Then a few days later the day of the Sword Fighting Competition to decide the new head of the Imperial Guard Order came.
We choose the Colosseum near the Saint Perrier cathedral in the centre of Braham as the stage.
With much effort, I was able to open up this competition to the general public and turn it into a big event.
“As per Margrave Carlo de Medici-sama’s order, I will resign from the seat of the head of the Imperial Guard Order and will be promoted to a General. For that matter, I decided to choose my successor from among the five Captains, and as a way to do it, I decided to make the one who does best in this Sword Fighting Competition the new head.”
On the occasion of the competition’s beginning the current head, Marcus gave an opening speech.
“In addition, Carlo-sama will also specifically participate in this competition! Even if you are fighting against your master Carlo-sama in a match I strongly recommend you not to go easy on him. Each participant should demonstrate their full potential on this occasion!”
Rumbling cheers could be heard from the jam-packed audience seats.
Because my participation was made a secret until now everyone seemed surprised.
Next up would be my opening speech.
Honestly doing something like this doesn’t match my character and I felt really tense because I don’t have any experience with things like that.
****, I want to go to the toilet.
But there’s no time for that anymore.
Calm down, I’m Carlo, a shameless villain, I can do it.
“It’s good that you all were able to come. I’m Carlo. Today at this place the new head of the Imperial Guard Order will be selected. Enjoy the fight. As Marcus said a while ago, I’ll participate as well today. I won’t tolerate a person cutting corners while fighting me. If you’re defeated by me I’ll reduce your salary, so be prepared!”
Laughter could be heard from the spectator seats.
I’m relieved, seems like it was well received.
“With this, we shall start the Sword Fighting Competition. Marcus, announce the fighting order”
……Haa, I somehow said it.
To be frank, I was even more nervous about the competition.
On top of the stage Marcus announced … the tournament list we fairly put together.
I’m a seed in group A, with our excellent skills we were able to put F in group B.
F would only be able to fight me in the finals.
Gee, I’m glad that we are in separate groups.
Knight matches basically consisted out of sword fighting but also jousting.
The first round of Group A was a battle between a slender Knight using a slender long sword and a shield and a gigantic Knight wielding a long-hilted Halberd.
I’ll fight against the one who wins this round.
The way the slender knight swings his long sword felt smart and manly, an orthodox style.
He seemed to be in his late 30s having a moustache growing on his face he seemed to be a good guy.
He seemed to be quite popular because when he was introduced loud cheers could be heard.
His opponent, the tall knight, seemed to be more unpopular for some reason.
When he was introduced jeers could be heard everywhere.
Was it because he looked a bit rough?
Not only was his body big but his face also looked terribly rough.
Being in his late 20s he was considerably younger than his opponent.
He buzzingly swung around the long Halberd in an ostentatious way.
Looks like he was considerably proud of his strength.
The match finally began.
As soon as they finished greeting each other the gigantic knight rushed forward on his horse.
Considering his huge body he rode on a rather big horse.
Of course, it was still inferior to White King.
“Uraaaaaa!”
He swung down his long Halberd while letting out a loud shout from a long distance away.
The slender Knight blocked it with his shield but it seemed to cause some considerable shock.
Still, he somehow endured the shock and closed the distance to reach him with his own sword, but the gigantic Knight was rather good at handling his horse.
He skilfully handled his horse as to prevent his opponent from reaching his chest so easily.
The slender knight judged that fighting at this distance was disadvantageous, He immediately took some distance with his horse.
They looked angrily at each other for a while, a distance between them, but then the slender Knight suddenly charged forward.
The giant swung down the Halberd on the slender knight who charged towards him, but the slender knight used his shield to successfully divert it and reached his opponent’s chest.
That was really skilful.
A long-hilted Halberd is more of a nuisance in close-quarter combat.
However, the gigantic Knight was also considerably skilled he used the Halberd’s handle for close-quarter combat.
The battle had been continuing for a while, however at the moment the gigantic knight blocked the slender knight’s longsword with the Halberd’s handle, he smashed his shield against the gigantic knight.
This was the first time I saw someone use Shield Bash.
Then the gigantic knight staggered a little and the slender Knight used this gap to sharply thrust his longsword.
However, the gigantic knight fiercely blocked the thrust with his Halberd’s handle.
The shock created a little distance between these two people. This would be the perfect time to use the Halberd.
Without missing that chance the gigantic knight hit the slender knight who wasn’t able to successfully block leading to him falling off his horse.
“The match is over!”
The moment the referee, Marcus, shouted out his judgment the movements of those two people stopped.
It seems like in the knight’s jousting matches if one either falls off the horse or raises one’s hand to show one’s intention to surrender one loses.
The gigantic man triumphantly put up a hand, but one could only hear sighs coming from the audience.
Like I thought he is hated.
The gigantic man was selected as my opponent for the match.
As far as I could see just now he didn’t have any particular weakness.
The next match was the first round of Group B, it’s a fight between F and a Knight using a two-handed sword.
Even after F’s name was called the venue hardly go excited because he’s still pretty unknown after all.
Fufu, I look forward to the audience’s reactions after the match.
On the contrary, when the opposing knight’s name was called, there was quite a cheer.
He seemed to be a veteran knight in his late 40s.
He was slightly shorter than F who is 185 cm tall, but his chest gave off a sturdy feeling.
When the match starts both of them face each other to greet each other and then slowly close the distance between them with their horses.
I couldn’t see F’s expression because of the helmet but judging by his movements he seemed calm.
OK, F, show them what you’re capable of.
They reached a distance at which they could cross swords.
They held out their sword, lightly bowed to each other before moving away from their opponents.
The veteran handled the heavy two-handed sword with ease and heavily swung it down on F in a fast manner.
Moreover, he attacked F’s right side, which is hard to block with a shield, in an experienced manner.
However, F stayed unfazed and parried with his sword.
Then with that centrifugal force the opponent’s body tilted to the side creating gaps.
Not missing that chance F attacked.
The opponent was desperately trying to block it but the weight of their weapons was too different after all.
He somehow was able to block one of F’s one-sided sword attacks, but the match would soon reach its end.
F hit his opponent’s fingers making him separate his hand from the sword because of the shock.
You can’t swing a heavy two-handed sword with just your right hand.
With that in mind, F was going to hit his opponent’s neck but before he could reach it his opponent raised both his hands.
“The match is over! The victor is Sir Fitz-Morris Fitzgerald!”
Marcus’ sudden cheer could be heard.
Seems like I held my breath until just now because, I feel excessively light-headed.
When F slowly took off his helmet shrill cheers from the women in the front row could be heard.
Well, of course, they would, F is a super handsome guy after all.
Damnit, he won in terms of looks so I should at least win the match. (TN: You said you look forward to their reactions, remember. You got what you wanted)
Well, that might be difficult, though.
- N/ax
