CH 227

“Begin!”

“‘It would be pitiful, so I’ll finish it off with one blow, and you’ll be humiliated in front of her!!”

Taking Doun’s downward swinging hand as a cue, Roy jumped at me with a single bound. He grabbed his sword with both hands and swung it over my head with the intention of ending it with a single blow, just as he said.

“I’m sure your muscles are not a joke, but you’re too slow compared to my teacher.”

“Screw you, you can’t avoid me now!”

“There’s don’t need to avoid you ……!”

When I held the sword in my right hand and took the position to counterattack him, Roy distorted the end of his mouth as if he’s saying that was a foolish thing to do. He’s probably going to smash it with his sword, but I’m not so naive as to just sit back and wait for him. 

“Haaaaaaaaah!”

“You launching an attack!? You fool, you’ll regret it when your bones shatter!”

I swung my sword as if to slash up from below so that it would collide with Roy’s sword. Immediately after, there was a dull bang.

But–

“Gunu …… D-Don’t tell me ……!?”

–My sword and Roy’s swords intersected, and we were in locking sword to sword.

It’s partly because I’m strong myself, but because I shifted the original point of Roy’s attack by attacking him as well, even though he thought he was responding to it, he couldn’t fully exert his true power and I was able to easily take it.

“That guy stopped Roy’s blow!?”

“With that thin arms ……”

“As expected of Lars! Do it!”

“Of course I will ……! Take this, Dragonfang!”

“U-Uoohhh, which …… guha ……!?”

There’s no way he could see it for the first time, and he grunted a little as the sword struck him in the right torso and left arm. However, as an adventurer, he doesn’t force his way in, but instead steps back. 

But I didn’t rest my hand, and launched another attack.

“Your thighs are full of gaps, your left elbow, your right shoulder too!”

“Damn it ……!”

“This is nothing!”

“Are you serious!?”

While I’m attacking, he came slashing at me, but when I quickly flicked it with my sword, he had a look of astonishment on his face. 

“Hey, hey, unbelievable, Roy, are you seriously doing it!”

“I wonder if he’s going easy on him?”

The outsiders shouted at him, but Roy shouted loudly as he took my sword.

“S-Shut up! I’m just about to take beat him down! This kid is getting carried away …… Take this! “Bear Crusher”!”

“Mu!”

Is that a special move? He unleashed a slash with a different aura than before. It doesn’t look much different, but it feels like it has the speed and weight to cut through the air. I thought it would hurt if it hit me, so instead of taking it, I flipped to the side to avoid it.

“He avoided it!? He’s been on the receiving it since the start, but this guy ……!”

“I don’t think he’s getting carried away …… but he’s accurately examining it …… “

Roy, who had struck out, looked at me sideways, as if I were an abomination. I’m going to hit that body full of gaps with the technique I received. 

“I’ll borrow your technique! Bear Crusher!”

“Stop screwing around …… N-No way!? That’s exactly my–“

When the Bear Crusher exploded on his right shoulder, Roy couldn’t finish his sentence and instantly his eyes went white, his body slammed into the ground and bounced, then twitched and stopped moving.

“H-He fainted …… La-Lars-kun wins ……”

“Uuoooooohhhhhhhhhhhh! H-He did it!”

“Seriously!? With Linea-san’s [discerning eye], she said that he will be in a world of hurt, but it’s not as simple as that. Roy is pretty strong, though.”

When Doun gave the signal that the winner had been decided, the quiet outsiders began to make a commotion. Then Makina came to hug me.

“I knew Lars was strong! You look just like you did when you avenged me at the Holy Knight Club competition when we were little.”

“Haha, you’re right. That was worse than this one, though.”

“That’s the start when I became conscious of Lars.”

Makina smiles at me, her expression relaxed with nostalgia. I handed the wooden sword back to her and walked over to Roy.

“Mmm, he’s passed out beautifully ……”

“I’m sorry, I might have overdone it. I’ll take care of his injuries .”

“Recovery Magic …… Even though you’re not a priest or a doctor, that’s rare ……”

“It’s also very effective …… Hey, Roy, get a grip.”

When Doun shook Roy awake, his wounds quickly disappearing, he opened his eyes, looked around and realized that he was lying on the ground, and hurriedly raised himself up.

“Woah!? I-I’ve been …… knocked out, huh ……”

“Yeah, that’s what I call a total defeat. He, Lars-kun is strong.”

“……”

Roy was silent at Doun’s words, then stood up and walked over to me. I was the first one to open my mouth.

” “There’s always someone better than you, and if you’re too proud, they’ll catch you off guard.” That’s what my teacher said. It’s not uncommon for us for someone to pick on Makina, but after that, you came at us while underestimating us, right?  My teacher used to tell us to be especially wary of new faces.”

“…… Lars or whatever you call yourself, you’ve got a point. Ha-ha-ha, it’s my total defeat! Sorry about picking a fight with you.”

“Uwah ……!?”

Roy laughed and started slapping me on the shoulder.

“That teacher must be quite very powerful too. There are certainly many people in this guild who are stronger than me. It reminded me of what my master taught me, that a person who looks weak is not necessarily so. I guess I was getting a little carried away.”

Roy looked up at the sky with a faraway look in his eyes. He’s got a blown out look, but I think Roy is that type of person because he usually reflects on what he’s done.

And as I said to Henrietta, the scariest thing is to get power halfway.

In addition to that, once you get used to it to some extent, you start to lose track of your own abilities. I wonder if his master was like Tigre-sensei? It seems that he is conveying good words.

“But your strength is a bit abnormal ……? It’s not only your physical balance that makes your size difference, but also the fact that you can copy my techniques in that instant …… is it thanks to your skill?”

“Of course it is. My skill is called [Jack-of-all-Trades], and I’ll be able to use magic and techniques that allow me to see.”

When I said that, everyone except Makina rolled their eyes in surprise.

“[Jack-of-all-Trades]!? That thing that was a failure!?”

“You can use anything you want, isn’t that crazy ……”

“Maybe that’s where the word ‘Skillful’ comes from.”

A discussion began as we wondered how a failure skill could be so great. However, one adventurer soon speaks up.

“Well, whatever, man! I’d love it if someone this strong would start taking requests!”

“Right! All right, we’re having a party today! Let’s rent out the second floor of the guild, and we can get together after the request is done, okay?”

“What? Yeah, we’re fine with that. Ah, can we add one more person then? There’s a person who’ll probably go crazy if we don’t invite her.”

“No problem at all. Well, we’re off to make a request. I don’t know if you guys are going to do a request, but you can come to the guild again in the evening.”

“I understand!”

Makina replied cheerfully to Doun’s words, and the group left the training ground. You’re taking requests, but you fought me ……

“I can’t wait to see who else is here. I don’t want to get picked on, though.”

“Right. But from the looks of it, Doun and the others will probably talk to them beforehand, so we won’t have to worry about them messing with us. Alright, let’s go and see what request we can do.”

…… I think this should be the end of the strange things. I’m sorry about Roy, but I’m using this as a publicity stunt. It’s true that he did hit on Makina, though.

I walked back into the guild a little lighter, thinking that I can live in this town uneventfully.

Is that all settled for now?

Maybe Basleigh-sensei will be back soon. ……?

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“Well, that’s how it goes, isn’t it?”

Lars himself wants to spread the word about his Jack-of-all-Trades, so he’s going to have to use a lot of tricks.

“I wonder what’s going to happen at the next case ……?”

In the meantime, they’re working on a request ……