For those who weren't competing in the event, the Pillow Sword Tournament was much like a festival before the new year, whereas for the participants of the Pillow Sword Tournament, this was an opportunity that only came around once every three years, and they had to grasp it with both hands.

The venue for the Pillow Sword Tournament was constructed on a plain outside of Sarus. After emerging from the southern gate of Sarus, one would arrive on King's Highway, and after traveling along the highway for a few kilometers, one would encounter a spectacular circular venue.

The route from the highway to the venue had already been transformed into a wide boardwalk, and the two sides of the boardwalk were lined with outlet tents set up by various shops in the city. Restaurants and taverns were naturally the most frequently appearing shops along the boardwalk, and they were followed by some of the more renowned equipment shops and materials shops. There were even some candy shops that had set up outlets here. In addition to that, there were also some traveling merchants who couldn't afford to set up such large tents, so they placed their wares, such as magic potions and different types of materials and ingredients from foreign regions, down onto rugs to be sold. As for the quality of their wares, that was very much unknown. Aside from the tents, there were also some food carts that were selling all types of fried, baked, or steamed snacks.

There were still a few days left until the commencement of the tournament, but the area was already as lively and bustling as a market. Many young students who were avid shopping enthusiasts were strolling along the boardwalk, holding beverage cups that had been made to replicate the form of the ring-shaped venue and all types of snacks that were giving off alluring aromas as they traversed through the stalls. Some of the younger students were also holding small flags that they were waving from side to the side, and the flags all bore images of certain competitors participating in the upcoming tournament, so it was clear that these students were all here to cheer on the senior students of their respective academies.

After passing through the lively market area, one would arrive at the foot of the circular venue. The entire venue had been constructed using wooden structures, while the important structural points were supported by copper rods. The venue was split up into three ring-shaped levels from top to bottom, and each level was separated from one another.

The level that was closest to the main battle platform was naturally reserved for the wealthy and powerful officials and nobles. There was also a raised square platform that was situated in the north and facing the south, and that was reserved for the king, as well as other members of the royal family.

The middle floor was designated for wealthy merchants and lesser nobles, as well as some middle-class individuals with ambitions of rising up the social hierarchy.

As for the top level, the tickets for the seats there were the cheapest out of the three levels, so that was naturally catering to the common folk who couldn't afford the more expensive seats. Of course, the spectators on the top level had to put in more work just to get to their seats. Firstly, they had to climb up the zigzag staircases situated on the outskirts of the venue to the top level, then go and find their seats. In order to facilitate easier access to the seats on the top level, there were over 10 of these zigzag staircases littered around the venue.

The wealthier spectators on the middle and bottom levels entered the venue through the wide entrance to the south, while the members of the royal family entered through the royal entrance to the north, which granted them direct access to the raised viewing platform that was also situated in the north.

The eastern and western entrances of the venue were reserved solely for the competitors, and several spacious tents had been set up at those entrances, some of which were meant to provide places for competitors to rest, while others were for the personnel of the tournament committee to conduct physical examinations on the competitors prior to the tournament's commencement. The remaining few tents outside of that were storage spaces for the competitors to keep their personal equipment.

A new rule had been introduced in this edition of the Pillow Sword Tournament, and it stated that all of the weapons and accessories to be used by the competitors had to be registered prior to the commencement of the tournament. The registered equipment was to be used until all matches were over, and no new equipment could be introduced mid-match. Furthermore, at the conclusion of each match, the equipment that was used had to be immediately returned to the tournament committee for renewed examination, and all competitors found to have broken the rules would have their participation rights in the tournament revoked.

Due to the fact that the Pillow Sword Tournament was an event that was going to run for many consecutive days, many of the contestants would switch to equipment of different attributes based on their opponents' past performances. For example, if their opponent were adept in using fire-attribute magic, then they could embed Red Brown Gems into all of their protective equipment to improve their resistance against fire. Generally speaking, the wealthy noble contestants would always place quite well in the tournament as they could purchase different equipment at will in accordance with the data that they gathered on their opponents, and that was why Erwin had been rather hesitant when purchasing his staff.

This new rule that had been released was undoubtedly detrimental to the noble competitors, so there were many vocal complaints raised against the introduction of the rule. Of course, there were also many competitors of common descent, such as the competitors from academies like Seaford Academy, celebrating this rule change.

Compared with past editions of the Pillow Sword Tournament, it could be said that this was a fairer tournament.

