When I confidently proposed a spar with Crosen, Aslan burst out laughing."Buahahaha!"When Aslan laughed loudly, the other members of the house followed."Pffft."If Aslan was laughing from the heart because she liked my bold decision, the others’ laughter was closer to mockery.After laughing hard for a while, Aslan pulled me closer with the hand she had on my shoulder and said,"Good, good. I like it, Loen. You’ve come back as a man. Still, you have to take responsibility for your words, right? A bastard who only talks big isn’t a real man, just a useless loudmouth.""Of course. I’m ready."Just like Aslan said, no matter how much you flap your lips for a hundred days, it won’t work in House Dvralis.The only way to be acknowledged here is to prove your strength yourself through a spar like this.That’s why I challenged him in front of everyone.When I answered readily, Aslan asked Crosen this time,"All right, Crosen! Will you accept Loen’s challenge?""Of course, Duchess. I’ll show him how it’s done."Crosen bit his lip slightly and glared at me.It seemed his pride was hurt that someone like me had picked him as a sparring opponent."Yeah, shove all the tables to the sides. A banquet really needs some swordplay. Right?"'…Not a brawl, but a sword dance.'At Aslan’s command, the tables in the banquet hall split to the left and right, creating space.You might ask which noble house starts a sword fight in the middle of a meal, but this was House Dvralis.This much wasn’t even anything special.Even if it wasn’t Aslan but the previous head Kaizel, he would have allowed a spar.Before the spar began, Aslan gave Crosen a reminder."Hey, that’s still my little brother, so don’t kill him. Even if he loses something, we can stick it back on, so don’t worry about that.""…"'Is “just leave him barely breathing” supposed to be consideration for her one and only little brother?'It was scary, honestly.Of course, even without that kind of consideration, I wasn’t going to die in one blow.Because I had the Silver Dragon Armor Freya gave me.Even if I suffered a lethal strike, I could survive once without dying."I’ll be the referee. I’ll stop you at the right time."Aslan dragged a chair over and sat down where she could see the spar well.Holding a wineglass in one hand and even crossing her legs, she was all set to enjoy the show."Ah, what am I thinking. If you’re going to spar, you need swords, right?"When Aslan tried to draw her own sword to lend me, I refused on the spot."It’s fine. I have my own sword."Swish—.When I took out the Azoth Sword and held it in one hand, Aslan frowned."What’s that toy-like knife? Looks damn expensive.""A toy…"No matter how legendary-grade an artifact it was, to Aslan’s eyes it must have looked like a toy.The others also whispered among themselves as they looked at my sword.This was a martial family to the core, so I couldn’t expect much insight into magic artifacts.In that situation, to other people, it could only look like insane behavior to face a knight with a longsword using a toy-like dagger, so it was natural for them to talk.My sparring opponent Crosen also gave a stern warning with a stiff expression."Lord Loen, I have no intention of going easy on you. Since I was ordered by the head of house to educate you, I will give it my all, so you should withdraw even now.""I don’t plan on fooling around either. You’d better not underestimate me and engage properly in battle."When I answered boldly, the onlookers started murmuring.They muttered as if I had learned nothing but how to run my mouth at Union.However, Freya, who knew my skills to some extent, and Ciel, who had fought fiercely against the fishmen with me, didn’t look all that worried.What I’d shown so far was more than enough to suppress an average knight."…"Aslan glanced at Ciel’s and Freya’s reactions and then let the match proceed as is."Looks like my little brother has something he’s relying on. Crosen, fight at full strength.""Understood."He bowed to Aslan, then took a battle stance.Tap—.He twisted his body slightly to reduce the area my attacks could reach, and took a posture where he could dodge or counterattack my sword at any time.It was a textbook stance, the very model of a knight.On the other hand, I had only learned the basics of swordsmanship back in the basic swordsmanship classes, so I just took a roughly decent posture."Tsk.""Click, click."When they saw my awkward stance, people clicked their tongues and sneered as if saying “of course.”To those who had held a sword their entire lives, I must have looked terribly sloppy."