CH 33

“Claire! Do not delay!”

“Reeve! You have to put more energy in there!”

“Katie! You’re being too wild! You need more control!”

“Frau! Elegance is not enough!”

Ellis’s rebukes rebound inside the inn’s party room. On the other hand, there are four people who are receiving guidance while working up a sweat.

“Oh no! That’s not it Claire!”

“Kyaaa! This movement is so troublesome!”

“Reeve, emphasize the feeling of wanting to curse and kill everyone!”

“Frau, bring out more sex appeal!”

Actually, including Ellis there are five people practicing. They are going over the routines for their performance at the art competition that would be held tomorrow. Ellis’s special training continued on until late at night.

“I wonder if this is enough. We have the foundations down at least. Well, I will take a shower and go to bed, so that will be it for today!”

Four people were finally released from Ellis’s Spartan training. Taking deep breaths, each one lent out their shoulders to each, and they somehow managed to take a shower before collapsing in bed.

“Well then, I have to heal everyone’s fatigue.”

And so Ellis began patrolling this evening.

“Tomorrow will also be our last day in Marsfield Ellis. Ah……”

“I really want those claws. Nyan…….”

“I wonder how I can improve my sex appeal. Ahn…….”

“Let’s do our best for Katie tomorrow. Uhhh…….”

And so five people woke up completely refreshed the next morning.

Once everyone had prepared their outfits and costumes for later, the girls went out to have breakfast at the same store they visited yesterday. After enjoying the famous cold breakfast, they then headed towards the theater where the competition was being held.

They had to wait for a bit at the theater’s entrance, but Nicole and the muscle brothers eventually arrived wearing the same clothes they had on last night. Maria had some last minute business to take care of, so she will come by later.

Ellis’s group of eleven people then performed one last meeting and rehearsal inside the contest’s waiting room prepared behind the theater. Afterwards, Ellis headed towards the lottery venue prepared in a separate room as the group’s representative.

“Organization name: Warren’s Jewelry Box. The order of appearance is twelfth. You will be the last act in the competition. The performances will soon begin, so please wait your turn at the fixed seats.”

We are auspicious with the birds.¹

Ellis murmured such to herself as she traveled alone back to the waiting room where everyone else awaited her.

Today is a holiday for the citadel city as the art competition sponsored by the Marsfield Merchant Guild was being held. It is a time where artists throughout Marsfield compete once a year to show off their skills. The judges are a combination of Marsfield’s celebrities and common people randomly picked from the crowd. Sitting at the center of the judge’s table was Mrs. Mirei Marsfield and the adventurer guild master.

“Well then, let the Marsfield Art Competition begin!”

The competition began with such a declaration from the moderator.

The program progressed smoothly.

Ellis’s group also appreciated the performances of other competitors from special participant seats set up in the spectator stands.

Once again, Ellis thinks that Marsfield performers are good, but they are not interesting. In the end it has become a competition of height in a certain field. There is no spread or point of intrigue.

To put it badly, “I am able to do something really difficult.” It is something that enthusiasts might enjoy, but common people like her could not see the entertainment. Until some performers shattered those thoughts.

“Entry Number 8. Love’s Ruin by the Wolf Pack Couple.”

The announcement flowed through the hall.

Not only Ellis, but even Maria and Reeve were amazed by the dancing and singing being performed on stage. It was a bold yet delicate dance being performed to a majestic song by a fearless male a cappella and a beautiful woman.

The man’s voice was powerful and resonated to the very last beat while the woman danced brilliantly with flowing movements that one would think to not be humanly possible.

The only word to describe it would be ‘masterpiece.’

As the man’s song ends, the woman slowly collapsed to the stage.

And it was over.

The whole audience gave the couple a standing ovation.

“This could be trouble.”

Ellis suffered from it.

She did not anticipate that there would be such an overwhelming appeal.

Can they win?

However, any adjustment to the current set-up would involve considerable risk.

Ellis clicked her tongue.

“Am I only able to rely on Reeve in the end?”

“Next is number 12: Warren’s Jewelry Box and the Muscle Brothers performing War Maiden Rondo.”

As soon as the announcement was finished, an invincible male voice echoed inside the venue.

