Chapter 48

On the day of the demon sword tournament, my mother rushed up to me as I tried to leave the house .

Wait Arnos-chan! Mothers coming with you!

My mothers all dressed up in her going out clothes .

Youre coming to Deruzogedo?

Un . The school sent me a ticket and anyone with a ticket to the tournament can enter the grounds .

I still havent decided if Im taking part yet .

Ive arranged to meet Aivis at the school and get his report first .

Ill make my decision based on what he tells me .

You still not sure if you can get a good enough sword?

Yeah, pretty much .

If I explain my true reasons my mother wouldnt really understand so Ill stick to my previous story .

You might get your sword so mothers coming along . Also, I want to see the school Arnos-chan goes to .

Im not sure what shes expecting to see but its fine .

Shall we go then?

Unn .

We lock up and as we start walking my mothers links her arm with mine .

Fufufu . I rarely get a chance to go out with Arnos-chan . Mothers happy .

Its a bit hard to walk with you sticking to me like this though .

Nee, Arnos-chan .

My mother looks very happy .

. Thats true .

Its fine I suppose .

Hanging on to my arm so I cant escape my mother seems so happy . Im not going to pour cold water on her mood .

Have you seen father recently?

After dashing out he came back once then left again and hasnt been back since . I guess hes still working hard on obtaining a demon sword .

Hes helping out at other blacksmiths since they are short-staffed .

I see . Is that price he paid for knowledge on demon swords?

Hes only troubling you though .

My mother laughs happily .

Perhaps, but I dont mind . That person is a hard worker so its okay .

Ive never seen my father work . To be honest, I cant imagine it at all when I think about his usual everyday figure .

Speaking of which Arnos-chan, is the other person chosen from your class Ray-kun?

Walking leisurely I answer my mothers questions and after arriving at school I lead her to the arena .

If you carry straight on you will get to the audience seats .

Un, thank you Arnos-chan . Do your best .

Aah . We shall see .

Mother supports you!

My mother left without listening to my words .

Since we walked quite slowly the tournament should be ready to start .

The very first match is also my match so I really dont have much time left .

I didnt head to the waiting room though . I left the arena and headed to the demon tree forest .

The forest had completely recovered after our matches and wash now lush and green again .

After walking for a while a *nyaa* came from above .

Looking up a black cat is perched on a branch . With a light gait, it comes down the tree . Its Aivis .

What have you found?

The black cat opens its mouth .

Gaius and Idol, two of the old seven demon emperors are involved in the tournament behind the scenes .

Those two?

Gaius memories were erased and his body taken over by a subordinate of Avos Dillheavia . I never checked Idol but its very likely its the same with him as well .

Whats their aim?

I believe its you Arnos-sama . I think they are trying to trap you somehow .

If thats the case then they are probably trying to beat me by using the rules .

Aivis agrees .

They will probably try to reduce your power by using the rules against you Arnos-sama .

Fumu . This is probably the most likely scenario .

Whats the location of Gaius and Idol?

I dont know, but I found out that they will be coming to watch the finals tomorrow .

I dont think they will just be watching though .

It seems like they have anticipated me wining today and going through to the finals .

What about Melheys?

Hes a hard one to catch sight of, but from what I can find he doesnt seem to be involved in the management side of the tournament . Theres no sign that hes intending to defy you Arnos-sama .

Is he innocent?

Oh well . I still cant confirm either way so no point worrying about it .

What about Ray?

Ray Grandoris mother is hospitalised in the Lognoss magic clinic . Her condition isnt good . Shes close to death and healing magic is barely effective . Somehow the hospital has managed to at least stabilise her though .

Thats why he looked so down . Why didnt he depend on me though?

Whats the disease?

The doctors notes state its spirit sickness .

Fumu . Ive never heard of it .

What kind of disease is it?

I dont know . Ive never heard of it . I had to look it up and apparently, its very rare .

So thats why shes admitted to the best magic clinic in Deiruheido .

Anything else?

Thats all Ive managed to find .

To understand his mothers illness Ill have to examine her directly . It doesnt sound like a disease associated with mazoku though .

Sorry for the trouble Ive put you through . Ill be depending on you again .

Your will .

Aivis walks off into the forest .

I return to the arena but head to the audience seats and not the waiting room for the participants .

Ill wait here for a while .

Without further ado, the first round of the Deiruheido demon sword tournament shall begin!

A voice comes from the owl flying in the sky .

First up is Kurt Roodwell from the Lognoss demon sword association!!

A long-haired man with delicate features appears on the arena along with a great cheer . A thin rapier type demon sword hangs from his waist .

Hes here! The winner of the last tournament! Deiruheidos strongest swordsman Kurt Roodwell!!

Shocking! The first match and hes here!

Aah . At only 20 years old he rapidly cut down all his opponents . He can only have gotten better . I look forward to it .

Hes over 30 now . I wonder how much more polished his sword techniques are? Its scary just thinking about it .

Whos the unlucky fellow to get Kurt on the first round?

Apparently, hes some type of celebrity and the audience is excited .

