The second day of the Fuyo Cup (Lotus Cup).

　On the first day, the first round of 16 matches were completed and the number of participants was already reduced to half, 16.
　On the following day, eight games of the second round were scheduled to be played.

　It was the sixth game for Aldis.
　Moore, who had already won the first game, sends out Aldis in a disciplined manner.

The next opponent is the secret son of the assault company. It's a good thing that you're not just a part of the team, but also a part of the team that was established with the help of the Marquis of Olguin, so you can say that the entire contents are the Marquis' children. I'm sure both you and I will be looked at as enemies, so be careful.

Don't worry. I'm well aware of that.

　Responding lightly to Moore's words of advice, Aldis walked toward the center of the arena.
　The crowd, which had previously been filled with cheers, began to buzz.

　It was only natural.
　Although Aldis is a well-known mercenary, but that is only as a 'Magician of a Thousand Swords'.
　It's strange just to participate in the Fuyo Cup (Lotus Cup) where the use of magic and witchcraft is banned, and even more so because it easily made it through to the first round.

　Most people in the audience must have seen the way Aldis fought yesterday, and I'm sure most of them saw the same thing.
　Still, there may be a lingering feeling that there was a mistake.
　The fact that there would be a murmur instead of cheers was the best proof that they still hadn't decided what to make of Aldis's ability.

　Aldis picked up a single sword with the same blade draw as yesterday and stepped out to the center.

　His opponent, a young man, came from the other side.
　He was only in his early twenties at the time of his age.
　His face is neither handsome nor ugly, but his large, gazing eyes give a particularly strong impression.

　He has a short spear as long as he is tall.
　It was clear that he was a soldier belonging to the army, as he was wearing the official equipment of the kingdom's military.

　Just like the first round, the referee gave a pre-match briefing, and the match began with a signal to take five steps away from each other.

　The two men took a few steps in silence and closed the gap between them.
　The opponent's gain is a spear, albeit a short one.
　The tip of it reaches farther than the sword Aldis has.

　When the distance between them was reduced to about three meters, the dark-eyed soldier suddenly opened his mouth.

I don't know how they used it, but I don't know that a magician would come up on the stage of the prestigious Fuyo Cup ....... ''There's no way to be ridiculous,''

　The first words from the dark-eyed soldier, who had been holding his tongue until then, were strangely thorny: "Didn't you see the game yesterday?

"Didn't you see the game yesterday?

　I'm aware of the criticism of Aldis being seen as a magician and competing in the Fuyo Cup.
　That's why Aldis thought he had shown his ability in the first game in an understandable way.
　It wasn't a fluke, and I think anyone who saw the game yesterday would know what he was capable of,'' Ardis said.

The only thing that can be done is to get rid of them underneath the sleeves of a mercenary, but that kind of trickery won't work against people like us who belong to the army!

'Oh, that's how you interpret it: ......'

　Apparently, the first round breakthrough was seen as the result of subterfuge.
　Since the other party was a mercenary, there may be a suspicion that it was an eighteenth-hour fight.

　I see, and Ardis is strangely convinced.
　The buzz that could be heard from the auditorium might be due to that suspicion.

It's not possible to further sully the stage of the historic Fuyo Cup (Lotus Cup). His Excellency the Marquis has personally told us to beat him thoroughly. If you resent me, resent your own rashness for participating in a martial arts tournament without a sense of propriety!

　Apparently, the first round of the fight was not enough to overturn the preconceived notion of Aldis.
　It seems that the prejudices that have stuck to him are more difficult to wipe out than he thought, and Ardis inwardly shrugs his shoulders.

I see. So, I'm not going to hold back either.

　In the first round, he showed that he could cross over without the use of sword magic.
　He took the mercenary's sword head on and defeated it head on.

　But today, the second battle, there was no longer a need to wait and see or show Aldis' abilities.
　All that's left is to fulfill the original objective.

　Winning is easy.
　But just winning is not enough to cure the stomach bug.
　Of course, the fact that my student's life was threatened, but I was going to return the thanks that I was forcibly banished from this world for a year.

　Blowing up the short spear?
　No. That would be an instant victory.

　Slamming your sword into your opponent's body?
　No, it's not. If you go into the kryptonite, that's how you win, and even if you avoid the kryptonite attack, if your opponent becomes incapable of fighting, that's it.

　What Aldis chose to do was to settle for breaking the opponent's heart and making them surrender.
　Unlike the mercenaries of yesterday, there was no need for mercy for a goggle-eyed soldier who would bite him in front of his eyes.
　They have no tactics to add to an opponent who has failed to show their respect.

　In the next moment, Ardis kicked the ground.
　In an instant, as he closed the gap between the two, Ardis's sword strikes up his opponent's short spear.

　Ardis, who has entered the pocket, thrusts the tip of his sword at the throat of the goggle-eyed soldier, who is unable to follow the movement, for a moment.
　It is a very good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you want to do.
　But it's only for a brief moment. Ardis quickly drew his sword and took a pause.

