Radiant Dragon’s Otherworldly Reincarnation

Chapter 119. If you were frustrated enough to cry, get stronger (3)

“Damn bastard…”

He was already embarrassed to death, but he never thought he would say something like that there. Alex squatted down, wrapped his head in his hands, and blamed himself. After the frustration of defeat disappeared and calmness returned, the first emotion he recognized was embarrassment.

“Damn it, how am I supposed to face my juniors now?”

At least the others had pretended not to see, but he never thought Patrick, that evil demon, would hit the nail on the head like that.

“Damn bastard, he has no tact at all.”

No, well, thanks to him, the fighting spirit that was dying in his heart was revived, so in that sense, he was grateful. He was grateful, but…

“It's embarrassing… Aaargh!”

As Alex tore at his hair and blamed himself, someone approached and spoke.

“What does it matter? Such things happen in one's youth.”

Alex raised his head and looked up at the person who had spoken. There stood an old man with a benevolent impression. The clothes he wore were ordinary, and he was an old man of an extremely ordinary build with a short beard.

“Ahem, who are you?”

Alex stopped tearing at his hair for a moment, stood up, and spoke politely. The old man maintained his benevolent smile and said.

“I saw your match. It was impressive.”

“Was… was it?”

Well, it must have been impressive. He had been completely toyed with, got pissed off, and went on a rampage. Even that rampage didn't work, and he lost to his opponent's single blow. He must have been a truly impressive loser. But the warm smile on the old man's face showed no mockery or contempt at all. On the contrary, with a smile filled with pride and benevolence, the old man said to Alex.

“I came to apologize, but it seems there's no need. That would be a discourtesy to you, wouldn't it?”

“An apology?”

“Please continue to strive even harder in the future.”

“……”

The old man said so and walked away from Alex. The straight back of the retreating old man somehow left a strong impression on Alex.

“Who on earth was that?”

* * *

A little while later. The waiting room where the delegation from the continent's strongest nation, the Venator Empire, was staying. As befitting the strongest nation on the continent, even now, with the second round in progress, all five of their representatives remained. So the atmosphere should have been good, but…

“Keu… Keuuuk…”

“Keeee…”

The reality right now was nothing short of disastrous. The professors from the Imperial Academy in charge of leading the Arcana representatives were lying on the ground, covered in blood, and the young athletes chosen as representatives were frozen stiff, standing against the wall. And in the middle of the disastrous scene, an old man took out a handkerchief, wiped his blood-stained fist, and said.

“Everyone, get up.”

“……”

“Right now.”

“Yes. Yes, sir!”

“Understood.”

The professors who had been groaning on the floor shot to their feet. To them, with their faces swollen, the old man said with cold eyes.

“They are children. Let's say they can be like that because they are still immature and thoughtless.”

“……”

“But for you, the professors of the Academy, to see such a shameful display and not say a single word of rebuke to the student who returned?”

“……”

“Why. Did my grandson act arrogant with my name on his back? Did he threaten to cut off your necks?”

“No, sir. That never happened.”

“Then why? Why did you let him be?”

“……”

“Are you saying you gave him a break on your own? Because Garcia is my grandson?”

At the old man's pointed question, the professors all bowed their heads in unison.

“We are sorry.”

“Our thoughts were short.”

“We will rectify this.”

Among the professors standing before the old man now, two were of the 6-star realm, and one was a strong warrior who had reached the 7-star realm, called the pinnacle. They were individuals who could maintain their dignity even when standing before the king of a nation.

“Tsk, pathetic things…”

“……”

But such a 7-star powerhouse was, in front of the old man before them, as terrified as a child caught by their parents after doing something wrong. It couldn't be helped.

The old man before them was a figure who commanded the respect of all the knights on this continent. To those who lived by the sword, he was a being to be respected and feared even more than the Emperor of the Empire or the Pope of the Holy Theocracy.

The Sword Saint, Duke Carlos Reynardo. The strongest knight on the continent. The strongest swordsman on the continent. The strongest human. The man who held all these brilliant titles was him.

