Chapter 61: Esdeath is a Hopeless Romantic

Under Leone's gnashing gaze, Kobayashi left his seat nonchalantly and walked toward the ring.

Stepping slowly up to Tatsumi, he looked into eyes that revealed a pie chart of one part surprise, two parts joy, three parts sadness, and four parts anger.

Had there truly been nothing going on between them, he might have actually thought he was some heartless, ungrateful scoundrel.

"Ah, long time no see, Tatsumi."

"……Kobayashi."

"Should I call it coincidence, or the work of fate? I never expected us to reunite on an occasion like this."

That was a lie.

In truth, Kobayashi had deliberately asked Seryu to help him squeeze into the tournament. Though she found it strange, when he said Tatsumi was an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time and wanted to surprise him with a reunion in the ring, Seryu had readily agreed.

His purpose in doing this, naturally, was to act as the foil, to set off Tatsumi like a delicate white flower.

"Why, why are you showing up here?!"

Tatsumi was furious upon seeing Kobayashi, demanding with exasperation, "Do you have any idea how devastated everyone was after you left...!!!"

"Tatsumi! Shh—"

Kobayashi uttered a soft reprimand, pressing a index finger to his lips while gesturing with his eyes that there were outsiders nearby.

Tatsumi desperately wanted to press the issue with impulsive anger, but ultimately clenched his fists and reined it in.

Wave's mouth twitched into an awkward smile.

It seemed the two of them were old acquaintances, but there appeared to be some kind of grievance between them. It would be best not to get involved.

With that, Wave raised his right hand.

"Next, the ninth match, begin!"

"……It's starting."

Up in the Imperial viewing gallery, Bols could not help whispering softly. Esdeath had looked entirely uninterested in the matches on the ring from the very beginning, but the moment both fighters of the ninth round stepped up, her eyes lit up and she perked up slightly.

"General Esdeath, could it be that you are interested in the two men on the stage?"

"I simply spotted someone interesting."

Seeing the young man who inexplicably stirred a sense of familiarity within her, Esdeath paid him a modest amount of attention.

"Is that so?"

Bols felt a mild surprise and redirected his gaze back to the ring.

The two fighters in the ring were exchanging high-frequency punches.

"Tatsumi, your skills have improved."

Kobayashi continuously parried the incoming straight punches, which were executed at high speed and full of drive—very much in the style of Leone's martial arts or rather Bulat's legacy.

"Hmph!"

Tatsumi let out a muffled grunt.

Seeing Kobayashi handle everything with effortless ease naturally annoyed him, prompting him to accelerate his punches by another notch.

"You're a junior who joined even later than I did."

"That's not right, Tatsumi. I never joined your group, and besides, I'm older than you. You should be calling me senior."

"What did you say?!"

Not talking would have been fine, but saying that only made Tatsumi even angrier.

During the period after Kobayashi left, Leone drank heavily all day and cursed him as a bastard; Akame seemed unchanged, yet she always stuck Kobayashi's name onto the straw dummies she used for sword practice; even Mine frequently dressed up mannequins in the clothes she used to buy for him and blasted them with Pumpkin. Najenda and Lubbock also wore troubled expressions because they constantly treated Kobayashi as an imaginary rival.

One could only imagine how important Kobayashi was to them.

And now he dared claim he had nothing to do with them?!

Reading his inner thoughts, Kobayashi couldn't help offering a defense in his mind: "Wait, are you misunderstanding something?"

"Shut up! I don't want to hear it!"

Once Tatsumi's anger exceeded the critical threshold, both the speed and power of his fists increased by several folds. The trade-off, however, was that his attack patterns became chaotic, failing to form effective combos and leaving openings.

——An opening!

Kobayashi deflected an oncoming punch, causing Tatsumi's center of gravity to slip and throwing him into a brief moment of rigidity, then delivered a lightning-fast blow to Tatsumi's waist and abdomen.

"Ugh, cough!"

Tatsumi's expression tightened. Clutching his midsection, he took large steps backward, quickly regulating his disrupted breathing.

"Wrong, wrong. How can you let your emotions take over? No matter how angry you are, you must maintain your composure."

