Chapter 50: Everyone’s Doubts, and Ais’s Surprise!

Ryota's gaze fell on the wooden sword in Ais's hand.

So she's really going to start like this?

A wooden sword, seriously?

But then, following the line of her arms back to her face, he froze.

In those clear golden eyes, there was no hint of scorn or laziness.

On the contrary — he saw something there he couldn't quite put into words.

It was a kind of heat.

A heat so intense it seemed to boil away the ocean, despite being buried deep beneath the surface.

Along with it was something else: a long-repressed desire, now finally given a place to break free, almost overflowing from her eyes.

That's when he realized.

This wooden sword wasn't some sign of looking down on him.

It was simply the closest thing to her hand — something she'd grabbed on pure instinct.

She wasn't taking him lightly at all.

She was answering her own inner longing in the most direct way.

Ryota had just opened his mouth to say something, when suddenly a cheerful voice called out from behind him:

"Oh my, oh my, sneaking off here for a sparring match and not even inviting me to watch? You're breaking my heart, you know!"

He turned to see that at some point, the open space nearby had filled with people.

Standing right in front was Loki, one hand lazily resting on her hip, that trademark grin on her face.

Behind her, the entire core lineup of the Loki Familia had shown up.

The Big Three, Bete, the Hiryute Sisters…

A whole line of them, like some kind of organized cheering section that had been rehearsing for this.

"Damn… Monster rookie versus the Sword Princess — talk about hype."

Finn crossed his arms, eyes darting back and forth between Ryota and Ais.

Recalling that dizzy spell he'd had after looking Ryota in the eye last time, the brave little Pallum couldn't help but turn to Riveria and ask:

"Riveria, isn't it illegal in Orario to use magic in the city? How come nothing happens to Ryota?"

The elven mage glanced ahead and replied calmly,

"If you can instant-cast without chanting, you can do the same."

"Er…"

Finn scratched his head, lost for words.

Being able to fire off magic just by looking? Yeah, no chance.

"Tch, just another greenhorn… if he lasts three strikes against Ais, that's a win already."

Bete scoffed, his tone dripping with contempt and mockery.

Yet his eyes — they never looked away from Ryota for even a second.

Classic tsundere behavior, right there.

All around, the rest of the group were chatting and commenting, but nearly everyone had the same one-sided prediction.

No matter how strong Ryota was, he was still LV.1.

Ais was LV.5 — the Sword Princess herself, a genius who'd been on countless expeditions and was famous all over Orario.

No chance — you might as well stamp those two words right on Ryota's forehead.

A little ways behind the crowd, Lefiya's expression was complicated.

Her lips were tightly pressed together, eyes locked on the two figures in the courtyard.

She was still a little mad about how Ryota had teased her before, yet right now, she couldn't even feel the slightest hint of anger.

Miss Ais was her role model. Someone she respected and admired deeply.

Ryota was the man who kept upending everything she thought she knew, again and again.

For a moment, a strange sense of conflict stirred in her chest.

Who… am I even supposed to cheer for?

The buzz and chatter around them didn't reach Ais's ears.

She suddenly stepped forward a few paces, then bent to pick up a cloth-wrapped longsword resting on the ground nearby.

—shhhfft—

As the cloth fell away, a blade as white as fresh snow gleamed in the sunlight.

Ryota's eyes flickered in recognition.

That wasn't Ais's usual "Desperate." . That sword had been sent to Goibniu's workshop for its routine maintenance and tuning.

Instead, she was wielding a slender, exquisitely engraved stand-in blade.

"A substitute weapon, huh…"

Ryota drew Kusanagi from his back while eyeing the faint silver markings on its hilt, a hazy memory popping into his head.

If I remember right, that was one of Goibniu's early prototypes. Retail price… around forty million valis, wasn't it?

His eyelid twitched a little at the thought.

Ais's "backup sword" alone was a piece that would bankrupt an entire Familia. Talk about the perks of being a top-tier adventurer.

Compared to the casual look she'd had picking up the wooden sword, the second that shining white blade appeared, her entire aura seemed to shift —

The sharpness of the Sword Princess had returned.

"Miss Ais's serious face…"

Lefiya's eyes filled with something almost devout as she watched, though the faint blush on her cheeks was definitely off.

"Heh, Ryota's about to get wrecked! Our Miss Ais is totally in 'serious mode' now," Loki chuckled, then turned her head to shout,

"Hey, Raul! Make sure you've got some healing potions ready for Ryota. We can't let our precious gem get broken!"

Raul straightened up as if someone had rammed a spear down his back, voice cracking with tension.

"Yes! Understood, Lady Loki!"

So loud, even the Hiryute Sisterss jumped in surprise.

But right as Raul finished his sentence —

No warnings, no flashy build-up, no melodramatic tension.

As if they'd agreed wordlessly, in perfect sync, the two figures shot forward at the exact same moment.

In the stunned eyes of the watching crowd, they collided in the center of the yard with a speed no one could follow.

Sparks burst out. Light and shadow danced wildly.

Loki whistled through her teeth, squinting in delight.

"Not even a second in and they're already going this hard… looks like I wasn't wrong about that kid."

One by one, the grins faded from the others' faces as they collectively held their breath.

They could tell — right here and now, both Ryota and Ais Wallenstein were going all out.

Their movements grew faster and faster.

At first, the clang of their blades colliding left short pauses between each impact.

But before long, those gaps vanished entirely, merging into an unbroken torrent of steel crashing together.

Clang—clang—clang—!

Just hearing that rhythm was enough to make your heart pound, like a torrential storm hammering down on a rooftop, fierce and relentless.

But then, Finn suddenly sensed something off.

"Something's wrong…"

"Huh? What's wrong, Captain?"

Tione rose on her tiptoes to peek out,

"It looks awesome to me!"

"It is awesome," Finn replied, biting his thumb, his expression growing heavier,

"But don't you see… their rhythm is too similar."

"Rhythm?"

Tione tilted her head, puzzled.

"Yeah… way too similar,"

Bete's wolf ears twitched twice.

"This rookie's got some chops."

Hearing that, Tione finally noticed it too.

In the ring, Ryota and Ais — every swing, every step, even the angles of their dodges and turns — were perfectly in sync, like mirrored dancers.

It didn't look like a fight between enemies.

It looked like two figures performing the same sword dance with the same shared will.

"It almost feels like… Ais is fighting against her own shadow,"

Tiona's voice rang out, sending a jolt of realization through everyone around her.

Ryota — he'd actually synced up with Ais to this degree?

That wasn't something you could do with just raw speed.

It meant he had completely read her breathing rhythm, her footwork patterns, her sword habits, even — her entire combat thought process.

Within that dizzying dance of blades, Ais suddenly lunged with a fierce thrust —

But in the same instant, Ryota shifted his body just slightly to the side, smoothly dodging and then counter-thrusting in return, matching her movement with a precision so perfect it was chilling.

In that moment, for the very first time in this duel, Ais's eyes wavered.

She looked genuinely surprised.