41 – Tournaments (5)

* * * *

Solus Academy’s tournament is different from other general tournaments that are held in the order of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years,

It has the characteristic of proceeding in the reverse order of 3, 2, 1.

The nominal reason is that the new students are the ones who will lead the academy in the future, so they appear last… Although,

In fact, the reason is that Ian, the real main character, has to appear at the very end.

And because of that.

It is a custom that the first year student council members, who will be held later in the game, have to sit in the stands and cheer for the second and third year student council seniors.

Maybe that’s why we have to gather in groups and watch that bitch with the sword.

“Wow… Senior Irene, you are really cool….”

Ian, who was seated to my right, showed admiration with his mouth wide open.

And at the end of that line of sight was Irene, who broke the opponent’s shield in two, and a male student with a terrified face because he saw a madman who even shattered the shield he was holding in front of him.

“…At that level, shouldn’t we start by questioning whether we are the same person?”

Seeing the same scene in her eyes, Lily sat down in the seat to my left and said that with a puzzled look on her face.

Even I, who was in the same department of swordsmanship, was so stupid that I could easily break an opponent’s shield. As a student of magic, I wonder if she felt like watching a gorilla.

“Even so, it’s amazing how a woman can wield a sword as big as she is and wield it like a mad dog… a tree branch.”

Leafre’s voice came from behind me.

As an elf, wouldn’t it have served as an opportunity to redefine her perception of the human race?

‘I think I was just trying to say like a mad dog.’

Even if she didn’t change her words halfway through, no one in the room would have tackled her except Ian.

What kind of woman in the world would hold a sword the size of her own and scream and press down on the opponent’s shield, saying that a greatsword is at least similar in weight to the weight of a specially made sword?

“To say that even in the finals… That senpai doesn’t seem to have any intention of getting married.”

Instead of Selina staring at Irene with a stiff face, probably because of nervousness, I finally recited my evaluation of her.

Then, Ian got angry and started defending Irene.

“What are you talking about, Berry! That image of me fighting back more confidently than anyone else without even thinking about stepping back! It’s so cool!”

“Then go and say, I fell in love with you because you’re so cool. Ask me to marry you.”

“Uh, huh?”

When Ian was taken aback by my sarcastic joke, Selina, who had been silently watching Irene, turned her gaze to me.

Eyes that are sticky like a swamp. When I met her gaze, I felt as if I had peered into an abyss.

“Mr. Berry, Ian is innocent and can take a joke seriously, so please be careful.”

“…Remember.”

“Huh? What…was it a joke? You were surprised, Berry!”

There was no need to provoke Selina, so I nodded my head and turned my gaze to Irene again, and saw Irene with arrows stuck in both legs.

It seems that while we were blind for a while, we allowed the enemy team archers to attack.

She roared and threw herself at the archer, as if no arrows could stop her.

It showed a rare scene of breaking only the female archer’s bow with that large greatsword.

Soon after, I could see Irene pointing her greatsword at the female archer and opening her mouth. Perhaps he is urging abstention.

And then you hear the loud fanfare.

The sounds proving that she was the true student council president filled the arena.

* * * *

After the 3rd grade game, Irene headed to the healing room to be treated for the wounds inflicted by the archer.

The damage done until the finals was also accumulated, so it would take more than a full day to fully recover.

The second grade match that followed also had the exact same flow as the original. There was no difference as small as a speck of dust, and the development was the same.

And from now on, I took a deep breath in and exhaled because even I, who knew the original work, was going to unfold a development that I did not know how to proceed.

With the hope that this tournament episode will end without any harm.

“Whoa…”

“Do you think you’re nervous too, Berry?”

Perhaps it was because I let out a sigh in front of the passage from the waiting room to the arena, but Lily patted my back and smiled.

They seemed to have judged that I couldn’t stand the pressure I felt from the tournament and was showing my tension openly.

It wasn’t really wrong, and it was hard to say that it was correct, but it was a grateful illusion nonetheless.

Thanks to you, I was able to regain my peace of mind in no time.

“Let’s go, Her Highness.”

I also turned my head to her and smiled. It means it’s okay not to worry.

“Yeah, the plan… you know?”

“Of course. As planned, I will fight alone until the finals.”

Although powerful and effective, due to colorless magic that mercilessly consumes mana, she cannot use much magic, so she saves it until the finals.

Instead, I do everything in my power to knock out the enemy team, not giving Selina from our rival, Ian’s team, time to recover.

This is the plan I proposed to her, and she also readily nodded, knowing that she was confident in her skills.

When she first heard of my plan, she had an expression that she would look at all the crazy ones, but

Through repeated training, she was able to capture the overflowing trust in her beautiful eyes.

I have no intention of betraying her trust.

I will do my best to defeat the enemy team as I promised, and Selina won’t recover much of her magic as we planned.

But there was a target of mine that she didn’t know about, so it was Ian and Selina who were stronger than I expected.

As a result of watching Ian during the swordsmanship department’s sparring, I came to the conclusion that Ian needed only a small gap to avoid Lily’s magic.

Then there is only one thing to aim for.

Before Lily can defeat Selina, I have enough stamina to get knocked down by Ian in advance.

