“Wh-what’s the matter?”
“No…it’s just that it’s absurd. But…it’s just so…”
“M-Mr. Goldy, sir?”
“Ah, forgive me. I lost myself a little there.”
“Wait… Is Mundane really that…?”
“Yeah…that man, Mundane Mann…is unbelievably incompetent!”
Goldy Gilded the Victorious Golden Dragon bursts into laughter.
“Huh…? Incompetent?”
“It boggles the mind that he’s made it as far as the third round! An act of god, maybe?”
“H-he does look weak, I guess…”
“His face looks weak, his body looks weak—even his aura looks weak! Mundane’s power level is thirty-three! Ha! That’s the lowest I’ve ever seen for a dark knight!”
“So Gonzales is going to win?”
“Yeah, it’s gonna be over in a heartbeat. Hell, the fight almost isn’t worth watching.”
And with that, the round begins.
Gonzales is the first to act.
With surprising agility given his brawny build, he closes the gap and bears down on Mundane.
His movements are far more refined than those showcased in the other third-round matches. It appears Goldy’s estimation of him as a tough, experienced fighter was on the mark.
Mundane doesn’t even react to Gonzales’s slash.
Everyone is certain Mundane’s defeat is imminent, but then…Gonzales collapses.
Right before he reaches Mundane, he trips and tumbles down.
His head hits the ground, and he’s out like a light.
The crowd goes silent. Surely, he’s going to get up, they all think.
But Gonzales doesn’t move a hair.
When Mundane sheathes his sword and turns around, the verdict is finally called.
“Th-the winner is Mundane Mann!”
“Th-this is bullshit!!”
“We want our money back, jackass!!”
Boos pour from the crowd around Gonzales’s unconscious body.
Unsure of how to react, Skel looks over at Goldy Gilded the Victorious Golden Dragon.
“W-well, these things happen, too,” says Goldy Gilded the Victorious Golden Dragon. His cheek is twitching. “Battle data can give us an idea of who will win, but when the chips are down, nothing is ever certain. This was educational, I hope?”
“D-did you know this would happen…?”
“Heh…” Goldy Gilded the Victorious Golden Dragon doesn’t offer him a definitive answer. “Let me tell you a secret.”
“Huh…?”
“There are two ways to win at betting. The first is figuring out who’s strong, then betting on them to win. The other is figuring out who’s weak, then betting on their opponents.”
Goldy Gilded the Victorious Golden Dragon stands and turns to leave.
“Tomorrow is the fourth round, and the sixth match is Goldy Gilded the Victorious Golden Dragon versus Mundane Mann.”
“Wait! That means…!”
Goldy Gilded the Victorious Golden Dragon whirls around and points at Skel.
“Can you…find the winning line?”
Then, he combs back his sparkling blond hair and makes his exit.
“He…he’s so cool…”
Amazed, Skel watches Goldy Gilded the Victorious Golden Dragon leave.
“I finished taking my dump.”
A young, dark-haired man returns to his seat.
“Hey, Cid! There’s a fight tomorrow with a guaranteed win. Let’s go all in!”
“What? No.”
“C’mon! Just take my word for it!”
“Screw that.”
“Tch, fine. Your loss, man!”
And with that, the two of them go back to watching the matches.
The fourth round of the Bushin Festival has begun.
Annerose is sitting in the front row of the stands, waiting for a certain match to start.
Her pale-blue hair sways in the breeze, and her identically colored eyes are fixed on the arena. There are more spectators than the previous day, but the arena isn’t even half-full.
“You came to watch that guy’s fight, too, lady?”
Annerose hears someone call out to her and turns around. “I remember you. You’re…”
“Quinton.”
Quinton still looks like a pro-wrestling villain and plants himself beside Annerose.
“You saw his third round yesterday, right, lady?”
“I did. I take it you did, too?”
