CH 336.1

It is four days west of the royal capital by regular golem carriage. Far southeast of the capital is the imperial territory of Landbarn.

(A fight?)

Noticing the crowd, the young man shows interest and joins in. He takes advantage of his physical strength, which he has trained in his work, to get to the front of the line of onlookers.

He has no intention of stopping the fight. In this world, 『Watching Fight』 is one of the most popular forms of entertainment.

(There are three of them, huh.)

Facing each other in the center of a circle about 10 meters in diameter made by the crowd were a tall, stubbly-bearded old man and a slightly thicker man with an imposing manner.

Behind the slightly thicker man was a 30-year-old man with an anxious look on his face and a freshly shaven face.

(Interesting.)

He had a smile on his face because it didn’t seem like a fight triggered by something trivial as 『bumping into one’s shoulder』.

What happens here is probably two men fighting over one man.

(It looks like the stubble got jealous of the couple and start to pick fights with them huh.)

The young carpenter compared himself to the frightened, clean-shaven man. He could immediately sense it because he had his own experience of being protected.

Incidentally, there have been a lot of troubles caused by men recently.

(It’s probably because the Rose Cup is coming up and everyone’s spirits are rising high.)

It’s an event on the north-northwest of Landbarn. It is a festival for men held once every two years at the Rose Castle in the northwest of the royal capital.

For those who have begun their journey to attend the festival, it is already an extraordinary time. One could even say that the festival has already begun.

(Let’s get finish the job quickly and head to Rose Castle.)

The young carpenter thinks as he holds a silver ring, which is hung from his neck on a thin silver chain with his hand.

This necklace was a gift from his lover, a pilot of the Rose Knights.

Until recently, they had lived together, but the Rose Knights had marched to the northern part of the Empire to protect the country from the elves, and they had been separated.

(I’m so glad to hear that he’s okay.)

According to the letter he received, the 『threat of the Elves』 had ended.

And the next sentence reads, 『Let’s meet up at the Rose Castle and watch the tournament together』. But for the young carpenter, the most important part is what follows.

『After the Rose Cup is over, why don’t we rent a house near Rose Castle and live together again?』

It was enough to make him decide to leave Landbarn.

(I’ve also finished greeting master and my customers.)

All that remains is to finish the work he’s currently undertaking.

He’s as enthusiastic as ever to finish it quickly, but there’s nothing he can do about it since he still needs to sleep at night. He took a deep breath and returned his attention to the people fighting in front of him.

The tall, stubble-bearded old man had just said, 『Fight me』.

***

Here the viewpoint is one of two people staring at each other in the center of the circle. To the tall, stubbled old man.

「A man’s happiness is to be with a stronger man. Don’t you think so too?」

The first half of the voice was directed at a rather thick old man, and the second half was to the man behind him.

Why did he pick a fight with two strangers?

『It was Jealousy.』

It was exactly as the young carpenter guessed.

Even for the stubbly bearded who’s a Landbarn resident, Rose Castle is a long way away and he will undoubtedly spend a lot of time on the road.

It was then that he saw a middle-aged man with a companion, and his emotions flared.

(He must’ve done it a lot on the road. Dammit! I’ll make him change with me.)

It was a similar feeling to a lonely single man who saw couples on Christmas Eve in Tauro’s previous world.

The heat of the flames fueled by jealousy and lust was too much to keep in his heart.

Then the voice of a middle-aged man with a rather thick chest and an imposing demeanor echoed.

「You certainly have a point there. I don’t mind accepting the challenge, but what are you willing to bet here?」

Surprisingly, the thick old man shows no anger.

The tall, stubble-bearded man with a calm and relaxed atmosphere let out a stammering voice. Seeing this, the slightly thick old man formed a smile at the edge of his mouth and continued.

「If you are as strong as you claimed to be, then bet yourself on the line. You should put yourself on one side of the scale, don’t you think?」

The onlookers were cheering and whistling at them.

The stubble old man, agitated and bloodthirsty, pointed his thumb at himself and yelled.

