CH 73

“You over there, is there a white-haired cat girl with you?”

Shortly after all the preparations to return home had been completed, three men approached Ellis’s group right before they could leave. They claimed to be the city of Wisdom’s vigilante corps.

Ellis was content to leave things to Reeve, but Katie immediately popped her head out from inside the carriage.

“I’m a white-haired cat girl nya.”

“Oh, so you are. Well then, there have been claims of assault and blackmail lodged against you. Come with us.”

The vigilantes each drew their swords and raised them in warning.

Things had quickly become troublesome. Perhaps, those brats from before were friends of this vigilante corps? Well, the way they were looking at Katie was certainly the same.

“What happened?”

Ellis tried to intervene since she was the only witness as the ‘little girl who stood there and said nothing’, but the men completely dismissed her.

“Just hurry up you stupid animal!”

Being called out, it was not Katie but rather Claire who jumped out from the carriage and faced the men.

“Who are you guys!? If Katie is a stupid animal, then you’re all a bunch of damn old men!”

Ah, things were spiraling into troublesomeness.

“You’re a cheeky little girl. Fine, we’ll drag this bitch with us too.”

Humans are the type of animal that can’t help but to get carried away.

From the very beginning Reeve held no interest in the men when they showed up. Frau had been smiling politely this entire time, and Katie was acting like her usual self. Claire was the only one who had gotten worked up over this. All that built up energy was in stark contrast to Ellis who was already far too tired of this.

“Ah, excuse me. I am Ellis, an associate member of the Warren Council. That black haired girl is acquainted with the Wisdom Magicians’ Guild guild master and the daughter of Ares and Izerina.”

The three men took a step back at the sudden pronouncement of authority, but they weren’t about to trust such a bold claim so easily.

“So there is a bald-faced liar among you too! You’re all coming with us!”

Two of the men drew close to Claire and Katie, but two others moved immediately afterwards. Frau grabbed the arm of the one trying to go after Katie and tightened her grip like a vice. For the one who went for Claire, Reeve pressed one of her throwing daggers up against his throat until blood started to drip.

Ellis took care of the last one, stabbing his sword hand to disarm him.

“You’re terrible businessmen! Alphonse, Ares, Izerina, ask any of them and they could verify out story!”

But the man was too busy running away while clutching his bloody hand to hear anything Ellis had said.

“Mistress, should we have them sleep for now, or forever?”

“Hohoho, your arm is making quite the interesting noise, I wonder what it would sound like if I squeezed your head instead?”

Two girls who enjoy saying scary things, but it was enough to leave the captured two men flustered and compliant.

Alphonse soon arrived to preside over the scene as the guild master of the Magicians’ Guild.

“Everyone, it’s been too long.”

After dragging forward the two sleeping, yet still very much alive, self-proclaimed vigilantes, Ellis explained why they had tried to arrest them and a brief overview of how that went for them.

“So you girls extorted money from students?”

“If by extortion you mean kindly requesting their wallets as compensation for losing a duel involving two men forcing a lone woman into a back alley, then yes, we extorted them.”

Ellis’s response was calm and measured.

Alphonse’s response was a boisterous laugh capable of shaking rooftops.

“Oh, is that so? Then I’m sure the lesson they learned from you was worth every ril they spent on tuition!”

After clearing the crowd that had gathered around, Alphonse beckoned for Ellis to follow him to the side where no prying ears could listen in. Ellis followed him with a shrug, but she made sure to keep her knife at her side just in case.

“Actually, I was hoping you girls might act as a little moxibustion for some of the idiots infecting the university.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like I told you girls yesterday, the only people who hang out in the city this time of day are delinquent idiots and the spoiled children of nobles who bought their way here.”

Ellis didn’t remember him using quite those strong of words, but she did not interrupt Alphonse as he went on to add about the noble’s strong pride in strange places.

“So I’d like it if you could just break off their long noses¹ a bit.”

“We might kill them.”

“There is a magical exercise barrier around the city at all times, so go wild–it’ll heal any and all nicks or bruises those spoiled brats receive.”

“What about something that would cause instant death?”

“Please refrain from anything that would instantly kill them.”