“Not on purpose, but I happened to catch it. Whaddaya make of Mundane Mann’s round?” Quinton stretches his legs as he asks Annerose the question.
“It certainly didn’t look like he just lucked out and his opponent tripped.”
“Yeah. That guy did somethin’. I don’t have a rat’s ass of a clue what it was but thought you might. You’re Annerose, one of Velgalta’s Seven Blades, after all.”
For a moment, Quinton’s arrogant gaze meets the steely glint in Annerose’s eyes.
Annerose immediately looks away and crosses her legs. Her white skin is exposed beneath the slits in her skirt.
“I gave up that title. Now I’m just Annerose.”
“My bad. Oh, and I know I’m late, but congrats on passing the Goddess’s Trial.”
“Thank you.”
“So you couldn’t tell what Mundane did?”
“I—I couldn’t.” Annerose sounds a little sullen. “I didn’t think there was a chance I’d miss it, so I let my guard down. But…it looked like his right hand moved.”
“His right hand, huh?”
“I don’t know what he did with it. All I know is that whatever it was, he did it incredibly quickly.”
“Huh. I guess that makes my guess wrong.” Quinton exhales through his nose, annoyed.
“Your guess?
“I figured he’d used some kinda banned artifact or something.”
“Interesting… We can’t fully rule that out.”
“Either way, we’ll know after the match today.”
“I suppose we will. His opponent is Goldy Gilded the Unbeaten Legend.”
“Never heard of the guy, but I guess he’s supposed to be famous. Apparently, he’s never lost a match.”
A wry smile crosses Annerose’s face. “Famous, yes. For better or for worse.”
“He strong?”
“Interesting question… I’ve fought in a number of different countries before, both actual battles and tournaments in arenas like this. In my time competing in tournaments, I’ve been matched up against Goldy Gilded three times.”
“Ah. And if Goldy’s never lost…I guess that means he beat you.”
Annerose glares at Quinton. “Don’t be ridiculous. We never actually fought. Whenever he’s up against a strong foe, he simply drops out.”
“What? The hell’s up with that?”
“He’s a man who’ll never fight an opponent if he thinks there’s a chance he’ll lose. He only fights those he knows he can beat, then withdraws once he has to contend with anyone stronger. That’s why they call him the Unbeaten Legend—nobody has a chance to defeat him. I hear he doesn’t like the name, so he’s been calling himself the Victorious Golden Dragon.”
“Unbeaten and victorious, huh? They sound similar but mean totally different things.” Quinton laughs. “So you’re saying we shouldn’t expect much from our friend the Unbeaten.”
The corner of Annerose’s mouth curls upward. “I wouldn’t be so certain.”
“Whaddaya mean?”
“Even fighting those he’s sure he can beat, the Unbeaten Legend places highly in his tournaments. He’s even won a few of the smaller ones.”
“Ah…so it’s not like he’s weak.” Quinton’s gaze intensifies.
“Exactly. Figuring out the difference in strength between himself and his opponent is the man’s forte. And he chose not to run from Mundane. In other words…”
Quinton laughs violently. “Ah, it’s all coming together.”
/>
“Not even the Unbeaten Legend could tell how strong Mundane is.”
“Either that or Mundane’s just a coward who uses artifacts to cheat.”
“And to add another twist, the Unbeaten Legend has only ever fought those he knows he can best. He’s never shown off the true extent of his strength.”
“Damn, things are starting to sound interesting.”
“That they are.”
Quinton smiles a beastly grin, and Annerose licks her lips.
Then, they both turn their attention to the arena.
Cheers and jeers flood the stadium, and Mundane Mann and Goldy Gilded stare each other down.
Of all the spectators in the stands, only two understand the true significance of this fight.
“Round four, match six! Goldy Gilded versus Mundane Mann! Ready? Begin!”
Goldy seizes the initiative.
The moment the match starts, he immediately closes the gap.
Then, he swings his excessively decorated greatsword straight at Mundane’s neck.
