Now this was plain stupid.
Cid wanted to go to tournament. He really wanted to show off his awesome techniques! But there was one thing stopping him.
Claire, his sister, lying right on top of him and sleeping peacefully. She was clinging on him like a koala (come to think of it, he never saw a koala since reincarnating in this world; did they not exist here?) with a blissful smile on her face. Whenever he shifted his body, she would grumble and grip him tighter, to the point where a normal person's bones would have been crushed already.
'Well, it looks like she's in for a rude awakening… Literally.'
Cid pushed her away to the side and got his reward in form of sisterly screeching. Once Claire realized what's going on, she stared at him with teary eyes.
"Now what was that for?! I just had the best dream of my life and you decided to interrupt it!"
"I need to go to the Festival," Cid pointed out.
"Wait, what?" Claire's confusion was strange for him; didn't she know it already? "You want to watch me beating everyone?" she suddenly beamed, "Right, right, of course, you're finally realizing how awesome yo-"
"No, I am a contestant."
Silence.
"You… what?"
"Contestant, yeah," he admitted casually, "Alexia decided it would be good for me to participate in event of that scale, so-"
"SHE WHAT?!" the eruption of volcano called Claire Kagenou happened in an instant.
"I still can't believe that hus- I mean, princess decided to throw you to the arena without consulting me first…" his sis was still angry.
She decided that since they're both are gonna participate in Bushin, might as well come together. Of course, he couldn't say 'no'.
"Still better than fighting against you-"
"You said something?"
"Nah, nothing."
Oh, here's the arena. His fight is in the middle of elimination rounds, by the way, while Claire's is basically at the start. He has plenty of time to make a final revision of how his fight will play out… Yeah, and watch sis fight so she will not pester him about that for the entire waiting period-
It already ended. No, really, her fight turned out to be the first one. While he was walking to his seat and scheming, she already finished and is now running back to him. So how does he get out of this?… Oh, right.
"Sis, I am very happy for your victory," Claire's suspicious gaze locked onto him, "however, if you really, really wanted me to see it," Claire's confused gaze sized him up, "you should have let me take my seat first."
And now her expression turned into something that previous-life-him would have described as "Suffering from success". Really, he could see her being proud and sad at the same time! Proud because she's so strong that round was finished faster than some people could take their seats (these guys are some real late-comers), and sad because he was one of those people (got too lost in thought). Eh, no biggie, it's not like the end of the world is coming.
'Oh my fucking God.'
Cid was literally shaking right now. He was looking right at his opponent holding her rapier.
A foreign warrior beauty in her battle uniform; long and silky honey-like hair, bright determined honey-yellow eyes, charming face showing her solemn expression, curvaceous figure that could rival that of some of the Shades…
Rose Oriana. Princess of Oriana, the country of arts. She has a good character, and most students passionately talk about her kind-hearted nature as much as about her power. All of that together makes her…
'WO-O-O-OH! YEAH, BABY! THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!'
A heroine! Finally, he can add another heroine to his roster! Come to think of it, weren't by lore all Shadow Garden members (except him) girls? Now heroines, too… Shouldn't it be heroes instead? Well, whatever, he isn't picky about that.
"Cid Kagenou! Against! Rose Oriana! Let the battle! Commence!"
Alright, it starts, quick, what technique should he-
"If you're unwilling to fight, you can forfeit," the princess heroine spoke up. Really? He still has 48 techniques under his sleeve, don't you dare to underestimate him!… Oh, it's probably because of shaking.
"Never!" that shaking would actually contribute to his mob persona greatly! Going up against a champion, who wouldn't be scared shitless unless you're another champion? But fine, he will stop if that means she will actually fight him.
And the next moment she attacked. Beautiful rapier danced in the air, as if painting an exquisite canvas.
Cid had to admit, her skills were top-notch in the academy. If he was really an average mob, he wouldn't even be able to see what actually hit him. Of course, him being him, he practically sees it in slow-mo… and actually enjoys it! It's the second time he actually could enjoy a style of someone who was not training with him for years!
Now for-…
Oh.
Oh no.
He forgot to prepare blood bags!
Alright, change of plans: instead of making himself look like a dying goose he will instead play out "a very resilient and determined mob" scene… Which was actually just "dying goose" but without blood bags; oh well, today without hyperrealistic blood spraying over the whole arena, just go with a bit of blood here and there. On the plus side, janitors will have less work!
Cid Kagenou.
She hasn't heard of this name until that day.
She met with his sister, Claire, when she tore apart the whole squad, all alone. Thankfully, no one was injured badly that day. As for her motive? Her younger brother, Cid, was falsely convicted for the princess kidnapping. A few days later the true culprit was found — what were the chances for it to be her fiancee-to-be? — however, damage was already done. At that time Rose couldn't understand why would Claire risk everything she had just to bail her brother out.
