The summer heat had already subsided and the season was close to full autumn.

Early summer mornings were cooler than during the day, but summer was still summer.

However, as autumn grew closer, those who were sensitive to the cold would start to feel a little chilly.

「HAAAAaaAH-!」

Under the cloudless blue sky, as the morning sunlight poured down, a shout echoed out in the courtyard of the Eternal Sky Pavilion.

As he heard that shout, he evaded the tip of the long sword, that had been blunted for mock battles, by the skin of his teeth.

However, the person attacking didn’t think that his attacks would connect that easily. No, in fact, he had been planning his attacks under the assumption that they would be avoided.

Pulling the long sword back, he delivered another series of thrusts.

No matter how much a blade was blunted, the tip of a sword would still retain a certain level of sharpness. Enough that the average person could pierce the sword into a tree trunk if they thrust with all their might.

Furthermore, the person wielding the sword was Rhodes, a C rank adventurer with a high level of combat strength. Even if the blade had been blunted, a single strike from his sword could still easily end a person’s life.

But, that was only if the person he was fight were someone ordinary.

Rhodes had given on going easy after failing to hit with any of his thrusts.

In fact, Rei had been been able to dodge all 10 attacks that had been made in the space of a few seconds.

After that, Rei continued to avoid each successive thrust that came at him.

As if to demonstrate that martial arts could be used in performance, the scene looked like a synchronised dance.

「……This has got to be a lie, right? Who is that monster? Many people can deliver thrusts at that speed without stopping, but he just keeps dodging them all……」

「Yeah. And look at the movements of the kid who’s dodging everything.」

「……Ugh. He’s not dodging by reading the flow of attacks, he’s only moving after seeing it coming.」

「That’s right. Normally, you would read your opponent’s movements and evade by predicting their attacks.」

「Yeah, I know. Apparently that kid is an escort for a noble from the Mireana Kingdom. From what I heard the people at the inn talk about.」

「A escort? ……That’s right. Since they’re escorts, they won’t be competing in the fighting tournament, would they?」

「If you put it that way, aren’t we also here as escorts? In the first place, if we didn’t do that, we wouldn’t be staying in such a prestigious inn.」

「Gah, you’re right. ……But, watching those guys fight is making me lose confidence.」

「That’s true. In fact, look at the young man who is being bullied by the kid, if you just look at his skill, he’s at quite a high level. However, that kid is just too overwhelming. I don’t expect to win, but if a kid like that participates, it’s going to be hard to even make it to the final rounds.」

「No, in fact, unlike the final rounds, which are individual matches, you should consider that the preliminary rounds offer an opportunity to beat out stronger people with numbers.」

「I know what you mean, but if you use the strength of others to make it to the final rounds, you’ll probably just lose in the first round.」

「Once you make it to the final rounds, you’ll get a lot of attention. If you just want to become a government official, that’s enough.」

「But, if we make it to the final rounds and get to the top few, we could receive many prizes……」

「It’s fine to dream, but you should look at reality.」

As they watched Rei and Rhodes fight……or rather, spar, the people around them voiced their thoughts.

This was the courtyard of the Eternal Sky Pavilion.

It was one of the finest inns in the Bestir Empire and its courtyard was quite spacious.

Currently present in the courtyard were those who had followed others into the Eternal Sky Pavilion as bodyguards, people who could stay here due to their individual fame, or those accompanying their patrons who had come out to exercise.

For those who had come to the Imperial Capital as bodyguards for people staying at this inn, they were all naturally veterans or talented individuals.

Those with the ability to stay at this inn themselves or those with a benefactor who could sponsor them wouldn’t be that different either.

All those people watched the mock battle between Rei and Rhodes with amazement. No, it would be more accurate to say that all they could do was watch.

Of course, among those who had initially come to the courtyard to exercise, there was no doubt that some wanted to test Rei and Rhodes’ ability.

However, watching the two of them fight made them understand the difference in strength, even if they didn’t want to admit it.

It must have been unfortunate for them to see others with such a level of strength.

They had no choice but to participate in the fighting tournament knowing that there were others they were no match for.

Since they were here, they all had their own confidence in their skill, so this came as a huge shock those those watching.

For those present, such a shock led to two paths.

「Tch, I can’t do this, this is ridiculous. Come on, let’s go back. If we train in the same place as those guys, even our movements will be affected.」

A group mumbled in disgust and glared at Rei and Rhodes, who were still sparring, in irritation before leaving.

「……Come on, let’s start. Those guys may be strong, but there’s still some time before the fighting tournament starts. In that short period of time, we can still get stronger. Even if it’s not possible right now, we can still get stronger. We just have to train to catch up with those guys.」

Even though they currently lost out to Rei and Rhodes, another group was eager to start training in order to catch up and overtake them.

Although the former group had more people, it was clear which of the two held better prospects.

As Rei and Rhodes sparred, they were completely unaware of the impact they were having on those around them.

As a result, after watching their mock battle, some people felt that, Rhodes aside, they wouldn’t be able to beat Rei if they faced him, causing them to withdraw from the tournament.

「UOOOOOH-!」

Rhodes, who had been throwing out thrusts like crazy, only for them to be all evaded, gathered his strength into a final attack, unleashing one last thrust with all his might.

His thrusts were not aimed at Rei’s head, which was easier to miss, but at his torso, which was the hardest to avoid. But still, Rei was able to avoid the attack by pulling half his body back.

The long sword came to a sudden stop with that final thrust, but……the next moment, the thrust was forcibly changed into a horizontal sweep.

