Chapter 294: So Much For Efficiency

The first match of the second day was, surprisingly, reserved for Carine.

And thanks to Leila's rather hearty breakfast, I had plenty of energy stored away for the fight. Assuming my opponent deserved that energy, of course.

I was already waiting inside the preparation room, where the same gentle volunteer girl from yesterday was helping me put on my protective gear.

Meanwhile, at the same time, I was warming up as Feyt in my dorm room, since my match wouldn’t be for later.

“And... there!” The volunteer student stepped back with a satisfied smile. “You should be all set, Lady Carine. Now we simply need to wait until the announcer calls for the gates.”

“Thank you.” I paused for a moment as I adjusted one of the straps around my arm. “Ah... I believe I didn’t catch your name yesterday.”

Her eyes widened slightly, as if surprised. “My name?”

I nodded in response.

“A-Ah! Well, it’s Olivia. Olivia Rendaheim. I hail from a small county in Denta.”

“Denta?” I said with a very faint hint of surprise in my tone. “So you’re a foreign student?”

Olivia nodded. “Yes, my older brother is actually in the student council and, since I had Talents in wielding shields and endurance, he recommended me.”

“Shields?” I parroted.

She nodded with a faint smile.

Indeed, there exists a Mastery-Type Talent for shields… But I never actually gave it much thought… until now. How does one improve in handling shields? A better grip? A better defense? Or could she actually fight with a shield as a weapon?

Though now didn’t seem to be the right time to ask that question.

I rose from my seat and grabbed the wooden blade resting by the bench beside me. “Thank you for your help, Olivia,” I said, giving the sword a small swing through the air. “I'll be relying on you again for my next match… Assuming I win this one, of course.”

“I’m sure you will, Lady Carine!” Olivia smiled. “Your showing yesterday was nothing but excellent! But… If I may ask, did something happen in the arena with Reikos yesterday?”

“Something happened?”

“Ah, well… You didn’t seem particularly… thrilled when you returned to the gates after you won.”

Was it really that obvious?

I thought back to how I walked out of the arena yesterday. Particularly my cold glare and scowl.

Oh yeah, that is rather obvious.

Well, no point in skirting around the subject.

“To be honest,” I began, “I simply expected too much.”

Olivia tilted her head. “Too much?”

“I stepped onto the sands yesterday expecting a battle that might challenge me. I… didn’t expect it to end in just two strikes. You could say I was a little… surprised?”

Olivia stared at me for a moment. “I… I see. That is rather surprising, isn’t it?”

Before either of us could say anything else, a muffled voice echoed through the preparation room.

Even through the thick walls muffling his voice, the announcer’s voice was still loud enough to hear as he welcomed the guests, introduced the second day of the tournament, and explained that there would be two rounds of matches today, so stay tuned.

Yep, on the second day, there would be two rounds. A round of sixteen first, then a round of eight. Then, on the third day, things would finally wrap up with the semifinals and grand finals.

That meant that if I won this current match as Carine, I wasn’t done for the day yet. I would have another match as soon as the current round ended, and the contestants' roster was cut in half. And you better bet I was aiming to win both matches.

Mother and Father were only ever going to visit on the third day, so if I lost before then, I had a feeling they might not show up at all… perhaps for a long while. The thought of invoking their disappointment frightened me.

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“It seems they're starting soon,” Olivia said. She turned toward me with a bright smile. “Good luck with your match, Lady Carine!”

“Thank you.”

I returned the smile as best as this face could, hoping I didn’t smile like a maniac this time.

Then I tightened my grip around the wooden sword.

The tournament organizers better had heard my wish yesterday…

Or else…

—

“From the eastern gate, please welcome Carine of Class Honors!”

The gate slowly rose as light slowly began to seep through the widening gap. The roar of the crowd slowly enveloped my ears.

I stepped forward, landing my boots with a crunch on the sand of the tournament arena. This time, however, I made sure to temper my expectations.

I wouldn’t want to crash on a high like yesterday. Had Lionne and Villius not invited me to enjoy the stalls, I probably would’ve spent the night wallowing in frustration at the tournament organizers.

This time, however, I kept one rather self-centered possibility in mind: My opponent might simply not live up to my expectations.

