The Suspicious Defeat
I had always said this before, but I ranked among the stronger students at the academy.
Even in this harsh northern territory, I had honed my skills through real battles.
Ka-bam!
“Ugh...!”
“Enough!”
Well, to be honest, I was just an ordinary academy student. And since we were both first-years, it would have been an easy match for me.
“Victory for first-year Kyou Ventos!”
We bowed our heads in respect to the opponent whose wrist I had struck to knock him out.
This brought us to the second round. Because of the outdoor performance scheduled next, thunderous applause erupted from the crowded stadium.
It wasn’t a bad feeling to savor victory surrounded by so many cheers.
I waved my hand lightly in response to the fans.
...Truth be told, I hadn’t known it at the time, but the victors of the two matches I had watched earlier had all done the same.
I looked toward Riel in the spectator seats and our eyes met.
The arena was in clear view, and Riel sat in the comfortable seats nearby with the others.
Seated in the reserved upper box I had arranged, she was smiling brightly and waving at me, so I smiled back and waved as well.
Even now, after all this time, I’m glad I reserved those seats. I never imagined it would get this packed.
“Next match...!”
The schedule called for all 64-to-32 matches today. With thirty-two matches already behind me, time was short.
As soon as it ended, we had to hurry off the stage.
...My own match had been just like that.
It was fortunate that the first one wasn’t mine. If it had been, I would have looked like an idiot.
Still over twenty matches left after mine, I headed back to the stands.
On stage, two nameless students were clashing swords fiercely.
“Congratulations!!”
As soon as I reached the seats, Riel greeted me with cheers.
“You’ve only advanced to the second round. Why the fuss.”
“Hehe, still, you have to celebrate when you win.”
Smiling at her bright grin, I returned the gesture and glanced around the stands.
Emilia looked anxious, tugging her cap down nervously, while senior Iris watched the fight on stage with a serious expression.
They were all elite students who had passed the preliminaries. Iris would surely gain something from watching them closely.
I sat beside Riel to watch the next match.
“Next match is...”
About an hour passed, and the 64-to-32 rounds were entering the later stages.
“Next match: second-year Valder Nolan versus first-year Alan Ludwig!”
The name rang a bell.
“Oh, it’s Valder’s turn. Pretty strong guy, huh?”
“Know him?”
Emilia was the one who reacted to Iris’s quiet mutter.
“He uses a swordsmanship style that tweaks the standard Kingdom Military Swordsmanship. He’s a known strong player even among second-years.”
Switching sword techniques by weapon was common, but if senior Iris considered him strong, there was no doubt he was skilled.
Indeed, the second-year on stage had twice the bulk of Alan’s build, with a massive grey head of hair.
The man with a neck broader than a normal one gripped a giant wooden practice sword in one hand, standing with confident swagger.
...That neck meant the grip was long, so I figured he’d be using both hands, but here he was, holding it one-handed.
That said something about his size and strength.
In contrast, Alan carried a large wooden shield on top of his neck.
Smart choice.
Magicians rarely lifted shields with both hands; at best they wore a tiny bucket-sized buckler on the wrist.
But since this was a pure martial arts tournament with no magic allowed, using a shield wasn’t a bad idea.
Cheers for “Valder” rose from the student audience.
Just as Iris had said, he was a name known among second-years.
“Begin the match!”
The two clashed with the referee’s signal.
“Hah...”
Valder Nolan laughed mockingly as he watched Alan calmly block his powerful swing with the shield.
I had seen it a few times. This guy’s sword was flashy but lacked substance.
Because I had sparred with Iris, the academy’s top second-year, I knew Valder’s technique well.
After blocking Alan’s attack with the shield, he looked for an opening and lunged.
“Sloppy! Junior!”
Alan dodged the thrust lightly and used the momentum to spin and strike back.
Surprised, Alan hurriedly raised the shield to block.
Clang!
The massive neck slammed the shield with a loud, resounding crack, sending Alan stumbling three steps sideways.
Alan grimaced, his hand gripping the shield sore.
