's okay if I talk to you about it."

  "You know that some time ago I left the academy to go to San Lucia?" Miss Karina asked.

  I nodded, indicating my understanding.

  "When I went to San Lucia, someone tried to infiltrate the academy that night. He wasn't successful, probably because he noticed the detection magic surrounding the walls. But he did manage to kill one of the guards patrolling outside."

  "Also, while I was on my way to San Lucia, I was ambushed by a group of bandits. But I easily dealt with them," said Miss Karina.

  "I just found out about that," I said.

  "My question is, are the bandits and the person trying to infiltrate the academy related to Duke San Minerva?" Miss Karina asked, trying to think.

  "I think it's possible that Duke San Minerva was involved, but there's also the possibility that Duke San Minerva wasn't involved at all. Since the incidents between me and Miss Karina happened relatively recently, that's why Miss Karina said they were related to Duke San Minerva, but it's possible that the perpetrators are different," I said.

  "Well, you're right. By the way, besides you being surrounded by knights at the exam site, Have there been any other incidents in San Minerva City?" Miss Karina asked.

  "Ah, one day, while I was wandering around San Minerva City in the morning, I saw many destroyed buildings on the outskirts of town, with many knights standing guard. When I asked one of the knights there, he said the buildings were destroyed during a battle between the Commander of the Silver Peacock Troops and the criminals who often operate there at night. I was told that crime was common in San Minerva City at the time, but I'm not sure if the Commander was fighting ordinary criminals. It seems the knight was hiding the truth," I said.

  "I've also heard that San Minerva City ?often experiences crime at night. But the matter of the destroyed building is indeed a bit strange. It's unlikely that ordinary criminals would destroy such a building when dealing with criminals. It seems like my sist—I mean, Her Majesty knows something. I'll discuss this with her, and also discuss about Duke San Minerva with her. I wonder if Duke San Minerva informed Her Majesty about the deaths of his knights" said Miss Karina.

  "It seems that because I'm now paired with Irene, a lot of problems have arisen. I apologize, miss Karina," I said.

  "You don't need to apologize, Rid. You're free to do whatever you want, just like Irene, without anyone stopping you. Just like I've chosen to leave my noble family because I want to do whatever I want without any restrictions."

  "We've chatted long enough, so I'll return to my room. I'll contact you again once I've discussed this with my sist—I mean, Her Majesty," said Miss Karina.

  "If she really wanted to call Her Majesty the Queen 'sister' in front of me, she could have just said it. Would she be embarrassed?" I thought.

  "Okay, Miss Karina," I said.

  Miss Karina left the room I was cleaning. As Miss Karina left, she immediately ran into Senior Sophie.

  "Ah, sorry, Miss Karina," said Senior Sophie.

  "It's okay, Sophie," said Miss Karina.

  "Would Miss Karina like to continue touring?" asked Senior Sophie.

  "Oh no, I'm done touring. I'm going back to my room," said Miss Karina.

  "Okay, Miss," said Senior Sophie.

  Then Miss Karina left the 8th floor.

  "What was Miss Karina doing in the room Rid was cleaning?" asked Senior Sophie.

  -

  The next day.

  We, the members of Elevrad, gathered again in the main hall of Elevrad. We'd gathered since morning to discuss preparations for the Tournament and Festival. Since it was nearing the end of the school year and the academy was limited to free practice in the training grounds, the other Elevrad members and I were permitted to go to the Elevrad room.

  "This meeting is over. You may proceed with preparations for the tournament and festival. Oh, that's right, I'll inform you of this year's tournament format. Actually, the format hasn't been announced to all students yet, but I'll make an exception for you since you're members of Elevrad."

  "This tournament will be split into two categories: a male tournament and a female tournament. Each tournament will have 32 participants, with 8 participants per year. To select 8 participants from each year, each year wishing to participate in this academy tournament must first go through qualifiers until the remaining 8 participants advance to the grand tournament, which will be held in the central building."

