Episode 7 - Assassin complete the exam

“I’ll come back” (Lugh)

I said that, and I walk down from the crowd to the stage.
The match I'm entering is the last group of the day.
The attention coming from the students is high.
The reason for this is simple, the last two are the top two guys on the list so far.
In short, this would be a neck-and-neck battle.

Dia earned points in magic exam with her magic, but she was only above normal in body arts.
Talt is the other way around, and Hero dragged his feet too much in his unreasonable way, and Neusch and I are one step ahead of him in overall scores.
Me and Neusch lined up and made our way to the ring.

“Lugh, like I said before, I don't want you to let me take win on purpose...... I want to win this with my effort.” (Neush)
“I swear to you, I will fight with all my might.” (Lugh)

Neush's eyes are looking straight at me.
It's like he can see right through everything over here.
If I slip up badly, I'll be found out.
I can't afford to displease the duke family.
We made it to our respective rings in silence after that.

There's already someone in the ring to challenge us.
No way. I didn't expect we will be facing two vice commanders.
It's like a special service.

“Good luck with that, Lugh-sama!” (Talt)
“If you lose, you're going to have a heaping pile of croparra for breakfast tomorrow!” (Dia)

Cheers from Talt and Dear reach out to me.
I feel happy, but a little embarrassed.
The vice commander in front of me laughs.

“You, you're popular. I'm jealous.” (Vice commander)
“I've shown you the embarrassing side of my relatives.” (Lugh)
“It's good, it's good. I'm more motivated. I'm never going to let those pretty girls see anything good. You harem bastard, die.” (Vice commander)

What a hell of a killing intent.
......This person, he forgets this is test for students.

“Don’t you feel immature?” (Lugh)
“Hahaha. Maybe so. But if it is you, I'm sure you'll have no problem with taking it seriously.” (Vice commander)

I'm not surprised.
When one becomes an expert to a certain extent, one can see through the skill of an opponent just by his breathing and walking.
It's just that the person in front of me is also such a person.
We both put our hands on the hilt of our swords.

I then use a sword.
I'm pretty good with knives, bodyguards, and guns, but it's not like I can't use a sword, and if it's a sword, there's no room for assassination, so I can hide Tuathe De's assassination skills.
A nod of the head from the ref as he checks to see if we are ready to go.

“Begin” (Referee)

The match begins.
It is that moment when we stopped moving.
I felt a tremendous amount of magic from the next ring.
It is from Neush.
Neush hold his sword in front of his eyes, releasing all the magic power he could muster, strengthening his body.

This is an even more advanced technique of strengthening the body, in between magic that fuse entire body.
Powerful and flowing. More than that, he is full of enthusiasm.

Don't make cheap tricks, give it your all.
Such intention coming from the magic released, and it feels good.
...... Seriously, when you're hit with such spirited magic, you're just too hot to handle.
I thought I'd slow down at the beginning and see what happens, but I give up on that.

“WhaAaaAAa!” (Lugh)

I will follow Neush's lead and go all out from the beginning.
If I don't get on here, I'm not going to last.
As an assassin, I wouldn't do such a dumb thing. But now I'm here as a swordsman.
I could already see the amount of magical power of the Vice commander in front of me with Tuathe De's eyes.
Exactly the same amount as its full force. He wears much higher magic power than ordinary people.

......The amount of magic is the same. If so, the match would be decided by swordsmanship, physical ability strengthening techniques, reading each other, and such techniques and mental strength.
The vice commander grimaced.

“Interesting. This year's newcomers are very much energetic. Then I won't be holding back.” (Vice commander)
“Right. It's interesting. But I can't let them lose. We've got to hold reputation of knight order, too.” (Vice commander from other ring)

The vice commander in front of me and the vice commander who confronts Neush are also clothed in the full force of magic.
All four of us released an enormous amount of magic power.
The spectators gasped at the magnificent sight.
Then, all four of us started to move.

◇

I turn all my consciousness to the man in front of me.
......I was an assassin in a previous life, and I'm still an assassin. I trained for a head-on confrontation, but that's only an insurance policy in the event of a failed assassination, not my day job.
And the art of assassination from Tuathe De, the technique to strike the enemy unawares is sealed.

Let's see how far I can go with orthodox swordsmanship......
Swing the sword at the same time as the enemy. But only slightly, the opponent had a faster and heavier sword speed. Even the sharpness is outdone.
The amount of enhancement by magic is seem to be equal to each other. I'm slightly better at strengthening techniques.
However, my raw physical abilities are inferior.

Even though I had used [Super Recovery] to efficiently train my body, I am still fourteen years old and my body still incomplete.
In addition, over there seems to be an expert specialist in swordsmanship. Obviously, it is bad for me.

