In the city of Ishka, a duel is not an unusual way to settle a dispute.

　Rough and tumble adventurers want to settle each other's disputes with swords and fists. This is a common occurrence.

　However, it is not left unchecked.

　For a duel to be official, it needs one thing: an observer.



　He selects the place for the duel, prepares for it and guarantees its outcome.

　To challenge the outcome of a duel is tantamount to insulting the witnesses.

　By its very nature, a witness is expected to have a proper status and responsibility. Conversely, if they couldn't find that many witnesses, the duel would be just a private fight and would be disposed of under the city's security laws.



　I had expected it, but the witness to the duel between me and Lars was the guild master, Elgato.

　The place was the guild's training grounds. There were no spectators or onlookers, and the only people in the spacious space, aside from Lars, myself and Elgato, were the Sword of the Falcon, Seal, and that braided receptionist named Liddell.

　I had expected a situation where adventurers and staff members would be actively engaged in a wild goose chase, but honestly, I didn't expect it.

　Well, this is a duel between people who have a history with each other to begin with. I suppose they didn't want the other adventurers to hear them ranting about something strange in the middle of the duel.


　However, this might cause Lars to hold the outcome in his hands if he loses. It would be no surprise if the guildmaster who had suppressed Miroslav's sin now suppressed Lars' defeat.

　As he was thinking about this, the door to the training ground opened and a middle-aged man rushed in, gasping for breath.


''...........................No, no, sorry I'm late!　We had a problem on the way out, so that took up a lot of my time.


　The well-dressed figure clad in silk clothing reminds me of a skilled merchant.

　The slavers dispatched by the Union, with their thread-thin eyes, confirmed that all the people gathered here were present.


''I thought it was unusual to hear from Lord Elgert, but it seems to be quite amusing.

'I've given you the details in writing. Time is running out. I would like to begin as soon as possible, if you are willing, Master Fyodor.

'Yes, yes, yes, that's fine. Will a new slave be born or will a slave be freed? Either way, it's the nature of being a slaver.


　Fyodor is conspicuous for his somewhat aloof behavior, but he is neither incompetent nor irresponsible as long as he is dispatched by the Union. He is a sufficient witness.

　Or rather, if I said that I wouldn't recognize Fyodor as a witness here, I would be throwing a bone to the 'union'.

　That wasn't a very horrible thing to say.



　The "union" itself is a slave trade association.

　It's a huge organization that crosses borders like the Adventurers Guild or the Temple of the God of Law, where all the information about the slave trade is collected in the Guild.

　The Union's influence, which sometimes exceeds thousands of slaves, is beyond the reach of any small country, and no one, unless they are suicidal, would ever turn on the Union.

　It's a good thing that they're not the people you would get involved with if you were living an honest life - that's not the case for people as unlucky as Seal, and I can't help but feel like I'm in some kind of trouble from now on, having embarked on a path that can hardly be called honest.


　Oh well, that's okay, there's more to come. For now, let's focus on the opponent in front of us.

　Lars is wearing a one-handed sword, a round shield, and a steel armor headpiece, all of which are probably endowed with magic. That would be the advantage of someone with the Chamber of Commerce behind him. In a word, I was fully armed.

　In contrast, I'm only wearing leather armor, which I always wear only in form, except for the black sword at my waist. This is a partial armor that only protects the chest. It's not much of a defense mechanism.

　If you look at the equipment alone, I'm completely defeated. This is the level at which Lars would be laughed at for not being an adult.

　Of course, there's no one to laugh at here. It's a duel that can even cost you your life at times. It's only natural to give it everything you've got.

　Lars himself was staring at me with a serious look on his face.







　Lars raises his shield and sword in response to Elgato's voice.

　I held my sword at mid-level. I'm not going to use my mind gear or jade in this duel.

　I'm not just testing my bare strength, but also as a defensive measure to keep the guild and the union from getting hold of my power.

　The problem was whether Lars would allow me to do so or not.


Hah!


　A kesa strike from a sharp step.

　If he had stood silently, he would have been cut off deeply on his left shoulder.

　Of course, we are not so naive as to be struck by the first strike, either. He lightly flew backwards and let the sky (Kuu) slash, and tried to strike a counter blow when the other side's stance was broken.

　However, as expected of a sixth level adventurer, the sixth level adventurer is not that lenient, and Lars skillfully moves his shield to minimize the gap that arises after the attack.



　The next time I'll attack from here - the next moment I thought that, Lars' second attack flew in.

　It is even faster than the first blow's step in.

　It's an unbelievable move for a man wearing heavy metal armor, and apparently the first strike was a stepping stone for the next strike.

　Realizing that I couldn't fend off the attack, I used the peak of my sword to parry Lars' blow.

　A numbing pressure could be felt through the sword. A heavy slash. I was able to properly apply the power of my legs and feet to the sword.

　No wonder, but he was a completely different person from the Lars of five years ago.



''What's the matter, Sora!　You can't beat me just by dodging!


　

　I responded with a crooked lip.


