Suspicious Defeat

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m considered quite strong at the academy.

Despite appearances, I’ve been through real battles and hardships in the harsh north.

Clang!

“Urgh…!”

“That’s it!”

Well, to make a long story short, I could easily handle ordinary academy students, especially fellow first-years.

“First-year Kyo Wentos wins!”

My opponent, who was defeated after taking a hit to the wrist from my wooden sword, and I bowed to each other.

With this, I advanced to the round of 32. Due to the outdoor concert scheduled later, the theater was packed with people, and applause poured out.

Hmm, experiencing victory amid such abundant applause isn’t a bad feeling.

I waved my hand lightly in response to the support.

…Actually, I hadn’t known this before, but the winners of the two matches that took place before mine had done the same.

I looked toward where Riel was sitting in the audience and our eyes met.

Riel was sitting with others in comfortable seats with a good view of the arena.

She was sitting in the premium seats I had reserved, beaming with a big smile and waving her hand, so I smiled back and waved at her.

Looking back, I’m glad I reserved those seats. I didn’t expect it would be this crowded.

“Then continuing on… the next match is…!”

Today is scheduled to cover as many matches from the round of 64 to the round of 32 as possible, but since the round of 64 alone requires 32 matches, there isn’t much time.

Once finished, contestants need to leave the stage quickly.

…That’s what happened in all the matches before mine.

In many ways, I’m glad I wasn’t the first competitor. If I had been, I might have been embarrassed.

With more than 20 matches still remaining after my match, I headed to the audience seats.

Even now, two unknown students were fiercely exchanging sword blows on the stage.

“Congratulations!!”

As soon as I reached the seats, Riel immediately congratulated me.

“It’s just the round of 32, not a big deal.”

“Hehe, still, congratulations are in order.”

I smiled back at the beaming Riel, and briefly looked around the audience area.

Emilia was anxiously adjusting her hat, seemingly concerned about the attention from those around her, while Senior Iris was seriously observing the match unfolding on the stage.

They’re all strong competitors who passed the preliminaries. Senior Iris must be learning something from watching.

I decided to sit down in the seat I had secured next to Riel and watch the matches.

“The next match is…”

After about an hour, as the round of 64 was nearing its end:

“The next match is between second-year Balder Nolan and first-year Allen Ludwig!”

A familiar name reached my ears.

“Oh, it’s Balder’s turn. He’s quite strong.”

“Do you know him?”

Emilia responded to Senior Iris’s murmur.

“He uses a greatsword style that’s his own modification of the kingdom’s military swordsmanship. He’s known as one of the strongest among the second-years.”

It’s common to slightly adapt swordsmanship depending on the weapon, but if Senior Iris says he’s strong, he must be quite skilled.

Indeed, the second-year senior who came up on stage had a build at least two heads taller than Allen.

A gray-haired man with an imposing physique stood on the stage, holding a wooden sword considerably larger than an ordinary one in one hand.

…A wooden sword that size, considering the handle length, seems designed to be held with two hands, but he’s just holding it with one.

That means he’s not only big in stature but also very strong.

In contrast, Allen came up with a wooden sword and a large wooden shield.

The shield is a wise choice.

Magic swordsmen rarely carry shields because they need one hand free to cast magic.

At most, they might wear a buckler about the size of a pot lid attached to their wrist?

But the Mushin Festival’s martial arts division prohibits the use of magic for pure martial combat, so using a shield instead of magic isn’t a bad strategy.

Cheers calling out Balder’s name could be heard among the student audience.

As Senior Iris said, he seems to be quite well-known among the second-year students.

“Then… begin the match!”

With the referee’s command, the two clashed.

“Heh…”

Balder Nolan sneered as he watched Allen Ludwig calmly block his heavily swung sword with a shield.

After exchanging a few sword strikes, he knew. This guy’s swordsmanship is flashy but lacks substance.

Balder, who had practiced many times with Iris Likenair, known as the strongest second-year who used the same swordsmanship, could tell.

Allen, after blocking Balder’s sword with his shield, thrust his sword, looking for an opening.

“Amateur! Junior!”

Balder lightly avoided the thrust and, maintaining his momentum, spun his body to deliver a sword strike.

Seeing this, Allen was alarmed and hastily blocked it with his shield.

Thwack!!

A loud sound rang out as the wooden sword hit the shield forcefully, and Allen’s body was pushed sideways about three steps.

Allen grimaced as if his shield hand was numb.

“I’ll finish this!”

Not losing his momentum, Balder raised his sword high and brought it down.

A strike that would end the match with a KO if it hit.

