Chapter 138: Everything in the World

「The arena is…here! 」

Lily and I hurried to the royal palace hall where the royal duel between Shin and Masauda was taking place.

When we arrived at the hall, we found a white-tiled ring in the center, surrounded by seats for spectators, seated among several people who appeared to be the country’s aristocrats.

「You’re here, Kyou. 」

I turned around after hearing my name being called and saw Rostam sitting in one of the seats.

「Rostam, what happened to Shin? 」

「Well, I’d say he managed to make it in time. His physical abilities are unmatched to begin with. But whether he can win will depend on the strategy we’ve given him. 」

「Strategy… 」

I nodded quietly at Rostam’s words.

It was true that nothing would change overnight.

But there was a chance for a reversal with training and strategy.

I believed in Rostam’s plan and sat next to him.

At the very least, there was nothing else we could do at this point.

All we could do was watch the battle for the throne begin below.

And then, as we watched, a loud bell rang out, and at the same time, two people appeared on the stage below.

One was Masauda, ​​the first prince and legitimate heir to the Arabia Kingdom.

And the other was Shin, the country’s true second-ranking prince, who had been nearly assassinated and had been missing until recently for the sole reason that he was born to a commoner queen.

As the two men appeared on stage, a murmur could be heard from the audience.

「Is that… Prince Shin? 」

「I’m sure Lady Alisha is supposed to be the one to conduct the royal battle… 」

「No, Lady Alisha originally took the form of her younger brother, Shin, so perhaps she appears in that form…? 」

「From what I heard, Lady Alisha was injured last night. Could this be related to that…? 」

It seemed that many in the audience were confused when they saw Shin on stage, wondering whether it was Alisha or not.

Meanwhile, the man standing before Shin, Masauda, ​​showed no signs of being shaken.

「That commoner girl was supposed to be here, so why are you here? 」

In response to Masauda’s question, Shin showed no signs of his previous weakness, and instead declared with a strong, determined look in his eyes.

「This is my battle. It’s my duty to remain in this kingdom. Asking my sister to take my place is the act of a coward. I will fight this battle myself. 」

The voice was loud enough to be heard clearly in the audience, and upon hearing it, the crowd erupted in roars as they realized that the one challenging the battle was the real second Prince, Shin.

But Masauda, ​​facing him, remained calm, as if everything was going according to plan, and quietly raised his hand to silence the audience’s murmurings.

「Very well. Now, my battle with you will begin. In keeping with our royal lineage, neither of us will object to the winner getting to assert their claim, right? 」

「…No. 」

Shin quietly nodded at Masauda’s declaration.

After the two of them made their pronouncements, a sorcerer appeared on stage.

「Now, we will now conduct the ancient, orthodox ritual of the Royal Battle to determine who is truly righteous. 」

As the sorcerer spoke, swords were given to both Shin and Masauda.

「The weapon used in this Royal Battle will be a sword. Both sides will confirm their weapons, and then the Royal Battle will begin. 」

「Masauda. ​​There’s no problem. 」

「…Shin. There’s no problem. 」

Both of them checked their weapons to make sure there were no hidden flaws, but both declared there were no problems.

Watching this, however, I couldn’t shake off a sense of unease.

If they could certainly confirm their own weapons, then there was no way Shin’s weapon could have been hidden.

But what if Masauda had some kind of device on his side? Despite my worries, the signal for the start of the Royal Battle finally rang out below me.

「Now, with both parties’ consent, the royal battle will begin! Good luck to both sides! May the almighty bless you! Seize victory to uphold your own sense of justice! 」

As soon as the sorcerer finished his pronouncement, Masauda struck first.

Masuda closed the distance in one go and, at the same time, thrust countless times at Shin with the sword in his hand!

「Ugh! 」

It was faster than I expected, delivering nearly a dozen thrusts in an instant. Shin used his natural dynamic vision and reflexes to avoid them, but he couldn’t avoid them all. He blocked several of the thrusts with the sword in his hand, reducing physical contact to zero.

「That was close… But he’s actually quite strong… 」

I had thought that those royals were mostly just weaklings, but Masauda’s abilities exceeded my expectations.

「Even royalty needs the ability to fight. Especially these days, in a world where the hero system has allowed powerful figures to rise to power. It’s not uncommon for royalty to train themselves and demonstrate their abilities. 」

Indeed. In that sense, that was the case with Shin, or rather Alisha, and perhaps even Rostam.

And while I was thinking about this, Masauda’s attacks continued to head towards Shin, and before I knew it, he had been pushed to the edge of the stage, with no way to escape.

「…! 」

「You’ve endured this much, someone who has never wielded a sword before. Your swordplay is pathetic, to the point of being unbearable, but your dynamic vision and reflexes more than make up for it, so I’ll give you credit. But that’s all over now! 」

As Masauda declared this, another high-speed thrust headed towards Shin. Shin tried to block it with his sword, but it was deflected.

After confirming that his opponent’s weapon was gone, Masauda smiled triumphantly and raised his sword.

「It’s over, you filthy child! 」

The moment he said those words and swung his sword down, Shin, who had been crouching in front of him, disappeared.

「What…!? 」

Masauda was clearly panicked and flustered.

But we were the same, and before we could even look around, Rostam, who was standing next to me, muttered.

