Chapter 20: first duel
"Did I just see wrong or did the Count's daughter wave at one of the boys here?"
"I saw it too. I think she waved at the dark-haired boy over there."
"It's a very strange hair color. Who would dye their hair pitch black? "
"Stop obsessing over silly details. The important thing is to find out what kind of relationship that boy has with the count's daughter."
"Does anyone know whose son this boy is?"
"I think he's Kael and Elena's son. His name must be Yuto."
---------
I guess I have to make a decision now. How much of my power should I display? Hiding my power is no longer an option, thanks to the stupid brat.
.
.
.
Ahhh, the more I think about it, the more annoying it gets. I wish I had shown at least some of my power to my parents or my master in the first place. At least in this kind of situation I could leave the decision making to them and relax like a real child.
If I decide to hide my power completely, I'll be making a liar out of that freak girl over there. The words of a noble girl will definitely be more trustworthy to other people.
If I reveal my power, at worst I will be sent to school to learn swordsmanship. And I don't know what happens to someone who can use high level magic without a blessing.
Oh, fuck. I wasn't prepared for this day. I wonder what I should do...
"Kael's son Yuto and cannon fodder 1 please come to the stage"
The loud voice of the presenter woke me up from my lost thoughts. As I walked on stage, a proverb from my previous life came to mind; If you encounter a stick with shit at both ends, you should hold that stick in the middle. I don't know which well-meaning person invented a proverb with such a deep meaning, but he is absolutely right.
(All copyrights of the proverb belong to me)
Hmm, I think I've made up my mind. Instead of facing unknown consequences, I'll show off my swordsmanship and hide my magic and lose the tournament by coming fourth.
When I saw that the boy in front of me was the same age as me, I felt sorry for him and looked at the stand next to me, which had a variety of swords carved out of wood.
There were 12 wooden swords, each representing a different type of sword. Without thinking too much, I picked up the wooden katana, which I thought was the coolest looking sword.
I don't know how appropriate it is to call it an arena, it's just an empty space surrounded by chairs where spectators sit.
After taking my place in the arena with the wooden katana in my hand, I watched the boy who was supposed to be my opponent play with the swords. Thanks to the intervention of the referee, the boy finally picked up a wooden sword and stood in front of me.
As soon as the referee finished counting down from 3, I closed my eyes, felt the wind, placed my hand on the handle of my katana, leaned down a little and took a quick step and put my katana against the boy's neck. Probably after this move, my popularity among girls my age will increase rapidly and I will have a good reason to spend time with their mothers. Ehehehehe...
The referee woke up from his daze and was about to announce the winner of the first round out loud when he saw Yuto grinning motionlessly in the same sword-drawing stance and warned Yuto. When Yuto stopped grinning like an idiot, the referee announced the result and there were many surprised voices in the crowd.
"Did you see what just happened?"
"Of course I did, he swung his sword almost as fast as my husband!"
"I think a hero has been born in our village"
"Maybe he'll be the next sword king"
"Isn't it so cool to think about?"
"I can't believe my eyes!!!"
At the same time, there was one other person who was also surprised, and that was the town's ruler, Baron Aric Blackwood.
When the lord of the town got over his surprise at this, he felt sad inside. If he had been able to get such a genius to go to the capital and become a royal knight, he probably would have even moved up a peerage and become a viscount. A lord of a border town would be considered superior to a baron in a kingdom, even if this foolish lord didn't realize it.
"I did not expect such a talented child to be born among my people"
-----------
After the referee calmed people down, he started the second round. This time, instead of knocking him out outright, I just dodged the attacks for a while.
It was a very enjoyable process to watch the boy being thrown back and forth by the weight of the wooden sword in his hand every time he made an attack. Maybe the reason people became children was to amuse adults with their stupidity.
After a few moves I was delighted to see the boy running towards me trying to hide his tears, but I didn't want to prolong the match any longer. I slowly hit the boy on the head with my wooden sword and made him fall to the ground, and that was the last move that crossed the line.
"Waaaaaa waaaaaa mamaaaaaaa waaaaaa"
I missed this feeling hahaha. I kept laughing at the crying child until I felt the wind of a blow from the back of my head and my reflexes kicked in
The referee wanted to slap Yuto on the back of the neck for bullying the weak, but when he saw Yuto duck and dodge the sneak attack, he realized that the boy in front of him was more skilled than he had imagined.
"The elimination rounds are now over! The quarterfinals will begin in fifteen minutes."
Hearing the referee's warning, the crowd began to move towards the stall just outside the square to replenish their snacks. Many of the conversations in the crowd were about Yuto and his talent. Some of the more brazen people were already making up stories about the forbidden love between Yuto and Ms. Shizune.
--------
As I was walking towards the counter, thinking that I should try these snacks that everyone else had, the man in chain mail who had brought me here came up to me.
"Yuto, Aric-sama and the noble girl with him are waiting for you. You should go visit them."
"Why are they calling me?"
"How should I know why they called you? Come on, let's not keep them waiting any longer."
"I don't want to go"
"Don't be ridiculous, Yuto. The penalty for disrespecting a low noble is that the disrespectful person is imprisoned for 3 years"
"Isn't this rule too much?"
"Ms. Shizune-sama is a lord. Even though lord is a low noble title, she is the daughter of an count . So if you disrespect her and she wants to punish you, the worst that can happen is that you and your family will be banished from the kingdom."
Does this guy realize what he's saying? I'm going to end my whole family because I didn't do the bidding of a little girl? I guess there's no justice in this world.
"If you understand me, let's go."
"Tch."
"Please don't use that face in front of that girl"
"I got it, I got it. Lead the way."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone