CH 72

—As of 9:00 in the morning, less than 24 hours after yesterday’s attack on the Royal Castle by Lent and others. I was running alone to the castle gates.

I heard that yesterday’s imperial envoys had come to the gates and wanted me to find the strongest man in the castle.

No, no, no, are you serious? It’s true that war had already been declared, so it’s no wonder they invaded at any moment. But even if that’s the case, isn’t it too soon?

I left Nina and Spera behind. If push comes to shove, we need them to protect Her Majesty and Princess Leia. Even so, I asked some guards to follow me as messengers because I might call them in case of an emergency.

“Ah, here it comes!”

When I rushed to the gate, the person was standing there waiting for me. It was one of the faces I had seen yesterday – the girl called Hibiki. However, her appearance was different from yesterday. She was not wearing a robe, but was dressed in a blazer and mini-skirt, like a school uniform, and wore a breastplate like those used in archery. In this medieval European-style worldview, she stands out like a hatchling.

“As I thought, the strongest person in this castle was Oni-san, wasn’t it? Well, that’s right. I was really impressed when I saw you yesterday.”

“…What on earth are you doing here? All by yourself.”

“What? I’m not alone. Here.”

Suddenly. A figure standing some distance away stepped up next to Hibiki. His face was hooded and his body was covered by a robe, so his true identity was unknown. However, the figure was about the same height as Hibiki’s, around 160 cm.

Is this a girl too? If so, it’s not likely to be one of the other two from yesterday. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be on your guard. There may be others who can use powerful skills such as ‘Unique Skill’, besides yesterday’s Lent.

I looked around. … hmm, it seems that there are no fallen guards or injured people? However, it seems that no one has been able to stop Hibiki’s actions, or they can only keep her at a distance. This is only natural, considering the level difference.

I hold up my spear and wait for Hibiki to make her move. Then she smiled fearlessly.

“A seamless stance. I’m a girl, I don’t cut corners for such a silly reason as wanting to be liked… it’s good, isn’t it? That kind of thing.”

“…eh?”

“You never let your guard down against an unknown opponent, you always make the best move to avoid being knocked down, and you put the feeling that you will always win into every single action. That kind of seriousness, I can feel it.”

I can’t follow the conversation. Hibiki continues without waiting for my reaction.

“There was no such thing between the Seven Warriors. Everyone’s play skills are not commensurate with their level by any stretch of the imagination, and they rely on cheats and let their guard down all the time. They didn’t try to understand the opponent they were fighting, all they could think about was ‘how to attack next’. Serious matches are all about dialogue with the other player through strategy and playing, but with these guys… it’s just so boring.”

Hibiki held the bow on her back in her left hand.

“That’s why, when I saw Oni-san’s fight yesterday… I got so passionate! Onii-San, you were the best, right? So you should do it with me too!”

“…do what?”

“Of course, I want a serious fight!”

In an instant, an arrow flew in a straight line towards me.

“WATT!”

I popped it up and tried to look at Hibiki, but…

“No!”

In the split second I was distracted by the arrow. Hibiki’s figure disappeared from in front of my eyes.

Where in the world is she? At that moment, a chill rushes up my neck. I let my intuition take over and activated 『Thousand Spear Birth』, creating a wall of spears behind me. Immediately afterwards…

Stototon! I heard the sound of several arrows piercing behind me.

“Ahaha! How did you notice that, Oni-san!”

Pulling back the wall of spears, I turned around and saw Hibiki in the air, dexterously aiming at me.

“Are you sure? I mean we’re going to fight like this!”

“Tozen!”

Hearing Hibiki’s reply, I ran. I’m going to stop Hibiki as she heads towards the spot where she’s going to land, and arrows are fired in rapid succession. but it’s easy to dodge them if you know where they’re going to be fired from. In no time at all, I had closed the distance.

At this distance, you can’t shoot any more arrows…

“‘You can’t shoot an arrow,’ you think? You’re so naive!

“?!”

