Maybe it’s ti to get serious. I made it to the finals, and now I’m facing the white-haired guy with wolf ears.
This one’s not a joke… He’s wearing a full suit of armor except for his head with a sturdy long sword held in front with both hands. Gives off an air similar to Katja. Soone who learned through study and rigorous training with plenty of experience to back up the theory. Hehehe… After all the disappointing fights, I’m actually getting a bit excited…
“Hi there. I hope you’ve been well.” Up on the stands, just before the fight began, two new girls approached the seats where Carol and the others were. “We saw you two from above and decided to stop by.”
The whole group turned their heads. It was Galene and Abby. The heroine and the great sorceress (healer). Of course they were there too. Should have seen that coming. “From above?” Carol frowned.
Galene calmly nodded, pointing to the VIP area. “The princess invited us to watch and got us a seat near her.”
“But the atmostphere there is the worst… We had to leave for a while. The nobles don’t treat us with the respect we deserve!” Abby stomped after interrupting Galene. “Do they realize there’s only one Hero while there are a lot of them? We’re a lot more important, geez…”
Ahh, yes… This shorty obsesses over status a lot, doesn’t she? Carol rolled her eyes.
“That’s not nice, Abby. They were courteous enough.” Galene giggled while keeping her friend in check. “More importantly, what’s Iroha doing down there? Does she actually want to marry the princess? I didn’t realize she… Uhmm… Swung that way…” She tried her best not to let her face go red.
“No, she’s not marrying her!” It couldn’t be allowed! It’d put the kingdom in jeopardy. Flanne asserted without hesitation. “She’s not going to follow through with it! It will never work out.”
“It’s a complicated situation…” With a bitter smile, Ririna tried to explain. “You’re better off not asking.”
“I see…” It was a tight fit, but both Galene and Abby managed to borrow a corner of a seat to stay low. “Either way, we’re finally going to see an interesting match, huh?”
“Are we?” Carol asked with an unimpressed look. “You know the guy? Or are you just making a guess?”
“You don’t know?!” Was she living under a rock? Abby was shocked. She didn’t know Carol that well, but she was pretty strong… Or beca strong…? Either way, how could she be so clueless? “That’s Leo Valk. He’s the second prince of the beastn country and one of the five strongest people in human territory! He even fought Galene as the final test for the title of Hero! Everyone knows him!” She glanced at Sarasa, who surely knew these kinds of things.
“Ohhh… That’s who he was… No wonder his face seed familiar.” And her reaction was not what she wanted…
“Isn’t he your prince? How can you forget about him?” Carol casually asked.
“Beastn aren’t all in the sa place, you know? The beastn country is to the northwest, but I’m from the Fractured Lands to the east. He has nothing to do with .” Finished with a shrug. That’s fair, Carol thought.
“Can Iroha win?” She now turned to Galene.
“He’s a very strong fighter, no doubt about that…” Galene’s voice held nothing but respect for him. “But I won against him when I was just starting out. anwhile, Iroha is a good match for
as I am now, so… What do you think?”
“Ehhh…” Not too bad hearing Iroha getting praised like that. Carol couldn’t help but smile a little. “Well, I’m interested now.” She leaned forward in her seat, focused on the arena.
“Welco back, everyone. The grand finals are about to take place. Iroha Shinohara versus Leo Valk. These two have been through a lot today, and they look eager to get started.” The announcer was behaving himself this ti. He still had the sa party voice from before, but at least his tone was serious now. “I don’t want to be the one standing in the way of their fun, and so, let’s get started. The final round begins…”
“Now!”
There was nothing but silence after that announcent.
and this Leo guy stared at each other, figuring out what would be the best way to make the first move.
“Fufufufu…” Leo giggled. “Amazing… Just by looking at you, I can tell you’re on a whole different level from everyone here.”
Oh? When he opened his mouth, I was expecting sothing cocky and dumb like the guys before, but… He’s being serious, isn’t he?
“Your form is certainly lacking, but your strength is nothing to scoff at… Was it what brought you to the finals? Or the lackluster opponents?” He finished with a hint of provocation. Well… Not really… Just a healthy challenge.
“Who knows?” I shrugged. “Could be either one, but… That’s what we’re here to find out, right?”
Not that he deserves to be looked down on, but this guy really loves his staring matches, doesn’t he? He’s the observant and cautious type, waiting for an opportunity to make the first move. I know his kind, and I could probably go along, but…
That’s not my style nor what I was taught…
Agility Burst! I closed the gap between us in less than a second. I don’t know how strong he is, so I probed him using my speed and so swift strikes. Slash Flurry!
“Woah!” He stumbled at first but managed to block all of my strikes. “That’s so amazing speed you got there… I can’t match that… How about sothing different?!”
He tilted his sword and caught my strike. The clean bounce I needed to pull back quickly didn’t happen. He stepped forward. His sword turned while locked with mine until he managed to press down on . I see… A contest of strength. Much more evenly matched…
I have to give up on this one.
I dodged to the side and let him push my sword to the ground. Took
so ti to pull it back up, which gave him an opening for a heavier swing. If I block it normally, we’ll be back in a contest of strength… Gotta hit it back!
