Chapter 33
An hour had passed since Commander Chie’s match . I had seen it all through the crystal screen, and the results were not a surprise . Both my respect for her and my exasperation towards her opponent increased though . It felt complicated .
The representatives from the other countries had never amounted to much over the past years, and we had always won the contest in the past . But even in light of that, this bunch was truly something else . Those countries had always maintained the idea that nobles were superior to commoners, and thus, only nobles could ever become anything more than a rank-and-file soldier . On top of that, in order to get promoted, you had to belong to the Army Commander’s faction . The nobles even placed their own people at the top of the chain of command to prevent the army from ever defying them .
In short, those officers were just puppets .
And since a lowly commoner would never even be in consideration for the role of the Representative, it would end up belonging to the strongest puppet . At best, the puppet would only be slightly better than average . At worst, it would be just above weak .
And it showed . They were not like the truly strong people, those able to sense the strength of their opponent . They had arrogance missing in those who spent enough time training diligently to learn humility . They lacked the common sense and the judgement of those they claimed to be . After all, the truly strong would never allow themselves to become puppets . But those tools had been spoiled since young, raised on stuff like “Nobles are special . They are an existence above commoners . ”
An army stuffed full of such tools was no longer fit for purpose . It lacked any strength . A powerless army created space and demand for combat guilds to flourish since somebody had to fight monsters and bandit bands . It would be fair to say that these guilds were the only things standing between those countries and ruin .
One could ask why didn’t the guilds revolt if they were that much stronger . Well, they weren’t well-versed in politics . Being commoners, they were unable to join the government, or receive formal education .
Thinking of this, I felt lucky to have been born in the Empire .
It was truly a blessing that I had been able to obtain an education . I made a heartfelt nod to that thought . At that exact moment, I heard a knock on the door and saw a soldier enter .
“Vice-commander Conrad, it is almost time . ”
Oh, it’s that time already?
“Understood,” I said . I grabbed my wooden sword and left the waiting room .
It was time to focus .
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I returned to the arena floor after an hour of rest .
After my semi-final concluded, I hadn’t really been tired at all, and it would have been fine to start the final match right away . But there had been a schedule to keep .
I kind of regretted finishing my match so quickly .
Just a little bit .
“Commander!”
“Hm?”
I looked for the source of the voice and saw Conrad walking towards me, with his right hand raised and a refreshing smile on his face . For some reason, he looked positively radiant . It looked like he got to vent all his stress too . I was glad for him .
“Hey Conrad!”
I waved back . This wasn’t the way one should treat their imminent opponent, but I was hardly in a position to criticise . We were both in a good mood, so it just ended up like that .
I nodded to myself, watching him reach his designated spot . All that was left was to wait for the referee .
By the way, the referee this time would be from the Empire . Since both of us were from the Empire, a referee from another country wasn’t needed .
I looked at Conrad while we waited .
We had worked together almost every day for the past six months, but we hadn’t sparred with each other even once . We had been too focused on making our soldiers stronger .
In truth, they had already been stronger than the armies of the other countries, but I, as an otherworlder, had still found them quite shabby . I might have been an amateur, but the knowledge Lady Amaterasu had granted me, along with the observation skills I had ended up honing back in my original world, had made up for my lack of experience .
From what I could tell, they had had no problems working together in small squads, but there had been a need to teach them how to work together as one whole army . After all, their jobs had been more than just patrols, subjugation missions, and escort duties . That had been why we had a need for people able to unify the whole army, but there had been no one with that talent available . So, all the Commanders and Vice-Commanders had ended up with something to do .
And that had been why Conrad and I had never had a mock battle .
It had been the same for the other Commanders, the only one I could ever spar with was Claude . That didn’t mean, however, that I hadn’t analyzed Conrad’s fighting style . I had observed the other Commanders during the qualifiers as well . Since I lacked experience fighting them, the best way to come up with countermeasures was to use my knowledge based on what I had seen .
Having just power on its own was pointless .
Ideally, I would like to gain experience using only my head, without relying on my strength at all . This match would be a chance like no other . After all, he had been the winner of the previous tournament, formerly known as the “Empire’s Strongest” . I was considered to be that now, but the title didn’t sit well with me since I had gained it without defeating him . If I was to stand above him, I needed to earn that spot . Even if the title itself wasn’t something I was interested in or attached to .
Being his superior officer could be such a pain .
My face cracked into a dry smile . I was grateful for the helmet . It was awfully convenient to have other people be unable to see your expression at times like this .
The silence – we hadn’t said anything to each other since I had been lost in thought – was suddenly broken .
“I’m so sorry for the wait!” said a young man, our referee, who had just run over with a calm smile on his face .
“It’s fine . No problem,” said Conrad .
His smile was so refreshing .
