Volume 2 - CH 38

Act 2-38: Longing(Side: Riku Salvatore)

Riku Salvatore was walking with a heavy gait toward the round arena. Waiting in the arena was his opponent in the final round of the tournament.

Riku’s opponent, Zack Prower, was leagues above him in terms of strength and was also one of the champion candidates of this tournament. Nevertheless, even though the previous Riku, the one before “THAT” match, might have eagerly stood on the arena, the current him didn’t feel like doing that.

The reason was that match. It had slapped him awake and made him aware that there was a sky above the sky above him.

Kai Heineman―there was no reason to investigate, but Riku had realized Kai had been hiding his true strength when he was still in Lamour.

Although Riku’s master, Shiga, claimed that Kai’s victory during the elimination match was due to cheating with an item, Riku knew that the problem wasn’t in physical strength. Slapped awake by Kai’s remark, Riku had finally understood the one fact that not even his master realized. An unsurpassable wall lay between Kai and the other participants of that match, including Riku. Compared to Kai Heineman, Riku and the other participants were no different from toddlers who just learned how to crawl around.

And it was the same case for Riku’s opponent in this match, Zack. Zack had reached a height in martial arts that far surpassed Riku.

The spectators cheered as Riku climbed up the arena. Riku had managed to reach the final round of the tournament purely by luck. He had been trembling in fear at the edge of the arena when Kai had spared him. In his ears, the audience’s cheers weren’t directed at him, who had entered the final in such an unsightly manner. In short, the audience was cheering for Zack.

（Well, that’s only natural.）

Riku was only reaping what he had sowed. He blamed himself for never taking martial arts seriously prior to this tournament. For him, martial arts was only a means to gain fame in society.

Riku regretted the fact that he had passed the preliminary round. Since even if he had lost in the final preliminary round, he would at least retain his pride as a swordsman.

「I’m not even qualified as a warrior anymore…」

His muttering disappeared amongst the cheers of the audience when the female emcee introduced Zack.

Immediately abstaining after a match’s start was allowed in the final round. Riku had watched several of Zack’s matches. Zack apparently had zero interest in a gutless opponent. He wouldn’t attack his opponents as long as they surrendered at the start of the match.

At this point, Riku had achieved the goal set by his master, advancing to the final round of the tournament. Not surrendering at this point would only sully the fame of the Heineman-style. Therefore, Riku’s master, Shiga, had strictly ordered Riku to surrender right after the start of the match.

There was nothing wrong with Shiga’s opinion. After all, it was impossible for Riku to beat Zack. And that was also Riku’s original intention.

The referee finally stepped into the arena.

「FIGHT!」

He gave the signal to start the match.

Riku tried to raise his right hand to surrender, but strangely, his body refused to move. Trembling, he grasped the wooden sword he had never cared about until now, refusing to let it go.

「Ain’t gonna surrender, eh?」

Zack, who had been showing no interest toward Riku until now, squinted his left eye and looked at him.

「…」

Riku pointed his wooden sword toward Zack in silence.

（What in the world I’m doing now?）

Even Riku himself had no idea why he had pointed his wooden sword toward Zack. There was no shame in surrendering in front of an opponent he couldn’t win against. And most of all, his master Shiga had ordered him to do that. Shiga was the current instructor of the branch family faction with the most influence in the Heineman-style dojo. Going against such a man would only make Riku lose his status in Heineman-style.

And yet, his trembling limbs entered a fighting stance on their own.

「Then, I’m gonna crush you.」

Zack spoke while cracking his fingers.

「UWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!」

Letting out a warcry, Riku entered a fight he couldn’t win, for the first time in his life.

Zack’s right fist, which felt as hard as a rock, landed a clean hit on Riku’s abdomen, sending him flying. Riku bounced back on the floor until he reached the edge of the ring.

When Riku tried to prop his body using his wooden sword, a sharp pain ran through his entire body. His left eyelid swelled up from internal bleeding, taking half of his eyesight from him.

「Riku, stop showing such an unsightly figure! Surrender now!」

The hoarse voice of his master, who kept shouting the same order from the audience seat since a while ago, rang in his ears.

