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nAfter tidying up the arena, Chris and his blue armor came down.

nHe was holding a large sword in both hands, and had a different kind of sword on his back.

nHe was a young expert swordsman. Not just a swordsman, an expert swordsman.

nIn the game, his status was higher than any normal swordsman, and had a title that recognized him for his ability.

nHis father was a master swordsman who had been harshly teaching Chris the sword since he was a young age.

nHis calmness stemmed from his inability to display his emotions.

nHowever, he was unrivaled when he held a sword…I didn’t like this guy either. Not only was he a character that was hard to capture, but he also can only use a sword.

nDue to that, he didn’t possess any long ranged attacks, which made things difficult in the war part of the game. The habits of these past three people were too tough to handle, leading to many game overs.

nJust thinking back to it made me angry.

nReadying his large sword and armor, Chris held his weapon to the side, resembling the Waki-gamae stance in terms of my previous life. (TLN: Waki-gamae is a Japanese martial arts stance involving a sword.)

nChris spoke.

n“──I am not negligent like the other two were. I’m going all out from the onset.”

n“Is that so? In that case, perhaps I’ll also go all out.”

nPerhaps still irritated that I was holding a shovel, he flared at me.

n“How long do you plan on using that tool? That’s not suitable for this place.”

n“You’re not the one to decide that now, are you?”

nThe referee announced the start.

n“Begin!”

n──Well, despite what I said, I did think he was a strong character. He actually made sure not to be negligent, unlike the other two.

nThere was no hesitation when he moved in a straight path to slash at me.

n“Luxon, deploy the drones.”

nThe drones are being deployed.

nDrones successively descended from the weapon containers on my back. Firearms were installed on the spherical drones.

nThere were eight of them.

n“──Wha?!”

nAs they were heading towards a surprised Chris, I made my next move.

n“Open fire.”

nPulling a trigger on a joystick, the drones all faced towards Chris and began firing.

nChris hurried in an attempt to avoid them, but there wasn’t much he could do when surrounded by eight drones. The damage from the machine gun attacks of the drones piled up.

nPerhaps thinking that he wouldn’t win if only defended, he tried attacking the drones, but Luxon was operating them.

nHow futile.

nWhen he tried to attack them, they would go around and attack him from behind.

nHowever, Chris responded immediately and took measures to prevent them from going around him by stepping back to the wall. It may have seemed like a good choice, but…

n“Alright, checkmate. Will you admit defeat?”

nWhile I was carrying the shovel and didn’t move, Chris got emotional.

n“You! Are you satisfied with this method of fighting?! There’s not even a trace of the knights’ way in it! What are you fighting like this for?!”

nI knew that with him being particular about the sword, he wanted a knight-like fight, but to be frank, I had no interest.

n“Is that all you wanted to say? This isn’t a bout. No matter how much you guys are keeping this up as a duel, it’s still a fight to the death. It’s bad to rely on firearms, you say? I never heard of a rule like that. In the first place, aren’t I, the one going against you five, the one that should be pitied? No wait, perhaps that was out of line. It’s fine if it’s five rounds of one-on-one, so I suppose it can’t be helped if I don’t receive any sympathy. All things considered, the gap between us is too big, so I was thinking about going easy on you. I even thought about going through with that fair-and-square way of the knights that you guys were talking about.”

nChris tried to moved while I kept incessantly talking. Luxon, not overlooking that, began having the eight drones around me all fire.

nIn order to not take his life, they used special bullets that reduced damage, but soon unable to move, Chris then used his giant sword as a shield while leaning down.

n“You’re making light of me…Nobody would acknowledge a fight like this!”

n“That’s fine All that matters is the outcome. You guys lose, and I win. There are few people who care about the means to the end. Ah, but you guys will probably say that you’re all those kinds of people. Your standings would worsen if you just said that you clumsily lost, after all.

n“Aaaaaaargh!!”

nChris, using his willpower to push his way through the storm of bullets, reached where I was and swung down his sword. Due to Chris’ magic power and sword speed, it looked like he was swinging down a blade of light, but I caught his left hand and crushed the large sword.

n“As expected of an expert swordsman, that was superb.”

nSmoke was fuming out of Chris’ armor, and the referee announced the winner.

n“Chris Fier Arkwright is unable to battle! The winner is…Leon Fou Baltfault.”

nWhen the referee said my name, I felt like he had no enthusiasm in his words.

nI could hear a sobbing voice from the armor.

n“…Why? Why did I lose? I worked harder than anybody else. I persevered longer than anyone else…I wanted to be recognized.”

nI had some sympathy for Chris, who was forced to work hard due to circumstances at home, but this matter wasn’t related to that, so I didn’t really care too much.

n“Boast about your misfortune in front of that prideful girl. You’ll surely receive sympathy, then.”

nYou’re such heap of garbage, aren’t you?

nLuxon’s words stuck to my mind, strangely enough. Well, perhaps I really did overdo it a bit. However, these guys deserved to suffer defeat.

n◇

nThere were voices of anxiety from the audience.

n“H, hey, Chris lost.”

n“What the heck. Isn’t that unfair?”

n“…Say, that Leon person managed to conquer a dungeon solo and earn the position of a baron, right? Could it be that he’s really strong?”

n“W, wait a minute. If that’s the case, then has the victor been set in stone? I’m going to lose everything I own!”

