122. Qualifiers (5)

Maxim slightly bowed his head towards Rione, who was looking at him with a somewhat stiff face. He had met Arsene on several occasions, so it was difficult for him to pretend not to know at all. A strong gaze hit Maxim. Excluding the one of the first prince who had been watching him all along, he turned his head toward two places with particularly strong gazes.

‘I’ll try my best.’

When I turned my head to the left, I met Paola’s gaze. Paola said that to Maxim with a mouthful of mouth, then crossed her arms with an excited look on her face. Maxim sighed lightly and turned his head to the right.

‘… You didn’t meet my eyes by chance.’

The other is Theodora’s. Their eyes met again, and this time Theodora hurriedly turned her head away. I was looking at you so strongly, how could I not notice it? Theodora also changed her gaze to that of an ordinary spectator, dyeing her face a little red, probably realizing that she had been sending too blatant glances.

“Isn’t this the first time we’ve seen each other?”

It was Lyone Becker who spoke first. Maxim couldn’t answer in words, so he just nodded. The series of familiar faces and voices made the hostility he had when he first entered the gymnasium fade. Still, it wasn’t that time yet. You must not let the fire of hostility go out in your heart now.

“Yang players, get ready!”

At the referee’s words, Maxim drew his sword. The light of blue mana drifted from both of Rione’s hands. Maxim looked at the young light in her hand and thought back to the contest she and Christine had had. Although it had been several months, I was able to draw the scene as I carefully recollected my memories.

“If I abstain from here, could you do me a favor?”

Lyone Becker was sending Maxim a curious look. Was this person originally like this? Maxim raised his eyebrows at the unexpected question, but shook his head and returned his refusal.

“Even if you abstain, I don’t think I can do you a favor, so how about fighting with all your might?”

When Maxim answered in a plain voice, Leone let out a sigh while slightly drooping her shoulders.

“It would have been better if we had met in the finals.”

Rione said so and circulated mana. Mana was swirling and creating air currents. Her long orange hair was blowing in the wind.

“… To be honest, I’m not going to beat you.”

“You know me well.”

Maxim deliberately gave a cold and arrogant answer. Rione blushed when she heard Maxim’s answer. If he was angry like that, it was rather comfortable for Maxim.

‘An arrogant answer is also cool.’

Of course, the person who blushed after hearing that said accepted the answer in a direction that Maxim did not expect. This was something Maxim could not have known. Maxim gripped his sword tightly and switched to a combat stance. Even though he was a wizard, he was an opponent he could never let his guard down. Rione also seemed to have sensed Maxim’s changed mood, and she hardened her expression and finished preparations for the magic expression.

“The match begins!”

At the same time as the referee’s voice resounded, Maxim lowered his stance and leaped. Rione frowned at the knight leaping at him without hesitation. Wizards usually preferred their opponents to attack first. No matter what type of battle it was, it was the most ideal form of combat to build a camp in one’s territory and fight while drawing the opponent into it.

‘It must mean that I don’t have to pounce carefully.’

Rione bit her teeth and released her magic. The floor of the gymnasium lit up brightly for an instant, and a number of shining spearheads sprouted from the floor of the gymnasium. Maxim jumped into the air without slowing down. Rione immediately caught Maxim and fired the second magic. A chain of light that I had seen several times stretched out its head like a viper, aiming at the empty core.

‘I’ll take the preemptive pressure for now.’

Anyway, if that knight took out the aura, all the magic would be nullified, but he didn’t show any momentum to take out the aura right away. If that’s the case, it’d be nice to make her look embarrassed at least once. Rione stretched her magic, imagining the bewildered expression that handsome face would make.

A spear below, a wizard’s chain above.

Maxim focused his mind while looking at the trap that was trying to eat him twice. Feel the wind, feel the flow. Maxim coordinated the flow of mana flowing from his body with the flow of the world. Time slowed down, and the world began to reflect so clearly in Maxim’s eyes. The track from which the chain extends, the space vacated by the window protruding from the floor. Maxim twisted his body in the air.

phut-!

With a sound like a large balloon popping, Maxim, floating like a weightless feather in the air, disappeared. The chain, which was intended to tie Maxim up, stirred the air without losing its target.

‘Where-?’

Rione opened her eyes wide and sharpened her senses. In a battle with a knight, missing that sign even for an instant would bring fatal results. After taking away all magical manifestations, Rione rotated all the mana in her body to strengthen her body.

It took about 1 second to make that decision. The sharp sense caught Maxim’s presence again.

back.

“this-“

Maxim, who appeared with a whirlwind, extended his sword. Leone turned around without widening the distance and started a hand-to-hand combat. Like a whip cutting through the air, Rione’s right leg swung with a terrifying sound. However, before she could put all the acceleration into her kick, Maxim’s arm that grabbed her leg froze her in an extended position.

“It’s a good attitude to jump into a melee fight without hesitation.”

Maxim made eye contact with Rione again. The wizard’s face, looking up at him from below, was red again. Even if you feel angry and ashamed right now, your own advice will definitely help. As a small gesture of goodwill for an old colleague, Maxim kept his head slightly closer.

“However, this is a last resort. When you sensed my presence just now, it would have been a better decision to first increase your distance and then devise another magic.”

As he looked at Rione, whose face was flushed red, Maxim felt sorry inside. Well, no matter how much it is a preliminary match, it is a situation where you openly listen to advice from the opponent, and that is, politically, the enemy. It’s not unreasonable to be so angry.

“Ah, okay, let this go… Abstain, because I will abstain!”

With a trembling voice, Rione, who looked somewhat pitiful, said. Maxim let go of the hand holding his leg. When the strength that supported her legs disappeared, Rione staggered for a moment as if her strength was gone, and then she stood upright and balanced. Of course, her face was still as red as a blush.

