俺達は王都ワーハにある広場で、闘技場が開場するのを待っている。
本戦は八つのブロックに分けられ、ブロックごとの勝者がそのままベスト8に進出するという形になっている。
一つのブロックには32組が参加、合計で五回勝利すれば晴れて俺達も明日の戦いに参加可能だ。
仮にプレイヤーに欠員が出た場合は、NPCが穴埋めするそうだ。
よって不戦勝は無しだが、これは次戦の相手と情報量で差をつけない為の処置で、NPCの強さはそれなりだと運営によって明言されている。
片側だけ不戦勝だと、次戦の作戦や対策を立てる上で映像が残らず非常に不利になってしまう......ということだそうだ。
戦いは直接会場で観戦も可能だが、トーナメントの試合は後からどのプレイヤーでも再生することができる。
そういうわけで、NPCがトーナメントの上まで来るということはないと思われる。
それでも、どういったNPCが参戦するのかは正直に気になるところ。
砂漠からは出ないことが女王によって明言されているので、残りの国の誰かということになる。
リィズが暇そうに帽子の位置を直しながら、大会概要を振り返ってボーっとしていた俺に話し掛けてくる。
「そういえば、ハインドさん達はどのグループなのですか?」
「ええと、グループHだな。最終組」
セレーネさんリィズの二人は、ありがたいことに直接応援しに会場まで来てくれるとのことだ。
移動は各街の魔導士が開く『ゲート』で行う。
そこから希望するグループごとの各闘技場へとワープすることができるわけだ。
観客も同様だが人数制限があり、優勝最有力候補である傭兵アルベルト・フィリアのコンビが振り分けられた会場は短時間で満員になると予想されている。
今も目の前に居る帝国の魔導士は、開場を待つ多数のプレイヤーに囲まれてもじっと動かずにそこに佇んでいる。
「こうして見ると砂漠のプレイヤーも随分と増えましたね、セッちゃん......セッちゃん?」
「無理だよリィズ。セレーネさん、さっきから目立たないように一言も喋ってねえもん」
ついでに俺を盾にするようにした上で、縮こまって周囲のプレイヤーの視線から逃れるように隠れている。
彼女がこんな状態になったのは原因があり......
「おお、本当に居た! 勇者ちゃんだ、本物だ!」
「私の偽物なんて居るのか? 逆に会ってみたいのだが」
「うむ、ありがとう! 頑張る!」
「握手して下さい!」
「ん、別に構わんぞ」
「――ありがとうございます! ああ、サーラに来て良かったぁ!」
一番先に魔導士の前に並んじゃったせいで、一緒に居るユーミルが目立ちまくっているんだよな......さすがは専用スレまで建っている有名人と言うべきか。
以前まで砂漠にはプレイヤーが少なかったので、予選と同じ様な感覚でここに来てしまったのがそもそもの間違いだった。
気が付けば、俺達の後ろには開場を待つ多数のプレイヤー達が並んでいるという状態に。
少し早く到着してしまったのも良くなかった。
しかもユーミルが普通に周りの声に受け答えするもんだから、余計にそれが過熱している。
こいつの場合は聞こえてくる声の男女比が半々くらいなのが凄い。
人気があっても、普通はどっちかに偏りそうなものだと思うのだが。
「砂漠に集った同志たちよ、私達は必ず勝つ! 期待して待っているがいい!」
「「「オオー!」」」
台詞に合わせてオーラまで出しちゃって、ノリノリだな。
その演説モドキの甲斐あってか、周囲は更に大盛り上がりだが。
それでもユーミルのオマケでしかない俺は当然のようにスルーされているし、特に周囲に顔を知られていないセレーネさんも堂々としていた方が良いと思うんだけど。
俺にしがみついているからか、却って目立ってしまっている。
一度ここから離れて並び直そうにも、人の壁が厚くて今となってはそれも難しい。
もう少しだけ我慢してもらうしかないか......。
「リィズちゃん!」
「リィズちゃん、こっち向いてー!」
一方のリィズは、向けられる野太い声の大半を無視。
余りにしつこく煩いプレイヤーにだけはゴミを見るような目を向けているが、それによって何故か弛んだ顔をして満足そうに去っていく連中が多数。理解不能だ。
と、魔導士が何の前触れもなく呪文を唱え始めた。
周囲は騒いでいて気付いていないが、魔導士の真横の空間に穴が出現して徐々に大きさが広がっていく。
予選で使った物とはまた異質な魔法の様だ。
魔導士が詠唱を完了しても、安定して闇が口を広げてそこに固定されている。
ユーミルと共に騒いでいたプレイヤー達もそれに気付くと、今度は別の意味でざわつき始めた。
「......汝が進む道はいずこや?」
魔導士が何か話しだしたかと思ったら、急に哲学的な質問を投げ掛けられた。
最前列に居るこちらの方を見ての発言なので、訊かれているのは俺で間違いなさそうだ。
ううむ......こう答えればいいのか?