“Sigh, to be able to witness the match between the Commander and the Vice-commander from up close… I’m so happy to be the referee!”
He looked quite happy indeed . I figured he really wanted to study the duel between his two superior officers . Was it really worth being so happy about, though?
“Aren’t you exaggerating a bit?” I asked .
But he hastily shook his head .
“No way, Commander!” he insisted with passion . “It’s the reigning champion versus the hero who slew Fafnir! Anybody would be thrilled to witness such an exciting match!”
“Alright! Alright . I get it,” I said, holding both my hands in front of me .
I didn’t expect him to be this passionate . It brought back my old worries – just what did the Imperial army think of me?
I could tell when it came to Conrad, Kyle, and other Commanders, but the rest of the soldiers were a mystery in that regard . With the exception of Charlotte Aveline, I couldn’t tell what was going on in their heads, even though I had watched them train for the last six months . And it wasn’t a topic I hadn’t been brooding over .
“I get how you feel, soldier, but do calm down . And more importantly, shouldn’t we start already?”
“Oh! Apologies, Sir!”
Conrad made his reminder with a hint of a smile, and the chastised referee hurried to his spot . He was really good at helping me out of these troubling situations .
I readied my bokutou .
At that moment, Conrad called out to me – “Commander! Please don’t hold back . ”
The smile vanished from his face, replaced by an expression of absolute focus .
“Got it . ”
My reply was terse . There was no longer any need for words .
We were both just waiting for the signal .
“Now then . Ready… Begin!”
Seeing that we were both ready, the referee started the match .
I closed in on Conrad immediately, swinging the bokutou down as I charged . He blocked . We locked swords together .
I saw that his forehead was wrinkled in concentration . He must have been exerting quite a bit of effort .
So this was his real strength . This was the former ‘Empire’s Strongest’, the reigning champion .
I was using a bit less force than it had taken to beat Fafnir half a year ago . I wasn’t holding back out of conceit . He was simply the first human opponent to push me this far since coming to this world .
I put a bit more strength into my arms and pushed him backwards . His balance was disturbed, and I used the chance to stab at his midriff . He recoiled back with a groan .
He moved back to gain some distance, likely having judged that the exchange wasn’t going well . I held my bokutou at the ready, waiting to see what he would do next .
If I attempted a thrust again, he would probably deal with it .
Well, not one of the Empire’s Commanders would fall for the same trick twice . The match wasn’t completely decided yet . Just now, Conrad had managed to immediately back away from my attack, reducing the damage . But I wasn’t surprised . I hadn’t expected to win with that move .
It had been meant to incapacitate him, though . I had probably used enough strength to stun any of the other Commanders .
Usually, when I swung my sword, even Claude would barely be able to dodge .
And Claude was faster than Mr . Musclehead . He had helped me practice dealing with agile opponents .
Conrad, however, had easily been able to react to the speed that even Claude had struggled with . My blow would probably have been dodged completely if I hadn’t forced him off-balance .
It looked like I had to try a bit harder .
That meant my bokutou would definitely break, though . Still, there was no choice .
I briefly wondered what would come first, my victory or my sword breaking .
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If I had taken the Commander’s attack head on, I would have been done for .
Cold sweat trickled down my back as I observed her stance . She had had me on the back foot from the start . I really needed to use this short reprieve to come up with a plan .
The signal had barely sounded, and she had already appeared right in front of me, sword swinging down . I had been able to block it, barely, but even my full strength had not been enough to make her budge . We had locked swords for a while, but she had soon broken my stance with a nudge and stabbed her sword at me in a vicious thrust . I had managed to leap back just in time, but my stomach still throbbed in pain .
So much for mitigated damage .
Given how she was waiting and studying me, I could tell that she wasn’t trying to finish it quick . That thrust too had been something I could have dodged unscathed if I hadn’t lost my balance .
That was her style – at first probe the opponent for strengths and weaknesses . Then, once she had enough information, she would deal with the enemy appropriately . And usually, it took her, at most, a minute of exchanging blows to find out all that she could .
This was the scariest thing about her .
She was doing it now too, as expected, organizing the insight gleaned from our short clash .
That was why she stood still .
If done by any other person, this would be an opening . But Commander never let her guard down while processing the information .
There were no openings .
Resigned, I admitted to myself that I probably couldn’t win .
I had never fought against her until now .
I knew nothing about her as an opponent .
This was the reason I had wanted her to face me seriously . She was the first person whose back I ever felt was worth chasing .
I resumed my stance with a deep breath and then looked straight at her .
She didn’t show any intention of making a move . It looked like she was waiting for me to act .
So be it!
I charged at her with vigour .
I swung my sword with vigour .
She wasn’t kind enough to just sit there and take the blow, of course .
I attacked with all my strength from every angle, but she blocked each and every strike . No human had ever been able to stop my blade before today . She was really, really amazing . Was this how one felt when one’s blood began to boil?
