Chapter 902: Chapter 721: Real Sword Trial Tobio had just finished speaking when Arakawa glared at him and raised his hand, defiantly saying, "I vote for myself too!"
One vote each for Tobio and Arakawa.
Three people left.
The head of the Hisashiga House puffed on his pipe, glanced around at everyone, and tapped off the ash: "I stick to my previous decision, unchanged, my vote goes to Arakawa."
Two votes for Arakawa.
Chiba Ryouni held his wine glass, chuckled: "Then, just for fun, I’ll vote for Old Man Tobio, haha! After all, I owe a lot of favors."
Two votes for Tobio.
Finally, all eyes turned to the last of the five big shots.
The female head of the Ochiai Family said without looking up, "I have no interest in the position of chairman. It makes no difference to me who holds it."
She said coldly, "I abstain."
The result was the same as before the meeting at the start of the banquet.
Tie, two to two.
Tobio and Arakawa stared at each other.
The old man grinned and asked, "Not planning to give up, Arakawa kid?"
"Unfortunately, I hate those who rely on their age to press down on others," the head of the Arakawa Family said indifferently, "Since you think you have a chance, I’ll take these two votes myself."
"Then, according to the rules?" Tobio asked.
Arakawa nodded, "Then according to the rules, but this time it will be different."
He paused, his expression becoming stern:
"——I want a Real Sword Trial!"
Below the stage, Huai Shi paused, suddenly feeling a chill down his neck.
He looked up sharply, meeting Tobio’s smiling and expectant gaze.
He smelled the familiar scent of a setup.
The food in his mouth suddenly didn’t taste good anymore.
.
.
Ten minutes later, Huai Shi felt completely unwell.
To the Yingzhou People, a trial means a contest and a duel.
It’s just like how a Chef Demon trial is a cooking competition for everyone.
Unfortunately, a Real Sword Trial doesn’t mean seeing who can hammer iron fastest barehanded... it’s a real sword and gun fight to the death unless blood is drawn, otherwise it doesn’t stop.
It really can be life-threatening.
The competition prohibits the use of any Border Relics and Stigma or even Source Substance techniques, literally a swordsmanship duel between both parties.
Of course, the big shots definitely won’t get on the field personally, let alone get hurt. No, it’s impossible even to have a bump. So the dirty work and heavy lifting can only be enthusiastically volunteered by the subordinates.
Now, Huai Shi, who was enthusiastically volunteered, stood dumbfounded in front of Tobio.
Tobio handed him the Treasure Sword, patted him on the shoulder, implying he was strengthened and should go out there.
"Really? You trust me this much?"
Huai Shi looked bewildered.
"Isn’t there still two other people besides you?" Tobio glanced at the two stern and expressionless Sublimators beside him.
Just by their walking posture and muscle usage, it was clear these were not good-natured folks, not to mention the murderously bloody aura they carried.
Finding a few thugs in the grand Tobio Family should’ve been easy, right?
It’s just that mentioning this made Huai Shi’s eye twitch violently: "But the problem is, even adding up the three of us might not beat the one on the opposite side, alright!"
He spoke without any cover, prompting the two nearby teammates to immediately turn back and stare at him angrily.
If it weren’t for Tobio being present, they might have already roughed Huai Shi up.
But still, Huai Shi felt what he said wasn’t wrong.
To have Tobio adhere to the rules, the Arakawa Family only dispatched one person.
Now seated at the other end of the arena with his eyes closed.
The silent and sluggish middle-aged man sat kneeling, a plain-looking katana placed on his knees, with standard length and weight.
Yet any Sublimator could tell he had no Stigma, he was just a Whitboard Sublimator. Occasionally as he refused water from some attendant with a lift of his eyes, they appeared neither lively nor animated, more like they were in some otherworldly daze.
But Huai Shi sensed a strong Death Perception from this man.
Especially when holding this sword himself...
Intuition told him that engaging in a Yingzhou Sword Art duel with this man by Sword Dao rules was a dead end!