「グループHの会場に」
「承知した」
あ、それでいいんだ......分かりづらいから普通に訊いて欲しい。
魔導士が手を掲げると闇のゲートの色が若干だが変化し、中に入るように促される。
まだ他のプレイヤーに構って背を向けているユーミルに一声かけて、俺はリィズとセレーネさんと共にゲートへと近付いた。
「先に行くぞ、ユーミル」
「――ん? おお、いつの間にそんなものが! 待て、私も一緒に行く! 置いて行くな!」
「あ、ちょ、押すなって! あああああ!」
「え? え?」
ユーミルの突進にバランスを崩した俺は、しがみついたままだったセレーネさんを巻き込みながらゲートの中へ倒れ込んだ。
多数のプレイヤー達の改善要望が届いたのか、予選の物と違ってワープは一瞬の出来事だった。
例の、移動に伴う独特の気持ち悪さは無くなっている。
場所を移して再構成された体が、冷たく硬い石床の上に投げ出された。
転ぶのは防げなかったが、どうにかセレーネさんを庇いつつ落下。
現実で未祐にのしかかられた時とは違い、防具が効力を発揮して背中を衝撃から守り切る。
良かった......またあの時のように呼吸困難にならなくて。
HPは減ったが、そんなことは些細な問題だ。
セレーネさんをどかして起き上がろうとすると、視線の先で光が発生し――
「ぐえっ!」
続いて中からユーミルが落下してきたので、慌ててセレーネさんを抱えて飛び退いた。
鎧の重さが加わってか、派手な音を立てつつ周囲に土埃が舞う。
「うう......なぜ受け止めてくれない、ハインドォ......酷いじゃないか......」
「無茶を言うな! 前にも言ったが、鎧の重さを自覚しろ!」
受け止めたら腰が砕けるって。
どうせダメージだって微塵も入っていないんだから、その必要性だって無いじゃないか。
そもそも、誰のせいでこんな状態で転移したと思っていやがるんだ?
「あ、あの、ハインド君......そろそろ、その......うぅ......」
「ん? ああっ、すみません!」
遠慮がちな声に我に返ると、柔らかな体を思い切り抱きしめる形になってしまっていたことに気付く。
俺が慌てて体を離すと息が苦しかったのか、セレーネさんの顔は耳まで真っ赤だった。
「何をしているんですか......全く」
俺達と違って静かに着地したリィズの視線が痛い。
誤魔化すように周囲を見回すと、そこはコロッセオに良く似たすり鉢状の大規模な闘技場の中だった。
We were currently in the plaza in Royal Capital Waaha, waiting for the arena to open.
The main tournament was divided into eight blocks, it was set so that the winner of each would advance like that to the top 8.
32 duos participated in each block, in total, if we won five times we would be able to participate in tomorrow's fights.
