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Chapter 15 – Mock Battle
—The next day.
I was in the conference room early in the morning, receiving reports from the Prime Minister and the others.
But it’s all just between yesterday and today, so there was nothing unusual.
I heard that the officials were happy to accept the change of ministers and the change of system along with the death of the king.
…Wow, the royal family was really this loathed? I guess it was only a matter of time even if I hadn’t made a move personally.
I’ve heard that there have been some suspicious movements by some of the royalist factions, but the reforms seemed to be going well for the most part.
“…Now then, what should I do for today?”
The reforms are proceeding smoothly, but I’m not going to interfere in every little detail. I’ll check the results, but that’s about it.
That’s why I immediately had some free time.
As I was strolling around the castle in a daze with Finne and Iris, I happened to pass by my classmates.
These guys are Daigoro Azuma, Masato Suzuki, and Kazuma Konoe. They are known as the Idiot Trio.
“Whoa, Yuki. If you’re free, why don’t we have a mock battle?”
“Yea come on. You know, to test our abilities and all.”
“We’re just thinking of getting some physical exercises going, you know.”
Oh, a mock battle.
Come to think of it, I haven’t seen with my own eyes the abilities of the heroes other than Tendo and the others, so I’d like to check them out while I can.
“Okay. Let’s do this. You gotta move your body once in a while right.”
“Now we talkin’! The venue is the training ground in the royal castle, so come right away!”
With that, the three idiots ran off.
Or we could just go now together…were my thoughts, but when I arrived at the training ground, I found that all the heroes except Ms. Usami were present.
Those twats, so they pulled that stunt on everyone else huh.
Glifas and the knights, who were using the training ground, looked around at the heroes as if to say, what’s going on?
And when Glifas found Tendo, he called out.
“What’s going on here, Mister Tendo? Pretty much all the heroes are assembled here in full force.”
“It’s been a while, sir Glifas. We’re thinking of having a little mock battle.”
“I see. We’re just about rounding up, so feel free to use the place as you see fit. And if I may observe, if you don’t mind?”
“Yes, of course.”
What? So the Knight Order is going to be watching too?
“Sweet. All right, boys. Today’s training is over! I just heard that the heroes are going to be having a mock battle, so how about we observe ‘em boys!”
The knights cheered at Glifas’ words.
“Oh, by the way, Haruto is also here…over there, see, seems like he just arrived.”
“Oh, so I get to see how Mister Haruto fights with my own eyes! I’m so looking forward to it, Mister Haruto!”
…Could you please stop raising the difficulty as you please, geez?
“Haha, I’ll do my best.”
I smiled briskly and headed for the center of the training area with Tendo and the others.
“So what’s the plan? We were actually planning to have a mock battle with each group or party, but…now that Yuki is here, why don’t we make it one-on-one?”
I shook my head at Azuma’s words.
“Nah, it’s me versus your whole party. Bring it on, give it everything you’ve got.”
“Whoa, whoa, we’re heroes too, okay? I don’t care if you’re an EX rank or whatever…right Tendo?”
Suzuki said this and looked at Tendo.
He must have thought that Tendo, who had been with me, could be trusted to back him up.
However, not only Tendo, but Mogami, Suzuno and the rest of Tendo’s party all shook their heads.
“…Hate to break it to you. But, we’ve had our share of one vs five, and we gave it our all, but…”
“We were toyed with each time.”
“You can say that again…”
“Moreover, he wasn’t even trying.”
“Just forget it.”
All five of them had distant looks on their faces as if they were trying to escape reality.
Suzuki and the others, on the other hand, were buzzing.
“Huh? Your party was the strongest of us all though.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“In that case, wouldn’t a one-on-one be hopeless then.”
All of them had given up completely.
Hey, don’t just give up before you’re certain of your opponent’s strength… With this in mind, I checked the status of the heroes.
Hmm, they’re not as strong as Tendo and the others whom I trained personally, but they’re stronger than most adventurers, I guess.
Not many noteworthy gifts, but a significant portion of them seem pretty powerful.
Also, they seem to have rallied themselves in units of a few people since coming to this training ground, but they’re probably working together in parties. With that in mind, I took a look at the gifts and found a few parties that were pretty well balanced.
…Good, I’m sure they’ll get stronger and stronger as they work together and level up.
However, the level of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s Army that I defeated, Gheel, was over 130.
At this rate, it will take a long time before they can defeat the Four Heavenly Kings.
Sighing at my classmates who were still buzzing about me, I asked in a provocative manner.
“…So, are we doing this or what? Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts now because you’re scared shitless, right?”
“O-Of course not!”
“You bet!”
“Goddamn right! We’re doing this!”
They’re all saying such and getting fired up.
I kinda like the way they’re challenging me even though they know they have no chance of winning.
“That so? Well then, who wants to go first?”
Then I looked around and saw Mitsurugi, Suruga, and Matsuba stepping forward with grins on their faces.
“Then why don’t you start with us? Or are you afraid of losing?”
Huh, they even dare to come out here too?
With their pitiful statuses, I don’t think they are even a match for Tendo and the others much less me…moreover, were they deaf to what was being said earlier?
As I kept quiet, thinking about what to do, Mitsurugi got even more audacious.
“Hey, hey, hey, you’ve finally gone mute. Aren’t you supposed to be a badass?”
“Well you can never tell with this guy, everything could all be bogus.”
“So true.”
As Mitsurugi and the others laughed, Finne, who had been listening in silence until then, raised her voice.
“You guys! What exactly is your deal?”
“Drop it, Finne”
“But!”
“It’s fine.”
It’s a waste of time dealing with this trash.
I’ll just knock ‘em out in a flash and be done with it.
Was my train of thought, but—
“I’m sure you’re probably using magic or whatever to control that lady over there, aren’t you?”
“Otherwise, why would anyone accompany you?”
“Kukukuu, got that right. I mean, you were never even popular back in school”
How did they even wind up with that idea? As I was dumbfounded, Iris started to lose her temper.
“Haruto would never do such a thing!”
“Iris, don’t. That’s just the kind of trash they are.”
I said this and showed a deliberate sigh.
“The hell?”
“Are you looking down on us?”
“Don’t you get carried away!”
Sure enough, the three of them turned red and started yelling at me.
I think it’s you guys who are looking down on me and getting carried away.
“…But It’s all good. I’ll deal with you.”
“Heh, you’ll regret it later!”
“We’re gonna beat the shit out of you!”
“You better not bawl your eyes out while showing your pathetic figure to everyone!”
Yes, yes. Wow, I’m actually surprised these guys can cough up words like that.
“So, Glifas, can you give the signal to start?”
“Hmm? Yeah, I don’t mind.”
Glifas, who had been looking at Mitsurugi and the others with a dumbfounded look, nodded at my words.
Then Finne and company with the other heroes retreated, and I, Mitsurugi, Suruga, and Matsuba faced each other.
The three of them were full of motivation. I’m sure their heads are filled with thoughts of humiliating me…would probably be more productive directing that motivation to do something else.
“You guys ready—and begin!”
At Glifas’ signal, the mock battle began.