Chapter 105 - The Elf Girl and the Transferee
Taking Cecily's place, I now faced Marmy. She stood with a calm composure unfitting for a child. I couldn't read any emotional fluctuation in the eyes that stared me down. She clearly had no intention of losing. The fidgety shyness from before had vanished completely. She even seemed to be enjoying the current situation.
Beside the two of us, whose tension was mounting, the crowd had started betting again. This time, it seemed most people were betting on Marmy. They probably thought that if the mage Cecily had lost to her, an adventurer like me without even a staff didn't stand a chance.
"Why are you so insistent on fighting me?"
"…I have to prove that I'm the strongest, or Fam won't be convinced. Besides, you have a larger mana pool than that mage from before."
Marmy answered in a quiet tone. She couldn't be more wrong.
"You're overestimating me. I don't have any magic that surpasses Cecily's."
"…You have them, don't you? Three Divine Blessings."
It was true that I possessed what she called Divine Blessings—three special skills. But the only thing I could really do in a fight was summon Racshell. However, I didn't want to use that, not knowing when we might have to fight the pirates.
"And you intend to withstand that?"
Marmy gave a small nod. Could she really do something like that? I shifted my gaze to my fellow members of Levante watching from the sidelines. Aira had an arm around Cecily's shoulders. Cecily had her head up, watching our match. She didn't seem too disheartened. Maira and Mizuki looked on with concern.
Next to them was Fam. I wondered if she was cheering for me. In any case, I wouldn't use the goddess summon. There was the pirate situation, but I also wanted to avoid a repeat of what happened with Reed, where she was declared an 'enemy of the god.'
I used Earth Magic to create a small stone sphere and launched it at her. Marmy raised her wand, creating a rainbow-colored, glass-like magic barrier that deflected the sphere. It was large enough to cover half her body, leaving her head and legs exposed. I aimed for the gaps in her defense, firing a second and third sphere high and low.
She effortlessly manipulated her wand, shifting the barrier's position to block the spheres. I continued to fire a relentless barrage of spheres, but every single one was deflected by her magic barrier.
"…Are you trying to drag this out and make me run out of mana?"
I ignored Marmy's question and kept firing. Her magic barrier began to shrink, eventually becoming a small shield that covered only the tip of her wand. She then skillfully maneuvered the wand to deflect my stone spheres. It seemed she'd read my strategy as a battle of attrition and was now conserving her mana.
"Mo, Fam was worried about you. That's why we came down the river prepared to fight the pirates."
I spoke to her, trying to throw her off balance psychologically. All the while, I continued my assault.
"…So what?"
"She was genuinely worried about you, Mo. If you lose, I want you to apologize to Fam with me."
For a moment, her brow twitched slightly. It seemed I'd shaken her.
"…Even if I win, I plan to apologize to Fam. Do you think she'll forgive me?"
"Who knows. But you'll probably be made to sit seiza-style, for sure."
By now, she must be getting used to the trajectory of my stone spheres and growing irritated with my monotonous attack. I took aim at the spot between Marmy's eyebrows and fired a sphere. It was deflected by her magic barrier. I fired another one at the exact same spot.
The next sphere, thrown with no spin, wobbled and changed its trajectory just before hitting the barrier, dropping suddenly. Having grown accustomed to straight shots, she couldn't react to the change. It slipped under the magic barrier and hit Marmy in the stomach with a dull thud.
"Ugh!"
Marmy let out a muffled cry, clutching her stomach and crouching down.
"…It hurts…"
I hadn't expected it to be such a clean hit. The crowd rained down a torrent of boos. It was a complete reversal from the previous flashy battle, a dull development that ended with a middle-aged man hurting a little girl—a sight no one wanted to see. I approached her.
"Mo, are you okay?"
I gently shook the slender shoulder of the girl, who remained curled up and motionless.
"…Ugh, I'm sorry. I can't fight anymore, so please forgive me."
Maira rushed over and began casting healing magic on her. It seemed she had a lot of mana, but not much stamina. As I watched her gradually recover, Cecily approached as well.
"Mash, what's wrong with you, getting so serious with a child like this?!"
I really didn't want to hear that from Cecily, who had just been flinging a giant fireball at that same child, but I felt a sense of guilt for making her fight first.
"I did my best because I saw you watching from the great beyond with such a resentful look on your face."
"I'm not dead, and I wasn't being resentful! …But, honestly, I do feel a little better."
Cecily whispered the last part.
"You thought I was going to lose too, didn't you?"
"Me? Of course not. I bet on you, Mash."
She puffed out her chest and smiled proudly. A quick check revealed that everyone except Aira had bet on me.
"…Aira-san?"
When I questioned Aira, she looked away and moved next to Maira to help treat Marmy with her own healing magic.
"Mo-sama!"
Patricia rushed over as well.
"…I'm fine."
Marmy stood up with Maira's and Aira's help. Her legs were still trembling. She didn't look fine at all, but since she said she was, I decided to let it be. She turned to face me.
"…I lose. I'll give up on fighting the pirates. But I still have to get back to Migul somehow. I'll look for another way."
She hadn't been selfishly demanding we fight the pirates. Her return to Migul was for the sake of the city, and for the Empire as well. Her words made me sigh.
"If everyone here agrees, we can escort you toward Heilong tomorrow. If we leave the pirates be, someone else will suffer even if we don't. But we won't actively seek them out. We'll bet on being lucky enough to pass through without being attacked."
Marmy's eyes widened slightly.
"…Really?"
"Mo won against Cecily, and it's a request from Fam's friend."
I nodded.