“Impressive!”
Valder pressed the attack, swinging high with the sword.
If it connected, it would be a clean knockout.
But Alan, sharp and quick, raised the shield and leaped backward.
Clang!
Valder’s sword struck Alan’s shield hard as the boy flew back.
Alan barely avoided the blow, but his rear hit the ground with a thud.
Light laughter spread through the audience, but Alan ignored it and scrambled up to prepare for the next strike.
“Man, he’s really good at dodging.”
“......”
Valder’s light provocation, but Alan, unfazed, hurled the shield he held.
The wooden shield he had just blocked Valder’s sword with already had a crack.
“Huh, so what if it’s cracked? Not like I can’t use it...?”
Alan said nothing, gripping his sword tightly with both hands.
“Ah, I see. You’re all-in on the attack, huh? I love that kind of thing.”
Valder adopted the same two-handed grip and stance.
“Go ahead. Attack.”
Alan charged forward with both hands on the sword, unleashing a torrent of strikes.
It was like a storm of slashing.
Gasps of admiration rose from the crowd.
But Iris’s expression was far from pleased.
“Unbelievable.”
Iris scowled and muttered.
“What do you mean?” I asked, turning to her.
She continued, “Looks flashy on the surface, but there’s not a single effective attack. Every one of them hurts a little but has zero power.”
“Even I’m grumbling about this,” Iris added under her breath, “just watching someone get hit like this and cheer anyway...”
As I watched, the strikes were fast and showy but gave no real threat.
Valder, the senior opponent, blocked each one with a relaxed smile.
After dozens of attacks, Alan finally stopped, breathing heavily where he stood.
It was the moment Valder tried to raise his sword to move, having blocked every single one.
“Eh...?”
Iris’s shocked voice, and I felt the same disbelief.
Valder suddenly clutched his head and staggered.
“What’s with this late shock from the attack...?”
A voice from behind muttered, “He only blocked that?”
“Bull. He couldn’t be that shocked from attacks like these...”
Iris echoed the same thought.
But time kept moving. Alan, sharp and quick, seized the opening and charged at Valder.
Ka-bam!
With a massive whoosh, Valder dropped his sword and fell to his knees.
“Victory for first-year Alan Ludwig! Game over!”
The referee’s declaration sent cheers roaring through the arena.
After all, the audience had seen a flashy comeback victory; of course they cheered.
But several spectators looked less than thrilled.
Like Iris and me.
“No way...”
“That was enough to win? With that kind of attack?”
“Maybe it just looked flashy but had real power after all... We must have missed something.”
Such murmurs rose from the crowd.
“Next match is...”
But the referee’s announcement of the next bout was quickly drowned out.
The matches continued without pause until the 64-to-32 round ended, followed by a brief rest before the second round began.
As expected, Iris crushed her 64-to-32 match without mercy.
After the match, Valder left the arena and sat on a bench in the park.
“Damn it... What the hell was that...?”
The opponent’s skill wasn’t anything special. I heard he was a magician, but his swordsmanship was only a notch below low-tier knight level.
The flashy style held no real threat; it only hurt a little when hit, even during the dozens of chained attacks he threw in the end.
It was as if the pain in his own palm from blocking was worse than the opponent’s.
So when he finally stopped to catch his breath, I had planned to end it with a light takedown.
Suddenly, a blinding headache hit along with dizziness.
At first I wondered if I had landed somewhere wrong.
But even a direct hit to that kind of spot wouldn’t cause such dizziness. Valder was a trained warrior.
Maybe magic? But I felt no mana fluctuation.
In the end, the unknown headache and dizziness prevented Valder from moving, and he dropped his sword after one final attack from Alan, losing the match.
“What... was that...?”
But that wasn’t why Valder was like this.
A sudden headache or dizziness could happen by chance.
I must have just messed up my condition control... I could have brushed it off.
Yet when the headache and dizziness struck, a voice came through:
“Hehe... hehe... hehe...”
It sounded like a child’s laugh, as if someone was playing a prank.
Valder was left puzzled by the sound.