Chapter 7
Chapter 7 Strongest Sage, Cautious of his Elder Brother
"So you chose mock battle . Alright then . As for the rule . . . . the winner will be decided when either of you give up or from my discretion as a referee, okay?"
My father Castor asked Biffgel, not me .
He continues on while ignoring my will .
But well, I think I can somehow win if it"s just against Biffgel, as long as there"s no some weird rule in place .
"Wait a minute Father . "
"What is it?"
"A referee has their limit . You can"t say that they never misjudge . "
Biffgel said such a thing .
Aa . I know what Biffgel is thinking somehow or other .
He"s probably worried if our father Castor be partial to me in his judgment . Father doesn"t think too well of Biffgel after all .
It"s not surprising for him to say that if he"s aware of it .
"Okay then . Let"s go without a referee . "
Father withdrew quite easily .
Looks like we"re going to have a mock battle without a referee . I don"t understand what father is trying to do now .
"And also, Mathias probably won"t be satisfied with just one match . How about five matches?"
"Got it . Then let"s make it five matches . "
"Also, I"m confirming just in case, there"s no need to hold back right?"
"Yea . 『Both』 of you need not to hold back . "
Father told Biffgel that .
Or rather, our father Castor"s face began to look eviler every time Biffgel suggested something . He"s already all grin now . At the same time, he also looks like he can"t believe it .
If there"s anything remarkable about what he said, it was probably how the 『Both』 part was emphasized I guess?
. . . . Not good . I genuinely don"t understand what father is thinking .
Father made a sidelong glance at the dumbfounded me, gave a training sword to Biffgel and moved to a position a bit away from me .
And then he declares the starting signal for the mock battle .
"Are you both ready? Mock battle, begin!"
"ORAAAAA! DIEEEEEEEE"
Biffgel made his move with the signal .
He readied his sword on the front while saying something inappropriate for a mock battle, rushing in toward me .
No need to hold back was it . Guess I should get serious right from the start too .
Biffgel"s strength isn"t comparable to father anyway, his swordsmanship is also terrible . I can probably win with a frontal attack .
I hit Biffgel"s down-swinging sword from the side, turning it away to the left .
"Owa!"
Biffgel lost his balance . You can"t be telling me that he didn"t think how to cope if he got blocked .
. . . . That can"t be . If that"s the case then that means his skill is really poor .
This must be a trap . He must be planning to counter me with magic or something when I let my guard down by the obvious chance .
Once I saw through him as such, I decided to get on it .
These kinds of plans become a folly once you read through them .
An action that deviates from the textbook is not efficient, that"s why they"re not in the textbook .
I swing my wooden sword toward Biffgel while paying heed of any sign of magic .
0 . 3 seconds remaining until it hits . There"s no movement .
0 . 2 seconds remaining . He still hasn"t made his move . He won"t make it in time if he doesn"t activate the magic right about now though . . . . ?
At the remaining 0 . 1 second, Biffgel showed a movement .
Biffgel is actually closing his eyes at my sword .
It"s as if he fears the sword that"s coming at him .
Really, there"s no way one would take such an action even in a mere sword training .
Did I perhaps overlook something? Did I get myself caught in Biffgel"s trap without realizing it!?
Even though that thought flashed in my mind, there"s only one action that could be taken in this situation either way .
I throw my hesitation away and swing my sword with all my might .
BAM .
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
Biffgel got hit by the wooden sword, he screamed and writhed .
There wasn"t a trap or anything . My wooden sword made clean hit on Biffgel without a hitch .
Too weak . . . . No wait .
The victory condition for this battle was 『If either give up』 .
In other words, Biffgel hasn"t lost yet .
Moreover, his writhing in pain . It"s obviously not normal . It"s not something a trained person would do .
Perhaps he"s pretending to be in pain to buy some time .