Chapter 16
The chairman sat among the spectators, watching the screen on the viewing stone.
On the wide dueling stage prepared separately, Ariel and Denson stood facing each other.
The rules of the match were simple.
Whoever surrendered first would lose.
“Are you sure this is okay? Isn’t this going to end with a perfectly fine child getting hurt for no reason…?”
“Well, I heard that Ariel girl beat Denson once before…”
“But just look at her. All pale and thin—she looks like she’d snap in half if a sword hit her.”
The murmuring voices of the retainers sitting nearby could be heard.
That’s how stark the difference in physique was between Ariel and Denson.
It was only natural.
Denson was five years older than Ariel, and while Ariel had barely scraped by with one meal a day, Denson had grown up eating only the best foods for his health.
Denson was the first to attack.
“Hiyaaaap!”
He shouted and swung his sword with force.
Those who saw the way he swung his sword let out words of admiration.
“I heard he’s only twelve years old, but there’s quite a bit of strength behind that sword.”
“The chairman must have taken good care of him, but even so, he must have trained a lot himself. It won’t be easy for a novice like the young lady to face him.”
“Didn’t they say the young lady has only been learning swordsmanship for about a month? That’s usually when you start feeling confident in your own skills… It’d be better for her to surrender before she gets seriously hurt.”
The retainers spoke with concern as they watched Ariel.
To be honest, they weren’t thrilled about the fact that the duke had brought Ariel as his heir.
Her origins were unclear, and she looked far too small and delicate to lead a noble family.
But that didn’t mean they wanted to see her get cut down by a sword.
Ariel picked up her sword.
Unlike Denson’s, which was forged from rare materials and engraved with magic, Ariel’s was a plain iron training sword used by soldiers.
It was a poor choice.
They could already imagine Ariel being overpowered and falling to the ground, getting injured by Denson’s sword.
But contrary to everyone’s expectations—
“Am I hallucinating?”
“No… I think we’re seeing the same thing.”
Ariel blocked Denson’s sword.
And she did it with ease.
“Y-Youuuu!”
Denson’s face turned red as he put all his strength into the clash.
Since their swords were locked together at close range, Ariel could see his face clearly.
“Why?! Why aren’t you being pushed back?! I should have more mana than you! Why?!”
He strained so hard, veins bulged on his forearms.
Aura shimmered around his sword.
The fact that he could still use mana like this showed just how much he’d been fed and trained by the chairman.
With that much mana, there was likely no peer among his age group.
While others could only use a skill once, he could probably use five.
“If you dump all your mana like that, you think that’s enough?”
I smiled at him, my sword wrapped in a thin layer of aura.
“You’re supposed to use the right amount, in the right place, at the right time. That’s basic—day one kind of stuff.”
While Denson poured all his mana into creating a large aura, I used mine sparingly—crafting a fine, thin aura along the edge of my blade to conserve energy.
Unlike Denson, I didn’t have much mana to work with, so I had to use it efficiently.
That’s what they call a difference in skill.
I pushed forcefully, knocking Denson’s sword away.
He stumbled backward.
I didn’t miss the chance and went straight for his exposed side.
“D-Damn it!”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Our swords clashed rapidly.
Unlike before, when he had confidently swung his blade, now all Denson could do was block mine.
“You… you…!”
He looked like he wanted to curse at me, but he didn’t even have the chance.
If he let his guard down for even a second to open his mouth, my sword would be on him.
The chairman watched the screen, his eyes bloodshot.
He couldn’t believe what was unfolding before him.
His grandson was losing to a girl of unknown background.
He had carefully arranged today’s match for his grandson’s victory.
One of his preparations was ordering the head maid to disturb the girl’s meals and sleep to weaken her.
But that wasn’t the only thing he had prepared.
He had procured a rare elixir that increased mana and fed it to Denson, and had all kinds of magic embedded in Denson’s clothes.
Enchantments to make his body lighter, to boost his strength—his outfit cost more than golden armor.
Besides, Denson had been wielding a sword since he was two years old.
And yet, he was losing to a girl who had only been training for a month?
That couldn’t be possible—logically, it made no sense.
But when he looked up, he could see Denson barely managing to block Ariel’s attacks.
It was only a matter of time before Denson surrendered.
“Why do you look so surprised, Chairman?”
The Duke of Clasta rested his chin on one hand, smiling.
“It’s so obvious that it’s boring. You see something different, Chairman?”
