Listen to me. You must not lay a hand on this man in any way.

　In the suburbs of the Mix family cottage on the outskirts of King's Landing, General Elnte, forgetting the humiliation of getting down on his knees just an hour ago, speaks to the sisters in front of him.

　Dee Mix's sister, Dee Mix, trembled as she heard the words, and her sister, Jai Mix, reacted with an eyebrow raised in surprise.

Why is that, Master? That man is a joker who reveals his true colors in anger. I don't think he's our enemy.''
Fool. You think that's all he's got?
...... But,
Think about it. Dee completely caught Silvia and her people off guard.

　Jay was silent at Elnte's words.

　When he thought back, he realized that in the most uncomfortable moment of eating, he had not only prevented a surprise attack on the person next to him, but he had also parried with a plate. It's not just a matter of "speed of reaction".

"Dee, Jay. It's not just a matter of how fast you react. You should only think about the war against General Onion. Don't ever think of retaliating.
But I'm not going to back down from this!

　Jay pushes her anger to the front and bites down. For the first time in her life, she was on her knees. It was arguably the biggest humiliation in that not-so-short life, first of all. It was the same for Dee, but the selfish victimhood of being humiliated by her sister's blunder, for which she had no responsibility, stirred her heart to be even more furious.

...... That woman in black and the mysterious spirit. I still can't get a grip on it. That man also changed his appearance in an instant. I have no idea what the skills are or how effective they are. Do you think we can win?
Then let's take a stab in the dark. The three of us can't afford to lose.
Not a chance. Jai, drop the idea that you're superior. Always be a challenger. Carelessness and arrogance can creep into the cracks in the margins. Know that disciplining yourself is the way to become a demon hunter.

　Elnte spoke one way and then stood up as if the conversation was over. Then, as he leaves, he leaves you with one thing to say.

I'm sure you'll find that Sylvia is very slow to react. If it hits you, attack it with haste.

　The information I got in exchange for getting down on my knees. Dee and Jay said, "Yes! He replied honestly.
　Elnte nodded in satisfaction and turned her back to them and left.

　...... The sisters had no way of knowing that a severely distorted smile was on their faces.




　　* * * *



　The day after the shopping trip.
　I called Sylvia and Eco out to the yard early in the morning. That's right, the Kumite training had begun.

"Let's just do one with me, one at a time. Then we'll decide what to do.
Sure. Good luck.
'Rei-kai!'

　This time, the dueling system is used for this game, not the "game crown" system. A duel is formed when either player requests a duel and the other player accepts. The rules for dueling are the same as in the title game, where only 1 HP remains after a fatal wound is inflicted.

'That's from Sylvia,'
...... Mm.

　He seems a little nervous.

　I can't look at her and laugh at her, "Relax, relax," she says. Sylvia laughs annoyed, "Oh, by the way," she laughs, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, then slaps her cheeks with both hands, "Come on! And he held his bow. No, I ain't got a clue.

　Well, okay, let's do .......



　　* * * *



　A gentle Second Lord's face.
　I entered a battle stance, feeling like I owed him my heart.

　The next moment - Second-dono's expression instantly changed to a cold one.


　...... Immediately after that, it was.


''--!


　The next thing I knew, an arrow was flying just inches from my face.

　When the hell did I shoot it?　What's this?　Infantry archery?　The Art of Archery?　I don't know.

　I don't know, but I do know this. I must never hit it - my instincts must have determined that. I reflexively bent down and avoided it just in the nick of time.


''Geez.''

　The next thing I know, I get a tremendous jolt to my head.
　Couldn't I have avoided it?　No, the chase.

"Uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh.

　Two, three, four ...... I couldn't even avoid them and ate one arrow after another. All of them hit my head, as if I were being sucked in.

　My brain shook groggily. It's not as painful as I expected. But I can't catch the Second Lord's figure properly.

　Then, unable to do anything, I let go of my consciousness.





''Haha ......!

　You wake up and understand. Defeated. Completely defeated.

"I think I get it,

　I looked at Second Lord - my beloved - beside me as I collapsed on my back, saying such things with my usual expression, and for the first time, I was afraid.
　He could easily kill me any time he wanted to. That's exactly what he does, like twisting a baby's hand.

　...... I wonder why. I was terrified, but at the same time I felt a strange excitement.

　He has everything in his hands. It seemed like a tremendous pleasure to never try to fight that fear and to surrender to it.
　I want him to tell me more. I want you to love me more. The emotions that were bubbling up. I looked away from Second Lord's back, chewing on those funny elation.


　And then the duel with Eco begins.

　It was similar to my time.

　While Eco was holding her shield firmly in place but still reluctant to back down, Second-dono took a casual approach as if he were going out for a walk, but he definitely walked up to her and closed the distance between them.

''Kya!''

　One shot, two shots, three shots. More and more attacks came in.
　Even though Eco tried desperately to resist, all of them were returned with the parry of the Silver General Shield Art, and the damage accumulated in Eco's direction.

　Less than 30 seconds later, Eco was stunned and Second-dono won.


