150-Chapter 9-9 Changing Tops and Solving Trace-back Problems

Huh, shh, shh, shh!

The first move is Amur. Well, this is because of the gap between the spear and the sword, which is to be expected.

Amur's continuous attacks are sharp, and perhaps because he doesn't want me to get in between, his pulling speed is faster than his poking, and he occasionally throws a feint of sidenagi, so I couldn't step in so easily.

However, you can't continue to avoid it forever, and with the intention of bringing back the flow, I matched the standard to the spearhead and struck down. I don't expect to be able to stop it with this blow, but if you do the same thing a few times, the speed of the spear will lose its momentum.

''Say!''

Yo!

When the speed of the spear slowed down, he tried to step into the sword's space, but Amour jumped backwards as soon as he pulled the spear, keeping the spear in space.

''Mufu~''

Apparently, Amour seems to be a strategy to thoroughly utilize the spacing of the spear, and if I advance, it drops, and if I fall back, it advances. And if you try to unleash your magic, you are being checked by a blow even sharper than before.

''It's a pretty good strategy but it's sweet.

Huh?

I deliberately showed some leeway and then let Amur swing his spear in the same way as before. Then after a few rounds of striking each other, Amour pulled his spear and at the same time threw the sword in his hand.

''That's the sweetest!''

Amur swung his spear twice, and there were two (...) clanking and gakking sounds. He threw one sword, but he also threw the scabbard right after the sword.

Amur, who had read it, prevented the sword and scabbard from standing up, and was a little proud that he'd won the read against me. However.

I've got another sword.

I pulled my sword from my waist and slammed into Amour with a kesa-slash (........).

Amur prioritized escaping from the sword's spacing and chose to move backwards rather than preventing it with his spear. But.

Yikes!

My blow struck Amour's left shoulder. Amour, who apparently thought he had completely avoided it, stopped moving with a startled expression on his face.

''Shh!''

Ugh!

Amur gave me a side-nap with all the force I could muster and rolled backwards about three meters. And then

'Amur, you've lost on the field! Winner, Temma!

He rolled off the field. The arena was originally narrower than the one in King's Landing, but even so, it wasn't small enough to fall out of the arena after just three meters of rolling. It was simply because Amur was more concerned about the spacing than necessary and was strangely wary of hearing my words, so he was backing off more often than not in the second half.

Then he timed it and threw his sword and scabbard, making me pay attention to him while letting him step back, so naturally Amour was driven to the edge.

''Mu~ I failed. But why did your sword grow?

The sword didn't grow. It was the scabbard that grew.　

I told Amour, who was looking at me curiously outside the scene, the secret of the blow I had just delivered.

Normally, the sword is housed in a scabbard that is the same length as the sword blade. In other words, if the scabbard is not completely pulled out of the blade, the distance between the two is increased by the amount of the scabbard.

When you swing a Japanese sword, the scabbard doesn't tend to fly away when you swing it normally, but if you swing it well while cutting the Koikuchi, the scabbard will fly away like a flying tool. I adjusted the timing and struck with the scabbard caught on the tip of the sword. Then, when Amour stopped moving, I fired a side-leafing blow at him. Well, since the sheath strike was intended to hit somewhere for the time being, it was a happy miscalculation that it was so powerful.

''I lost........''　

When I helped a dejected Amour to pull up, the crowd cheered, but some of the guests booed. Apparently, some of them suspected that it was because it ended too early, and that it was an eighteenth-hour fight. But people looked at them white when they said that.

"Well, that was quite a game!

The one who praised the match in the loudest voice was, surprisingly, Viscount Lobo.

---------- --

I didn't expect you to say anything nice about Temma.

''Hmph, I don't care what that little boy says, but I can't stand it when Amur is made to look like a fool!　

Oh, yeah.　

Anyone who sees that fight and criticizes it is either blind or not good enough to understand it, but I think it's the same kind of thing that you can't honestly admit.

'Well, you seem to be doing pretty well there, but I don't think you'll be able to beat Blanca with a stone. I guess the kid won't be able to get up to speed until the next game.

I'm kind of floating around predicting the next match, but does this guy really know the state of Blanca? I think I'll give it a try.

'Then why don't you make a bet with me? I'm betting that Temma will win.

All right, I'm Blanca. So what do you want to bet?

'Well shall we decide on that later? And I don't have time to mull it over right now.

'That's true, too. But don't tell me that he's going to be Amur's son-in-law!

Yeah, sure.　

I got one! After all, he trusts Blanca...............and underestimates Temma. Even if he's the winner of the martial arts competition in the royal capital, he probably thinks that he could win because he happened to beat Blanca.

