Chapter 8 : Knights competition

I went to Ms. Isabel's room and knocked on the door. Then I heard a voice saying "Come in". I opened the door and found her sitting and Sela was combing her hair.

She said "Hello Jin, is there anything wrong?"

I said nervously "Actually, I wanted to ask for something".

"Tell me what it is".

"Well, I know it's a strange request, but I want to participate in the knights' competition that will be held tomorrow".

She said "Well, no problem".

I was surprised by her quick response, then I said "Won't you ask me why?"

"I'm sure you have your own reasons, so I won't ask you. Anyway, it was only Ren who was going to participate, but if you want, you can too, because in the end we rely on Ren as he is one of the heroes".

"Thank you".

I went to my room afterwards trying to get some sleep, but I couldn't and stayed awake most of the night. The mixed feelings in my heart dampened my determination, but I knew for sure that what was coming was inevitable.

The next day, very early and before the others woke up, I went out to the garden waiting for Ren and the others. But I was surprised that he had preceded me, he was sitting at that tree.

I said "Hello".

But he didn't answer me, as if he was lost in thought. And after a few moments he realized my presence and then said "Hello, sorry I didn't notice you".

I nodded my head and then sat a little away from him, and kept silent.

Ren broke that silence "Have you ever felt afraid of disappointing others?"

"Huh?"

"Two years ago when I came to this world, it was fun at first, having power and fighting some monsters and meeting new people. But after a while, a lot of people tried to exploit me for their benefit as one of the heroes. Until Isabel helped me".

I said "But isn't that a good thing?"

He smiled and said "I didn't say it was a bad thing. The thing is that after all she and the others did for me, I'm afraid I won't be able to repay them. And this competition, it scares me".

The sadness was evident on his face, but I'm not good at comforting others. So I just said "I saw your strength that day, I think you'll do well".

He looked at me and said "You don't know anything really, I saw Leon yesterday and he looked nice but he's actually a monster. It was this time a year ago, I had seen by chance a duel between him and Blade, the strongest adventurer in the city. The duel took him only a few seconds to cut off his arm. Everyone who was watching was shocked, he's on another level even though he's not a hero. I think he's equal to the leader of the first squad in strength".

I said in astonishment "What squad.."

Suddenly Isabel came "Why are you two sitting there? Come on, let's go, we'll be late".

We went the four of us only, Ren and I, Isabel, Claudia.

"It's the first time I see Ren like this. Is Leon really that strong? It seems that going is worth it in the end".

We arrived at an old small arena, it had many stands, and there were a few people sitting, I didn't see any of them before. It seems that he allowed certain people to attend.

I heard that there are four princesses participating, and each one has a knight or two. Except for one of them...

"It's Celestia, why are you wearing armor?"

"Hello Isabel, how are you? These are your knights, right? You're lucky to have one of the heroes with you".

Isabel replied quickly and angrily "Don't dodge my question! Why are you wearing this armor?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to participate too".

"What?! You can't do that, this is a competition for knights only".

"What's the problem? There's no law that forbids one of the princesses from participating".

Celestia is a girl of medium height, her hair is green, and her face shows confidence and determination. She was wearing armor and carrying a sword decorated like I had never seen before. And with her was an old man, his hair was white and tall, and he was wearing servant clothes. And he looks like a skilled swordsman from his stance.

Elena came with Leon, then said "It's okay Isabel, let her participate as long as only two will participate".

Celestia said "Yes, I will participate with Johan".

Isabel replied sarcastically "Huh, do as you please, I have Ren so I don't care".

It seems that she doesn't rely on me at all. Well, I don't blame her, in their eyes I don't compare to one of the heroes.

Elena replied proudly "And I only need Leon".

Celestia said disappointedly "You two are lucky, one has one of the heroes and the other has someone who was in the first squad of knights. How I envy you".

I whispered to Ren "What's the story of these squads?"

Ren replied: "They are special squads that each contain a number of knights who perform special missions for the guild or the kingdom. You can say they are a semi-independent entity. And he wasn't in any squad, he was in the first squad, which is the elite of the knights, only a few get an invitation to join it."

"So he's no longer part of it?"

"Yes, it is said that he was in constant conflict with the leader and eventually left it."

"I see, I understand."

I heard a voice saying: "It seems that everyone is present here, isn't that wonderful?"

I looked and found a girl with silver hair and big eyes that resembled the color of emeralds and her smile gave me the chills, and she was about Isabel's height and wore a red dress.

Celestia said: "That's you, Laura."

Everyone was silent and looked tense.

Laura said: "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost, I just came to greet you before you lose."

Elena said boastfully: "We are the ones who will win because Leon is the strongest here."

I was standing with Ren and Leon and we were watching them argue as if they were in a fight.

Isabel said: "We don't know yet how the competition will be."

Elena said: "Sorry, I forgot to tell you about the system of the duels. It will be a one-on-one fight, the winner is the one who makes his opponent surrender or becomes unable to move. Each person has the right to lose once during the first two duels only. Whoever loses will duel the winner of another duel. And whoever loses twice or if he fights two duels whatever the result and loses once after them, he will be eliminated. And the winner is the one who remains in the end without being eliminated."

Celestia said: "The number of knights is seven, that means there is someone who won't duel at the beginning, that's not fair."

"Yes, it will be Leon and he will be considered a loser in the first duel, that means if he loses once he will be eliminated. I think that satisfies everyone."

Celestia said: "Fine, I won't object to that."

"Good, let's draw a lot then to see who will duel first."

Celestia said sarcastically: "But where are your knights, Laura?"

Laura smiled mockingly and then said: "Don't worry, they're coming right away."

Right after she said that, I saw two men coming. One of them had long black hair and sharp eyes and his body was thin and he was carrying two short swords. And the other was huge with short brown hair and serious features and he was carrying a huge sword. When I looked at them, they looked at me too as if they had seen me before, I knew them and they knew me. Yes, they were the ones who attacked me and Nina. They looked as surprised as me, what a coincidence, but I didn't tell anyone that they were the ones who attacked us because I had no evidence of that, and the anger inside me was pushing me to take revenge on them for what they did to us.

Laura said: "Here they are."

Elena clasped her hands and then said: "Then let's draw the lot."

Each of us wrote his name on a piece of paper and put it in a box and then Elena drew a paper and it had the name of Johan, Celestia's knight, written on it and then she drew the second paper and it had the name of Ren written on it. And so the first duel will be between them, I'm eager to watch it.

Johan looks good at using the sword. His stance looks perfect. He seems to be an expert.

The two stood in the middle and then the referee started the duel.