「-」

Rei let out a voice of surprise at the sudden attack.

However, his surprise was short lived. The next moment, he casually stretched out his hands and caught the blade of the long sword that was being swung at him.

A bare handed blade block.

「What-!」

Rhodes had been quite confident in his attack. He hadn’t expected Rei to block it with his bare hands as a stupefied voice leaked from his mouth.

「Yes, I’m sorry.」

Still holding the blade, Rei yanked it towards him. Unable to make the decision whether to let go of his weapon or not due to his shock, Rhodes lost his balance, exposing his body. The next moment……Rei’s right fist was a few millimeters away from his chin.

Why did he grab the sword’s blade? Rhodes looked down only to see Rei stopping his blade with just his left hand.

「……It’s your loss.」

It was a perfect defeat.

When Rhodes realised this and heard Rei’s words, he breathed out with a sigh as Rei moved his fist away.

「I think your last attack was pretty good. However, you used too many thrusts before getting to that point.」

Rhodes looked at Rei suspiciously as Rei gave some advice while walking away.

「What do you mean?」

「Do you think it’s easy to use such an outrageous technique?」

「Outrageous technique?」

Thinking about it for a moment, Rhodes immediately thought of Rei’s bare handed blade block from earlier.

「No, it’s not really that difficult of a technique. Of course I can’t say it’s easy. However, it’s not very useful in actual combat.」

「Why not? You can neutralise an opponent’s weapon with your bare hands, so why isn’t a useful technique?」

Rhodes voice echoed out into the courtyard and those who were training a bit further away secretly agreed.

They had been watching Rei and Rhodes fight and, while they didn’t forget their own training, perhaps because the mock battle was at too high a level, they ended up watching the fight rather than practicing poorly. Most of the people present had been watching……but seeing Rei catch a sword with his bare hands was too unexpected, even if the blade had been blunted.

Because of that, they felt that it would definitely be useful if they could make the technique their own. That was what they had been thinking, but for some reason, Rei, who had been the one to show of the technique, said that it had little use in actual combat, making everyone look at him in interest as to why.

「I used it this time because I knew the blade was blunted, but if this were a real long sword, just a slight shift in timing would lead to my palm or wrist being sliced, right? Besides, if it were a magic sword and I grabbed the blade poorly, I could be hurt by fire, ice, or lighting as well.」

「……I see.」

When asked about it, Rei gave a reasonable explanation.

Of course, it was a different story if the skill level between the two sides was far apart, but even in that case, the weaker party could still have some kind of magic sword.

A good example of this was Aragon, who had previously been in Rei’s rank up test.

While his sword skills weren’t that good, he still had a magic sword as a weapon.

Since the sword wasn’t the type that could create flames, there wasn’t that much danger. However, based on Rei’s experience, a bare handed blade block wasn’t a technique that could be used in actual combat.

「Well, that’s why I used this technique, because it was a mock battle. But, since you forced me to use a technique I hadn’t used before, your skill has definitely improved.」

Rhodes’ mouth curled into a smile at the rare compliment from Rei.

Truthfully, he had made Rei feel nervous for a moment, even if only for a moment, so he should be praised for that.

However, there was still clearly a large gap in ability between Rei and Rhodes when you compared their appearances. Rhodes was sweating all over while Rei wasn’t sweating at all.

「Considering the time left until the tournament, I will get my revenge against you.」

「Sure, I’m looking forward to it.」

While there was still a big difference between them, Rhodes was still Elk’s son and his power was growing day by day.

Rei had no intention of letting Rhodes overtake him, but he still found it interesting to see his strength grow.

(At first, I thought it would be difficult for him to make it through the preliminaries, but at this rate, it should be possible for him to get to the final rounds? ……However, unless the skill level is too far apart, you can’t feel completely safe about the qualifying battle royale. No, the tactics involved are also a highlight for the audience. As for the betting, it’s not uncommon for it to be even more exciting than the final rounds.)

While muttering to himself, Rei heard the sound of the inn’s guests starting to get up as he threw a cloth he had prepared over to Rhodes.

「Hey, morning training is over. It’s time for breakfast.」

「Hm? Oh, it’s almost that time.」

Rhodes looked up at the sky as he wiped the sweat from his face.

Autumn weather. That was probably the best way to describe the clear day. The temperature in early autumn was still quite warm, but in the morning, it was quite pleasant.

Rei and Rhodes both left the courtyard while feeling the nice weather.

Those who saw them off started to immerse themselves in their own training after remembering their earlier exchange.

They were half disappointed and half relieved that Rei and Rhodes, who had been very active, were no longer present.

「Then, I’ll head to the dining area first.」

「Sure.」

After a brief exchange of words, Rei split up with Rhodes.

Looking at Rhodes appearance, it was obvious why he didn’t head straight to the dining area.

He might have wiped the sweat from his face, but his body was still sweaty, so he went back up to his room to clean himself up first.

If this were an ordinary inn, there wouldn’t have been an issue even if he went to the dining area.

However, this was one of the best inns in the Bestir Empire……in other words, it was an inn like no other in Elgin. The people that stayed here were nobles and wealthy merchants with great status. If Rhodes had gone to the dining area as he was, smelling of sweat, Rhodes’ employer, Daska, would be looked down on.

Because of that, Rhodes needed to take care of his appearance.

Rei wasn’t even sweating, so all he had to do was to pat down his Dragon Robe to remove the dust.

In this way, the few days leading up to the fighting tournament passed.

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