60

Daniel, who had been silent for a while after hearing Hamel, muttered in a hollow tone.

“When I was your age I couldn’t even sense aura. But you…”

Talisman and dragon-speech.

And Hamel, who can even wield his innate ability, the Azure Flame.

It was only natural to be at a loss that someone like him could now handle aura as well.

‘These are abilities that are difficult for one person to master even over a lifetime.’

Daniel gazed intently at Hamel.

Who could call the Hamel of now a fool?

The Hamel who was mediocre in mana, Divine power, and swordsmanship was gone.

‘He himself still seems unaware of how remarkable he is…’

After a brief moment of disbelief, Daniel let out a light sigh and spoke.

“First, look over there.”

“……?”

When Hamel turned his head in the direction Daniel pointed, Rupert came into view.

He was watching Hamel with a fiery gaze.

It wasn’t hard to catch the meaning behind that look.

“That fellow seems to have been provoked a bit.”

“I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

Hamel felt awkward and averted his eyes slightly.

He had thought they’d be pleased to see aura.

After all, the North has long venerated martial prowess — and isn’t this the Glenval family that sanctifies the sword?

But it seemed to have stirred Rupert’s pride instead.

As expected, it’s hard to understand the mindset of that sort of person.

Faced with the unexpected, Hamel let out a light sigh.

It seemed things had become tangled.

And soon after.

Hamel’s expectation proved correct.

“The winner of this match is… Sir Rupert of the Glenval family!”

“Waaaah!”

Amid the crowd’s cheers, Rupert raised his sword.

A clear aura shimmered around the blade.

Although the skill gap with his opponent was obvious, Rupert deliberately used aura to shatter the opponent’s sword.

The reason for that unnecessary performance was simple.

“….”

Rupert silently turned his gaze to Hamel.

Hamel rubbed his throbbing head and turned his head away slightly.

‘…Nothing goes the way I plan.’

Hamel had never intended to win the tournament from the start.

He had thought that if he simply showed his swordsmanship and aura, Rupert would acknowledge him.

But now Rupert seemed consumed by a single-minded determination to defeat Hamel at any cost.

Things had gone rather awry.

Hamel sighed softly, but nothing changed.

His sigh was no more than a speck added to the cloudy sky.

The following matches proceeded faster than expected.

Even in the sword-famous North, high-ranking knights were by no means common.

In this domain, aside from the knight commander, there were no high-ranking knights.

Yet this tournament had as many as three high-ranking knights who could wield aura: Daniel, Hamel, and Rupert.

A few knights stepped forward burning with fighting spirit, but they were in the minority.

Most of the knights had forfeited from the competition.

For knights, such tournaments were a form of gamble.

If you won, you could take your opponent’s ransom or their armor and weapons — a chance at sudden fortune — but conversely you could lose everything.

Moreover, with the risk of serious injury or even death, few knights were willing to overextend themselves.

Thanks to that, Hamel and Daniel reached the semifinals having fought only once each.

“We finally meet.”

Hamel’s semifinal opponent was Rupert.

Rupert displayed his boiling fighting spirit without restraint.

“Try to beat me here. I’ll trust your words and play along as much as you want.”

“….”

Hamel remained silent.

He merely tapped the guard of the sword at his waist.

Rupert laughed heartily and drew his blade.

“Right. We don’t converse with words. Let the rest be decided by our swords.”

It was a fight between knights who used aura.

Since it was no ordinary spectacle, the crowd watched with great excitement.

The announcer was no different.

He swallowed dryly.

When the lord gave the signal, he would immediately raise the flag to announce the start of the match.

The lord’s mouth slowly opened.

“Now then, the match…”

“Wait.”

A suddenly heard voice interrupted the lord’s words.

Question flickered across the faces of those whose excitement had been rising.

Who would interrupt the lord at this moment?

“Please stop.”

The voice belonged to none other than Hamel.

At Hamel’s words, the lord and everyone’s gaze turned to him.

Hamel shrugged his shoulders and replied.

“I forfeit.”

“….?”

Rupert, who had been ready to swing his sword at any moment, stared at him in a daze.

Having finished speaking, Hamel turned and walked down from the arena.

A cold silence settled over the arena.

Only Rupert stood there dumbfounded like a petrified statue.

Hamel averted his gaze slightly as he saw Rupert glaring at him from a distance.

He couldn’t help it.

Hamel had only recently begun using aura and wasn’t confident he could beat Rupert with swordsmanship alone.

Excluding the Azure Flame, which was meaningless against humans.

The talisman had to be conserved, since once used it could not be used again for a long time.

That left only consuming dragon’s blood…

‘There’s no reason to go that far in a sword contest.’

Would it not be absurd to use dragon’s blood here, when it’s something one restrains from using even in life-or-death battles?

‘Give it up.’

Hamel cleanly abandoned the match.

The reason for that decision was simple.

He had already prepared for any unexpected situation.

