Chapter 18: Shawn Vs Marvin

Rikka and Celestia were looking around for Aria, as she was late.

Rikka turned around and found Aria walking toward them.

“Ah… Aria-sama, you are back—” She paused as she looked her up and down. Aria was covered with bruises, her forehead red. “Aria-sama, are you alright?”

“Of course, yeah, of course…” She sat beside Rikka as Celestia said,

“It seems like you struggled your way to reach here,” she lowered her voice, speaking suspiciously.

“Hehe…” She giggled awkwardly.

Well, hell, I am struggling. Why are there so many stairs here? I will ask the king to change the entire interior here. What will happen if a blind person like myself falls and meets Iris at such an early stage? That seems suspicious anyway.

Rikka turned to Celestia, being curious, and asked, “Sorry for asking, but Princess Celestia? Why are you wearing commoner clothes? I wanted to ask before, but I didn't find any chance to ask.”

“Huh? Is she?” Aria repeated.

“Ehh…” Celestia averted her eyes as she whispered, “Well, Mother told me to stay away from the tournament and attend my etiquette classes.”

Rikka averted her eyes and laughed as Aria stood up and started patting her.

“Oh… bad girl, bad girl,” Aria said in a playful voice.

“Don’t touch me like that!” She raised her voice, snapped her hand back, and added, “Anyway, we are here for the match, right? Then be quiet and watch it.”

“Yeah! I forgot.” They turned toward the field where Shawn was stretching his body, waiting for Marvin.

After a few minutes, Marvin walked onto the ground as everyone stood up—except those three—to show him the respect he deserved.

“Sir Marvin! Please win this one quickly!” one said, as another added, “We are here to support you and want you to win the title of Sword Saint!”

“Huh? You want Aria-sama to lose?” The first one's tone changed.

“NO… I don’t mean it like that, I was….” The second one defended himself.

“Then what do you mean, huh?” The first one grabbed his collar.

And with that, before the real match even started, the audience began to argue about it. Seeing that, Shawn’s face turned bitter.

Decide it first, whether you want Captain Marvin to win or not.

“Haha…” Marvin chuckled as Shawn turned. “It’s been a while since we've sparred with each other.”

“Yes, Captain. I am honored to have been matched against a legend like you.” Shawn bowed.

“Don’t be like that! Haha… anyway,” Marvin's tone turned serious. “Just like I am representing the Aquallia Kingdom, you are here to represent the Azure Temple—the Sword Saint herself, isn’t that right? So don’t bow to me. You are insulting her reputation.”

“Sorry, I will keep this in mind,” he said as he readied himself on his side, taking an attacking stance.

“Good. Whoever wins, let's give our best for what we represent.” Marvin took a defensive stance.

“Marvin? I heard he is one of the strongest people in the world. Is Sir Shawn going to be alright?” Rikka worried.

“Well, don’t worry. Captain Marvin knows how to limit himself. If Shawn fights him, injuries might be inevitable, but at least he won't get any serious injury,” Celestia said, crossing her arms.

“Aria-sama? What do you think..?” Rikka turned, but Aria was stuffing herself with sweet breads.

“Huff?” The area around Aria's lips was covered in crumbs.

“Ehh….”

“Geez! At least act like a real Sword Saint.” Celestia leaned toward her, cleaned her face, and sat back down. “Don’t embarrass us in front of everyone.”

“Embarrassed?” Aria said, as everyone looking in their direction was lost in a delusion.

Ahh… Aria-sama, how divine and innocent you can be, everyone thought in unison.

Celestia clenched her fist as she crushed the handkerchief in her hand, muttering in frustration, “I hate you! You damned spoiled Sword Saint!”

Hehe… even if Celestia-sama hates Aria-sama, she still calls her Sword Saint. It's kind of cute, I guess.

As they focused again on the fight, the match started.

Shawn breathed in, focusing his eyes on the Captain, who was standing wide open with a loose guard.

I've known this trick for ages: give your opponent a full opening so they fall for it and attack. I've trained with you, so I can predict this much. But why do I feel so much pressure? It isn't on the same level as fighting against Aria, but still, I hesitated. If I hesitate and let my nervousness take over...

He blinked, determination shining in his eyes, and leaped forward like a flash. Marvin raised his guard, but Shawn stopped mid-step, scooped up sand from the ground, and threw it straight at him.

