Reiger really wanted to have a bout with the Swordsman following Eredman.
Since arriving in this world, Reiger could no longer rampage through the underground city as he used to. He had to rely on practicing swordsmanship and magic to hone his skills, having only fought in real combat twice.
Once was against an Assassin who attacked him, which he won easily.
Once was against a masked man who ambushed him in the Franzel mansion, and he easily trampled the opponent.
It was exhilarating, but Reiger still longed for an opponent who could match his strength.
With such an opponent, he could gain more experience, grow more, validate all that he had learned, and even stimulate a thrilling sensation in his heart—a threefold boon.
And that Swordsman, since he gave Reiger the same impression as facing Finn, Revilia, and Grace, it proved that the man was at least a master comparable to Lv.6.
This level of opponent was worthy of his full effort.
Reiger hoped that the man would make an appearance, so that he could face him.
But he didn’t know whether the man would participate in the first match or the third match.
He hoped it was the third match.
Reiger thought silently to himself and asked Yuri, "Who are you planning to send out for the first match? Marilyn?"
There was no need for Yuri to answer, as Marilyn present could respond.
"I will participate," Marilyn stated emotionlessly. "But I probably won’t win."
"Why?" Reiger was a bit surprised to hear Marilyn say this.
Yuri took over for Marilyn.
"The first person father will send out will most likely be my brother, Safaz," said Yuri. "Though father has many Attendants and Knights below him, none of them are True Knights yet. Therefore, to secure a victory, father will definitely have my brother assist him."
"Oh?" Reiger raised an eyebrow and asked, "So your brother is a True Knight?"
"Correct," said Yuri lightly. "In the Franzel family, only my father and I have the talent to become Magicians. The rest of my siblings, including my mother, due to insufficient Magic Power, cannot practice Magic and must follow the path of the Swordsman."
"But Mitis seems not the sort for swordsmanship either, never having successfully mastered any technique, and Isu, impulsive and overly playful, often skips his swordsmanship classes. Neither is at the point where they can truly call themselves Swordsmen yet."
"Only my brother and sister, who have been practicing swordsmanship from a young age, have already received their True Knight Medals. Especially my brother, who seems so frivolous yet is a genius in swordsmanship, has held his True Knight Medal for five years now. By now, he is probably stronger than Marilyn, Ai En, and Ian under normal conditions."
Yuri told Reiger that Marilyn had received her True Knight Medal three years ago, and Ai En and Ian, one year ago.
Just looking at the timeline, those three are no match for Safaz, and as long as Safaz hasn’t neglected his training over the years, he definitely wouldn’t lose to Marilyn, Ai En, and Ian.
However, what intrigued Reiger more was a statement Yuri had just let slip.
"Under normal conditions, Marilyn?"
Reiger was just about to ask this question when Yuri suddenly said,
"Actually, I’ve never quite understood my brother," Yuri said, frowning. "I always feel like he’s hiding some great secret. Ever since we were children, his actions have been very suspicious, especially after father handed over the headship to me, disqualifying him from becoming the family heir, he has become even more mysterious, always out doing God knows what, utterly inscrutable."
As she spoke, what emerged in Yuri’s eyes was deep suspicion and a trace of wariness.
Indeed, this fearless young lady, unafraid of the royal family or even her own father, daring to retaliate against anything, was actually wary of her own brother.
"Father seems to know something but never tells us, never even asking what my brother does outside. He also doesn’t arrange any alliances through marriage for him, which is very suspicious." Yuri got carried away, saying a few more words, then shook her head, adding, "But no matter what, my brother has always been very obedient to father’s commands. Since childhood, he has always stayed by father’s side. This time, father will likely send him out, so he will participate for sure."
Yuri believed Safaz would fight in the first match.
The reason is simple.
"He is that kind of person. If someone asks him for a favor, he either tries his best to push it off, or, if he can’t, he quickly resolves the matter—he really dislikes trouble."
Yuri, discerning the nature of her suspicious brother, thus made such a guess.
If Safaz went first, the odds were that Marilyn would lose when she faced him. That was Yuri’s view.
"Then why not have me go first?"
Reiger developed some interest in Safaz from what Yuri said.
"It’s not worth it," Yuri said without hesitation. "If you go as a Swordsman in the first match, then you can’t use Magic. Any situation that prevents you from exerting your full strength should be avoided if possible."