  "The tournament qualifiers will begin on the second Sunday of this month, which means it's only a week away. For those of you who wish to participate, you must prepare for the qualifiers. Even though you're members of Elevrad, you must first go through the qualifiers and cannot immediately enter the grand tournament. As the chairman, I also have to go through qualifiers to be able to enter the grand tournament. Don't let yourselves be defeated in the qualifiers, especially you, Rid. Don't forget about my previous challenge," said Senior Vyn.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  The other Elevrad members turned to me after Senior Vyn said that.

  "Well, the important thing now is that we have to focus on preparing for the tournament and the festival first. Let's get back to work," said Senior Vyn.

  We then left the main Elevrad room and continued our work preparing for the tournament and the academy festival. We, the tournament preparation team, returned to the 8th-10th floors of the Central Building to clean the tournament area. Because the tournament area is so large, it's impossible to clean it in one day, so we're continuing yesterday's cleaning work today.

  -

  A week has passed since then, and preparations for the academy tournament have been successfully completed. Meanwhile, preparations for the academy festival are more than 50% complete. With tournament preparations complete, the tournament preparation team members decided to assist the festival preparation team.

  Along with continuing preparations for the academy festival, the qualifiers for the academy tournament have also begun today.

  -

  Monday, in the first-year Class A training ground.

  "As you know, the academy tournament will begin next week. The Elevrad members have already begun preparing and tidying up the tournament area. Not only that, they're also preparing for the academy festival, as you can see on the streets around the academy, booths selling food and other items have already been set up. Decorations have also been put up throughout the academy."

  "Well, let's put the festival aside for now. Let's talk about the academy tournament. This tournament is not mandatory, and only students who are willing and selected can participate. Are there any of you in this class who would like to participate in the academy tournament?" asked Mr. Alan.

  The students who wanted to participate in the academy tournament raised their hands. There were also several students who didn't raise their hands, indicating they didn't want to participate.

  "There are quite a lot of students from this class who want to participate in the tournament, but you all can't participate in the tournament that will be held in the central building," said Mr. Alan.

  "Why, sir?" asked one of the students.

  "Because the tournament that will be held in the central building only has 32 participant slots for the female and the male,"

  "Perhaps Rid and the others who are Elevrad members already know about this tournament format, as they are Elevrad members, but let me explain it to those of you who don't know."

  "The tournament format varies each year. This year's tournament is divided into two sections: a female-only tournament and a male-only tournament. Both have 32 participant slots, divided into four year classes. This means that only eight students are selected from each year's class to participate."

  "You must be wondering how the eight students are selected when there are so many who want to participate. The answer is through qualifications," said Mr. Alan.

  "Qualifications?" asked the other students.

  "Yes, a week before the academy tournament, there will be qualifiers to select the students who will compete in it. Since the academy tournament is next week and the qualifiers are the week before, the qualifiers will be held this week."

  "Please raise your hands again for those of you who want to participate in the tournament. I will write down your names, and then you will participate in the qualifiers with the other first-years," said Mr. Alan.

  After that, those of us who wanted to participate in the tournament began to raise our hands again. Mr. Alan then wrote our names on a piece of paper.

  -

  A few moments later.

  "Then, I will take this list of names and hand it over to the academy principal. I will also wait for the other teachers to see if they have already listed their students who want to participate in the tournament. Since the process is quite long, it seems the qualifiers will begin this afternoon. For now, you are free to practice here, participate in daily matches, or help with festival preparations. The important thing is that you return to the training ground this afternoon. Then, I will be going now," said Mr. Alan.

  Mr. Alan then left the training ground.

  -

  That afternoon, 2:00 PM.

  We gathered again at the first-year Class A training ground.

  "There are 10 male students who want to participate in the tournament in this class, while there are 9 female students who want to participate. Of these 19 students, have any of you changed your mind and decided not to participate?" asked Mr. Alan.

  None of the students made a sound, indicating that no one had changed their minds.

  "No one has changed their minds, okay then. For now, we'll wait for the other students who will be participating in the tournament as well. They'll be here soon," said Mr. Alan.

  "Students from other classes will be here?"

  "Why are they here?" asked the students.

  "You ask what? Of course, to participate in the tournament qualifiers," said Mr. Alan.