“Well alright, give me a moment.”

Ellis returned to her four waiting party members to explain the request.

“And that’s how it is.”

A demon-like smile simultaneously spread across the four’s faces.

“We can avoid killing them.”

“Breaking their arms and legs are fine right?”

“As long as they’re still attached, we’re safe nya.”

“I can try out the new spell mother taught me.”

Ellis returned to Alphonse without anyone objecting and nodded her head.

“Thank you. I really can’t wait to see those brats’ faces go red with shame. Meet me at my studio at one o’clock.”

Looking at least fifteen years younger, Alphonse left the inn with a skip in his step.

One more time Ellis arrived at the golem studio.

All of the girls changed into their normal equipment inside the carriage however Ellis decided to put aside her Mad God stiletto for this fight in favor of her Flying Phoenixand Exorcism needle dagger instead. It wouldn’t cause anyone instant death, but it sure was pointy. And when the store clerk from earlier came out and guided the girls to the central square, there were a countless number of people already there.

At the center of the city square was a special ring drawn out in white chalk.

Angry shouts and jeers were lodged at them–most of them geared towards Ellis for some reason. Alphonse seems to have gone to an awful lot of trouble to thoroughly gather all the idiots together.

“Well then students of our prestigious university, I have here before you some people who have used violence against some of your senpais.”

A round of anger rose up from the crowd.

Ellis decided it was about time she had a little fun with this too.

“I’ll kick the ass of any shitty noble’s son incapable of succeeding their parents or illegitimate girl who can’t even be used for a political marriage that you send at me!”

And then an eight-year-old girl gave a middle finger to everyone who was watching.

The venue was quickly becoming chaotic as hatred flared and innumerable claims of “Let me do it!” or “I’ll kill her!” rose up among all the still echoing boos.

“The fights will be all one-on-one bouts. Does that sound fine?”

Alphonse made sure to stress this point.

“Naturally.”

Ellis didn’t really mind either way.

“Then let’s bring out our first participants to the circle.”

“I’ll go first nya.”

Katie volunteered to be the advance guard.

“Make them bleed as much as possible.”

And Reeve gave her some horrible encouragement. One of the men who had initially dragged Katie into an alley walked out to face her, but this time he was wearing the traditional robes of a magician.

“You caught me by surprise last time, but this time I’ll show you the true horror of my all-powerful magic. I’ll enjoy your screams as your body roasts in my flames!”

“MATCH, START!”

With Alphonse’s words, Katie swept to the side and struck her fist into the back of the man’s head, knocking him flat on the ground. The man and the crowd itself were completely silent. Even Alphonse was speechless at the speed she had shown.

“Boring, let’s go again nya.”

Katie left the man with just a bruise on the back of his neck and returned to her original starting place.

“Try using some of that magic you’re so proud of nya.”

The man was completely unaware that Katie could have taken his head off if she had used her claws instead of just her fist, so where fear should have taken root, hatred and humiliation surged forth instead. In a rough voice, he immediately started reciting an incantation.

“You, I’ll kill you three times over with my first spell.”

Katie responded by taking a seat on the ground and yawning.

“Damn it! Die!”

The man finished his incantation and released a {Flare Bullet} as large as he was. It was clear that the man had little skill in the spell as the flames appeared as a chaotic surge compared to Claire’s cohesive projectiles. Still, the flames were hot, and they were headed right for Katie which was really all that was required of them. Of course, Katie knocked away the flames with her claws anyway. They had zero effect–although unbeknownst to the audience that was due entirely to her Resistance bra top.

“Was that it nya?”

Neither the man nor the rest of the crowd knew what to say.

Rising up from her spot on the ground, Katie moved forward once again. With a few slashes of her claws, she had sliced off all of the man’s clothes. In an instant a naked man was left exposed in front of a large crowd.

“Now, should I cut it off nya?”

Seeing Katie’s all too serious smile, the man kneeled down and declared his defeat.

“Katie sure is nice,” Frau called out full of motivation.

“If I did too much, nobody else would volunteer nya,” Katie replied with a smile.

Ellis’s group: 1 win.