“… The winner, Arsene Bern of the 2nd Guards.”

In contrast to Maxim’s previous match, the referee declared the winner in a dejected voice. The referee’s expression was subtly twisted as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have seen.

“… It was my duty to go up to the finals.”

“You may not always be successful in your mission.”

To Rione, who spoke in a dejected voice, Maxim replied in a hard voice. Rione, and then, was the first to come up to Maxim and ask for a handshake. I thought he was angry, but regardless of that, Maxim admired the way he calmly asked for a handshake.

“Thank you for your effort.”

Somehow, the hand I held didn’t seem to have any strength, but the moment I held it, my face blushed again. The moment Maxim relaxed to let go of his hand, Rione’s side gave strength to it and held it tighter, so Maxim had to shake hands for quite some time while trying to hide his embarrassment.

“Then, next time.”

Leone left the words and quickly went down from the podium. Maxim watched as if he couldn’t understand the figure behind him as it quickly disappeared, and went down from the podium at the same time. Paola, who easily won two matches in the preliminaries, greeted Rione and patted her on the shoulder.

bang-!

Maxim turned his back at the intense sound he heard in an instant and looked at the other platform. What Maxim could see was Theodora’s platinum hair flying in a mana storm. Somehow, it seemed to be much more full of determination than the first game.

Theodora, did Theodora get her own motivation?

Maxim looked at the pitiful knight who had been knocked out by Theodora’s blow. With a completely lost expression, the knight was shaking his head.

“You are unbelievably strong. Didn’t you exchange sums more than three times at the end of the game just now?”

“As expected, winning this martial arts competition… .”

Amid the chatter of people, Theodora walked down the podium in a lofty way. Maxim tilted his head slightly at Theodora’s appearance, which was more like annoyance than fighting spirit. Theodora must have sensed Maxim’s gaze, and he turned his head toward the line, then turned away with a cold expression on his face and turned away from his gaze.

‘… Did you treat Rione too harshly?’

Maxim let out a small sigh, thinking that maybe it would have been the correct answer to just end it quickly without thinking about his old teammates. The schedule for the first day ends with this. Maxim sharpened the knife in his heart again. There was still much work to be done.

“Arsene!”

Maxim, who was about to leave the gymnasium, was stopped by a familiar voice. It was the first prince, Louis, with a happy smile on his face. Maxim smiled bitterly at the delighted face, like someone who had just received an unexpected gift.

“Meet Your Highness.”

Louis looked at Maxim and patted his forearm as if he had worked hard.

“I never imagined that you would compete like this. I knew you would be representing the 1st Guards.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you in advance, Your Highness.”

Lewis let out a smirk and shook his head.

“I know the reason why you didn’t let me know you were competing, so it’s okay not to worry. On the contrary, if it had been announced, it would have been difficult to go through the qualifiers today like this.”

After a moment of joy, Louis hardened his expression and sighed as he looked at the crowd of knights leaving the arena like clouds.

“But, on the other hand, it seems that I have burdened you too much. If the Margrave’s knights had arrived safely… .”

Lewis said so, blurting out his words.

“Your Highness, a knight always fights with something on my shoulder. No matter how heavy it is, the point of my sword will not be dulled by it.”

Maxim raised the blade he had been sharpening inside. These were not just words to Louis, but also hints to himself.

“If you order victory, I will command you without hesitation.”

Lewis loosened his stiff expression a little and nodded.

“… yes. If it’s you, I’m sure you’ll be able to trust and watch any knight from this kingdom compete against you. How about taking a break from swordsmanship lessons, even during the tournament? If you focus more on this competition, you will be much more comfortable.”

Maxim shook his head at Louis’ suggestion.

“Nope. Teaching is a separate issue. I don’t know if His Highness is tired and wants to take a break from teaching, but the time she teaches is meaningful to me too.”

Maxim’s words were firm. Lewis laughed bitterly and sighed again.

“Thank you for saying that. But in this case, there seems to be nothing I, your temporary lord, can do… .”

Louis glanced down at the sword tied around Maxim’s waist. An ordinary iron sword that cannot be called a good sword even with empty words. Besides, the state of the sword that Maxim pulled out in the tournament must have been through a lot of chaos in the meantime, so it wouldn’t be strange if it broke right away. Somehow, Arsene was able to overcome it with her own skills, but the remaining final qualifying rounds, and the final rounds, all seemed to be difficult to overcome with a dying sword.

“Isn’t it time to replace your sword?”

Maxim looked down at his waist at Louis’ words. This sword, as Aaron pointed out, reached the end of its lifespan when it went through the basement of the Mage Tower. Maxim was forcing himself to use it, and it wouldn’t be strange if it broke at any time.

“… Yes. I think it’s time to let go of this sword.”

In response to Maxim’s reply, Louis smiled and made a suggestion.

“Then, do this. Arsene. I’ll handle the price no matter how much it comes out, so visit a famous blacksmith in the royal capital and make a sword that fits your hand. No matter what material you use, at least you will have to make a sword that is far superior to the sword you are currently using.”

Maxim’s face flushed at Louise’s proposal. Upon seeing Maxim’s expression, Louis smiled proudly at the thought that he had finally acted appropriately as the lord of that knight.

“If we start production tomorrow, we’ll be able to get the sword at a close match by the time of the finals.”

“Your Highness’ favor, I’ll engrave it on my bones so I won’t forget it.”

Louis responded to Arsene while maintaining that smile.

“Pay the reward for the sword with victory. Isn’t that what a knight should do?”

Maxim couldn’t help but laugh at Louis’ mischievous answer.