Parrying Strike!
His montum died facing an attack just as strong. His eyes widened in surprise, but he went for it again. Parrying Strike! Again! And again!
“Not letting
lock swords… You realized it…”
“Of course. No reason for
to accept an unfavorable matchup.”
He pulled back his sword. His next swing is coming from below. “Very well… Unfortunately, I have no choice but to keep trying.” Just as predicted… Parrying Strike!
His sword bounced back just as he was raising it. What did you expect? Of course I’m not gonna let you- “Hmm?!” The sword stopped, but there was sothing else there!
“Gaaahh!” A blade of air shot out of his sword and continued even after he stopped. He tricked … I couldn’t react on ti, and the slash hit my dress. Didn’t make it through, but it was enough to feel a sharp sting across the chest.
“Still standing?” Without giving
ti, he swung his sword again. Those air slashes flew across the ground one after the one. Trying to take advantage of
while I’m staggered? Burst Dash! That’s not gonna work.
“Burst Dash!” Burst Dash Burst Dash Burst Dash!
Okay… Almost had
for a mont there… Burst Dash! This ti to dash forward instead of dodging. I’m not letting him keep the initiative anymore. Ti to turn this fight around!
“Heart Piercer!”
Except for his head, he was wearing full body armor. Not trying to kill him, so I aid the sword at his chest and got blocked. Good. Only the piercing damage got through. It’s effective but far from a killing blow.
The results were imdiate. The power of the thrust sent him sliding backwards, while the piercing damage brought him to one knee. This is good. Now he gets up, I do this a few more tis, and I should be good. A nice clean fight without anyone getting too hurt!
“I give up.” He dropped his sword and raised his hands. “You’ve bested . I have no choice but to give you the win.”
Ehh? What? Why are you standing up again then? He shook his head with a smile on his face.
“No no… You can keep going. What the hell?”
Leo let out a small laugh in response. “I could, but it wouldn’t change a thing. I can tell you still have more while I was nearing my limit. Seems like I still need more training.”
“I- is it over, then?” The crowd suddenly erupted. I guess I did it… It was that easy!
“There we have it, folks! Wooooooohooooooo! The final round has co to an end!”
“She did it!” “Iroha destroyed that guy!” While the announcer prattled in the background, Sarasa and Carol jumped in their seats while clinging to each other. Then Carol noticed what she was doing.
anwhile, despite the noise around her, Hecate was deep in thought. “Sothing’s off… This is a yearly tournant, right?” She turned to Ririna and Sarasa for confirmation.
“Yes, that’s right.” Ririna nodded.
“So, in the other editions, the prize of marrying the princess had to be sothing else, correct? After all, that’s not a prize you can give out multiple tis.”
Sarasa and Ririna didn’t respond. They looked at each other, then huge grins appeared on their faces. “You finally noticed…” Sarasa snickered.
“The prize is always the princess… As for the reason why…” Ririna was interrupted by the announcer.
“There we have it! The winner of this year’s tournant, and the person who gets to marry the beautiful Beatrize Elablyon, is… Iroha Shinoha-”
“Stop right there!” *Shatter!*
A stern voice echoed from the VIP stand above, and a greatsword flew to the middle of the arena, breaking the glass in its path. A rugged, grey-haired man jumped right after and landed next to the big sword.
“I won’t allow it. No one gets to marry my daughter without my approval.” He pulled out the greatsword and pointed it at Iroha with one hand.
“WWOOOOOOOOOO! THERE HE IS!” The announcer jumped on his table, and the crowd cheered with him. This is the loudest they’ve been all day. “Was there ever any doubt? Once again, the king jumps down to the ring himself for one last round! This is what you’ve all been waiting for, isn’t it, people?!” Yeah, echoed through the arena!
“Huh?”
“And look at that reaction! Nothing’s funnier than seeing the winner’s face as they realize how much trouble they’re in!” The crowd laughed almost as hard as the announcer. “Tough luck, Iroha. Can’t win against a doting father. The king’s leagues above all you fighters, and he’s on a 7-year win streak by now. Try again next year. Maybe he’ll llow out by then. Hopefully not.”
They’re all laughing so much… This doesn’t make any sense… This is the highlight of the tournant?! Seriously?!
“You gotta be joking! Why set up the tournant like this if you have no intention of going through with it? Offer a different prize!”
“Hmph…” The king just scoffed at …
All my shouting did was make the crowd laugh harder. “I’m serious here! Don’t treat my question as a joke! It makes no sense! Am I wrong?!”
“Ahahaha… How many years do you think we’ve been leaving this tournant thinking the exact sa thing?” With a shrug to the crowd, the announcer earned even more laughs. “We’re normal people. We don’t know what the king’s thinking, and that’s not our job. We just co here and laugh.”
More laughter… Is this guy an announcer or a stand-up codian? He’s a damn clown, that’s what he is!
Bea… Where are you…? Off the corner of my eye, I see her up on the stands at the very top. Give
a hand here… This is ridiculous, isn’t it?
Instead, she gently shrugged. What can you do?
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