If this is the case, it won't be good for Amour or the South, so I guess I'll let him get hurt a little bit. And you've got a trump card to use when you refute (duh). Yes, the best trump card of all....

---------- -

Hanna-san looks so bad it's a clear sign that Viscount Lobo has lost.

Flag?

Amur, who was nearby, reacted to my mutterings. The word "flag" is used in the same sense as in the previous life, but it is not well known, and is mainly used in stories, so Amur, who rarely reads books, did not understand it.

Most of the usage of these words seems to have spread from people who are reincarnated like me, but there are some words that started to be used shortly before my death (such as the aforementioned "flag" and "moe" in the geeky sense), so I don't know where they spread from. The main target is Nami Taro, but since he was reincarnated long before my death, it's not clear if he spread these words or not.

'I see... I do have a feeling that thing always hurts when your mother has that yawning look on her face.

When I explained the meaning of the word to Amur, he nodded in admiration. Nevertheless, Amur may not like to call Viscount Lobo his father, but he always calls him 'that' or 'that guy'. Well, considering Viscount Lobo's character, it's not hard to understand why Amour hates him, but as the same man, I also feel a little sorry for him.

''It's time for Blanca's match to begin.

As I returned to the waiting room, thinking, I saw that Blanca had just arrived at the starting position for the game.

'Come to think of it, why is Amur calling my uncle Blanca out on this one?

'Everyone called me Blanca, so I called him Blanca before I knew what uncle meant because of that... apparently. When I called him 'uncle' once before, Blanca herself looked uncomfortable, so I decided to just call him Blanca.

It was a good thing. Maybe Blanca was embarrassed instead of uncomfortable, but if he and the others didn't say anything, I don't need to point it out.

As I was thinking about that, before I knew it, Blanca's game was over.

According to Amur and Slarin, who were watching properly, his opponent crumbled with a straight right from Blanca's lunge.

The two of them (one of them and one of them) told me as they mimicked the moment (Amur played Branca and Slarin played his opponent), but as Slarin, who was close to the sphere, tried to recreate the movement of being hit and collapsing, it looked like the ball that was hit simply rolled across the floor.

Slarin was unusually depressed when he heard my impressions.

'Temma, that's terrible.'

'No, I just thought that even for a slarin who's handy in many ways, there are things he's not good at.

Slarin seemed to have regained a bit of energy from my follow-up and was stretching and shaking in the corner of the room. Perhaps she was practicing her act.

'What's up with all the commotion?'

At the end of the game, Blanca, who was passing by my waiting room, suddenly appeared from the entrance. It's not a formal tournament, but since it's not that formal, the officials didn't say anything unless he or she said something to suggest a fixer-upper.

'It's just that my mom was awful, he was a windfall and Slarin was a radish.

Oh, oh, well...

He doesn't seem to have noticed that Slarin's bad words are mixed in with the casualness of the situation, but the said Slarin was firmly aware of it and was also depressed.

Confused by Amur's explanation, Blanca looked at me for an explanation, but I couldn't let the depressed Slarin suffer further damage, so I refused to explain with a bitter smile. My refusal seemed to confuse Blanca even more, but I didn't need to compare the damage to Slarin's damage with Blanca's confusion.

'Anyway, good luck in your next match, Blanca.

Oh, yeah.

After forcing a handshake with Blanca, who was in a confused state, he forced her and Amour out of the waiting room along with her.

Amur was quite resistant when he was kicked out, but he was taken out by Blanca, who sensed what was going on.

Afterwards, I was the one who missed the other players' matches, as I was accompanied by Slarin, who was training for a snowball fight in the waiting room with them gone.

'Well, once we beat Blanca, the rest of it doesn't seem to matter.

What did you say?

Is it because of Slarin's training? And in the blink of an eye, the time has passed, and I'm currently facing Blanca in the hall. Moreover, the words that I somehow muttered seemed to have reached Blanca's ears.

I fooled myself into thinking it was nothing, and decided to wait for the signal to start the match. Blanca didn't seem to be particularly interested in it either, so I just said that I see, and regripped the spear in my hand.

The referee looked at me and Blanca in turn, so it was almost time to give the signal. When the signal is given, I pull out my sword so that I can move, and at the same time, I remove the scabbard from my waist and stand in front of the starting line with the sword in my right hand and the scabbard in my left.

The match begins!

Oh, go away!

I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in the world.

It's a good idea to have a good time with your friends.

''Ora! Ola-la-la, Ola-la-la, Ola-la!