「Behind him. 」

Just as Rostam had declared, I saw Shin, who had come around behind Masauda, ​​deliver a powerful kick over his back.

「How…!? 」

For a moment, Masauda seemed completely confused by what had happened.

But that was the case for all the noble spectators gathered at the venue.

「Ahhh!! 」

Ignoring the stunned atmosphere in the arena, Shin closed the distance in one go, clenched both fists, and mercilessly rained down blows on Masauda’s body, arms, and face.

「Gah! Guh! Gah! 」

Shin’s counterattack was unexpected. Masauda panicked and stepped back at the impossible attack.

「Wa…Wait…! Wait, you…!! 」

Having taken a direct hit to the face, Masauda desperately protested, shielding his broken nose with his hand.

「You! Do you realize this is a Royal Battle!? I told you this is a serious sword fight! So why are you using your fists!? 」

It was an attack that went beyond the rules. It was a legitimate protest, and abusive language, against unreasonable behavior that amounted to an outside-ring brawl.

The royals and nobles gathered around him seemed to agree with Masauda’s statement, with most of them muttering things like…

「Yo…You’re right… 」

「Such barbaric fighting can’t be called a royal battle… 」

「This is just a brawl… 」

However, in response to Masauda’s protests, Shin himself seemed completely unconcerned and stated.

「What’s the problem? 」

「Wha…What…? 」

「There’s no rule in the royal battle that says you can’t use your fists. 」

Shin stated this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, but upon hearing it, Masauda gave in to his rage and was seen swinging the sword he was holding furiously.

「Don’t be ridiculous! Why would you bother to include such an obvious fact in the rules? The Royal Battle is a sacred contest where both sides put their wills on the line! Turning it into a no-rules spectacle like this immediately disqualifies you from the Royal Battle! 」

「In that case, you can just admit defeat, Lord Masauda. 」

It was Rostam, standing next to me, who responded to Masauda’s voice.

「To begin with, there are no strict rules to this Royal Battle. The only rule is that it continues until the opponent dies or admits defeat. Appearances are secondary. Using fists, biting, or even “poison”…everything counts. 」

Masauda broke out into a cold sweat at Rostam’s remark, as if he’d seen through him.

「It’s true that in this tournament, the weapon used is a sword, but there’s no mention of not being able to use fists if the sword is gone. If you want to strictly adhere to the rules that much, then next time, you should carefully write down the rules before starting the tournament, Lord Masauda. 」

「You…! 」

Rostam’s comment was, in effect, a quibble, but he was right: no one could say for sure that this would be considered foul play.

The fact that the surrounding nobles nodded with troubled expressions was proof of this, and the fact that Masauda was distracted by the heckling from the audience was nothing more than a sign of his own distraction.

「Haaa!! 」

Noticing that Masauda’s attention had been drawn elsewhere again, Shin struck him in the face, sending him tumbling to the ground.

「Gah..Gaaah! You…You brat!! You disgusting brat…!! 」

Spitting out the blood that had built up in his mouth, Masauda shouted his hatred towards Shin, uttering derogatory terms as if his previous aristocratic appearance was a lie.

As Shin charged again, Masauda countered with a thrust, but Shin, no longer needing to insist on a sword fight, changed direction on the spot.

He moved out of Masauda’s blind spot, crouched like a beast, and with a movement reminiscent of a leopard, leaped at Masauda’s body.

「Guahhh…!! 」

He slammed into Masauda mercilessly, knocking him to the ground and pressing his shoe against his throat.

「That’s it. Brother, admit defeat. 」

The match was clear to anyone.

The audience shared the same impression. Putting aside his fighting style, Shin’s movements were extraordinary. If this had been a normal tournament or match, Shin would’ve been declared the winner at that point.

However, this was a royal battle to decide who was the righteous one.

Unlike an ordinary match, the only way this fight could end was for one of them to admit defeat or die.

「…Don’t mess with me!! 」

Masauda swung his sword, aiming at Shin’s foot as he stomped on his throat.

The tip of the sword cut Shin’s foot, and Shin’s face twisted slightly in pain.

「Ha…Hahaha…! You were the one who introduced no rules, kid! I’m telling you! I have no intention of surrendering! I’m going to pierce your heart now, and that’ll be the end!! 」

Shin’s face twisted despite the slight wound, and Masauda’s laughter, as if he was sure of victory, echoed throughout the arena.

So that guy really did coat his sword in poison!

I instinctively stood up to protest, but Rostam, sitting next to me, stopped me.

「Don’t worry. There’s no problem, Kyou. 」

Following Rostam’s words, I turned my attention to the showdown below.

There, Masauda was about to swing his sword down for the final blow, but Shin, who was crouching in front of him, suddenly approached at an unprecedented speed.

「…!? That’s impossible! It’s Manticore poison! Even a graze would cause intense dizziness! So why!? 」

To Masauda, ​​who was panicked and confused, Shin calmly replied.

「…It seems you don’t know what kind of monster has raised me this whole time. I have a slight resistance to Manticore poison. A sword like this won’t even slow me down. 」

After muttering those words, the next moment, Shin’s fist crushed Masauda’s jaw, sending him flying into the air and tumbling to the ground.

「If you want to kill me with poison, then you’ll have to summon the Manticore yourself. 」

And with those words, the battle for the throne came to an end.

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