The gain of the mercenary Gordeau was an axe.

　He wore an axe larger than a man's body. He looked like a mythical warrior as he effortlessly lifted a huge axe that an ordinary man could not lift with three men assembled. His employer, Basque, said.

　Once again, as I was basking in the glory of Gordeau's fury, a scoundrel as bad as Basque called out to me. Two merchants, both of whom are famous for their cunning, smirked at you.

"Well, well, well, Mister Basque, you've always been a wonderful operator.

"Well, well, well.

How can you hire such a mercenary?

It's a habit.

　Hahaha, and a chuckle breaks out.

I hear you got the downtown weitz store. I heard you got the Weitz store downtown.

Soon, though. It's taking some time, but we've got interest instead.

"Interest?

A beautiful woman with a blade of work and a beautiful woman. --And...

"And?

And the blood of a beautiful boy. Well, we don't particularly want it. But there will be blood at the festival.

　Then he pointed his opera glass at the stage. Basque had no taste for cruelty, but he still wanted to see a good-looking boy become a lump of flesh.


　Unaware that his master was watching, Gordeau held up his axe.
　The thought of killing the boy in front of him with it gives him a little pang of guilt.
　Just can't go easy on him.

　He may look like a slender, powerless boy with a wooden sword, but he's got to be quite capable. If you were to go easy on him, you might even lose, so Gordeau was serious about crushing him.

"We must make up for last time!　Fist King Jabba, wash your head and wait for me!

　The last time I got revenge on the Fist King who beat Goldor in the final. This time I wanted to beat him and prove that I was the best fighter in the land.

　To do so, we can't just stand here and stumble. I'm sorry for the boy, but I was going to turn him into a lump of meat right away.

　Gordeau waits impatiently for the signal to start the game. When the referees gave the signal to start the match, he would end it in a half a second. Goldeau has the strength to swing an axe that fast. No warrior was ever going to beat him if he put his training to the test.

　That was the consensus of the people in the hall, not to mention Gordeau and his employer, Basque, but there were two people outside of that perception. One was his opponent, Will, and the other was his parent.

　Aina, the toolmaker's daughter, fearful in the face of Gordeau's overpowering aura, says to Ronin beside her, "Lo, Ronin, come here," she says.

I think you should abstain, Ronin," she says.

"Abstain?　Why?

"This man, Mr. Goldow, is very strong. He's very muscular.

Well, one look at you and you'll break my back. Even though the rights to the store are at stake, I don't want you to scatter your young life.

　Old man Weitz also follows his granddaughter.
　As expected of Will's master, even Lunamaria looks a little worried.
　Ronin says as if to comfort her.

If I wanted to kill Will, I'd have met many people who wanted to kill him.

But that mercenary is something else. His body is too different.

Well, those muscles are awesome. If you take Will's strength as 10, he's got to be 50.

Five-fold. I still think we should pull out with honor.

　Old man Weitz turns pale.

"There's no honor in retreating. And there's no honor in retreating, much less running away to a winnable game.

"Can you win?

　Aina shouts.

You can win.

　Lunamaría asserts.

Master Will was raised by the strongest gods. He has overcome all odds since he came down here. He is not a man to be defeated in a place like this.

But that guy is strong.

Yes, but you can't lose. But there's no way I'm losing.

　Once again, Lunamaria says, she notices that her palms are wet.

(...... I know I'm a worrier.)

　Will is the strongest boy ever . Even so, you never know what will happen to him in the world of battle. There is no shortage of victories for a warrior to be killed by a nameless villager in the end.

............

"You don't know how great Will is for a new girl you just met. And Luna Maria's daughter doesn't have much faith in Will yet. My son will never be dismissed by that man.



　Pausing to say, "Oh man," Ronin assured him, "That guy's five times as powerful as Will.

It's true that he's five times as powerful as Will, but you can't beat him on power alone.

What do you mean?

That means he can blow Will's head off in 0.1 second and he'll stun him in 0.01 second.

"...... huh?

　When Aina said this, the audience erupted in cheers.
　It was the signal to start the match.

　At that moment, Gordeau's axe swings down with momentary speed and cuts off Will's head.

"Master Will!

　Lunamaria screamed, but Ronin was calm. She was not at all upset that her beloved son had been killed. Lunamaria wanted to protest, but the feeling was more daunting. The one who brought harmony to this world, the one raised by the gods, is dead. It felt as if the world would disappear. Despair reigned in Lunamaría's heart, but it was Will himself who delivered her from her despair.

　Will thought his head had been cut off by Godot's axe. But the decapitation was something else.

"The afterimage!

　To Lunamaria's astonishment, Ronin murmurs, "You're right. Then he adds, "Don't take your eyes off her.
Keep an eye on her. Will will decide in a second.

　Ronin says so, and Will does it.

　The afterimage causes Will to dodge the blow from Goldor and appear above Goldor. Normally, he would be unprotected in the air, but Will was anything but.

"Ugh, there's more than one Mr. Will!

"Uh-huh.

　In fact, there was more than one Will. Five wills had appeared in the sky. The crowd is throbbing, but they are not an illusion. They are just afterimages of the fastest moving wills.

