It was the day of the Kenshin Cup Final.
　There was a father and daughter arguing at the entrance and exit of the arena where the competition was to take place.

''d*mn it, let go!　You stupid girl!
No, I won't let go!　There's a seat available exclusively for the contestants' guild, so it's a loss if you don't see it!

　It was Lilia and her father.

I ain't gonna watch it!
'You've come this far, you need to give it up, for goodness sake!
Shut up!　I don't see the point in watching the game anymore!
'Then let's just watch and enjoy the game!　I don't mind if you have a drink!
It's more painful than it is fun, and it's nothing but pain for me!
'Oh my god, this is so f*cking annoying...'

　--Ptch.

　Right after such a sound came from Lilia's forehead.

　Gosh!

　Her full length straight right caught her father's face perfectly.

'........Kyu....
Well. Let's go.

　She dragged her father, who had fainted, into the hall.


　　　　◇ ◇ ◇


　The day of the main competition for the Sword God's Cup has arrived.

　The biggest arena in the city of swords.
　It could hold more than fifty thousand people, and the thirty-two contestants were to compete for the title of the "Greatest Swordsman".
　Twenty of the contestants were A-class swordsmen, and the rest were swordsmen who had made it through the preliminary rounds.

　The first match was to be held.

　As soon as the opponents, who had been kept under wraps until then, were announced, the hall was filled with a great commotion.

''Last year's champion, Georg the Sword Emperor, suddenly appeared in the first match!
I don't know who you're playing against, but it's not like you're in a real relationship with your opponent.
Arel of the Unemployed!　You're a D-class swordsman who won all of the qualifying rounds in convincing fashion!
What a nice card!
''No, there's no way an unemployed person would beat the Sword Emperor, right?　Isn't it going to be one-sided?
Yeah. I think this is the end of his breakthrough. Well, he's still going to the finals. I think he's doing well.

　Hmm.
　I heard it was the first match, but I didn't know it was against that guy.
　I hadn't been told who I was going up against either.

　I go on stage.
　The auditorium was packed.
　It was the first time I'd ever received so much attention from so many people.

　His opponent also came on stage.
　It was GEO something.

　His usual fearless or annoying smile disappeared from his face, and his lips were drawn tightly together.
　Apart from the sword at his waist, for some reason he was carrying another sword on his back. Could it be a spare sword?

You seem pretty tense, don't you?
....

　I called out to him, but he just responded with silence.

''Then I'd like to start the first game!　Will last year's champion, Georg, the Sword Emperor, make a strong start to his bid for back-to-back victories?　Or is the biggest dark horse in this tournament, the unemployed rookie swordsman Arel, going to show us another astonishingly strong performance!

　The audience erupted into even louder cheers at the incitement.
　Oh, right, it was Georg.
　I remembered.

'Let the match begin!'

　At that moment when the signal to start sounded, Georg stepped over the distance that was dozens of meters away in almost a single step, and he was fleshed out at once.

　Hmm. Don't let him out of the blue.
　A special killing skill.

'Oops!　Georg the Swordsman!　They thought they were going to be the first to win, and then all of a sudden it was a big move!　The Sword Emperor's special skill Emperor Lord!　He's a tough competitor, as I thought.　That's too easy!　The Emperor's sixteenth series of blows that will bring everything to a standstill are attacking the Aleru Swordsman.''

　Gaga Gaga Gaga Gaga Gaga Gaga Gaga Gaga!

''What a swordsman, Aleru swordsman, you blocked it perfectly!

　I see.
　As expected of the Sword Emperor's special skill.
　I wasn't able to completely block it, and I ended up snatching a few of them.
　However, my blessings were only reduced by about one percent.

''Ah!　Georg Swordsman, without further pause, unleashed another special skill!　But Aleru Swordsman, I took that without difficulty, too.''

Awesome?
Seriously, what's going on?
That's not a jobless person!
But you've been fighting amongst yourselves.
With the Sword Emperor attacking us like that, it would be impossible for us to mount an offensive.
As expected, the Sword Emperor won.

'Swordsman Arelle, it sure seems like the best you can do is take it from earlier!　In the face of [Sword Emperor] Georg's ceaseless attacks, he can only defend himself and cannot turn to the offensive at all!　Little by little, the blessings are diminishing!　If we don't do this, we'll be jittery for sure!''

　At that time, Georg, who had been attacking uninterruptedly from earlier, jumped back once he thought what he was doing and took his distance.

''Ahhhh!　Georg the Swordsman, he has dropped once!　This is a great opportunity for Arrell Swordsman but he won't move!''

　Georg is the first to open his mouth there.

''Well why don't you just take it and set it up?''

　Though his tone is quiet, there's an unconcealed resentment in his voice.

'Maybe you can't afford to go on the offensive.
'Don't lump me in with those fools!　How can you not know you're daring to be on the receiving end?

　I was just joking around a bit, but apparently he took it seriously.

'Hmm. Simply put, it's too good to be true.
...too good to be true?

　I say to Georg, who raises his eyebrows.

''This is the perfect opportunity to see and learn the skills of the 《Sword Emperor》 in person. Wouldn't it be a shame to end it too soon?