kscans

Chapter 314 - The Difference in Experience

Esha and Cecil entered through the doorway, each drawing their weapon.

Sieg, who had been perched on Esha’s shoulder, leaped to the floor and began to walk leisurely between Ronios and her group, heading toward Maris. He moved with the elegant gait of a fashion model.

Watching this, Ronios covered her face with her left hand, her shoulders shaking with laughter. After a moment, she let out a breath with a smile.

"It seems the calico cat-san has already decided the match is over."

She was surprisingly composed.

After all, even if they were defeated here, it wouldn't be a problem for Ronios and her companion. They could simply find another chance to come and abduct Hayato. Hayato judged that her composure stemmed from this fact.

"If you’d like to go home now, I’ll clear a path for you."

"Hey hey, Esha, what are you talking about? We came all this way, let’s do this!"

Esha looked annoyed, while Cecil was full of motivation. Ronios was smiling, and Cremola remained expressionless.

Hayato and the others were already on the sidelines. Seeing that a fight was about to begin, they moved to the side of the room.

Ronios placed her left hand on her chest and bowed to Esha and Cecil, her face still lifted.

"You must be Esha Crown-sama and Cecil Arven-sama, correct? I have heard the rumors."

Esha and Cecil narrowed their eyes slightly. Paying them no mind, Ronios turned her face toward Esha.

"Esha-sama, I hear you are a super martial artist maid within the Maid Guild. That in a past Clan War, you fought alongside the Hero and were strong enough to defeat both the Hero and the Demon Lord simultaneously."

"That’s incorrect. The proper term is a super cute maid."

"I see. I will amend my information."

Ronios then looked toward Cecil.

"Cecil-sama, like Esha-sama, you also fought alongside the Hero and are said to master any weapon. Furthermore, you are the leader of the Empire’s special forces, the Dragon Busters."

"Your information is lacking. You also missed the part about being super strong."

"My apologies. I will add that information as well... Now then, allow me to test just how strong you are. Cremola."

Immediately, Cremola shot forward at high speed. She crossed the knives in her hands and attempted to slash Esha.

A high-pitched sound rang through the room.

Cecil, who had been right beside Esha, stepped in front and blocked the attack with the swords in both hands.

"Let’s save the maid showdown for later and play with me, okay? Esha!"

"If you move around too wildly, I’ll hit you."

As Esha said this, Cecil lunged forward, and Esha moved back.

Cecil attacked with his dual swords, the Excalibur Replica and the Arondight Replica, and Cremola parried them with her knives.

Right after, an attack from Esha’s Beelzebub assailed Cremola.

Cremola blocked the attack with her knives but furrowed her brow.

(Did Esha aim for Cecil...? No, did she predict Cecil’s movement and attack the maid?) Hayato wondered.

The trajectory would have certainly hit Cecil if he hadn't moved, but because he moved to attack, Esha's shot missed him. And it hit Cremola instead.

Cremola blocking an attack from a blind spot was something else, but the exchange allowed them to gauge each other’s strength. Their mutual wariness increased significantly.

"Not bad!"

"Blocking that makes you a troublesome opponent."

Cecil’s face became like a predator that had found its prey, while Esha looked genuinely annoyed. And so, the battle continued.

Cremola, after her initial frown, was now expressionless. She seemed to be focusing on defense, but she did not look particularly troubled by Cecil and Esha’s combination attacks.

(Cecil prefers a more dynamic, freewheeling fighting style, so this might be a bit difficult for him. Esha is supposed to be bad at close-quarters combat, too. They should still be incredibly strong, but that Cremola person is strong as well. They haven't landed a single clean hit. But the more troublesome one seems to be...) Hayato thought.

Hayato looked at Ronios.

Ronios was not helping Cremola, merely watching the fight with her left hand on her chin. Her eyes were hidden by her bangs, but she gave off the air of someone observing intently.

"This reminds me of the old Clan Wars. Esha-san’s attacks are scary because you never know where they’ll come from. And Cecil-san attacks with a smile on his face. I never want to be their enemy again," Surya commented.

"I gave them permission to go wild, but if they get this wild, I’m a little worried about the aftermath..." Maris said, a bit flustered.

It was likely because the shop’s tables and chairs were being spectacularly destroyed in the crossfire. Hayato resolved to compensate for them with five-star tables and chairs.

Immediately after, the stalemate broke.

Cecil’s kick broke Cremola’s posture.

The two did not miss the opportunity. As if returning the favor from earlier, Cecil attacked Cremola from both sides, sandwiching her between his two swords.

Her posture broken, Cremola was unable to dodge and blocked the attacks from the left and right with one knife each.

At that moment, Esha attacked with her Beelzebub.

Cremola, already blocking Cecil’s attacks with both her knives, could neither dodge nor block the new assault.

And Esha was not so soft as to let up after a single attack. As long as she had MP, she hammered Cremola with attacks.

Cremola’s HP ran out, and she fell to her knees before collapsing.

Right after, the sound of applause echoed. It was Ronios, clapping slowly.

"Wonderful. To defeat Cremola, even with two of you, is quite impressive. She is also a super martial artist, you know."

"She may be a martial artist, but as a maid, she was an amateur."

Esha said this and took out a Melon Juice from her Item Bag to drink.

Hayato had many things he wanted to say, but he held his tongue.

