Chapter 428 – Making a Legend Take Notice
“Hakkeyoi!”
The next moment, Makushita charged straight at me like he was going for a tackle.
He was fairly fast and seemed to have some power behind it.
“H, hey, we’re still talking here—”
He launched his attack while I was still in the middle of my conversation with Tre’ainar.
But his movements were predictable, and his speed… well, from my perspective, dodging or countering with a jaw strike seemed easy enough……
“DOSUKOIIIIIIII!”
Makushita showed no hesitation or restraint, and used the momentum of his charge to thrust his palm out at me.
He put his entire weight on his right arm, trying to smash it into my face with brute force.
Both his movement and power were pretty decent.
Maybe it’s because I’m the same, but it seemed like he acquired these skills through steady, accumulated training in his legs and hips.
But……
“【Great Demon Headbutt】!”
“Ugh!??”
I shifted my feet slightly, one forward and one back, and timed it perfectly before diving in myself.
I took the strike head-on with my forehead.
A loud thud echoed through the air.
As expected…… that hurt a little… just a little… but still.
“Wh, what the hell?!?”
“Idiot! He jumped right into the Captain’s palm strike himself?!”
“What is that brat thinking!”
“H, hey, didn’t that outsider’s face just get smashed in!”
“Wh, what a stupid thing to do…….”
To others, what I just did made no sense.
The surrounding samurai and bystanders gasped in shock.
On the other hand……
“Ah~ah. He went and did it~”
“Charging in recklessly without knowing your opponent’s strength… He must have looked down on you, Brother.”
“O, oh…… th, that technique…… Is that the same technique he used against that Ogre named Aka!!”
Espie and Slayer, who knew my technique, smirked.
Fuuma and his fellow ninjas, who had seen this technique before, gasped in awe.
And……
“Guh, g, g, guh, ughhhhhhhh!?”
Makushita, who had hit me in the forehead, suddenly grabbed his right elbow and dropped to one knee, grimacing in agony.
“Wha, C, Captain?!”
“Wh, why? Why is the Captain, the one who attacked, in pain!?”
“Wh, what’s going on?!”
It wasn’t me, the one who took the hit, but Makushita, the one who attacked, who suffered damage.
The surrounding area murmured even more at this bizarre sight.
Well, it wasn’t that complicated.
『Having stretched his arm out to the full extent… the frail, slender man repelled a blow delivered with his entire body weight… He likely injured his elbow and shoulder. The fact that it did not go as far as a dislocation must be due to the child’s consideration…』
It was quite powerful.
But, Mr. Aka, Aonii—my forehead has taken attacks from those two incredible guys.
At this point, a blow of this level is neither enough to make me flinch nor capable of breaking me.
“Ugh, you bastard, wh, what did you do to me……?”
“Hmm? No… I didn’t do anything. You just hit me, that’s all… right?”
That’s right. Even though I attacked, from the outside, it would simply look like I just stood there and took a hit.
I deliberately turned to Espie and Slayer for confirmation, and they both nodded with knowing grins.
“Un, un, Big brother suddenly got hit ~♪”
“Honestly, I don’t know if this is just Japone hospitality, but what a rude country, Brother ♪.”
Normally, the samurai would have swarmed me, pinning me down by force for obstructing official duties or something. But they were flustered too, not understanding the situation.
“Y, you didn’t do anything… No, but… Ugh…….”
Of course, the same goes for Makushita.
Until just now, he’d been so furious that he couldn’t speak, which made him impossible to deal with. But now he’s calmed down.
So……
“Hey, you said your name was Makushita, right?”
“Huh, wh, what… who are… you…….”
“I didn’t come here to fight or anything. I just want you to turn a blind eye to Shinobu’s brother.”
“Ha, huh!? I, I can’t possibly do that…”
“Of course, I’m not saying it’ll be free.”
So I get to the point.
Let’s settle this issue peacefully… peacefully… peacefully? Tre’ainar? Really peaceful? I’m starting to have my doubts……
“If I beat you in a game of Go, you’ll let them off the hook.”
