The Long Journey Until I Reunite With You

Don"t Call Me Childish

It was decided much tooquickly. This wasn"t just a small fight, with the observers around us itwouldn"t be a problem if it were considered a duel. Before we knew it, a crowdof spectators had gathered outside of the weapons shop, surrounding Shalt and Ias we faced one another.

「Since combat practice starts next year, you haven"tfought me before, right Velt? Today is a good chance. As the son of General Tiara,I"ll show you the pride of House Sylvain with my strength.」 (Shalt)

「That"s pretty exaggerated. To the distant kid of an.o.ble, this filthy dog will teach you a lesson.」 (Velt)

Having said that, the flow ofevents was leading me to a fight with Shalt, and considering how we spoke, itwas embarra.s.sing. To begin with, even though he was facing me head-on, I won"tlose in anything aside from this sad excuse for a conversation. Like a martialartist challenging a novice in the arena of a dojo, it was if Shalt wasn"tgoing to lose. Between the two of us, Shalt is the one accustomed to fighting.

「Well then, are the both of you prepared? There aren"tany specific rules. I will make the call if someone is unable to fight, or youcan surrender. However, if Velt is able to land a single strike on Shalt, thenit will be his victory.」 (Taira)

The rule put on me by Tairaseems simple, but in reality landing a single strike would be difficult right? Itwould take something like a miracle. I will certainly lose if I face himhead-on, but I can"t lose no matter what.

「Well then, begin!」 (Taira)

With Taira"s signal, Shaltdrew his rapier and immediately began an incantation for a spell with hissword.

「Omilitant G.o.ddess of Wind within me, residing in my blood, I release thee. Element Sword・Cyclone Saber!」 (Shalt)

Read the atmosphere willyou... Why would you use something dangerous like a sword wrapped in a tornadoagainst someone who can"t use magic.

「In a duel I will bring out every bit of strength Ihave. This is the pride of my ancestors, and the courtesy to my opponent! Nowcome, face me!」 (Shalt)

For a seemingly slender brat,his spirit is overflowing with vigor. If he so much as grazes me, it"d probablyblow me away and knock me unconscious wouldn"t it? As for my weapon, it is awooden sword made for training. I have no usable spells. There"s only one wayto win,

「The way to win against this well-behaved kid is withmy wisdom and experience of a method he"s never faced before, right?」 (Velt)

I turned my back on him andwalked toward the crowd of people.

「Where are you going? Are you scared?」 (Shalt)

To the me that had suddenlyturned my back on him, Shalt couldn"t attack. The peanut gallery didn"t seem tounderstand the meaning of my action. Well, it"s fine if he doesn"t understand.I began to mingle with the crowd, and looked back over my shoulder.

「What"s wrong, Shalt? I"m waiting.」 (Velt)

「Wha- wai- what are you doing Velt!」 (Shalt)

「Nothing really? It"s just, I"m waiting for you whereit"s easier for me to fight you?」 (Velt)

Shalt opened his wide with ashocked expression. Taira and Melma seem to be surprised too.

I began to run through thecrowd, causing a commotion.

「Hey, Velt. Isn"t it dangerous for us for you to behere!?」 (Crowd)

「That"s right, you should fight at the center. How areyou going to beat Shalt if you just run away?」 (Crowd)

I"ll get other people involvedif I"m out here so I should go to the middle? That"s not it, it"s anything butsafe.

「Velt, are you seriously doing that?」 (Shalt)

Naturally, Shalt shouldn"t beable to attack. He can"t do so because of the possibility of hurting the peoplegathered here.

「You have to attack me if you want to beat me youknow?」 (Velt)

「This guy... I"m a bit angry you know? Are you tryingto threaten me?」 (Shalt)

「Threaten? Don"t say something so foolish. Aren"t youjust scared of me?」 (Velt)

「Wha, what are you even saying?」 (Shalt)

「Even though I can hear you, are you afraid ofattacking, because you might get the crowd caught up in it? Or is it thatyou’re afraid of me?」 (Velt)

Shalt is at a loss for words.On the contrary, he"s trembling from having been found out. Not sure what todo, Shalt appeared to appeal to Taira for what to do next. However, Tairadidn"t say anything. He didn"t stop my actions either. He simply looked uponthe two of us in silence. At Taira"ssilence, Shalt seemed to have a conflicted expression and undid his magic.

「Hmph, if that"s the case I won"t use magic, anddefeat you with my swordsmanship instead.」 (Shalt)

Here it is. He"s going toresort to just swordplay. So as to not involve the others, he"s going to aimdirectly for me with refined strikes, and take me head-on. It was, well,somewhat strange to me. I want to make fun of him a bit for being all tooserious.

「Shalt, your opponent can"t use magic, did you thinkabout that for even a second?」 (Velt)

「!!」 (Shalt)

「Take this! Finishing move,」 (Velt)

Appearing directly in frontof Shalt, I used my special attack.

「p.i.s.s SHOOOOOOOOOOOT!!」 (Shalt)

「WAI-WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!」 (Velt)

I pulled down my pants for asecond, and shot p.i.s.s towards him. There"s n.o.body who could have expected this.Surprised, he jumped back. However, you cannot s.p.a.ce out for long in the middleof a fight.

