CH 125

Episode 125 – The Best Match

Left…? No, it’s right!

I fended off Nina’s slash coming from the right, which was disguised as a diagonal slash coming from the left. I swung downwards immediately afterwards with all of my strength. The moment my wooden sword collided with Nina’s hasty one-handed guard, she staggered and lost her balance momentarily.

Seeing her stumble, my body wanted to respond by taking advantage of that opening without delay, but my mind forcefully resisted that impulse. Because of the various tactics she had already used in this one battle, I was aware of the fact that this opening could be an act put on by Nina. Except… just from the sensation returned by that slash just now, my instincts were screaming that she really was off-balance.

Should I wait and see, or should I attack?

After a short moment of deliberation, I decided to trust my instincts and chose to attack at once.

At the moment, we both had 2 hits on each other already. If this stumble was just a fake, then I would be in serious trouble, but if I didn’t attack here, there wouldn’t be another situation like this either way. Strengthening my resolve, I closed the distance in one go.

Nina noticed that I was closing in and was somehow already showing signs of recovering her balance. Just like my intuition was saying, she was really off-balance this time, and she wouldn’t be able to react to me in time. If she couldn’t respond in time, there was no need for any tricks. All I had to do was land the hit. I thrust out sharply, striking Nina in the forearm with my wooden sword.

“Okay, that’s another point for Lewin! That makes three, so… it’s Lewin’s victory! Man, that was a long match!” As the referee, Lyra announced me as the winner, and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Just as Lyra said, it really was a long match. In all of the matches in the mock battle tournaments so far, this was probably the longest one by far. The fatigue from such a long fight was one thing, but I also had a splitting headache from trying to read her mind all the time.

Holding my throbbing head as I took a seat on the ground, I saw Nina walk over to me. After she came up right next to me, she sat down by my side and spoke to me with her head hanging down.

“…..Lewin. I was completely defeated.” (Nina)

“No, no, it was a very narrow victory. I would have lost if this was just an exercise in reading one’s opponent. That very last blow was pretty much a gamble on my part.” (Lewin)

When Nina used the words ‘completely defeated’, I quickly denied it. If anything, from an onlooker’s point of view, most people probably would’ve thought that Nina would be the victor, and she only ended up barely losing at the end. From a mental standpoint, I felt like I won the match but lost the fight.

“…..Fufufu. I’m glad to hear you say that. But in my heart, it really was an utter defeat. Sure, I won in terms of reading you… but even though I was able to outsmart you or catch you off guard, I couldn’t land the final blow.” (Nina)

That was true. In order to not lose, I put my utmost effort into guarding well.

“I think I just happened to be in a good state today. You just lost, so it can’t can’t be helped that you’ve fallen into a negative mindset for now, Nina. Give it a bit of time, and before you know it, you’ll be saying that you totally should’ve won this match… or something like that.” (Lewin)

“….Fufu, that may be true. Anyway… this was the first time I’ve ever enjoyed a match so much. Thank you, Lewin. I hope you’ll have a match with me again some time.” (Nina)

“It was a lot of fun for me too. There are still three days left on this gathering quest commission, so I’m sure we’ll have another opportunity. Let’s have another great fight at that time,” I said to Nina, who was still sitting right next to me, and shook her hand. This fight with Nina was probably the most fun I’d ever had in a match.

As I slowly stood up, reflecting on the match that had just taken place, I saw Lyra coming over to me with Porta in tow.

“Lewin! That was a long match, so you must be tired, but are you okay with doing the finals match now? I mean… it’s already almost dark out, so we have to do it now!” (Lyra)

My fatigue hadn’t worn off one bit and my head was still throbbing from my match with Nina, but as Lyra was saying, the sun was indeed going down and it was already getting dark out. I was the one who didn’t settle that match quickly, so I couldn’t complain.

“Okay. Let’s do it now. Porta… our ‘championship match of the weakest’ is really happening, just as we promised.” (Lewin)

“Yeah. I didn’t think you would win, given the flow of the match, but… I gotta thank you for winning and fulfilling your promise to me. I don’t have the confidence to say I can give you a match on the same level as you versus Nina just now, but let’s have some fun in this ‘championship match of the weakest’!” Porta said with a smile as we bumped fists. I wanted to start this fight in top condition, but I couldn’t help it at this point.

“You both have your wooden swords, right? Then… let’s start with the championship match. Porta versus Lewin in the finals match, begin!” (Lyra)

“[Auto-Bravery!]” (Porta)

The moment Lyra announced the start of the match, Porta cast buffing magic on himself. This was the magic that he had used in the first fight against the Angry Wolves, which gave an explosive boost to his physical abilities. The reason Byrne lost earlier… was exactly because of this skill, [Auto-Bravery].

The skill increased the speed of his movements to a level that was faster than what Byrne could deal with, so Porta managed to score three hits just like that. In the past, Porta’s body was unable to withstand [Auto-Bravery], so he refrained from using it. But now, seeing him use it two times in a short period of time, it seemed that he had learned how to handle it well. He was most likely able to pull off this feat through doing muscular training and honing the precision of his magic.

Seeing Porta like that, I was filled with energy. No matter if I was exhausted or had a headache or whatever, this was not the time to be whining. I pushed aside the fatigue and resolved myself to respond to Porta’s earnest wish to the best of my ability.