I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Chapter 27 : Emergency Situation (4)

State of Emergency (4)

After an emergency was declared, fighting among soldiers was strictly prohibited.

This was to prevent troops, who should be sent out as shields against monsters, from being wasted on pointless squabbles.

If anyone broke this rule, it was deemed that they no longer wished to live, and they were executed immediately.

There is no one in the world who wants to die.

People who are both selfish and cruel, even more so.

In the 7th Legion, full of just such people, this was an effective measure.

"To think someone would take me so lightly as to break the rules at a time like this."

As Kelian spoke while walking, Silia, who was accompanying him, asked,

"Isn't there a chance it's just a sparring match?"

"......"

There was only one form of fighting permitted during emergencies: sparring.

If they used wooden swords instead of real ones, and if it was just to test each other's strength, it was allowed.

As long as they didn't cross the line, Kelian had no grounds to object.

"That's why I have to see for myself."

Whether it was a 'sparring match' or a 'fight'—the decision lay with Kelian's eyes.

When Kelian arrived at the training hall with some officers, he could see for himself.

Fortunately, it looked as if the rules were being followed. They were using wooden swords, not real swords.

But then an astonishing sight caught Kelian's eyes.

****

"Huh?"

But when Kelian witnessed the sparring, he narrowed his eyes.

With a single swing from the kid's sword, an adult soldier was sent flying into the air.

"Kehuk!"

As the soldier crashed to the ground, he let out a groan and coughed up blood.

He barely managed to get back to his feet and thought to himself,

What just happened?

"Huh?"

Dimo was no different in his confusion. Even though he had sent the soldier flying, he had no idea what had just happened.

Did I really do that? How? But this wasn't the time to get lost in thought.

"You damn brat...!!"

The soldier leapt to his feet again, his eyes bloodshot as he charged at Dimo.

Now that he understood it was that kid who had knocked him down, he was livid.

Gripping his greatsword tighter, he swung at Dimo with murderous intent.

Dimo, frightened by the sight, still swung his sword again.

"Kehuk!!"

Once again, the soldier was knocked back and slammed into the wall. With a scream, he collapsed and lost consciousness.

"......"

Still not understanding what had happened, Dimo stared blankly at his wooden sword.

He wondered if it was actually some legendary blade.

Those watching the match reacted the same way.

Not only Louis's squad members, but even the soldiers of Kadim's squad were at a loss for words.

Nearby, even Rio, who was sparring with another soldier, was stunned.

'Did I do that?'

It was unbelievable.

Had he ever held a sword before?

It wasn't like he never had. To survive the harsh training, he'd had no choice but to swing a sword.

Whenever he had the chance, he trained with Louis. Every squad member had sparred against Louis, but none could compete.

He had fought with everything he had just to survive, but none of them were a match for Louis.

Maybe it was because the young master had received sword training.

In contrast, they were just ordinary domain residents.

Because of this vast difference in skill, the squad members had no confidence in themselves.

In the end, they came to think of themselves as nothing more than kids with swords.

And yet—what on earth had just happened?

"No way, how...?"

Bris, the deputy leader of Kadim's squad, was left speechless by the unbelievable outcome.

Everyone else was similarly dumbfounded—except for one person, who was smiling.

"Looks like we won the first round!"

Louis clapped and called out loudly. Unlike everyone else, Louis remained composed, as though he had expected this.

"Young master... did you help them somehow?"

Victor, who watched from the sidelines, asked. But Louis shook his head.

"How could I possibly support him from this far away?"

"But the result..."

It was, of course, an unbelievable outcome. Regardless, Louis ignored this and shouted at Kadim's squad.

"Big Bro!~ You didn't forget you promised to hand over your bag if we won, right?"

The soldiers of Kadim's squad snapped back to their senses at those words.

"A promise is a promise! Make sure you keep it!"

"And you all haven't forgotten you have to grant us a favor if we win, right?"

"Of course! A bet's a bet!"

As Louis called out playfully, Bris ground his teeth. He didn't like the fact that someone who won by pure luck could act so confidently.

No matter what happened, you couldn't be sure of anything from just a single round. So Bris shouted to another soldier,

"Hey! If you lose, then in the next battle with monsters, you'll be placed at the very front. Got it?"

Threatened with being used as the first human shield, the soldier was fired up.

He swung his wooden sword with full force, knocking Rio backward.

Rio barely managed to block it, but it was a struggle to withstand the strength.

The soldier thought,

What is this? She seems weaker than I thought.

There's no way a little girl could handle a sword properly.

Relieved by the thought, the soldier swung his wooden sword with all his might.

—If you're afraid of swinging the sword, think of that day.

Rio recalled Louis's words from just before. Following his advice, images of that dreadful day filled her mind.

—If you're still scared, imagine your opponent is the one who burned the domain.

When the domain burned, the house collapsed. Her only family, her older brother, was crushed alive inside.

The memory of blood trickling from the wreckage welled up in her chest.

Rio couldn't understand what this rising feeling was.

She only knew that, upon imagining the person before her was the culprit, her body moved on its own.

