Episode 10 - Checkmate

Episode 10 - Checkmate

"But you don't strike the moment you lose your temper, right?"

"So now's the time to bring back the foreshadowing about you observing people's insides."

"I didn't lay down that kind of foreshadowing. Anyway."

"Watch for the moment when Vel's muscles contract while observing beneath her skin. That's when."

"When?"

"Ignite Vel's sword. She doesn't know about your reinforcement magic yet. It'll throw her off balance, even if just for a moment."

"Do you think I can catch that fleeting moment?"

"Kinjo, remember what we did in the capital. We practiced countless times for this exact moment."

And now, Kinjo pulled it off perfectly.

"Now!"

He shouted as flames enveloped Vel's wooden sword.

Vel's eyes wavered slightly, for just an instant.

"Dodge!"

It wasn't a long-lasting distraction.

Vel quickly regained her focus, planted her feet firmly on the ground, and surged forward like a spring uncoiling.

She charged straight between Kinjo and me, piercing the gap in a flash.

If Kinjo hadn't disrupted her, she might have cut through both of us instead of slipping through the space between.

A shimmering heat haze lingered where her sword had passed, resonating through the forest like a thunderclap.

The shimmering haze split in two, as if she had torn through the very fabric of space.

"Huuuuuh…"

Vel collapsed face-first on the ground.

"I dodged it. Kinjo, did you—"

Kinjo, who had been right beside me, was nowhere to be seen.

"Kinjo?"

Lowering my gaze to Vel sprawled on the ground, I spotted him.

"Kinjo."

Kinjo was clutching his left leg, grimacing in pain.

"Damn it, Vel… Were you trying to kill someone?"

He glared at her with a look of pure resentment.

"You saw it coming! Why the hell did you let yourself get hit?"

"Shut up! Just because I saw it doesn't mean I could avoid it! Not everyone's like you!"

"Damn it. Can you even stand?"

"Hold on, before that…"

He started rummaging through Vel's clothes.

"Don't tell me, don't tell me…"

His movements grew frantic.

"It's not here… The map, the map isn't here. Amon has it…!"

Kinjo's face paled instantly.

"Amon used Vel as bait to stall us. That's a pretty bold move for him. From the start, he planned to leave Vel here to hold us up no matter who he encountered."

"Mago. This isn't the time for admiration."

"I know."

I paused briefly, calculating.

"Kinjo, listen carefully. You'll only get in the way now."

"I'm aware of that much. But hearing it from you feels a bit harsh."

"You said you memorized the map, right?"

"I told you it's kind of a gamble."

It wasn't a gamble; it was the correct choice.

But since I couldn't exactly reveal that I came from the future, I offered him a statement that would boost his confidence.

"You'll meet an instructor along the route, right? How long until the first checkpoint?"

"It'll take about two hours to descend."

"Then go down."

"Mago, are you serious?"

"If your memorized map turns out to be wrong, you can always climb back up."

"And what about you? How are you going to handle this alone?"

"I'll buy you time."

***

"To pass here, you'll have to get through me."

I aimed the tip of my wooden sword at my peers.

"If you can, that is."

Ahead was a one-against-ninety-eight scenario. The one being me.

I had taken up the role of the gatekeeper at this checkpoint.

Kinjo claimed he only needed two hours, but with his injured leg, it might take longer.

Three hours, at best.

Until then, I couldn't let anyone pass.

"Mago, what are you doing?"

Amon's voice rang out.

"No need to repeat myself. I'm just guarding this place."

I surveyed the area.

At this checkpoint, there were around twenty people, including me, Vel, and Amon.

The other group, Team B, draped in blue cloth, had more people.

"Where's Kinjo?" Amon shouted louder.

"Who knows? He might still be climbing up, descending, or perhaps even given up halfway."

The wooden swords assigned to all trainees were just that—wooden.

Rounded edges, blunt tips.

No fear, no hesitation.

Even when facing overwhelming odds, I had no intention of losing.

Here.

Now.

There was nothing to fear.

"Then we'll just have to cut through you...!"

The veins in Amon's neck bulged.

"Do you even have the time for that?"

"What?"

At that moment, a wooden sword swung toward the back of Amon's head.

He barely dodged it, throwing himself to the ground and rolling before regaining his stance.

"For some reason, Vel's out cold! Amon's alone!"

"Go after Amon!"

The trainees of Team A charged toward Amon.

This checkpoint wasn't just about facing me. It was inherently a battleground for Team A and Team B to fight each other.

With Vel incapacitated, Amon, left alone, became easy prey.

"Fine, come at me all at once!"

Amon drew his wooden sword and growled.

Before him stood four trainees from Team A.

"Raaagh!"

The others joined the fray, unwilling to be left behind.

Red and blue cloth swirled together in a chaotic skirmish.

"Why are they all so desperate to fight? Just trade and be done with it!"

"Hand over the map!"

"I'm finished... they already took it from me..."

Each faced a different opponent.

Maps were stolen, then reclaimed.

I kept my eyes on Amon, battling four at once.

A scion of a noble house renowned for its mastery of the sword.

Amon read his opponents' movements with precision, responding with efficient, calculated swordplay.

Calmly, one by one.

Eventually, he struck all four down, searching through their belongings.

Amon retrieved a map tied with a blue string from one of the fallen Team A members.

"Got it!"

With the map in hand, he could have resumed the race.

But...

"Vel!"

His partner, Bell, was still unconscious.