Unexpectedly, Hibiki doesn’t even have an arrow in her bow, but instead she grips it with her bare hand, and swings it down at me. I barely blocked the direct attack, which was too unexpected. But…

“Gfggu?”

Immediately after that attack, I was kicked in the armor in my stomach and back-stepped to a large distance.

『Thousand Arrows』

From the bow held by Hibiki, arrows formed by magic power are released, drawing several streaks like a shattered shooting star. They spread upwards and to the left and right, as if they were aiming right at me and trying to rain down on me.

What should I do, should I use 『Thunderbolt』 to wipe them out all at once? Or do I catch them all with with『Thousand Spear Birth』? No.

I make a split-second decision and run forward.

It’s hard to avoid all of these attacks… but perhaps the power of each one isn’t much! Then I should be able to fend them off without using my skills!

I run through the arrows that are raining down on me. I managed to approach Hibiki unharmed, knocking away the ones I couldn’t dodge. I went towards Hibiki, who was gathering strength as if she was preparing something.

“…Really! The best!”

Hibiki interrupted her pooling and shot a series of arrows at me, but it was only a makeshift checkpoint at best.

I knew it. The wide-area attack earlier, which seemed to require a defense, was a decoy. Hibiki must have been trying to prepare for the next big move while I was simply thinking and burning away with the big move 『Thunderbolt』 or preventing it with 『Mystic Ice』.

“Now it’s my turn!”

I try to launch my 『Thunder Rage』 at Hibiki’s chest, the only part of her body covered by her armor. That electrifying blow from my spear, however.

“I saw that yesterday…! 『Counterattack arrow counter-arch』”

The electrical strike released from my spear bounces back towards me with its momentum intact, as if it was grabbed by something in front of Hibiki.

“…Are you for real?”

I quickly jumped backwards and deflected with the hilt of my spear. And the distance between me and Hibiki is once again the same as it was right after the start. We were brought into a 50-50 fight.

She’s strong. I could tell just from the current series of exchanges. This Hibiki girl is [much] stronger than the Lent I fought yesterday.

It’s not about skill. It’s purely a difference in experience. She has flexible application skills that don’t rely on every single technique or situation.

“Aha~♡ The best~~~~♡♡♡”

Yup. I don’t know what it is that’s making her put her hands on her cheeks and wiggle her body, and I have no idea what she’s thinking, but she’s strong, that’s for sure.

“Oh my god, that’s the best! The best of the best! You’re just as I expected you to be, Onii-San! You can satisfy me!”

“What?”

“Ahh, That’s what I’m supposed to be. When it comes to otherworldly fantasy, it’s battle! When it comes to battles, it’s all about the exciting development, isn’t it? What’s another world without this?”

“Eh…?”

I don’t know, but this girl seems to be enjoying the battle immensely. A battle-crazed battle junkie? She looks like a normal, cute gal… well, they say you can’t tell people by their looks…

I don’t know what’s so fun about fighting at all.

I sighed and placed the bottom of my spear on the ground with a ton of tired wind.

“Is your aim to fight me, is that all you want to do?”

“Yeah, well… maybe?”

“Not to be an imperial messenger?”

“Yes.”

“Because it looked like fun?”

“Yes!”

With a twinkle in her eye, she replied cheerfully. …Oi oi oi. Is that really so? Isn’t it like going out to play Smash Bros. at a friend’s house?

“But, you know, as expected, occupying the front of the kingdom’s castle is a bit much.”

“Ah… are you sure?”

“Moreover, that guy attacked us yesterday and left, didn’t he?”

“He was a violent man, wasn’t he…”

“The guard who came to call me just now, he was so blue in the face, you know? He must have been really scared.”

“I-I’m sorry about that…”

Hibiki awkwardly looks away from me. Apparently, she was so obsessed with me that she forgot her own position.

Well, she listens to me honestly, which is much easier to deal with than Lent.

“At any rate, if I win this match, I’m going to give you a lecture in the castle, okay?”

“Ah! A continuation? You’re going to continue the battle?

I wanted to tsk tsk, but I stifled it and nodded.

