The restaurant we went to this time was recommended by Dr. Vier. The restaurant had a very relaxed and elegant atmosphere, and we enjoyed our meal in a nice ambiance.
[It was delicious, wasn’t it?]
[Yes, it tasted good and the price was reasonable. Thank you for the meal.]
[Fufu, now then, on to the RINGTOSS match!]
[Where are the RINGTOSS matches being held?]She’s quite excited about the RINGTOSS match. No, well, putting aside my preconceptions, it would certainly be a very intense battle…… so to be honest, I’m also quite excited to watch it.
[Unnn. It’s a bit of a walking distance from here, but it’s right as we approach the East Area. There are also two other venues in the royal capital.]
[Eh? There are three other venues here?]
[RINGTOSS is a popular sport after all. Those three places are the official venues for the official matches. If you just want to play RINGTOSS with friends, there are more venues you could use.]
[I didn’t know there were that many people competing in that sport. With it requiring a great deal of physical ability, I thought there weren’t that many competing in it.]
[Ahh, you would certainly need to have a certain level if you want to play in the official matches, but if you just want to play, you won’t need to be that strong. It’s a basic requirement for professional Quoits Elites to have great physical ability.]
[……I see.]So if it’s just a battle between amateurs, it wouldn’t be that flashy huh……
As we moved along while conversing like that, a considerably large building came into view. It isn’t as large as a baseball dome, but it’s still clearly larger than the buildings surrounding it.
We bought a ticket for tonight’s match and entered the building. There were already quite a few people in the venue that you could say was bustling, but it’s not to the point of being overcrowded.
[It looks like we’ll have more room to sit down than expected.]
[Tonight’s set of matches isn’t that great after all. The only high-ranker making her appearance tonight is Baby Castella Mask, while the other players…… This may sound rude, but lots of them don’t really have that splash. Of course, there are many good players among them, but it’s just, compared to the rankers…… I think most of today’s audience are fans of Baby Castella Mask.]
[So the matches of high-rankers are more popular huh.]
[Unnn. Especially when it’s the match between the Rank-1 Nightmare and Rank-2 Baby Castella Mask, tickets sell like hotcakes, so you’d have to be really lucky to buy one.]
Hmmm, it seems like RINGTOSS really is amazing and popular huh……
There’s still some part of me that’s a little reluctant to accept this, but for the time being, I’ll accept it and watch the matches. Dr. Vier mentioned how the lineup of matches tonight is lackluster, but to me, who hasn’t seen that many RINGTOSS matches, the series of matches were amazing enough, and I naturally felt my body tense up as I watched them.
After a few matches were held, the venue started to fill up with people, and the empty seats that had looked sparse earlier started to fill up.
“Now, it’s time for the main event of the night…… World Rank-2, Baby Castella…… Maaaaaaask!”
As if guided by the announcement, I looked at the venue and found Kuro, wearing a baby castella mask, just like her name suggests.
Unnn, how should I say this…… Kuro arrived even more as she is than I thought. Rather than those masks that kamen riders wear, it feels more like those that can be bought from festivals.
[The Baby Castella Mask has a very stable way of battling. She rarely uses flashy techniques, but each of her movements is so well-honed that she can defeat most of her opponents with just the basic techniques.]
[H- Heehhh……]
[If her opponent is a high-ranker, she will use flashy and strong techniques…… but I suppose we won’t be able to see that happening tonight.]
Just as Dr. Vier muttered ruefully, on the stage, Kuro…… or rather, Baby Castella Mask glanced at me.
As I was thinking about that, I saw her holding 6 RINGTOSS rings in her left hand and 7 in her right hand, and immediately afterward, Dr. Vier leaned forward with a surprised expression on her face.
[……That stance!? Don’t tell me…… The End!?]
[Eh? W- What’s that?]
[That’s a certain win move that Baby Castella Mask has used only a few times in the past…… an exquisite move that releases 13 out of her 15 rings in a single throw…… and almost as just like most certain kill techniques, it’s an extremely difficult shot!]
[I- Is that so……]
For the time being, I get that she was about to do some kind of awesome technique. Also, perhaps because she found us, Kuro is now gonna unleash a fancy move as a service……
Then, at the start of the match, Kuro brandished her arms and the thirteen rings thrown by her flew through the air with a terribly complicated trajectory, easily passing through her opponent’s defense and all were caught by the pole.
“M- Match Settled~~! Without allowing any defense or counterattack, Baby Castella Mask settled the match with her certain win move, The End!!!”
At that moment, the hall was filled with cheers. Well, it actually was amazing, as the trajectory of the ring was beautifully making patterns in the air, and for a brief moment, it was flashy and stunning.
Thereupon, Baby Castella Mask glanced our way again and lightly waved her hand before exiting.
After we enjoyed watching RINGTOSS matches like that, it was getting late when we walked out of the venue.
[That was great. Seeing Baby Castella Mask’s certain win move is quite exciting.]
[It was indeed a fun and spectacular show.]
While walking hand in hand with Dr. Vier, we happily talked about our impressions of the RINGTOSS matches. We walked along, talking for a while, and when there were fewer people on the street, Dr. Vier spoke.
[Hey, Miyama-kun. How about we go drink some alcohol?]
[Alcohol? Do you want to go to a bar somewhere?]
[Hmmm, that’s also good, but let’s go drink back at my home. I have a lot of alcohol given to me, but I don’t drink that much, so I have a bit too much.]
[I see, I also have some alcohol in my magic box, so that would be nice.]
Come to think of it, I still have that alcohol I bought at Kaori-san’s store, so this might be a good time to drink it.
While I had such a thought in mind, Dr. Vier brought her mouth near my ear again and whispered.
[……Tomorrow is a scheduled day off for the clinic. So we can…… drink at our leisure.]
Dr. Vier, saying that with a smile, was somewhat bewitching, and thinking about the meaning of those words, I felt my heart strangely beating faster.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : {W- Whaaaaat!? I- Intermission? Part 1, Part 2…… and then Intermission!? The heck is with this new pattern…… Also, it clearly feels like Vier had decided to settle things here. Ngghh, the next few chapters will definitely end up being sweeeeeeeeet!]