It was the price of using her as a decoy to delay us at this checkpoint.

Left with no choice, Amon hoisted Vel onto his back and retreated from the battlefield.

Meanwhile, more trainees arrived, wasting no time joining the fight.

I slowly tallied the numbers.

Out of the hundred participants, excluding Kinjo and me, ninety-eight should have shown up.

Ninety-four, ninety-five, ninety-six.

Two were missing.

"Louis is as predictable as ever, just like in the previous life."

Louis and his partner, a two-person team, were nowhere to be seen.

"Move, Mago!"

Two trainees from Team A, wearing red cloth around their arms, stepped forward.

They held a map they had successfully stolen from Team B.

If they passed me, they'd be right behind Kinjo.

"I told you, no one's getting through."

"Stop talking nonsense and move!"

They charged at me simultaneously.

I evaded the first one's strike and swept his legs, sending him spinning to the ground.

The second one aimed for my side.

I stepped into his swing, dodged it, and struck his waist with the hilt of my sword.

A sharp gasp escaped him as he fell, dropping the map he had been clutching.

The rolled-up map rolled a few times before stopping.

I snatched it up and stuffed it into my inner pocket.

"If you want it back, you'll have to take it from me."

"Mago, you...!"

The sun began to set.

The fight between Group A and Group B continued.

Four of my peers charged toward me.

Even though there were four of them, the wooden swords they wielded posed no real threat.

With a few swings of my own, they were all crawling at my feet.

I collected their maps as well.

"Wait, was Mago always this strong?"

"Mago, I'll just stay out of your way as you suggested, okay? How does that sound?"

"Why does it feel like you're holding back? That's even more irritating!"

"Take it easy. I'm not planning to join the Special Task Force or the Knights, so my grades don't matter."

Various voices echoed around me, but I didn't bother to respond.

While scanning my surroundings, something flew toward my shoulder.

I caught it just before it hit me—a long wooden object.

A branch, carved into what appeared to be a…

"A spear."

It wasn't particularly sharp, clearly designed to minimize lethality.

I traced its trajectory with my eyes.

Standing on a tree was Louis, holding something in both hands.

One was a curved auxiliary device resembling the letter 'J.'

The other was a straight wooden spear, similar to the letter 'I.'

Five more spears were strapped to his back.

Louise skillfully used the spears and the auxiliary device.

He placed the base of the spear into the curved part of the 'J' and swung it, launching the spear with precision and speed.

Even the instructors likely hadn't anticipated a trainee crafting their own weapons.

I was the only one who knew about Louise's spear-throwing tactics.

"You caught it…?"

Although I couldn't hear his voice due to the distance, his lips seemed to form those words.

Louis frowned and moved to another position.

"So, you've been watching all along."

The spear's arrival was well within my expectations.

Gripping the captured spear tightly, I muttered, "It's not exactly sharp, though."

Where will you go next, Louis? Will you climb another tree?

"Louis! Let's join forces!"

A voice interrupted my thoughts. I instantly recognized its owner.

"Vel, you're alive!"

Amon shouted enthusiastically.

"I wasn't dead!" Vel retorted, grabbing her wooden sword as she rose.

Vel's annoyance wasn't due to her unique magic.

It stemmed from knowing why I was guarding this position.

She understood that Kinjo had been struck earlier, making her a troublesome opponent.

That knowledge made her determined to disrupt my efforts to buy time.

"Vel, you go left," Amon directed, pointing to the left side.

Vel nodded and turned in that direction.

Amon moved right.

As for Louis, his position was still uncertain.

At that moment, I heard rustling from the bushes behind me.

With Amon and Vel approaching from both sides, I couldn't spare time to deal with Louis.

But I had a way to respond to the spear flying from behind.

"All at once! The three of us can take him down!" Vel shouted.

The lake works twice a day, for five minutes, within 50 meters.

I closed my eyes.

"This is the first time today."

A drop of water fell at my feet.

A serene view unfolded.

Blue waves formed a massive circle, sweeping across a darkened floor.

Everything touched by the waves was revealed before me.

Vel, resembling a menacing wolf emitting smoke.

Amon, gripping his sword handle firmly with both hands.

And Louis, standing behind me.

I perceived it all.

"Mago!"

Louis's voice and his spear flew toward me simultaneously.

Just before the blunt spear struck my shoulder, I reached back and caught it.

It was as if Louis had handed me a weapon.

I twirled the spear, reversed its orientation, and returned it along its original path.

"Does that guy have eyes on the back of his head…?" Amon muttered through clenched teeth.

I refocused.

The waves rippled once more.

Bell and Amon's attacks came simultaneously from opposite sides—left and right.

The faster and stronger strike was on the left—Vel's.

I dropped flat to avoid her blade.

Using the lowered position, I lunged at Amon, striking upward like a bull and knocking him back.

I shoved Amon's body into Vel's blade trajectory.

Vel swung her sword, producing a signature resonating noise.

I opened my eyes at that point.

Colors returned to the world.

Vel's strike exploded with a deafening noise.

As my vision cleared, everything happened at once.

"Urgh…!" Louis groaned, collapsing after being hit in the leg by the spear I returned.

"Huff…" Vel fell forward.

"Arghhh! Vel!" Amon clutched his waist, screaming in pain.

After the chaos subsided, I looked ahead.

Around 80 opponents remained.

"Kinjo, I hope you're making your way down safely. Please."

I picked up the maps from the fallen opponents, my pockets nearly overflowing.