How to Use the Lord’s Future Diary

Chapter 84

Chapter 84

The stadium’s blazing atmosphere began to shift in a strange way.

It was because the celebration for the winner had suddenly turned into a messy love quarrel.

I felt a little guilty, as if I were sprinkling ash over a good mood, but there was nothing I could do.

I also had a duty to protect Irene.

Really impressive self-justification. You’re so shameless that I almost admire you, Master.

The idea for this move had been entirely thanks to Dr. Nickel.

He had babbled about tanning and being stolen, remember?

That thought popped into my head and I got a feeling.

If I drove this into a romantic quarrel, I could involve myself in this matter.

If I made a scene like this, I could completely sever Irene and Haken — so it was a convenient plan all around.

“Uh… how did the princess manage it in just a few months….”

Roman, who had suddenly been turned into a scoundrel, looked pretty stunned too.

Honestly, I could understand how he felt.

For a man who had followed Irene for years, this situation would not be easy to accept.

Irene had only stayed in Johnson for a few months, and how could he accept that everything (?) had ended in that short time?

But I thought it better to tidy things up neatly, so I patched my words together appropriately.

“I was Iron — the only man who had defeated Sir Irene twice! If she wanted a man stronger than herself and she came to me, what’s the problem?”

“You bastard, you didn’t force the princess on her, did you?”

What the hell was he saying, this lunatic.

Was Irene the kind of person who would suffer something and just stand still?

He kept calling her “the princess,” as if he really believed she was the kind of damsel in a novel who would wait only for a prince’s rescue.

It was really laughable.

Where in the world was there a princess who would smash an ogre’s head with a war hammer?

He was trembling so much that I wondered what delusion he was living in — what kind of guy was this?

‘Wait, actually this is kind of funny.’

From the start, what right did that guy have to challenge Irene?

If her wish was to marry a man stronger than herself, that was already over, wasn’t it?

She had lost to me twice.

For some reason it felt like my stepping in to stop that guy was my natural right, and that made me a little more at ease.

-Johnson? Twice? No way that guy…?

-That bastard from before?

-The stupid-looking bear of a man…?

-That’s him. I clearly remember.

As I dealt with Roman in a suitably dismissive way, the atmosphere in the stands turned odd.

It seemed like even they were exchanging words, and the murmurs were growing louder.

At first the mood had been to ask what kind of romantic quarrel this was and to just watch, but now I had no idea what was happening.

-Kill him!!!

-Execute! Execute!!!

-Get rid of that bastard!!

The crowd, full of fury, suddenly started shouting as if they were breathing fire.

What the hell was this?

I had made a scene at someone else’s celebration, sure, but was that a crime worthy of death?

I would admit I played the villain, but this felt excessive.

They said the well-off neighborhoods were worse — maybe the people here were harsher than they looked.

“I could never forgive this!”

“No, you’re mistaken — the one who could forgive was me. You were the scoundrel who coveted another man’s woman while she lived happily. If you apologized properly, I might have let it pass.”

“Shut up! Monster!”

Hmm, that was wrong. He had lost his mind.

I didn’t know if it was the stadium’s mood or if this guy really was insane, but it seemed impossible to let this pass peacefully.

On top of that, Lord Haken and his party, who should have calmed this commotion, were just as confused.

They had no idea what to do.

Even Irene herself looked flustered and didn’t know what to do, so I felt like I ought to give a flashy display of swordplay.

‘Well, maybe this was the expected sequence.’

I had considered that possibility.

The worst outcome here would be if the clear-headed Lord Haken staged a fencing match between Roman and me, so it was better to finish things before that man sobered up.

As I’d said earlier, if this turned into a pure sword duel, I couldn’t guarantee I would beat Roman.

At least in sword technique, that guy had the edge over me.

“All right. If you insist, I’ll face you. Draw your sword.”

“Bring me my sword!”

I summoned Unbreakable into my hand and subtly pressured him to draw a real blade.

