Awkwardness

My next match was against Lucia from the Department of Magic.

She had her round of 16 match before mine in the morning, so I know her face at least.

At the time, I was preoccupied with other things, so I didn’t get a good look at Lucia fighting.

The only thing I remember is her blasting magic at the end to eliminate her opponent.

Thinking about her using magic, I was planning to make cover with beanstalks, when Lucia appeared on the arena.

I wore a puzzled expression as she floated strange-looking boxes around her, keeping them by her side.

Lucia didn’t have those in her first match? The Department of Magic is famous for using various artifacts.

So, did she bring a special artifact for this match?

I narrowed my eyes and tried to guess the purpose of the boxes in my head.

,Hello, you’re Ross, right? The top student of the Department of Combat.”

At the sudden greeting, I reflexively nodded.

,That’s right.”

Lucia smiled meaningfully, as if my answer was funny, and gave an incomprehensible reply.

,Thanks to you, I was able to become the top student too. Thank you.”

,…?”

Today was the first time I had even heard the name Lucia, and it was the first time we had talked.

There’s no way we’re close enough for me to receive such meaningless thanks.

It wasn’t very pleasant for a stranger to act like they knew me.

,Hey, do you know me?”

Lucia only smiled silently at my question, so I scratched the back of my head.

I could tell that my expression was becoming awkward.

It felt a bit too uncomfortable to dismiss it as a simple provocation.

In the first place, is there any reason to make such a provocation in a situation where we’re strangers?

―The 3rd match of the round of 8 for the first years will now begin!

Regardless of our atmosphere, the announcer did his part.

At the announcer’s words signaling the start of the match, I raised the Spear of Destruction high towards Lucia.

Lucia, pointing her staff at me with a relaxed expression, somehow felt like a villain hiding a trump card.

It felt even more like a villain because of her meaningless words.

The cheers of the audience began along with the countdown.

Soon, at the announcer’s shout signaling the start of the match, Lucia swung her staff.

The unidentified boxes around her moved here and there as if being disassembled, then suddenly combined into one mass.

When that mass revealed itself as a giant mechanical golem, the excited voices of the audience cheering as if the arena would collapse could be heard.

The appearance of the giant mechanical golem instantly brought the atmosphere of the arena to its peak.

The cheers echoing in the air stung my skin.

I narrowed my eyes and carefully observed the golem that appeared before me.

So, this was the identity of the awkward feeling.

There were several students in the Department of Magic with talents for golems or dolls, so summoning a golem wasn’t that special, but the golem in front of me was different.

Its huge size, the red light in the center of its face.

Features resembling a one-eyed giant and a cross-shaped hand on its left arm.

This was no ordinary golem. It was the Imperial Palace Guardian Golem that appears in the later parts of the novel, guarding the underground passage of the Imperial Palace.

Therefore, I couldn’t help but fall into doubt.

Why does she have this?

This golem was made by a magician belonging to the Imperial Family. In other words, it’s Imperial property.

Owning this would be impossible unless you’re a member of the Imperial Family….

,Are you a member of the Imperial Family?”

Lucia gave me a look as if to say, ,What are you talking about?”

She certainly doesn’t seem to be a member of the Imperial Family, judging by the fact that she doesn’t have the gray hair characteristic of the Imperial Family.

Then it was an even more incomprehensible situation. What way would that girl have to own the golem?

Did she sweet-talk some stupid member of the Imperial Family to get it?

,Are you flustered by the appearance of a golem you’ve never seen before? If you surrender now, I’ll kindly not attack you. Now, hurry up and say you surrender.”

I let out a hollow laugh at Lucia’s kind offer. The thought that someone could be so arrogant with just one golem came to my mind.

It’s not even an annoying magic, and she wants me to surrender against such a huge golem…. I scratched my head and asked.

,Are you sure it’s okay if this gets destroyed?”

,What?”

Lucia twisted her lips as if she was dumbfounded by my words.

I was genuinely worried, but all I got in return was a cold reaction close to contempt.

,I heard the rumors that you’re crazy, but I guess it’s true.”

With an expression that she didn’t want to waste any more time, Lucia swung her staff, and the giant golem broke the floor of the arena and approached me.

Kung―! Kung―! Kung―!

Feeling the vibrations of the floor, I drew out the power of destruction that was sleeping within the spear.

The spearhead turned red, and a subtle pulsation spread from the tip of the spear.

―Ah, player Ross! He’s not moving at all! Has his body frozen due to the golem’s enormous size?