nThe audience started getting impatient after realizing that the bet they thought they would absolutely win might not go as expected. Meanwhile, the students that had looked down on Leon started to change their understanding of him.

nOlivia had a face that looked as if she was about to cry.

n“Anjelica, I’m…really sad. I’m glad that Leon won, but this is too cruel.”

nAnjelica spoke to Olivia.

n“Don’t say foolish things. Even Leon might lose if he lets his guard down. He had to take vigilance with his opponent.”

n“I, is that so?”

nShe nodded and spoke about Chris.

n“His swordsmanship instructor comes from an earl household. Chris’ father is the number one swordsman in the kingdom, earning him the title of master swordsman. That boy was able to earn the title of expert swordsman, which is only a step lower.”

nOlivia was impressed.

n“How amazing.”

n“Sure, amazing.”

n(That boy couldn’t even lift a hand or foot against him, which means…the foster brother, Jilk, is probably getting flustered.)

nLooking at where Julian and the others were, she couldn’t see Jilk or his armor.

nJulian was comforting Marie, who had gone pale, and when Anjelica saw that scene, her chest tightened in bitterness.

n(…his Highness.)

n◇

nWhile Chris was being taken out of the arena and towards the medical office, Jilk was preparing for the next match.

nHe gave some instructions to the mechanic of his armor.

n“Load all the weapons there are. I’m going to use both bullets and magic bullets.”

nThe mechanic widened his eyes.

n“They’re not items to be used in a match!”

n“This is a duel!”

nThe normally kind Jilk was getting impatient and lost his composure.

nHis green armor had feather-like decorations.

nThat armor was equipped with a rifle which gave off a dignified aura, and not a sword, but an axe. It was equipment that made it look quite like he was going to a battlefield.

n“Can you remove the decorations and install additional armor? Afterwards, prepare hand grenades and similar items.”

nThe mechanic was troubled.

n“Jilk, I’m limited on the parts that I have on me right now.”

nJilk casted his eyes downward, then lifted his head.

n“Don’t worry. Just do what you can within the realm of what’s possible.”

nWhile the urgent modifications to the equipment were being done, Jilk thought about the fight while not looking at his surroundings.

n(I have to stop him by all means necessary. If I don’t do that, his Highness’ reputation will suffer damage.)

nJilk lived for the sake of his foster brother, his close friend. If they lost here, Julian’s reputation would drop significantly.

nNot accepting that fate, Jilk took all means necessary.

nHe picked up a bomb that was laying nearby.

n“…I’m going to head out for a bit.”

nWhile the parts on his armor were being exchanged, Jilk stepped out of the room.

n◇

n“*yawn*~, I’m tired.”

nThere was a temporary break, so I went out of the arena and into the waiting room to rest.

nOnce I finished my business at the restroom, Olivia and Anjelica rushed over.

n“Leon, where did you go?!”

n“I was worried about you.”

nI tilted my head in response to their reactions.

n“Huh, what?”

nThe two exchanged glances.

n“Err, um, we heard that you were in a bad condition.”

nI narrowed my eyes.

n“Me? I was only taking a break.”

nAnjelica became a bit suspicious.

n“A girl who called herself your sister appeared. Olivia confirmed that by looking at her face…and she said that you were looking unwell, so she wanted us to see you.”

nMy sister was worried about me? Not a chance.

nShe didn’t want to meet me since I picked a fight with the prince, but I definitely did cause some trouble for her. However, would she talk to me at this time?

nWhile thinking of such things, Luxon spoke to me. The two people in front of me couldn’t hear it.

nMaster, an explosive was set on the exterior. Your older sister was the one that set it, but someone ordered her to.

n…I thought so. It’s most likely that she was threatened into it.

nShe felt ashamed since I had picked a fight with the prince in the academy. This is where Jilk comes in.

nI may be a heap of garbage, but Jilk was the scum of the earth. Well, I believe that guy would stop at nothing for the sake of Julian, and would do anything.

nThe one who ordered her was your next opponent.

nWhile hearing Luxon’s report, I breathed a slight sigh while thinking about how my suspicions were on point.

nThe two looked uneasy.

n“I see…so you know my sister. What actually happened was that I was holding in the urge to go. My stomach started cramping. I thought I was going to leak. That was a more difficult struggle than the duel.”

nWhen I said that, Olivia looked flustered and embarrassed.

n“S, something like that can’t be helped, can it?”

nAnjelica looked at me with a cold gaze.

n“Do you think you should speak like that in front of girls?”

n“I suppose you got a point. I went to go pick flowers then. The arena doesn’t have any flower beds though.” (TLN: “Going to pick flowers” is an indirect way of saying that someone went to the restroom.)

nWhen I said that, Olivia made a bitter smile.

nAnjelica held her hand against her forehead.

n“That explanation was…well, never mind. You’re going to make a mistake at some point if you don’t fix your normal way of speaking. Leaving that aside, it’s almost time.”

n“In that case, I suppose we should go.”

nLuxon gave me information as I headed to the arena.

nThe explosive was set on the back of the exterior. Since the armor of this world contains important mechanisms in that spot, it seems that the perpetrator intends to seriously stop us. After calculating the quantity of explosive powder, it seems that it’s an amount that can take the life of a pilot inside any regular armor.

nThe normally kind guy was the most frightening…things like that were a common trope these days.

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