If I face decently, I'll be defeated.
So, I laid the sword down slightly and let the power out.
At the moment of impact, I pull, let it slide and flow. This is a technique that is only possible because of possessing Tuathe De's superhuman eyesight.
Even if he is swept away, the opponent quickly grasps the current situation and quickly tries to wield the sword in pursuit. He is good at using his body.

The next blow can't be adrift, and if it's received, the body will collapse, and the attack with the sword won't be able to be made in time.
If I continue to fight with an orthodox sword technique, I will be clogged after seven or eight moves.
No matter what, the doubt that I couldn't win with an orthodox swordsmanship gave way to conviction.
So, I go straight to the back kick. If it's a foot, it will reach before the opponent's sword.
The opponent didn't seem to anticipate the kick either, and I managed to pull off a kick to the stomach.

It is a magic-enhanced kick. It has the power of a one-shot kill.

“Tsk” (Lugh)

The response is light. He jumped back on his own and was swept away.
You reacted in that one moment.
Here comes chase attack. Since he blew up behind him, his melee attack would not reach me.
That’s why I throw the sword.

“......Student, that's not very knightly. But it's not that bad.” (Vice commander)

He repels the sword that thrown toward him.
That is within my exception.
While keeping his attention on the sword that I threw, I approached and stabbed the opponent from the blind spot created by his doing so.
Naturally, the sword does not exist by throwing it. So, I used the sheath.
The tip of the sheath is metal. This one hits the temple and it reaps consciousness in one shot.

“It’s dangerous.” (Vice commander)
“It does not over even through using this?” (Lugh)

I'm not sure how he could have defended a stab from a blind spot, which is also hard to receive, from the opposite side of his dominant arm, but he could have received it with his remaining hand.
As expected, it seems that the vice commander is no for show.

He knocks away the second thrust from his opponent with his sword.
The sheaths twirled and danced in the air.
That, too, is a given. The sheath, unlike the sword, is difficult to hold. This is what happens when it is shaken off with equal muscle power.
Lose the weapon, disadvantage. Therefore, I go further.
By getting close enough to the point where he cannot wield his sword, I can prevent the opponent from unleashing a slash in his pursuit.
...... And this evasive stepping in is also for the attack.
While riding the kinetic energy of stepping in, I twisted my body in a spiral, concentrating all my strength and releasing the sole of my palm.
Even at zero distance, this can make a powerful attack.

“Hah!” (Lugh)

The sound of an explosion.
It's not just a palm strike.
This is a blow that explodes the magic and ki that has been kneaded to the inside of the opponent.
The Vice Commander's body danced in the air, spinning five times outside the ring before coming to a halt.
The referee rushes over.
And then......

“Winner, Newcomer, Lugh Tauthe De” (Referee)

He announced the winner.

“I somehow managed to get win” (Lugh)

It looks like a one-sided game, but I only did it because it will become my lost if I didn't keep beating him in the first place all the time.
In fact, he repelled twice the move I made with the intention of getting him faint, and finally got it after the third time.
The reaction from the audience is divided into three parts.

“Yes, you did it. Lugh-sama, that's amazing! You beat the vice commander.” (Talt)
“Hmmm, I believed that from the beginning. It's Lugh, after all. I'll give you a kiss when you get back!”

There are those who come in with loud applause and enthusiasm, like Dia and Talt, and there are those who can't believe that the vice president has lost to the new students, and there are those
who are disgusted that the baron's child is playing an active role.
A few people rush to the fallen vice commander and begin to treat him.

Then, about a minute later, the vice commander wakes up.
At the moment of impact, the vice commander was concentrating his entire body's magical power on his stomach. I managed to lose his consciousness, but didn't do that much serious damage. It was really a tough fight.

“It's frustrating. I've become a drag on the harem bastard. How dare you come here with a rickety sword technique instead of an elegant noble sword technique. If I'd known, I could have done something about it.” (Vice commander)
“I was going to fight with orthodox swordsmanship, but I gave up after seeing the first swing. It's a reminder that I can't win if I face you with it decently, and even though I won, I feel defeated.” (Lugh)

We both smiled bitterly at each other, shook hands, then helped him up.
Yes, until the match started, I was just trying to win as an orthodox swordsman.
However, when I saw how good my opponent was, I was convinced that I would lose the match if I did the way that I decided.
The difference in physical ability, and more than that, the difference is overwhelming in swordsmanship.
That's why I kept catching him off-guard and didn't let go of the initiative with my evil hand, without using Tuathe De's assassination technique.

As he said, he didn't expect the students to throw their knightly swords, kick him, hit him with the sheath, and finally attack him with their bare hands at zero range.

“Anyway, it's a complete defeat. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you. By all means, come and join our Order.” (Vice commander)
“I'll consider it.” (Lugh)

I said so and thanked him.
Well, it's a win anyway.
However, I think it's hard to score a win like this.
Because the scorer's preference would be to overwhelm in pure swordplay.