The chairman couldn’t reply—his fury was choking him.
The duke seemed determined to push his buttons and continued.
“She’s really something, isn’t she? You think so too, don’t you?”
“…”
“Whoever brought her in must be quite sharp. Ah, come to think of it, it was you, wasn’t it?”
He stroked his chin as if recalling something.
“You said, ‘How could we bring some lowborn, uneducated brat into the Clasta household?’ Yet now, it’s been proven that your grandson is no match for her. What do you plan to do about that?”
The chairman gritted his teeth.
“The match isn’t over yet. We won’t know the result until it ends.”
“You still haven’t given up on your grandson, have you?”
“He is my grandson.”
“Doesn’t it occur to you that being your grandson might be the very problem?”
While the chairman was flushed with rage, the duke remained utterly calm.
“You’re being harsh, Duke.”
“How about a wager, then?”
The duke’s crimson lips curled elegantly.
“If your grandson wins, I’ll make him the heir immediately. But if my daughter wins, you must step down as chairman. What do you say?”
It was a shocking proposal.
The chairman had arranged this match to avenge the humiliation Denson had suffered, but even if Denson won, the duke had never guaranteed he’d be named heir.
Still, the chairman planned to use this victory to leverage his influence and force Denson in as the heir.
He glanced at the arena.
Betting his chairmanship while Denson was losing was certainly reckless.
But I still have a card to play.
He had already received a report from the head maid that Ariel used the hand oil.
Accepting this bet would not only wipe away the shame his beloved grandson suffered, but could also allow him to seize control of the ducal house.
Surely the duke hasn’t noticed anything.
No—he’d smelled it too, hadn’t he?
That sweet scent lingering around Ariel.
“Very well. Let’s do it.”
The chairman finally accepted the duke’s offer.
Then he signaled a subordinate nearby.
It was time to execute the plan.
Moments after the subordinate disappeared, a strange sound came from the arena.
Boom! Boom!
“What’s that noise?”
“Something’s crashing into something. What could it be?”
The loud thuds caused a stir among the spectators.
But Ariel and Denson stayed focused, acting as if they hadn’t heard a thing.
The sound came closer and closer.
Just as Ariel was aiming for an opening—
Screeeech!
A massive monster burst through a gate at the edge of the arena.
“A-A monster?!”
“What?! How did a monster get in here?!”
The creature stood on all fours, growling threateningly at Ariel and Denson.
Its gaping mouth revealed sharp fangs, drooling with saliva.
Plak.
A terrifying beast resembling a dog, over two meters long. It had the power to crush a human skull in seconds, and could run over 100 kilometers per hour in short bursts.
No way could two children handle such a beast.
It would take at least two seasoned knights to take down a single Plak.
“Stop the match immediately and deploy the First Knights! Hurry!”
The Duke of Clasta gave the order, and the knights began to move.
But their actions were halted by a single sentence from the chairman.
“Does this mean the duke is forfeiting the match?”
“What?”
“That’s the rule, isn’t it? Whoever stops the match, loses.”
“Chairman, are you insane? You’re saying you don’t care if your precious grandson dies to that monster?!”
Seeing the duke’s expression, the chairman smiled even more confidently.
The duke’s anxious face assured him he hadn’t been found out.
If the duke knew his plan, he wouldn’t look so desperate.
He wouldn’t have allowed this to happen in the first place.
Because that monster had been released by the chairman himself.
“My grandson won’t die to some mere beast.”
“You put too much faith in him. You think he can handle a Plak with that level of skill?”
“Whether he can or not remains to be seen. If you want to stop the match, go ahead. Just remember—it won’t be me who ended it. It’ll be you.”
When the chairman first arranged the match, he thought:
Even if Denson wins, getting rid of that arrogant girl Ariel would be a hassle.
So why not eliminate her?
A corpse can’t become an heir. That position would naturally fall to his grandson.
So he ordered the head maid to mix something into the hand oil the duke had gifted Ariel.
A special additive: the secretions of a female Plak in heat.
With Ariel covered in the scent, the monster would ignore everyone else and go straight for her.
It would take time for the knights to arrive.
In that time, Ariel would be torn apart, and the scent would be drowned in blood—leaving no evidence.
The chairman turned to the duke with a kindly smile.
Now the duke had only two choices left:
Admit defeat and save Ariel’s life,
or watch her die and admit defeat anyway.