This was the reason I suggested such a plan to Lily, and it was a proposal that Lily, who was in the Faculty of Magic, could accept because she did not know Ian’s skills.

Saaak.

As she stepped out of the aisle, the bright light of the arena and the loud cheers of the crowd greeted Lily.

Moving my head and looking at the front, I could see the Spearmanship Department and the Magic Department… Extras you’ve never seen before.

He must have been quite nervous, and the hand holding the weapon trembled, so he could catch a glimpse of the agitation at the tip of the spear.

“Isn’t that as simple as that?”

A voice from behind my back.

The impression that they are guys with insignificant skills seems to be the same for her.

I silently nodded my head so that she could see me, who was supposed to be looking at me, and at the same time, the majestic bell of the notification magic rang.

Before they could react to the sound of the bell, my model was fired at them. To be precise, to the female student from the Faculty of Magic hiding behind the male student from the Spear Department.

“Hick!”

When I suddenly appeared in front of my eyes, I couldn’t even scream properly, so I put my fist into the wizard’s abdomen.

So that you don’t even wake up to cast magic.

“Oh heck…!”

“Kae, Katherine!!”

Then, having finally figured out what had happened to his partner, he grabbed the wizard’s neck and threw it at the spearman’s window with a painful expression.

“Damn it!”

If you lay down the tip of the spear to keep me in check, you end up stabbing your partner yourself, so the spearmanship department has no choice but to raise the tip of the spear high into the sky to get your partner.

Fuck!

With a strong impact sound, the balance of the Spear Department’s body was disturbed.

Perhaps the power of the Spear Department was stronger than I expected, so I kicked the ground again toward the Spear Department, which did not lose its balance and fell even though I received a partner.

“…!”

I could feel the emotion of astonishment and fear in his eyes as he looked at me that appeared in an instant.

No, maybe it was because my eyes reflected in his eyes were so cold.

That said, I have no intention of showing mercy or taking care of it.

There was no reason to bother me to go through that process, and rather, it might be an insult to the other person.

That’s why I tripped over the bridge of the spearmanship department trying to balance, and placed the tip of my sword on top of his fallen eyes.

“Surrender.”

“…Ha, surrender.”

… .

… .

Even after the declaration of surrender, the battlefield was quiet and desolate.

When my gaze turned to the referee and instructor, the referee hurriedly rang a magnificent bell with magic and declared that the duel was over.

“Su, winner! Lilithiana and Berry Team!!”

“”Wowaaa!!””

I could definitely hear cheers, but it was only the first-year swordsmanship department like me who woke up and cheered despite the referee’s declaration of victory.

Because they have seen my fighting style over and over again.

That was the reason why there was only Ian in the 1st year fencing department participating in this tournament. Saying that I and Ian don’t have the confidence to defeat those monsters or something.

Soon after, the students who were bewildered at the development, which was different from the fair tournament they had seen, clapped one by one and tilted their heads.

The victory was obviously an overwhelming victory, but it must be because of not being able to erase something.

Either way, their evaluations were useless, so I turned around and headed towards Lily.

“…Berry, are you really ruthless towards enemies?”

Even so, Lily says that she did not know that she would show such a move even to the same academy students.

It seems that even she, who performed missions and trained like me, was unexpected.

“Next time, I will refrain.”

“Ah, no, I don’t mean that, I just thought you wouldn’t care at all unless you’re really a colleague. I’m just surprised, so it’s okay. I don’t think you need to restrain yourself.”

Lily, who hurriedly made excuses when I showed that I was hurt, and started talking about this and that.

Actually, I wasn’t just hurt, but the way she was flustered was so cute that I just silently walked to the waiting room.

2 games ahead.

If only two games are played, it will be the final against Ian.

and… .

‘There was a Mine who attacked Ian after the tournament was over, right?’

Considering Ian’s current skills, even if a slightly stronger Mine came, he would be able to defeat it without much trouble.

So my role is to fight Ian with as much stamina as possible, and make Ian win the championship with even a little more stamina.

Hearing the news that his opponent for the next match would be the Leafre Team, he smiled softly so that no one could see it.

* * * *

“Poras-sama, we are ready for a diversionary operation.”

Due to everyone’s eyes and attention being focused on the tournament, the boundaries of the academy’s outer wall, which had become lax, began to gather in front of the magnificent outer wall of the academy one by one.

“Yeah, didn’t you forget to set the self-destruct spell in case you get caught?”

Porras asked such a question to a low-ranking Mine who had not been named.

As much as he moved to give the Demon God a more certain and perfect victory, Porras was devoting perfect perfection to every strategy.

“Of course. But when will the operation be carried out…”

“They say they give you a signal from inside the academy. They said you’ll know it when you look up at the sky around the sunset. By that time, Bifrons will arrive as well.”

“What the hell is that person up to?

“…I don’t know either. But as the Demon God said, there must have been something we didn’t know about.”

Even Porras, who said that, couldn’t properly think of why humans cooperated by passing information to them, so Porras touched his sword.

The sword possessed by Porras, who is called the Knight of Hell, is no different from the pitch black.