「Oioi, he still wants to have a go despite being so weak.」

「He’s so weak that even I can beat him with one hand.」

「Your master is right. Surrender quickly since you’re just being an annoyance.」

Riku could hear the jeering mixed with sneers coming from the audience seats.

Strangely enough, the current him didn’t care about that. Sure enough, his fight with Zack was like a quarrel between an adult and a child; it couldn’t even be regarded as a match. Riku thought that the him before “that match” might have felt the same way if he were watching this match from the audience seats.

「RIKU, Stop smearing mud on the Heineman-style’s name!!」

「SHUT THE HE*L UP! This is my fight! How to end this fight is mine to decide!」

The words coming out of Riku’s mouth were a rebellion against his master, something he would’ve never even considered until now.

With this, Riku would surely lose all status in the Heineman-style dojo that he had built until now. Yet, he didn’t even feel a grain of regret at all. In fact, he felt refreshed.

When Zack saw that, a ferocious smile appeared on his face.

「You’re weak. That much is true. But, at least, you’re the best opponent I’ve fought so far in this tournament. That’s why from this point, I’ll treat you like a proper warrior.」

The moment Zack said so, his figure vanished from Riku’s field of view. The next moment, a shock ran through Riku’s solar plexus. Almost at the same time, his face crashed against the cold, hard floor of the arena.

The last attack had incapacitated him. Then, amidst his hazy consciousness―

「Make sure to watch the match between me and Kai Heineman. You’ll find what you’re looking for in that match.」

Riku heard Zack’s parting remarks.

◇◆◇◆◇◆

By the time Riku had regained his consciousness in the medical bay, the figures of his fellow apprentices and his master, Shiga, couldn’t be found in Luserhall anymore.

Riku’s relatives lived in Lamour. He was the pride of his parents. Riku estimated that his foolishness during the fight against Zack would’ve already spread around Lamour by now. Although he did feel ashamed for his blood relatives, he didn’t feel a shred of regret about his choice.

He was looking for a carriage to Lamour, but…

Make sure to watch the match between me and Kai Heineman. You’ll find what you’re looking for in that match.

He recalled Zack’s parting words. The thing he was looking for. It was akin to a guiding light for the current Riku, who was looking for a goal.

Thus, he had decided to stay in Luserhall until the end of the tournament.

Since Kai Heineman was the holder of 『The Most Incompetent in This World』 gift, the tournament committee didn’t even allow him to have a proper fight.

Incompetent apostate! That was the label everyone fixed and approved for Kai. They believed that Kai wouldn’t be able to win the tournament just because of his gift.

Such reasoning was normal in Lamour, Riku’s hometown. And Riku had no intention of blaming the audience either. The reason was that their eyes were clouded by the doctrine, just like him prior to THAT match.

Thus, Riku endured the unpleasant feeling he felt upon seeing the committee’s farce. Then, a white-haired old man appeared and took control of the situation. Anyone aspiring to become a martial arts expert would be extremely familiar with this man. This old man was the old friend and a rival of the grandmaster of Heineman-style and was also the grandmaster of the Kaien-style, Aaron Kaien.

Aaron took over the role of the referee and announced the start of the match between Kai and Zack.

The whole stadium fell silent during the match. Even the audience members who were booing until that point looked at the nonsensical match unfolding before them with dumbfounded expressions.

Zack, whose strength was seemingly unsurpassable for the current Riku, couldn’t even land a hit on Kai. Even if he hadn’t taken swordsmanship too seriously before, Riku had been training in the way of sword ever since childhood. What Kai Heineman showed in the fight wasn’t some flimsy trick like talent or mere physical strength. It was the final destination of everyone who walked on the path of martial arts.

「Eh?」

When Riku came to his senses, his field of vision was blurry. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and realized that they were his tears. Then, Riku strained his eyes again as if to burn every single moment of the fight between the absolute strongman, Kai Heineman, and his challenger, Zack.

◇◆◇◆◇◆

―Fortress city Lamour, Dojo of Heineman-style.

The skin of his hands, which gripped the wooden sword, had already torn. It was painful, but Riku kept swinging his wooden sword like a madman. The sun had already set a long time ago. At this time, the old Riku would be hanging around with his friends in the commercial district of Lamour.

