CH 42

—The day after the meeting in the throne room.

Many people gathered in the courtyard of the royal castle. The guards surrounded us, and the party of heroes, including me, Nina, Spera, the SS member and hero Ark, glared at each other.

A duel was about to begin.

“You’re being very rash, Gustav.”

“Sorry…”

Nina gives me a glare, and I can’t help but apologize. It’s true that it’s sudden, and I was the one who initiated it, and I was also the one who got Nina and Spera involved without permission.

“It;s fine. Since I came to this castle town, I’ve only been escorting the princess and studying magic day after day. It’s a good stimulus.”

“Spela-san… that’s very kind of you to say so.”

“If you really feel sorry for me, I would be happy if you could give me one of your night crawls next time.”

“No, I won’t do that.”

I immediately declined the invitation as usual. …No, it’s strange to say that this is the usual, but it’s true that Spera is always suggesting a night crawl for me. I’m no longer perplexed.

“Well, then, as for me, I think I’ll get some new equipment.”

“Wait, wait, Nina, what do you mean [as for me]?”

“What? Of course, I’m going to let Gustav buy me something because he feels [sorry] for me who will go out with me in this duel.”

“No, no, no, Isn’t wording little strange?”

“Then instead of a night crawl, I’ll ask you to fetch me some herbs, which are a bit more expensive.”

“S-Spera-san, can you not get on board too?”

But alas, it seems my voice doesn’t reach them (or is it ignored?). . Nina and Spera are getting excited, listing all sorts of things they want. It seems that even if I win the duel that is about to begin, my wallet is destined to be mortally wounded.

“- – So, both sides, are you ready?”

Morgan-san’s low, well-pitched voice echoed through the courtyard. He has been entrusted with full authority to witness this duel on behalf of the king, who is busy with his official duties.

“Hmph, no need to ask.”

“We’re ready.”

When the brave Ark and I reply, Morgan-san nods in reply and continues.

“As for the method of the duel, as we discussed the other day, the suggestion of the hero Arc will be applied. The content is [a three-way duel between the SS and the heroes’ group]. For each match, representatives from both sides will fight a duel. If the heroes’ group wins even one match, the heroes’ group will be declared the victors at that point… Is there a problem with this?”

“Yes, it’s exactly as I proposed, no mistakes.”

“No problem here either.”

Ark and I nodded at the same time. Ark turned to me and snorted disapprovingly.

“You look pretty relaxed, guard.”

“Does it look that way to you?”

…Well, of course I can afford it. From the mountain range that the party of heroes are having trouble conquering, I can guess the level of the group. We also have a rough idea of the skills they hold.

The only thing we must be on our guard against is Agranis, who has not appeared in the original scenario… but we had enough confidence that we could win no matter which of the members of our team we were up against.

“…Oi, Let me guess what you were thinking just now?”

“What?”

“…’There’s no way I’m going to lose to the hero Ark. I’m going to win this time by a wide margin’, that’s what you were thinking, wasn’t it?”

“…er…”

—Well, you’re not far off the mark. Not just for the you, but for all of them.

“So, what about it?”

“Hahaha, you’re such a smart-assed bastard, for mere fucking guard! I’m sorry, but I have no intention of fighting you!”

“Huh?”

“Then we will start the duel.”

Before I could ask, however, Morgan-san’s voice echoed through the courtyard.

“First up is the first of three matches, [Princess Leia SS Captain Gustav] versus [Zain, the heroic group’s swordsman, and Enrique, the heroic group’s bowman]!”

Zawah, the people around the area, looked at each other, and made a commotion, the first being a surprise that I would suddenly go for the first match, followed by a lot of resentment about being outnumbered one to two.

“I’ll admit it, damn guard. That I still can’t beat you. But hey, I wouldn’t lose to anyone but you. I’ll go toe-to-toe with Nina the Thief in the next two rounds. And we have Agranis to finish off…! Our victory won’t change now, will it? It’s too late to regret it now.”

“…Well, is that it? You’re playing against someone you think you can beat, and you want to throw a pawn at me who can’t beat you no matter how you try… that’s your simple strategy?”

…Well, if you think about it in a normal way, it’s a decent way for a side that wants to win one game at any cost. It’s not cheating.

But one thing I didn’t expect was that Ark wouldn’t stick with me. I was imagining the possibility that he would make the last two games uncontested, and then in the first game [me alone vs. the whole group of heroes]. As expected, it seems that there is at least some reasoning left in the ARC to throw a respectful ball in my batting order.

“…By the way, why didn’t you hit Nina or Spera with conditions that were favourable to you, like two to one or something like that?”

“Huh?”

“Couldn’t you have thought that you and Agranis would have a better chance of winning if you and Agranis fought Nina or Spera in a two-people fight or something like that?”

“Han! Oi oi oi, do you think I would lose to a thief in a one-on-one fight? I, the hero? That’s impossible even if heaven and earth were turned upside down!”