I approached Blanca as she flicked her sword, and with my first strike, I struck her arm holding the spear, forcing her to let go of the spear, and then continued to fire a series of blows with the scabbard at Blanca, who was now weaponless.

At first Blanca also took advantage of the opening in the barrage and counterattacked with punches and kicks, but as I moved around and continued to attack while dodging Blanca's attacks, Blanca had her hands full with her defense.

'Sore!'

Gahhhhhh!

A thrust went cleanly into Blanca's chin, and just as I was about to fold up to take my chance, Blanca suddenly howled loudly. I feared for my life for a moment and jumped backwards in a big way, but Blanca took a fighting pose and didn't move as he stared at me. At first I was alarmed, thinking it was waiting for me to get closer, because its legs didn't move, but when I looked closer, I saw that Blanca hadn't even blinked, so I fearfully approached it and looked at it, poking its arm with its sheath. Then.

Wow!

Suddenly, Blanca's right hand was thrust out with great speed. He thought he had been tricked and held his scabbard up to his right eye, but Blanca had stopped moving again, with his right hand still outstretched. When the judge approached to check, he saw that Blanca had passed out while standing. The final blow was probably released in response to an external impact, the action he was about to take before he flew into consciousness. So.

Winner, Temma!

I was declared the winner. This match would be talked about for years to come. In addition to my relentless blows, I passed out from the blows and continued to stand there as "Blanca's Stranded". I was completely in the position of a villain........　

The players and the crowd reacted to Branca's one-sided loss in two ways. One was those who were unconvinced by Blanca's loss and wondered if there was some kind of cheating or trading going on, and the other was those who accepted that Blanca's loss was inevitable. The ratio is roughly three to seven, with Viscount Lobo representing the former and Hana-san (and the fierce fighters who fought Blanca in the preliminary round) representing the latter. Viscount Lobo was in a state of abandonment, as if he couldn't believe Blanca's loss, and he didn't show any reaction to Hana-san's words next to him.

''For now, shall we carry Blanca?''

While the crowd was buzzing, no one tried to carry Blanca, who was standing and passed out, so I was forced to carry her on my back to the waiting room.

Blanca didn't move slightly when she was standing, but when I forced her onto her back, she relaxed from her body and leaned back against me. Unfortunately, because of the considerable difference in size between me and Blanca, I had to carry her with an occasional limp.

It's a good thing that you're able to get a good idea of what you're looking for.

'Welcome home~'

When I returned to the waiting room, Amur had broken into the room. He even prepared a rice ball and hot tea to relax.

"No, I don't mind that the match with Blanca is over now, but you're being too generous.

Oh well but you didn't have Blanca on you.

Well.

Amour, who let my sarcasm slide lightly, seemed to be watching Blanca firmly while relaxing. The reason why I was able to defeat Blanca so easily this time is simply because of Blanca's lack of luck. The qualifying group that Blanca won was so fierce that its members could have fought as it was in the finals, and in the end it became a melee with just a few people. No matter how strong Blanca was, the damage done in a slugfest against the top players of the Southern Autonomous Region was not something that could be taken out in a day or two. Therefore, Blanca had been cornered to the point where she was able to take a considerable low ranking opponent by surprise in the first round.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most out of your time in the city. Well, because the Blanca is more robust and well-defended than I expected, I needed more hands than I thought.

If Blanca was in decent shape, I would still be fighting in the hall.

That's how strong the original Blanca is.

''For now........Temma, congratulations on your win.

I've got two more games to go, thanks.

It's too early to say, but now that we've defeated Amour and Blanca, we can win the rest of the fight without taking any damage as long as we fight normally. That's how much difference there is between the rest of the players and Amur and Blanca. Sure enough.

"There's a winner-take-all scenario.

The semi-final ended with a counter to the face of an oncoming opponent.

Not another word. The winner is Temma.

The final ended with an unplugged body after I ducked under my opponent's spear. The finals and semifinals ended so quickly that the crowd booed my opponent, but not so much against me.

Well, it might have been one of the reasons why the argument that the qualifying round was all that mattered in this tournament, especially among the more discerning, was spreading.

Afterwards, an award ceremony was held at the venue, and the tournament was closed after receiving the first prize of 100,000 G from Hana-san, but the fact that Viscount Lobo didn't show up from start to finish was a bit worrisome.

---- That night, at the Viscount's residence----

Well, we're all here.

Normally, we should have celebrated the end of the tournament and Temma's victory, but we decided to postpone it because of the time it takes to prepare for the banquet and because we had to prioritize the family meeting.

There are five people participating in this family meeting: me (Hana), Lobo, Amur, Sana and Blanca.

