CH 86

Pole Toppling

The first competition was pole toppling. It was a round-robin match[1], and the first one was between the sixth graders and the fourth graders.

“The key to this operation is you, Sheila. The competition is just beginning, so don’t overdo it and get hurt.”

“Understood.”

Hyderion sent out instructions to each of the participants.

First of all, they were to attack in a straightforward manner. If things didn’t go well, Hyderion would be in command and make the appropriate decisions on the spot. Since there was also a match against fifth-year students coming up, they would show only the bare minimum of their moves.

In other words, the strategy for the first round was to push hard with Sheila’s physical ability.

‘I couldn’t understand anything too difficult, so a simple strategy is just fine.’

She rotated her shoulders, loosened her hip joints, and flexed her body. With her sleeves and hems rolled up, Sheila was ready for battle.

“All right, I’m all fired up. Let’s go!”

“Idiot. You were just told not to be reckless.”

Zechs poked Sheila’s head as she raised her fist.

In today’s tournament, there was a rule that any student who had to go to the infirmary must leave the front line. For Sheila, who had no magic power, a single wound could become fatal.

The aristocrats didn’t violate the rules as long as they healed their own injuries, but they couldn’t use up all their mana because of the sword dance that was about to take place. Except for those with ample magic power, they had to be just as careful as the commoners.

Clauschezade, as the referee, stood in the training hall.

Logs were set up in the enemy camp and in their own camp, and the students surrounded the logs. After confirming that both sides were ready, he gave the order.

“Let the match―――begin!”

Sheila was the first to jump out.

She crossed the training ground with light steps and soon reached the enemy position. The problem was the number of people guarding their pole. At a quick glance, there were more than ten people left. This meant that the sixth graders seemed to be focusing on a defensive strategy.

‘That’s easy to do. If they don’t have many hands to attack, I can fight without worrying about my back.’

Zechs and Toldrid were in charge of defense. Trusting them, Sheila was quick to get to the enemy’s pole.

The only problem was, even if she got past the circle of defense and reached the pole, would Sheila be able to lower that log? There were a lot of people supporting it. The extra weight of Sheila’s body wouldn’t be enough to shake them.

‘We have to be flexible in that area.’

Two of the bigger sixth graders attacked Sheila. Since the use of magic was forbidden except in sword dances and Imperial Matches, they were blindly raising their fists in the air. Perhaps they weren’t accustomed to physical combat, so their movements were quite rough.

Sheila easily avoided the first one, parried the second one, and took advantage of their momentum to get behind their backs. She plunged her elbow into the back of one of them and defeated him quickly. The second person supported his friend as quickly as he could. When he was unable to move, Sheila slammed the hilt of her sword into him with ease.

When the other one sank down with a groan, her allies finally came out. Sheila looked over at Cody and Hyderion, and they gave her a small nod.

Cody attempted a frontal assault. Even though he had been training intensively since the summer, he was no match for them in size. He was only somewhat lucky not to be pulled down. Thanks to Hyderion supporting Cody, he was able to hang on.

“Sheila!”

Hyderion shouted.

Sheila was about to take that as her cue to jump, but she was once again blocked. This time, she was up against a formidable opponent.

“――Seiryuu.”

“I won’t let you go any further from here.”

Seiryuu, who had a good physique, seemed to be in charge of protecting the pole. He was ready to meet Sheila head-on.

She moved her body to the left, pretending to pull out her right hand. However, this level of diversion didn’t work on Seiryuu. He followed her movements with precision.

After thinking for a moment, she tried to run away from the pole. Sheila thought it would be a big advantage if she could attract Seiryuu, but he stopped chasing her after a certain position.

For now, Sheila decided to get behind the pole. She thought that he might get distracted by those coming from the front and neglect his defense, but she was naive. Seiryuu never took his eyes off Sheila.

‘Their strategy was to have him focus on me completely.’

Sheila’s high mobility was known throughout the entire grade, so it was probably natural for them to pit her against Seiryu, who excelled in physical arts.

Without getting through him, the strategy wouldn’t work. In the first round, the fourth graders wanted to take the win with Sheila’s strength alone, but as expected, Seiryuu was an upperclassman, so his strength was considerable.

Hyderion would immediately reorganize the operation if it proved impossible.

