Kiraware Yūsha ni Tensei Shitanode Aisare Yūsha o Mezashimasu! - Chapter 27

[Rematch]

Barrett Albers VS Raul Lorenz.

In the original novel,【The Rise of the Weakest Holy Swordsman】, the mock battle between Barrett and Raul turned into a serious match where they respectively used the Holy Sword and the Demon Sword, and it ended with the former one-sidedly beating the latter to a pulp.

However, I just discovered the fact that (former) Barrett actually had been forcing Raul to lose on purpose. He likely had threatened to make Raul be dropped out of the academy if he defied him.

As such, I apologized to Raul for everything and asked him to fight seriously in this mock battle. As a fan of the original novel, and knowing how hard he had been training by himself in secret, it was the least I could do.

Well, I had no intention to lose, though.

After all, the reward from Tayte was at stake here!

The venue of the rematch was the same training ground where the previous mock battle was held.

In view of the previous incident (Raul’s going berserk), more teachers stood guard. Among them, I could spot Holy Knight Klaus. Further behind them, there were our classmates.

“Please do your best, Barrett.”

“Yeah!”

I could achieve anything with Tayte’s support.

With that feeling burning strong in me, I went to stand before Raul.

“Lord Barrett…”

“I’ve told you, just call me Barrett. More importantly, what I said previously—just to remind you, I was being serious about it.”

A serious fight with no holds barred.

Holy Knight Klaus took Raul in as a disciple because he saw through his true skills. However, only much later did the classmates come to realize Raul’s hidden power.

But if we displayed Raul’s skills here, the way the others looked at him would likely change, too.

“Begin!”

At Mr. Walter’s signal, we clashed head-on.

――But the situation that followed was completely different from previously.

“Haa!” Raul went on the aggressive.

The power and speed that he now demonstrated made him seem like a completely different person from before.

His attribute values should be terribly low—had they dramatically improved due to his persistent training?

In any case… I had no doubt that Raul was giving his all.

“Kh!”

Until now, he’d been beaten one-sidedly.

Now that he no longer held back, others’ reactions changed.

“H-hey, doesn’t it seem like Barrett is being pushed back?”

“Y-yeah…”

“He’s a total bastard, but his skills are real. Despite that…”

That last guy, I could hear you, you know?

Well, considering (former) Barrett’s past misdeeds, I supposed there was no helping it.

“Is it possible that Barrett is holding back?”

“Nah, I doubt that. I mean, why would he get from doing that anyway?”

“True that. There’s no way Barrett Albers, who always viciously beat his opponents to the point they break down crying with a smile on his face, would pretend to be at a disadvantage without anything in it for him.”

……Now I felt like crying for real.

But what matters at the moment was the opinions of Raul, not me.

“I believe Raul is simply strong, is all.”

“But his status should be low…”

Good.

The others’ opinion was changing.

The teachers and the Holy Knight Klaus had surprised looks on their faces, too.

Next—

“Barrett…”

The figure of Tayte clasping her hands with her eyes closed as though in prayer came into my view.

I couldn’t let her be more worried than she already was, huh.

“Yaa!”

“Uwah?!”

In the face of Raul’s continuous attacks, I decided to counterattack. Honestly, there were barely any openings in his movements, but I somehow managed to repel him and create some distance.

As we were keeping a certain distance from each other and adjusting our breathing—

“They’re both good.”

“Yeah… I’m impressed.”

“Either of them can win this.”

I could hear the voices of our classmates.

Their words… honestly made me happy.

“Raul.”

“? I-is something the matter?”

“Let’s settle this.”

“—! A-alright!”

We both lowered our hips, braced our legs, and tightened the grips on our swords.

In the next moment, without a signal, we rushed toward each other at the same time, and—

Thack!

Raul’s training sword flew into the air.

“Ah……”

It was an extremely close match.

But in the end, the victor was decided in the space of a moment.

If I had messed up my timing even just for a fraction of a second, the one who sat down in place right now would have been me.

I walked over to the depressed Raul and reached out a hand toward him, “I was honestly surprised. Would you be willing to be my opponent in the next mock battle?”

“Y-yes! Gladly!” Raul took my hand and stood up.

After that, the Holy Knight Klaus and Ms. Teixeira came up to Raul and talked about something with him. Inferring from the words I managed to catch, it was likely about the apprenticeship offer and the research on the Demon Sword. I was sure that with this, the way that the teachers in charge of practical lessons and classroom lectures, and our classmates looked at him and treated him would change for the better from now on.

――With this, Raul had safely got on the original storyline protagonist route.

After ascertaining that, I went towards Tayte.

“Good work, Barrett.”

“Thanks, Tayte.”

Her words of appreciation alone healed my fatigue from the battle.

Was this one of her powers as a Saintess?

In any case, I was really glad everything turned out well.