“The final match will begin shortly. Sir Rupert of the Glenval family, and Sir Daniel of Haidern, please prepare!”

At the announcer’s call, Daniel stood up from his seat.

He chuckled as if something amused him and said to Hamel.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Yes. Don’t overdo it.”

“All right. I will.”

Daniel smiled, waved his hand, and headed to the arena.

Meanwhile, Rupert, who had been seated a short distance away, also headed to the arena.

Still glaring at Hamel as he moved.

He seemed considerably disappointed in Hamel.

But what could be done?

After all, the condition of the bet had been to defeat Rupert.

‘I didn’t say who that would be.’

If it wasn’t him, it would be fine for Daniel to take the victory.

Hamel watched the two men enter the arena with a calm demeanor.

Ono, watching beside him, asked with some concern.

“Is it okay to hold back like this when Vinea might play tricks at any moment?”

“She doesn’t seem likely to act immediately. And I doubt she’ll actually ease up that much.”

“What do you mean by that?”

When Ono asked puzzled, Hamel calmly countered.

“If I were to fight Sir Daniel without using any abilities, what do you think would happen?”

“You’d lose, right?”

“Yes. I would lose. To be exact…”

Hamel looked toward the arena.

At that moment, the flag announcing the start of the match was raised.

The next moment.

─Clang!

With a sharp metallic sound, a sword spun up into the air.

Then it fell to the ground, lifeless.

“….”

“….”

One person had the blade at his opponent’s throat, while the other stared blankly at the sword lying on the ground.

The final of the swordsmanship tournament.

The outcome was decided in the blink of an eye.

“Th…the winner: Sir Daniel of Haidern!”

Watching that scene, Hamel continued what he had been saying to Ono.

“I wouldn’t be able to withstand even a single strike.”

Rupert was a far superior swordsman compared to Hamel.

And Daniel was vastly better than both of them.

Of course, if Rupert had drawn his aura from the start, things would have been a bit different.

Even so, the outcome probably wouldn’t have changed…

‘It would have been harder to win as easily as this.’

The reason Rupert was defeated in a single blow was clear.

‘Complacency.’

Hamel watched Rupert with an unperturbed expression.

Rupert was trudging out of the arena as if he couldn’t believe his defeat.

“Just as expected.”

Daniel returned to his seat, shrugged, and said.

Daniel had expected that Rupert wouldn’t give his best from the start.

He might have been complacent, or trying to gauge his opponent.

Under normal circumstances, it would be hard to call it a blunder.

But in this match, that couldn’t be allowed.

Daniel had used aura from the start to draw out his full strength.

Moreover, Rupert had been distracted by Hamel until the final moment.

Given the different mindset going in, defeat was, in a way, an inevitable result.

“So what are you going to do now?”

Ono asked Hamel, urging him on.

The tournament was over.

In the evening, a feast to celebrate the winner was planned in the square.

Even the tactless could see it.

That the time for the final confrontation was drawing near.

‘About three hours until sunset…’

There was plenty of time.

Hamel rose from his seat and said.

“You two should rest until the feast. I have someone I need to meet.”

“Who do you mean?”

At Ono’s question, Hamel looked around briefly and fixed his gaze on a spot.

“T-that is.”

“…Suddenly, what does a rat have to do with it?”

Hamel lightly ignored Ono’s retort and walked on quietly.

Then, as he naturally slipped out of others’ sight.

“Good to see you.”

Hamel greeted the figure walking ahead.

“Hmm? Are you talking about me?”

The middle-aged man turned with a bewildered expression.

“When did we ever have a conversation?”

“Didn’t you say we’d talk after the tournament, Galahad?”

Hamel calmly looked at Galahad, the knight commander of Lonelybirch, and spoke.

Galahad stared at Hamel as if taken aback and then….

“Huh… how did you know it was me?”

He expressed amazement.

Tilting his head in curiosity, he continued speaking.

“Did I make some mistake?”

“No. I recognized you as the commander for another reason.”

“I’m very curious what that ‘other reason’ is… but anyway, understood.”

There was nothing special about how Hamel suspected G’s identity.

A person who could tuck a letter into Hamel’s room within a heavily guarded castle.

And the hint Tristan had given him.

‘Come to think of it, Uncle Galahad also disliked pendants.’

If one didn’t notice even after hearing that, they wouldn’t qualify as an Exorcist priest.

Hamel shrugged and brought up the main topic.

“So may I ask why you wanted to see me?”

“Hmm, before that, may I ask one thing?”

“By all means.”

“Sir Hamel, is it truly by chance that you came to this estate?”

Galahad’s eyes, which had seemed gentle until a moment ago, suddenly flashed sharp like a whetted blade.

Hamel watched him silently for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

“No.”

“Then…”

Galahad’s gaze was expectant.

Hamel spoke calmly.

“To hunt the demon hiding in Lonelybirch.”