So there are dangerous wild monsters and there is also the risk of opponents being able to swap the weapons they brought for even better ones.

“But hey, spectators attacking the fighters directly is strictly prohibited, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“What about indirect support magic?”

“It’s possible if someone pays the right amount.”

It was probably best not to entertain naïve ideas like all you needed to do during a match was focus on the opponent in front of you. Thinking it over, I chugged another drink that she had poured for me. But seriously, how much did she plan to make me drink? I could hear it all swishing around in my stomach.

“That will be in the rule book for the match you participate in, so make sure to look that over and you should be fine.”

I looked at the section where the rules were listed.

The following support will be permitted during this match—

There it was.

“You can drink, can’t you? This is starting to get fun!”

She seemed to be enjoying herself as she watched me chug drink after drink.

“Yeah, alright,” I said.

“Anyway, that pretty much covers what you need to watch out for.”

“Oh yeah?”

There was nothing left for me to do here. I stood up, ready to leave.

“Oh? Leaving already, are you? Let’s have a few more drinks!”

“No more for me. But you gave me some good info. I’ll pay for the drinks as a sign of my gratitude.”

It was obvious that she was planning to have me, the newbie, pick up the tab in exchange for some information. Then again, I was stingy. Normally there was no way I’d do something like picking up a tab, but it was a fact that the information had been helpful. Considering what lay ahead, I could just think of the money spent as part of an investment.

“That wasn’t what I was after, you know.”

“Whatever you say. One final question.”

“What might that be?”

The next match had started, and it looked like they were being given the support that she had been talking about.

“How did you know who would win in that last match?”

I’d thought that I couldn’t tell because I wasn’t familiar with the rules, but that still didn’t fully explain it. As far as I could tell, the fighters in the last match hadn’t received any assistance.

“Intuition, maybe?”

“Seriously? Intuition?”

Then again, I knew that intuition couldn’t be underestimated. Watching Filo made the power of wild instincts painfully clear, for example.

“If you think of anything else, just come see me again, darling. I’m here every night, and I’ll be happy to tell you what you want to know.”

Her response was curiously lighthearted. So she really hadn’t had any kind of ulterior motive when approaching me?