“Uwahahahahaha! We have occupied this venue!”

At the same time, a handful of muscular ligaments appeared on stage, and each man performed their own different pose. It mimicked the sight of a ‘bodybuilding contest’ in Eiji’s world.

A strange smell that was a combination of something sweet and greasy began to permeate from the stage. What is happening on stage? The spectators watching this happen began to work themselves up into a half panicked state. A very small number of spectators had already bitten into it and were moving towards the stage.

Then the girls’ voices echoed as if to crush the muscular feast of the group.

“Muscle Dharmas! We won’t let you!”

At the same time, a gong was rung from the back of the audience seats. The audience was surprised by the sound of the gong, and the scene on stage changed the instant that they all looked away. What appeared on stage were maidens draped in long maid wear.

“I will punch and kick all evil! Lily White!”

The first girl’s white hair shook and dazzled the audience as she showed off a slew of impressive kicks and punches one after another with her Claw gauntlets and guards. A roar rose from the men who could just barely make out the outline of white panties from underneath the loose skirt every time the girl performed a kick.

“To all evil I will strike like lightning! Lily Black!”

“I will knock away all evil! Lily Red!”

The red girl waved her crimson hair back over her shoulder while spinning a crimson maul overhead, and she finished it off by striking the stone floor and creating a loud BANG throughout the hall.

Her rich breasts shook fairly freely through the maid wear.

The gazes of all the young people were captured by her feminine charm.

“I will slay all evil! Lily Blue!”

She drew her sword out at the speed of sound, and she performed eight smooth practice slashes before taking a pose with her drawn sword in the middle of the stage. The eyes of the spectators began to shine with amazement, and a celebratory scream arose from a certain wife in particular.

“Evil will be annihilated! Lily Gold!”

At the end, a girl suddenly dropped down from the ceiling lighting and struck a pose with an estoc in front of the other four.

Oh! And the audience seats exploded in cheers.

Continuing on, the five girls joined together and made one united group pose.

“We are!”

*Shakin*

“Yuri Yuri Sentai Lily Rangers!”

“Damn it! We will remember this!”

The Muscle Dharma retreated from the stage. At the same time, several flashes occurred, blinding the audience. The sound of gongs rang throughout the hall.

When their vision returned, the audience saw the appearance of five girls each wearing a matching one-piece dress.

Yes, the past couple day’s worth of intensive special training was mostly used to practice quickly changing from the maid wear into the one piece dresses. They used flash bracelets to temporarily blind the audience, and in that moment, they changed their clothes.

The five girls were in a formation with Reeve at the center, Frau and Claire to her right, and Katie and Ellis to her left. Standing in a row, all five girls started to sing in unison.

The title of the song was Warrior Maiden’s Rondo.

It is a rhythmic song and dance about warriors running through the battlefield.

Actually, this is a song that Reeve taught the other four while they were all playing around naked in the bathhouse, so at the very least, it is a song with memories for the group.

Because the five were singing while dancing rhythmically, the audience, especially the men, were really getting into it. The boys were looking at Claire, the young men had eyes for Katie, the older uncles were taken in by Frau, and Ellis charmed any doting grandpas or stray loli lovers. But this was still only half the audience.

Finally the trump card.

Everyone besides Reeve took a knee while Reeve’s solo began. The lyrics were arranged to fully demonstrate the ‘yuri yuri’ in full. This caused Reeve to grasp the hearts of every female in the audience — the other half of the audience.

The ending’s chorus included all five girls again, and right when the song had hit its peak, another gong was rung to signal the end. Incidentally, all the gong work was taken care of by Nicole.

Good work.

Ellis’s group also received a standing ovation from the audience, and the competition ended.

Yes, Ellis-Eiji challenged their ‘lofty art’ with modern day vulgar entertainment. The original source material was the Muscle Brother Pose that the muscle brothers showed off when they first met them.

“Well, what can you do?”

After time was given for the judges to review, an award ceremony was to be held. The performers of the competition were each lined up on stage waiting for the ruling. Because Ellis’s group had a lot of people, only the Jewelry Box was on stage, and the muscles had to wait in the audience seats.

“Alright. I will now announce the winners. This year’s choice was difficult, and the judges held a heavy debate about two of our participants, but unfortunately, there can only be one winner.”

