We swung our swords at each other.
The two blades bearing the same crest collided in midair.
Sparks flew between them.
Vlad raised one corner of his mouth.
“Father really is too soft. Giving a sword to a half-wit like you!”
“Do people call even the Iron Wall soft these days?!”
CLANG—!
We forced each other’s swords away and retreated.
Behind Vlad’s sneering face, I saw the nobles.
Father and Grand Duchess Lilian sat in the highest seats.
Numerous vassals were seated beneath them.
Most of them were already in the Grand Duchess’s grasp.
To them, Vlad’s victory was inevitable.
They looked down at me as though they had come to watch some lowborn creature struggle in vain.
‘Disgusting.’
Those bastards knew how to do nothing except squeal like pigs being slaughtered.
Looking at their greasy faces made me want to vomit.
Memories of my previous life surfaced.
After the demons invaded, all those people had done was cling to Father’s trouser legs.
They refused to surrender either their money or their soldiers, yet expected Father to exterminate the demons whenever they attacked.
Eventually, the demons’ offensive became too fierce to withstand, and the order to evacuate was given.
Every last one of them abandoned the common people and fled with nothing but their money and personal guards.
Father remained behind to protect the people they had abandoned.
He died fighting on a battlefield he should have left long before.
I wanted to screw those bastards over.
“Everyone!”
Every gaze turned toward me.
I spoke in the playful voice of a circus clown.
“Continuing the duel like this would be fine, but wouldn’t it be rather boring to simply sit there and watch?!”
Everyone began looking bewildered by my sudden announcement.
“So I have a proposal for all of you! Why don’t you wager some money on whether I or Second Young Master Vladimir will win?!”
The nobles who regarded duels between aristocrats as sacred were particularly horrified.
“Has that man gone mad?!”
“His nature is lowborn, so naturally he cannot behave reverently even in a place that demands it.”
“This is why the uneducated always reveal themselves. They always do!”
I ignored them and turned in the opposite direction.
The residents of the territory were smiling at me.
“Hahaha! That sounds entertaining!”
“As expected, Young Master Pietro knows how to have fun!”
“You must win, Young Master!”
I looked toward Father.
He stared back with a calm, expressionless face.
“What do you think, Your Grace? Will you permit it?”
A brief silence followed.
“I permit it!”
As expected.
He knew how to have fun.
“Your Grace! How could you turn Second Young Master Vladimir into some marketplace clown?!”
“That fool entered the arena of his own will. Whatever may happen within it, would he have stepped onto the battlefield without the resolve to face it?”
The Grand Duchess could say nothing before Father’s declaration and closed her mouth.
A deep furrow formed between her brows.
“If I’m wagering, it has to be on Young Master Pietro.”
“Young Master! I’m betting all of this month’s living expenses on you! You have to win!”
“I’ll bet everything I saved for three years to buy a house! If you’re scared, then die!”
Was this really all right?
“Hey, don’t bet that much.”
Even I, the person who had arranged this, flinched at their enthusiasm.
They were poor and owned little, yet they wagered as though they were staking their very souls.
The resulting sum was surprisingly large.
Even the nobles watching the scene began placing wagers.
“Foolish wretches. I shall leave you crushed beneath debt for the rest of your lives.”
“This much money is nothing if it teaches those lowborn fools their proper place.”
“You are not placing a wager? Surely you do not doubt Second Young Master Vladimir’s abilities?!”
“Of course not! I was merely waiting so I could place the largest wager.”
Within moments, several times the amount wagered by the commoners had piled up.
It was as though the nobles were competing to prove their loyalty to the Grand Duchess.
They did not even realize how irritating such behavior would be to that prideful woman.
“If you’re going to do evil, you should at least be clever.”
I turned toward my opponent.
“Don’t you agree, Vlad?”
His face had turned as red as the sunset, and veins bulged across his forehead.
“Are you finished with your insolence?!”
“No. I’ve still got one thing left.”
I took a strip of black cloth from inside my clothes.
“The amount wagered on your side is far greater than mine, so I think I should accept a handicap.”
I tightly tied the cloth over both eyes.
“No! Young Master, what are you doing?!”
“We’re all finished if this goes wrong!”
“Young Master Pietro, stop joking! This isn’t right!”
The residents who had wagered on me cried out in protest.
I shouted loudly toward them.
“When we crossed swords earlier, I realized I could manage even with my eyes covered!”
I flicked my sword toward Vlad.
“What are you waiting for? Come at me.”
“You mad bastard! I’ve tolerated enough of this!”
KABOOM—!
The ground shook with a deafening noise.
CRACKLE.
I formed the discharged mana into a circle and spread it widely.
Mana Field.
Everything inside the arena began imprinting itself into my mind.
“Die!”
I took one step backward.
Vlad’s sword grazed past my hair.
WHUMM—!
Blue mana coated his sword.
“You’ve learned Mana Sword?”
“Yes. This is my personal sword, forged when I reached the realm of Sword Expert!”
CRASH—!
I heard him kick off the ground again.
“And it is also the sword that will kill you!”
WHUMM—!
“Try it. If you can.”
Once again, I took a single step.