When they heard that he had personally come to the waiting room, all the professors and students had cheered. They had never imagined that the Sword Saint would come to encourage them in person. Only one person, Garcia, the Sword Saint's grandson, had shown a different reaction.

[I… I have to run.]

At that time, the professors and his colleagues did not know why Garcia was acting that way. But after the Sword Saint entered the waiting room, they quickly found out the reason.

[Hohoho, let's start with a beating.]

And now. The supervising professors with their faces swollen, and the students who couldn't even look at those professors, frozen stiff. The atmosphere in the waiting room was truly disastrous.

“Garcia.”

“Yes! Grandfather.”

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

“Yes. I do.”

“…You foolish boy.”

Carlos frowned. What did he know? Garcia's disciplined answer right now was not from knowing his fault. It was just him unconditionally submitting out of fear and obedience towards his grandfather.

A reflex of submission and obedience. A sight that could not be found in a swordsman who had reached a certain level, but because his opponent was who he was, Garcia did not hesitate to bow his head. At the sight of his grandson fidgeting while watching his grandfather's expression, Duke Carlos let out a deep sigh.

“Huuu… Raise your head.”

‘Who is there to blame? This is all my fault…’

In fact, the one who had influenced Garcia's personality formation the most was Carlos himself. Originally, he had failed miserably in raising his children. He had three sons, and not a single one of them had grown up properly.

As a result of neglecting his family while dedicating himself to the path of the sword, leaving his children's education to his wife and being indifferent, all three had grown up to be outrageous scoundrels.

Disappointed by the sight of his sons, who had grown up to be trash, acting arrogant with their father's fame and the power of the ducal family, and committing atrocities, the Sword Saint was greatly let down.

He had tried to correct them belatedly, but his lectures, from a father who had been indifferent all along, had no effect on his grown-up children. In the end, even the Sword Saint of the world had failed in raising his children.

The only thing he could do was send his children to a rural estate so they would not cause any more trouble to those around them. It was then that his grandson, Garcia, appeared, and he became a great hope for him.

When he saw him grabbing a wooden sword as soon as he could walk and imitating what the adults were doing, the Sword Saint was greatly shocked. To others, it might have looked like a child's cute antics, but he could tell.

A genius. A true genius who had the talent to surpass him. He immediately took the child from his son and his wife, almost as if snatching him away, and raised his grandson himself.

Unlike his three sons, whom he had neglected and ruined, he paid extreme attention to his grandson, honing his talent and character.

He strictly disciplined him whenever he tried to go even slightly astray and did not accept any childishness. He thought he had done his best to raise him as an excellent knight. As a result, his grandson's talent blossomed magnificently. But…

‘He is mentally very unstable.’

Unlike his sons, he had been strictly educated so as not to grow up a scoundrel, so there were no problems with his behavior.

At least on the surface. But he had an intense fear of him, his grandfather and master, and to resolve that fear, he often ignored his peers and displayed a sense of superiority.

At first, he had thought it wasn't a big problem, but as time went on, that aspect became more prominent.

Extreme fear and submission towards his grandfather. As a rebound, arrogance displayed towards his peers. This was not good for him as a swordsman, nor as a human being.

‘Haaa… They say raising children never goes as planned…’

Looking at his grandson's frozen face, it didn't seem like scolding him here would solve the problem. The Sword Saint calmly commanded his grandson.

“In the remaining matches, do not lose your courtesy towards your opponents and do your best.”

“…Are you telling me to kill them?”

“That is not it. I am telling you to do your best in the match so as not to show disrespect to your opponent.”

“…Yes. I understand, Grandfather.”

Garcia's face clearly showed the sentiment, 'What kind of ridiculous instruction is that?' Yet, he never refused his grandfather's command and simply complied, which was only frustrating for the Sword Saint.

‘If only someone could break this child's arrogance…’

But would there be someone? Even in Arcana, where talents selected from all over the continent had participated, would there be a monster who could defeat this genius?

* * *

After Alex, the other representatives of the Atronia Kingdom who participated did their best. Spurred by Patrick's advice, they did not give up no matter what opponent they met and fought to win with all their might.

But their skills were insufficient to overcome the wall of reality that was the second round of Arcana.

