#387
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387
10. Stand with a sword.
Helmut touched the Iron Mask before the first competition.
The iron-colored mask that covered the entire face, leaving only the eyes and mouth exposed, was pressing down heavily on the face.
Under the mask, which gave him the solemn feel of a prisoner being punished for a serious crime, his eyes were clearly black.
Ten days before the competition, Helmut arrived here in Madwin.
Madwin is a fairly large city.
Since Archduke Farnese’s villa was nearby, Helmut and his party didn’t even have to look for accommodation, they just had to move to a different location and stay there.
The number of participants was greater than expected, so many people flocked to Madwin.
Considering that martial arts contestants and those who wanted to watch the competition used tents or struggled to find lodging, it was a privilege.
Madwin is very close to Rinosa, a city on the outskirts of the empire.
When I became aware of that fact, I felt somewhat disgusted.
Hearing the sound of his heart pounding, Helmut realized that he was agitated.
I thought it wouldn’t shake. He certainly will when he goes into battle.
But now… … .
He suddenly looked up at the sky outside the window. The sun was shining brightly.
Basor’s martial arts club suddenly came to mind. It was hot there. The sun seems to be burning my skin.
In Bashor, Helmut took up the sword under the scorching sun under the name of Heid.
At that time, there was only one path for him. A path that stretches out in a straight line and pierces oneself with the sword.
Helmut placed himself on that path without hesitation.
‘Is it different now?’
Helmut asked himself: Not like that. The situation has changed a lot, and the place has also changed.
But what he had to do was the same. When he picks up the sword, he will forget all thoughts.
There was only one thing Helmut had to achieve: winning.
“No one will recognize me at that level.”
Alea approached us before we knew it and stretched out her hand. Her fingers brushed Helmut’s hair.
His hair was dyed light brown. He ate well and the color was fairly even.
Area added.
“It’s a magic dye, so if you increase the vis, the effect will weaken, and if you leave it as is, the color will disappear at some point. Well, you just have to keep dyeing your hair.”
Helmut remembered the time he dressed up as Hyde.
You could change your appearance with magic like you did back then, but if you disguised yourself in the same way, there was a chance that Michael would notice. Michael’s keen eye cannot be ignored.
Helmut put on a mask, covering his entire face.
‘Even if I notice it.’
There’s nothing he can do right now. It’s not like he can defeat Helmut in a martial arts competition, nor is he able to summon his ministers to this event.
However, since Helmut could be attacked in other ways, it was better to hide his identity. Until the moment when Helmut wants to reveal his identity.
Charlotte had already come to Madwin, before Helmut.
I heard that personnel dispatched from Linosa also joined, but Michael was not there.
Prince Rinosa and Michael will come to Madwin and appear only after the martial arts event begins.
At least in the finals. I heard that the Emperor is also planning to attend closer to the finals.
This martial arts event had so many participants that the duration of the competition was long, so it took too much time to watch it from start to finish.
[The reason you hide your face and go through this cumbersome process is because you are weak. Tell me to work hard.]
When Elaga saw Helmut’s disguised appearance, she recited ‘Because you are weak’ like a parrot. Helmut cut it off with a single sword.
“There are circumstances in humans that cannot be overcome through force alone.”
[That’s no problem if you’re strong enough to take them all down. Because the other guys will be crawling in front of you too.]
“If that’s the case, I’ll have to raise my sword against other humans as well.”
[Hmm, how about killing them all and eating the human world? Then it becomes simple. I will help you.]
“… … .”
Helmut gave up talking to Elaga from that point on.
The only thing I can think of is to defeat all of these monsters and claim that ‘I am justice.’
‘It would have been easier if humans were like monsters.’
In some ways, they are similar.
In the end, the strong survive.
Helmut was strong, so strong that he endured and survived all the trials that were thrown at him.
And now that you have survived, it is your turn to get back what you lost.
“Play well in your first game.”
Helmut faced the purple eyes that were staring at him.
It was the first time in a while that she had looked at me with such gentle eyes.
Area was also on edge these days because she was participating in an unfamiliar competition where she had to fight as a wizard.
Also, as Helmut’s source of information, she had a lot to worry about as she had to keep track of Linosa’s movements.
“of course.”
A short conversation followed. When I left the room, Asuka, who had already taken the preliminaries yesterday and passed as if it was a given, was standing on the other side. When Alea came out together, his eyes became strange.
“What, a date in the morning?”
Helmut didn’t deny it, but just looked at him as if he was annoyed.
“What happened?”
“I want to follow you and watch the preliminaries take place. “Your expression is stiff, but you’re not nervous, are you?”
“How can you see my face when I’m wearing a mask?”
