Tenkomori Chapter 128.2

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Chapter 128.2. The Third Year at the Academy - Martial Arts Tournament’s Main Event (2)

Chapter 128.2. The Third Year at the Academy - Martial Arts Tournament’s Main Event (2)

When I adopted a forward-leaning posture, Harriet jumped in without hesitation.

Two short swords swung with full force. I used my legs to dodge, parry, and counterattack.

The throw from earlier was sharp. She definitely has the [Throwing] skill. But, as expected, she hasn’t mastered attack skills. With this much combat ability, I can’t believe she lacks the talent for it...

She’s probably too fast. It’s probably the same reason I had back in the day. She doesn't want her speed to be hindered by preparatory movements.

The fierce exchange continued, and gradually, Harriet’s breath became more labored. Still, she grimaced and swung her short swords. At this rate, there’s no future. It’s time to end it.

Maintaining the speed of our exchange, I used [Double Strike] to knock away both of her short swords. Before she could even scream, Harriet fell, her arms wide open, crashing shoulder-first into the ground.

If she gets used to it, attack skills won’t affect speed much. I really hope she works hard to master it. She would become a powerful weapon.

She tried to stand, but her movements froze when she was met with the point of my sword. Relaxing her body, Harriet discarded her short swords.

“I yield.”

The judge declared my victory, and a wave of applause erupted. Especially from one corner, it was incredibly loud.

I gave a light reply and helped Harriet to her feet.

“Good match.” 

“No, the pleasure was mine. It was a great learning experience.”

As we shook hands, more cheers and applause rained down on us.

After leaving the arena and heading back to the locker room, I was about to head toward the audience when I saw Harriet waiting down the hallway.

Now that I think about it, she had been acting strange from the start. She seemed to know me.

Harriet smiled brightly and bowed.

“Thank you for today. It was an honor to fight you, Alter-sama, on such a grand stage.” 

“About that— I don't really know many students from other schools. Have we met somewhere?” 

“I’m a newcomer...”

A little embarrassed, Harriet pulled out a chain from around her neck. Hanging from it was a familiar piece of metal.

“You’re an adventurer?” 

“Yes, I just became an F-rank. When I registered, the receptionist was surprised to hear that, even though we're the same age, there are already two parties that have risen to E-rank. And apparently, they’re being mentored by a D-rank who’s also the same age.”

I was beginning to understand, but still had some doubts. I haven't been to the Adventurers Guild much recently, so if she was new, I shouldn’t have seen her around.

Those doubts were cleared up by what Harriet said next. A certain receptionist's slip of the tongue had connected the mysterious D-rank to me.

“Wait, you're from Vaset Academy? I thought it was another one, Cultirarl.”

To be honest, that’s almost the answer. What did that person do?

By the way, Lambert and Felix had been removed from the candidates because they didn’t match the description she had given. I have many thoughts on that, but I’ll save them for another time.

With that backstory, Harriet had deduced I was the mysterious D-rank. She had watched my previous matches, judged me to be stronger than her, and challenged me with all her might. With the way she fought, she probably had no rivals at Vaset Academy.

“There’s one more thing I wanted to ask…”

Harriet looked at me cautiously.

“Was the goblin incident in the field training real?” 

“What do you mean?”

I urged her to continue, and was surprised by the unexpected truth. According to her, the field training from the first year had become a story passed down even at other schools. The intermittent battles with goblins, the full-scale invasion, and the goblin leader who took down the adventurers guarding us. It had been conveyed in detail, but it ended with no mention of me defeating the leader. Maybe the instructors or witnesses had kept it quiet. I’m not sure, but the lesson they took from it was “Don’t underestimate weak opponents.”

“Now it’s a lesson? I mean, it’s true, but...” 

“Who defeated the goblin leader...?” 

“I’ll leave that to your imagination.”

At my answer, Harriet smiled and nodded.

“Seems like they didn’t make it a lesson at Cartilard.” 

“We were directly involved, so we’re good on that front.”

After that, she asked more questions about the battles and indirectly about the goblin leader, and I answered with assumptions and guesses. Eventually, Harriet thanked me again and left with a bit of reluctance.

Both of us had final exams and graduation ahead after the martial arts tournament. If only we had met earlier, like with Talvit. With her fighting style, I’m sure there was so much I could’ve taught her.

Turning my gaze away from her retreating figure, I headed toward the audience seats.

I met up with Ted and the others, and as I sat down, I noticed Jonas in my line of sight. Out of curiosity, I brought up the topic from earlier.

“The goblin horde? I hear about it every time from the instructors during field training.”

To my surprise, an unexpected fact was revealed. It seems the underclassmen had turned it into a lesson.

Well, thinking about it, it makes sense that I wouldn’t know. I don’t live in the dorm, and I was just a spectator during the joint training. I never had a proper chance to interact. The only underclassman I deal with is someone like this.

Moreover, Jonas added, “The key parts are a bit fuzzy.” Apparently, they had kept quiet about who defeated the goblin leader, and there were many powerful individuals of the same age present. The information and speculations got tangled because it was Cultirarl that suffered the most. Jonas hadn’t known it was me until he heard from Elliot.

It seems they wanted to avoid aristocratic turmoil, so they imposed a gag order inside the school. However, if they had narrowed it down that much, someone likely made contact with the ones trying to use it as leverage... Oh, it's already done.

Recalling the unpleasant memory, I ended the conversation.

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