The Strongest Villain Sets Out: Reincarnated into a Merit-Based Clan, I Become the World's Strongest Swordsman

More than a week had passed since I went orc hunting with Norn-nee-san.

Today was finally the day the tournament would begin. Around the magnificent stone colosseum, sturdy warriors had gathered.

“Hmm… there are quite a lot of people here.”

The one who said this while looking around was Lucia, who had reformed after I beat her up.

Perhaps she’s not familiar with places like this, as her gaze wandered here and there busily like a country bumpkin.

“There are at least a decent number even in the under-adult division. I’ll be the one to win in the end, but you all should do your best too.”

“So annoying~. I’ll definitely hit that smug face of yours with magic.”

“If you can get in front of me, that is.”

“Luka’s opponent is me!”

Cornelia grabbed my arm vigorously. Her ample chest pressed against my arm with all its might.

“I won’t lose either. I’ll challenge Luka-sama.”

Finally, Sheila also clenched her fist tightly and made that declaration.

Not bad. Everyone’s morale is high. This way, I don’t need to worry about losing to anyone other than myself.

“Well, it’s a tournament format. There’s a possibility you could face me from the first round.”

“Ugh! I don’t want that… if you lose, that’s the end right there.”

“Aren’t you going to win, Lucia?”

“Of course I’m going with the intention to win. It’s just that I have to consider what happens if I lose too.”

“Naive.”

“Huh?”

I criticized Lucia’s words.

“I don’t think about what happens if I lose. I plan to win everything from the start.”

“Gnnngh! It’s frustrating but that’s so cool…”

Lucia’s face turned red and her hands trembled.

If you’re frustrated, then you should face me with the intention to win too. The one with the highest chance of beating me right now is probably Cornelia.

While we were having such casual conversation for a while, our turn for tournament registration came around—but before that, we were bothered by two men with unusually large builds.

“Oi, kid! This is where the tournament is held! If you want to fool around with women, do it somewhere else!”

“You’ll get hurt if you participate just for sightseeing. Like getting hunted by guys like us here!”

“…This is way too cliché.”

Such a moving cliché development arrived. The two seem stronger than thugs, but that’s about it. They probably couldn’t even beat Sheila, let alone me.

“Ahaha, this is perfect, Luka. I’ll turn these small fry into sashimi.”

“Wait, calm down.”

I grabbed the shoulder of Cornelia, who had stepped forward.

She was trying to draw her sword from the scabbard at her waist. Since it’s her personal possession, it’s a real blade.

“If you swing that around, it’ll become more than just a tournament issue. Handle this calmly.”

“Boo! Calmly means beat them up, right? I prefer cutting though.”

“Don’t complain. This is for your sake too.”

“…True, if I kill even small fry, the tournament would be canceled. Can’t be helped.”

“Haah⁉ Did you just say you’d beat us up⁉”

“I didn’t say that.”

You just interpreted it that way on your own. Though the meaning is the same.

“Lucky for you, old men. Luka is generous. And the tournament is being held. Otherwise I would have killed you here~”

“Guh! You damn brat!”

Cornelia is really good at getting on the men’s nerves.

Having reached their limit of patience, the men clenched their fists and raised them. They approached Cornelia’s face directly.

Cornelia, with her smiling face, tried to dodge that fist—but before that, I kicked the men.

“Don’t try to punch Cornelia’s face.”

Such a pretty face would be wasted.

By the way, I’m completely in favor of gender equality. The number of times I’ve punched Cornelia’s face in our mock battles can’t be counted on both hands.

But I won’t allow humans other than me to lay a hand on my companions. I instinctively kicked them, but Cornelia probably wouldn’t have taken damage even without me doing that.

“Mufuu! Luka protected me! I’m so happy!”

Meanwhile, Cornelia was in a good mood from being protected by me. She delivered a punch to the remaining man’s face and immediately ended the dispute.

The spot she hit was the face. Truly good, efficient attacking.

After throwing them aside, out of the line, our turn moved up a bit.

“Lucky. We’re just a little away from our turn for registration.”

“It’s thanks to me, right⁉ Praise me, praise me!”

“Good, good, you can blow away all the guys in front of us too.”

“Really⁉ Alright…”

“No way that’s okay, Princess-sama.”

Lucia tried to stop the rampaging Cornelia by putting her in a rear chokehold.

While watching that scene, I casually thought about things.

“…Luka-sama and Cornelia-sama never change.”

Only Sheila was looking at Cornelia and me with an exasperated expression.

How rude. I have a wider range of tolerance compared to Cornelia. I don’t immediately use my hands. Though I did use my feet.