“Reinhardt? I hear he’s a supernatural power user.”
“That’s not fair!”
“Did you just yell at me?”
“Oh, no. That. That’s… I’m sorry.”
Richard Haulman apologized, then hung his head.
He hadn’t won a single set in the quarterfinals, and he was furious. He had already realized that he was going to lose when his opponent used Magic Body Strengthening in his previous matches.
But it wasn’t even used against him.
He was unsettled by his opponent’s random bursts of power that kept opening up unintended gaps in his stance, which had led to his defeat.
A lack of information about the opponent was also his fault.
So he did some research, and it turned out Reinhardt was a supernatural ability user in the first place.
That wasn’t fair.
Why did he lose to such an absurd and ridiculous power, when he had trained and put in effort honestly?
Richard Haulman’s eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth.
If that brat didn’t have supernatural powers, he could have won. He could have trampled him. But that excuse was useless.
Richard Haulman was now in his class’s dormitory, the Irazon Class.
Gathered around him were his classmates and seniors.
Even though Temple was usually quite strict, the standards were lessened in many ways due to the festival, so they were here sitting around, drinking.
It was a space that was lacking in many ways compared to the Royal Class, but it was Temple after all, so it wasn’t too cramped.
It was a group of students who were just coasting through their time at Temple.
A senior who seemed to be the leader of the group poured alcohol into the glass of Richard Haulman, who could have been the star of tonight’s gathering, but instead met Reinhardt and became the laughingstock instead.
-gluggluglugglug
“Anyway, keep your promise, okay?”
“Oh, that… Dude, what promise?”
“The one where you said you’d join the crossdressing contest if you didn’t make it to the quarterfinals, that promise.?”
There was a reason the annual cross-dressing contest was weirdly successful.
It’s because it’s used as a punishment game between people who know one another. There were always enough participants from people who lost some kind of punishment game, and there were always enough spectators from people who came to laugh at them.
Those who are laughed at, those who are doing the laughing.
That’s how it goes for the participants.
Apparently, some time ago, Richard Haulman made a bet, full of confidence.
Of course, he didn’t realize how things would turn out.
Too much confidence was a recipe for disaster.
Richard Haulman’s complexion turned pale.
“Oh, no, that’s not what I said!”
“You said if you made it to the quarterfinals, I’d join the cross-dressing contest and vice-versa. Hey, did anyone here not hear that? Raise your hand if you did.”
People hid their smiles even as they raised their hands.
Because while Richard Haulman’s personality was terrible, he wasn’t quick to resort to violence, though he would absolutely pick a fight with those who openly made fun of him.
“Oh, I’ll do anything you ask me to do, but please don’t….”
“Join the pageant, that’s all I want from you, asshole.”
The senior gulped down his drink and exhaled. As Richard sat there at a loss for words, one of the first years muttered softly.
“By the way, isn’t the sign-up for that thing over?”
”!”
Richard’s complexion improved for a moment.
“Don’t you think I know that, dude, you can sign up for it an hour before the actual competition.”
As if he found it funny to cut off all means of escape, he chortled, while the other seniors seemed amused.
“You could have gotten me in trouble if you won! I was really going to join, you know?”
In the first place.
The seniors already knew that there was no way someone from the general classes would make it to the quarterfinals in a tournament that was supposed to be for special classes.
“Reinhardt, you cheating bastard!
Richard Haulman was burning with hatred for Reinhardt, but he had no idea that they would meet again.
The day after the festival began.
Tuesday.
It was the day of the finals of the grade-level tournaments, and naturally the first-year matches were to begin first.
Yesterday were the preliminary rounds, but today was the real deal. The crowd was much bigger today than yesterday, and they were practically packed to the rafters.
The kids left me alone today so as not to disturb me. But they would all be sitting somewhere in the audience. Not only me, but Scarlett and Ludwig had advanced, so the entire first-year Royal Class would be in the audience, just like yesterday.
In the end, the finalists were either from the Royal Class or the Orbis Class. Did the fact that there was not a single person from the general classes in the final four meant that elitism was right after all?
I’m not so sure about that.
There’s a good chance that I’ll face Gladen Amorelle in the finals. Ludwig seemed determined, but maybe something will happen where he turns his willpower into strength.
If I were pushed to use Magic Body Strengthening against Scarlett, I’ll most likely have to use it again against Gladen Amorelle in the upcoming final.
That’s the worst possible situation for someone like me who was vulnerable to back-to-back battles. If I pass out, I’ll be disqualified.
