Chapter 15: Knight Competition Finals I (part 1)

“Hello, Ike.”

“Eh, you?”

It was the waiting room before the finals—a space only the finalists were allowed to enter.

But why was the Crown Prince here?

“Why is Your Highness here?” I asked.

This wasn’t Orkeon. It was Heros, in the Duchy of Roselia.

Of course, I wasn’t saying he couldn’t come to Heros, but at the very least, this place…

“What are you talking about, Ike?”

The prince reached into his bosom and pulled something out.

A mask and a blue wig.

Slowly, he put them on.

“I’m your final opponent—Leon of Aegis Astraia. A.A.L.”

His disguise looked convincing. Even his voice had changed.

Standing in front of me now was the masked man, my opponent in the finals.

“I didn’t mind the mask, but the wig was suffocating. Still, I had no choice. I had to hide my hair color. Just covering my face wouldn’t have been enough—I’d be recognized instantly.”

It was understandable.

That brilliant golden hair was a symbol of the imperial family.

“But thanks to the disguise, I managed to fool everyone and reach the finals. All that preparation paid off.”

“…I thought the use of unauthorized magical tools was prohibited.”

“Of course. I got permission. The wig is just a regular one, and the mask only changes my voice. The Knight Competition is a place where pure skill is evaluated. As long as it doesn’t affect the match itself, getting approval isn’t difficult.”

In other words, the organizers had known that the masked man was the Crown Prince.

Reina must have known too.

She just hadn’t told me—for the sake of fairness.

[I remember Duke Addos saying something three days ago…]

[You’re going to participate in that tournament too?]

[It won’t be easy.]

So, the clues had been there.

I’d simply failed to notice them.

“By the way, Ike, I never expected you to make it to the finals.”

The prince took off the mask and wig, tucked them back into his bosom, and continued.

“Of course, I wanted to fight you. But based on what I saw at the ball and during the preliminaries, I genuinely thought Miss Helen would win.”

“…Is that so.”

“She was dominant from the beginning to the middle of the match.”

Honestly, if Helen hadn’t been a character from the original story, she would have lost that battle.

“I was captivated the whole time. It was clear to anyone that Helen had the advantage. Her unusual fighting style makes her nearly impossible for regular people—especially aspiring knights—to deal with.”

…Cold sweat began to bead on my forehead.

“Also, the Duke of Axus and Count Oberon don’t have a close relationship. You have no ties to Miss Helen either. And this was her first appearance in a Knight Competition.”

“That…”

“But you weren’t shaken. From the beginning, you had the confidence to win. And honestly, I think that kind of mindset is admirable.”

The prince’s words continued without pause.

“Even when you were at a disadvantage, you didn’t falter. You guided the match in the direction you wanted, and in the end, you won by exploiting her weakness.”

“Are you implying there was something wrong with my victory?”

“Not at all. On the contrary, I’m impressed. Very few people surpass my expectations. Others may think you barely scraped out a win at the last minute, but I saw it differently. You controlled the flow of the fight from the start. You read all of Helen’s moves—as if you knew everything in advance.”

I stopped breathing for a moment.

Could it be… was the Crown Prince also a transmigrator?

But thankfully, it didn’t seem that way.

“I realized after the match that I had underestimated you. I’d heard a lot about what kind of person you were, but I judged you based on a few snippets I’d seen. That must mean I’m still far from where I should be.”

From the prince’s eyes and tone, there was no suspicion or condescension.

It looked like pure, sincere admiration.

“That’s why I want to have a proper match with you.”

In other words, he was a genius.

The prince was a prodigy—able to deduce the truth with just a sliver of information and subtle cues.

“Thank you, Ike. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

He was the strongest opponent I had ever faced.

***

“May Eos bless us!”

The referee’s declaration echoed throughout the hall.

The prince appeared once again, wearing a mask and a wig—just as he had in every match so far. He clearly had no intention of revealing his true identity until the very end.

He stood there, holding a one-handed sword in his right hand, without a shield.

And yet, he showed no sign of unease.

That was exactly how the prince fought in the original story.

Ordinary knights subdued their opponents with overwhelming physical strength. Even when they used magic, it was limited to the most basic spells.

But the crown prince was different—a monster who could harness even the explosive force of elemental magic.

His empty left hand was free for casting spells.

Fortunately, the use of magic was implicitly forbidden in this Knight Competition.

There were separate competitions specifically for magic users.

In other words, I believed I could win by exploiting this gap.

“Thank you very much.”

After exchanging formal greetings, the prince moved first.

Traang!

But having anticipated that, I immediately raised my sword to block the attack.

“Oh.”

There was a note of surprise in the prince’s voice.

In all his previous matches, he had won with that single blow.

And that was the only concrete piece of information I had.

The prince always opened with a downward strike from above his opponent’s head.

“Worth it.”

During the preliminaries, I had barely managed to block it—it was almost a defeat in itself.

But now, it didn’t feel so difficult.

I could track the sword’s motion and the force behind it felt much lighter.

“As expected, that won’t be enough.”

When his first strike was blocked, the prince instantly stepped back.

And I charged forward at the same time.

There wasn’t much information available.

Even in the original work, the crown prince’s weaknesses weren’t well-documented. And those few weaknesses weren’t something I could exploit now.

But if I let fear rule me and focused only on defense, I would be worn down bit by bit.

So, I had to be the one to step forward and limit his movements.

That was my only path to victory.

“Of course you’d respond that way.”

One-handed swords were lighter and faster, but two-handed swords had greater range and force, making them advantageous in close combat.

The prince certainly knew that.

“I expected it.”

Surprisingly, he chose to meet me head-on.

I was startled, but I had no intention of backing down.

In this situation, the advantage was mine.

This was exactly what I’d aimed for from the beginning.

Now that everything was unfolding according to plan, my heart began to fill with confidence—bit by bit.