「There!」 (Velt)

「*Guh... Ur, urg, ueegh.*」 (Shalt)

I delivered a kick straightto his stomach. He had an expression as if he was about to throw up.

「And another!」 (Velt)

Since he stopped moving, Iimmediately did a low kick. He"s just a 10-year-old kid. Because he could usemagic, his endurance was just that of a regular child. I did squats tostrengthen my calves, so once should be enough for a weak child.

「*Kaha, ah, gaha, ugh.*」 (Shalt)

He can"t breathe well afterone kick to the stomach. My leg felt numb after delivering the low kick. He can"t concentrate or use anincantation anymore. Now, if I give him an axe kick to the head while he"s bentover...

「Hey, are you alright? Maybe I hit a little too hard.」 (Velt)

「*Buha, ah, gaha, urgh.*」 (Shalt)

「Ah, take it easy and pull yourself together.」 (Velt)

Well, anything more than thisreally would be overboard wouldn"t it. I patted the back of the immobile Shalt. Either way, evenif I don"t do anything else, he can"t do anything. That"s what I thought, so I decided not to attack again...which means...

「You idiot! You think I"ll accept this?」 (Crowd)

「You, I thought you were just a bad kid beyond anyhelp, but this cowardly way isn"t how a man fights!」 (Crowd)

「You"re the worst, Velt!」 (Crowd)

The crowd was booing loudly.

「Wh- why! I didn"t do anything particularly bad!」 (Velt)

「It"s how you went about it! Something like p.i.s.sing athim, that"s the worst thing you could have done!」 (Crowd)

「Don’t screw with me! Compared to the cyclone sword,what I did was a lot safer!」 (Velt)

「You don"t have any pride as a man!」 (Crowd)

I thought it would be fine becauseI"m a child. Well, if Asakura Ryuuma did it as an elementary school kid, wouldhis head have been beaten into a different shape by his dad? I didn"t gooverboard because it"s just a fight between kids, and used what I thought wasthe safest method, did they really not understand that? But for some reason,sensei had collapsed. Could it be that even my high school teacher wasaffected?

「*Kukukukukukuku.*」 (Taira)

However, there was just oneperson who could be heard laughing in the midst of all the booing.

「Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Ah, I give up. Thisis the first time in my life I"ve ever seen a special move like that.」 (Taira)

Even though he was crouchednext to his son, he was laughing loudly by himself. Seeing this sight, thebooing settled down, as they all became confused.

「I seem to have underestimated Velt, just a littlebit. He"s overwhelmingly weaker than Shalt, and yet he overwhelmed him.」 (Taira)

Where n.o.body would admit myvictory, Taira was different. There was no anger or criticism, only anexpression of admiration. But, there was a child who would not accept that.

「Not yet!」 (Shalt)

Shalt jumped up from where hewas previously keeled over, and flourished his sword. I instinctively took somedistance, he is clearly mad.

「I won"t, accept this loss, Velt. As a man, with nopride nor conviction in your actions, I cannot praise you!」 (Shalt)

Calming his breathing andrecomposing his mind, Shalt prepared his sword. But, the rule was...

「Get him, Shalt!」 (Crowd)

「Shalt, give that bad kid a beat down!」 (Crowd)

「Even if this idiot becomes the king, it"ll be finebecause Princess Forna and Shalt will be there.」 (Crowd)

It should have been my winafter one hit, so why are they getting riled up like this. To make sure Ilooked at Taira, but he didn’t say anything and smiled. This b.a.s.t.a.r.d, hechanged the rules however he wanted. If that’s how it was going to be, therewas no point in having done something as embarra.s.sing as shooting p.i.s.s.

「But well, there"s no proof of having broken therules. Unreasonable things like this happen quite often after all.」 (Velt)

It can"t be helped. Shall wedance? I"ll play with him a bit longer.

「Hey, General Taira, you sure it"s fine to not put astop to this?」 (Melma)

「Fufufu, which one of them are you worried about,Melma?」 (Taira)

「Both of ‘em.」 (Melma)

「Is that so? This is a good opportunity for me so Iwant to watch a bit longer. Someday, my son might run into someone who doesn"tcare about fighting fair with pride and honor.」 (Taira)

Shalt began an incantation.Compared to the large amount of magic of Cyclone Saber, it was a spell with asmall range.

「O flowing tears of the G.o.ddess of Ice, pierce theheart of evil! Ice Shot!」 (Shalt)

A small chunk of ice. It"sweak and probably doesn"t have much power. Even though he"s angry, he"sobediently using a small and controlled magic.

「I"ll return that right back to you with this battingstrike!」 (Velt)

I planned to break it into abunch of small pieces, and struck it with my wooden sword.

But it didn’t break.

Rather, at the moment ofimpact, the sword began to freeze.

「What the, the h.e.l.l is this!?」 (Velt)

「c.r.a.p, Asakura! Let go of it fast! You"ll freeze too!」 (Melma)

「Woah, that"s dangerous.」 (Velt)

Though I let go of the woodensword and avoided a disaster, it was still dangerous... not. I wasn’t naive enough to give him anopportunity by being relieved.