Ark snickered as he replied.

…It seems that you’re taking all the other members of the team for fools. Well, it’s fine because it’s more convenient for me to be taken advantage of.

As I was thinking that, a large shadow covered my body.

“Hey, you can’t call us pawns…!”

“Hm?”

The two men standing right in front of me with blue streaks on their temples were a huge man with a massive sword on his back and a slender man with a bow, both of whom were giving me sharp glances… are these guys Zain and Enrique?

“We’ll rip you to shreds with our combination, guard!”

Zain snorts and walks up to the stone stage in the middle of the courtyard, which has been prepared as a dueling ground.

“Don’t tell me two against one is cheating, okay? We just said we’d pick a representative for each match, we didn’t specify how many, did we?”

Enrique’s side grinned and followed Zain.

…No, well, as for me, I was totally open to that possibility. Even if you say it so proudly… Well, I don’t care. I go up on stage again to get it over with.

I take a little space from Zain and Enrique, and I hold up my spear, and they also hold up their greatswords and bows. I see, their standing posture is quite presentable. The level of the atmosphere is also… a little less than 30? Compared to the average in this world, it seemed quite high.

“───The first run, let the match begin!”

Morgan’s voice echoes, and immediately afterwards, three arrows fly in a straight line. It was a series of shots by Enrique. Then, as if circling beside him, Zain rushes in low with his great sword, with a swiftness that doesn’t match his huge body.

…I see. Certainly a good combination that deserves a big mouth. While the spear is knocking down the arrow in front of him, Zain is probably planning to launch a suicide attack from a blind spot. As Enrique is further preparing a second arrow, there must be another coordination prepared depending on the effectiveness of Zain’s attack.

“But… you’ve met the wrong oponnent…”

…I’m sorry, but the current me and you guys have different dynamic vision stats.

I didn’t need to use my skills or even my spear to catch and repel all the arrows that flew at me with the armor on the back of my hands, elbows and shoulders, and then I swung the bottom handle of my spear at Zain’s lower jaw.

“Aggghh?”

Zain is shaken up and dizzy.

…Heh, you don’t lose consciousness with a single blow. You’re pretty tough. As expected of a vanguard. While inwardly reassessing his reputation, he kicked his body off the stage.

“What? ……..kk!”

Enrique shoots arrows at me while being surprised. I also closed the distance between the two of us at once, while knocking down those with my spear this time. That, too, at a speed far faster than Zain. Then, without allowing Enrique time to prepare his next bow, I stabbed him in the side with the hilt of my spear.

“Ah, aghhhh~?”

That’s the part of the lever that is unprotected. The pain and agony would slow his body to the point where he could not stand, though only momentarily, and he would fall into a stupor. Sure enough, Enrique plunged to the ground.

“So much for that! The winner, Gustav!”

After Morgan-san was declared the victor, whoo! filled the courtyard with cheers. The SS members, however, just nodded their heads and said, “Well, of course…”

…The princess seems to be happy, too. She’s got a big smile on her face. I’m glad.

“Damn it…! I heard about you from the hero-dono, but… what the hell are you…!”

“Hm? Oh, you didn’t faint? You’re tough, too.”

Enrique asked in pain, lying on the floor and drenched in greasy sweat.

“Sorry, if I had hit you a bit harder, I could have knocked you out right away…”

“…Damn it. what the hell is your level…”

“Me? My level is 53.

“Oh, no, seriously… that’s impossible…”

After that, Enrique lost consciousness.

~Current status of Gustav~.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

Gustav Lv 53

Required experience to the next level: 781

Occupation: captain of Princess Leia’s SS

Skills.

[King of Spears] LvMax

→No one is on the right side when it comes to spearmanship. Extreme increase in attack power using a spear.

[Thunder Rage] LvMAX

→A lightning-attribute, super-fast, super-powerful thrust. This attack cannot be defended against.

[Thousand Spear Birth] Lv8

→A bundle of spears extends from the ground, nullifying the opponent’s attacks and inflicting damage. The speed of the damaged opponent is greatly reduced.

[Thousand Strikes of Fluid Thrusts] Lv6

→Unleashes 100 thrusts of the water attribute. Each thrust hits 10 times & lowers the opponent’s defense.

[Ballista] Lv9

→Throws a spear in a straight line, piercing the opponent with this super-powerful attack. The characteristic effect of the spear that performs this attack is greatly increased.

[Tame-Thrust] Lv 2

→Stores power and unleashes a non-defensive, super-powerful thrust.

[Quatrdent Forcer] Lv8

→Unleashes a powerful spear thrust attack in all four directions at the same time

Equipment.

[Poseidon Lance.]

→ Water attribute +.

[Platinum Helm.]

→Speed+.

[Platinum Armor.]

→Speed+.

[Necklace of speed – modified]

Money in possession

256,000G