*Dourururururururururururururururururururururururururururururu*

The tremolo of the snare drum reverberated in the hall.

Then the moderator shouted as loud as he could towards the audience seats.

“The winner is Warren’s Jewelry Box and the Muscle Brothers!!!”

The venue was filled with crackling applause.

Ellis’s group was given intermixed blessings from the other participants, but amongst all the noise, the girls calmly stared at “them.”

Next, review from the chairperson began.

“The judges were very split between numbers 8 and 12. Whether to go with the artistic choice or the entertaining one. No judge was sure of themselves.”

Crackling applause filled the venue once again.

Subsequently, the Marsfield Merchant Guild master brought out the shiny golden gauntlet like a trophy.

“Tch. So we should have attacked from the beginning.”

“The end result will be the same. Let’s go then.”

The number 8 entry, who were being watched by Ellis’s group, started to move. Their muscles began to bulge out and swell while patches of dark grey hair grew out here and there. They gained a slightly crazed look in their eyes as their faces slowly morphed into that of a wolf’s.

They were lycanthrope beast demons.

Unlike beastkin or monsters, these are a species of demonic beings.

When the wolf couple finished transforming, they stretched out their nails and stole the gauntlet away from the merchant guild master. They then jumped with an incredible amount of power out into the audience seats in order to escape the venue.

“This will get you!”

However the salesman did not make the sale.

“Look out!”

The male wolf who was holding the gauntlet was caught by Ellis’s Ice ring. He stupidly dropped the gauntlet, tripped over it, and made a splendid parabola through the air as ice encased his body.

Reeve threw one of her throwing daggers which pierced the female wolf in the thigh. The effect of Stupor momentarily paralyzed her, and she fell right next to the male wolf.

“Hostages … …”

The beast demons were not held down long, and they managed to break through their momentary binds. As they stood up to try and make a member of the audience their hostage, Claire unleashed a lightning shower that crippled them again.

Katie jumped forward with about as much power as the wolves had, and she reaped the consciousness of the two before they could get up again with four consecutive hits to their heads.

During this time, Frau had taken a stance in front of the merchant guild master to ensure his safety.

The spectators who misunderstood this flow as an ‘encore’ collaboration with the wolf couple gave another standing ovation to Ellis’s group. In this way the art competition came to a close.

“I never thought that the muscle brothers and Nicole were involved.”

Maria shook her head to the left and right with a tone of admiration at the dinner table.

“How was it, our stage?”

When Ellis asked, Maria turned around and gave her a fascinated look.

“I’d like to ask for a performance in Warren. We can show it off as the winning performance of the Marsfield Arts Competition.”

“I don’t mind.”

Ellis and Reeve were excited about the thought.

“Er.”

Meanwhile, Frau, Claire, and Katie wanted to be excused from doing something that embarrassing again.

Once the five had finished their dinner, they returned to the inn in order to appraise their winnings.

Ellis picked up the golden claw equipment in her hands. Again, its name would not come up unless she concentrated on it and applied a level of coverage above her normal magic tool appraisal.

“Appraised name Hero Ripper?”

The other four girls overheard Ellis’s muttering.

“So it’s the Demon Lord’s equipment?”

Ellis nodded with a subtle expression to confirm Reeve’s question.

“Maybe.”

……………………..

“Pffft!”

After a moment of silence, all five girls began laughing at the same time.

“Kaite, can you equip it?”

“Of course.”

Unlike the normal claw gauntlet, the Hero Ripper can be equipped by anyone just by passing your hand into the tubular part. There are no belts or clasps to adjust the size.

The shining claws can be retracted at the will of the wearer, and when the claws are stored, it looks like just a normal cover that reaches from the back of your hand to your elbow. In this way, there no sense of incongruity even if you were to wear it all day.

“This is mine.”

“Then let’s write your name in it.”

Once Ellis removed the Hero Ripper from Katie’s arm, she wrote Katie’s name inside the gauntlet in black ink. She went over it a few times just to make sure that the name would really stick. Four girls laugh as one other is satisfied with a job well done.

Let’s go back to Warren!

1. This is a rough translation of this idiom. In Feng Shui, birds are considered good luck.