Puhk!!-

As the soldier swung his wooden sword impressively, a loud blow rang out.

But it wasn't Rio who was hit.

"Kuhuk!!"

The soldier, who was certain he'd landed the hit, suddenly vomited blood.

The moment of confusion was quickly replaced by acute pain in his abdomen.

Turned out, Rio had ducked and avoided the attack. Simultaneously, she had thrust her wooden sword into his stomach.

"You little...!"

Gritting his teeth through the pain, the soldier grabbed the wooden sword in his gut and pulled it out.

Compared to wounds from monsters, this pain was nothing.

Having survived this hellish battlefield, there was no way he was weaker than this brat.

The furious soldier swung his sword. Rio swung hers back, and as the two swords collided, one of them broke.

"Huh?"

Stunned that his sword had broken, the soldier stared in disbelief.

Then, as Rio swung again, the soldier was sent flying into the wall.

"Krehk!"

Realizing something was wrong, the soldier looked up.

Looking ahead, he saw Rio approaching, eyes cold and menacing.

Their gazes met, and the soldier understood instantly—this girl was aiming to kill him.

"Wait...!"

Reacting on pure survival instinct, the soldier shouted unwittingly,

"I surrender!!"

But even after hearing that, Rio still charged forward, her wooden sword filled with murderous intent, aiming for his face.

"Calm down. He's already surrendered."

"......!"

Rio's sword stopped just short of the soldier's eyes. As Louis's voice rang out beside her, Rio jolted and snapped out of it.

The fallen soldier trembled with fear, frozen in place.

The sword that had nearly pierced his eyes was now caught in the bare hands of a boy.

"It's only a sparring match. If you kill him, we'll all be in trouble."

"Okay..."

"Good job."

As Louis patted Rio's head, she bowed her head timidly.

While Rio was caught up in a strange mix of embarrassment, Louis turned toward Kadim's squad.

"Looks like the winner is clear enough."

At this, Bris shouted, looking exasperated.

"Invalid! That wasn't fair!"

"And what's the problem? Trying to get out of your promise, are you?"

"Shut up! You clearly cheated somehow! Do it over!"

As soon as he heard those words, Louis clucked his tongue.

How many times had he heard that accusation lately?

It was getting old, to the point his ears hurt.

"Hey, big bro. What if someone high-ranking was watching us right now?"

"What nonsense are you—"

Bris dismissed Louis's words as nonsense as he glanced around.

At that very moment, his body froze. Someone really was watching.

"... Commander? How long have you been there?"

"I've been watching from the start."

Only then did the soldiers of Kadim's squad, and Louis's squad members, realize Kelian had been standing at the entrance all along.

They'd all been so absorbed in Dimo and Rio's overwhelming performances that they hadn't noticed.

"And I heard all about the bet just now. If you lost, you were to hand over your bag, right?"

He'd clearly heard Louis call out about the promise. Bris and the other soldiers went rigid at the realization.

"What do you think, Kadim?"

"Well..."

Standing next to Kelian, Kadim was in the same predicament.

He'd just witnessed his own squad members lose to a bunch of kids.

And he'd let the Commander see it firsthand—a total disgrace.

"Still, since it was just a sparring match, there won't be any punishment for that. But at the very least, the bet should be honored, don't you agree?"

"......"

Kadim couldn't answer, lost in his own shock.

He glared at his squad members—especially Bris—who started trembling.

It was clear he had no intention of letting this go later.

"Yes... I think it should be honored."

Whatever anyone said, this was in full view of the Commander.

Throwing a fit here would be meaningless.

"By the way, some strange new recruits have joined up."

Kelian gazed with interest at the boy and girl who'd overpowered Kadim's squad soldiers.

"......"

Silia, standing beside him, also looked at them with a serious expression.

****

As the result of the bet, Louis's squad was able to receive a basket of candy and a large bag.

With the Commander standing right there, Kadim's squad had no choice but to obey.

The squad shared the candy from the bet. The credit belonged to Dimo and Rio, so the squadmates gave them special treatment.

"Aren't you going to eat? There won't be many chances like this from now on."

Silia approached Louis, who was sitting alone in the distance.

"Then why did the deputy-commander come here in such a busy time?"

Louis answered her question with one of his own, making Silia let out a dry laugh and cut to the point.

"Did you know the kids were going to win?"

The previous match had been shocking to anyone who watched.

No one expected kids who were dragged here in misery to put up such a fight—not even Silia.

That went for everyone else, including Kelian.

Louis was the only one who hadn't looked at all surprised.

Silia couldn't help but ask as her doubts grew. Louis replied openly,

"Yes, I knew."

"How?"

How on earth?

"It was definitely not a coincidence. But it's not like they cheated, either. They were just born that way."

"What do you mean?"

"They were residents of the domain where I lived. At least, until they were brought here."

They had ordinary birth and status—not from any great noble house, and seemingly far removed from swordsmanship.

For such kids to knock down trained soldiers was unthinkable. It just didn't make sense.

"On the outside, it might look like an insignificant domain, but this is what I call it."

The Seifert domain. But people from another world have a different name for it.

"The Tutorial Village."