When Helmut pointed this out, Asuka grinned.
“I’m kidding. Maybe it’s because it’s the preliminaries, but the guys here are so sloppy with no special issues?”
Asuka defeated the preliminaries really easily. In the first place, there was not a single person in Helmut’s group who felt the preliminaries were difficult.
It wasn’t impossible to skip the preliminaries. However, only reputable knights or high-level mercenaries could be exempted from the preliminary round.
Regardless of their actual skills, no one in Helmut’s group was qualified, so everyone went to the preliminaries.
Xian walked from the other side.
“It’s not like you and I are going to face each other.”
Sian’s face, who was taking the preliminaries on the same day as Helmut, was full of worry. In the preliminaries, the matchups are announced each day through a lottery.
I only know which day the preliminaries will be held, but I have to wait to know who my opponent will be.
“Losing once doesn’t mean the race is over, but if you’re unlucky, you might fall after meeting strong guys one after another.”
Instead of comforting me, Asuka cursed at me. Xian ignored his words and asked Helmut.
“By the way, what was your pseudonym?”
What Helmut and his group have in common is that they all participate in competitions while hiding their identities. There was no need for Xian to do so, but he had no choice but to join in since he was sharing a lodging with them and their friendship was already known. Although he was actively participating, he had no choice.
“I changed my name to Sian.”
Asuka racked her brain to come up with a plausible pseudonym, but eventually decided to simply use each other’s names with Xian.
He decided to participate as Xian and Xian as Asuka.
Perhaps it was something that could be misunderstood by others if it was just friendship, and when Charlotte heard their name, she thought ‘I have something to say, but I won’t say it’, but they didn’t care.
Because Asuka was too lazy to come up with a name,
‘Spirit wizard Asuka. ‘It’ll be fun.’
This is because Xian accepted the situation with excitement.
Helmut looked at the other side for a moment and answered briefly.
“dark.”
Asuka immediately reacted calmly.
“… … “What is that?”
“I’m Violet?”
Just as Asuka was about to scold her, Area pointed a finger at herself.
When she competed in the preliminaries, she wore a disguise similar to the one she wore at the old Greta Academy festival. A girl with light purple hair.
Xian touched his chin.
“If that was going to be the case, shouldn’t we have done it in color? Asuka has blue hair, and I have green. “Spirit wizards are like green after all, right?”
“Since it’s an earth spirit, wouldn’t it be better to go with gold or brown?”
“That’s somehow not cool.”
“Is there an element that looks cool in naming a color in the first place?”
“That’s right. “Because it’s not cool at all for me to use your name.”
“What’s wrong with my name? Asuka, the spirit mage, is probably the best! “Your name seems too weak for a prosecutor to use.”
“You said you wanted to change it, but now look at you disparaging someone else’s name.”
In the midst of the buzz about pseudonyms, Helmut headed to the place where the preliminaries were being held.
When the receptionist asked his name, Helmut spoke briefly.
“dark.”
Even though it was a pseudonym, it was too roughly made. When an intimidating man with black eyes and a gray mask introduced himself as Dark, the other person was dumbfounded and asked back.
“dark… … . Dark? Well, at least it’s an alias… … .”
He looked like he was going to say something, but eventually confirmed that it was not against the rules and raised his hands.
“How can it not be black? You have a sense of humor. Good luck.”
It was Helmut’s first appearance. He had no idea that he would come out of the Forest of Pahe and participate in a competition like this again.
My fingertips were itching. It had been a long time since he participated in a competition, so he felt refreshed.
Just as the Sword Saint of Basor does not participate in martial arts competitions, Helmut is no longer at a level where he can compete with others in competitions.
However, Helmut liked the slightly tense atmosphere of this martial arts meeting. I felt a little excited.
‘I prepared a black bird.’
Darian’s sword, which Charlotte returned, cannot be used for the time being. As long as there are people who can recognize him with just a sword.
Helmut had purchased a suitable sword from a nearby blacksmith shop. Because a master craftsman doesn’t care about his tools.
‘Darian’s sword skills also have to be hidden.’
But is there a need to show off one’s sword skills? When I saw the faces of the preliminaries, I immediately came up with an estimate.
‘You’re weak. The opponent is not a monster, so if you want to do it properly, you shouldn’t even use a sword.’
Even bare hands are enough. In the end, Helmut ended the preliminaries that day without even drawing his sword.
By hitting a vital point with your fist, you knock down the opponent like a sick person with just one hit.
The visitors were shocked and surprised, and the receptionist was left with one question.
‘I registered as a prosecutor, but was he a deacon? ‘He’s wearing a sword at his waist?’
The answer to that question will be revealed gradually.
