Sword Maniac And Dragon Maniac

Rudel’s class continued advancing smoothly through the tournament and faced Unias’s class in the semifinals. Their bracket had been packed with powerful opponents, and by the time they reached the semifinals, both sides were battered and bruised. Unias himself was visibly injured in several places. Rudel, however—

“R-Rudel, are you all right?”

Izumi asked Rudel worriedly. In the first round, Luecke had unleashed advanced magic against him. Even before that, Rudel had taken several spells in succession. He had won his subsequent matches with relative ease, but… bandages were wrapped around several parts of his body, making him look painfully battered.

“There’s nothing to worry about. My body still moves just fine.”

Rudel said that while rolling his shoulders to demonstrate. His body still moved… didn’t that mean he was actually in pain? Izumi wondered, but they absolutely had to win this tournament. Even if they had to push themselves somewhat, she thought, before focusing on the match.

And once the matches began… by the time they reached the captain’s match, the score was an astonishing four wins to zero! Rudel’s class had already secured victory. Both classes were in equally battered condition, but it seemed Rudel’s class had possessed the stronger determination.

Surprisingly, the atmosphere surrounding the captain’s match was rather subdued. The semifinal score was already 4–0… and considering how battered Rudel was, there was no need for him to push himself here. Normally, he should have conserved his strength for the finals instead of taking any unnecessary risks.

Rudel and Unias faced each other as they waited for the referee’s signal. In the meantime, Unias spoke to Rudel.

“Seriously… why does my class have to get in the way like this? Hey, Rudel… I know I’m being selfish, but would you fight me seriously? Well, even if you don’t, I’m planning to come at you like I’m trying to kill you anyway.”

Instead of his usual predatory grin, Unias wore a somewhat self-deprecating smile. Rudel answered his request with complete seriousness.

“What are you talking about? Of course we’re fighting seriously! You’d better keep the promise you made on the field!”

Unias’s eyes widened in surprise, and after a moment, he burst out laughing. The wooden sword he had prepared was shaped like a greatsword meant to be wielded with both hands. As Unias raised it into position, Rudel readied his own wooden sword. The referee, who had been wondering whether to interrupt their conversation, ultimately decided that as long as they weren’t going to put on a pathetic match in front of the royal family, there was no problem, and gave the signal to begin.

“I like that stupid side of you! That’s right, come at me seriously, Rudel!!!”

The two crashed violently into each other head-on. Unias fought primarily through swordsmanship with his wooden blade, while Rudel’s style combined swordsmanship and magic. Comparing the two, surprisingly, Unias fought with a refined style centered around proper swordsmanship, while Rudel’s fighting style was far rougher.

Rudel’s swordsmanship was focused entirely on winning and resembled that of a mercenary more than a noble. Since he also used magic, everyone assumed this would be an unfavorable matchup for Unias…

But in reality, Rudel was the one being pushed back. In swordsmanship, Unias’s flowing blade work combined with the difference in strength created by their physiques gave Rudel serious trouble… and Unias even managed to evade his magic. Since Unias was poor at magic, his strategy was simple.

Don’t let Rudel use magic. Or if he did, simply dodge it.

Simple as it sounded, it was an extremely difficult style of combat, yet Unias was actually pulling it off against Rudel. Not only that, he was landing blows on him. Rudel was the one who couldn’t fully parry the attacks.

“Are you having fun, Rudel?! Because I’m having a hell of a time right now!!! Someone who can keep up with me like this—someone who comes at me this seriously—you’re making this so much fun!”

Rudel parried Unias’s relentless barrage of slashes. Realizing this was going badly, he channeled mana into his wooden sword and tried to cut through Unias’s blade. But sensing something unusual, Unias immediately backed away. Then he noticed Rudel’s glowing wooden sword.

With the distance opened between them, Rudel shifted to a mid-range battle using magic. As Unias dodged his attacks,

“You channeled mana into your wooden sword? Nice… Yeah, that’s definitely one way to use it!”

Unias said that, stopped, took his stance, and cut straight through the spell Rudel had sent toward him. He had channeled mana into his wooden sword and mastered Rudel’s method of using mana in an instant. There was one major difference between them, however. Since Unias did not use magic, he had plenty of mana to spare.

He poured all of that into his wooden sword. Rudel’s blade merely glowed, but mana visibly shimmered and leaked from Unias’s wooden weapon. Using that wavering mana, Unias slashed at Rudel. Naturally, Rudel blocked with his own wooden sword, but the unstable mana flexed like a whip and cut across Rudel’s cheek.