“Then I’ll go next.”

Out came the heavy tank. As Frau approached the circle, her appearance was gentle and graceful to the last, but what came from her mouth was nothing less than terrifying.

“Since golems are this city’s special product, bring me a strong one to fight!”

The booing once again started to wind up.

“Alright, then I’ve got something for you.” Another, larger, man stepped forward in the ring this time.

“Feel free to fight with your golem, I won’t call you a coward.”

“Heheheh, I’ll be able to do all sorts of things when I get my hands on a pretty lady like you.”

The promise of a different kind of show was quickly making the crowd as excited albeit in a different sense than before.

“I’ll wait until your golem is ready, so please take your time.”

Frau held out her halberd in both hands.

While her words and tone made it sound as if she were calm, the excitement and joy staining her expression proved what she was honestly feeling.

“Alright girl, but don’t cry to me when you regret it.”

The man activated a golem imitating a Minotaur as tall as two men. It’s fists were the size of anvils and its carved muscles bigger than most of the real Minotaur’s that had appeared in the labyrinth.

“Come on, don’t you have something bigger?”

“Don’t be stupid!”

The Minotaur golem threw out a punch before Alphonse had even called for the match to start.

*CRICK*

“I’ll ask again, can’t you bring out something bigger?”

The fists of the Minotaur golem shattered without being able to put a dent in Frau’s armor. With her opponent unable to say anything, Frau sighed.

“So it’s over just like that?”

Frau knocked over what was left of the Minotaur golem with a single slice from her halberd. With it out of the way, Frau dug the blade into the ground and delivered one solid punch to her opponent’s gut. The man was blown away back into the surrounding crowd with filthy liquid sprinkling from his mouth and lower abdomen.

“Sorry I’m not as gentle as Katie.”

The crowd was deathly silent once again.

Ellis’s group: 2 wins.

“We’re going to need to give the other party some hope soon, or nobody is going to want to play anymore.”

Ellis had prepared her equipment and decided it was her time to play. Upon seeing that the opponent this time was a brittle eight-year-old girl–and a rude one at that–the waiting men started fighting on who should be allowed to go. In the end, a magnificently handsome, muscular man emerged from the crowd.

“I’m a mage who specializes in reinforcement magic. Your little knife won’t be able to pierce my skin.”

Hmm.

“Please go easy on me.”

“Hah! If you didn’t want to get hurt, you should’ve never come up here in the first place.”

The signal for the match to start sounded, and the man leisurely began to cast his strengthening magic. Ellis deliberately waited for him to finish.

“Alright, this is your defeat,” the man laughed while pulling out a long sword. “Ingrain this pain into your heart!”

Ellis side-stepped the man’s downward swing with room to spare before firstly jabbing her knife into his right palm. The scream of pain the man let out was by far louder than anything that the crowd had produced, but when Ellis withdrew the dagger from his flesh, there was not a speck of blood as the wound immediately healed.

“Please don’t cry. If you didn’t want to get hurt, you should’ve never come up here in the first place.”

Next Ellis’s knife found its way into the instep of the man’s right leg.

And then the instep of his left.

The left palm was next to make things symmetrical.

Left ear, right ear, right arm, right thigh, left thigh, left arm………

The man continued to scream without any chance to catch his breath, without any hope of escaping.

Left shoulder, left cheek, right cheek, right shoulder……..

“Stop! Please forgive him from anything further.”

When he had finally returned to his senses, Alphonse came onto the field to try and stop Ellis from going any further.

“Stop? Uncle Alphonse, I’m already finished.”

Ellis’s opponent had finally collapsed from the pain, his body giving him the sweet release of unconsciousness at last. Meanwhile, Ellis’s expression was a shining example of what an angel’s smile would look like, yet it made the heart of everyone who saw it freeze.

This day every delinquent student of the magical university were taught the meaning of the word ‘despair’.

And things would continue for a second half.

Ellis’s group, 3 wins.

1. To have a long nose in Japan is to mean that you have a lot of pride or are boastful. I’m sure most of you knew that from manga or anime. So whenever you see a character breaking off or cutting that long nose, it means to put them in check.