“Well, it’s better to make the winner clear. You don’t want to listen to someone you haven’t beaten.”

“Yeah, that’ s right! That’s how it should be!”

She is in high spirits. …Well, that’s all right. It’s like the match has already been won.

“Well, let’s resume!”

“Oh!”

Immediately after Hibiki replies, I pull the short dagger from my waist and throw it at her. It’s the skill 『Catapult Arms』.

“Whoa?”

Hibiki hurriedly readied her bow and intercepted with an arrow shot at ultra-high speed. All three of his rapid shots hit the short dagger without missing a beat, and bounced back.

But that’s just a decoy for me.

“Well, let’s settle this.”

While Hibiki’s arrow was aimed at daggers, I was closing the distance between her and me.

“Εh?”

Hibiki is surprised and tries to back away. However.

Dong!!. Hibiki’s back hit [the wall] with great force.

“Kuu…?”

“Sorry, this is the end.”

I pointed the tip of my spear at Hibiki’s neck, who was stunned, as if not understanding what had happened.

“Ee, ee, ee~~~?The end?”.

“It’s over, no matter how you look at it.”

“No, no, no, I haven’t done anything yet.”

“I didn’t mean to allow you to fight.”

Hibiki looks back behind her, a little teary-eyed. Then she looked up at the [wall] she had hit, the wall of spears made by my skill, 『Thousand Spear Birth』, and opened her mouth with a gaping mouth.

“T-this wasn’t here before! Why?”

“I made it so that you wouldn’t notice it.”

“Ehhh, when did you do that?”

“Just now, when we started talking.”

Yes, I was using the skill 『Thousand Spear Birth』. When I responded to Hibiki’s otherworldly fantasy talk with a sigh, I poked the ground with the bottom of my spear and continued to slowly and steadily extend the bundle of spears behind Hibiki.

“~~~! That’s not fair! It’s cheating!”

“No, it’s your fault for letting your guard down just because we were having a conversation.”

“Oh no…”

I grab the arm of Hibiki, who nods in disappointment, and makes her stand up.

“Then I guess I win.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to be lectured…”

“…Ah, yeah. Well, I don’t want a lecture for now. But first… tell me who that person is.”

I pointed at the person with a thumb. It was the person Hibiki had brought with her, a figure completely covered by a hooded robe. The person had remained silent all this time, just watching me and Hibiki fighting.

“Why didn’t you tell her when I was making the wall of spear? If you had done that, she might not have lost.”

“…Because I thought she wouldn’t like it.”

A whisper, and I heard that voice for the first time. It was a high-pitched female voice.

“You mean?”

“Hibiki is the kind of girl who wants to play fair and square. She doesn’t want the outside world to interfere… well, we’ve only known each other for a short time, but I understand that much..”

The figure then giggles and slips out of the robe, which had looked hot and uncomfortable. The person boldly took off her robe and revealed her true face. It was a beautiful lady with a very innocent-looking face.

“I apologise for being so rude this morning.”

She bowed lightly in a very polite and gracious manner. Her shoulder-length blonde hair swayed and glistened.

“I also apologise for the manner in which I tried to hide my appearance. Circumstances have made me want to keep my face as unknown as possible.”

“Circumstances…? Who are you?”

“I’m sorry, I’m late. My name is Dantha Fio Empellord. I used to be the First Princess of the Empire, but now I’m just a political prisoner with a revolutionary background.”

“Yes…?”

What did you say? First Princess? And a revolutionary… what? Did you say political prisoner?

“Are you not seeking information about the Empire and the Seven Warriors? Instead, I say, we are now looking for asylum. If possible, we would like to be sheltered in the kingdom.”

“Oh, exile? Wait? Can I ask you to think about the amount of information you’re giving me? I can’t think straight.”

“Ha-ha-ha, you’re so nervous~”

Hibiki laughs as she sees me flustered.

“Well, to put it simply, we escaped from the Empire~”

Even if you say it matter-of-factly. Well, how should I react?

I wish I had brought along the princess and Nina and the others, I thought.