Combat Maid Harem

The entrance to the South Pillar Stadium was straightforward. They simply entered, and no one asked them for any payment.

"Don't the competitors have a special place to go to?" Lawrend asked Humility.

"I don't know this place, Master. Let's go ask that guard first," Humility replied.

They approached a Hill Sword guard clad in armor while holding a sword straight.

"Hello, Master here is competing. Where should we go?" Humility asked.

"Competing? Head downstairs," the guard tacitly replied.

They looked around and found a stairway that headed underground. Humility led the way.

The stairway was lit up by bright white gems. It would hardly be impossible for someone to trip here with the amount of light. If someone does, they had to be the clumsiest of all.

Several people would pass them by as they headed deeper and deeper. After a few more seconds, they reached the underground room.

It was a large white room. There was a booth at the entrance where there was a short line.

Around the room were various mages and swordsmen. Some sat on the floor, and some were standing.

When Lawrend looked at them, he was surprised to see that they were all Grand Mages or Mountain Swords.

They waited in line for a few minutes before it was finally their turn.

"Who are you representing?" the mage behind the booth asked.

"Saltside City," Humility replied.

"Here. This is your number. The competition goes as follows: There is a loser's bracket and an upper bracket. Everyone starts out at the upper bracket. If you lose, you get sent to the loser's bracket. If you then lose at the loser's bracket, you are out of the tournament. Understand?"

"I understand," Lawrend replied.

He took a metal badge with a number inscribed onto it. The mage nodded his head and motioned for him to move.

"That was pretty easy," Lawrend said.

They walked to the room and sat on an empty spot they found.

"I didn't know we arrived exactly as it was starting," Lawrend said.

"Yes… I thought that we would arrive the day before. I'm sorry I miscalculated it, Master," Humility said guiltily.

As his maid, she can't accept that she miscalculated something as vital as their arrival time. They were lucky that they arrived on time. Otherwise, they could've missed it.

"It's fine. If we missed it, we're going to return to the Primitus Continent anyway," Lawrend replied.

He raised his hand and patted her head. Humility closed her eyes and felt his headpat.

"Mmmm…"

"Master, that guy is here," Aezel said.

Lawrend looked over and saw Meno walking inside the room. There was an entourage of men following behind him. His eyes turned to them, and he glared at Lawrend.

After glaring at Lawrend, Meno looked at Humility with eyes filled with obsession.

"Tch. My skin is crawling just feeling his gaze on me," Humility said.

She frowned at Meno and turned her head away from him.

"Why is this guy so obsessed with you? Is it really only your talent in business? I'm sure there are many others that can do the same," Lawrend muttered out loud.

"Fufufufu. You should ask that mayor once we return. He deserves some 'discipline'," Aezel said with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Well, let's not think about that guy. He's just a Grand Mage, anyway," Lawrend replied.

In his opinion, such an arrogant weakling doesn't deserve his attention. He wasn't afraid of him one bit.

"Yes, Master! Pet me more, hehehehe…" Humility laughed creepily.

Lawrend smiled and granted her wish. He rubbed her head gently.

…

The contestants started leaving the room an hour later. They exited in pairs, and they would glare at each other.

"Hello, can I learn more about the rules?" Lawrend asked.

He stood in front of the booth. He was entirely clueless as to how this competition/tournament worked.

"Hm? That's rare. Are you perhaps not from the Pillar State?" the mage asked.

"Yes." Lawrend nodded his head.

The mage looked at Lawrend's clothing and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Let me guess… Primitus?"

"Correct."

"Now it makes sense. Everyone here had at least watched one of the tournaments. That was why I didn't need to explain the rules to them," the mage replied.

"I see."

"Alright. The rules are as follows: Defeat your opponent using your own strength. Using magic artifacts that can defend or attack using external powers is prohibited. If you use one, you are disqualified. And you're not allowed to kill your opponents on purpose."

"So does that mean that I can accidentally kill them?"

"...That's a stretch. Unless your opponent is so much weaker than you, I doubt that you can do it," the mage replied.

As they were all Grand Mages or Mountain Swords, it would be hard for them to easily defeat their opponents. That was why he was skeptical of Lawrend's words.

"Is that all?"

"Yep." The mage nodded his head.

Lawrend returned to his seat and waited for his turn.

…

A whole day soon passed. There were so many contestants, and the fights would take a long time to finish. Lawrend decided to simply meditate.

He was practicing magic using the book Valentina gave him. His current situation was similar to before when he tried to become a Grand Mage. It was very hard to advance in level.

There was an invisible barrier that kept him at his current level. It wasn't like before where he could easily increase in strength,

"13 and 14!" the mage shouted.

Lawrend opened his eyes and stood up.

"Good luck, Master," Humility said.

"Fufufufu. Master doesn't need good luck."

"I will be back in a bit," Lawrend replied to them.

He turned around and left the room through another exit in the room. This exit led to the center of the stadium.

"14, you are assigned to the other side," a male mage said beside the exit.

Lawrend nodded his head and walked to the other side of the stadium through a long hallway.