Episode 10: “A Forced Event Occurs! Deceive The Eyes Of The Margrave Byreus!”

“Why did this happen?” – these were the first words that came to my mind. I’m in the midst of an ongoing life-threatening situation.

I’m now facing a man. The man has a bear-like physique and a vicious face, and he’s glaring at me as if he’s judging me. His gaze is devoid of any sense of carelessness or contempt, and I can clearly see that his only objective is to assess my strength.

The garden of the mansion, which is usually used as a training ground for swordsmanship, is large enough for exercise. However, for me right now, it feels like a very, very…… small space.

“Ok, let’s get started.”

Byreus muttered one thing and moved into a fighting stance with his practice wooden sword at the ready. I felt as if the temperature around me had dropped a few degrees just by that.

It’s no wonder he was feared as “Byreus of the Kingdom of Sheruzu” during the last war, as he radiates such intimidation just by being there.

But now is not the time to be thinking about that. The important thing is how to get through this situation.

At the very least, this is not an opponent that I can win in a normal fight. That was obvious even before the fight.

However, I’m sure that Byreus, who is facing me, knows this ahead of time, and what he expects from me in this fight is whether or not I’m skilled in martial arts and how I’m prepared to face a strong man.

Unfortunately, I can’t show that, but if I show too much patheticness, in the worst case, it might cause a rift between the Malbert family and the Byreus family.

Therefore, my mission this time is to fight Byreus and show a certain level of competence, but not to the point of being a disappointment in his eyes……The requirements are too strict, aren’t they……?

If I were to use my current abilities, I would not be able to defeat Byreus, but I think I would be able to inflict a wound on him and then I can just escape.

For the past four years since I regained my memories of my previous life, I have been training in swordplay and magic every day at the same time. Now that I’m ten years old, I can probably beat any ordinary soldier in Malbert’s territory without difficulty.

However, I can’t let this man know about my abilities. If Byreus finds out about my abilities, he will certainly send his own daughter as my fiancée to draw me into his side. As I wanted to be free eventually, I had to avoid that at all costs.

“What’s the matter? Don’t hesitate, come and attack me.”

Byreus, who had grown tired of waiting, urged me on. If I remain silent, it is likely that the other side will come at me, so I decide to start by attacking first. So I kick the ground and head towards Byreus.

I could see that Byreus, sensing that I was getting motivated, was concentrating even more. I unintentionally swing my wooden sword at him.

“Haa, yaa”

I pretended to be impatient at being evaded, and continued to swing my sword wildly. Byreus coolly dodged and parried my attacks.

After several such exchanges, Byreus made his first attack.

“Fuun.”

“U-ugh.”

Even though I was holding back, there was no way that I, a child who had just turned ten, could take the attack of a man who was nearly two meters tall.

I was blown away with such force that my body was slammed into the ground. However, considering the strength of the opponent, he’s still taking it easy on me…….

And this is what I’ve been aiming for, this is what I’ve been planning to do. The proof is that he should be here by now.

“B-brother! How dare you do that to my brother!”

That’s right, it’s my brother Mark. As soon as I found out that the Margrave Byreus was coming to the Malbert territory, I knew that one of his purposes could have been to assess me as the next head of the family. So I decided to ask Mark to make a play for me beforehand.

The idea is that when Byreus sets up a mock battle to see what I can do, I pretend to be beaten up on purpose, and Mark, who is upset by that, fights Byreus.

It was a strategy based on the belief that if I fought someone who was more stronger than me, who could defeat me with just one blow, then the impression of me would be much less …….

“Waaah!”

“Hmm, not bad, kid. At that age, you’ve mastered the magic of physical enhancement to such an extent.”

The situation was as I had planned, with an upset Mark taking a swing at Byreus. But there was one thing I hadn’t expected. Mark is really upset.

As his older brother, I can tell that Mark is not a brave or courageous person. He is a quiet and mild-mannered person. And yet, the Mark of today is like a warrior himself, ready for battle.

I don’t know what’s causing Mark to act like that, but the swing of the wooden sword that he delivered to Byreus was clearly beyond the level of a normal person. Though, Byreus, who can handle it without difficulty is a monster, but it’s not a blow that an eight-year-old child can deliver.

Byreus was unfazed by Mark’s fierce barrage, but as expected, he didn’t intend to just keep taking it so he launched a counterattack.

The blow was incomparable to the one I had just received, and if it hit in the wrong place, it had the power to kill you if you are not careful.

“Fuu”

“Hahaha, that’s good. That’s good, kid. If you can avoid that one, how about this one!”

It seemed that Byreus was getting into the mood, and he started to move up a level. Mark, on the other hand, was able to avoid the attacks and sometimes even parried them back.

Although his attacks were inexperienced and poor, the body-strengthening magic that I had taught him to the point where I felt I had to teach it to him was working to its fullest potential here. This had the effect of bridging the gap between him and Byreus.

However, Mark, who is still just a child, had a heavy burden to deal with the warrior Byreus, and the balance gradually fell apart, and finally, the battle was settled when Mark’s wooden sword was flipped out of his hand.

When I saw the end of the battle, I let go of my consciousness to sleep, pretending to be unconscious.