Chapter 78

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The three days passed in the blink of an eye. Following my advice, the three of them focused on honing their special skills. During the mock battles, Alice also participated.

"Three days have passed. I think you understand best that you are different from before. Don't worry, I'm sure your strength will be recognized!"

In response to my words, the three of them nodded. Although their expressions were still serious, they no longer had the pale, frightened look they had when we first met.

It was noon as promised. We stepped into the training ground of the royal guards. Alice was not there; she had been assigned to an important mission elsewhere.

"Hello, Captain."

"Yes, Special Training Consultant. It seems they couldn't run away, which is a relief."

"…Yes, they are here to win. So, where are the royal guards?"

Perhaps because he didn't get the reaction he expected, the bearded man snorted but then smiled slyly and said,

"The royal guards are busy. They don't have time to indulge in your games. However, another captain is here to observe, so let's have him be the judge."

I was exasperated but remained calm. Indeed, I had said I wanted the royal guards to be the judges. This was to avoid any accusations that I hadn't arranged everything properly. I couldn't leave everything to them. I had directly consulted Robert, one of the royal guards, to ask him to oversee the match to ensure it went smoothly.

"You are not allowed to speak for the royal guards, Captain."

"Platinum-sama!"

The bearded man, who had been so confident, turned pale. The other guards also tensed up. Even I, who had expected Robert to come, was somewhat taken aback.

"Robert has an important matter to attend to, so I am here."

She was the only female among the royal guards, a beautiful holy knight. Her golden hair, reflecting the light, and her outfit, a mix of white armor and a monk's robe, made her worthy of the title "Holy Maiden Platinum." According to what I heard from Mike, she is as pure as she looks but shows no mercy to evil.

"Nice to meet you, Noah. I am Platinum, one of the royal guards. Robert told me about the situation. I will be the judge for today's match, so please do your best."

Her slow, steady voice had a strangely compelling strength. I couldn't gauge her character yet, but if she doesn't tolerate cheating, that's convenient. However, I can't expect any lenient judgments from her.

"Likewise," I replied, and the Holy Maiden smiled brightly. It was blinding.

"As a royal guard, I need to know what kind of person you are. The king chose you, so there must be no mistake."

"Yes, I understand."

The Holy Maiden seemed to be here to assess me for the king. She was suspicious, but it was part of her job, so I forgave her. She was quite honest, even without saying it. Despite our conversation, her dazzling smile was directed at me. I could sense envy from the other guards. She seemed to be their Holy Maiden as well. The bearded man, who had been discouraged by her appearance, finally regained his composure.

"We can't waste Platinum-sama's time. Consultant, let's see what you've got!"

He didn't think they would lose just because she was the judge. In fact, his team seemed more determined to show their best in front of her. Well, that's fine. The more confident they are, the more panicked they will be if things don't go their way, and it will take them longer to recover.

"Let's start then. The rules are as confirmed. The match ends when someone is declared unable to fight. Front line, step forward!"

From the bearded man's team, a large, strong-looking man stepped forward with a battle cry. On our side, it was the chubby Mike. He trembled but faced the man without looking away.

"Are you both ready? Then, begin!"

The man immediately swung his sword with a loud cry, aiming to strike Mike.

"Uooh!"

Mike firmly planted his feet and prepared to receive the attack head-on. The man's sword made a high-pitched metallic sound as it was blocked by Mike. Or rather, it was barely touching Mike's sword, grinding against it.

The man's eyes widened in shock that his sword was blocked by a weakling, and his face turned red with anger. He repeatedly swung his sword, trying to break through.

"Oryaa! Damn it, you!"

"Hi, kuh…!"

But no matter how many times he tried, his sword never reached Mike. Mike, despite his fear, continued to resist with his skill. Mike has the "Fortress" skill, which allows him to deflect and protect against physical attacks. However, due to his timid nature, he hadn't been able to use it effectively. Skills need to be activated correctly to be effective. I had Mike practice receiving attacks head-on for three days. If he could use it well, it would be a powerful tool to protect his allies from enemy attacks. The man, exhausted from repeatedly swinging his sword, was gasping for breath. The best time to counterattack would be to find an opening, but Mike wasn't that skilled yet. He could only deflect the man's attacks. However, that was enough against an opponent who was losing his cool. The man's repeated, forceful strikes finally broke his sword. The broken tip of the sword flew high and landed at the bearded man's feet.