Kobayashi tapped a finger toward Tatsumi's forehead and lectured, "Bulat was also a hot-blooded man brimming with fighting spirit, but he didn't vent his fire outwardly. His body grew passionate, but his head remained ice-cold. You still have a lot to learn in that regard."

"Big Bro……"

Tatsumi recalled the words Bulat had once spoken, along with the hands-on lessons aboard the dragon boat.

That only made him angrier.

Because it was precisely upon hearing the news of Big Bro's death that Kobayashi had resolutely chosen to abandon them.

"Oooooooooohhhhhhh!!"

Tatsumi rushed forward once more, punching rapidly and targeting Kobayashi's weak points every time. Unfortunately, his intentions were far too obvious, allowing Kobayashi to easily dodge and parry each strike. Continuing like this would only exhaust his stamina for nothing.

——The outcome is about to be decided.

Acting as the referee, Wave made an instinctive judgment.

After watching the two exchange blows for a while, he knew Tatsumi was far from being a match for Kobayashi.

Although it looked like Tatsumi was launching relentless attacks that forced Kobayashi onto the defensive and into a continuous retreat, Kobayashi was actually completely at ease.

Moreover, failing to break through after such a prolonged assault meant Tatsumi would soon lose due to sheer exhaustion.

At this moment, the battle shifted violently. Not just fists, but legs joined the assault.

Front kick, another front kick!

He lifted his leg to stomp at Kobayashi's waist and abdomen—two lightning-fast kicks, both of which were easily intercepted.

Tatsumi was not discouraged.

Retract the leg, twist the waist, spin around...!

Wait!

Why was this move so familiar?

Kobayashi's mind flashed back to his first combat encounter with Bulat.

Back then, Tatsumi had been watching closely as well.

Was it a spinning back kick to the chest?

Judging from the subtle muscle movements, it was a high spinning kick targeting the chin.

——Insight!

Uncertain, Kobayashi immediately peeked into Tatsumi's inner thoughts, only to find him desperately replaying the scene of Bulat's death in his mind, causing a momentary lapse in Kobayashi's defense.

At the same time, Tatsumi's eyes lit up as he poured his entire strength into this single strike.

——A kick to the chest!

Instead of following instinct, he chose to trust Bulat?

Kobayashi hurriedly raised his arms, crossing them in front of his chest to block. Though the defense was barely successful, the immense force of the kick sent him sliding backward several meters.

Just right, right off the edge of the ring.

"I never expected that all those impulsive attacks were just an act, with the sole purpose of driving me to the edge of the ring and unleashing a powerful blow to knock me off."

In a brief sentence, Kobayashi exposed the strategy and offered a compliment: "I truly underestimated you. I've lost, Tatsumi."

——Liar.

As an objective bystander, Wave knew things hadn't happened the way Kobayashi described.

Admittedly, Kobayashi's reaction had been slightly delayed when taking the kick, but by then he should have already steadied his posture and avoided sliding such a long distance.

Yet for some reason, he had deliberately adjusted his angle to slide further, "coincidentally" tumbling out of the ring.

It seemed there was indeed something going on between the two of them.

However, that had nothing to do with him. There was only one thing he needed to do.

——The winner is Tatsumi!

"Oooooooooohhhhhhh!!" xN

Amidst the continuous cheers from the surroundings, Tatsumi remained in a slightly dazed state.

Kobayashi encouraged him, "Saying you lack composure was my fault. You're just like Bulat; knowing this, he would surely be happy. So, puff out your chest and accept everyone's cheers."

"Cheers for me…… This feels incredible!"

Tatsumi raised his right hand, wearing a pure, beaming smile.

That infectious smile instantly transformed into an arrow of love, piercing the viewing gallery and successfully capturing Esdeath's heart.

Moments later, she stepped onto the ring.

An overbearing Esdeath demanded Tatsumi's name and immediately announced her intention to take him away, leaving him no room to resist.

Watching the drama unfold from the sidelines, Kobayashi felt a tinge of disappointment because Esdeath hadn't glanced at him once.

Oh well. This was precisely what he had hoped for.

A woman in love has an IQ of zero.

Though Esdeath was far from being a simple love-struck fool, Tatsumi's appearance had indeed caused a noticeable drop in her intellect.

During this window of opportunity, he had better make good use of it.

——Pardon me! I am joining the Jaegers!