“Damn it!”
Isac muttered angrily out of impatience, but Kouhi stood before him with an unchanged expression from the start of the match.
Until the battle began, no, even after it started, Isac never doubted his superiority, which was precisely why he couldn’t cope with the current reality.
Corry, standing before him, had consistently focused on defense from beginning to end.
Of course, he hadn’t refrained from attacking entirely.
However, those attacks were mere necessities for defense, not intended to actively inflict damage on Isac.
Initially, Isac had mocked this, but faced with seemingly impossible defense, his mindset shifted to impatience.
And this was the result.
He quietly exchanged something attached to a magic tool so as not to be discovered by his opponent.
It was the same item he had received from the Battle Trading Company’s president yesterday.
However, compared to the item he received yesterday, the one in his hand after the exchange was duller.
More importantly, since he was secretly making the exchange out of sight, he thought no one had noticed… or so he believed.
Corry, who had not uttered a single word until now, suddenly spoke.
“Have you finished the exchange?”
“…What?”
“I asked if you have finished exchanging the tools.”
As Corry looked directly at him while saying this, Isac was internally flustered beyond belief.
He had never been caught exchanging items, not even once.
For one thing, matches rarely became protracted enough for exchanges, but Isac had no time to consider such things now.
Then, Corry said something that made Isac’s ears ring even more.
“This seems to be the last one, so please use it completely. For your future.”
Hearing those words, cold sweat broke out all over Isac.
“N-no way, you knew from the start…?”
Corry did not answer Isac’s muttering and continued to launch attacks that even Isac could barely dodge, just as he had been doing until then.
It was clear that he was not giving Isac any time to think.
Isac was using three types of magic tools in total.
Each of them possessed high effectiveness.
His attacks were one-hit KOs if they landed, and his defense was so impenetrable that even attacks from court magicians were disregarded.
However, the amount of magic power consumed was also immense, making them unsuitable for prolonged battles.
That was precisely why he had prepared five portions of spare magic power, but as Corry had said, he had ended up using all of them.
And because he was using tools, the end had arrived.
“D-damn it!”
The attack he was about to launch failed to activate.
He was out of magic power.
With the depletion of one magic tool, it wouldn’t take long for the remaining two to run out of magic as well.
As he watched Isac panic, Corry slowly spoke.
“Is it over?”
Upon hearing those words, Isac hastily assumed a defensive posture.
However, without his tools, Isac’s actual strength was nowhere near enough to contend for the top ranks, just as Hartvin had observed.
His defensive stance proved utterly useless, and Isac, easily struck by Corry’s attack, found himself lying on the ground.
“Lost, huh.”
Isac’s defeat was seared into his memory.
He had watched all of Isac’s previous matches.
Even he had not expected such a significant gap in strength between Isac and Corry.
“Excuse me.”
Someone’s shoulder jostled him as he was lost in thought.
“Hm? Ah.”
His head snapped back to reality when he realized the person who had shaken his shoulder was an acquaintance.
“It will be difficult if you don’t leave soon.”
“Understood. I’ll leave immediately.”
The spectators were still reveling in Corry’s victory, and few were leaving.
He couldn’t bear the thought of navigating through the throng of people trying to exit the venue.
He quickly stood up and left the venue.
“Still… Corry, huh. I wonder who she really is.”
His muttered words vanished into the crowd’s commotion, unheard by anyone.
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News of Corry’s victory spread throughout the town of Seichun that very day.
The Arena Guild was an organization with considerable influence among the various guilds in Seichun.
The one ranked first, the most skilled individual within the guild, held a power greater than that of the Guild Master.
People who had been watching to see if someone like Isac would hold such authority breathed a sigh of relief at the news.
In fact, Isac’s reputation had been poor for some time.
It was, in a sense, natural for people to not want such a person in a position of power.
In the bars that day, Corry’s victory was a popular topic of conversation, seen in numerous groups of people animatedly discussing it.
While the people of Seichun were in a pleasant mood, the opposite scene was unfolding in a mansion located in a high-class residential area.
“What are you doing, you idiot!”
The one yelling was Dames, the owner of the mansion.
Dames was the degenerate noble who had previously bothered Floria and her companions.
And the one being yelled at was Isac, who had lost to Corry today.
“Don’t yell so loud. I only lost once today.”
Isac winced at the other’s shouting, spreading his arms as if to play it off.
He never let on that he privately thought winning next time was impossible.
Dames’s expression turned even more irritated as he looked at Isac. He let out a loud click of his tongue and declared,
“Are you an idiot? Why do you think there will be a next time?”
“Hey now, boss. What are you talking about? A tournament match isn’t decided in a single round, is it?”
“Hmph. After losing so miserably, it’s bold of you to say such a thing.”
Isac’s face twitched at Dames’s words.
Then, in what served as a final blow, his expression completely froze.
“Besides, why do you think you can keep borrowing them indefinitely? You’re a fool.”
“W-what!?”
At words he had never considered, Isac’s mind went completely blank.
The magic tools that Isac had used during the battle were not his own property in the first place.
A messenger from Dames had appeared and brought them to Isac, who was languishing as an adventurer.
It was impossible for an adventurer of Isac’s caliber to possess multiple magic tools with such high effectiveness.
He didn’t know why the offer had come to him, but Isac had continued to fight in the Seichun Arena as part of a “request.”
Isac himself didn’t understand why Dames had made such a request.
He had only been told, as part of the request’s content, to keep winning tournament matches.
He had never imagined it meant “never lose even once.”
However, this was not entirely Isac’s fault.
After all, it was abnormal to continue winning in the Seichun Arena without a single loss.
“I see, so what? Am I disposable now?”
Struck by the fact that he was merely a hired hand, Isac, whose mind had become strangely clear, looked at Dames and asked.
“How should I know! For now, stay put until you receive further instructions! However, don’t expect me to smooth over any disturbances like I have until now!”
Isac didn’t believe Dames had devised this plan himself.
His words were as expected, and Isac looked at Dames with a cold gaze.
This is the Kouhi chapter.
Finally, I was able to reveal the name of the degenerate noble.
Dames… that name just popped into my head, I guess.
I wasn’t able to write it in yesterday’s update, but I’ve posted a small bonus story for “Let’s Try Managing the Tower” in the Activity Report.
Please check it out.