Amur and Blanca don't seem to understand what the discussion is about, but they seem to think it's about a bet they made during the tournament. The proof of this is that he has been trying to get out of here for some reason, and Sanna has been holding him back by using Blanca to her advantage.

''So, what is this discussion about?''

Amur, who must have wanted to go to Temma, asked me a question that I should hurry up. Just as well, I replied that it was about the future, and by the way, I told him about the bet I made during the tournament.

''You mean to say that your sister-in-law won the bet with her brother and that it will lead to the future of the Viscount family?''

'Yes, this man bet on Blanca to win and I bet on Temma to win. As it turned out, I won the bet. I hadn't decided what I was going to bet on, but one of the conditions was that 'Tenma would not be Amur's son-in-law'.

Hearing those words, Amour was understandably depressed, but Blanca looked as if she had noticed something.

'Well, well, I can't blame her for losing. So what is Hannah going to make you do, other than marry Amur and Tenma?

'Brother-in-law, your sister just said she wouldn't let Tenma be Amur's son-in-law, she didn't say she wouldn't let him marry her.

What?

To Sana's point, that person has a dumb face. Blanca, with a look of "I knew it", seems to have a vague idea of what I'm planning to do.

"As a prize for this bet, you can take Amur to Temma.

What?

'I haven't talked to Temma about this, but I've got Lord Merlin's approval, so I'm sure it won't be nearly as bad.

Yes!

That man didn't seem to understand, but when I told him that Amour had Lord Merlin's approval, he clenched his fists and was happy.

'Wait a minute, I'm not giving Amur a wife!

'I don't do it for my wife, I send her out to get experience. 'Let the pretty girl travel,' he said. Well, if you've made love to Temma in the process, that's what you've got to do.

What's going to happen to my heir!

''Originally, we're an honorary viscount, and it wouldn't be a problem if someone else of distinction took the name. In the first place, the honorary knighthood was given to you by your father and you inherited it.

But still, the title is still going to come from a bloodline...

That's not a problem either.

I decided to cut one of my trump cards to silence this person who was arguing with me about something.

'Sanna!'

Yes, I'm actually expecting a child.

"Seriously!

My trump card number one is Sana and Blanca's kid. I didn't even let Blanca know about this, so I'm surprised with the guy...or maybe I'm too surprised to freeze up. That's probably true, after all, they've been married for more than a decade now and there's no sign of pregnancy, so there's a section where they've both given up. This had caused Sanna some pain on several occasions, but they were able to do it as a couple because of Blanca's goofy love for Sanna. The fact that Amur missed them was also significant. At any rate, he missed Blanca more than his own father, and if he was not good at it, he might have missed Sanna more than me.

'Sanna, is that true?'

Yes, he's right here.

Sana said and took Blanca's hand to her stomach. It wasn't noticeable now, but in another month it would be more obvious.

'Maybe, but she's a man,'

Well....

Sana's intuition is often correct in such cases. After all, when I had Amur in my belly, she was rampaging so wildly that while everyone said it was a boy, she was the only one who guessed it was a girl. Since then, she had guessed the gender of the child in the pregnant woman's belly many times, and her percentage of correct answers was over 90%.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the heiress now. I'm sorry for my unborn nephew, but some people still insist on a man taking over, and since Amour lacks the qualifications to be the head of the family, you'll have to do your best...Oh, and I've just been appointed Viscount.

""What?"

It was here that he cut the second trump card that he had kept secret from everyone. The story had been written in the Queen's letter. When I received the letter from Tenma, for some reason it was addressed to me, probably to put a collar on me so that it would be harder for me to interfere with Tenma's marriage story. But I don't intend to insist on being in the correct room regarding Amur's marriage. At worst, even if he doesn't get married, I don't mind having Amur by my side. Therefore, I've decided that this story has more merit and I'm going to formally accept it. I've already written up a reply for that purpose. All that's left is to have it handed to me via Temma.

'So, in other words, your mother is the head of the South in name and in reality.

Amour's words seemed to have reminded that person of his position. Up until now, he was the nominal head of the company, so he could do whatever he wanted with a lot of things, but now that I'm higher in rank than him, he has to ask my permission from now on. Being able to hold the decision-making power is pretty big. So.

As for Amur, it's the new head of the Viscount family's decision, so I won't take any complaints.

'Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!

That man's wild cry, tainted with despair, echoed not only in the mansion, but also outside, and thanks to that, in the blink of an eye, Amur's departure from the Southern Autonomous Region and Sana's pregnancy became known to the people of Nanao.