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 .