In the case that a player doesn't show up, it seems like they'll replace them with NPCs.
That being the case, there's no winning by default, this was done so you wouldn't get information about your next opponent, the developers said that the NPCs would be quite strong.
If there was a win by default, they could make up strategies and countermeasures for the next match and there wouldn't be any recordings, making the opponents be at quite the disadvantage...or so they said.
It's possible to watch the matches directly in the venue, but any player can watch the tournament matches immediately after the match via replays.
That being the case, it makes you think that NPCs won't appear at the top of the tournament.
Nevertheless, I'm curious about what kind of NPCs will participate.
The queen stated that no one from the desert would appear, so that would mean it'd be someone from the other countries.
Riizu looked as if she didn't have much to do and while she was fixing the position of her hat, she talked to me, who was in a daze thinking about the outline of the main event.
[Now that I think about it, what group are you in, Hind-san?]  (Riizu)
[Let's see, it's group H. The last one.]  (Hind)
I was grateful that Selene-san and Riizu had come to the venue with us to cheer for us directly.
The mage that was in each town will open the {Gate}  to transfer us.
Then you could wish for which group's arena you would like to be warped to.
It was the same for the audience but there was a restriction to the number of people, it's expected that the venue that hosts the matches of the duo of Mercenary Albert*Philia will be full in a short amount of time since they are the favorites to win the whole thing.
Even the empire's mage who was in front of us right now, was standing still surrounded by a large number of players waiting for the main event to start.
[Looking at this, the players in the desert sure have increased in number, Secchan...Secchan?]  (Riizu)
[That won't work Riizu. Selene-san, she hasn't said a word since a while ago in order to not stand out.]  (Hind)
Incidentally, on top of using me as a shield, she had curled herself up in order to hide herself from the gazes of the surrounding players.
There was a reason for her ending in this state...
[Ooh, it's the real one! It's Hero-chan, the real one!] 
[Is there a copy-cat of me? I would like to meet her.]  (Yumir)
[Umu, thanks! I'll do my best!]  (Yumir)
[Please, shake my hand!] 
[Sure, I don't really mind.]  (Yumir)
[-Thank you very much! Aah, I'm so glad I came to Sala!!] 
Because we were the first ones in front of the mage, Yumir, who was with us stood out...I guess I should say as expected of celebrity that even had a thread made especially for her.
Since there weren't that many players in the desert before, to think that coming here would feel the same as it was during the preliminaries was just wrong.
When we noticed, behind us were a lot of players standing next to each other waiting for the event inauguration.
I'm glad we came a bit ahead of time.
However, since Yumir was casually replying to the voices surrounding us, it was unnecessarily getting heated up.
In this case, it's amazing that the voices I'm hearing are fifty-fifty when it coems to sex ratio.
Even if she was popular, you'd think that usually there would be more of a certain sex.
[Fellow comrades that have gathered in the desert, we'll definitely win! Feel free to await with high expectations!]  (Yumir)
[[[Oooooo!!] ] ] 
She even released her aura along with her speech, she sure is in high spirits.
As a result of her speech, our surroundings got even more fired up.
Even then, being an extra that was just accompanying Yumir, I was obviously being ignored, and I believe it would be better for Selene-san to act confidently since no one in our surroundings knows about her.
If she's clinging on to me, it will have the opposite effect and make her stand out.
I thought about getting some distance and get back in line, but with the thick wall of people there is currently that would be hard.
Guess I'll have her endure for a bit longer...
[Riizu-chan!] 
[Riizu-chan, look over here!] 
On the other hand, Riizu mostly ignored the people that daringly addressed her.
She only looked at those players that were annoying and insistent as if they were trash, but for some reason, the people whose faces would loosen up and left while looking satisfied were many. I don't get it.
Oh wait, the mage started chanting the spell without saying anything in advance.
The surrounding people were making noise and didn't notice it, but next to the mage, a spatial hole appeared and gradually grew wider.