…"But Aslan and a few others stood with their arms crossed, silently watching me.Maybe they could feel the energy pouring out from my mana heart.Loen had chosen the path of a mage, not a swordsman, after all.It looked like they were curious what kind of fight I would show."Begin."When both sides had taken their stances, Aslan emptied the cup in her hand and started the spar.Pop—.The moment the spar began, Crosen’s fast sword shot straight toward me.He intended to subdue me in one go without dragging it out.Maybe he didn’t want to put his hands on my body right in front of Aslan’s eyes, because Crosen’s sword was aiming at the Azoth Sword I was holding.He meant to break my sword or knock it from my hand and claim victory that way.Slash—.'How soft.'I ignored Crosen’s attack and simply bent down on the spot, plunging the Azoth Sword into the floor."…!"At the instant I lowered my posture, Crosen suddenly ended up aiming for my head."Tch."Worried that I might get hurt, Crosen hurriedly twisted the trajectory of his sword, but before that, Aegis had already blocked his blade.Clang—!With a metallic sound, Crosen’s sword was violently bounced away."…Tch."Only then did he realize I had an artifact protecting me and stepped back, resetting his stance.Aslan watched this and said,"Oh, so you’re using artifacts? But even with that, it’ll be hard to block sword aura."Crosen was an elite knight of House Dvralis.He was at least mid-level Sword Expert, so of course he could use sword aura.Just like Aslan said, even Aegis wouldn’t withstand sword aura.However.'I just don’t have to give him time to use it!'Crackle—.At the same time as I injected mana, blue lightning erupted from the Azoth Sword I had stuck into the floor.At the same time—Shu-shu-shuk—.The black bricks of the banquet hall floor were transmuted, rising up like sharp spikes."Urgh."Crosen retreated, batting away those sharp spikes with his sword.I could have kept pressing him like that, but I withdrew my mana for now and stopped my attack.When I stopped attacking and straightened up, Crosen asked,"…What are you doing?""You twisted your sword’s trajectory just now so you wouldn’t hurt me. I’ll call that paying off that debt. From here on, I’ll go properly."If I took an easy win like that, no one would acknowledge me.Here, I needed to show them a bit more of my magnanimity and skill.When I brought up what had just happened, Crosen smiled."So you at least know the basics of a spar. That fair and square attitude is nice to see. However—"Flash—."That’s your mistake, Lord Loen!"Fwoom—.Blue flames of sword aura flared up from Crosen’s sword.Compared to that, the clumsy sword aura Caron had shown before wasn’t even in the same dimension in terms of completion and power.If that hit wrong, I really might lose arms and legs.Flash—.As if he’d decided he would hold back no longer, Crosen kicked off the floor and charged at me.The space blurred, and in an instant Crosen was right in front of my nose.'Body reinforcement using mana, huh.'The way he circulated his mana was smooth and fast, like flowing water. Truly a knight tempered in real combat.Blocking that attack was impossible, so I would dodge with my body.Crackle—.I plunged the Azoth Sword at my feet and transmuted the bricks beneath to shoot upward.Swoosh—.With the transmutation magic, the floor surged up like a pillar.It raised my position in an instant, helping me dodge Crosen’s attack.Boom—!Crosen’s sword aura smashed the pillar that had appeared where I had been.As I jumped down from the collapsing pillar, I fired the mana chains I had memorized into Millia’s magic gloves.Clatter—.The mana chains bound Crosen’s right arm, the one holding his sword."Ha!"Crosen reinforced his right arm with mana and pulled on my chains, trying to tear them apart with brute strength.Since I’d once been dragged chains and all by Ciel’s monstrous strength, I just ejected the chain entirely and threw it away.Clang-clang—!Crosen struck the incoming chain with his sword and charged at me again."Hup—!"This time, he must not have had time to draw up sword aura, because he just swung his sword as is.He must have judged that, at least, he could slice through my golden sword in one blow.But the Azoth Sword was only gold on the surface; underneath, it was made of alloy, and it was a legendary-grade artifact.There would be no problem even if I blocked him head-on.I raised the Azoth Sword and blocked Crosen’s strike.Claaang—!A tremendous impact traveled up through my grip.'Urgh.'The sword’s durability was completely fine, but it didn’t absorb the impact itself.Because I had blocked Crosen’s attack, I felt a pain like my arm was shattering, but I never let go of the sword."!"When his sword was blocked by the Azoth Sword contrary to his expectations, Crosen was flustered.I used that opening to cast Transmutation while our swords were locked together.'Transmutation.'Crackle—.With a burst of blue lightning, Crosen’s sword began to transmute.Drrrip—.His blade melted under the transmutation magic and dripped onto the floor like thick liquid."