Chapter 60

Leord lost consciousness, and the match concluded with Binaud's victory.

Gilbert rushed to the unconscious Leord and lifted him up. Seeing that Leord had no serious injuries and realizing that Binaud had held back, Gilbert turned to Binaud.

"That was a splendid match. I'm sure the young master learned a great deal."

"Hehe. The same goes for me. It's been a while since I found a fight this interesting."

These were not empty words; Binaud had genuinely found the battle exciting. Having fought many enemies, Binaud's praise was significant. Unfortunately, the person being praised was unconscious.

"Who taught you swordsmanship? Not Gilbert, was it? Balbarot?"

"Yes, I have been guiding Master Leord."

"I see. Then you must be working hard with Leord's talent."

"Yes, indeed. I strive to keep up with him every day as his instructor."

"Hehehe. I envy you. I'd like to raise a man like this myself."

Glancing at Leord, Binaud was about to continue when a knight ran up from Zeato.

"Y-You were here...?"

The panting knight had likely been searching for Binaud. Binaud turned to the knight, curious.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I have a report. The investigation of the surrounding area confirms that the monster panic has completely subsided."

"Ah! I see. Then let's return to the capital."

"Yes, sir!"

The knight saluted politely and turned back to Zeato. The three of them followed suit, returning to Zeato. Gilbert laid the unconscious Leord on a bed in the infirmary and then left.

After a while, Leord regained consciousness. Looking up, he saw the familiar ceiling. He understood that he had lost and been carried here.

Sitting up, he looked around dazedly. Seeing no one else, he lay back down on the bed. He stared at the ceiling for a while, but gradually his vision blurred.

(Frustrating... I gave it my all, but it didn't work at all. Even though my opponent didn't know my moves, unlike Gil and Balbarot, nothing worked. I can tell he held back...

I've worked so hard, but I'm still not good enough.)

Despite his efforts, Leord felt like his hard work had been for nothing, and he almost cried. But then someone entered the infirmary, and he quickly wiped his eyes.

"Who's there?"

"Master Leord, you're awake."

"Is it you, Gil?"

Gilbert had come to the infirmary. Leord sat up and faced Gilbert.

"Are you alone?"

"Yes. The other two asked me to let them know when you woke up."

"I see."

Leord guessed the other two were Balbarot and Binaud. After a brief conversation, Gilbert left to inform the others that Leord was awake.

Soon, Gilbert returned with Balbarot and Binaud. Just as Leord was about to speak to them, Binaud approached and spoke first.

"You're awake, Leord!"

"Yes, I'm sorry for the trouble."

"Don't worry about that. I just can't stop talking about your fighting skills in the mock battle!"

"Um, what should I explain?"

"Well, the part where the Thunderbolt hit you directly, of course!"

"Oh, that part. I used a magic barrier and a physical barrier simultaneously and created a wall of earth to block the impact."

"Amazing! You're so skilled!"

While Binaud was simply praising Leord's skill, the simultaneous deployment of a magic barrier and a physical barrier was extremely difficult. In the world of Fate 48, there are two types of barriers: a magic barrier to defend against magic and a physical barrier to defend against physical attacks. These are unclassified spells that anyone can learn, but deploying both simultaneously is incredibly challenging because you have to maintain two different barriers at the same time.

In the game, you can use one barrier per turn, and only one character can deploy both simultaneously. Of course, that character is not Leord.

However, Leord's ability to do so came from an accident during his magic training. When a spell accidentally went out of control, he instinctively deployed both barriers simultaneously. At the time, he didn't know how he did it, but he trained intensely to replicate the feat, which led to his ability to deploy different barriers simultaneously.

"By the way, didn't you take my magic at the end, Binaud? Why didn't it work?"

"That? I just resisted it."

"Oh, right! I forgot about resistance..."

Leord finally realized that in Fate 48, you can resist magic. Shockwave is guaranteed to hit weaker opponents, but against equals, it only works about half the time, and against stronger opponents, it works only about 10% of the time.

Since Binaud was undoubtedly a stronger opponent for Leord, he had resisted the spell.

"I was still too weak, huh..."

"Well, yes. But your fighting was impressive. If you keep training diligently, you might even surpass me one day."

"～～～!"

Leord was moved to tears by the praise from one of the strongest men in the kingdom. Although his efforts hadn't paid off, he was still recognized. He could barely hold back his tears.