Chapter 409 - Where All Eyes Gather
"There's a mountain of things to comment on, but his stamina is just insane."
"That's not the kind of toughness you get after just a few months."
"Usually, people get exhausted after about ten minutes of high-speed movement."
"And in his case, it's super high-speed. It's ridiculous."
"It was magnificent."
"Hah."
"...Hey, you at the end. What was that laugh for?"
From that point on, the original reason for the fight was long forgotten.
After a full round of one-on-ones, the rules changed to two-on-one, and the objective became to simply beat up the 'Acrobat' by any means necessary... and just like that, about an hour passed.
This was the reaction from the male rankers after I was successfully beaten down and finally released. From Tetra to Auerin, Fuji-san, and Goldow, I would have preferred some heartwarming words of praise instead of exasperated comments.
Surprisingly—and it's rude of me to say so—the only one to offer praise, or rather, a compliment, was Genkotsu-san. My affection for him definitely went up a notch in that moment.
As for Irori, he just scoffed at me for some reason. I'll take that fight, you bastard. But I'm seriously exhausted today, so can we do it tomorrow or later?
By the way, the ones who took me down were the duo of Lotta & Zou-san, who joined after the rule change.
I was frozen in place by the Inquisitor's trump card, and in my panic, my careless counterattack was met with the Defense Captain's Anima, which reflected the damage and stunned me, leading to a follow-up attack that ended the game.
It was a perfectly beautiful combo that didn't even give me a split second to use the status cure from my [Agaphanthus Amulet]. A complete and utter defeat. I'm so frustrated.
"Well, now that your 'purification rite' is over, you can relax too. Let's take it easy."
"A purification rite...? Well, I guess..."
I swallowed the 'What are you talking about?' that was about to come out... outnumbered as I was, I decided to adopt a praiseworthy attitude for the time being.
It wasn't just the guys; the women gathered at the next table were all sending similar gazes my way—that is, those terribly uncomfortable, lukewarm looks.
It was probably only a matter of time before the usual red-haired one got involved. I should probably assume that the delicate relationship between me, Ashe, and Nia is completely exposed.
Ashe used a special ranker invitation to call Nia, and Nia accepted and showed up. It seems neither of them has any intention of hiding it anymore.
As for them, they were talking amicably (?) a short distance away. I could easily tell that Nia was on the defensive... but well, there was no hostile mood, so it was probably fine to leave them be.
As the 'problem' stuck between them, I'm just grateful they're getting along peacefully, for the most part.
............Nope, I can't stand this. In that case—[Trance].
"Huh? What are you doing?"
"A desperate, all-out attempt to change the subject, I guess..."
I half-jokingly replied to the swift retort from my senior (who's actually my junior), pulling the hood of the [Cloak of the Hidden Rat] that had replaced my El-Gran set low to hide my face.
The other half of the truth was that I was simply making effective use of my free time. If I had the time, it was a waste to let my mana (MP) sit full, especially when I was working on a new build plan.
And so—activating [Eyes Oculus].
One, two, three, four, five... and, out of MP. Closing time.
"Hm? —Oh, so that's what's going on."
"You're surprisingly diligent, or should I say, hardworking."
Thought acceleration skills are, by design, massive MP hogs. If I deliberately use [Trance] and then waste it like that, they'd figure out my intention in a heartbeat.
"...Senpai, that Trance body is full MID, right? Don't tell me you just burned through all your MP in about five seconds?"
In response to Tetra's incredulous question, I flashed him a peace sign. The boy looked up at the ceiling, covered his ears, and declared, "I don't want to hear the detailed stats."
That's a shame. It's got some pretty unique, or rather, meme-worthy performance stats.
"Well, that's how it is... though, as expected, there's no sign of any new magic sprouting after just a day or so—Bwegh!?"
"Of course not! Mana training gives you, like, the tiniest speck of experience!"
"Steady, steady. Accumulation is important."
And, just as I was about to take out a potion to replenish my empty MP, the enemy finally attacked. Unable to bear the weight that had landed on my head, my frail, weak Trance body collapsed from the chair and was crushed against the floor.
One voice came from above my head, the other from beside me, meaning there was only one culprit. In that case, roar, my faithful right arm—
"You're so weeeak!"
"Dammit...! L-Let... go!"
Battle duration: two seconds. Winner: the scoundrel. Loser: me.
I twisted my body and threw a punch, but my right arm was easily caught in mid-air. No matter how much strength I put into it, I couldn't escape the grasp of what looked like a small girl's hand.
My subsequent left hand was also restrained, and I was forced into a humiliating surrender pose with both hands raised. To top it off, my MP was empty, so I couldn't even put up a decent fight.
You little... Maybe I should use [Construction] and drop a Graviton Hammer on us all, taking us both out in a blaze of glory.
"Honestly, I can't even imagine you as a backliner, bro, but if you're interested in being a mage, then none other than this great senpai—g-r-e-a-t s-e-n-p-a-i!—the one and only Mi-na-chan wouldn't mind teaching you a thing or two!"
"You're soooooo loud!!!"
Your voice is too damn loud! Stop making a racket on top of my head, you little firecracker—
"Mmm? What's this, what's this? Har-kun, you're aiming to be a mage? In that case, I recommend being a Magic Fist-fighter, just like me, not a magic swordsman, y'know!!!"
"Now there's another one...! H-Hey, stop, don't strip me—stop it!!"
And then, at the hands of mysterious reinforcements (Lux), my cloak was mysteriously torn off.
Naturally, my white hair and full figure were exposed—that is, the very embodiment of 'shame,' having been completely styled-up by our respective exclusive artisans.
And in the next moment.
"""——————————"""
I sensed the gazes of the suddenly silent crowd around me, as well as the players from the noisy second floor who were peering down to see what was going on, all converging on me.
Not asking for help, but simply letting my panicked gaze drift with the flow of events, it landed on... Nia's face, who was watching me being endlessly pestered in the center of the commotion, though what she was thinking was anyone's guess.
The artisan, one of the culprits who did this to me, seemed surprised that we suddenly made eye contact. She blinked a few times, and then—
"Hmm... a beautiful girl."
she muttered a compliment I wanted from the bottom of my heart not to hear, before mercilessly closing her eyes and putting her hands together in prayer.
Needless to say, one second later, I, now abandoned, was swallowed up by the next wave of commotion.
"...Should I help him, I wonder?"
Watching the man she loved struggling as he was teased by the men and mobbed by the women, Iris, who was doing her best to maintain a composed expression with a champagne glass in hand, murmured, swallowing a tiny bit of jealousy.
"Nah, it's fine, isn't it... hmm, yeah, I think it's fine."
In contrast, Nia's tension seemed to have been defused by the lively commotion. A glance at her profile showed no trace of the same emotion that was in her own heart.
"............Hehe."
Seeing him shouting and complaining—but enjoying himself, openly expressing his honest feelings—a small smile escaped her lips.
"...You're right."
Was she, like herself, a master of the poker face... or was it that she was so purely focused on 'only him' that there was no room for feelings of jealousy?
Either way, she was a formidable rival—Iris thought, also with a troubled expression.
Letting a faint smile slip out, she quietly tilted her glass.
The glass contained ginger ale.