"Enough with the nonsense. Weren't you the one who said you wanted to make a name for yourself last night?
And aren't you tired of being treated like a useless dog of a familiar? Forget about nobles and commoners—just go up there and beat him up.
Look around you; there are plenty of girls watching. If you can shine here, you might even find yourself a girlfriend."
Wood spoke as he gestured for Saito to look around.
The students of the Magic Academy were all noble ladies, and most of them were quite attractive, regardless of their personalities.
Under Wood's instigation, Saito's face quickly showed a mischievous grin as he looked at Guiche, whose physique was even weaker than his own. He suddenly felt more confident.
"So, it's Louise's familiar who is stepping up first? Even if both of you come at me, I wouldn't mind."
As Saito stepped forward, Guiche finally stopped posing and assumed a battle stance.
"I have a name—Saito Hiraga—and I'm not just Louise's familiar!"
Ever since being summoned to this world, Saito had been harboring a lot of frustration. He didn't fully understand the whole noble-commoner thing, but he knew one thing for sure—he and Wood had been treated differently since they arrived in this world!
Now that he had an outlet for his emotions, Saito clenched his fists and charged towards Guiche.
"A commoner is still a commoner. Such a barbaric fighting style will never touch me."
As Saito charged, Guiche calmly waved his wand, causing several rose petals to fall to the ground, forming magic circles on the floor.
After a burst of light from the magic circles, several knight puppets, each over two meters tall, appeared within them.
Saito, who was charging forward, didn't even have time to understand what was happening before he was struck in the stomach by one of the knight puppets, causing intense pain that bent him over like a shrimp.
The students of the Magic Academy weren't surprised by what happened on the field; instead, they cheered for Guiche's earth magic.
Meanwhile, on the other side, as Louise watched Saito being pummeled by the knight puppets, she immediately tried to rush in and stop the fight, only to be stopped by Wood.
"What are you trying to do? You started this fight, and now you're letting my familiar get beaten up.
If anything happens to my familiar, even if you are Princess Henrietta's familiar, I won't forgive you."
Louise glared at Wood with anger in her eyes, showing that despite constantly calling Saito a dog, she clearly cared about him more than she let on.
Emotions don't lie under extreme stress, and while Louise might not have deep feelings for Saito yet, she certainly wasn't as indifferent as she claimed to be.
"He hasn't given up yet, has he? And if even you, his master, don't believe in him, how can he hope to win?
Louise, your familiar Saito Hiraga is strong—strong enough to protect you from any harm!"
Wood's words struck a chord with Louise, causing her to freeze in place. Even Saito, who was being beaten on the field, couldn't help but smile bitterly.
He had been planning to surrender, but after hearing Wood's words, he just couldn't bring himself to say it.
He had his pride too—if his friend believed in him so much, how could he just give up? How would they ever live it down?
"You're still getting beaten up, and you're talking big? If you think you can win, then go ahead and defeat me!"
Guiche, too, heard Wood's words, but he dismissed them as mere bravado.
"A commoner really can't use magic, but dear noble sir, if you're going to fight an unarmed commoner, couldn't you at least give him a weapon?"
Whether it was provocation or stubbornness, Guiche eventually tossed down a rose petal, which transformed into a knight's sword that landed at Saito's feet.
With the thought that anything was better than being unarmed, the heavily injured Saito grabbed the knight's sword with his left hand.
As soon as Saito grasped the sword, the runes on his left hand suddenly emitted a brilliant light.
In a flash, a cold gleam streaked through the air, and a knight puppet approaching Saito was sliced in half before it could react.
Holding the sword, Saito's left hand glowed with the silver light of the familiar contract, and his movements became entirely different from before.
Previously, he couldn't even defeat a single knight puppet, but now he was cutting them down one by one. Before Guiche could cast another spell, Saito had already pointed his sword at Guiche's throat.
"The first round is over. The winner is Saito Hiraga."
As the referee, Professor Colbert's voice brought everyone's attention back to the present. It was only then that the audience realized what had just happened.
In that split second, Louise's commoner familiar had defeated several of Guiche's knight puppets and won the duel!
Professor Colbert, meanwhile, stared excitedly at the runes on Saito's left hand.
As he suspected, Saito was the legendary "Gandálfr"!
Gandálfr could expertly wield any weapon, but doing so drained stamina. Saito was just an ordinary boy who had recently crossed over into this world, and after taking such a beating, he was completely exhausted and unable to continue fighting.
"Wood, you knew all along that we, as travelers from another world, had these abilities, didn't you?
If that's the case, why didn't you have him give me a weapon earlier? I wouldn't have been beaten up so badly!"
Saito, still unclear about what had just happened to him, only knew that his body felt unusually light and that he could wield the sword with ease.
He also realized that Wood must have known about their unique abilities but had kept quiet, leading to his painful ordeal.
"At least the result turned out well, didn't it?"
Wood said softly, signaling for Saito to look at the girl beside him.
Louise, though complaining, was clearly worried, her concern evident for all to see.
"And besides, if you'd taken all the glory, what would be left for me?
And don't think I was joking earlier—those two girls are far stronger than that flamboyant boy. Even if you had been at your best, you might not have been able to beat them."
Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 200+ at patreon.com/Betek.