‘But I….. I don’t want to lose.’

Sheila didn’t want to destroy the strategy that Hyderion had entrusted to her, believing that she could do it. She didn’t want to give up.

Sheila regained her spirits. She meditated once and opened her eyes, determined once again.

A shiver ran down his spine as Seiryuu faced her beastly, yellow-colored eyes, and he immediately pulled up the corners of his mouth. It was no fun if she didn’t try that hard.

Sheila’s movements became incomparably faster than they were a moment ago. Unfortunately, if she were to go any faster, Seiryuu wouldn’t be able to keep up with her. However, he could follow her movements with his eyes.

He launched a fist into Sheila’s torso before she could make the first move. She easily avoided it, but that too was predictable. Seiryuu then swung his right leg as hard as he could.

Sheila dodged the heavy kick with just a touch of her hand. She continued to grab his right leg with both hands.

Seiryuu was surprised but calmly waited for his opponent’s response. When a human being was knocked off his feet, they would try to regain their leg as soon as possible. However, if he pulled his leg without thinking, he might fall down.

When he played his first match in the competency test, he certainly had a slight sense of pride. He was thinking about trying to up his place in the upper ranks to determine his ability. Now that he had learned how arrogant that was, Seiryuu would no longer let his guard down. So, no matter what kind of attack was launched, he was confident that he could handle it.

But what happened immediately after that was different from any of his expectations.

Sheila easily let go of his legs and jumped onto his body. Seiryuu was about to fall under the weight, but before he could, Sheila shifted her foothold to his shoulder and leaped at once.

By the time Seiryuu turned around in astonishment, Sheila was about to jump onto the center of the circle――above the heads of the crowd of men.

Seiryuu couldn’t help but laugh at her physical abilities, which exceeded his expectations. The fact that he was so easily outclassed was exhilarating.

Sheila, on the other hand, was forced into a situation that made her want to click her tongue. According to her estimation, she should have been able to land close to Cody and the others, but she was only able to reach the area where the enemies were swarming.

She ventured forward using their shoulders and heads as footholds, but they literally dragged her down. It was as if she had landed in a herd of evil spirits. While kicking their fiercely outstretched hand, Sheila managed to move forward.

But that didn’t last long. Finally, she felt a firm grip on her ankle. Just as she thought she was being dragged into the crowd, someone shook off their hand.

Sheila looked down and immediately realized it was Cody. He was struggling in the rough crowd, but he had managed to stay in the center of the group, not letting his upperclassmen’s defenses get the better of him.

Sheila made eye contact with Cody. ‘Don’t stop,’ his eyes told her. Sheila responded with a shout.

“Let’s go!”

She didn’t hesitate to place her feet on the palms of his hands. With a jerk, Sheila jumped up even higher, using the recoil of the downward thrust as momentum.

The heat beneath her feet faded away. She placed her right hand on the top of the pole and lifted herself up.

She hung her foot on the pole and successfully climbed to the top. Up here, the hustle and bustle and strife were far away.

Sheila watched the battle from on top. Her own pole was slightly tilted but still safe.

She looked down below her. In addition to Cody, Hyderion, and Bert were also making their way into the center of the battle. Little by little, the number of people guarding the pole was reduced.

With this, the fourth graders had a chance to win. They had different passions from the rest.

In both grades, it was the nobles who made up the majority. And by nature, they weren’t inherently fond of being squashed or clashing with each other.

The royal family also visited the tournament to watch, so they didn’t relax completely. However, the feeling in each of their hearts that “if someone else does well, I won’t have to get dirty” would determine who wins and who loses.

After some serious, grueling bumping around, only two sixth graders were guarding the pole. Sheila had been waiting for this moment.

She jumped down elegantly and kicked the stick as hard as she could while falling.

Even two of them could support the pole, as they were usually well-trained. However, the sudden impact caused one of them to lose his position due to the recoil.

The load that suddenly fell on one person was too much. He managed to stop the fall of the pole, but there were openings everywhere.

When Sheila, who had landed with ease, smiled at him, he turned pale at once.

Sheila kicked the sixth grader, who continued to support the pole, in the side and the thick log tipped over.

At this moment, the victory of the fourth graders was decided.

Translator Notes:

1. A round-robin tournament is a competition in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn. ↵