The first match allowed only Swordsmen to participate. If Reiger participated then, he could not use Magic, only swordsmanship.
The same was true for the second match, where if Reiger went up, he could only use Magic, not swordsmanship.
Given this, Yuri naturally did not want to waste Reiger’s excellent combat abilities by placing him in the unrestricted third match, which was the best use of resources.
But this clarified the situation greatly.
"In the first match, Marilyn against Safaz for Swordsmen only, we are very likely to lose."
"The second match, you against father for Magicians only, and you are confident you can win."
"This means that all the stakes rest on my match in the third round, doesn’t it?"
Reiger felt somewhat unsure how to react.
"Maybe it won’t be necessary?" Yuri smirked, saying, "Perhaps my brother has indeed neglected his swordsmanship over the years and loses to Marilyn. Then you won’t need to participate."
This young lady was truly confident that she could win against her own father.
In such a situation, Reiger found it inappropriate to say, "Maybe we’ve lost the first two matches, so I won’t need to compete either."
Of course, with the situation being so clear, it told Reiger that he might indeed face that male swordsman.
After all, according to Yuri, Safaz would attend the first match and Eredman the second, so in the third match, it was quite likely that Eredman would let that swordsman compete.
Yuri was unaware of the swordsman’s strength, but Eredman was certainly aware.
Otherwise, Eredman wouldn’t bring anyone else but that male swordsman to listen in on the Franzer family’s arguments in the conference hall.
This proved that the man’s skills were at least greatly trusted by Eredman.
And since Yuri had mentioned that there were no knights or attendants of True Knight Medal caliber under Eredman’s command in the past, the swordsman must have been a recent recruit. Therefore, it was very likely that Eredman was saving him as a trump card for the final match.
This made Reiger look forward to the match even more.
The opponent was a swordsman equivalent to a Lv.6.
This match was bound to be interesting, wasn’t it?
While Reiger and Yuri were discussing the battle festival, in a narrow alley of Wendine, the sought-after swordsman appeared quietly.
He still had his eyes closed, a sword hanging by his waist, his steps unwavering as he walked deeper into the darkness of the alley.
His pace was slow, almost sluggish, as if trudging through a swamp, dragging his feet step by step.
Just like that, as he walked, several figures approached him from the front of the alley.
"Hey, blind man, what are you doing here all by yourself?"
A voice rang out with a sneer.
"Walking alone at night can be very dangerous, you know?"
As these words were spoken, several garishly dressed thugs emerged from the darkness.
They surrounded the swordsman, forcing him to stop.
"Blind man, how about paying some tuition?" the leader of the thugs licked the corner of his mouth and chuckled softly, "We’ve come to teach you personally. We are good-hearted people telling you how dangerous these night alleys are. It’s only reasonable to pay us some tuition, right?"
Upon hearing this, the swordsman did not move.
Instead, another thug noticed the sword hanging at the swordsman’s waist and quickly spoke up to warn the others.
"Careful, this man has a sword. He might be a swordsman who has learned sword techniques."
As soon as he said this, the bodies of the thugs tensed up.
Only the leader seemed unconcerned and said, "What of a swordsman? Who knows if he’s just a garbage swordsman who learned low-level techniques? A truly powerful swordsman would not wander dirty, deserted alleys at dead of night."
Encouraged by his words, the rest believed it to be true.
However, just then, the swordsman finally spoke.
"Do you know what color blood is?"
The swordsman’s voice was hoarse, sending chills down the spine.
Before the thugs could respond, the swordsman spoke again.
"It doesn’t matter if you don’t know, just look beneath you."
Hearing this, the men looked down.
Immediately after, they all saw it.
Undoubtedly, it was the color of fresh blood.
A soft sound suddenly emerged.
It was the sound of the swordsman sheathing his sword, which he had drawn without anyone noticing.
It was then that the thugs realized that, just moments ago, in an unseen moment, the swordsman had drawn his sword and struck them.
The leader of the thugs pointed at the swordsman with trembling fingers, then suddenly collapsed, soaked in blood.
The rest followed suit, falling into pools of blood, lifeless.
"It seems, even for trash like you, the blood is still red," the swordsman kneeled down, pressed his hand into the blood and looked at the red covering his palm, then suddenly started laughing.
That laugh was fierce, as if a ghoul itself had laughed.