“Wow…! I knew it, but Reysir is really amazing!”
“Y-yes, sir…! To think he’s the same first-y-year as us, I can hardly believe it…!”
After the preliminary match ended and Reysir returned to our side, Vigdis and Liolikin showered him with admiration and praise.
Truly, a supporting character-like attitude.
While recalling such feelings and clicking my tongue inwardly, the protagonist of someone else’s novel came over and spoke to me.
“Karvald, don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“No.”
“Whyyy~?”
If I don’t, I don’t. That’s all there is to it.
Reysir was persistent as ever today.
And with that sly grin, even dragging out his words, making it all the more annoying.
“Well… the result was just too obvious?”
“So you mean you never doubted that I would win everything? Thanks!”
There’s no one who gives the answer they want as blatantly as him.
“Can’t you stop twisting other people’s words to suit yourself?”
“But there wasn’t any way to twist that sentence negatively, was there?”
“…Hmph.”
“These days, when you have nothing to say, you keep making that snorting sound and try to muddle through, don’t you?”
“……”
Given that my testimony could work against me, I decided to exercise my right to remain silent.
Thus, pretending to focus intently on the match of Group 2, I didn’t spare Reysir a single glance, thoroughly ignoring him.
“……Karvald Austri. The five students in Group 3, please come out to the arena!”
As soon as the second preliminary match ended, the professor holding the Aether microphone called out the name of my Possession Body.
Since I had no intention of receiving cheers like Reysir, I quietly tried to leave my seat. But—
“Karvald, good luck! Do your best out there!”
“You’ve worked hard up to now, so if it’s you, Karvald, I’m sure you’ll make it through the prelims.”
“G-good luck…!”
Apparently, these three had no intention of keeping quiet.
I was in no position to return their encouragement with a smile, so rather than being grateful, I felt burdened by it.
So I furrowed my brow for no reason and turned my back on them.
“Please state your name, student.”
“Karvald Austri.”
As I approached the temporary arena, the assistant professor in charge of proceedings asked for my name.
The professor kept his eyes fixed on a sheet of paper, presumably the participant list, but upon hearing my Possession Body’s name, he lifted his head.
His gaze wasn’t on me, but to my side. In other words, toward Yor.
“The purpose of this duel tournament is to purely elevate each student’s own achievements, so the participation of familiars is not allowed.”
“I’m aware.”
“Then that’s settled. Please wait here until it’s your turn.”
At my answer, the professor gave a slight nod and directed me in a businesslike tone to wait.
I responded with a short “Yes!” and shifted my gaze to the arena.
There, the two students both held swords—one of whom I recognized from the introductory swordsmanship class.
Though I was enrolled in the same class, there’s a reason why the word ‘introductory’ is attached.
That student was all but toyed with by their opponent, who was presumably taking an advanced class, thus confirming their own inadequacy.
Once the match was decided, the two students came down from the arena, faces split between joy and disappointment. Their place was soon taken by two other students.
“I didn’t expect the young master of the Austri Family to participate in a tournament like this.”
The students who took to the stage this time were my own preliminary opponents.
I tried to observe their duel carefully, but the winner of the previous match approached me and struck up a conversation.
It was a stranger acting overly familiar, but it wasn’t particularly surprising.
Plenty of students had approached me like this, making sly conversation.
Since it was neither a story-critical moment nor remotely entertaining, I hadn’t bothered to narrate these encounters so far.
‘These sorts typically have two motives.’
Like Triedrik or Liolikin, some wanted to use Karvald Austri directly to get what they wanted right now.
Or, some hoped to use their acquaintance with Karvald Austri as a stepping stone to connect themselves to the Austri Ducal Family.
Usually, those with a sense of inferiority or short-sightedness fell into the former category.
‘Those brimming with confidence—whether it’s actual confidence or just arrogance—tend to be the latter!’
They overestimate themselves, thinking that as long as they can meet Hard Austri the Duke, they’ll catch his eye.
The person in front of me made it clear from his self-assured expression that he belonged to the latter group.
He wasn’t even listed in the Book of Names issued by the Possession Body’s family, let alone the original work.
‘Ignore him.’
With a simple conclusion, I turned my gaze back to the arena.
For those who are prideful or timid, just ignoring them is enough to make them slink away in embarrassment or awkwardness.
Unfortunately, the student who approached me this time didn’t seem to have that kind of personality.
“That Reysir who swept the matches in Group 1—his skills are remarkable, aren’t they?”
“…What are you trying to say?”
Normally, I would’ve kept my mouth shut, but I couldn’t just let a comment about the original protagonist slide.
“I found it strange that you suddenly kept close company with someone you previously shunned last semester. But after seeing him fight today, I understood. It must be because of those skills.”
A perfect miss.
The reason I keep Reysir nearby isn’t because of his excellent spear skills, but because I failed to shake him off thanks to his relentless persistence.
“Just get to the point.”
“Take me in, too. You won’t regret it.”
If only I could transplant even a tenth of this extra’s confidence into Liolikin, how great would that be?
Such thoughts crossed my mind—his confidence was so excessive it bordered on ridiculous.