I let out a hollow laugh at the announcer’s words that suddenly came to my ears.

Swaaaaaek――!

The golem that approached me threw a huge fist.

With a huge sonic boom, the bangs covering my forehead fluttered here and there in the wind.

The audience screamed as they saw me standing still until then, but I simply thrust the Destruction Spear, which had turned red, against the fist coming towards me.

The collapse that started from the golem’s arm with the ,destruction” contained in that simple thrust reached the core inside quickly, as if soaked in water.

It was only about a second at most.

The arena was instantly filled with silence at the sight of the golem collapsing as if its whole body was collapsing.

,You should have used magic instead. Then it would have been a bit difficult.”

Debris poured down on Lucia, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression.

A few seconds later, the announcer barely regained his senses and shouted as Lucia was summoned out of the arena due to the impact.

,The winner is the top student of the Department of Combat! It’s Ross!”

The audience, who had finally come to their senses at the announcer’s shout, grasped the situation and began to pour out tremendous cheers.

I waved my hand slightly at the cheers of the audience, who were screaming so loudly that I was inadvertently worried that they might get vocal cord nodules.

The audience was going crazy as if they were going to rush into the arena at my performance of smashing the giant golem with one blow.

They’re probably the people who bet on me.

On the other hand, the gambling tickets that were placed on Lucia have now become useless pieces of paper.

Those papers escaped from the hands of the gamblers and flew onto the arena.

As the papers poured down like snow and touched the arena’s barrier, they instantly turned to flames.

As if fireworks had been set off, the embers created by the extinguished gambling tickets fell onto the arena as if to illuminate the winner.

The cheers of the audience grew even louder at the sight.

Since this is my second match, I somehow have a brazen confidence. This time, I raised my spear high into the sky with a cool expression.

It was an action conscious of Luna, who must be cheering for me somewhere.

My name echoed again in the arena at my actions.

I don’t know if I still don’t understand the situation, or if my sense of reality has disappeared. I gave Lucia, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression from outside the arena, a faint smile and waved my hand before leaving the arena.

That must be expensive, won’t she get scolded by her parents?

***

Among the many spectators, Roel, who came to cheer for her younger brother’s match, shouted Ross’s name enthusiastically along with the other spectators.

,Ross, you’re the best!!! To finish it in one blow, you’re really my brother!”

,That spear is a scam!”

When Flavia tackled him as usual, Roel shook his head as if he had been waiting for it.

,No, it’s a scam because the owner handles it well! I couldn’t have done that either!”

,Really~?”

When Flavia stared at him with suspicious eyes, Roel subtly turned his head to avoid her gaze.

,Well, it’s possible….”

Rosalyn, who was sitting in the back seat at the two’s banter, laughed and shouted to Ross, who was leaving the arena.

,Good job, Ross~!!!”

,You’re the best, Ross!”

Roel, who was shouting after Rosalyn, suddenly realized that Bella, who was sitting quietly next to him like Ilia, had an unusual expression and subtly looked at her.

,Bella, are you okay? You don’t look good. Are you sick somewhere?”

When Roel asked with a worried voice, Bella gave a soft smile as if nothing had happened.

Just as Bella was about to open her mouth to answer, Flavia suddenly jumped into the conversation.

,Of course she can’t be okay~ That expensive thing turned into scrap metal in one blow. How can she not be hurting~?”

,Huh? What are you talking about?”

Roel turned his head with a bewildered expression at Flavia, who was laughing while giggling. But Flavia didn’t seem to have any intention of resolving his doubts, as she covered her lips with her hand and laughed, hoho.

,Huh~? No, it’s just that~ watching someone do something stupid and fail in one shot is so~ funny~ Roel doesn’t have to worry about it~”

Roel scratched the back of his head, not understanding the meaning of Flavia’s words, who was deliberately making a loud ,poop” sound and laughing as if she wanted him to hear.

Roel, who was caught between Bella and Flavia in the strange atmosphere, was looking around when Bella got up from her seat with a cold expression and said.

,I don’t feel well…. I’ll get up first.”

Roel hesitated and tried to get up from his seat to grab Bella. But Flavia pinched his side hard to stop him from getting up.

,Why?”

,Leave her alone. She needs to learn her lesson.”

,Why are you suddenly doing this?”

,There’s something between girls~ Don’t worry about it. Oh, I should give Ross a gift? No. I should match him with our Luna this time.”

Roel, who was still thinking that he couldn’t understand the war of nerves between women, eventually let out a deep sigh at Flavia’s appearance, who was giggling as if she was having fun.