"Excuse me, you're the one, right? Just say one word!"
"There are rumors your alias is Lion - is this your aspiration to become the king and win this league?"
"You're already being discussed as the league's rising star - how do you feel about it?"
"Is there a reason you passed through the portal late in the test match? Did you deliberately hide your abilities?"
"Was appearing at the end aimed at taking the protagonist's position?"
'Ah, please stop—!'
Leonardo wandered around inside the main arena building. More precisely, he was being chased by people.
Newspaper staff carrying notebooks and pens swarmed around him asking questions. However, Leonardo was looking for a place to hide while avoiding the burdensome attention. With his face completely covered by someone else's hat and cloth that had been rolling on the floor, he maintained silent practice while only shouting internally.
'Get lost, humans!'
He wanted to push them all away and run, but since there were quite a few spectators passing by, he could only dodge here and there.
"Ah!"
Just because he looked back for a moment, he collided hard with someone's shoulder again. The person he collided with fell backward with a reflexive scream as if hit by a 9,000-ton warship. Leonardo quickly grabbed the person's arm and helped them stand properly while nodding.
"Sorry."
Leaving behind a brief apology, he hurriedly ran to the other side. A procession followed behind him in a long line. Some even stuck to the person who had just bumped into him, asking what they had talked about.
The inside of the main arena building was much larger in area and more complex in structure than it appeared from outside. Among these, the south and east sides used as main entrances for spectators and participants were areas dense with commercial facilities. With high foot traffic and extreme splendor everywhere you looked, a rookie who was the talk of the town wandering frantically through such places was bound to draw people's attention.
When the cornered man passed through complexly intertwined corridors and hung his body on a half-open window, the reporters who had swarmed and Council members trying to stop them all waved their hands trying to calm him down.
"No, don't!"
"Come down!"
Whether they were concerned for safety remembering it was the 5th floor, or anxious about losing their interview subject was unclear. However, the opponent was someone capable of smashing 1m thick reinforced concrete with several layers of strengthening magic. Leonardo, who had climbed onto the railing with light movements, jumped out the window and flew like a butterfly despite the clamoring restraints.
Photographers who had been withdrawing from the ground happened to discover this process and pressed the shutter several times, capturing it on film like a video. Afterward, people all burst out with "wow" sounds of admiration at his graceful landing as if watching a legendary animal.
Leonardo wanted to die of embarrassment but only squeezed his eyes shut without showing it. He then shook off the reporters and ran to one side of the arena, gracefully disappearing from sight.
The northern building was a special area used as the main arena's operations headquarters. Though a sign saying "Authorized Personnel Only" was prominently posted, there was no choice. Thanks to those more persistent than his stalkers, Leonardo bent his upper body to cross the fence and wandered the much quieter corridors.
"Big brother, over here. This way!"
Hearing what sounded like a whispered shout, he turned his head. He could see Ero hiding behind the corridor gesturing to him. Leonardo ran to him with a complicated expression.
"How did you manage not to get caught?"
"Don't even mention it."
The two, exchanging words as if fed up, pressed their backs firmly against the wall and held their breath. In that state, they remained silent for a while until the humans who had followed moved away in other directions.
How much time had passed? When the surroundings became quiet, Leonardo wrapped both hands around the back of his neck. He buried his head low and sat down heavily on the floor.
"Damn, this is driving me crazy."
Ero, who similarly sat down beside him, also burst into complaints.
"I only learned today too. The reason why preliminary candidates disappear like ghosts every year after matches end... Wow, aren't those people leeches?"
"No, why are they chasing us this much? Don't they have homes to go to?"
"Well, isn't money involved? If the bloody battle between you and the whip guy becomes known, your value will probably skyrocket."
Ero lightly shook his index finger and thumb pressed together. Leonardo sighed.
"Some of them even guessed my alias."
"Huh? At this level, didn't the Council deliberately leak it? To increase the betting pool?"
Though it was an ungraceful suspicion, on the other hand, it wasn't entirely impossible.
The beginning of the two being chased started from the explosion that occurred when they came through the portal. The situation had to go back about 20 minutes.
Leonardo, who had looked up at the spectator seats seething with heat in a negative sense for 3 seconds, belatedly realized his hat had flown away during combat. He hurriedly picked up anything rolling around nearby. Since it was the first time he had been intensively exposed to so many gazes since the trial that determined his release, his pulse throbbing at his neck became vivid and even made his head ring.
After directly witnessing the situation and recognizing there was no screen in front of him, the symptoms became even more serious. The crowd's voices that had been continuously heard since before entering the arena now sounded like thunder tearing through the air.
Unlike his dignified appearance, he appropriately covered only his face and head before hiding behind a pillar in a blind spot. In the midst of this, perhaps due to the aftermath of battle, his consciousness was hazy and his body heated up, leaving him completely unfocused. If two staff members who had approached hadn't suggested it would be better to treat him first, he would have forgotten he had been wounded on his right hand.
Just as he was about to become a special care subject and move to the infirmary, Leonardo realized the sadist who had confronted him until the end was nowhere to be seen. While others who had supposedly come through the portal together were being helped and moved, only the silver mask's whereabouts were unknown.
Afterward, while receiving treatment in the infirmary with Ero, they were able to hear the circumstances through league officials who had come looking for them.
"Hello, I'm Sandra, who was in charge of the F Group Test Part 1 match. Thank you both for your hard work in the match."
It was a somehow familiar voice.
