18. Who Threatens Someone with a Knife to Gamble?
18. Who Threatens Someone with a Knife to Gamble?
To the average student, Lemnos seemed to have a far greater advantage, pressuring Atlas with the dazzling Flame Swordsmanship.
That was because Atlas, who hadn't even used his Aura Blade, appeared to be scrambling just to dodge, without properly counterattacking.
"Indeed, Lemnos is overwhelming!"
"Look at that halfling! He was so arrogant before, and now he's only running away!"
"Can't he even use an Aura Blade?!"
"Finish him, Lemnos!!"
Most of the arena was cheering for Lemnos.
That was only natural. Lemnos wasn't just any noble; he was one of the Five Pillars who stood at the center of the Empire.
Win or lose, betting on Atlas for nothing and then getting on Lemnos's bad side meant you'd suffer the entire semester, even if Atlas won.
The betting odds for the duel between Lemnos and Atlas, which had seemed so tight, had reportedly widened to a 2 to 8 ratio in Lemnos's favor by the time betting closed before the match.
A big reason for this seemed to be that Atlas, who had looked so intimidating in the hallway, appeared incredibly small once he actually entered the arena.
Liber Simore, who was there to cheer for Atlas, felt immense pressure from the atmosphere in the stands.
"Will Atlas be okay?"
"He'll win."
Liber answered Emy's question immediately.
At a glance, it looked like Lemnos was pushing relentlessly forward while Atlas was struggling just to dodge. But Liber, who had sparred with Atlas several times, could see the truth: his expression was completely relaxed, and while Lemnos seemed to be launching a furious assault, not a single effective hit had landed.
"Because Atlas is the man who beat me."
"No, I meant... if he beats Lemnos, the rest of the Five Pillars and others everywhere won't leave him alone... I was asking if he'd be okay with that..."
It was a completely different story.
An embarrassed Liber cleared his throat.
"That... I'm sure Atlas has at least... thought that far, right?"
This wasn't a duel where you broke even if you won and lost out by losing. It was a duel where you lost out whether you won or lost.
Considering he accepted it so confidently, Atlas must have had a plan, right?
—————————————
'Just you wait and see, you bastards.'
I was memorizing the faces of every single one of those guys in the stands who were calling me a halfling or saying I dodged like a cockroach.
The average students must all have poor eyesight, because they were failing to grasp how thoroughly I was humiliating Lemnos and still seemed to think he had the upper hand.
Maybe it was because I wasn't using my Aura Blade. But anyone with a bit of blade experience would know what an insult it is to face an opponent wielding an Aura Blade with nothing but a normal longsword.
I couldn't understand the spectators who still thought Lemnos was at an advantage.
Nothing had changed drastically.
Lemnos swung his Flamberge, and I dodged.
If there was a difference, it was that now, instead of just dodging...
"Your flank is open."
-Peok!!
"Keuheup!!"
The difference was that I was now slipping a fist into his openings while dodging at the same time. Every time one of his attacks missed, he took a hit. Keeping the Flame Sword active and attacking must have been draining his stamina badly, and being struck in the side, shins, wrist, and various other places, his condition was deteriorating rapidly.
"Pick it up. It's not over yet."
"Even without you telling me... I know!!"
Struck in the shin and having fallen, Lemnos picked his Flamberge back up and stood. As if answering his fighting spirit, the Flamberge blazed up, but the brilliance of its rising flames wasn't what it was at first.
Lemnos's hand lost strength, his sword dropped, and I kicked it back to him, telling him to pick it up.
The reaction from the stands was the worst. The spectators, who had assumed I was at a disadvantage only because Lemnos was swinging his Flame Sword around so flashily, seemed to be slowly noticing that the mood had turned strange.
"Pick up your sword. How many times are you going to drop it?"
"I... also know..!!"
This had already repeated several times. Every time he fell helplessly to the ground, the Flamberge's flames went out, and when he stood and reignited it, the flames only grew weaker.
The once-noisy crowd's reaction shifted as the flames weakened. It was the moment their suspicion that Lemnos might actually be losing was gradually turning into certainty.