The Lognoss demon sword association is a famous group amongst the royal factions .

Misa says while coming over to me .

I see . By the way, is that the younger or older brother of Emilia?

Older .

Is her whole family in the royal faction? Not that unusual I suppose .

Next up is Arnos Voldigod from the Deruzogedo demon king school!

Even though the owl says that no one shows up obviously since Im standing here .

. Im sorry . Because of us

What are you saying? Me taking part only furthers the plan of Avos Dilheavia .

If I dont participate Im sure that guys plans will start to unravel .

If I do this I may catch them by surprise .

Now then . How do you intend to proceed with this?

They probably made this plan without even considering Id escape . Whatever their plan is, I doubt it will work without me taking part .

I may be the demon king of tyranny but the person Im fighting is not that sword tournament participant but Avos Dillheavia .

I say all that but thats assuming Ive read the situation correctly in the first place .

. . Oi . Maybe his opponent isnt going to show up?

Because their opponent is Kurt it might be a bit heavy for a student . Perhaps they ran away?

But I heard that recently the unification faction is spreading the news around that the demon king of tyranny has been reborn and its this Arnos Voldigod person .

Aah . There was such a rumour wasnt there .

Haha, how ridiculous . Hes supposed to be a mixed blood . Why are mixed bloods even in the academy? They should all work for the royals like most of the other mixed bloods .

How true . No matter how hard they try they can never become demon emperors . Its stupid .

Good grief . That unification faction and this Arnos are all brats . Its nothing but a dream .

No doubt those raising their voices are a royal group since they are making sure a nearby group of white-clothed students can hear them .

The students were obviously mixed races and were clenching their fists in anger while enduring it .

They are surrounded by royalty so all they can do is endure it .

Am I hope for the white-clothed students? If I dont go out there, their regrets wont go away .

This situation though . Did Avos Dillheavia plan this provocation just in case I didnt show up?

How do you know they cant become demon emperors!?

A familiar voice reaches my ears .

Looking around I see her .

My mother .

Ahh? What was that Nee-chan? Dont you know? Demon emperors are royalty . Thats the order of things .

My mother firmly brushes away the hand of a man thats reaching for her face .

Arnos-chan will definitely become a demon emperor!

My mother doesnt know Im the demon king of tyranny .

She should know from investigating the demon emperors that you have to be a royal to be a demon emperor but she declares it so without any hesitation .

She doesnt seem to know Im here but I guess she couldnt keep silent when my dream was insulted .

Arnos .

Someone taps me on my shoulder and when I turn around its my out of breath father .

Haa . haa . I was looking . for you .

My father offered me a sword .

A demon sword papa forged himself using Kongo iron . Now you can join . (1)

Using my demon eyes I can see that my father has a lot of bandages under his clothes .

Father . your injuries . ?

Oh? You can tell? Hahaha . I had to climb some pretty steep cliffs to get to the Kongo iron . I messed up and fell once though . Dont worry, its just a scratch!

Even raising your arms should be painful . Every time he raised his arm to hammer the sword it would have been painful .

Did you complete this sword with your body like this?

For me .

Anyway, off you go . If you win this tournament even mixed races might be able to become demon emperors .

He just said something sensible . Both my parents are being optimistic and my father knew mixed races couldnt be demon emperors but hes still trying his best to support his sons dream .

Misa . Please tell Melheys that the arrangements hes making are not necessary .

. . Understood .

By not taking part in this tournament I know Avos Dillheavia will show himself, however .

Yare yare . Why should I of all people have to be careful about a small fry that cant be bothered to confront me directly?

Ive got more important matters to deal with .

Participant Arnos Voldigod! Are you coming? You have 10 seconds to come to the stage or else you will be disqualified .

Thats me . Im here .

I walk to the edge of the audience seats and jump to the arena stage .

Even though its a misunderstanding I still lied as a result of it .

I want to be a demon emperor . I dont have a demon sword .

However, I cant tell the truth to my mother and father .

At the very least, lets change this lie .

Even if theres some things I cant talk to them about right now, the feeling of wanting to see the happy faces of my parents is not a lie .

Compared to that, the plots of Avos Dillheavia are trivial . No matter how many tricks you come at me with Ill smash them right in front of you .

I thought youd run away hero-dono of the unification faction . (2)

Kurt turns a cold gaze towards me .

Fumu . I got lost a little bit . Did you wait long?

It doesnt matter . Ill forgive it out of respect for your courage in appearing in front of me instead of running away .

Oh my goodness . How very tolerant of you .

Kurt watches me with alert eyes .

I have no doubt hes a master swordsman .

Speaking of his sword arm alone hes probably better than the old seven demon emperor Gaius .

Im sorry that youve wasted your time but . .

I set up the Kongo iron sword my father made for me .

Ill end this in one minute .

(1)Kongo in this context means an indestructible substance .

(2) Kurt calls him eiyuu and not yuusha . For those that dont know both mean hero but yuusha is more of a chosen one type of hero where eiyuu is more of a great general, war hero, great leader etc .