After finding an inn to spend the night, he was woken the next morning by a chattering crowd outside. Ever since arriving in this world, he didn't seem to have had a single day when he woke up naturally. It was as if waking naturally in this world were some kind of heaven-defying luxury.
The noise outside showed no sign of dying down; if anything, it was getting louder. Shirakawa had no intention of going back to sleep, so he looked out the window. The street below was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder.
"What's going on?" Shirakawa wondered. Normally, a small town shouldn't have this many people. He could also sense several formidable presences among them.
"What happened?" He went downstairs and asked what was on his mind, while the innkeeper gazed at him with infatuated eyes.
"You don't know? I thought you came here for the finals." The landlady knew Shirakawa was an outsider. Otherwise, why would he be staying at an inn?
"I only happened to pass through. I don't know what's going on here."
"I see. Then you really did arrive at just the right time. There are several swordsman duels today. If you're interested, you can go watch. I noticed you're carrying a sword, too."
"A swordsman duel?" Shirakawa smiled, looking intrigued.
So far, Shirakawa had encountered two extremes among swordsmen: world-class Great Swordsmen like Rayleigh, Oden, and Golden Lion, and worthless grunts like some pirates and marines who did nothing but swing their swords wildly.
Shirakawa was now just one step away from becoming a Great Swordsman. For the past six months, he had been striving toward that goal, but even a genius like him couldn't cross that threshold so easily.
Still, Shirakawa felt he wasn't far from reaching that level. Perhaps he needed