"Damn it! Bring me a new sword!"

He shouted at his teammates, but no one responded.

"Stop it."

Platinum's voice rang out sharply.

"Stop showing such a pitiful sight. I declare you unable to fight, and Mike Bailey is the winner."

The man finally came to his senses at Platinum's words. He stiffened under the cold gazes of his teammates, dropped his broken sword, and stumbled out of the training ground.

"Mike Bailey, you did well to hold on. Use that strength to protect the king and your allies."

"Yes!"

Mike, his round cheeks flushed red, responded as loudly as he could. His expression was filled with confidence, a stark contrast to three days ago.

"Let's move on to the next match. Both sides, step forward!"

The next to step forward was apparently the captain's right-hand man.

"I won't go down like that guy."

I thought he might be a bit more cautious after Mike's victory, but it seemed not. The right-hand man specialized in fire magic, while Watt used wind magic. His confident expression suggested he knew the advantages of his magic.

"O-Of course, I won't lose so easily…!"

Watt, who had been looking down, finally looked up at the man's words.

"Haha, then I won't hold back from the start!"

The man activated his magic. A large ball of fire rose above his head, intending to crush Watt with overwhelming heat. Many soldiers had been subdued by the power of his flames. It would be difficult for Watt to counter such a large fire with his magic. However, what if he could do it for just a moment? Moving the wind means moving the air. Watt's wind magic wasn't powerful, but he was skilled at controlling it. He used his wind to create a small tornado around the man. The man, unable to control his oversized flames, stopped moving.

"Tch, clever. But I can break free from this wind easily!"

The man wrapped the flames around his arms and moved out of the wind's range. The large ball of fire transformed into several fist-sized fireballs. He lined them up along his arms and threw them all at once at Watt. Once the fireballs were away from the man's body, they lost their power. The fireballs, now just ordinary flames, were easily extinguished by the air masses Watt created. The man, surprised for a moment, showed anger. Unlike the previous brute, he glanced at the bearded captain and drew his sword. It seemed that those who can use magic prefer to use it over swords. By drawing his sword, he admitted he couldn't beat Watt with magic. However, he decided to defeat Watt by any means necessary. This made it difficult for Watt to win. The man, as the captain's right-hand, was calm. However, the match wasn't over yet. Watt used his wind to dodge the man's attacks and tried to counterattack, but the man easily evaded. Eventually, Watt's magic power ran out. His movements, which had been勉强维持着，突然变得混乱起来。那个瞬间，男人没有放过他。他用脚绊倒了Watt，Watt倒下时，男人的剑尖抵住了他的脖子。

"够了！Watt Break，你的魔法非常精致，这是你努力的结果。因此，我希望你能拥有战斗到最后的勇气。我希望你的风能帮助盟友的火焰更加旺盛。"

"……是！"

听到圣女的话，Watt流下了眼泪。最后，他缺少的不仅仅是力量。如果他的眼泪是出于悔恨，那么这次失败就不会白费。他的同伴们也应该看到了他的实力。获胜的男人静静地回到了队长身边。我原本以为他会采取更多行动，但看到Watt的战斗后，我重新评估了这个右臂。三天前，他佩戴了一个能增强火属性威力的魔法物品，这只有因为我有鉴定师的技能才能看出来。如果他继续使用这个物品与Watt战斗，我打算以违反规则为由向裁判提出。然而，他取下了魔法物品与Watt战斗。队长拍着男人的肩膀，显得很高兴，但男人的表情却很阴沉。也许是因为他的得意火焰被封住了，无法随心所欲地使用，但仅此而已吗？也许他并不是自愿成为队长的右臂。

现在，一对一。

最后是队长和Ash的对决。

"那么，让我们进入最后一战。上前！"

