"Hey, sister."

Whether the representative of the dwarves sheds tears of emotion or not, the hero pays no attention and approaches me, whispering in a soft voice.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"The reward you mentioned will certainly be a glorious reward for the tribal unit, but it may be difficult to be a reward for the individual winner."

"Hmm... Is that so?"

When I asked, the hero nodded slightly.

"Yes. Since they are the ones who directly grasped the victory, there should also be a reward for them alone."

"Hmm... How troublesome. Can't they just take care of things among themselves?"

"There should be an official reward, so it would be better."

At the hero's words, I sighed softly. It's certainly true.

Since those who directly engaged in the bloody battle and achieved victory should also have a reward for themselves.

So.

"Stop crying and pull yourself together."

"Huwahhhhh!!!"

I pushed the emotional dwarf representative backwards.

The way he fell over was like a turtle.

"What do you think would be a good gift for the representatives of the victorious tribe?"

"Huh? Huh?"

"Since you have grasped the victory, shouldn't there be a reward just for you?"

I wanted to just let it go, but since the hero said this, I can't help it. Hmm.

"Re-Reward? It's already enough. More than enough."

Whether he was pretending to be humble or was truly satisfied, the dwarf representative said there was no more need.

But that's not what I want to hear.

"When I say I'll give something, quickly consult with the other guys and decide. What you decide will be the reward for the winner 10 years from now, or even after that."

I don't want to keep asking the winner's opinion and giving rewards.

Batch processing is better. Yep batch processing.

"Then I will go talk to the other guys."

"Oh, by the way, since there's a chance the elves will win, I'll ignore any rewards that only benefit you dwarves, so choose carefully. You can even talk to the elves if necessary."

If you can have a friendly discussion with someone you just fought tooth and nail with!

"Something related to lifespan isn't bad, but it won't have much meaning for your elf friends."

"Our youth is not much different either, not only us, but also the dwarves. Hmm. If the dwarves become younger, will their beards disappear? They don't have beards from birth, do they?"

"No, that can't be! The beards we've carefully groomed! Then... maybe a rather ordinary blessing would be better."

"Hmm. The reward may not only be for us, but also for our descendants. We must be even more careful."

Come on, guys, why are you guys having a friendly discussion?

If you won, shouldn't you be throwing a tantrum or something, saying we're just a bunch of short, bearded dwarves? Or saying you'll definitely win next time and sparking a fire?

Why are you getting along so well? Why!?

The dwarves and elves who had discussed so uselessly amicably said,

"We pray that the Goddess of Life will bless us."

"Blessing?"

Ah, they chose a rather ordinary reward.

But a blessing? That's a rather vague reward. It would be better if they specified what kind of blessing.

What is it? Something like making us immune to diseases, or extending our lifespan, or something more specific.

Just saying "please bless us" doesn't tell me what I should give you.

"No specific requests?"

"Hmm... Can't we just have our bodies become really healthy?"

"That's too vague..."

I sighed at the flustered dwarf representative and said,

"Then, how about something like overflowing vitality? The duration will be limited to 10 years."

"If our vitality overflows... what benefits will that have?"

"Well, your lifespan will be longer, wounds will heal faster, disease resistance will be higher, and your physical abilities will improve. It's just a simple, helpful blessing. Not something extraordinarily special."

It's just a rather ordinary choice, but on the other hand, I'm also wondering if this is really okay.

Is this really okay? Really?

"That's enough for us. We've already gained honor and glory, so it would be greed to ask for more."

The dwarf representative said, and the others all nodded.

"Well, if that's how you feel... Then I'll bless this trophy. When the winners gather to lift this trophy, a blessing will descend upon you."

I handed the trophy over to the dwarf representative after blessing it.

"However, if an unrighteous person lifts this trophy, the blessing will turn into a curse instead."

And As a bonus, I'll feed the thief a big piece of taffy.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"And so, the war that was about to break out between the elves and dwarves has been transformed into a competition of tribal pride."

"By the way, the elves won last time. Hahaha!"

"But this year will be different! This year!!"

The dwarf girl's words were followed by the elf girl, and the dwarf girl shouted again.

"You're holding this tribal competition even though the world is in chaos because of the Demon King? And including other tribes as well?"

"That's precisely why we must do this."

The deep-voiced lizardman standing next to them said to the boy.

"Even though the world is in chaos because of the Demon King, we must show that each tribe still has this much strength left."

"Well, I know that. You're just showing off."

As the horned silver-haired girl interjected, the lizardman silently stroked the girl's head, then took out a small candy from his pocket and said,

"Don't use words like that, it's not a good thing to say."

"Okay."

The silver-haired girl grabbed the candy as if she was used to it, peeled off the wrapper, and popped it into her mouth.

"But at first it was just a war between the elves and dwarves... Why are other tribes getting involved now?"

"That's because, you see, there are vested interests in this city."

At the dwarf girl's words, the boy tilted his head.

"Vested interests?"

"Yes, vested interests. It's about being able to temporarily rule over this huge city. An ancient city prepared by the gods. A city of the arena, by the arena, and for the arena. Betelgeuse."

Betelgeuse. A city of the arena where blood flows but life does not disappear.

In the distant past, the Dragon's Priestess and the Goddess of Life, who had stopped the war between the elves and dwarves and resolved the conflict through duels, created an arena where no one would lose their life, no matter what weapons were wielded or what magic was used.

The intense duels that took place in this arena where no fatal injuries could be inflicted were no different from a grand festival in an era lacking in entertainment, so it was natural for people and money to flock to the festival.

Thus, a village was built with the gathered people, developed into a city, and became a huge city with multiple arenas.

The arena city created by the gods was given the name Betelgeuse, the origin of which is unknown.

"If you could temporarily dominate such a huge city, it wouldn't matter what tribe you were from. But there was no country that could easily seize this city with countless duelists, elves, and dwarves staring at it with sharp eyes... So the direction became 'Let's win and get it!'"

"But 10 years is too long! Human lifespan is too short!" the humans complained, and after a meeting of all tribes and the high-ranking members of the Church of Life over several days, it was changed to being held every 4 years. Honestly, the interval seems a bit too short, but still.

"We lizardmen have little interest in the city. The annual martial arts tournament is more important to us lizardmen. Instead, we've been stimulated by the prospect of fighting strong ones from other tribes, so we've participated."

"By the way, the beastmen are all scattered with different opinions, so the humans forcibly bundled them together and had them participate as well. And so, there are four teams: elves, dwarves, lizardmen, humans and beastmen."

"By the way, I was almost dragged into participating in the last tournament too."

The fox-eared girl looked down at the bustling city and briefly grumbled.

"Humans. Despicable."

At that, the horned girl grumbled briefly.

"Well, what can I do. That's how despicable humans are."

"Yes, humans are despicable. Aren't they."

The elf and dwarf girls stroked the somewhat sullen-looking horned girl's head and glanced at the human boy.

"What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No, it's nothing. Nothing."

"Tell me! Explain! Don't just grumble among yourselves!"

"Even if I tell you, you won't understand. Humans are despicable, after all."

At that time, they did not know.

That the trophy, the symbol of the glory of the duel tournament victory, would mysteriously disappear and they would be involved in the incident.

- Record of the adventures of a certain hero party.

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T/N: CHAPTER 100, YAY!!