I couldn’t afford to overdo it. In the first place, the initial reason I joined the tournament was for the achievement points.
There’s nothing more ridiculous than suffering irreparable damage while trying to earn achievement points.
I was never at an advantage. I had a powerful weapon in my hands, a double-edged sword, but if I used it incorrectly, I would not only lose the championship, but I would also suffer internal injuries.
First Year Tournament, semifinals, first game.
‘For the semifinals of the Gardias Temple First Year Tournament! We have Reinhardt of the Royal Class versus Scarlett of the Royal Class. Begin!!’
‘Waaaaaah!’
Among the cheering, I stood against a girl with crimson eyes and hair so red it seemed like fire.
Her weapon was the same kind as mine, a longsword. However, her sword was a bit shorter and lighter than mine. But the reach difference was negligible.
I haven’t sparred with Scarlett very often, but we’ve had a few practice matches this semester in our swordsmanship classes.
Scarlett was fast and agile, and her swordplay is based on her excellent reflexes. Rather than engaging directly against the opponents, she preferred to use her skill to sidestep her opponent’s sword or change the path of their blade with a flick of her wrist and then exploit their openings.
A girl with solid fundamentals, she was able to anticipate her opponent’s sword trajectory and counter it.
Fundamentals.
That was something I absolutely lacked.
Ellen, who could do everything from theory to application, taught me the basics in a concise manner, so my skills weren’t bad now, but I never learned the foundations..
In a way, I was a student who had only been taught how to solve problems; I’ve been taught the answers rather than the theory, such as what to do in which situation.
Scarlett, on the other hand, understood the theory perfectly, so not only did she know what to do in each situation, but she also knew the why and could adjust as needed.
It was a problem that stemmed from the difference in the absolute time invested in swordsmanship, which was why I shouldn’t be standing here in the first place.
If it weren’t for Ellen, if it weren’t for my supernatural ability, if it weren’t for my magical enhancements, I wouldn’t be here.
But in the end, I was, and that meant I had to deal with Scarlett, who had an overwhelming advantage over me in terms of actual skill.
Scarlett, who was one of the two main heroines in the original and was bullied for under the pretext of superstition, had lost much of her confidence.
In the original, it was Ludwig.
This time, it’s Charlotte who saved her.
Then, the redheaded girl looked at me.
“Reinhardt.”
“…?”
Scarlett opened her mouth before I could attack.
The audience couldn’t hear our conversation.
“You’re my hero.”
“…what?”
I asked, bewildered by the confession.
Because it didn’t make sense.
Scarlett and I both came from the same street-level background, after all.
“I was afraid of getting kicked out of Temple, but you were always so confident, like it didn’t matter.”
Scarlett was watching when I dueled third-year Mayarton.
I had no contact or connection with Scarlett.
Although the duel was held in Class A’s training room, Scarlett, who was being bullied at the time, watched my duel until the end, despite Erich’s warning.
After that, I didn’t have much contact with Scarlett, but I knew she had some sort of goodwill towards me.
When I was injured, she would visit me in the clinic and talk to me briefly.
It was a different feeling than liking me. It was more like she liked me, but not in a romantic way.
I knew in my gut that Scarlett had some kind of affection for me.
It was the admiration for a hero.
“I was looking at you and thinking.”
“I am weak not because of my background, but because I am just weak myself.”
“I can be strong, it’s okay to stand up for myself, I won’t be expelled because of that. No, even if I am expelled, that’s not important.”
“Not everyone is going to like you, but not everyone is going to hate you either.”
“I realized that if you live a life where you just stand up for yourself, you get something out of it, and it’s okay to be hated by a lot of people, and it’s okay to do things that make you hate everybody, because not everybody hates you, and there will always be somebody who likes you.”
“Just like it’s impossible to make everyone like me, it’s impossible to make everyone hate me. I realized that when I saw you.”
“I’ve been trying to change since I saw you, and I can’t change completely, but I’m trying to change little by little, because you can do it, and I know I can, and I know I should.”
I thought it was Charlotte who had changed Scarlett.
But it wasn’t.
Scarlett and I had never really interacted, but she realized that she could live like me.
So she was changing. Scarlett participated in Miss Temple in the original, but now she was competing in the First Year Tournament.
At the end of the day, we’re both trying to prove ourselves in some way.
Scarlett is trying to prove something.
“I’m sorry, this isn’t the place for a conversation, but I had to say it.”