「Fine, I’ll be yours if you lose. In exchange, if I win, I’ll get the guy behind you.」

In front of even more excited onlookers, the slightly thick old man nods with a satisfied smile on his face.

「That’s the spirit. I like that.」

After he said that, he loosened his belt and removed his pants, along with his underwear.

The tall stubble soon followed, and in the center of the circular space surrounded by onlookers, the two old men, naked in the lower half of their bodies, faced each other.

The reason why something like a sigh escaped from the surroundings was probably because the tall stubble was carrying a large sword, which was quite a work of art.

(It looks like he’s skillful with it, but the size and shape are both on par.)

The stubble beard gazes down at the slightly thicker middle-aged man’s crotch from a superior perspective.

With the corners of his eyes downcast and the corners of his mouth upturned in a sense of superiority, he walked up to him and touched the tips of their swords together as a greeting.

(…..!!)

In an instant, the complexion is lost from the man with a beard that has been shaved two days ago.

(This guy…. Is strong!)

It is said that a strong kendo athlete can tell the strength of his opponent the moment their shinai meet. The stubble beard was by no means weak, so he sensed his opponent’s strength.

(But there’s no way going I can back down this late in the game.)

However, the eyes of those around him and his pride in caring about these gazes don’t allow him to follow his swordsman’s intuition.

Inhaling deeply, he releases the power of his knees. And while pushing down his fear, he kicks the ground with great force to leap forward.

「Teeeeeeiiiiii!!!」

He swung down his sword sharply from above his head.

The blow carries his entire body weight on it, aiming to break the opponent’s sword. However, the thick old man catches it head-on without changing his expression.

(Why you—!! Looking cool like that—!)

The stubble beard’s face contorts at the fearsome hardness filled with motivation.

He strikes twice, thrice, with a crossing slash in between. But the opponent showed a stability that it seemed as if 『roots have grown out of his soles into the ground』.

(Tch!)

The two men’s blades, covered with each other’s fighting spirit, slip wetly during the contest of strength. The stubble old man, not liking the situation he’s in, retreated in order to rethink his strategy.

He unconsciously swung his sword to the side, probably to get rid of the transparent thread.

However, the two swords were still connected by a thin, transparent bridge of fighting spirit.

(Oh shit!)

But it was a big gap. In the face of a strong opponent, it was an unnecessary move that he should never have made.

The middle-aged man immediately closed the distance, and while thrusting out his blade, he used his hips to draw a circle with the tip of his sword.

「Guha!」

A transparent trajectory that’s coiling around his sword. As a result, the stubble beard’s blade was repelled hard.

(This is… lifting up technique!?)

If it had been a real bamboo sword, his sword would have been flung up in the air. And with no swords in both hands, all that would have remained would have been numbness.

Fortunately, since it was part of his body, he did not lose it. Instead, a more serious tingling sensation spread across the base of the sword.

(Guh!)

The stubble beard, holding his face with both hands to suppress the urge, falls backwards.

His stance is now a bridge supported by his head. The slightly overweight old man looks down at him and quietly speaks.

「The ones who let out first lose. You understand, yes?」

The tall, stubble beard writhes in agony at these words and tries to endure. But every time his heart beats, the sweet pulsation dissolves his flesh like spider venom, expanding its range.

「Aahhhhhhh!!」

In the end, he admitted defeat as his shinai pointed straight up, and continued.

「Uhyaaaa!」

The scream comes from the onlookers. This was because they had been hit in the head by the rain of joy that had been brought back down by gravity.

The rather thick middle-aged man who had been hit in the face took a lick of it across his mouth, wiped it with the back of his hand, turned around, and shuffled his chin to his companion behind him.

「Y-Yes.」

A thirty-something man with a lush-shaven face immediately stepped forward and used a towel to cleanse the stubble beard and put on his pants. When he was done, he lent his shoulder and helped him to stand up.

「Let’s go. We’re just getting started. I’m going to train you again.」

After getting dressed and strapping his pants, the thick middle-aged man turned his back on them and started walking toward the inn.

Like this, the world champion had one more follower.