[First Year Sword Emperor’s Cup 1]
Alecidus Royal Academy Sword Emperor’s Cup.
It is a fighting tournament in which only students enrolled in the Alecidus Royal Academy can participate.
During the period it is held, giant monitors are set up throughout the royal capital so that everyone may watch it.
The Alecidus Royal Academy Sword Emperor’s Cup is the junior version of the Sword Emperor’s Cup, which is a quadrennial tournament meant to decide who is the strongest man or woman in the kingdom. Alecidus Royal Academy Sword Emperor’s Cup, on the other hand, is held at the end of the school year as a competition to decide the strongest student in the academy.
The winner will be bestowed with a nonhereditary knighthood by the royal family.
They are required to answer the kingdom’s call in the event of an emergency.
In peaceful times, they are free to do whatever work they want, be it to dedicate themself to the kingdom or offer their sword to a noble house or something else entirely.
No matter what they do, they will receive a monthly salary and pension from the kingdom.
This is a lifetime guarantee that will still hold true even if they become physically disabled.
As many students are motivated by the honor and rewards that come with the knighthood, many more are discouraged by it.
Because in the Sword Emperor’s Cup, anything goes—be it weapons, magic, or even underhanded tactics.
Using all of one’s power to win against one’s opponent is considered justice.
Poison, hidden weapons, sabotages, threats, etc—as long as one can pull it off, no one will say anything against it.
That is because people’s definition of power has changed…
Knights are sometimes required to be ruthless and at other times they need to use any cowardly means necessary to see through their missions.
Only one who can overcome all kinds of dirty tricks thrown at them and triumph over all their opponents can win the Sword Emperor’s Cup.
[Being upright and clean-handed are things of the past! Only with victory will you bring pride to the kingdom!]
So are the words spoken by Arthur, the current Sword Emperor.
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As the end of the school year drew near, the academy as a whole turned lively, and so did the royal capital.
Four years ago, Guts Sword Marshall had been knighted during his freshman year.
Three years ago, Testa Hugaro Deskustos had been knighted when he had been a sophomore.
The first prince couldn’t become a knight since he belonged to the royal family, but he’d shown his prowess by making it to the finals when he had been in his third year.
During those three years, the three talented men had always been a hot topic in the kingdom.
This year the three had graduated… and everyone was waiting with bated breath for the birth of a new champion.
“Here, Lord Luc. It’s the Sword Emperor’s Cup’s special manju.”
Rivera gave me the manju she’d bought.
It had the Sword Emperor’s Cup’s logo on it.
“They sure don’t miss a beat exploiting the event.”
“But it’s delicious.”
Looking at the joyful smile on Rivera’s face, I guessed it didn’t matter as long as it made people happy.
Since all students of all grades were obliged to participate in the Sword Emperor’s Cup, third-year students had a clear advantage.
However, no matter how great you were at fighting, how masterful you were in magic, or how strong your attribute magic was, the odds were low you’d make it to the final.
This was because the tournament not only involved the students but also the adults’ interests and illegal gambling. They wouldn’t shy away from using underhanded means to ensure the tournament ran in their favor.
As such, children of influential nobles were quick to surrender if they thought they didn’t have the ability to win. The commoners who were ignorant of that fact, on the other hand, would do their best honestly.
Some students might even go missing because they stupidly believe they could rise to the top with just their own strength.
Well, I guessed this was a setting put in place for the ugly fat toad Luc.
As for me, I didn’t prepare anything behind the scenes.
“Are you not interested in becoming a knight, Lord Luc?”
“A bit. Getting a monthly salary and pension without working seems like a dream to me.”
“That’s your reason?”
“Well, I got engaged to Karin so that I don’t have to work in the future in the first place. But the duties that come with being a knight are a deal breaker for me, so I don’t really want to become one. I’m content as long as I can spend my days lazily and buy any books I want.”
Karin was good at business, so I should be able to buy whatever I wanted using her money… but that would have to wait until we got older and got married.
“It seems like we will be there soon.”
“Are you going for the win, Rivera?”
“Of course, I will do my best to test my strength.”
“I see. Be careful and don’t get hurt. I don’t want to see your beautiful face get scratched.”
“–! Oh, Lord Luc! You can’t say things like that to girls!”
She got mad for some reason.
“But I’ll try not to get hurt.”
“Mhm. If you do though, Myril and I will patch you up.”
“Thank you, that’s very reassuring to hear. Well, I’ll be going on ahead.”
The academy had 900 students in total. While there would be many students withdrawing every year, the remaining ones would fight each other in qualifying matches held all around the royal capital.
Rivera left me to go to the venue where her match was going to be held.
My match wouldn’t be until a while, so I decided to just slowly flew around the city on Bal in the meantime.
“Bal, head to the venue when it’s time… Haa~ I don’t really want to participate…”
The ugly fat toad Luc would have been enthusiastic about the cup.
He longed to be a knight, mainly for the honor… but he didn’t have the ability, so the three years he was at the academy he spent on scheming and plotting… that reminded me, it was Tashte that did his dirty work for him.
“Wonder that he’s doing… hmm? Speak of the devil…”
I caught sight of Tashte with an upperclassman.
The upperclassman seemed to be coercing him.
“Hey, what are you guys doing?”
When I called out to them, the upperclassman panicked and hurriedly left.
“I greet you, Lord Luc! Thank you for your kind help.”
Tashte went on his knee and thanked me.
“No problem. We have to look out for each other as classmates, right?”
“However… no, I suppose Lord Luc is just that kind of person.”
“Mhm. So? Who was that?”
“He was an attendant sent by Marquis AcGee’s son.”
“Marquis AcGee’s son? What does he need you for?”
“…Um, well, just some monkey business…”
I see, with the ugly fat toad Luc out of the picture, another villain showed up. I’d never heard of Marquis AcGee, but he should be a big deal since he was a marquis, shouldn’t he?
“Oh~ I see… So he wants you to do his dirty work?”
“…Yes… to poison this year’s top participants, to be exact… but I don’t want to do such a thing…”
Tashte did bad things to curry the ugly fat toad Luc’s favor in game. However, now he was just enjoying school life, someone else was trying to force him to get on the path of evil.
Was this the game’s force at work again? Well, no matter. I didn’t care who that AcGee guy was, but I didn’t find it amusing that someone else trying to use my supposed subordinate without my permission.
“Say, Tashte.”
“Y-yes!”
“My subordinate or AcGee’s, which one would you rather be?”
“Subordinate? Ah, of course, I would rather serve you, Lord Luc.”
“Good. You don’t need to listen to what that AcGee guy says, then. If he finds trouble with you, just tell him you only listen to my orders.”
“S-so, does that mean you want me to work for you?”
“Hmm~, I guess, yeah? Say you can’t help him because you have to help me.”
“I-I understand. I, Tashte Park Nezul, pledge my eternal loyalty to Lord Luc.”
Things got kind of weird, but whatever.
This problem should be over with this…
T/N: I just realized that Tashte’s name is a pun from 手下(teshita), Japanese for a subordinate. Bro was born to be a subordinate…
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Zky Translates 
E-E-ETERNAL L-LOYALTY!!
jeez… this harem does not see gender huh?
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