His body had long since reached its limit. Nevertheless, he kept swinging his wooden sword, all because of the match he saw on that day.

（Someday, I will also―）

The fight between Zack and Kai had left a long-lasting impression on aspiring martial artists.

Whether it was skill, physical abilities, or mind, Zack was top-tier in all of them. But, Kai’s level was even higher than that. No, maybe “higher” was an understatement.

Kai Heineman had already broken the limit of humanity itself. Thus, Riku’s goal wasn’t Kai. His goal was Zack, the man who had challenged the martial god called Kai Heineman.

Riku had no idea how long it’d take for him to reach Zack’s level. But, someday, he would challenge the martial god just like Zack and perform the supreme dance of martial arts with his own hands.

That was Riku’s lifetime goal. Thus, he kept swinging his wooden sword.

「You’re working too hard.」

Maybe because he was too focused on his training, he failed to notice that another person had entered the dojo.

Since Riku had blatantly opposed instructor Shiga’s order, he was now being avoided by everyone he considered as his friend. He was treated like air in the dojo.

If there was someone who spoke to him―

「Grandmaster!」

Riku stood in panic and bowed to the elderly figure in front of him. Although his current standing in Heineman-style was weak, Grandmaster Elm was still the idol and the goal for young swordsmen such as Riku and his peers.

「Don’t mind me. Continue what you’re doing.」

The grandmaster cheerfully spoke as he sat on the floor.

It seemed he had no intention of speaking to Riku. He might simply want to observe a disciple’s training.

After pulling himself together, Riku started swinging his wooden sword again.

Finally, when he was too weak to even raise his hands, Riku fell face-up on the floor. This had become his routine. He returned home only after he couldn’t swing his wooden sword anymore.

「Did something happens to you?」

The Grandmaster asked with a serious look on his face.

This person is the grandfather of that Martial God. Shouldn’t he be the first to discover the strength of Kai Heineman, that Martial God?

No, Grandmaster is a human. On the other hand, Kai Heineman is a Martial God. If Kai really wants to hide his power, maybe not even his grandfather would realize that. Especially because Kai is his grandson.

Elm had no idea about Kai Heineman’s advancement to the final round of the tournament. After all, Shiga along with the Heineman branch family had gone all out to hide that news.

Since the news was hidden until now, Riku thought that Kai might have wanted to hide his strength from his grandfather too. Therefore, there was no reason for Riku to divulge Kai’s secret.

That was why―

「I saw the pinnacle of martial arts.」

Riku decided to tell the truth without revealing Kai’s identity.

「Pinnacle of martial arts… Are you referring to Roman or assistant instructors?」

Riku shook his hide to the sides at the Grandmaster’s question.

「Not those fakes. It was a genuine Martial God.」

He answered.

「Martial God? Is he even stronger than me?」

「Yes.」

Strangely enough, the Grandmaster didn’t get angered even upon hearing Riku’s reply.

「So, are you swinging your sword to defeat that Martial God?」

「No, I won’t be able to beat that personage with my meagre talent.」

「I see, so why are you swinging your sword?」

「To challenge him! And then, engrave my martial arts in that personage’s memory!」

Even Riku himself was shocked by his answer,

「Martial God… Martial God, eh…」

The Grandmaster nodded again and again with an amused expression, but…

「Swordsman Riku, come to the dojo early in the morning. I shall guide you myself.」

This was an extremely unexpected jab for the current Riku.

「Y-Yes. Definitely!」

Riku stood up, albeit with difficulties, and bowed to Grandmaster.

Even after the Grandmaster had left the dojo, Riku was still trembling in delight. The Grandmaster’s teaching wasn’t something he could normally ask for unless he had reached instructor class. And from the way Elm had spoken, Riku assumed that the Grandmaster would train him in person.

「With this, I can become even stronger!」

Riku started to swing his wooden sword again, dreaming of the day when he could finally challenge that person, the Martial God.

===

Character Design: Kai… Whose hair colour changed for no reason+Murasame(above), Raikiri(Below Murasame), and Unbreakable Stick