CH 7

For a while when the sword match practices started, the knights’ side had the upper hand. Each knight was paired off with an armed peddler in a one-on-one match and the number of armed peddlers gradually decreased. The tide turned when Mr. Lambert’s son, Rahal finally stepped into the arena. The knights couldn’t even touch him and the consecutive defeats began.

「Guah!?」 1

The knight who was currently facing him dropped his wooden sword when his sword arm was hit.

「Match over! Rahal won!」

Ryuk announced Rahal’s victory. At least ten knights had lost to Rahal already. As the number of consecutive losses of the knights under him increased, Ryuk’s mood had also turned a little sour.

「Hahaha. Dear knights, aren’t you guys way too dull? Has it been that long since you guys were last attacked by magic stone beasts?」

Inglis wondered whether the consecutive victories had gotten into his head, or this was his true nature — big-headed arrogance — and that the earlier timidness was merely a pretense.

「Whereas, we’ve been encountering magic stone beasts everywhere we travel. Or should I say, our goods are needed precisely at places under the threat of magic stone beasts.」

Mr. Lambert appeared to be elated with his son’s victory and from the looks of it, his nose was raised so high up in the air that Inglis wondered how he even managed to breathe. 2

No matter how indignant the knights felt for being belittled, they couldn’t dispute him when they couldn’t even hit him once. The truth was that the knights hadn’t been slacking off at all, they were constantly dispatched to other regions of the Marquis’ territory that had been attacked by the magic stone beasts. However, there was no point in voicing that statement, for it would only embarrass them more.

「Fuck. That damn brat, he suddenly got stronger when things actually started!」 「You’re right. He didn’t look that strong when he was doing the warm-ups.」 「Somehow, when I was facing that kid, I felt like I couldn’t fight properly…」 「I felt that too. Is his spatial awareness that extraordinary…?」

The knights that had lost against Rahal were discussing among themselves. Overhearing them, Inglis had a different thought.

Are they for real……? They were official knights of the order with Runes engraved on their dominant hands. No matter how you slice it, that’s sorcery. One that binds the opponent’s movement.

Even though it piqued Inglis’ interest in how Rahal was able to perform sorcery, she was more baffled of how the others reacted to him. Nobody appeared to notice that sorcery was at play when anyone with a general knowledge of sorcery should have noticed it.

Even more so was that Rahal’s sorcery skill was not even that outstanding, he was actually quite poorly skilled. The original form of the sorcery could seal the movement of any opponents in sight. However, he couldn’t even completely bind his foe, they just became slightly more sluggish when under its effect.

Apparently, the people of this time and age had forgotten all knowledge and senses of sorcery. Does the existence of Rune and Artifact have anything to do with it?

As the founder of a Sorcery School that popularized sorcery amongst her people, this fact was rather heartbreaking for Inglis. In the past, the prejudice and discrimination against sorcerers were deeply entrenched in the people. So much that Witch Hunts used to be common practices. When Inglis had put a stop to it, she swayed the people’s hearts and made them accept sorcery so that they could go hand in hand under the same banner of peace. She had thought that her people had fully accepted sorcery by the time she was at her old age.

「Rahal… you’re amazing. But, I won’t lose either!」

Even Raphael, the owner of the Special Grade Rune, was the same. He showed no sign of noticing.

「It’s my honor to face the future Holy Knight. Let’s fight, fair and square!」

Inglis nearly scoffed at the words coming out of Rahal’s mouth. 3

For someone who used underhanded tricks like sorcery to defeat his opponent, the word shameless wasn’t even enough for the likes of him, especially in Inglis’ eyes — she who could perceive mana itself. If there was something to be praised upon, that’d be his acting skill for a boy his age.

「G-, Glis… Big brother… will win, right…?」

Rafinha who was watching from the sidelines grabbed Inglis’ sleeve anxiously.

「It’s okay, Rani. Your cheers will surely motivate big brother Rafa.」

That was all that she could say to Rafinha.

「Yeah. Do your best~! Big brother~!」

When he heard his little sister’s cheer, Raphael turned his head and grinned brightly at her.

「Yeah. I’ll do my best, Rani. Thanks.」

Soon after, the grin disappeared when he turned back to face Rahal with a focused expression.

「Then, please guide me well!」 「I accept your challenge!」 「In that case, let the match begins!」

Ryuk then gave the two the starting signal.