"For F Group, I came to inform you that the final results announcement may be somewhat delayed due to matters requiring discussion and analysis among staff."
"Huh...?"
Ero was about to point but quickly lowered his finger, realizing it was rude. Leonardo, who had been watching the flesh on the back of his hand recover through recovery magic, also looked up at her.
Sandra smiled and continued speaking.
"Yes, that's right. I'm the announcer who was in charge of rule explanation and passer guidance before the match started. It's an honor to meet you."
"What does needing analysis mean? Does this mean we didn't pass?"
Leonardo furrowed his brow as his aggressive tone came out due to his frayed nerves. Since his release, he had been trying to maintain courtesy toward institutions and use honorifics with members. But since the situation seemed to be going strangely, his habit from the peninsula of speaking casually even to high-ranking commanders slipped out.
Ero looked at him in surprise. However, Sandra, who was familiar with key participant information, answered smoothly without displeasure or confusion.
"That's correct. The personnel who passed through the final portal total 7 people including you two. Among them, 5 are participants and 2 are safety personnel who were urgently deployed. The remaining number who could pass when you entered the portal was 4. In other words, one participant among the passers exceeded the limit. Analysis is needed to determine who among the final 4 passers and 1 eliminated person is who."
Originally, the moment the 26th passer entered the portal, other personnel would be pushed out and the portal would immediately close. However, Sandra added that various external pressures acted during this group's final battle, and most importantly, the portal formed unstably, causing errors in passer recognition.
She bowed her head apologizing for not taking measures beforehand before the tower collapsed. Who would have known a single participant would slice through the tower? Leonardo only remained silent with a displeased expression.
"While this analysis's main purpose is to determine the final passers, discussions will also proceed regarding a specific individual's excessive interference actions and terrain destruction. Originally, the league places no restrictions on combat methods, so that participant's actions cannot be said to violate rules, but since this crossed the line and was connected to participants' safety and affected individual passage outcomes, we judged it necessary to consider whether there was intent to manipulate matches."
Though they didn't mention who that 'specific individual' was, Leonardo and Ero simultaneously thought of one person. And just the fact that he became a subject of discussion convinced them that guy was among the 5 whose final passage was pending.
However, Sandra explained that the specific person had currently left the scene immediately after passing through the portal and disappeared, making it difficult to secure testimony and slightly delaying discussions.
Leonardo sighed as if regretful. He blamed himself for bothering to control his strength in front of that guy's face.
'Should have just blown him away.'
"Analysis and discussion will conclude within 3 hours with individual notifications, so we'd be grateful if you could rest in comfortable places like the infirmary or participant waiting rooms during that time."
It was when Sandra, having finished her brief guidance, was about to move elsewhere. Leonardo recalled a question he'd had throughout the match.
"Wait, there's something I'm curious about."
"Yes, please speak."
"When portals opened before, was it also due to recognition errors that over ten people passed through at once? Originally, a maximum of 3 people should pass at a time for the calculations to work. It was obvious there was a problem, so why didn't you stop the match earlier?"
Sandra listened and smiled warmly like a professor who had heard a satisfying question at an academic conference.
"That's a good point. However, the portal had no problems except for the final opening."
One of Leonardo's eyebrows rose.
"No problems?"
"League rules, no matter how detailed the explanation, have limited parts that can be specified within the given time. Therefore, they can be understood differently according to individual interpretation. I explained this match format like this: 'All participants should head to the stamen tower and return to the goal point in the main arena by passing through the portal that only opens at the tower's top.'"
At the repetition of previously heard content, Leonardo looked at her with a 'so what?' expression.
"This is precisely the requirement for passing through the portal. The subsequent explanation about crystals is merely 'the method to open the portal,' unrelated to passage eligibility."
"...."
"This match rule contains a slight trick. In the Plarinerus stamen tower conquest match, there was no mention of personnel limits for passing through the portal at once. However, by mentioning limits on crystal numbers per person that could be put in the pistil, it naturally guided forming teams of 2-3 people, creating a competitive system that determined 'victory and defeat' among participants.
Initially, many participants fall into the misconception that if they lose this competition, they won't get a chance to pass through the portal. Perhaps because of this, even when portals opened, they would often gentlemanly watch opposing teams pass while waiting for the next opportunity. But as time passed and hearts grew anxious, competition intensified, eventually creating multiple people simultaneously aiming for portals. Many participants passed through unexpectedly, like the situation when you two passed."
Leonardo's mouth opened in disbelief.
"So that means... in the end."
"Yes. As long as you opened the portal, any number of people could pass through. After that, it's first-come-first-served."
"Wow, big brother! I knew my thinking was right!"
Ero claimed he had figured out that rule after hearing the 4-hour progress broadcast. Believe it or not.
"To think you grasped the rule during the match - excellent. Like this, league rules convey only facts but don't directly specify all information. Those who can distinguish between clear rules defined by the rules and other means, and furthermore can doubt information they've judged, will be variables and new strong contenders in this league. This is a small tip from the announcer to you two who showed excellent performance."
Sandra, who had personally designed the match rules, placed her hand on her chest and bowed politely. It was when she was about to move to deliver guidance to other participants. As if remembering something, she added an explanation.
"Ah, due to the delayed result announcement causing inconvenience to participants, the management will provide small compensation. This compensation can be used anywhere within the main arena, but we recommend you two try not to leave the restricted area near entrance C. There are crowds gathered outside, so we're asking for your cooperation for safety reasons."