Chapter 90 - The Definition of Fair and Square

The battle was taking on a repetitive pattern.

Boom-!

Rain dodged the fire magic Theodore threw by taking cover.

Bang!

Bang!

Rain aimed for the opening and shot at Theodore…….

Ting-

The shot was blocked by Theodore's abjuration magic.

There were times in between when Rain would only dodge and not shoot, and from that, Theodore was able to figure out that Rain was reloading.

‘Six shots in total. A revolver type, I see.’

This was repeated, and the battle continued to drag on.

‘He’s just trying to find an opening while keeping me in check, is that it?’

Theodore found that intention utterly laughable.

No, he might have even felt resentful.

How lightly did he see him, to try to solve the battle with such a notion, he thought.

“It’s unpleasant.”

But that couldn't be repeated forever.

Before long, the structures at Team B's base that could be used as cover could no longer be found.

It was because Theodore, who had figured out Rain's intention, had focused on erasing the cover rather than directly hitting Rain.

Boom-!

Thus, the last piece of cover was destroyed…….

Taat-!

Finally, Rain Enlight jumped out from the destroyed cover.

A figure clearly rushing straight at Theodore. It was a frontal breakthrough without any tricks or feints.

“It would have come to this sooner or later… what was the point of all that meaningless struggle until now!”

Theodore shouted out of frustration, but as before, Rain did not answer.

“……”

He was just fixing his gaze on Theodore with those dark eyes whose inner thoughts could not be read.

Since the cover was destroyed, if he attacked with a wide range, there was no way to dodge anymore.

Theodore quickly made his judgment and condensed magic power in his hand.

Fwoosh-!

“It’s over!”

There was no way to escape. In that desperate situation, Rain's response was-

Click.

To raise his gun.

But Theodore did not react.

Why, you ask?

‘I’ve calculated how many shots he fires after reloading. He’s already used up all six shots.’

As mentioned before, Theodore was counting Rain's remaining ammunition.

He also knew from experience that he could fire six shots with one reload.

And Rain had fired six shots after reloading for the last time.

What would that mean?

‘An empty gun, it’s a bluff…!’

The intention was clear. To delay the use of magic with the pistol and then drag it into a close-quarters fight.

Theodore had no intention of being fooled and quickly drew up his magic power.

And, just before Theodore's powerful flame extended towards Rain.

The match was decided.

In a form completely different from Theodore's expectation.

Bang-!

Unlike his prediction that he was sure would not be wrong, Rain's revolver spat out a flame with a gunshot.

And the bullet that extended from Rain's revolver accurately pierced Theodore's left chest.

“What… you say…!”

Of course, Theodore was not put into a state of incapacitation by that one shot alone.

But.

The momentary shock applied to a vital point.

A temporary stop of thought derived from an unexpected situation.

Damage to the magic circuit circulating near the heart, caused by the magic bullet.

Due to these factors, Theodore's magic casting was delayed for that fleeting moment and remained in an incomplete form… and thus, a very brief opening was created.

And, the seasoned hunter who had crossed the line of death countless times did not miss that fleeting gap in the enemy's consciousness.

Fwoosh-

However, the 『Flame Wave』 that Theodore was casting, though late and incomplete, still exerted its power.

In that fleeting moment of bewilderment, the competent mage named Theodore had grabbed hold of the thread of his mind again and had cast the magic, albeit incompletely.

Perhaps because of the incomplete activation, it was too late to stop Rain… and its power was also poor compared to the original, but it was a sufficiently overwhelming attack for the weak-durability Rain.

“It’s over.”

However, Rain finally broke through the flame and reached Theodore…….

Slash-!

He carved a sword strike into Theodore's chest.

It was the decisive blow that settled the match.

***

The reason I had deliberately dragged on the time was to imprint the existence of the revolver, and its information, onto him.

‘To be precise, it was to make him learn through experience that one magazine of the revolver holds six shots.’

You might ask what meaning such an act has, but it was a stepping stone to use a trick of faking the number of remaining bullets.

Yes, the main point was the remaining bullet trick.

The basis of the trick was the arcane magic 『Magic Bullet』, and its effect was to immediately supply one magic bullet to the magazine.

It was not a commonly used magic, but a rare magic that was sometimes used by marksmen who could use magic on the front lines.

The reason why mages generally don't use it? It was simple.

Because the race of mages was a race that could produce more power than firearms with their bare hands.

Think about it. Logically, even without using firearms, fireballs that give more impact than firearms come out of their hands, so why would they bother to use firearms, why would they bother to supply bullets with this?

But my case was different. I was a person whose magic power was rock bottom.

I discovered this while looking for magic that was efficient in battle, and could be used practically with good magic power.

And I went to Arien and learned it right away. To one day use the magazine trick on an enemy.

Seeing me constantly shooting, he would have learned about the characteristics of the revolver, consciously or unconsciously… and Theodore would have counted my remaining ammunition.

As a result, he didn't cast abjuration magic even when I blatantly aimed my gun at him at the end.

…If he had used abjuration magic to block it once and then cast attack magic again, it would have been my defeat, but he had already fallen into the trap.

And this was the result.

“It’s over.”

Slash-!

With the blow I dealt to his chest as the last, Theodore's body tilted backward.

Thud.

And, he fell.

‘……Damn it, he still counterattacked at the end?’

I had dealt the decisive blow, but it was a close call as I was also in tatters.

To think it had this much power even though it was activated in a simplified form because the magic circuit was damaged.

If the power had been a little stronger, the one lying on the ground might have been me.

Trudge.