"Sorry to interrupt this nice resolution, but I'd like you to accept one more match."
The one who spoke was Wake. He had drawn his longsword.
"You defeated a lady of House Starunion in front of all these people."
"Wait, that's why I refused in the first place!"
What an unreasonable accusation. I couldn't deal with any more of this.
"I've taken an interest in you as well, Sir."
The corners of his mouth lifted into a smile. He was trying to provoke me.
"…I'm not interested."
I replied, mimicking Marmy. I didn't want to stand out any more than I already had. I was also wary of Joe's group watching us. It would be troublesome to reveal my hand to them. Besides, Avea was already beating me up every day. I could only endure it because it was Avea. I had no desire to fight this old man. At the very least, I didn't want to see it.
A sword was placed on my shoulder, the blade resting against my neck. The members of Levante, who had been observing the situation until then, froze. Their gazes, uniformly harsh, were fixed on Wake. Fam already had her hand on her sword.
"Master. I will fight."
"No. You'd win, Fam."
I stopped her.
"Oh? This girl, against me?" Wake showed a hint of surprise.
"You might win if we were just hitting each other with wooden sticks. But in a real sword fight, you'd even lose to our other swordsman."
"If you're saying that after hearing about me from Maira over there, then that's good news. I was unsure if I could entrust Mo-sama to you all. If you have three people stronger than me, then I can rest easy."
So that was his real intention. If that was the case, I wish he'd stopped with the terrifying provocations.
"No, just two. I'm the weakest in the party."
"Then shall I have one of them face me?"
He probably didn't believe me. Wake gave me a cold smile.
"…Then, I have a proposal."
"A proposal?"
"We're about to head into waters where pirates are active. Neither of us wants to get injured before that, right? So, let's make it a one-strike match. You deliver a blow. We'll receive it. If it lands, you win. If we block it, we win. That should be enough for you to gauge our strength. Mizuki will be the one to receive it."
I was setting a trap for Wake. He would have to deliver a strong blow to accurately measure our strength. If it was a fatal-level strike, Mizuki could completely block it with her special skill. Even if it wasn't a fatal blow, I had a feeling Mizuki's natural talent would allow her to dodge it. Even if she took damage and lost, she wouldn't die. Besides, I wasn't concerned with winning or losing.
"…Very well."
Wake nodded.
"Mizuki. Sorry about this. I'm counting on you."
"It's okay. I understand what you're thinking, Mash."
Mizuki replied reliably, though her expression was tense.
The sun had set, and the light from the bonfires cast flickering shadows across the plaza. Illuminated by that shimmering light, Mizuki and Wake stood facing each other, swords drawn. It was the third match of the day. Both were equipped with a one-handed sword and shield, but Wake's weapon was a longsword. He circled her, moving in a slow arc as if searching for an opening.
The spectators were watching while eating the food that had been handed out. I, for one, had no appetite. The same seemed to be true for the members of Levante, as well as Mo and her attendants. Mo's expression was unchanged, but Patricia, who served by her side, looked worried. Betting was underway again. Wake seemed to have the advantage, but the cheers were overwhelmingly for Mizuki.
"Master, I never thought it would become such a big deal."
Fam murmured. This world had little in the way of entertainment, so even a small event could escalate into a festival if it had an element of fun.
"It's my fault. It's because I doubted you, Fam. I hope you can forgive me."
Fam shook her head slightly.
"Master. About Mo…"
"I know."
"But she's being forced into a marriage she doesn't want. What should we do?"
I didn't really know about that. I didn't understand the customs of nobility. Marmy herself seemed to have accepted it. I wondered how much she meant it when she said she would become mine.
"First, we need to find out her true feelings, I guess."
"Yes. I'll talk to her."
Fam nodded. I glanced at Maira, who was standing on my other side.
"Does Wake have some kind of one-hit-kill technique?"
She shook her head at my question.
"When I explored dungeons with him, he never used any techniques like that. But he always finds a path to victory and secures it."
"Is it what they call a veteran's intuition?"
"No, it was on a completely different level. Though, I was weak at the time, so perhaps I just didn't understand."
Someone who explored the 30th floor of a dungeon was calling herself weak. That didn't leave much of a place for me, who couldn't even get that far. I shifted my gaze back to Mizuki and Wake. Wake was still circling Mizuki in an arc. They maintained a constant distance; the gap between them neither widened nor narrowed.
Is he still searching for his path to victory? The moment I thought that, his feet stopped. Perhaps because of the firelight, Wake's eyes seemed to glow with a red light—the same color as Mizuki's eyes when her special skill activated.
"Mizuki, be careful! Wake is about to use a special skill!"
Hearing my shout, Mizuki dropped her hips, lowered her center of gravity, and reset her stance. I expected Wake to charge in, but instead, he relaxed his stance and returned his sword to its sheath.
"I lose."
He said. His words left Mizuki with a dumbfounded expression. His sudden declaration of defeat left me and the other onlookers with the same expression. Wake lightly patted Mizuki's shoulder and walked over to me. He then leaned in close to my ear.
"You noticed my Divine Blessing activating. So you have one too, then."
After whispering, he pulled away. His words meant he had been about to use some kind of special skill. No, he said it was activating. It was probably a passive-type special skill, like Mizuki's.
"I'm entrusting Mo-sama to you until Heilong. Understood? Just until Heilong!"
With that, he walked back to Marmy's side.
Thank you for reading. To everyone who has clicked the like button, bookmarked, or rated the story, thank you so much. It encourages me. I'll do my best. The typo corrections have been a huge help. Thank you.