"Your leg is open."
-Seogeok
"Uk!!"
Normally I would have been reluctant to break the tension, but this time I really did slice his exposed left calf with my longsword. If I'd followed my heart, I'd have cut the whole ankle clean off, but I held back, thinking this much was more humiliating.
It wasn't just a shallow scratch but a deep cut where the sword sank in, causing Lemnos to lose strength in his leg and immediately drop to his left knee.
"Heok.. heok.."
Edgar Lemnos was nearing his limit. Only the faintest flames, as if about to go out at any moment, flickered on the Flamberge.
The thick arm bracing against the ground trembled like an aspen leaf, and blood was seeping heavily from the deep gash in his left calf.
And there I stood before him, without a single drop of sweat, taking a relaxed stance as if telling him to come at me anytime.
"As if I'd fall to... only this much...!!!"
Even though he probably couldn't put any strength into one leg, he somehow desperately managed to stand. He looked like he was standing, but in reality, he was supporting his body on only his right leg.
He managed to raise his sword somehow, but with only one leg and a violently trembling sword, it was impossible for him to execute a proper technique.
"Heuaaaaat!!!"
I smoothly dodged a yawn-inducing overhead strike, completely dulled compared to the sharpness he'd shown at the start, and kicked his right leg—the only one still supporting him—out from under him.
"Keuaaghh!!!"
Lemnos tumbled miserably onto the sandy floor.
How many times had he fallen now... Lemnos's body was filthy, covered in dust everywhere.
I could see Lemnos's body trembling and shivering where he lay face down on the sand.
It seemed like it was about time to end it.
At that moment, Lemnos slammed the sandy arena floor with his fist with all his might.
"Why... why can't I... beat you..!!!"
He must have been furious at being slowly taunted and gnawed away, because his voice was shaking violently.
"I poured my entire life into the sword!! I can pride myself on having tried harder than anyone... What difference is there between you and me that the gap is this huge?!"
That cry, spurred by desperation, was akin to a scream.
Russell had undergone harsh successor training, but Lemnos had likely trained even harder, not less.
Having always thought he was the strongest among his peers and that he was the best, Lemnos couldn't believe this situation.
Lemnos hadn't just lost.
I had won using only brawling and ordinary swordsmanship with a longsword, not even once using my Aura Blade.
For Lemnos, who had brought his family's treasured sword and even used their Secret Swordsmanship, it would have felt like his entire life had been denied..
"Should I tell you what the difference is?"
But, you know.
From my point of view, it doesn't look like you really gave it your all?
"Saying crap like that is the first difference."
This might sound like an old man's rant, but back in my day, when I was Edgar's age, even after achieving accomplishments beyond my years, I was still madly swinging my sword in the Knight Order.
It was all effort I made to grow taller, admittedly, but there's not a shred of shame in the fact that I pushed myself to improve my skills.
'That's just how this world is made.'
If you possess just three things—a bit of talent, desperate obsessive effort, and the ability to justify yourself—then even when you hit a wall, you can go anywhere.
But only a very small handful of people realize that.
"You poured your whole life into the sword? Really? Then what's with that pathetic king-of-the-hill nonsense? Why is someone who claims to want to move forward looking back and feeling satisfied?"
It's already hard enough just looking forward and running, but look at yourself now. You got a little stronger among your peers and got cocky, strutting around all puffed up... If you want to become stronger, then you should have spent that time doing more drills. Your mindset is rotten."
"...Are you saying that you'll judge the worth of my efforts, you bastard!!"
"You might not understand right now..."
But once your boiling emotions settle and you look back, you'll understand on your own what I mean: that you've hit a wall, are looking down instead of up, and are sighing in relief.
"Think it over carefully in bed."
-Kung!!!
Immediately after, my fist drove into Lemnos's abdomen, and his body, which had barely managed to stand, flew through the air for a long while before slamming into the wall.
Just like he had flown down the hallway yesterday.
Lemnos's body, collapsed and limp, no longer moved.
It was my victory.
-Edgar Lemnos, rendered unable to continue. Therefore, the winner of the duel is Atlas Nemea.