I realized that Scarlett had entered the tournament so that she could be my opponent in this match.
“I would be honored to be your opponent here.”
I had unwittingly become Scarlett’s hero.
Scarlett pointed her sword at me.
Scarlett’s eyes narrowed and her expression hardened, unlike the kind words she had spoken before.
“I’ll do my best.”
After that confession, the roaring crowd fell silent again as Scarlett took a step forward.
Scarlett’s determination to do her best was different from what I’ve seen so far. It’s different from when we sparred during classes.
This was the Grand Stadium.
A place where she could attack her opponent with the intent to kill.
In other words, you can give it everything you’ve got to overpower your opponent.
“Well, it’s only polite to you.”
Scarlett.
The red headed girl lunged at me.
As she lunged at me, I could feel her crimson eyes trace a trajectory through the air.
-Ka-ang!
“Tch!”
Alongside the immense weight of her strike, I felt an intense sense of discomfort.
Self-Suggestion.
It was sealed.
“Supernatural abilities don’t work against me.”
Scarlett had a talent.
It wasn’t a supernatural ability..
But her talent was related to supernatural abilities anyway.
Scarlett, the Crimson Swordsman.
Her talent is [Anti-Magic].
One of her epithets in the original was Spellbreaker..
Neither magic nor supernatural abilities worked on her.
In the first place, Scarlett’s nickname didn’t make sense.
Scarlett was basically impervious to all kinds of mental and offensive magic.
Even supernatural abilities were negated.
Scarlett’s extreme resistance to magic was why her nickname was “Witch”.
Of course, it’s not as if she’s completely impervious to magic, as that would neutralize the stadium’s protective magic as well. Her resistance was adjustable, and when pushed to the limit, reached full immunity.
Anti-magic powers existed in the setting and were something that could be trained in.
However, there were only two people in this world who were resistant to supernatural abilities.
The first was Ellen Artorius, who could resist it due to her many talents, and the other was Scarlett. And Scarlett’s ability to resist them was overwhelming.
Therefore, Scarlett’s talent had nowhere else to go. How could a talent that dealt with absolutes grow any further?
I left it like that.
However, they had clearly grown.
I distanced myself from Scarlett with a frown.
Self-Suggestion is an ability that affects you, not others.
However, the fact that Self-Suggestion, an ability that was only self-targeting, was sealed meant that Scarlett’s ability was affecting the surroundings.
No matter how high your resistances are, the only thing you can resist is the magic targeted at you.
You can’t stop a mage from casting magic on the ground.
Scarlett was able to influence the supernatural abilities in her presence. I’m not sure if this extended to magic, but it certainly prevented me from activating Self-Suggestion.
Scarlett’s talents are more advanced than the original.
This is probably due to me.
I don’t know how I influenced her, but she’s definitely changed.
She wasn’t just fighting me as if it were a spar, she was trying to use her talent to defeat me.
This is what it means to do your best.
The fact that she hadn’t used this ability in any of her practice matches with me so far, was it purely out of respect for me?
-Bang! Bang! Kagak!
My supernatural ability was sealed.
“I see, you can’t bring out your full potential without the aid of your supernatural ability.”
-Kang!
“‘Ugh!”
That means that even Magic Body Strengthening, which I could only use with the aid of Self-Suggestion, was sealed away too.
It wasn’t Gladen Amorelle, it wasn’t even Ludwig.
It was Scarlett that was my nemesis.
Her talents are of no use against anyone else in this situation.
Scarlett’s talent only worked against me.
I might lose to Gladen Amorelle, or I might beat her.
But Scarlett had a clear advantage against me.
-Bang! Bang! Kagak!
Ducking back, I barely managed to deflect Scarlett’s onslaught of blows, thanks to the muscle memory engraved into me through training, if not the fundamentals I’ve been working on.
I must defeat Scarlett through sheer skill.
But is it possible?
Although the time Scarlett has accumulated training in swordsmanship and the time I have are qualitatively different thanks to Ellen, quantitatively Scarlet’s time is overwhelmingly greater since she had entered Temple earlier.”
Self-Suggestion had become a part of me. Now that it was gone in this situation, I felt like I had lost an arm and a leg.
Self-suggestion had become a huge part of my fighting style..
Without it, I became weak.
-Boom!
Scarlet thrusted upward at my sword, twisting the hilt and slashing at my throat with it.
“Ugh!”
-Pop! I was teleported.
‘Scarlett of the Royal Class takes the first set!’
I, I lost the first set.
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