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 .

“You’re coming to Deruzogedo?”

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

“I still haven’t decided if I’m taking part yet . ”

I’ve arranged to meet Aivis at the school and get his report first .

I’ll 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 wouldn’t really understand so I’ll 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 . ”

I’m not sure what she’s 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 . Mother’s happy . ”

It’s a bit hard to walk with you sticking to me like this though……… .

“Nee, Arnos-chan . ”

My mother looks very happy .

“…… . That’s true . ”

It’s fine I suppose .

Hanging on to my arm so I can’t escape my mother seems so happy . I’m not going to pour cold water on her mood .

“Have you seen father recently?”

After das.h.i.+ng out he came back once then left again and hasn’t been back since . I guess he’s still working hard on obtaining a demon sword .

“He’s helping out at other blacksmiths since they are short-staffed . ”

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

“He’s only troubling you though . ”

My mother laughs happily .

“Perhaps, but I don’t mind . That person is a hard worker so it’s okay . ”

I’ve never seen my father work . To be honest, I can’t imagine it at all when I think about his usual everyday figure .

“Speaking of which Arnos-chan, is the other person chosen from your cla.s.s Ray-kun?”

Walking leisurely I answer my mother’s 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 don’t have much time left .

I didn’t 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 . It’s 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 .

“What’s their aim?”

“I believe it’s you Arnos-sama . I think they are trying to trap you somehow . ”

“If that’s 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 .

“What’s the location of Gaius and Idol?”

“I don’t know, but I found out that they will be coming to watch the finals tomorrow . ”

I don’t think they will just be watching though .

It seems like they have antic.i.p.ated me wining today and going through to the finals .

“What about Melheys?”

“He’s a hard one to catch sight of, but from what I can find he doesn’t seem to be involved in the management side of the tournament . There’s no sign that he’s intending to defy you Arnos-sama . ”

Is he innocent?

Oh well . I still can’t confirm either way so no point worrying about it .

“What about Ray?”

“Ray Grandori’s mother is hospitalised in the Lognoss magic clinic . Her condition isn’t good . She’s close to death and healing magic is barely effective . Somehow the hospital has managed to at least stabilise her though . ”

That’s why he looked so down . Why didn’t he depend on me though?

“What’s the disease?”

“The doctor’s notes state its spirit sickness . ”

Fumu . I’ve never heard of it .

“What kind of disease is it?”

“I don’t know . I’ve never heard of it . I had to look it up and apparently, it’s very rare . ”

So that’s why she’s admitted to the best magic clinic in Deiruheido .

“Anything else?”

“That’s all I’ve managed to find . ”

To understand his mother’s illness I’ll have to examine her directly . It doesn’t sound like a disease a.s.sociated with mazoku though .

“Sorry for the trouble I’ve put you through . I’ll 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 partic.i.p.ants .

I’ll 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 a.s.sociation!!”

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 .

“He’s here! The winner of the last tournament! Deiruheido’s strongest swordsman Kurt Roodwell!!”

“Shocking! The first match and he’s 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 . ”

“He’s over 30 now . I wonder how much more polished his sword techniques are? It’s scary just thinking about it . ”

“Who’s the unlucky fellow to get Kurt on the first round?”

Apparently, he’s some type of celebrity and the audience is excited .

“The Lognoss demon sword a.s.sociation 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 VoldiG.o.d from the Deruzogedo demon king school!”

Even though the owl says that no one shows up obviously since I’m standing here .

“…… . I’m sorry . Because of us………”

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

If I don’t partic.i.p.ate I’m 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 I’d 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 I’m fighting is not that sword tournament partic.i.p.ant but Avos Dillheavia .

I say all that but that’s a.s.suming I’ve read the situation correctly in the first place .

“… . . Oi . Maybe his opponent isn’t 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 it’s this Arnos VoldiG.o.d person . ”

“Aah . There was such a rumour wasn’t there . ”

“Haha, how ridiculous . He’s 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 . It’s 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 don’t go out there, their regrets won’t go away .

This situation though . Did Avos Dillheavia plan this provocation just in case I didn’t show up?

“How do you know they can’t become demon emperors!?”

A familiar voice reaches my ears .

Looking around I see her .

My mother .

“Ahh? What was that Nee-chan? Don’t you know? Demon emperors are royalty . That’s the order of things . ”

My mother firmly brushes away the hand of a man that’s reaching for her face .

“Arnos-chan will definitely become a demon emperor!”

My mother doesn’t know I’m 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 doesn’t seem to know I’m here but I guess she couldn’t keep silent when my dream was insulted .

“………Arnos . ”

Someone taps me on my shoulder and when I turn around it’s 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 . Don’t worry, it’s 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 couldn’t be demon emperors but he’s still trying his best to support his son’s dream .

“Misa . Please tell Melheys that the arrangements he’s 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 can’t be bothered to confront me directly?

I’ve got more important matters to deal with .

“Partic.i.p.ant Arnos VoldiG.o.d! Are you coming? You have 10 seconds to come to the stage or else you will be disqualified . ”

“That’s me . I’m 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 don’t have a demon sword .

However, I can’t tell the truth to my mother and father .

At the very least, let’s change this lie .

Even if there’s some things I can’t 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 I’ll smash them right in front of you .

“I thought you’d 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 doesn’t matter . I’ll 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 he’s a master swordsman .

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

“I’m sorry that you’ve wasted your time but…… . . ”

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

“I’ll 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 don’t 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 .