I hadn’t known . I would have never guessed that facing such a strong enemy, even for a brief moment, would feel like this . Exhilarated, I understood why Celestia liked this .
I didn’t expect to win, but I would keep Commander Chie company to the very end .
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Huh?
Conrad was smiling . In a very ghastly way .
“…”
I grimaced under my helmet, wondering if I had possibly awakened something that I really shouldn’t have .
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I watched the two knights carry on with their bout on the arena floor . I could do it from where I was because Chie had given me a crystal .
It was such a ridiculous sight .
I had never seen anything like this, even though I had been sparring with her a lot . She clearly must have been holding back . Well, to be fair, I did know that . Totally .
Never mind Chie, I was no match even for Conrad .
I brushed my bangs aside, looked up to the sky, and smiled after a momentary pause . I had to become stronger, or I would be left behind again .
I looked back into the crystal . The battle there continued, as intense as ever .
If I didn’t want to be left behind, I had to learn from Chie and take in everything I saw .
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Several minutes had passed since the match had started .
As I had exchanged blows with Conrad, I had continued to make adjustments .
I had learned three things .
Regarding his speed : I had gained a good idea of it from that first thrust . He was just a bit faster than Claude .
Regarding his strength : I had gotten a feel of it as we had exchanged blows . He was a bit weaker than Fafnir, of course . But he was still strong enough to make me exert this much power .
There was really no conceit in me .
Lady Amaterasu had given me a body that rivalled the demon lord’s . For him to be able to push me this far, he was way out of the norm .
I briefly wondered how would he fare with the Hero’s sword . It was a very scary vision .
And finally, the last observation: he was a battle maniac . I had figured that out from how he seemed to enjoy himself while he swung his sword .
Why did he have to do it with such a scary smile?! There was such a huge disparity between his normal attitude and how he was now!
Usually, he was a gentleman, always there to offer you support . I would never have imagined he had this side to him .
Nobody had told me about this! Neither Alice nor the Blue-Haired Ikemen . (TL note: This used to be “Long, blue-haired ikemen” but that’s too long and silly . )
There could only be two reasons . Either, everyone had kept it secret from me . Or this match in particular had fired up his warrior spirit . Both were equally possible at this point .
But either way, I had no plans to lose .
After all, he was the one who gave me the most respect as his superior . Losing to him would mean losing face .
In his eyes, at least .
It was time to end this, so I put a bit more strength into my sword-arm . His wooden blade flew into the air . The tip of my weapon rested at his throat .
He was quite surprised .
A few seconds later, his wooden sword clattered on the ground behind his back .
“We have a winner! It’s the Black Knight!” announced the referee, as if spurred by the sound .
The crowd went wild, and the sudden roar made me realize that they had been deathly silent while we fought .
The arena once again filled with cheers .
I removed the bokutou from his neck and held it in my left hand . Then, I took off the gauntlet and held my exposed right hand out to him .
“How was it? Am I worthy of being your boss?”
He looked stunned for a second, but soon made a resigned smile .
“What are you saying, Commander? Of course you are . This match just reinforced that conviction . Nobody but you can stand above me . ”
He took off his gauntlet as well and shook my hand . The gesture stirred the crowd even more .
Suddenly, I felt something strange from the bokutou in my left hand . I looked at it . So did Conrad, apparently noticing something strange .
A crack ran down its length . I must have overdid it a bit .
When I let it go, it split into two halves with an audible crack .
“Ahh… I knew it . ”
“C-Commander?”
He looked bewildered, so I decided to explain .
“It couldn’t withstand my strength . It reached its limits towards the end, so I had to rush a bit . ”
I smiled with self-depreciation .
“The first one lasted all the way to the finals . This one was new, but I guess all this was just too much . You were so strong that I started to panic . ”
It broke after just one match .
At that moment, I noticed that, for some reason, Conrad blushed .
“Hm? Conrad? What’s wrong?”
Thinking that it might be a fever, I put my bare right hand on his forehead .
“C-commander!?”
“Nope, not a fever . ”
Conrad turned even redder . It was quite puzzling .
“Ah,” he sighed in exasperation, “she really is…”
“Hm? What?”
He put his gauntlet back on . I wasn’t sure what had just happened, but I did likewise .
The closing ceremony would be next, so we didn’t have to leave the arena .
It looked like the other two wouldn’t be joining us . One was likely too scared, the other still couldn’t move . Things would end peacefully if nothing else happened .
If nothing else happened .
“Well then, you foolish people! Let’s put an end to this festival! ”
A sudden voice from the sky ruined the atmosphere .
Everyone looked up, including me .
I saw a group of strangers riding gryphons . They were dressed in odd, black robes .
Would they be the last job of the day?
To be continued
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