Chapter 178

Duel Weather (2)
A problem arose. The duel was to be held at the training grounds within the royal castle, but on the way there, the opposing Wolf died.

It started when my imposter called Wolf "Coote." The real Mr. Coote got irritated and released killing intent toward Wolf alone, who then died of shock. Just how weak can one be?

What’s worse is that he suddenly collapsed while walking. His expression was something else. It looked like he'd seen a monster.

"Calling such a weakling by my name is intolerable. And if that level of intimidation was enough to kill him, then the name Coote, which I received from my master, would be tarnished."

Well, it is an old hero's name. And yes, it was a truly pitiful end. But to be honest, Mr. Coote doesn’t normally look very dignified either. He looks cool when sitting quietly, though—especially in profile, where his sharp features stand out. Truly fitting as my pet.

"Then let the duel with adventurer Hollow commence."

The king made the declaration. It was a child's play of a duel, one I was certain I couldn't lose. Still, I wasn’t careless.

The fake Helios took a stance with a halberd. That’s not even the right weapon. Helios uses a club. If he used a halberd, it’d just break.

The fake Alicia, like the real one, drew a kukri-like sword. But it was just a normal blade in appearance only. Alicia’s weapon is imbued with mana.

At the signal to begin, the fake Helios charged forward. I ducked under the horizontal swing of the halberd to dodge it. Let the combat analysis begin. First, evade.

I pulled back half a step and avoided the downward slash. I dodged the follow-up strike from the butt of the weapon. Speed-wise, he’s about equal to a knight from Arland. However, he's lacking in tactics. His combat experience is decent, but nowhere near that of an Arland knight.

The fake Alicia slashed at me from behind, but I drew my revolver from my holster and shot at her sword from behind.

The little one remained a complete spectator, arms crossed and unmoving. Probably not even a combatant, let alone a commander. Visually, the child looks about my age. That likely means she has mana, but probably can't use magic. The younger the child, the more fragile and narrow the mana circuits are. It’s terrible for spellcasting, and if handled poorly, mana control can fail and go berserk. That’s why children can barely use magic—unless they modify their circuits like I did.

"Too slow."

I used 'Body Enhancement' and kicked the fake Alicia away. The kind of kick the real Alicia would’ve easily dodged landed squarely in her stomach. As the fake Alicia retreated with a backstep, she dropped to one knee. Too fragile.

Totally hopeless. This isn’t even good training. The fake Helios is a bit better, but with familiar speed and inferior tactics, he moves exactly as I expect. Dodging is simple.

I’ve watched knights train plenty. The better you know your opponent, the higher your prank success rate.

While firing my revolver at the fake Alicia to keep her in check, I gripped my dragon staff in my left hand and activated Create Golem.

"Spell activation. Come forth, Moai."

With a rush, a Moai statue burst from the ground and launched the fake Helios into the air. Oh, he managed to block it with his halberd, at least. As he spun in the air, I reloaded my revolver and aimed at the joints of his armor as he began to fall. The armor itself had enhancement spells, but the fittings were fragile. Easy to break with a gun. 'Trajectory Prediction' is a spell that allows for precision shooting.

As the fake Helios tried to brace for landing, his armor was torn to shreds. I charged forward using Body Enhancement, slung the dragon staff over my back, and grabbed my Gladius instead.

"Sing, Gladius."

The Gladius’s blade began to emit high-frequency vibrations. My slow downward slash was easily caught by the fake Helios’s halberd, but it split the weapon’s shaft clean in two. The difference in weapon performance is clear.

"Earth Bullet."

At the moment the halberd was cut, I fired a stone bullet at his vital spot as he leaned back to escape Gladius. The fake Helios fell and stopped moving. I held back, so he’s probably just unconscious.

"Two left."

“Kh!”

When I looked at the fake Alicia, she was staring in disbelief as if witnessing the impossible. If this level of power surprises her, she’s not elite. Even Anon could handle her. Big brother can casually slash away bullets too.

Then I unleashed the fluffy darkness slumbering within me.

My thought speed accelerated explosively, and everything around me seemed to move in slow motion. I slung Gladius on my back, drew a magic comb from the Treasury with Quick Draw, and dashed toward the fake Alicia.

She couldn’t react. Her thoughts couldn’t keep up with my speed. As I passed her, I thoroughly brushed her fur.

When the fluffy darkness ended, time returned to normal. The backlash from high-speed movement brought me to one knee, but I kept a watchful eye on the fake Alicia.

She had fainted while standing. And her tail—was beautiful. Bathed in sunlight, it sparkled resplendently. I could only call it beautiful.

Well, it still doesn't compare to the real Alicia. After all, she's used a magic comb for years. But this was a passing grade.

Heh, heh, heh. Beastfolk can't win against me. My fluffiness power is 530,000.

Now, only the little one remains.

"That mask design is just the worst. If you’re going to impersonate me, you should’ve made a better mask. That design infuriates me."

I returned the magic comb to the Treasury, drew my revolver again from the holster, adjusted its power, and fired.

My revolver is a magic gun, so it allows power adjustments. When the bullet struck the mask, a crack formed, and it split in two.

Apparently, the mask had a disguise spell cast on it. The child's hair turned chestnut brown. Her face had promise and seemed a bit strong-willed, but now held fear and tears. She was scared. Scared over something this trivial.

But then, gasps of surprise erupted from the surrounding people.

"Isn’t that girl the daughter of Duke Gaiel?!"

"Then she’s the one who claimed to be Hollow?!"

Duke Gaiel is the one who sent that man to House Uzal. In other words, it was all staged.

But seriously—why choose someone who’d be exposed in one shot? Is Duke Gaiel an idiot?

I kept my gun trained on her. The Duke's daughter had only a slightly red forehead—no serious injury. Thank goodness I didn’t kill her. And then the young lady...

“Uwaaaaaaaaahhhh! Fatherrrrrrr—!”

... burst into tears. Loud, dramatic crying.

Seriously, what were they thinking with this selection? I sighed and looked toward the king.

“This is clearly a conspiracy. And obviously, the winner is the real Hollow. Guards, arrest Duke Gaiel.”

The knights rushed off somewhere. All in all, it was a very unsatisfying duel that left me wondering why the daughter of Duke Gaiel had been impersonating Hollow.

I returned my revolver to its holster.

Well then, I’ll leave the rest to Ostland. I’ve appointed a representative on the Ostland side, so my testimony won’t be a problem. As long as the impostor doesn't cause a ruckus. But the impostor incident is over now.

Duke Gaiel was definitely involved. The king will use that to hold the Fifth Prince accountable and abolish his claim. It was the Fifth Prince 's fault for starting something strange. He will be held responsible. But that's something Ostland should handle, so I won't get involved.

This duel was also caused by my irritation with the mask. I disposed of the mask, so I feel better now. I collected the broken mask and the fake Alicia mask and used fire magic to destroy them, so there's no problem.

Now, all that's left is to make my doppelganger, who ate my cream puffs, do some underground labor.

What do you think about this chapter?