Can't

39

Other than his odd robe, he had a mysterious aura about him. Alhough, it was a child versus an adult. The result was obvious from a glance.
‘This isn’t an opponent for the <Master Knight>’ was a common thought among the spectators.

“Tifelia vs. Inoro! Start!”

Even though they were told to start, Tifelia behaved just as she had in the preliminaries, unwilling. Inoro was waiting on Tifelia to make the first move.

“Are both of them just waiting for the other? There aren’t any signs of movement!”

“When you fight against someone at a similar level, the match can be decided in an instant. Really, considering what we know about Inoro, can you grasp his true strength from his appearance?”

Ryua swallowed her saliva while watching them.
She was more curious about Tifelia than Inoro.
Inoro moved first; it seems he ran out of patience.
However, he didn’t use any magic. He slowly approached Tifelia.

“H-hold on! What does Inoro plan to do!? Tifelia-chan is responding-”

Tifelia finally noticed Inoro as he got close, and partly opened her mouth while winking. Inoro thought she was playing dumb.

“Umm, what is it?”

The spectators were expecting a fierce fight, and Ryua had been let down by the outcome before her. “Tifelia-san, what are you doing!?” Ryua felt irritated and she was acting like a child, tapping the floor with her feet.

“<Master Knight> Tifelia. If she judged the opponent unworthy, she wouldn’t even look at them. Just like the data we have on her implies.”

“*Sigh* is that so?”

“However, that will be a fatal decision.”

Standing before Tifelia, Inoro quickly cut his own hand.
Blood appeared on Tifelia.
Her mouth was still partly open, even she was surprised from this.
She didn’t wipe the dripping blood, instead she finally looked at her opponent from his head to his feet.

“Umm…how are you going to clean this?”

“You don’t need to worry. The need to pay for it will soon disappear, since you’ll be going to the other side soon. You and that stupid face you’re making.”

“Eh, I really don’t feel like disappearing.”

“…I give up.”

The live reporter, commentary, and spectators all went silent while watching the development in front of them. You couldn’t even call this a match. The referee didn’t even respond to Inoro’s “I give up”. He repeated himself to make sure the referee heard him.

“Ha? Sorry, what?”

“I said I give up. The victory goes to Tifelia.”

The match was aborted by Inoro, and he descended from the match grounds, vanishing into the waiting room.

“*Sigh*” Tifelia seems to want to say something, but there was nothing to be delighted about. She followed suit and also descended from the match grounds.
Although Ryua had been looking forward to the fight, she didn’t understand why it ended like it did. It was a huge letdown. She finally released her clenched fist.

“It ended after some blood spilled? What’s with that…”

Ryua wasn’t really asking anyone, she was just talking to herself.

“Ah geez…the blood won’t come off…*sigh*…but I saw something that works before. If you tap and cover it with the end of a daikon…I want to tap it…”