  Not long after, the students from the other classes and their respective teachers arrived at the Class A training ground. There weren't many of them; it seemed not all of them were present, only the students who wanted to participate in the tournament. Then the teachers from the other classes approached Mr. Alan.

  "Here, Alan, is a list of students from my class who want to participate in the tournament," said one of the female teachers.

  The other teachers also handed over lists of their students who wanted to take the exam. Mr. Alan accepted the list and read it.

  "Class B has 6 male student and 4 female studentd. Class C has 3 male students and 5 female students. Class D has 4 male students and 5 female students. Class E has 2 male students and 3 female students," said Mr. Alan.

  "There are very few participants from other classes. It seems they believe they won't be able to participate in the tournament because there are only 8 slots for each class. They don't want to waste time and energy on qualifying for a competition they might not win," I thought.

  "That means a total of 25 male students and 26 female students are participating in the qualifiers. Then, let's start the tournament qualifiers right away,"

  "For the qualifiers, all male and female students will fight simultaneously until only eight students remain," said Mr. Alan.

  "Fight simultaneously?"

  "Will the qualifiers be like a battle royale?" the students asked.

  "Yes, something like that. To save time, let's start the qualifiers with the male students first. For those male students who want to participate in the tournament, please come forward," said Mr. Alan.

  The male students who wanted to participate in the tournament came forward to the center of the training ground, including me.

  "Keep your distance from the other students so you don't get too close," said Mr. Alan.

  Then we began to distance ourselves from each other.

  "Good, that's it. Are you ready to start the qualifiers?" asked Mr. Alan.

  The students in the center of the training ground were ready and on standby. They seemed wary of the students in front, beside, and behind them, even though they had been given a fair amount of distance.

  "Ready, sir," the students said.

  "Then, the qualifiers begin," said Mr. Alan.

  All the students participating in the qualifiers began attacking each other. But then one of the students shouted in the middle of the qualifiers.

  "Hey, idiot, let's not attack each other just yet. Our biggest obstacle to entering the tournament is the strong students in Class A. We have to work together to defeat them first, and then we can move on to attacking each other," said the shouting student.

  I didn't recognize him, he seemed to be from another class. Hearing that, the other students stopped attacking each other. They then turned to the Class A students, including me. After that, they began attacking us, the Class A students. Four of them moved toward me, attacking me.

  "You're down, Rid,"

  "You're our biggest obstacle," they said.

  Before their attacks could hit me, I prepared to launch my attack.

  "I'm grateful you all came at me all at once, because I also have to reduce the number of participants in this qualifier to eight," I said.

  ~Flame Sword Art : Great Flame Slash~

  -

  A few minutes later, the qualifiers for the first-year male students concluded. The eight students who survived the qualifiers qualified for the final tournament, which would be held on the top floor of the central building. Charles, Enzo, and Noa qualified, along with three other Class A students named Glenn, Troy, and Ciaran. One Class B student also qualified. Kotaro didn't participate because he wasn't confident in his ability to participate.

  After that, the qualifiers for the female students began, and a few minutes later, they were declared complete. Irene, Chloe, Julie, Lotta, and Lucy qualified and were eligible to participate in the tournament representing Class A. The remaining three were from Class B, including Lillian. Leandra and Lily didn't qualify because they decided not to participate. If they qualify for the tournament, they fear being ridiculed by the crowd, as many will be watching the academy tournament, including nobles. Well, I can't force them if they don't want to participate.

  "The eight first-year participants who will participate in the tournament, between male and female students, have been determined. Your names will be registered immediately as participants. You just have to wait for the match schedule to see who your opponents will be in the tournament. Since the tournament is still a week away, you still have time to prepare and train to become stronger for the tournament. Do you have any further questions about the tournament?" asked Mr. Alan.

  The students remained silent, indicating that no one wanted to ask.

  "Nothing, huh? If you have any questions, you can ask me for the students in Class A and your respective teachers for the students in the other classes. Since no one has any questions now, I will end the tournament qualifiers. With this, I consider the tournament qualifiers complete," said Mr. Alan.

  -To be continued