His target, Mundane, hasn’t even drawn his weapon yet. He’s just standing there, not even reacting.
Goldy, certain of his victory, flashes his pearly whites.
A loud crack rings out.
“Huh?”
Goldy lets out a small exclamation of surprise. But he’s not the only one—nobody in the stands is ready to believe what they just saw.
Goldy’s sword passed clean through Mundane’s neck, connecting with air and air alone.
Goldy realizes his torso is wide open.
“Tch!”
His face twitches.
Offered that decisive window, Mundane finally moves.
And yet.
He merely draws his sword slowly from its sheath.
That’s all.
His movements are sluggish, and he’s completely overlooking this nugget of opportunity. It doesn’t seem like he’s even noticed.
Goldy puts some space between them, then glares at Mundane and spits out a few words. “You making fun of me?”
His annoyance is all too clear.
“Didja catch it?” Quinton asks Annerose over in the stands.
“Just barely.” She continues staring at Mundane with the eyes of a hawk.
“I knew ya were the real deal. I couldn’t see shit. I thought the Unbeaten Legend got Mundane’s head good.”
“Right. It wouldn’t normally be possible to dodge the blow at that point. But…before the sword hit him, Mundane cracked his neck.”
Annerose’s voice is filled with unconcealed shock.
“He cracked his neck? I don’t follow.”
“All he did was crack his neck. You know, like this.” Annerose tilts her neck to the side and cracks her joints.
“Nah, hold up. That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I know. But the moment he tilted his neck, it made that cracking sound, and Goldy’s sword missed.”
“You’re yanking my chain here! He tilted his neck to crack it and just so happened to dodge the attack?”
“I think that’s what happened.”
“You’re full of it! There’s no way a coincidence like that’s possible!!”
A serious look fills Annerose’s eyes. “What if it wasn’t a coincidence?”
“What?”
“He cracked his neck so fast, even I would have missed it if I hadn’t been specifically watching him. A normal person can’t do that.”
Common sense held that people couldn’t crack their necks so fast as to render the motion invisible to the eye.
“Gah! You’re right…”
“It’s possible that dodging the sword was just an afterthought to him. Mundane started with a desire to crack his neck while the attack happened to be coming his way, so in addition to cracking his neck, he also dodged it.”
“Bullshit! That right there, that’s impossible! Goldy’s swing was fast! You’re trying to say the kid dodged it as an afterthought?!”
“I’m only half-certain myself. Maybe it was all just a coincidence. But if it wasn’t…”
“…! There’s no way I’m gonna believe that!”
Goldy glares at Mundane.
“You piss me off. Right there, you just missed a golden opportunity. You had a real shot at beating me, a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and you let it slip away like it was nothing. Meanwhile, you’re just standing there cool as a cucumber.” Goldy grinds his teeth. “You should be mad. You should be grieving. You should be scratching and clawing to try and win. The fact that you aren’t is basically an act of blasphemy against me.”
Mundane just listens to Goldy in silence.
“Did you not even notice what you just missed? If that’s the case, then I guess I can’t blame you. That’s power level thirty-three for you.”
Goldy tries and fails to stifle a laugh.
“But hell if I’m gonna let myself lose face to a nobody like you. I’m gonna come at you with everything I’ve got. So don’t come complaining to me if you die. Capisce?”
Goldy readies his sword, then begins gathering magic in its blade.
The air vibrates as the magic accumulates.
A murmur runs through the crowd.
“Here’s a fact you can take with you to the grave: My power level’s four thousand three hundred.”
And in one fluid motion, Goldy closes the distance between them and strikes.
“Demonic Golden Dragon! Fatality Strike!!”
The wave of golden magic seems to take the form of a golden dragon, devouring Mundane whole.
Or at least, it’s supposed to.
Suddenly, an achoo! rings out, and the dragon vanishes.
“Blargh!!”
