Tis is kinda sad but also relieving, the mc is slowly losing interest in what people think about him and solely want to strive higher
@aKibblerujz exactly me at first but he's a guy
@JY-uwu Chapters 34-43, but I highly encourage you to read all of part 1 (43chaps). It sets up the emotion and weight of what's about to happen better than the manga.
As much as I would love to see him win, I would personally feel like it would be a cop out. I would much prefer a draw or a really really close loss due to a simple mistake. Would drive him further I think.
A little more context on Eirth parents' reaction to him picking a fight with Rival, because people are shitting at them for the wrong reasons:
they kept an eye on all the contestants in the tournament and realized Eirth was way weaker than most of them (this was when he was just starting his trainning with Treynar) and came to the conclusion that Eirth had absolutely no chance to win at all, hence all their "support" to not worry if he loses and just try his best. So, when he goes ahead and pulls that stunt, they naturally worry that he's being stupidly reckless, but the king realizes his resolve and stops them before they can say anything.