Anyway, I slowly walked over to Theodore and looked down at him.

I could see Theodore's agitated expression, knowing he had been deceived.

“You… coward…!”

I could even see him squeezing out his voice as if to say it was unfair with that expression.

Cowardly.

“Hah.”

No matter how much I hid my emotions and even let out a hollow laugh inwardly, I couldn't help but be flabbergasted by those words.

“What’s… so funny……”

Noise was mixing into his voice.

It meant that his body in the Otherworld was damaged, and he was in the process of returning to reality.

So, he was slowly being ejected to the waiting room.

“Then what did you expect me to do. Did you expect me to face you head-on?”

“If you also aim to be a knight… shouldn't you have fought fair and square……!”

That damn fair and square.

It seemed he was so resentful that I had used a trick to deceive him.

Thinking that he would have won if we had fought head-on with all our strength.

‘This guy will probably die in a real battlefield saying something like this.’

Or he would die without even being able to say such a thing.

Well. It was true that it was a combat style filled with deceit, aiming for the opponent's carelessness and arrogance.

But there is a fact that doesn't change even if you curse it as petty.

That is, the fact that I am the weak one.

And, the weak have their own way of fighting.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“Whose fair and square is that for?”

“What did you say……”

“The innate abilities we are born with are different, and whether we had an environment to develop our strength is also different.”

Everyone is born with a different destiny.

Who bestows it? Well, God probably does. If not that, then the world.

Someone would have been given outstanding magic power.

Someone would have been given a strong body.

And someone else would have been given an environment to hone their skills.

And someone… might have been born without being given anything.

There might even be those who received something worse than nothing.

But to ignore such circumstances and compete only on quantitative combat power, huh…….

“But, is it truly ‘fair and square’ to compete head-on only with the results of that?”

Is that really fair and square? Is it just?

“And the deceit I used to achieve victory is despicable?”

Then must the weak taste only defeat forever?

Ha.

I continued to speak while looking down at him.

Probably, an expression of contempt was on my face.

“The fair and square you speak of is a complete contradiction.”

Fwaaa-

His figure was gradually blurring.

“You are just throwing a tantrum, asking me to fight in an area where you have the advantage.”

Soon, he would be transported to the examination room where we were waiting.

“……”

Theodore did not answer my words.

I don't know the reason. Did he become unable to speak anymore, or was he just keeping his mouth shut?

It didn't matter.

Fizzle.

Not long after, his form turned into particles and disappeared.

And, I tried to turn my body and move towards the flag…….

Thud.

“……!”

I couldn't put proper strength into my left knee, and I ended up collapsing.

The cause was the damage from the flames that Theodore had spread in his final struggle.

‘To be in this state even after deceiving him so perfectly.’

We were on the verge of mutual destruction.

Even though the strategy, luck, and situation were on my side.

“Ahaha, it’s unfair……”

I could only mutter so, kneeling on the ground.

It was a result mixed with a sense of futility and relief.

***

The way knights approach battle can be broadly divided into two types.

One is the type that approaches battle instinctively.

They are mostly based on outstanding physical ability or magic power, and they are characterized by being strong in improvisation.

The other one was the type that understood and approached battle.

They had a strong tendency to approach battle theoretically and analytically, and they often showed great strength in the tactical department.

And, Pleta was the latter type of person.

As Pleta, who had the skills of a Master Knight among the latter type of knights, her battle analysis ability could be dared to be said to be second to none.

As such, Pleta could not help but feel surprised after seeing the contents of the battle held in this exam.

To be precise, it was about Rain Enlight's battle.

“……Amazing, junior.”

First, the part that impressed her when Rain fought 1 vs 4 was the perfection of the technique he showed.

Rain seemed to know too well how to effectively deal with an unskilled coordinated attack.

It seemed he was truly familiar with the situation of being ganged up on himself… to the point where it was questionable where he had learned it.

Because Rain was using a technique that could not be cultivated unless it was a real battle situation, so proficiently.

Second… when fighting Theodore, she was once again surprised by the perfect composition of the strategy, and the bold execution.

Rain continuously exposed the revolver to imprint the existence of the magazine on the opponent, and at the crucial moment, he showed his hidden card.

Restricting the opponent's perception, and dealing a fatal blow from outside that perception.

That was the basics and the entirety of a deceitful strategy, and Rain was so good at it that it was almost too much.

His tendency to seem to value real battles was also a plus point.

The core of the magazine trick was probably the arcane magic 『Magic Bullet』, but due to various circumstances, it was not a mainstream magic, so there were almost no one who sought it out to learn.

However, from Rain, there were signs that he had diligently researched a strategy to utilize that non-mainstream magic.

And he had splendidly proven it in a real battle.

‘I think I know now. Why Mr. Acaite described this child as heterogeneous.’

The students of the academy were lacking in real battle experience as they had grown up as flowers in a greenhouse.

And, as the sensory part of battle is cultivated in real battles… the academy students generally had a tendency to be somewhat lacking in their sense of real battle.

On the contrary, their specs were excellent, almost excessive, compared to their real battle experience.

But Rain's case was different.

His sense of battle was at the level of a veteran, but his specs themselves were not particularly outstanding.

He had characteristics that were the exact opposite of the academy students.

In other words, he was heterogeneous. She had no choice but to describe him that way.

Pleta recalled Acaite's seemingly ambiguous evaluation and smiled.

In the academy, which was full of those who prided themselves on being strong, one who recognized that he was weak stood tall alone.

‘Heterogeneous… huh, that’s a really fitting evaluation.’

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