"What the heck, I was on guard for nothing. I thought you were going to attack me. Aren’t you going to fight?"

"No, no, I would be delighted to have a match. It seems taking Hayato-sama with me will be impossible, so I must at least bring back some other information, or my master will scold me. Well then, I look forward to our bout."

Immediately after Ronios gave a polite bow, she shot forward at high speed and thrust at Cecil with the rapier in her right hand.

Cecil parried the attack with his sword, but Ronios immediately moved to her next attack, unleashing a continuous series of unstoppable thrusts.

"Oh, oh, oh—ooh!"

This time it was Cecil on the defensive, but his expression was gleeful.

"Hey, Esha! This one’s strong! I’ll take her, so don't interfere!"

Esha, who had been aiming her Beelzebub, wrinkled her brow, then pointed the muzzle upward and relaxed her stance.

"So your illness is acting up. Well, that’s fine, but if you lose, I’ll laugh at you."

"You bet!"

Cecil said this, then parried Ronios’s attack with great force and switched to the offensive.

Ronios also received the attack with a pleased look.

"I see. You are not simply holding two swords, you have truly mastered their use. You are on a different level from your average opponent."

(But Ronios, who is taking those attacks, is pretty incredible too,) Hayato thought.

Ronios was receiving all of Cecil’s attacks with a single rapier. Her parries were quite skillful, using not just the blade of the rapier, but also the crossguard and knuckle guard. Furthermore, she would deflect his attacks to slightly unbalance Cecil, preventing him from attacking continuously.

"Whoa! You can even do stuff like Ivan!"

"Ivan. You mean the Hero. In that case, how about this?"

After deflecting Cecil’s attack, Ronios flowed into his personal space. She then grabbed his chest with her left hand and, with one hand, slammed him to the floor with a throw like a seoi-nage.

It all happened in about a second. Hayato and the others were all stunned.

"—Whoa!?"

A moment later, Cecil let out a cry of surprise.

"Hmm. It seems there was no damage. Is the system designed so that only slashes and strikes from weapons can deal damage?"

Cecil, still on the floor, attacked Ronios’s feet.

Ronios dodged by backflipping away.

With some distance between them, Cecil slowly stood up.

"You’re pretty good! You broke my center of gravity and lightly kicked my feet, didn't you? I couldn’t resist at all!"

"You are also magnificent, Cecil-sama. To understand that much in that instant."

Hayato couldn't quite follow, but Cecil was likely explaining the principle behind how he was so easily thrown with one hand.

"Tell me your name. I’ll remember it."

"My apologies. I have not introduced myself. My name is Ronios. The maid is Cremola."

"I see. You seemed to know, but I’ll introduce myself just in case. I’m Cecil. Cecil Arven. It’s a bit late, but it’s a pleasure."

"Yes, the pleasure is all mine."

"Alright, I’m getting a little serious now. You don’t have to hold back either, so come at me for real."

Ronios showed a flicker of surprise before a smile graced her lips.

"I look forward to—"

She cut her words short, immediately parrying Cecil’s attack with her rapier.

Cecil had thrown his Excalibur Replica at her.

Unbalanced and surprised, Cecil then slammed into Ronios with a shoulder tackle.

As long as he had a weapon equipped, his hand-to-hand skills would have no effect, and he would deal no damage. But the force of the blow sent Ronios flying, and in an instant, she was cornered against the wall.

Then he threw the Arondight Replica.

Ronios barely managed to dodge it, but a smile touched her lips.

She likely had no choice but to smile. She had dodged the thrown attack, but she was cornered in the room. It could even be said that the throw was intended to corner her there. Ronios already had nowhere to run.

And despite the shop not being particularly large, as if such a thing didn't matter, Cecil was in the middle of swinging down the Dragon Eater Replica he had been carrying on his back from an overhead stance.

It wasn't an attack that would finish her in one blow, but it would deal massive damage. Furthermore, she had no escape and was cornered.

Even so, Ronios launched an attack.

Cecil took the attack without dodging. But he didn't take it for free. The moment he was hit, he grabbed Ronios’s right arm with his left hand.

"What."

"The polite part of the fight is over."

The weapons equipped on Cecil’s back and waist fell to the floor. His weapons were unequipped, and his hand-to-hand combat skills were now effective.

Immediately after, a body blow exploded into Ronios’s abdomen.

Ronios could have dealt damage if she had unequipped her weapon, but that probably didn't cross her mind. Still holding her rapier, she attacked Cecil with her free left hand, but of course, it did no damage.

It was a fighting style that exploited a loophole in the game system, likely a difference born from experience in player-versus-player combat. Cecil chipped away at Ronios’s HP with his ultra-close-range attacks.

The match was all but decided. Even in such a situation, Ronios’s expression was one of delight.

"I never knew such a way of fighting existed."

"Send the tuition fee to the Empire. See you. You were strong."

"Those are kind words. Well then, we shall meet again."

Another of Cecil’s body blows exploded, and Ronios’s HP ran out. Cecil released the arm he was holding, and Ronios collapsed to the floor.

Instantly, she vanished along with Cremola’s body.

(Does the black orb the maid had not work on the user or their allies... no, more importantly, to the base... no, first I have to repair the shop,) Hayato thought.

Hayato looked at the devastation in the shop and, deciding he had to fix the furniture immediately, took out his saw.