He was so riled up that he produced a real sword, and a soldier ran over carrying Roman’s blade.

At that point things were going the way I wanted.

A real-sword duel was actually preferable.

“I don’t know what cowardly trick you used, but I’ll kill you and save the princess.”

“…Fine. Just come at me.”

At the Master level, one could gauge an opponent’s aura to some degree.

Seeing how poor my aura was, he must have mistaken my victory over Irene as a trick.

I decided it was time to teach this southern kid what a real man’s fight was.

“Ha!”

Roman struck first.

Apophis’s swordsmanship with phantom blades and swift strikes gave the illusion that the blade itself bent inward.

It was an extremely refined and spectacular art.

And Roman had inherited that swordplay.

-Clang! Clang!

Not even a foil, yet the blade actually seemed to bend — it was certainly strange.

They said all sorts of sword arts existed in the south; in terms of technique, they definitely had the advantage here.

‘But the matchup wasn’t great.’

Those attacks weren’t very effective against a greatsword knight like me.

No matter how the blade curved in, I could use the broad surface of my sword to deflect it.

I parried his tip with my blade a few times, looked for an opening, and charged at him.

I swung the greatsword hard at his chest.

“Hyaaah!”

It was a fairly ordinary strike with nothing special about it.

If anything stood out, it was that my strength, upgraded by Vitality Grass juice, had surpassed that of ogres.

And here Roman’s lack of experience was manifest.

After blocking my attack he seemed intent on countering immediately and was holding his sword up straight at me.

-THUD!!

The knights of Johnson did not properly receive an opponent’s blow.

They trained on the premise that their opponent’s strength would overwhelmingly surpass their own.

And honestly, that made sense.

We mostly fought medium to large monsters, and blocking their attacks head-on had never gained us anything.

Roman probably knew that in his head too.

Against an opponent with greater strength, you had to dodge or deflect.

But once in a real fight, he instinctively met my blows head-on, and the result was an explosion-like sound as he was hurled into a corner.

“Ha!”

“Damn it.”

A Master wouldn’t be felled by that much impact, so I charged toward the cornered Roman, hurling Unbreakable as I went.

He looked utterly flustered — probably the first time he had ever faced someone throwing their own weapon at him — and barely managed to deflect the greatsword.

But because the blade came flying just as he was trying to get up, he lost his balance again and fell back down.

“Haaah!”

I dove at Roman and struck with the greatsword I had resummoned.

It was a chained combo using Unbreakable’s second function, ‘Summon.’

This time, he rolled across the ground in genuine desperation to dodge.

Rolling on the ground looked undignified, but it was effective.

Exploiting the wide motion of my swing, he carved out a fleeting opening.

He pushed off the ground and slashed at my side.

“Snake!”

I was honestly a bit startled this time.

It looked like the blade had split into two, striking from both sides at once.

And it wasn’t even a phantom feint — both attacks were real.

This was the true pinnacle of swift swordsmanship.

‘Not bad at all.’

Even with a greatsword, I couldn’t block two entirely different strike points at once.

I had no choice but to deflect the blow flying at my chest and give up the one aimed at my shoulder.

Since he had struck from a broken stance, he hadn’t been able to put real power into it, so it was a reasonable choice.

“Haa!!!”

“Gahh!!”

I ignored the blade digging into my shoulder and charged him.

The pain was sharp, but wounds like this were commonplace in real battle.

Roman was shaken, seeing me charge in recklessly even after taking his hit.

I swung the greatsword cleanly and lopped off his left arm.

If I had given up my shoulder, then at least taking an arm was fair balance.

-Danger!

The moment Roman’s left arm was cut away, I felt a cold tingle at my back.

I rolled instinctively, and an Aura Blade sliced just over my head.

Apophis — Sir Durek — had leapt out to save his disciple’s life.

I hadn’t intended to take the life of Haken’s rising Master right in the middle of Haken itself, but the situation had been desperate enough that they were, too.

-Snake-like male indeed.