队长带着嘲讽的笑容看着Ash。我从他的笑容中感到了久违的愤怒。

生活中有很多不合理的事情，我并不是没有感到愤怒或烦躁。然而，转生的经历可能对此有所影响。我比同龄人更懂得如何面对自己的情绪，因此我意识到自己有些冷漠。但这并不意味着我会压抑愤怒或烦躁。

最后一战，随着Platinum的开始指令，两人激烈地用剑交锋。

"呵呵，你敢对我这样！"

"……！"

一直以来，Ash的剑保持平衡，但突然变得混乱。小个子的Ash被队长的剑击飞。之后，局面变得一边倒。队长没有给他致命伤，但不断折磨他。我握紧拳头，忍耐着。

忍耐，Ash。再等一会儿，再等一会儿。

"看，看，认输吧！像你这样的无能者，近卫兵团不需要！"

"……，呃……!!"

队长无情的踢击击中了Ash的腹部。Ash痛苦地喘息着，但仍然没有说认输。

圣女似乎看不下去了，准备出声制止。

"——停！"

圣女刚要开口，Alice的声音响了起来。

"为、为什么……！"

"他没事，Ash。尽情战斗吧！"

Alice带着一个女人出现了。

穿着侍女服装的女人担心地看着受伤的Ash。

"来得及了。"

"是的，——Alice，Noah，谢谢你们。"

Ash对我们说，他那摇摇晃晃的脚步突然变得坚定。他看着僵住的队长，说道：

"我是自豪的近卫兵。不需要的是你这样的卑鄙小人！"

之后，局势完全逆转。Ash用剑的平面准确地击打队长的肩膀、手臂和防具薄弱处。每次击打，队长都发出可怜的声音，滚到地上试图逃跑。但Ash毫不留情地追击他。

"救……救我……！"

队长无意识地向圣女求助，她似乎从侍女和我们的表情中明白了情况，冷冷地说：

"如果你还有一点近卫兵的骄傲，就坦率地承认失败，公开你的错误。如果你有悔改之心，我会设法不让你在这里丢脸。"

圣女果断地说完，拍开了队长伸来的手。

"你的手下都被Robert大人抓住了。放弃吧。"

Alice说，队长跪倒在地，崩溃了。

事情的经过是这样的。

Ash因为家庭原因听从队长的命令，隐藏了自己的实力。但他的未婚妻为了学习礼仪来到了城堡。

出身低微的贵族女儿为了学习礼仪，会在城堡里作为侍女工作一段时间。

Ash的未婚妻非常美丽。队长对她产生了兴趣，试图用家世和财富吸引她，但没有成功。

因为Ash和她从小就是贵族，彼此相爱。

队长对此感到不快，将她作为人质，给Ash施加了各种无理要求。这次的比试，他命令Ash故意输掉。

我得知后，将她的保护任务交给了Alice。

打算当场抓住队长的手下，交给正在裁判的皇家卫队。

Robert了解情况后，亲自负责处理。

队长可能是因为被敬爱的圣女的话深深打击，从刚才起就一动不动。

"太好了……"

"是的，现在他们自由了。"

我轻声说道，Alice高兴地说。

"Noah，你看起来也很轻松。你竟然这么生气，真少见。"

"是吗？……嗯，我也会生气的。"

我回答，Alice无法想象我怒吼的样子，摇了摇头。

我笑着走向圣女叫的方向。

"比赛结束了。我们管理不周，深感歉意。请给我们一个让他们挽回的机会。"

"明白了。作为这次比赛胜利的条件，免除Mike和Ash的考试。另外，能否允许他们自由出入训练场？"

"明白了，就这样。大家都明白了吗？Noah，还有其他要求吗？"

"不，其他的事情我会和大家商量，逐一决定。可以吗？"

我对着近卫兵们说，他们齐声点头。他们只是近卫兵的一部分，但如果他们能听从我的话，其他还不认识的士兵也许最终会认可我。

我迈出了第一步。

火焰、战斗场景、卑鄙小人、爱情故事，塞得有点多。

下一话，那个本不应出现的女孩将登场！敬请期待！

2015/01/12 修正