「I’ve got you!」 (Shalt)

「Sheesh, ...too naive.」 (Velt)

Shalt came at me as I lost myweapon, thrusting with his rapier. Though he probably plans to stop just infront of my face, it"s too honest. Even though the movement was elegant, he"sstill a child. Too slow.

Lowering my center of gravityand evading Shalt"s stab, I grabbed his fluttering mantle, and pulled itbetween his legs and up into his crotch with all my strength and knocked himover.

「*Gya...O, owowowowowow.*」 (Shalt)

「*Kuhahahaha,* Though it"s a symbol of pride forn.o.bles, doesn"t the mantle get in the way during a fight?」 (Taira)

「Grr, Velt!」 (Shalt)

「Woah.」 (Velt)

Shalt got up immediately andbegan swinging his sword. Though he was still full of spirit, there should bequite a bit of stress built up.

「Come on, bring it, the devil is right here.」 (Velt)

「You, wa- wait right there!」 (Shalt)

I ran around in circles thistime. Shalt may overwhelm me when it comes to magic and techniques, but I"vegot the stronger body between us.

「You, *haa, haa*, wait! *Haa,* Why won’t you fightfairly!? How can you possibly be a man!?」 (Shalt)

「You’ve already seen what I’ve been doing for sometime now right?」 (Velt)

「That’s not the problem, it’s about a man"s pride!」 (Shalt)

「What’s a man? I’m just some kid who hasn’t evenkissed a girl before.」 (Velt)

「Haven’t you done things with Princess Forna before!?」 (Shalt)

「Aah... W-well there’s that... But well, I think Iunderstand how boys and girls are together more than you? Well, since I know frommy previous life.」 (Velt)

「I don’t get what you’re saying! Fight me! Fairly!」 (Shalt)

It’s just like a fightbetween kids. Well, by a fight between kids, it just means that Shalt’s beenrecklessly flailing around. As expected he’s a kid isn’t he. He doesn’tunderstand how a fight works. With his stamina, as long as he keeps swingingaround he’ll quickly exhaust himself.

「*Haa, haa, haa, kuu.*」 (Shalt)

His feet stopped, here’s mychance. I’ll give him another low kick.

「Take this!」 (Velt)

「When di- Aaah!」 (Shalt)

「And another!」 (Velt)

「Uaaaaaah!」 (Shalt)

While he was in pain I hithim again. With this his feet had completely stopped. I hit him so he wouldn’tbe able to take another step.

「Velt......」 (Shalt)

「Don’t look at me with those hateful eyes. It’s thatyou’re strong. If we had fought at a practice area or dueling grounds, then I’dprobably be beaten instantly. But this is a street fight. Everything here is myweapon. With the set rules (or lack of rules), it was already your loss.」 (Velt)

「With those tricks, do you think I’m going to yield toyou? I haven’t lost yet! I’ll show you my pride!」 (Shalt)

「Ah ha, if that’s the case, then let’s move a bit moreto the center. If we’re too close to the peanut gallery then it’ll be dangerousright?」 (Velt)

「Eh?」 (Shalt)

「UUURAAAAAAAAAH!」 (Velt)

「WUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」 (Shalt)

I gave another low kick withall my might. It wasn’t so my leg would go numb, but delivered so that It’dcompletely destroy my opponent’s will. Shalt, who looked completely dumbfounded,had already lost the strength in both of his legs, so he hit the ground withhis rear, and was no longer in any condition to stand up again.

「Look, for me it was a fight between kids, and for youit was a duel right? Don’t look away so easily.」 (Velt)

「*U-Uuuuuu, ku.*」 (Shalt)

Why didn’t I win? That was,quite possibly, what Shalt was thinking.

「W-what was that, Ve-Velt you... That wasn’t justunfair... But he made it a fight like that.」 (Crowd)

「He- He’s... A fiend...」 (Crowd)

The peanut gallery’s mood wasruined, huh. However, calling me a fiend was pretty mean. There are countlessother people out on the street that are more ruthless. But, fiend or not, theresult is the same. The winner had already been decided.

「That’s enough!」 (Taira)

Up until now Taira was quiet,but he had finally gotten his lazy a.s.s up and came in between me and Shalt.

「That was magnificent, Velt. Up until now I didn’tthink you’d be able to get so close to Shalt. But throwing out your shame,pride, aesthetics, and using everything available to you for victory, that sortof dynamism and spirit is in a sense, the strongest form of combat.」 (Taira)

There was no sense ofsarcasm. Even though I had beaten up his kid he didn’t seem to be angry.

「Truly unbelievable. By provoking him you interruptedhis rhythm, and you struck as he exhausted himself by missing his attacks. Evenmore surprising was that in the face of his rapier and magic, you understoodyour opponent’s range well and dealt with it courageously. Well done.」 (Taira)

With true admiration, Tairaapplauded me.

「On top of that, you were able to calmly avoid Shalt’sattacks.」 (Taira)

And then,

「This match, is Velt’s victory!」 (Taira)


With the announcement of my victory, the duel reachedits conclusion.

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