Kalin met an elven warrior and did his best until seven knives were embedded in his body, but he lost consciousness due to excessive bleeding.

Isabella fought against a holy knight from the Holy Theocracy, but her glimmering mist Step, which she had learned from Patrick, was a bad match-up.

Her movements were greatly restricted by the opponent who exuded pressure in all directions using holy power, and in the end, from the moment the clash of strength began, she was helplessly pushed back and lost by going out of bounds.

Of the four representatives who participated in the second round, three were eliminated. With this, the Arcana for all representatives except Patrick was over.

“Everyone, don't be discouraged. You were all sufficiently excellent.”

“Aargh… I'm so pissed.”

“Ahem, as a professor of the Knight Faculty, as a knight of the Atronia Kingdom, I am proud of you all.”

“It's embarrassing… I'm so embarrassed, you see?”

“So everyone, hold your heads high and puff out your chests.”

“Where's the dishwater? Huh? The dishwater.”

Professor Leyte did his best to console the representatives, but it was no use because of the archdemon next to him who was ruining the mood. In the end, Professor Leyte sighed and said.

“Is it something to be so angry about?”

“Of course, it is. Our side losing is the fifteenth thing I hate!”

“You hate too many things!”

“Anyway!”

Patrick cut off Professor Leyte's words and looked at his colleagues. In an instant, the four colleagues flinched and huddled together. To such colleagues, Patrick said.

“The embarrassment ends here.”

“……”

“You seniors were incompetent and weak, so you lost, but fortunately, it's not over yet. Because I'm here.”

“Is it a good thing that you're here?”

“I think it's a bad thing.”

“To be precise, it's a terrible thing.”

“A terrible and miserable thing.”

Although they said that, the other colleagues also held a glimmer of hope. They may have hit the wall of reality and this might be it for them, but for that monster, it was a different story.

Were they not completely unaware of where the bottom of the monster named Patrick Schneider lay? Of course, this Arcana was teeming with monsters, including the Sword Saint's grandson, but still, if it was Patrick…

“How far do you think you can go?”

At Alex's question, Patrick puffed out his chest and said as if it were obvious.

“The championship, of course.”

“The Sword Saint's grandson and Antorius from the Holy Theocracy are not easy opponents.”

“That's only at you seniors' level.”

“……”

“I'll show you. That the level is truly different. You seniors just watch from here.”

Just then, the referee called Patrick's name.

“Patrick Schneider!”

“Oh, they're calling me right on time.”

And Patrick took his sword and went up to the stage. Watching Patrick's back, Gerard said.

“That crazy bastard talks about winning Arcana like he's going to a pub to buy a round of drinks.”

“His guts are really…”

“Alex, what do you think?”

“About what?”

“Can that guy really win?”

“You think I'd know just by you asking?”

“You fought against a championship contender, didn't you? You also fought Patrick. Don't you feel anything?”

At Gerard's words, Isabella and Kalin's gazes also fell on Alex. And Alex let out a deep sigh and said…

“What would I know? It was impossible to even draw out his true intentions.”

Having grumbled like that, Alex thought for a moment and then continued.

“However…”

“However what?”

“I just can't imagine that evil archdemon losing.”

At that, the other colleagues nodded their heads as if in agreement.

“Well, I feel the same way.”

“Wouldn't it be more likely for a demon to descend right here and now?”

“Then is Patrick really going to win?”

At Isabella's one remark, the group fell silent for a moment. Patrick Schneider's Arcana championship. After thinking about it for a moment, they said with bitter expressions.

“Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing?”

“It's a good… thing, right? It's a good thing for our country.”

“What about for the entire continent?”

“……”

“An evil archdemon so wicked that even demons would bow down to learn from him, rising to the most glorious position among all the talents of the continent?”

After imagining it for a moment, they shook their heads.

“…What is the world coming to?”

“Oh, Yupinel.”

“No, at this point, I wish even the god of destruction, Kallaron, would do something about him.”

“Ah, I'm going crazy. If he wins, it should just be a good thing. Why do we have to have these worries?”

“That's what I'm saying!”

They were brats who had realized that the world was not so simple.