It looks like a different magic compared to what they used for the preliminaries.
Once the mage finished chanting, the dark entrance stabilized and was fixed in place.
Along with Yumir, the players that were making noise noticed it, and this time they started making noise for a different reason.
[...Where is it you desire your arrival to be?]  (mage)
Just when I realized the mage was saying something, he suddenly threw a philosophical question at us.
It looked like a question thrown at whoever was at the front of the row, so there's no mistake that it was addressed to me.
Hmm...I wonder if it's fine if I reply like this?
[The venue for group H.]  (Hind)
[Acknowledged]  (mage)
Ah, so that works...it was hard to understand, so I wish they would just ask normally.
The mage raised his hand and the dark gate changed slightly in color, and he urged us to go into it.
I said a couple words to Yumir, who was still minding the other players and had her back facing us, then I got closer to the gate with Riizu and Selene-san.
[We are going in first, Yumir.]  (Hind)
[...Hmm? Ooh, when did this happen!? Wait, I'm going with you! Don't leave me behind!]  (Yumir)
[Ah, w-wait, don't push! Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!!]  (Hind)
[Eh? Eh?]  (Selene)
Because Yumir rushed at me, I lost my balance and since Selene-san was still clinging onto me she was dragged into the gate too.
It might have been because a lot of players requested that it would be improved, the warp was instant compared to the one used for the preliminaries.
The bad feeling you had when you were transported before was gone now.
Our bodies have finished moving to the new area and were thrown out towards the cold and hard stone floor.
We couldn't avoid falling down, but I was able to somehow protect Selene-san from the fall.
It was different from that time when Miyu fell on top of me, the defensive gear demonstrated its efficacy and protected my back.
I'm glad...that it didn't end up with me getting dyspnea like that time.
My HP did decrease, but that is a trivial issue.
Just when I was going to move Selene-san out of the way and stand up, a light appeared in front of me-
[Gueh!]  (Yumir)
Following that, Yumir appeared from within and fell down, so I held Selene-san in my arms and moved out of the way in a panic.
It was probably because of the weight of her armor, she raised a cloud of dust along with a loud noise.
[Uu...why didn't you catch me, Hind...wasn't that mean of you...?]  (Yumir)
[Don't ask for the impossible! I told you before, be aware of how much your armor weights!]  (Hind)
If I caught her, my back would have broken.
I mean, she only took a bit of damage, there wasn't a need for me to catch her?
To begin with, whose fault was it that we ended up moving in this way?
[E-eh, Hind-kun...it should be about time that...uu...]  (Selene)
[Hmm? Ah, I'm very sorry!]  (Hind)
Her shy voice returned me to my senses, and I noticed that I was embracing her soft body with all my might.
It might have been because she was out of breath after I separated my body from hers, but Selene-san was bright red up to her ears.
[What are you guys doing...jeez]  (Riizu)
The gaze of Riizu, who landed calmly unlike us hurt.
I looked around as if to gloss over what happened, and I saw that we were inside a large scale arena that looked like a colosseum.
VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～
ＶＲＭＭＯの支援職人　～トッププレイヤーの仕掛人～
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/vrmmo-no-shien-shokunin-%ef%bd%9etop-player-no-shikakenin%ef%bd%9e/
Action Adventure Comedy Fantasy Harem Slice of Life
Adventurers Beautiful Female Lead Blacksmith Brother Complex Calm Protagonist Childhood Friends Clan Building Cooking Crafting Curious Protagonist Dense Protagonist Elemental Magic Fantasy Creatures Game Ranking System Gamers Hard-Working Protagonist Healers Level System Love Interest Falls in Love First Love Rivals Male Protagonist Misunderstandings MMORPG Ninjas Possessive Characters Priests Siblings Siblings Not Related by Blood Sword And Magic Virtual Reality Younger Love Interests Younger Sisters
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4014ds/
二階堂風都