　...... It was too one-sided.

　No matter how much, I thought I could give him a shot. Even though there is some status difference, the conditions should be equal. When it came to [Shield Technique], Eco was rather more advantageous.

　However, I couldn't even get my hands on it.

　What's the difference?　What's the difference?　There is so much difference between us and the Second Lord that I have no idea.


'Then I'll tell you the policy after breakfast.

　Will the gap ever be closed in the future? If so, what is the policy and what kind of training is being conducted?

............ umm!

　I couldn't help but be curious.
　I felt as if something had quietly flared up in the back of my mind.



　　* * * *



　The problem before the game.

　...... That's the conclusion I came to.

　There was not the slightest hint of a desire to win from Sylvia and Eco.
　Are they afraid of death, of pain, or of not wanting to fight? I don't know.

　Do the girls really want to win the title in the first place?
　If it's a half-hearted thought, then you shouldn't do it. The fight between the two of them was so bad that they had to reconsider that.


''At this rate, we'll lose our first fight, let alone win the title.

　There's no point in hiding it, so I tell them so straight away.

　The two of them nodded with a 'I knew it' look on their faces before slowly opening their mouths.

''Me and Eco have already decided how we feel about each other.
I want to leave. I want to get out. I want to bring joy to everyone in the village.
'Mm, I want to compete. Especially since I can't afford to lose to Dee Mix.

　The two of them were quite determined, which I didn't think they would be.

　Well, at ......, let me tell you the policy.


"From now on, for the rest of your time, you will learn as much of the 'surprise tactics' as you can remember. The basics?　Common sense?　Go to hell. You ready?　You guys are weak. You're helplessly weak, but be an explosive contestant who can give you a shot at ...... on a whim.


　The original plan was to teach the basics in depth. In each skill, there are precise changes in battle form called "joureki" (joureki), effective connections between skills called "Tesuji" (Tesuji), and "Yoke" (yoke). "A sharp decisive move at the end of the game called 'the endgame', etc. I was going to make Perpeki memorize everything I had in me about fighting against him and imprint it on his body, and I was going to cultivate it to the point where my body would move on its own without being aware of every single thing.

　However. But with less than three weeks to go, they are sure to lose the first game if I teach them the basics. It's next season again, and I don't mind that, but they probably won't be satisfied with it.

　So, if that's the case. The only thing left to do is to use the surprise attack method.

　Strictly speaking, the PvP Surprise Defense is the advantage of the attacker, if the attacker responds well.

　However, based on my experience, my prediction was that there is no one in this world who can perfectly handle a surprise attack on the first try. This is because it is unlikely that anyone in this world knows exactly how to respond to the surprise attack method.

　If it's an odd move called a surprise attack, even a higher-ranked opponent has the potential to get a shot in.

　It's no doubt that the opponent of the surprise attack would be in a state of distress. They would suddenly find themselves in a situation where they had to calmly accept the situation, but their hearts would be in a state of panic and confusion. It would be nice if they only end up disrupting the pace, but once they disrupt it, they can probably push through with the flow. That's what I'm aiming for.

　The other title contenders may feel sorry for him, but he'll learn from this, and he'd like to challenge again next season.


"Surprise attack, huh? "Surprise attack, yes, that's what I want.
Sizzle, sizzle!

　Both Sylvia and Eco are pretty much on board.

　Okay.

Let's get to work on that.



　　* * *




　A man entered the royal city of Vinston.
　Twice a year. At this time of year, the man always visited the city.

　The man's name was Rothman.

　He was in his mid-forties. He was a middle-aged man with short black hair and slightly receding bangs, a medium build, slightly wrinkled eyes, and an uncomfortably keen look in his eyes, and he looked like he could be anywhere.


　People call him Ichusenza.


'Rothman Ichusenza, we've been waiting for you.

　The man who greeted him was a large man, standing at least two meters tall.

''Oh, it's been a while, Mr. Garam. Have you given up the big sword?
Yes. I have my reasons.

　Garam is a knight belonging to the Second Order. He took responsibility for the recent civil war and stepped down from his position as Deputy Commander, and is currently serving the Kingdom of Castal by performing free labor as a member of the Order of the Commonwealth. The reason his punishment was so light was due to his humanity.

　He was also one of those who would be competing in the Winter Flash Tournament.

I see. Whose idea was it then?
There's an interesting man here.
'Ooh, this is going to be fun: ......'

　Seeing Rothman's face with a grin on his face, a scare ran through Garam's massive body.

　Rothman had already possessed the name of Ichibanza for more than twenty years now. Everyone knew what he was capable of. And Garam, who had crossed swords with him in the past, more than anyone else.

'I wonder if he'll be able to get out of the boredom.

　He seemed to be looking forward to it a lot.

　But Garam was also very much looking forward to it. No doubt he was looking forward to the prospect of facing off against this Rothman Ichibango and the man who would be his match.

"This season could be a rough one.

　Rothman laughed at Garam's sincere muttering, which made his throat crawl with a croak.