And as it does, Goldy gets sent spinning through the air.
The crowd stops murmuring.
Instead, they gape, dumbfounded, as Goldy crashes to the ground and stops moving.
“Th-the winner is Mundane Mann!!”
As Mundane turns to leave, they’re chanting his name in the stands.
“That Goldy Gilded guy wasn’t no pushover…”
That’s the first thing to leave Quinton’s mouth post-match.
After hearing Annerose’s description of the man, Quinton’s opinion of him had been low.
He hadn’t expected Goldy to be capable of materializing his magic to that extent.
That final attack of Goldy’s had enough power that it wouldn’t have been surprising if he’d advanced to the finals.
“He was definitely more powerful than I thought. If he’d been aiming for the top and actually took on stronger opponents, he could’ve made an outstanding dark knight.”
“So what’d Mundane do at the end there?”
Annerose crosses her arms, sighing. “If I’m not mistaken…he sneezed.”
“What?”
“The Golden Dragon must not have been too bright. When he sneezed, he brought his sword down, and Goldy ran right into it.”
“No, that doesn’t make any sense. You’re saying a sneeze beat a dragon?”
“It certainly seems that way. Goldy said Mundane missed a golden opportunity, but maybe Mundane didn’t see it as one. He could have taken Goldy down whenever he wanted. In other words, he didn’t need to seize every opening… Or maybe to Mundane, Goldy was never not defenseless…?”
Just considering this sends shivers down Annerose’s spine.
It’s impossible.
At the end of the day, it is only a theory… She assumes she must simply be wildly overthinking things.
“This is nonsense.” Quinton scoffs, then aggressively abandons his seat. “But hey, it was my bad for taking you seriously. I ain’t never gonna believe in that kid. Even if he keeps winning, he’s gonna run into me in the prelim finals. I’ll show everyone what a poser he really is.”
Quinton casts one last glare at the Mundane-free arena, then leaves.
Annerose, on the other hand, stays seated and recalls Mundane’s movements.
“Would I be able to pull off the same moves…?”
Still sitting, she cracks her neck and sneezes.
She tries it again and again, each time faster and with fewer wasted movements.
Crack, achoo, crack-achoo-crack!
“A-achoo…”
Then, conscious of the strange looks she’s getting from the people around her, she goes bright red and flees.
The Unbeaten Legend has finally been broken.
News of his defeat spreads among the tournament fanatics like wildfire.
Even though it’s still just the prelims, Goldy the Unbeaten Legend is a dark knight to whom people pay attention. They are astonished to hear he’s lost to some nobody named Mundane, but their shock dwindles when they are told how the fight went down.
Oh, sounds like he just won by some fluke.
That is more or less how most of the fanatics see it.
However, a few of them—along with some of the people who have actually been watching the match—have doubts about how Mundane is being assessed.
Because of that, they decide to attend Mundane’s matches and judge his strength firsthand.
“What’s this?! Quinton is down!! And he’s not getting back up!! Mundane wins another match with a single blow!!”
The B-Block finals for the preliminary rounds end with Mundane’s victory.
Another one-hit win.
The fanatics can’t figure out what to make of him. That day’s victory qualifies him for the primary rounds, but nobody is quite sure how he’s actually done it.
There’s no way he could have won so many times off pure luck, so he has to have at least some skill.
In fact, his opponent in the prelim finals, Quinton, was a dark knight held in high estimation by the enthusiastic crowd. The fact that Quinton lost to Mundane without being able to put up a fight leaves the fanatics with little choice but to acknowledge Mundane’s strength.
However, because they can’t figure out how he won, they can’t really pin down his true strength.
He’s probably stronger than Quinton, but is he really fit to stand atop the main stage?
He might be strong, but can he really stack up against the historic winners of the Bushin Festival?
Arguments on the topic are heated.
The Eminence in Shadow, Vol. 2 (Light Novel) Page 13