But Allen, who had suddenly snapped to attention with a “hah,” hastily raised his shield and flung himself backward.

Clang!

Balder’s sword hit Allen’s shield hard as he was leaping backward.

Allen barely avoided the attack but ended up falling on his backside.

Light laughter erupted from the audience, but ignoring it, Allen quickly got up from his position to prepare for the next attack.

“You’re impressively good at running away.”

“……”

Despite Balder’s light provocation, Allen seemed to ignore it and threw away the shield he was holding.

The wooden shield that had just blocked Balder’s sword was already cracked.

“It’s not unusable just because it’s a bit cracked…?”

To Balder’s questioning voice, Allen silently gripped his sword with both hands.

“Ah, I see. Planning to put everything into attack? I really like that kind of approach.”

Balder also gripped his sword with both hands and took a stance.

“Come on, attack me.”

Allen charged in with his sword held in both hands and unleashed a flurry of sword strikes.

It was truly a storm-like barrage of attacks.

It was impressive enough to draw “oohs” from the audience.

However, Iris’s expression as she watched the match was not good at all.

“I can’t stand watching this.”

Senior Iris frowned and expressed her dissatisfaction.

Wondering what she meant, I looked at Senior Iris, and she continued:

“It looks flashy on the surface, but there’s not a single substantial attack. Every single one would just make you feel a bit numb if you got hit, nothing more.”

She grumbled, muttering something like “To think they’re cheering after being deceived by such attacks…”

Indeed, even from my perspective, his attacks were fast and flashy but not at all threatening.

Even his opponent, Senior Balder, was blocking each attack with his sword while smiling.

After unleashing dozens of such attacks, Allen stopped and caught his breath as if exhausted.

It was the moment when Balder, having blocked all of Allen’s attacks, raised his sword to move.

“Huh…?”

Senior Iris’s surprised voice, and I felt the same.

Senior Balder suddenly clutched his head and staggered in place.

“What’s going on? Are the effects of the attacks hitting him belatedly…?”

I heard someone murmuring behind me.

That’s nonsense. How could the impact come later after blocking such weak attacks?

“Balder’s staggering from just that? What on earth…?”

Senior Iris seemed to share the same thoughts as she said this.

But regardless of our confusion, time continued to flow, and Allen, who had snapped back to attention with a “hah,” didn’t miss the opportunity and charged at Senior Balder with his sword raised.

Clang!!

With a loud sound, Senior Balder dropped his sword and fell to his knees.

“That’s it! First-year Allen Ludwig wins!”

With the referee’s declaration, cheers erupted in the arena.

Well, from the audience’s perspective, it was a reversal victory with flashy attacks, so it’s natural for them to cheer.

But there were a few spectators with very suspicious expressions.

Like me and Senior Iris.

“No way…”

“That happened from those attacks earlier?”

“Was there actually power behind those flashy moves? Did we misjudge?”

Such voices could be heard here and there in murmurs.

“Then the next match is…”

But with the referee’s announcement of the next match, those voices were quickly buried.

The matches continued afterward.

The round of 64 finished without a break, and there was a short rest period before the round of 32 began.

For reference, Senior Iris naturally finished her round of 64 match with an overwhelming victory.

Balder Nolan, after finishing his match, had come outside and was sitting on a bench in the park.

“Damn it… what the hell…?”

The opponent’s skill wasn’t much. He had heard his opponent was a magic swordsman, but his swordsmanship level was slightly below that of a low-ranking knight.

In reality, his flashy-looking swordsmanship only had enough power to be a bit painful if hit, and this was true even when blocking the dozens of consecutive attacks he used in the latter half.

Rather, the attacks were so weak that Balder wondered if Allen’s hands might be hurting more from the impact on his sword.

So when Allen finished his attack and was catching his breath, Balder was about to subdue him lightly and end the match.

Suddenly, an intense headache and dizziness struck him.

At first, he wondered if he had been hit somewhere wrong.

But even if he had been hit wrong by such attacks, it shouldn’t have caused dizziness to this extent. Balder was also a trained warrior.

Then was it magic? But he couldn’t feel any movement of magical power.

In the end, Balder couldn’t move due to the mysterious headache and dizziness, and he lost by dropping his sword against Allen’s full-power attack.

“What on earth was that…?”

But that wasn’t why Balder was troubled.

Sudden headaches or dizziness… well, these could happen by chance.

He could have dismissed it as “I must have failed to manage my condition properly…”

But when the headache and dizziness came, he heard a sound:

‘Hee hee hee…’

A laughing sound like that of a child playing a prank, which plunged Balder into doubt.