…!"His sword completely melted away and disappeared.Taking advantage of his confusion, I grabbed Crosen’s arm with my free hand.Because of the stunning effect in Millia’s mana gloves, Crosen’s body stiffened on the spot."Ugh."It only lasted for a brief moment, but that was enough.I activated the shock function in my shoes and kicked Crosen’s leg out from under him.Crackle—."Urgh."He didn’t pass out right away like an ordinary person, but Crosen’s leg must have been temporarily paralyzed, because he dropped to his knees on the floor.Seizing the initiative, I transmuted the floor again and trapped him with sharp spikes.Shra-shrash—.A wall of spikes rose, packed so tightly that not even water could leak through.I aimed the Azoth Sword at Crosen’s neck and said,"It’s my victory.""…"Having lost to me, Crosen just stared up at me blankly.His face said he couldn’t really understand the situation.A victory seized against a mid-level Sword Expert knight.At the same time, it was the moment the world learned that wastrel Loen had changed.***"…"While those who had watched the spar were left speechless, just standing there in a daze—Aslan, who had emptied her drink, got up from her seat and declared my victory."What are you looking stupid for? It’s Loen’s win! Everyone, clap!"Clap, clap—.When Aslan started off by clapping loudly,Freya and Ciel began adding their own applause, and others gradually followed.Clap, clap, clap—.Soon, the sound of clapping filled the banquet hall.Even those who hadn’t looked at me very favorably gave me reluctant applause with sour expressions.Listening to that pleasant applause, I released the Transmutation magic.Then I held out my hand to Crosen, who was kneeling."Good work.""…Yes, Lord Loen. You have grown a lot."Grip—.Crosen grabbed my hand and stood up.After he returned to his seat, a few people raised questions here and there about my use of artifacts in the match."Loen used artifacts; doesn’t that violate sparring rules?""It looked like he used more than one or two artifacts, too."But Crosen gave a clear answer on that point."Of course Lord Loen used artifacts, but I also received a chance from Lord Loen."He didn’t seem particularly hung up on the fact that he’d lost to me; instead, he defended me.It seemed he didn’t like those trying to use this spar to drag me down."You all saw it with your own eyes, and yet you still make me say it out loud?"When Crosen openly scolded them, as if asking why people who knew better were acting this way—"Ahem. Well, if you, the person involved, feel that way."Those who had tried to cling to any excuse about this spar tucked their tails and backed off.Since my spar with Crosen wrapped up nicely like that, the atmosphere of the banquet became even more heated.Drunk on alcohol, Aslan shouted excitedly,"All right, who else wants to come out and fight? Whoever wins gets a vacation!""I’ll do it!""No, me!"At the word “vacation,” the knights raised their hands without a moment’s hesitation.On this grueling wall duty, a vacation was like rain in a drought, so of course they did."Good, then we’ll go in order and proceed with the spars. Fernandez, go bring more wine!""Yes, my lady."Thanks to the knights’ sword dances and the delicious wine, the banquet deepened into the night.I returned to my seat and smiled as I looked over the noisy scene.It was only the first step, but proving myself through a spar in this House Dvralis, which revered strength, was ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) a good start.***Late that night, after the banquet ended—"Sleep well, Lord Loen.""Yeah, you too, Ciel, Freya. Rest well."We each retired to our own rooms.I was to stay in the splendid room Loen had originally used.'So this is Loen’s room, huh.'The interior of the room was extremely luxurious, totally at odds with Black Keep, which was made of gloomy black brick.There was a much greater variety of artifacts and alchemy materials neatly organized here than in the lab collection back in the Student Council Room.At a glance, if I sold it all, it looked like it would fetch billions.'I should just pack everything into my subspace pouch.'I looked around the room, searching for any useful artifacts, enhancement stones, or alchemy ingredients.Looking closely, there were quite a few valuable items, but most of them were luxuries like paintings, sculptures, and jewels, rather than things useful for everyday life.It seemed Loen had taken anything truly practical to Union.I stuffed some moderately valuable items into my subspace pouch and continued exploring the room.'There has to be something here.'Loen’s desk, made of solid wood.I sat in the chair and checked different parts of the desk.Part of it was the hope that I might gain clues about Loen’s past actions or various information.And then, after I’d spent quite some time opening drawers and rummaging through the desk—"…This is."I widened my eyes as I found a notebook deep inside the desk.A thick journal finished in high-quality leather. On its surface, letters were engraved in ornate gold leaf.[Diary]It was Loen’s diary.

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