Now she could. A man of pure determination. He lacked talent that his elder sister had, however, his strength of will was twice, thrice as big as Rose's own. Would she ever be able to hold a weapon if she did not have talent and an example back from her childhood years?… Probably not.
She had hit him multiple times. Twenty, at least. Some he barely dodged. Some he didn't. Blood was dripping from his mouth, yet he still stood, smiling. What is it he fights for? What is it that keeps him moving forward despite having no chance at victory?
Why are there no other people like him?
Why is he the only one who had it in him to challenge the champion? How does his body keep itself together after being subjected to such cruelty? And barely a few days ago he was in cell, tortured, if his sister is to be believed.
Even viewers' cheers slowly died out, being replaced with hushed voices of worry.
She thought of herself as one of the main stars of the show, with the second being Claire. Yet here he was, an average boy just trying everything he can in order to achieve victory. She really wishes to bring no more harm to him, yet it would be absolutely disrespectful to someone like him if she did not finish this quickly.
"I ask of you one last time: forfeit," her shaky voice rang out, "just forfeit. You have shown enough," she glanced over at the place where Claire Kagenou was sitting. Even from such a distance Rose could see worry plastered over this boy's sister's face, "Your sister clearly does not wish for you to suffer any longer."
"What… do you know…" yet his grip on the sword only became stronger, "I was preparing for this… for days…" he barely raised his head to look her in the eyes. She could practically feel the power of his spirit surging through the soul's mirrors as he screamed at her, "I still have twenty seven techniques left!"
"...So be it. As a sign of my respect, I shall finish this quickly."
However, as she raised her rapier…
"That's enough. Battle is over. The victor is Rose Oriana," judge looked with pity in his eyes.
"What?… No!… I can still… Go…!"
His weakened body could no longer hold itself after hearing such news. Cid was staggering, still trying to hold himself from falling over. He made a shaky step towards her. The grip on his sword tightened. Another step.
His third step didn't come. He has fallen, right into her embrace as she dashed across the field to catch him. Yet even completely exhausted, he still held sword in his hands.
The arena was completely silent as she escorted him out. This brave guy that went against impossible challenge in order to prove himself.
"Cid! Cid! Please answer me!" ah, that should be Claire Kagenou, his sister.
"Shut it, sis, I am trying to sleep here," even in medbay he can't have a minute of peace, now can he?
Everything actually went pretty great, if he's honest! He managed to execute just a bit less than half of his brand new Mobfu Techniques, especially the one he made on the spot: Surging Blood! Basically what it does is using mana pressure in order to force his blood to move out of his body, be it through already existing places or just bursting through. And as he also found out, he can use this mana-infused blood as a weapon! He didn't have time to test it in arena, though, playing a mob and whatnot, but he will definitely give it a try once he's finished with all this business. Maybe call Alpha and see if she can organize a meeting with Eta and Epsilon? These girls sure are smart when it comes to stuff like this…
"Forgive me, Claire-san," oh, that's Rose Oriana, his ex-opponent. She actually took it on herself to carry him to medbay, just like a true heroine! Props for that! "I haven't managed to defeat him in time in order to ensure he's out safely," wait, what?
"Nevermind that," Claire sighed, "at least, now I can see for sure that we both share that trait," what trait?
"Hmph, that idiotic Pooch… Just who does he think he is to try and prove something… You don't need to prove anything to me, you dummy…" wait, Alexia? The hell is she doing here? Wasn't she on arrest? And prove what, exactly?
"Cid-kun, I understand where were you coming from, but please, be more careful next time. You had us all worried," and princess Iris is here, too. So, who next? Alpha? Or maybe Gamma?…
"E-Excuse me, u-um…" peach-haired girl suddenly came in, "is Cid K-Kagenou?… R-Right, Kagenou-kun, I-I have to thank you… F-For that time… O-Oh, and my name is S-Sherry! And, u-um… You w-were… You were very cool back at the stage! Even though you were overwhelmed, you still managed to stand back up and… and… I have never been in events like this before, so… Oh, right! These are called 'cookies'! Um, that's for you! Please, take it!" cookies? Alright, thank you, they should be yummy… Oh, they're from Mitsugoshi? Yeah, quality guaranteed!…
'H-Hold on a second. Let me count real quick…'
Cid quickly glanced at them.
'One. Two. Three. Four. Five. There are five worried women in one room with me, all trying to show their compassion to me… And all of them are thinking that I wanted to prove something on tournament…'
There's no way…
'I failed my task as a mob character…'
But the truth was here.
'I BECAME A HAREM PROTAGONIST! NO-O-O-O!'
