Involuntarily, the corners of his mouth rose up. It looked like an extremely evil smile. The participants who personally saw it were attacked by chills, and all of them simultaneously retreated. Harold, whose conscious had completely shifted onto Ryner, didn’t notice the situation around him.
How can I gain his trust? How high is his strength currently? Does he have a close relationship with Colette like in the game?- Harold only had these thoughts inside his head right now.
That, which could also be called as the will of the author, was a tremendous power that could make the surrounding circumstances, the flow of the environment, the world itself an ally of the protagonist. Naturally, inside the game, even Ryner had been saved by it. If that wasn’t the case, no matter how outstanding they were, there was no way the world could be saved by some 10 odd people.
If this hypothesis was correct, then even if Harold ran away, there might not be any villain who would appear instead of him. That would make the story collapse. It might also serve as a negative effect on the protagonist’s growth. The protagonist who couldn’t grow as much as in the game couldn’t save the world- to also avoid this kind of situation, Harold continued to be involved in the story.
(…….But if you think about it in the other way, it would also be possible to strengthen Ryner)
Although Harold had just focused on the negative aspects and hadn’t even thought about it until they actually met, by making him accumulate more experience than in the game and by teaching him how to efficiently fight against enemies, Ryner could become stronger than in the game.
「Like I promised, I’ve come till here」
「Naturally. If it isn’t just all talk, then prove that strength to me」
「Bring it on!」
Making a strong face filled with competitive spirit, without being timid, Ryner declared. His thoughts that he was absolutely going to win were clearly floating up. Maybe he couldn’t hold back those feelings. As soon as the match started, Ryner attacked.
It was a horizontal sweep, as though wanting to ward off the opponent. Immediately after Harold avoided that by moving backwards, Ryner, who had closed the distance, pursued attacking. From the right, from the left, from top, from bottom, and sometimes, directly from the front. Those uninterrupted sword strikes that were unleashed, each and every single one of them, were calmly knocked away by Harold.
(Oioi……..seriously, is that all?)
◇
That was, for Ryner, a shocking spectacle. The tournament he had participated in, while in high spirits. The boy who had participated before him, with a speed that could only be seen as though he had disappeared, had finished his match before anybody could even blink.
Harold. That was how the boy, who was so fast that even following him with the eyes would be difficult, named himself. Moreover, Harold who had that much strength, had acknowledged his own strength. For Ryner who had put great effort to become strong, to gain strength for protecting the people important to him, those words made him happy. But at the same time, seeing that a boy, whose age wasn’t that much different than his own was so strong, he also felt frustrated.
(Not even a single strike is hitting him, why!?)
「What a disappointment. You’re not even worth considering」
「What!?」
「Isn’t that the truth? You’re attacks aren’t even grazing me. It’s futile no matter how many times you repeat it」
「You haven’t even attacked yet!」
「You moron. Something like that, I can do it whenever I want」
「Not being able to even react to something of this level, I can’t help but feel shocked」
「Shit…….」
‘Now, it’ll be over after the referee declares my defeat’, thought Ryner, but no matter how much time passed, the referee didn’t raise his voice. What was displayed in front of Ryner’s eyes, when he raised his face up since he was thinking that it was strange, was Harold’s figure who had thrust the fake sword in front of the referee.
「…….Eh?」
「Oi, you bastard, this guy still hasn’t admitted that he has been defeated, so what are you thinking wanting to end the match?」
「No, well, his weapon is broken and since he can’t fight anymore…….」
「Then won’t it be fine for him to use another one」
「Eeh…..?」
「Ryner」
「Wh, what?」
Holding a fake sword that had been conveniently taken away, Harold came back in front of Ryner. And then, Harold threw it carelessly at his feet, while he was being vigilant.
「Pick it up if you still have the will to fight」
「………」
Ryner was silently gazing at the thrown sword. If it were the usual him, without any hesitation, he might have picked it up and asked for a rematch. The reason he was hesitating like this now was because Harold was too strong. If there was such a formidable opponent in the same generation, there was no way he could be a match for him. He was afraid of thinking like that, of acknowledging that.
「For what reason do you seek strength?」
That decision was halted by Harold’s question.
「For what, reason………」
How had he arrived at wanting to fulfill that dream, and that target? Why had he admired the position of the Captain of a chivalric order?
(If I become strong, then I can be a knight. Since if I become a knight, then I can protect various people……..)
Protect. It was a very vague, and yet a very simple desire. But, that was right. Ryner’s craving for strength, its origin was laughably simple.
When he had been younger than now, a friend of his had been bullied by a kid who was older than them in the village. The difference of 1 or 2 years was extremely huge for children. To surpass that gap, Ryner sought strength. To protect his friend, to defeat an opponent who was bigger and stronger than himself. The justice that lived inside him, to put that into practice, it wasn’t possible if he weren’t strong. He wanted strength to protect the things important to him.
「……..I have things that I have to protect. To protect them all, it would be useless if I’m not the strongest!」
There was also the promise he had made with his childhood friend who was always captious. He would never let that person cry again. For the sake of that, he would become stronger than anyone. That’s why, no matter how strong the opponent was, Ryner had to win. There was no way he could give up before he could win.
「You’ll protect everything? You’re acting as though you’re a hero」
「Still, that is my resolve」
「Humph, no matter how resolved you are, if you don’t have strength corresponding to it, you’d just seem ridiculous」
「If it’s power, I’ll just increase it! Right here, right now!」
「Here I come, Harold!」
「Uryaaaaa!」
He slashed down at Harold with all of his might. Harold barely managed to dodge it. When the sword that cut through the air hit the floor, as though to show his power, a fissure ran through it. Glancing at that, Harold murmured.
「You’re using 『Brave Mode』 here? As expected, you are……..」
「Haa, ha………brave, mode……..?」
He repeated the words he had heard for the first time. And finally, he realized that he was breathing heavily. It didn’t look like he could continue being in this state for a long time. Then, he would postpone anything that he needed to think about.
Readjusting his grip on the sword, while raising a voice filled with fighting spirit, he restarted attacking for the nth time.
「Deeeeiii!」
「Don’t get conceited!」
「Gu……….!」
(Wrong………I’ve just returned, to the usual state……….)
「………Like, I would say that!!」
「Then try to stop iittt!!」
「Haha……..seri, ously……?」
Even that one strike into which he had put his everything, until his spirit had been completely exhausted, hadn’t been able to reach Harold. Not only that, he had easily outclassed Ryner. Looking at that scene, he could do nothing other than laugh. But Ryner didn’t have enough energy left to even smile.
「Idiot. If you could do that, then you should have started off with it」
「Aren’t you being way too harsh……..」
Ryner, who was astonished at the fact that a person more Spartan than his mother actually existed, could barely reply back in a feeble voice. Maybe due to truly exhausting all his power with that, Ryner lost his consciousness in Harold’s arms. Entrusting him to the medics who came rushing, while watching Ryner being carried away on a stretcher, Harold mumbled a compliment that reached nobody.
「But well, I’ll take back my words saying that you were a disappointment. Since it seems as though your power reaches at least to the level where my feet are」
Although it was thoroughly condescending, it was unmistakably a praise. There was no way Harold’s words could reach Ryner, who had long lost his consciousness. But there seemed to be a somewhat satisfied smile on Ryner’s face.