This time, Rudel tried to create distance from Unias, but Unias refused to allow it. In an instant, Rudel found himself at a major disadvantage.

The man named Unias, who had shown such rapid growth in the middle of battle, had appeared in the game as the “Sword Genius.” Despite being a noble, he loved freedom, treated everyone kindly, and was dependable. He also had a strong sense of responsibility and natural leadership qualities, making him virtually guaranteed to become a core member of any party he joined… That was the sort of character he had been.

But those very traits had caused Unias suffering. As a great noble, he had never needed exceptional talent with a sword. In battle, someone of Unias’s position would command troops, not stand on the front lines.

Unias himself loved the sword and trained diligently. Yet he had never had anywhere he could truly test his ability to the fullest. Everyone held back around Unias because of his position as a great noble. Even during academy matches, opponents would deliberately lose at just the right moment to stay in his good graces.

Because he was talented, Unias always noticed what they were doing, and it left him feeling empty. He had once even considered abandoning his status. But his sense of responsibility would not allow it. Abandon his family… abandon his people, just to live for the sword? Unias could never do that. And so he had given up on ever experiencing a truly serious sword fight.

Everything else in his life had gone well. He had friends at the academy, and he even had a girlfriend. If all he wanted was to sneak out of school, fool around, and enjoy student life, there would have been no problem at all.

Then Rudel appeared. Rudel was the kind of person who seemed capable of abandoning his status, his family, and even his people if that was what it took to become a Dragoon. And after meeting him, Unias had begun to hope. Maybe with this guy, he could finally have a serious fight. …Neither Rudel’s strength nor his resolve would be a problem.

Then came the news about this tournament. Unias had no idea when Rudel’s feelings might change, and he began to fear that if he missed this opportunity, he might never again get the kind of serious battle he had always wanted…

If Rudel failed to see any value in fighting him seriously, perhaps he would never again face Unias with complete sincerity… with the determination to kill him if necessary. That was what Unias had come to believe.

Rudel continued retreating while Unias pursued him… but just when it seemed that exchange would continue, Rudel suddenly went on the offensive. He stopped using magic and charged Unias with his full strength. With mana flowing through the wooden sword, a badly placed strike could easily prove fatal.

“That’s it! Come at me like you’re really trying to kill meeeee!!!”

Unias also poured every last bit of mana he could into his wooden sword. Then he countered Rudel’s attack. Rudel barely managed to evade it. But his wooden sword was sliced apart by Unias. In an instant, Unias had shifted his target from Rudel himself to the weapon in his hands.

“My win—gh!!!”

Unias was just about to declare victory. But Rudel discarded his broken wooden sword and slipped into Unias’s guard barehanded. Unafraid of the slash Unias immediately tried to bring around, Rudel planted both palms against Unias’s solar plexus… and unleashed a fully compressed blast of wind magic at full power.

He had no time and was in no position to concentrate properly… but it was still an attack launched from point-blank range. There was no way it wouldn’t be effective!

Unias was blasted backward and sent outside the ring. He tried to stand immediately, but the rules dictated that leaving the ring meant defeat. Even so, Unias attempted to rise… only for a sharp pain to tear through his chest, leaving him unable to stand properly.

“Winner, Rudel Arses!”

And so Unias lost. He had been defeated in a genuine, all-out battle. As cheers rose from the spectator stands, Unias remained lying on the ground and stared up at the sky. Evening had already fallen, staining the heavens orange.

“Why won’t my body move… Let me enjoy it a little longer! Just a little longer…”

Tears began spilling from Unias’s eyes. The more fun he had experienced, the more unbearable it was to accept that it had already ended. Then Rudel climbed down from the ring, practically dragging his battered body along.

“That was fun, Unias. Let’s fight again sometime… If we do, I’ll be able to aim even higher.”

Rudel said it with a smile. Both of them were covered in injuries and in terrible condition. The one who had defeated Unias, a genius, was an ordinary man with less natural talent. Yet in Rudel’s relentless determination to keep climbing higher, Unias finally understood just how extraordinary he truly was.

“You’re incredible… Yeah, let’s fight again. So you’d better stay at the academy, got it?”

Their classmates rushed over to the two of them. Rudel and Unias were immediately carried off to the infirmary. …The tournament had taken far longer than expected, and it had already been decided that the final match would be postponed until the following day.

Only one match remained for Rudel—the final against Aleist’s class.