The broadcast followed, declaring me the winner, and I strained my ears in anticipation of the victory fanfare that was about to erupt.
"Aaaaargh!!! My money!!!"
"This is a scam!!!"
"I dumped my entire student loan here and whaaat??"
All around me, the gamblers who had bet on Lemnos were screaming.
I had won, but the shouts of 'why did you win' were all blaming me—yet they were nothing but pleasant.
This was the victory fanfare I'd expected.
It's music to my ears, so cry more. I remember every single thing you bastards said to me during the duel.
Who said you had to gamble? Did anyone threaten you with a knife?
————————————————
The moment I stepped out of the arena after the duel, the first person to greet me was a beaming Senior Andy.
Didn't he say he bet his whole month's Academy salary? I missed how far the odds had gone at the end, but he seemed to have won a lot.
"Aha~ As expected, your skills haven't gone anywhere! No way the Imperial Knights would lose to some young master of the Five Pillars!!"
"Looks like you won a lot, so buy me a drink sometime, yeah."
"If I go into a tavern with you, we'll get kicked out, you know."
-Peok!
I snapped and immediately hammered Andy in the abdomen.
Whether it's Senior Andy or Lemnos, if I want to hit them in the jaw I have to raise my arm with all my strength, so the abdomen is easier to hit.
"Keuaaghh!!"
"Sunbae, you'll get hit if you say things like that."
"You already hit me!!"
"That doesn't even count as a hit."
The incident where I got kicked out of a tavern actually happened after I became an adult, so it pisses me off even more.
"Eek, then I'll be off... I'll buy you that drink later!"
As soon as he heard footsteps coming from beyond the hallway, Senior Andy smoothly vanished in another direction.
First of all, the fact that Andy-sunbae and I have a senior-junior relationship is still a secret.
"Atlas!!"
The ones who appeared from beyond the hallway were Liber and Emy.
I don't know what he was so happy about, but Liber was waving his hands wildly with an utterly excited face.
"To not even use your Aura Blade against that Flame Sword... that was amazing! It was so entertaining watching the other guys sigh every time you gained the advantage..! You really should have seen it!"
"You heard the high praise at the end. I'm satisfied with that."
"Right, the half-swording you pulled mid-way was unexpected too. That's a technique they don't teach anymore these days since you can't use it with an Aura Blade."
"Lemnos probably didn't learn it. So it worked well."
"Your way of handling the Flame Sword was amazing too! Since a half-baked Aura Blade just gets eaten by the Flame Sword, the approach of not matching blades at all—no one but someone of your caliber could even attempt it."
Liber, who usually walked around with such a poised expression, had his eyes shining like a child's as he reviewed the techniques I'd used in today's duel and gave his commentary.
'Right, he loved this kind of thing.'
Emy's expression was a little dark; I wondered if he had kept fighting in that condition.
Liber likes stories of heroes.
He likes stories of facing adversity head-on, fighting fairly, and winning.
And because he also likes inserting himself as the protagonist, he likes fighting as well.
That's also why his personality is to 'challenge me to a duel if you have a problem'.
It's kind of embarrassing that he likes me this much.
I'll keep him company until my appointment with Lucia tonight.
————————————————
It was a refreshing morning.
I'd won the duel, and since all the cowardly bastards would shut up now, there was no worry about the disciplinary committee and no more talk of expulsion.
After finishing my morning workout, as I headed to the Academy, I saw students everywhere holding a copy of the newspaper and reading it.
It was rare to see the newspaper being read that much.
Was the result of yesterday's duel splashed on the front page?
Curious, I bought a copy.
"What? Duel is invalid... Atlas, guilty of foul play in the duel, disciplinary committee...?"
Indeed, the newspaper had the details of the duel written large on the front page. But the content was very different from what I had in mind.
"Ha... So this is how it comes out, huh..."
I shredded the newspaper to pieces right then and there.
These guys, I'm really not going to leave them alone.
The torn scraps of newspaper scattered into the air.
The instigators who wrote this article will be torn apart just like this.