“………… Huh?”
Well, definitely a “Huh?” reaction. I agree.
“Un un…… eh, hey, Big brother?”
“Huh? You’re not fighting back or running away? You’re playing Go? Why?
Even Espie and Slayer looked genuinely surprised too, blinking rapidly.
But then again, this is what Tre’ainar was saying……
“Well…… 『Japone is a prosperous country where everyone has learned to play Go since childhood, and it has become so ingrained in the culture that it’s even incorporated into school lessons, right? So, as the one who won the Go tournament, I, a person from another country, would like to challenge you… but wait, you lost to Shinobu, right?』 So… umm.”
“Eeehh!??”
Why Go? I don’t know, but I repeated the lines Tre’ainar whispered to me. I was a bit monotone, though.
Then, Makushita’s expression, which had previously looked like he was thinking, “Why?” or “What are you talking about?”, shifted back to anger.
“Y, you…… H, how dare you, you… you outsider, challenge me to a Go match!”
“Yeah.”
“Hmph! You’ve got some nerve! What do you mean you beat Shinobu?! You must have used some underhanded tactic! But to begin with, I’m actually stronger than Shinobu now, I say!”
Underhanded tactic? You’re right. In a sense, I’m using some pretty nasty foul plays.
But this guy had totally bought into it…… Tre’ainar’s scheme……
“Hey! Set up the Go board!”
“Y, yes!”
“I won’t forgive you this time! I’ll repay this insult tenfold, I say! After you lose, I’ll make sure you tell me exactly where Shinobu is, I say!”
With that, one of his samurai subordinates set up the Go board right in the middle of the bustling main street, and Makushita plopped down in front of it.
Poor guy… Thinking that, I sat down across from him.
“Hey, are you sure about this? Big brother.”
“More importantly, Brother, are you that confident in your Go playing skills?”
“Hmm? It’s fine.”
Espie and Slayer came running over, looking a little worried. But I just smiled at them……
“Honestly, beating this guy at Go is hundreds of times harder than beating him in battle… so it’ll take the skill of a Demon King ♪.”
『Fufufu』
“Oh…… Ah~…… Ah~~~, I see what you mean….”
I smiled, and beside me, my master wore a truly villainous grin.
Though Tre’ainar’s form was invisible, Espie and Slayer seemed to understand my suggestive words, their faces twitching into half-smiles.
“Hey, hey, what’s going on? Why are they starting a Go match?”
“Well, I don’t know, but that foreign boy challenged Captain Makushita, of all people, to a game of Go…….”
“Wait, didn’t Fuuma-kun and the others say earlier that he beat Shinobu-chan in a game of Go?”
“True… but wait, doesn’t that mean Shinobu-chan went easy on him, or was it a guidance game?”
“Right. Shinobu-chan doesn’t lose to adults, let alone to ‘professional Go players’.”
And then, the gallery got moderately excited, and somehow it felt like no one was paying attention to the whole “capturing the fugitive Fuuma” topic anymore… But in any case……
“Here, I’ll give you the first move, I say! Now, come at me, I say!”
“Oh, is that so? Well then… I accept.”
“Hmph!”
In Japone, the birthplace of Go, those gathered here today……
「Okay, then…… Let’s go, Tre’ainar!」
『Uh huh…… fufu, shall we warm up with a little play? Very well! First move, center… Tengen!』
They would witness the Demon King’s first move.
“Wh, what… s, suddenly… the Tengen!?”
―――――――――!!!????
This was probably not a position where one would normally play the first move in a game of Go.
I placed my stone right in the dead center of the board.
For the people of Japone, where Go originated and is deeply rooted as a culture, this would be enough to make them widen their eyes in surprise, and I… no… Tre’ainar played there.
With just that one move, the surrounding area began to buzz.
“Hm, hmph! I was surprised by that sudden move… but don’t you dare mess with me! That’s no opening move, just a cheap bluff… I’ll crush you completely, I say!”
Sads Translates 