I look at near ring.
There is a lot of heated fighting going on over there.
Unlike here, it's a proper sword fight.
The swordsmanship that Neush wields is the Royal Swordsmanship.
It is the most legitimate sword art in this country, and the collective knowledge has been honed by successive instructors.

Although it's too beautiful that I hate it, but it is a powerful sword technique.
Neush has no room for mistakes.
There wouldn't be many swordsmen in the fourteenth who had perfected this much.
The battle is almost even.
No, he's leaning more and more towards Neush.
It's the difference in the amount of magic. The opponents are finding it difficult to maintain maximum power. But it seems that Neush still has room to spare.

And the time for a showdown had come.
The Vice Commander's magic enhancement was disturbed, and it became a sword disturbance as it was.
Neush is not naive enough to miss that.
With a twirl, the bounced sword dances, and Neusch puts the sword at the opponent's throat.

“This is my win” (Neush)
“I give up. Oh dear, this year's newcomers are not cute. It's not just the Commander, but also the two of us Vice Commander's... it's frustrating that we lost. But the future of this country is bright.” (Vice Commander)

And loud cheers.
Unlike my time, everyone else does.
Well, he's is child from duke family, so it's no wonder he won. And with a duke, there's no jealousy or bullshit.
I don't find that frustrating. As long as I have Dia and Talt's support, that's fine.
In fact, Dia and Talt cheered louder than anyone else, so that made me happier than anything.
Neush grins at me.

“I guess we don't know the end result anymore.” (Neush)
“All that's left is for the judges to score. “(Lugh)

Having said that, I think it's probably Neush.
The instructors prefer such orthodoxies.
And, Duke family’s head getting lower rank can lead them to get trouble with Duke.
If there is no overwhelming difference and it's a discretionary decision, then Neush will surely be the pick.

◇

After a break, we gathered again in the square we had visited at the start of the exam.
As the gates opened, relatives of the students flooded in at once.
They seem to want to know their child's rank. They seem to want to see how good their home is as soon as possible.
First of all, rank for all classes except S is posted at the same time.
Shouts and screams rang out.
...... Some of the students started crying, some fainted, and in the end, their parents strangled them or told them to insulate them.
There is nothing you can do about the aristocratic pretense.
And then, starting from now on.
The top eight will be called individually.
An elderly gentleman appeared on the podium.
He's the headmaster.

“Now, I would like to introduce the winners of the S class. Let's start with the servant slot. Beryl Hultoma, Clanta Serar, and Talt Tuathe De. In particular, Talt Tuathe De has a good record of being in the S class, even if she is in the general classification.” (Headmaster)

He applause.
With this, for me to be in S class is practically confirmed.
After all, there aren't many servants with magical powers.
Now, here's the real deal.
The eight students selected for the S class will be announced.

“Now, the eighth seat, Beluruk Krutilissa.” (Headmaster)

Each person's name is called out and they go up to the stage.
Every one of them has a proud look on their face.
That's what being chosen here is all about.
The hero Epona had already been called as well. It seems to be the fourth seat. It seems to have gotten a big negative on the written exam.
And then......

“From here on out, it's the top three, the ones who will lead this generation. Claudia Tuathe De. Congratulations on your third seat.” (Headmaster)

Dia get called.

“I'm going to go ahead.” (Dia)

Saying that, Dia rushes to the podium.
The eyes of the students, and their relatives, were focused on me and Neush.
We're the only ones who aren't being called out yet, and one of us will be the top.
The headmaster coughed and made a pause.
Then he slowly opened his mouth.

“Lugh Tauthe De” (Headmaster)

I was called out first. That means it's the second seat.
I was not discouraged because I knew it.
Besides, the second seat is more convenient without being too conspicuous.

“And Neush Geffis. I'm placing them both in a tie for first place.” (Headmaster)

Neush tapped me on the shoulder with a smiling face, and we went to the podium together.

“That's a tie. It's a shame I didn't win... well, I'm glad that the guy who's going to be mine is brilliant.” (Neush)
“I never said I'd be yours.” (Lugh)
“Yes, you will. It's what I decided to do.” (Neush)

This guy is unreasonable.
To the applause and envy of the students, we stepped up to the podium.
Just what part of me did Neush like so much?
But it isn't all bad.
It's a good windbreaker if he's around. There will be people like “Just being Baron's child, how cocky you are” will not able to get close to me.

Well, now we're at the top.
Troublesome things are going to increase.
Still, I don't feel bad when I see Dia and Talt looking as proud as I do.
In any case, the purpose of being in the same class with the hero has been accomplished.
And what left for me it to make friend with him.
This won't be too hard to do.

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