Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Mira’s third day in the oracle’s room began just like the previous one, with Alma waking her up. They had breakfast together, then had a lengthy conversation over coffee until Esmeralda arrived to drag Alma away to work.

Soon things settled down, only to become active again.

That was to get things ready to watch the continuation of the card game tournament. Nothing was going to get in the way of them watching together this time, and they were determined to make it the best experience ever.

“Alright, this should be good enough.”
“Yes, it’s perfect!”
“It’s ready meow!”

There was a cooler box filled with drinks, a large assortment of snacks, and a huge pile of cards, ready to quickly put together a new card inspired by the tournament plays. It was hard to find anything lacking there.

‘And now, it’s finally time for the first quarterfinal match to begin!’

Just as they finished there, the tournament was also starting. Everyone quickly sat down on the couch, their drink of choice in one hand, and watched attentively.

All of the players’ passion was palpable, this went beyond just a mere card game. And that extended to the viewers, who had their eyes glued to the screen.
The games were decided in a best of five system.
Nirvana’s representative Friede, who Alma was rooting for, played in the third game, winning it three to one.
A short break later, the last quarterfinal game began.

“That boy… Hmm…I feel like I’ve seen him before…”

The two players took the stage. One of them was a boy, who looked oddly familiar to Mira, making her look closer at the screen.

“Are you sure? Is he someone you know?”

That produced a barrage of questions from Iris, who seemed excited about the idea before explaining who he was.

“He’s Marian, Alispharius’ representative.”

When Iris explained that, an old encounter quickly resurfaced in Mira’s mind.

“Ohh, right! Marian! I had no idea he was good enough to partake in such a big tournament!”

Marian was a boy she had met in a cardshop, during her visit to Alispharius’ capital city Ridel. He owned the Valentin of the Shadows card, and was clearly recognized as the best player amongst the other boys he was with.

Now it was obvious that his skill was enough to put him ahead in an international tournament. That came as a surprise to Mira, as she recalled their meeting, while also making her proud to see how far he had come.

“It’s so cool that you know one of the top players of the tournament! How did you two meet?!”

In Iris’ view, the best players were just as big celebrities as rank A adventurers, so she was really curious about Mira’s knowledge of Marian.

“Well, when I was…”

The live audience cheered loudly as the match began, and Mira related how she met Marian, while obviously cheering him on as well. Her support seemed to reach him, as he won overwhelmingly and advanced on the tournament.

A few matches later and the last semi-final game came. This time it was Alma’s favorite Friede, against Mira’s favorite Marian.

“Now I really want to cheer for both sides…”

Mira’s story had left some impact on Iris, leading to her wanting Marian to win as well. So in the end she cheered both sides on.

“Good, keep going like that.”

Meanwhile Mira was fully on Marian’s side, almost crushing the glass and cupcake in her hands as she watched.

It came down to one game deciding match in the end, with both sides carefully playing trying to sway things in their favor, but one player had the upper hand.

“And that’s it, incredible!”

It was Marian, who fully exploited his advantage. After a complex and elaborate play, he created a small opening in Friede’s defense, completely taking over.
Friede also knew he could come back from that, so he accepted defeat and Marian advanced to the finals.

“Yes, that was a magnificent play!”

Mira constantly commented like that, even if she had no clue what Marian had actually done. His skill was simply that impressive. Either way, Marian had won, and that was all she cared for.

She celebrated like it was her own victory, and the hope of seeing him win the whole tournament grew.

There was another break, for around fifteen minutes, after which the game to determine third place was played.

Friede won that one, having lost to Marian earlier. Still that meant that Nirvana’s representative would get to stand on the winner’s podium at the end, which would make Alma happy.

Five minutes later the final game began.

Unlike the previous rounds, this time it was a best of one. They would play one match and that decided the winner.

Marian’s opponent was Atlantis’ representative, Tokitsune, who played with a deck of warriors that emphasized attribute effects. Meanwhile Marian’s deck contained a well-rounded mix of Paladins and Death Knights, which worked against any type of enemy deck.

But as soon as the match began, a commotion stirred through the audience.

Both players had deployed their starting units on the table in preparation for the starting signal, and oddly enough, Marian had not deployed a Paladin or a Death Knight. He had placed a summoner, Danbulf the Army.

‘In a shocking turn of events, Marian has decided to use a fully new deck for the final match!’
‘He already proved the worth of his staple Paladin and Death Knight deck, so I really wasn’t anticipating him debuting a new deck here. But I’d say that his opponent Tokitsune is the one who’s the most shocked by this.’
‘I’m with you on that. He even tried a preemptive counterattack starting with Knight Hunter Samu, but a summoner makes that card only half as useful.’
‘I have high hopes for this match seeing such an exciting beginning. These two players are definitely the best in the continent! I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us!’

The casters were also getting excited, and Mira raised her voice for another reason.

“What! He didn’t have that card before, so he got it since then?! And he’s using it on stage like this… Good job Marian!”

Obtaining cards of legendary rarity was not an easy feat, but Marian had managed to get Danbulf’s card, and was displaying it front and center in the final match. That gave Mira another reason to cheer him on, as he had the chance of showing the world the true power of a summoner deck as well.

“I’m so surprised. I didn’t think he would switch decks like that!”

Iris was also beside herself, realizing that the match was going in a completely different direction than she had anticipated, leaning forward to watch more closely.

“Meow! That card is powerful!”

The First Lieutenant was also surprised to see Danbulf’s card, followed by astonishment seeing what it did. He also realized that a summoner deck really needed strong summoner cards to work properly.

Other spellcaster decks were strong when multiple caster units were deployed, but summoners needed to deploy as many summons as possible, so to free up space, it was best to have only a small number of very strong summoners.

The three of them thought of different things as they watched, but they were still far more interested than in previous matches.