'What's the matter, aren't you coming?'

　A few steps away, Aldis provoked him.
　Inspired by this, the goggle-eyed soldier, who still has a good will to fight, held his spear in front and delivered a sharp thrust.

　It's not a thrust that is unleashed by ordinary people.
　It's not a commonplace thrust, it's just that they participate in the Fuyo Cup, so there's plenty to see.

　But his aim was too straight and honest.
　It's a young thrust, Aldis said, giving him a failing grade in his mind.

　The momentum of the thrust, although sharp, is clear and easy to read with the sword, and Aldis takes a step into his opponent's pocket.
　While grasping the sword with his right hand and holding the hilt of his spear, he yanked the goggle-eyed soldier's arm with his left hand to break his stance, and he fell to the ground with both of them.

　In the midst of this flow, Ardis's sword stroked the neck of the opponent for a moment.
　But because it was so brief in the midst of violent movement, neither the referees nor the spectators noticed this fact at all.

'Two.'

　Ardis, who immediately released his opponent and jumped back, said gruffly.
　Understanding the implications of this, anger appeared on the face of the gyro-eyed soldier.

　Regardless of his mind, Ardis rushes in without a care in the world.
　Aldis dodges the two sharp blows that greet him with half a body and slams the hilt of his short spear into the ground with his sword, and Aldis dives his body into the ground.

　From such close range that their bodies collide with each other, Aldis' left hand is suddenly extended and grabs (grabs) the opponent's neck for a moment and releases him.
　But from the referees, Aldis's body is a wall and his movements cannot be seen.

''Mittsu.''

　Aldis is counting the number of fatal wounds he inflicted on his opponent in the fight.
　If this were a real battle, your opponent would have already died three times.
　The reason why your opponent looks like he's been bitten by a bitter bug is because he understands this.

　But Aldis is not letting up.
　After that, he cleverly adjusts his position to avoid being judged victorious by the judges, and repeats the process of hitting the opponent's vital points with his sword or hand blade and then retreating.
　Naturally, he does not forget to count each time.

"Sixteen.

　No matter how foolish your opponents are, if they continue to strike at your opponent's vital points so easily, you can't help but feel the difference in their abilities.
　I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to find a way to make it work.
　Now it had passed white and turned blue.

　As you might expect, after such an offensive and defensive battle, some of the spectators began to notice something strange.

"Hey, isn't that a blow to the vital point?

Really?　If it's in there, the judges will make the decision.

'If the referees don't say anything, doesn't that mean it wasn't deemed a valid attack?

'But it looks like you've been jabbing your sword to your neck and chest for a while now: ......

I know. No matter how you look at it, there's a fatal one in there.

　The crowd began to buzz in a different way than it had before the game started.

　Aldis was positioning himself out of sight of the referees and putting his hands out to the urgent points so that the fight would not end.
　But on the contrary, it would be in full view from any other direction.
　Those with a certain amount of martial arts knowledge and good eyesight will have begun to notice what Ardis is doing.

　The buzzing of the crowd would push the goggle-eyed soldier even further into a corner.
　Even amateurs are aware of Aldis' overwhelming superiority.
　Of course, it is obvious to those who make their living fighting that Aldis is playing right into their opponents' hands.
　The face of a goggle-eyed soldier can be said to be destroyed.

　Aldis chuckles inwardly at his bad character.
　But since the purpose of participating in the Fuyo Cup is to embarrass the Marquis of Olguin, he has no intention of showing mercy to the soldiers in front of him who belong to that faction.

"Seventeen.

　Aldis dodged the attack of the goggle-eyed soldier and took his back and poked the location of his heart with his index finger from behind.
　If this was a dagger, his opponent's life would be gone at this moment.

　Aldis instantly jumped back from the spot and was about to move on to the next action, but his opponent no longer had the energy to fight and collapsed to the spot without any power.

　A press of the sword against the defenseless neck would be enough to win the fight, but Ardis dared to keep his distance and watch.
　The strange stalemate ended with about five minutes of breathing time.

'.................. I surrender.'

　It's because the goggle-eyed soldier admits his defeat in a strangled voice.

　All attacks are dodged and heckled, and as a counterattack, a sword tip is thrust at him for a moment or a sword is gently placed on a vital point.
　The difference in strength is obvious, and your opponent has no intention of settling the matter.
　It's a good thing that you're able to get the most out of your life.

　The humiliating way in which he was forced to admit defeat, not to mention his own, made me wonder what was on the mind of Marquis Olguin, the leader of his faction, who had to admit defeat.

''Of course, I don't intend to settle the score like this,''

　To the Marquis, who would be watching them from the guest of honor's seat, Aldis says words that were never meant to reach him.

''There is a match!

　With the crowd in the stands buzzing with several buzzing eyes, the judges declared Aldis the winner.