‘Right? That was too much. He even looked a bit snake-like, honestly…’

“That’s enough.”

“Coming at me from behind with a blade — you’re awfully shameless, aren’t you?”

“Wasn’t your strike far too excessive?”

“The excessive part was your manners.”

“So, are you saying you want to finish this?”

How irritating.

How could he be so righteous after stabbing from behind?

Still, I decided to stop here.

After all, I was a guest in Haken — I had to show some restraint.

When Sir Durek intervened, Leisha also rose from her seat. If a fight broke out, she would surely join.

Leisha and Apophis.

That would have been an amusing match, but would Leisha — who didn’t know moderation — be able to stop at the right level?

So, finishing things here seemed best.

Anyway, I had achieved all that I came for.

“By the way, does one have to shout ‘Snake’ to use that technique?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your disciple seemed a bit too taken with theatrics.”

“Mm.”

“Let him fight monsters, not just people. Duels matter, but monsters come first, don’t they?”

“I’ll decide what he does.”

“Of course.”

After scratching Apophis’s pride just enough, I pulled out a potion and tossed it.

“What’s this?”

“A Special Potion from Johnson Territory. It should heal that severed arm right away. The cut was clean, so there’s no issue. Use it at once. You’ve got a Temple here too, don’t you? Recovery will be quick.”

“Hah, giving the sickness and the cure, are you?”

“Isn’t this cheap payment for coveting another man’s woman? Consider it a good lesson.”

“You don’t look it, but your tongue is sharp.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Farewell.”

This hadn’t been a fight meant to foster bad blood with Haken.

So if I had taken his arm, then I ought to spend a potion at least.

With a Special Potion, that severed arm would return to normal right away, so there’d be no lingering resentment.

There was also a Temple here, with Priests to provide further healing.

Well, perhaps he himself wouldn’t think so.

Next time we met, Irene would surely be a Master herself, so there’d be no reason for me to interfere.

At that point, the two of them could settle matters on their own.

Right now, I had only stepped in because the situation had been far too unfair to her.

-Is that really all?

Of course, I had also wanted to give a flashy, overly smug novice Master a fitting lesson.

And I wouldn’t deny that his annoyingly handsome face made me want to, too.

At any rate, by now no one would dare obstruct Irene’s return, so I had achieved my goal.

“Bear, you gave up your shoulder. That shows lack of training. I’ll see you in the Territory.”

“Ah, really? Tch. It was my best option at the time.”

“You should’ve finished it in one blow. Giving him room was your mistake.”

“Mm, fair enough.”

Back at my seat, I heard Leisha’s assessment of the duel, then gathered my group and left the arena.

The people of Haken, who had been shouting for my death, had gone quiet once Roman had been hurled to the corner, and when Sir Durek intervened, they didn’t even breathe a sound.

Thanks to that, we slipped out of the arena without further trouble. Not a bad outcome.

Even for me, that many people jeering at once wasn’t pleasant.

“Lord Iron, my father wishes to see you.”

“Ah, right. I almost forgot about that.”

Irene, who had kept silent in the arena, suddenly spoke softly.

In all the commotion, Lord of Haken must have sent her a message asking to meet.

Of course, that conversation had to happen.

I also needed to align things with Irene.

“As I said earlier, make sure your story matches mine. You don’t want to be bound to Haken either, right?”

“…Wait? Lord Iron… just now, all that… was it a show?”

“Hm? Well, that was…”

“Oh, I see. Haha, of course. I… yeah. Right.”

-As expected of Master. At this level of idiocy, I don’t know what to do anymore.

What was with that strange reaction?

I had clearly asked her to match her words, but… had she not understood?

No wonder it seemed strange that a clever woman like Irene had been flustered, not calming the people.

Well, it was all over anyway.

Once I dealt with Lord of Haken, I wouldn’t have to bother with such troubles again.

It was about time to return to my own Territory.

Haken was bustling and fine, but my home in Johnson Territory was far more comfortable.

I would finish things with Lord of Haken, pack up, and head back home.