　Even Goldor didn't seem to know which one to attack. But he's a top-notch warrior, and he's come up with a way to attack five men at once.

　Ridding himself of the giant axe, he's ready to kill five wills at once.
　It was the best decision, but it was not the strongest.

　Will was waiting for the moment when Goldor would use Cleave. Will took that moment to step into Gordeau's bosom.

　Will is now muttering to himself.

"...... It's an afterimage.

　Just as he murmurs this, Will's ashlar wooden sword flashes.

　A powerful blow, a blow filled with the magic of "despair", strikes the head. The overwhelming speed and power of the blow to the head makes it impossible for anyone to stay conscious. He was blown a few meters away and was completely unconscious.

　The judge looks at me with a puzzled look on his face. He still can't believe that someone as small as I am could overwhelm a man of great strength like Goldor. But he eventually realizes this and grabs my hand, lifting it high in the air.

　Then the place erupts in a roar of rage.

"d*mn, what a kid!

"A blow to the previous runner-up. A monster.

We have a new champion.

　The bellowing goes on forever. This is how I was promoted from a mere participant to a potential winner.


　Watching Will's game from a distance is the female swordsman, Hifune.
　She didn't miss Will's every move.

"That's the Son of the Sword God. Qualifying is easy.

　Muttering this, a martial artist dressed in modest clothes appears. Lightly alarmed, but not bothered by the lack of murderous intent, he calls out to me.

"That boy is funny.

　The martial artist says.

"I know that. But she's mine.

　Hifune drew his sword from his waist and thrust it at the martial artist.

If I seize it, I'll cut you down to pieces.

Oh, that's a scary thing . But a martial arts tournament is only a matter of time. It depends on the combination.

That's true. But she and I are going to win. We're going to win.

That's a big one. Would you be able to say the same thing if you played me on the way?

"Great, you. What's your name?

"My name is Fist King . Fist King Jabba.

"Heh, never heard of it.

"You don't even know the name of the previous winner. Chuckle.

　The Fist King says this and takes out an apple from his pocket.


　Toss it into the air and fist out at a momentary speed.

　The apple was drawn by gravity and fell to the ground. It had taken on a different shape from when it was thrown. It had been shattered. It would not have happened without multiple fists locked in at considerable speed.

So, young lady, good-bye. If we meet at the battle.

　The Fist King smiles wryly and walks away.
　As if to replace him, the man in black appears.

"You're quite an interesting man.

"Clown

　Hifune retorts. I'm not sure if he said that to the man in black or to the Fist King, but the man in black doesn't seem bothered by it, saying, "The number of fists you added to your apple is about two or three.

"I'd say you've added a couple of fists to the apple.

　In fact, it was a thirty-six, but he was not willing to cooperate with the man's speculation, so he did not answer anything. He didn't say anything else, since that wasn't his main point either.

What do you want, by the way?　I'll kill Will in the near future as promised, but

I'm not worried about that. If you play Will, you'll win.

"Then I wish you wouldn't have come so far.

　Hifune does not hide his disgust. The man in black says without caring.

"Well, so be it. We'd rather kill that boy any way we can.

Why do you care so much?

"That one is the sworn enemy of our Zodiac cult. The one who could be the light to save our world. Twice she has burned us down. He has killed one of our 24 generals. I want this done as soon as possible.

Then don't worry. Our intentions may not be the same in death, but our purpose is the same.

"I don't doubt your abilities--but

"But?

"But this martial arts tournament will be attended by an unexpected ambush.

You mean the god of swords.

　I look at Will and the squalid man who is celebrating his earlier victory.

"Yes. We didn't think the gods would come into the war. It could bring our plans to naught.

"Are you out of your mind to kill Will?

Yes. You can't overpower the gods either.

Yes. Yes, it's bad.

"Then--

"But we will not retreat. Seeing that man and that man's son makes my blood run hot. I can't run away here. My feelings of vengeance will fade and I will feel sorry for my master father if I cowardly run away from it.

"So the plan goes on?

"Yeah. That's not a bad story. You want to kill a boy named Will. I want revenge on Ronin, the god of swords. Conflict of interest.

"That's right. We just gave you the information. If that's all it takes to get rid of the boy, I'm superimposed.

"Then you can rest easy. I will kill her.

That's a brave word. You're very dependable.

　The man in black smiled wryly and left.

　Hifune stared at his back with a scowl, but never pointed it out. You'll be able to find out what's going on with the boy, Will, by simply exchanging information with the man in black to begin with. I wasn't interested in what he was up to.


　The man in black turned his back to Hifune and let out a brooding laugh.

"But well, she's an easy girl, she'll dance on your palms.

　You murmur meaningfully, but immediately look at the hall.

''But the participation of the God of Swords is still an uncertain factor. Even though his power is limited, he is still a god. We should take some countermeasures.

　The man in black then turns to the martial artist he saw earlier.

"He's a few steps behind Hifune in terms of strength, but he'll be fine as a replacement.

　So I approached him verbally and decided to lay down some stones.
　He also excused his men to make a thorough "meeting" with the tournament officials.

　The man in black had no inherent military prowess, but instead had a wisdom second to none. A strong mind that didn't mind being called a villain. These two were essential to success in the Order.