His sword strike missed me.
Vlad continued attacking without pause.
Reading the mana revealed that it was merely an ordinary longsword bearing the family crest with mana wrapped around it.
The mana made it resemble a greatsword.
I kept my feet moving without rest and maintained the distance between us.
Even without using Mana Field, I could tell Vlad was furious beyond reason.
“You rat-like bastard! Is dodging all you know how to do?!”
His voice was filled with venom.
Good grief.
At this rate, the bastard might start crying.
“If you are a warrior, face me honorably from the front and prove that you are worthy of wielding House Fenrir’s sword!”
Huh?
What kind of bullshit was that?
Since when had evading an attack during battle been dishonorable?
Still.
If he wanted to finish this so badly.
“Try blocking this.”
CRASH—!
I charged toward Vlad.
He swung his sword with delight.
“I’ll smash you apart!”
‘He intends to cut through both my sword and me at once.’
Our swords rushed toward one another.
CLANG—!
The two blades collided.
“Gasp!”
Everyone inside the arena doubted their own eyes.
When a sword coated in mana struck an ordinary sword, common sense dictated that the ordinary sword would break.
Yet some illegitimate bastard was directly denying that common sense.
“What is that?!”
“He clearly does not possess much mana!”
“Indeed. He is only at the level of a three-Star Sword Runner.”
‘A Sword Runner can do nothing more than reinforce his body.’
The most shocked person was Vlad, whose sword remained locked against mine.
‘What is this?!’
Why was it not breaking?
Far from breaking, it was holding evenly against his Mana Sword.
Vlad’s eyes widened.
“Oh, you really are fairly strong.”
Regardless, I remained calm.
On a battlefield where demons surged forward like a flood, running out of mana was an everyday occurrence.
I examined him.
‘He’s large and naturally strong. The Grand Duchess also fed him every good thing she could get her hands on, so his body must be sturdy.’
Good.
Unlike last time, I would not be imprisoned after hitting him only once.
“Hold on.”
I would give him the frontal assault he loved so much.
“You insolent bastard!”
He roared like a beast and charged at me.
His attack contained the principles of House Fenrir’s unique Heavy Sword Art, carrying the crushing force of a boulder.
CRACKLE.
I drew in all the mana spinning through my body.
My senses surged, and everything suddenly slowed.
CLANG—!
CLANG—!
CLANG—!
CLANG—!
CLANG—!
CLANG—!
House Fenrir’s mana cultivation method added the family’s unique power to his naturally immense strength.
From Vlad’s perspective, each strike probably did not carry much force.
However.
“It is always a small drop of water that shatters a boulder.”
Each of my strikes followed precisely the same path and struck precisely the same point.
That bastard.
He could not withstand it.
CLANG—!
Vlad’s Mana Sword shattered.
“Don’t die.”
I began swinging my sword at him.
SQUELCH—!
“Ghk! You bastard!”
SQUELCH—!
“Die, you insolent wretch. Ghh!”
SQUELCH—!
“Ghah! How dare someone like you……!”
SQUELCH—!
“S-stop!”
Blood dripped from Vlad’s entire body.
The arena, which had been filled with noise moments ago, had fallen cold and silent.
“Is that truly the man once called the mistake of the North?”
“His ability is entirely different from the rumors.”
“Was he concealing his strength?”
Only a few nobles who had quietly observed the situation instead of greedily joining the competition to prove their loyalty spoke.
The technique Pietro displayed was shocking even to those with extensive combat experience.
It was a realm that someone only now undergoing his Coming-of-Age Ceremony should not have been capable of displaying.
Compared to themselves at the same age, they could not imagine any scenario in which they defeated him.
“Regardless, it appears the outcome has been decided.”
THUD.
Vlad dropped to his knees.
Having completely lost his will to fight, he looked up at me with terror-filled eyes.
“Cruel, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“Giving a real sword to a child who has only just come of age and making him fight a powerful opponent.”
“Huh?”
“Perhaps that is why there is an unwritten rule. The knight chosen as the opponent fights a young master or young lady in earnest, but does not aim for their life.”
I smiled brightly at Vlad.
A faint glimmer of hope seemed to appear within his terrified eyes.
Did he think I would show him mercy?
What a ridiculous misunderstanding.
“But I’m not a knight.”
I raised my sword above my head.
“So I’m going to do whatever I want.”
“S-stop!”
“If you’d shown Mother even a little kindness, I wouldn’t have gone this far.”
If only he had not hurled insults at her to her face.
If only he had not restrained Mother and beaten me like a dog in front of her.
I might not have wanted to kill him.
“Farewell.”
WHISH—!
I swung my sword toward the back of his neck with unmistakable killing intent.
“N-no!”
CLANG—!
Vlad’s desperate scream was followed by the sound of metal.
The family crest was engraved upon the shield that had blocked my attack.
The Knight Order of House Fenrir stood between us.
THUD—!
At that moment, a deafening impact sent dust surging into the air.
“What do you think you are doing?!”
The Grand Duke of the North.
The head of House Fenrir.
A Sword Master.
My father.
Bale von Fenrir stormed into the arena with a furious roar.