As I slowly made my way through the sands, the western gate soon rose as well, revealing my opponent.

I recognized his face immediately.

He was the fast, efficient polearm dude from yesterday, the one who went up against another polearm user who was all about style.

After my unfortunate encounter with Reikos yesterday, I was beginning to think I had seen enough stylish fighters for the time being.

Efficiency is good.

Efficiency is life.

After yesterday, efficiency might very well be my new favorite word.

I took my place in the sands. As did he.

Based on what I'd seen yesterday, I was fairly confident he would give me a much better fight than Reikos had, considering I had actually seen him fight before.

The moment I locked eyes with him in an attempt to gauge his attitude and draw a line where he was looking, I noticed something rather strange.

He was… trembling. Subtly, sure… to the point one might not even notice if they weren’t standing in front of him.

And more than that, the lines I drew from his eyes… pointed basically everywhere, frantically. He looked at me with sheer focus, his eyes tightening every second, barely blinking.

Is he… nervous about fighting me?

I hadn't noticed anything like that during his match yesterday. He looked rather confident in himself last time.

Then again, I had been watching from the spectator stands. There was a considerable difference between observing someone from a distance and standing directly in front of them… But this is Carine’s eyes we were talking about.

But, besides assuming things, the best I could do was, of course, take this match seriously. So, I studied him once more.

If I remembered his playstyle correctly, which I believe I did, he relied on fast, efficient pokes and thrusts to push and overwhelm his opponent. That was what happened in his last fight anyway. But assuming that was all he could do would be disrespectful.

No one plays a game with only one card in their deck.

So, I tightened my grip around my sword and lowered myself into my stance. The tip of my blade leveled toward him.

He flinched.

…Did he really just flinch?

The announcer's voice boomed across the arena.

“Three… two… one… Begin!”

The moment the match started, I moved.

So did he.

His polearm shot toward me.

He’s fast!

The wooden tip passed through the air beside my cheek.

He immediately pulled it back.

Another thrust.

Then another.

Then another.

Then… I noticed something.

Something that differed vastly in my eyes compared to how he performed yesterday.

His thrusts… weren’t as controlled or efficient. They weren’t trying to lead me to do anything. They weren’t trying to trap me into pushing or falling back. In fact, they seemed to be sent out in a panic.

His movements were still fast, but the efficiency I had seen yesterday was gone.

Every time I advanced, he panicked.

Every time I raised my sword, he flinched.

Then I noticed how his eyes were looking at me. They were moving frantically. The same way the eyes of the students I faced in the preliminaries… those who forfeited right before my face.

A frown slowly appeared on my face as I realized…

He was scared.

He was scared of me.

I had watched him yesterday and genuinely looked forward to fighting him. His speed, his efficiency, the way he controlled the distance between himself and his opponent… But none of that was here anymore.

I wasn’t fighting the same person as yesterday.

Fear had made him panic. It made him rush when he shouldn't. All of his efficiency was gone, replaced with only panicked attacks.

No… this can’t be happening…

Not again!

I stepped aside from another reckless thrust and reluctantly knocked his polearm away.

Before he could recover, my sword struck his side.

He stumbled before falling onto the sand.

The first round was over.

…

Okay… maybe he got over it by now?

The second round began.

He was trembling even more.

Oh, come on!!

At this point, I wasn't even sure who I was more disappointed in.

Him for being terrified of me, or myself for somehow being terrifying enough to ruin what could have been a perfectly good fight.

Still, I gave him another chance. I even tried softening my glare a little, hoping that perhaps I looked less like someone trying to murder him.

It didn't seem to work, though.

His openings only grew more obvious as the round continued, practically begging to be exploited, until eventually… I did exploit one of them.

All it took was one strike, and he stumbled back and down onto the sands. Just like that… the match was over.

“Another impressive showing from Carine Sareid of Class Honors!” the announcer yelled energetically.

The crowd erupted into cheers.

I slowly lowered my sword and stared up at the sky.

I quietly lamented to myself.

During the preliminaries, fear caused by rumors had made my opponents flake out and forfeit right before me. During the actual tournament, I genuinely believed those days were finally behind me.

Apparently not.

A thought began to form inside my mind.

...Am I the problem here?

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