It hit Marvin, forcing his eyes shut. Taking advantage of the moment, Shawn brought his sword swinging up toward Marvin's chest. But, ever experienced, Marvin remained calm, taking a step back so that only a few strands of his hair were cut.

Shawn, still keeping his momentum, spun around and tried to connect with a sweep kick. Marvin grinned, his eyes still closed, and caught Shawn's leg. He spun him around and threw him into the air.

As Shawn went airborne, he tried to reorient himself, his eyes widening as he found Marvin suddenly above him. Marvin clamped a hand over Shawn's face, dragging him down, slamming him into the ground, and plowing him straight into the arena wall. Dust flew high into the air.

Everyone was shocked by what had just happened. Marvin walked out of the dust cloud, looking up toward the crowd. Without turning around, he said,

“It was a clever choice, I'll give you that. But I can see you're still fighting like the person I picked up, not someone who trained under a Sword Saint.”

“Huh? That's it?” Rikka threw herself back into her chair with a sigh. “Poor Sir Shawn. I was hoping he'd at least give Captain Marvin a real fight.”

“Well, this was expected. He's facing someone completely out of his league,” Celestia said, crossing her arms. “Anyway, Aria, don't scold him after he returns. He did his best.” As she was speaking, she noticed Aria remained intensely focused on the match.

As the dust cleared, Shawn was surprisingly still standing. He wiped the blood from his mouth, his eyes turning razor-sharp.

“Sorry, Captain, but I need to clear one thing up.”

“Hmm?” Marvin turned back around.

“Since I joined her, I've barely trained under her at all. To her, every living being is like an ant, so she isn't really capable of training me well. But…”

“But…?”

“I've at least learned something from her. Even if you have flaws, you can still cover them up by strengthening other areas.” He raised his hand and pointed at his head. “I might not be as strong as you, but I'm smarter than you. Hehe.” He grinned.

“What are you saying? I… huh?”

Suddenly, thick purple vines sprouted and bound Marvin's entire body. Losing his balance, Marvin crashed to the ground.

“That's—” Marvin tried to increase his mana output, but his strength was instantly absorbed by the magical roots.

Shawn walked up to him, pointing the tip of his sword at his throat.

“It seems like checkmate for you, Captain. If you're wondering, I placed a magic circle around you back when you were dragging me. This circle was specially designed to control beasts with massive mana reserves.”

Marvin looked up at him, then let out a heavy sigh. “Hah… Well, this is a trick I never expected from an elite soldier and an attendant of the Sword Saint, you know.” He paused, then called out to the referee.

“Hey, Ref! I'm admitting defeat.”

“Huh? Are you sure, Captain Marvin?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay!” The referee nodded and officially declared, “Shawn is the winner of this match!”

Shawn turned around, unsure of what was coming next. He looked up at the audience, who sat stunned, unable to process what had just happened. Then, the crowd started booing him relentlessly.

“Booo! What a cheap trick!”

“It would've been better if you lost like a true warrior!”

“Yeah! At least maintain the Sword Saint's reputation! Aria-sama ought to kick you out for that!”

The crowd was furious with the result. Shawn chuckled nervously to himself.

Well, I kind of knew this would happen. I'm fighting for Aria, sure, but I also want to face her again—not in a practice match, but a real match. Though I think I did her image dirty with this, even after trying to save it for so long. I'll need to apologize to her when I get back.

He turned and started to leave the ring. In the middle of the loud booing, he caught the sound of someone clapping.

“Huh?” He turned toward the sound and saw Aria clapping for him.

“Aria-sama! What are you doing? If you support Sir Shawn after a victory like that, the people might—!”

“Rikka is right. Look at the people,” Celestia said, watching the crowd. Everyone seemed completely confused and surprised to see Aria standing and clapping.

Seeing their beloved Sword Saint clapping, one person stood up and began clapping along. Then another joined in, and then another. Within moments, the booing turned into a stadium-wide cheer of appreciation.

Shawn covered his face, lowering his head.

“Is Sir Shawn crying?” Rikka asked.

“Maybe?” Celestia replied.

“Well, he really deserves appreciation. Even if he won in an unfair manner, a win is a win, right?” Aria said, still clapping away.

“Ahh… right. But—” Rikka squinted, her sharp eyes fixing on him down below. “Why does it look like he's laughing while covering his face?”

Hahaha… Damn it, Aria. They really put you on such a high pedestal. Even in a situation like this, they still follow you blindly. Well, just like their Sword Saint, they're all blind. They do the exact same thing.