“If you can make it to the finals, sure.”
Wanting to shut up this show-off, I made an empty promise.
For the record, I wasn’t making this promise without a plan.
I remembered exactly who advanced to the finals with Reysir in the original work, and I was certain that character would never lose the runner-up spot to the person in front of me.
That’s why I could say it.
Sharp readers would have noticed it right away from the above paragraph.
The one who would take second place in this tournament had a fairly significant role in the original story.
‘Though he was a villain… his skills are certainly genuine!’
Not knowing he was being strung along, the extra’s face lit up.
He even thanked me outright, though he’d received nothing.
It was enough to make me feel a bit guilty.
“That’s it! The second match of Group 3 is over!”
Exactly five minutes after the match began, the main professor called the end of the match with military precision.
The winner this time was someone who didn’t move their body at all, using only their Earth Attribute Aether abilities.
From the makeshift arena floor, which looked like it was carved from a giant stone block, he yanked out rock fragments and hurled them to corner his opponent.
The arena got wrecked as a result, but that’s no problem.
After all, they made it out of stone, anticipating this sort of situation.
A professor with Earth Attribute Aether, like the winner, stepped up to cleanly restore the arena floor.
Only after that did I step onto the arena.
My opponent was the overly confident swordsman student.
“Nyan-nyan-nyang!!”
Outside the arena, Yor waved a whiteboard that read “Good luck!” and cheered for me.
Seeing that adorable display, I felt my spirits lift.
Gripping the handle of my whip tightly, I readied myself—
“I forfeit this round.”
“……”
“Even if I give up a chance, I’m confident I’ll make it to the main tournament! Please don’t take it as disrespect, young master, but as a sign of my confidence in my own skills. Hahaha!”
“……”
Rather than risk a beating to prove his strength, he seemed to think making up an excuse and letting it go was the smarter move.
The professors didn’t bat an eye at this blatant match-fixing right before them.
And so, I won my first victory in anticlimactic fashion and left the arena.
The next match was between the swordsmanship class student and the earth attribute user.
Once again, the earth attribute user wrecked the arena and easily claimed victory.
After the arena was restored, the unlucky swordsman faced the last opponent, and he handily defeated the unremarkable one.
‘So his confidence wasn’t entirely baseless, then.’
Now, there were two with two wins.
Since my victory came from a forfeit, if my win rate matched theirs, I’d be the one eliminated from the main tournament.
I concluded I needed to win at least two out of my remaining three matches to advance.
My next opponent was the swordsmanship novice who’d already racked up two losses.
If he wanted even a sliver of a chance at the main tournament, he had to win all his remaining matches, including this one.
Therefore, I expected him to come at me fiercely. I braced myself and focused my nerves tightly.
“Myaaang~!”
Once again, Yor cheered me on with a cute, energetic voice as the match began.
I applied the [Encourage] skill to my Possession Body, then cracked my whip against the floor, activating the [Goyang] skill as well.
And then…
“W-wait, wait! I, I surrender. I surrender!!”
My opponent dropped his sword with a clang and declared his surrender.
Seeing the whip split the air with a sonic boom and the marks it left on the arena floor, he must’ve decided this wasn’t for him.
“Hey, student? If you lose again, you’re definitely out of the prelims…”
“I guess I never should have entered this tournament in the first place… I’ll just give up the rest, too.”
At the professor’s attempt to confirm, the introductory class reject said this, left the arena, and kept walking until he exited the hall entirely.
‘…So why did I even bother using buff skills?’
Bewildered, I stood blankly for a moment before responding to the professor’s cue and leaving the arena.
Now, the next contenders were the two who’d earned their two wins fair and square.
So I expected a tight match—
But the earth attribute user tried the same tactics, and when the swordsman closed the distance by dodging or batting away the flying rocks, the earth user immediately cried surrender.
Apparently, he’d never prepared for close combat—another reject for sure.
‘Then what does that say about the guy who lost to this reject?’
Regrettably, I couldn’t personally test that student’s skill.
Because when it was time for me and that student to enter the arena together—
“Come to think of it, I got a free win and already lost to that student, so even if I win now, I can’t go to the main tournament anyway. I’ll just forfeit.”
Not only was he unremarkable, he didn’t even have any fighting spirit, pointing to the earth attribute reject and bowing out.
By this point, annoyance began to creep in, replacing my earlier disbelief.
If my goal had been to place high in the tournament, maybe this wouldn’t matter, but—
‘I wanted to practice activating acceleration skills while facing unfamiliar opponents and gain as much diverse combat experience as possible by fighting many different people…’
I irritably ran my fingers through my hair and turned to my one remaining opponent.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to forfeit, too?”
“N-no! I’ll fight!”
The earth attribute reject said this and climbed onto the arena.
But the moment I whipped away the flying rocks and stepped forward, he instantly shouted surrender and ran off the stage.
And so, like the protagonist of someone else’s novel, I advanced to the main tournament undefeated.
But the process was far, far different.
‘Am I… a gag character, maybe…?’
Suddenly, such a thought flashed through my mind.