Guards from the royal palace were stationed throughout the entire lobby area for the contestants, and only those who had registered themselves at the tournament committee were allowed to enter the lobby. As a token to indicate that their identities had been verified by the tournament committee, all of the registered contestants received silver iris sword badges.

The iris sword badges had been custom made for all of the contestants, and they were round, silver badges, upon which were engraved blooming, four-petaled iris flowers. At the center of the iris flower's petals hovered a thin sword that gave off a purple gleam, and the name of the owner of the badge would flash on the blade of the sword. After that, a number, namely 128, would flash over the blade. That was the total number of contestants. Following the conclusion of each round of competition, the contestants would be able to take their badges to the tournament committee to have their rankings updated. The number "29" was engraved intricately onto the back of each badge, reflecting the fact that this was the 29th edition of the Pillow Sword Tournament.

Thus, the badges had great commemorative value, and many of the contestants who had participated in past editions of the Pillow Sword Tournament would keep their badges as souvenirs, both as a reminder of their past glory, as well as to show to their children and grandchildren to motivate them. 

In order to participate in the Pillow Sword Tournament, a contestant had to fulfill a set of specific criteria. Firstly, they had to be a student recommended by an advanced academy, and secondly, they couldn't be over 24 years of age.

Among the officials and nobles in the spectator stands, all of the ones who had participated in the Pillow Sword Tournament in the past would be sure to wear their iris sword badges. Even King Cameron himself was wearing his iris sword badge, which was from the 19th edition of the Pillow Sword Tournament, where he secured a placing of 16th. Over the course of many years, this had already become a tradition.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There were still a couple of days left until the commencement of the tournament, yet some of the contestants were already arriving at the registration areas situated at the eastern and western entrances of the venue.

"Are you registered?" Larwood asked as he took a glance at Erwin, who had just emerged from a tournament committee tent.

"I am. They're really strict and careful about everything, so it was a real hassle," Erwin complained as he thought back to how every single piece of equipment he was carrying had been meticulously examined, then registered and stored away. It had truly been quite a time-consuming process.

"Did you hear about the new rule that was released just this morning?" Larwood asked with an amused smile. "In order to counteract the new equipment registration rule, quite a few of the contestants brought a huge collection of equipment with them so that they would have a wide range to choose from during their matches. As a result, they released a new rule, stating that each contestant can only register 10 pieces of equipment, so they're completely screwed now."

"What a bunch of idiots," Erwin scoffed. "No wonder there have been such long queues of people lining up for registration these past couple of days."

"Did you bring a lot of equipment with you?" Larwood asked.

"No. I only brought the staff that I bought last time and the accessories that Professor Hawk gave to me," Erwin replied.

Larwood nodded in response, then looked up at an old pear wood board that was hanging in the contestants' tent. "Come and take a look over here. These are the matchups for today."

Erwin also raised his head to take a look, upon which he discovered that a magically annotated bracket containing all 128 of the contestants had already appeared on the wooden board. In addition to the names of the contestants, there were also other pieces of information such as when each match was projected to start, and which entrance each contestant had to go through.

Erwin quickly found his own name on the wooden board, and his opponent was someone by the name of Shaun Finnegan, whom he was completely unfamiliar with.

"Have you heard of your opponent before?" Larwood asked with a smile.

"No. What about your opponent? Do you know him?" Erwin asked as he began to search for Larwood's name on the board.

"No, but I have heard of your opponent," Larwood replied as a sly look appeared on his face.

"Who is he? Is there something special about him?" Erwin asked as he turned to Larwood with an inquisitive expression.

"I heard he's one of the top students of Pucil Academy." Larwood wanted to laugh out loud, but he was worried that Erwin would hit him.

"So I'm going to be eliminated in the first round, is that what you're saying?" Erwin chuckled.

"That's impossible! No one can compare with you when it comes to instant-release spells!" Larwood jibed.

"Piss off! Why do I have to face a tough opponent in the first round?" Erwin grumbled with a dejected expression.

"You're all done with registration, right? Chase and Kaiba are waiting for us outside," Larwood said. In reality, he was just eager to take Erwin to see what his betting odds for his match were, thereby giving him another opportunity to tease Erwin.

"Hold on, I'm still not done looking yet," Erwin said as he began to search for Lana and Princess Onean's names on the board. Coincidentally enough, Lana, Jeff, and Princess Onean had all been placed into different sections of the bracket.

"There's something a little fishy about these matchups, Larwood. Jeff, Lana, and Princess Onean are the top favorites to win the tournament, yet they've been arranged so that they won't come up against each other until the semifinals. I feel like there's a bit of foul play going on here," Erwin said with a suspicious expression.