Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend

T/N: Author has used [Sir Gramlich] for the opponent facing Welner while [Count Gramlich] for count of the Gramlich house. As mentioned before, [Sir Gramlich] is the brother of [Count Gramlich].

…

A moment of silence.

Just as Lily breathed a faint sigh of relief, Sir Gramlich gave a small jerk.

“He is still getting up after that blow?” (Annette)

Sir Gramlich, who had fallen to the ground, stood up with a small groan, and Annette, who was standing beside Lily, uttered a remark unintentionally.

Count Gramlich’s loud voice could be heard from the other side of the judges’ table, as if commanding Sir Gramlich.

“That’s right, don’t let Zeavert get the better of you! Beat that little bastard!”

“Do it, do it!”

In response, Sir Gramlich dexterously drew his sword with his right hand alone.

Seeing this scene, the audience cheered.

Welner, after dismounting his horse, silently stabbed his spear into the ground and pulled out his sword. From this point on, it was a sword-to-sword battle.

Welner – POV

I was really surprised to see that my opponent had the guts to pull out his sword even after my last blow that had severely injured his shoulder.

I doubt he could fight me properly because he would be in a lot of pain and could not use his left arm, not to mention that he could barely stand up.

“I won’t lose…I won’t lose…I won’t lose!”

“What?!”

The next moment, he closed the distance at once and struck me with a blow. I barely managed to parry the blow by holding my sword with both hands. The impact on my hands was so strong that it was hard to believe that it was only a swing of his right hand.

Odd, was all I could say. Blood was gushing out from his left shoulder, forming a red stream on his silver armor. And yet, this blow. Did this guy not feel any pain? 

“Ugaaah!

“Ugh!”

Pushing with all my might, I swept away my opponent’s sword. I took a step back to keep my distance, but the opponent closed the distance even more carelessly, and I barely managed to avoid the blow that came again. I might have lost at least a few strands of hair.

Unlike when I was facing demon general Gezarius, I did not feel fear. Instead, there was a sense of discomfort. When I took a big step forward and thrust out my sword, as expected, it was repelled. I felt the impact on my hand. I moved in a different direction to get away from him.

“Fugoooo…fugooo…”

“Hey, hey, it doesn’t sound like you’re a human.”

I wasn’t just mocking him. He really sounded more like a wild beast than a person. For a moment, I wondered if this guy was actually a demon, but I quickly discarded that thought. I did not think that a demon would be able to enter the current capital of the kingdom. I believe that the kingdom would not have made such a big mistake. Then what was this?

Urg…

As soon as we clashed again, he shoved me with his weight, causing me to lose my stance. His sword hit me in the shoulder, but thanks to my armor, I barely sustained a wound.

I managed to repel his next attack, but the force behind it sent me rolling and bouncing several times. Recovering my stance from the attack, I blocked his follow up attack and tried to hit his torso. But the attack was also blocked, sending sparks flying.

It was a blind strike after recovering, so I used the attack to confirm our positions, and noticing an incoming attack, I ducked and rolled away from him.

“Guh…!”

“Welner-sama!”

Amidst the screams, my name was called out, but I didn’t have time to understand whose voice it was. I just barely dodged an attack to my forehead and was grazed. Fortunately, the graze didn’t seem to be deep, so I didn’t get any blood in my eyes. Rather than blood, cold sweat was more likely going to flow into my eyes.

The sandy taste in my mouth was probably caused by the roll I took earlier. I spit. Speaking of which, the magic of the loudspeaker had stopped before I knew it.

I moved my eyes a little and looked at the judge’s seat and, behind the Judge, I saw two people dressed in high priest’s clothes talking about something. One was High Priest Leppe, and the other was High Priest Malavoi, who received the court documents. It seemed that they were getting in the way of the court proceedings, as well.

At this point of the match, Sir Gramlich transformed to the point that he almost looked like a demon, but that alone didn’t seem to be a factor to end the match, so we still continued to fight.

What was a bit surprising was Count Gramlich’s silence. The count was one of the martial artists, so he should have some martial arts knowledge himself. He probably noticed or knew that there was something wrong with the knight that was supposed to represent his side. Whoever was responsible for this should be nearby and telling him what to do.

Lily was pale as she looked at me. The wound on my forehead was noticeable because of the amount of blood. However, as expected, there was no time to tell her that I was safe.

I immediately glanced at Grand Duke to indicate my intention, and he nodded at me lightly. In the worst situation, he agreed to me killing my opponent.

The duel trial aimed to avoid killing as much as possible, but it was unavoidable since the other side seemed to be in an unusual state and was definitely trying to kill me. I regulated my breathing and readjusted my sword.

“Fugoh…ugoh…oooohhhh!”

The opponent who was trying to regain his balance again swung his sword down with an unimaginable force. Even when I received the attack with both hands, the impact was great. As we got into a lockdown point, I could see that my opponent was looking at me with a drool, but his gaze wasn’t focused.

I didn’t have time to think about it. I stepped my left foot in the opposite direction. At the same time, as I leaned forward, I took my left hand away from the hilt and this time, I let my opponent’s sword pass by as if it were attached to my sword.

I held the opponent’s sword with my left hand, which left room for me to grip the hilt he was holding with one hand, and with a quick spin, I smacked his face with the hilt of my sword instead of the blade.

“Goh!”

“Oraaah!”

The opponent who was hit in the face took only half a step backward. That was the optimal distance. I raised my right leg and slammed my heel into his groin area from the front. The opponent then fell forward from the strike.

It was a big opening, but I barely restrained myself from giving a killing blow. I had nothing against Count Gramlich’s family, but I also had nothing against this man. I also wanted to talk to him later about the situation. So to end the match, I slammed the flat of my sword on the man’s neck.

My opponent immediately crumpled to the ground unconscious.

After a moment of silence, High Priest Leppe, the referee, quietly raised his voice.

“Count Gramlich’s knight appears to have been unable to stand up. I recognize this match as a victory for the knight on Hearthing’s side. Therefore, this trial finds the Hearthing side correct and declares the acquittal of Mazell Hearthing!”

The crowd cheered loudly and applause covered the venue. I exhaled loudly, raised my sword, and bowed.

Hero Mazell’s side had won, and it was the side that everyone wanted to win, so it was only natural that the crowd cheered loudly.

I waved my hand to the spectators’ side to appeal to the crowd, and the applause and cheers went up once again.

I went to the front of the judges’ table and bowed to High Priest Leppe. The man staring at me behind him was Count Gramlich, and the handsome man near him who had been making a lot of noise earlier was the young lord of the Marquis Coltrezis, I suppose.

I looked at Lily. She looked so relieved that I could notice it even from a distance. This brought a smile to my face. Noticing my gaze, Lily bowed her head in my direction.

After waving once more to the audience, who continued to cheer, I returned to the waiting room.

Mazell’s trial and other ridiculous matters should be over for now, but the important parts, such as the problems between the nobles and the attack on the capital, had not ended yet. I doubt I would have much of a role to play against the battle of powerful aristocrats, though. I wondered what would happen next.

***

After Welner left the fighting arena, the man looked once at the audience, which remained in a state of feverish excitement, and whispered, unable to hide his displeasure, as he left the scene.

“This is a travesty.”

“Ha…”

“If we prolong this matter any longer, the royal family will interfere with the church.”

He couldn’t hide his displeasure and dissatisfaction at being taken advantage of by the kingdom. He gave a brief instruction to the man following him, though he did not show it in his expression and kept his voice low.

“Take care of this one as soon as possible.”

“Yes, sir.”

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