'Thanks for the advice,'


　While saying that, he flies to the side and dodges Lars' thrust attack. I also dodge the shield attack (shield bash) that came immediately after. He even tried a foot sweep, as if he were an adventurer with a little bit of everything, but I dodged this one too, flying in a flash.

　As I did so, I observed Lars relentlessly.

　The four basics of Itto-ryu: zan-zang jin-keitai (slashing), kei-zang (cutting) and soh-so (running), and kan-kan (observing).

　In other words, observation.

　This is a good example of the way the game is played.

　If they don't use their heart gear or jade, their ground power is indeed superior to ours. And when it comes to experience as an adventurer, Lars has far more experience than you.

　I've been trying to find the key to reversing these differences in my opponent's movements.



　From the outside, the current me would be a dangerous guy, watching Lars' every move with snake eyes.

　Maybe he didn't like the way I was looking at him, or maybe he got fed up with the attacks that never hit him, but Lars' attacks were getting a little bigger.

　It's not a messy attack that can create gaps, but the accuracy of his movements is less than ever before.



　He still hasn't struck with the thirty. It's too early to be in a hurry, but.......no, from their point of view, they're struggling against the first level. The thought that this is not supposed to happen is inevitable.

　A sixth level adventurer can't even take a shot at a former tenth level adventurer who has been expelled, and it's just plain embarrassing. He must be worried about the eyes of his friends and the guild master as well.

　Besides, Miroslav must have fired up well. "Show them the power of a real adventurer, a real warrior," or something like that.

　It's a good thing that you're not going to be able to find out what's going on.


　--It's a good thing that you're able to get the best out of them. Lars has always had a weakness for this kind of shaking. He is, after all, a simple farmer at heart.


''What's the matter, Lars? You can't defeat me just by wielding a sword, can you?

Shut up and stay out of it!

Unfortunately, a sword is not a weapon that can be used to slice and dice head-on. This is my way of fighting. Even so, it's still a problem for a sixth level adventurer to not be able to catch my movements.

.....

He's just getting worse and worse...


　As he says it, he takes advantage of the opportunity when Lars lowers his shield slightly and strikes him in the chest.

　He slips through a gap in the armor and inflicts a wound on his opponent's body.


''Guh!

Look, the shield is down again.


　I thrust the cutting edge in continuously and accurately shot through a gap in the armor.

　Lars twisted his face in pain and waved his shield away from me with a sideways swipe, and in return, he slashed at me with his one-handed sword.

　However, that attack is a large swing of forcefulness. It's not a slash using your legs and feet like the one just now. It was nothing to dodge.



　After that, they slashed each other for a while more, and after the number of slashes reached fifty, I faced Lars at a distance.

　Lars was gasping for breath, his face was contorted, and the blood that flowed out of the cracks in his armor stained the ground.

　........Yeah. I'm sorry to say it, but it's weak.

　It's true that they have superior ground power. If they had to engage in a battle of forces, they would certainly be defeated. But Lars doesn't have the know-how to make use of those advantages in a fight. To be honest, Ayaka and Laguna are much stronger than they were five years ago.

　And now I understand why. Fundamentally, Lars's sword is for fighting demons, not people.

　Of course, Lars would have fought against humans before. There's no shortage of human enemies for adventurers, such as bandits, necromancers (necromancers), and pagan priests.

　However, on the whole, the opponents to defeat would be overwhelmingly demons, and slaying people wouldn't mean that you would be able to learn anti-personnel sword skills in the first place.

　In that regard, even though there are blanks, I was the one who learned the Illusionary Itto-ryu from a young age, so I was on the right side. It's a good thing everyone around me is stronger than me. You can't help but have plenty of experience fighting strong people.



　I'm not sure we need to wait any longer for this to happen.

　It's not impossible that this is all a trap by Lars to trap us - but if that's the case, I'll lift the ban on the Power Technique out of respect for his acting ability.

　I take a step forward with that in mind.


''Lars!''


　I think he felt something in the movement that could not be overlooked, and Ilaria nudged Lars to pay attention to it, as if unintentionally.

　When Lars responded to that and re-holstered his sword in a huff, my sword reached into the air like a snake and was entangled in Lars' sword.

　And.



　Ding.

　With a clear metallic sound, Lars' one-handed sword spun around in the air.

　Eventually, the sword stabbed slightly away from us.

　The Guildmaster's calm voice rang out as he thrust the sword into Lars' neck, who was stunned to see it.


''That's it!　Winner, Sola!


　When I saw the look in Lars' eyes at that moment, I suddenly thought that I must have looked like this too.

　Surely, I must have had this look in my eyes when I was defeated by the Dragon Fang Soldier in the test.


◆◆◆


"Wait, wait, wait, wait!　Let me fight one more time, one more time!


　After that, Lars, who came back to himself, was the first one to speak those words.

　He didn't even thank Ilaria for casting a recovery spell, but stared at me with his eyes bleeding.

　I shrugged lightly at such Lars.


''Does that mean you're going to be stingy with the victory that the witnesses recognized?　You're dealing with a guildmaster, remember?

No, no!　That was my call. And that's okay. I'll give you that, so go ahead and play again, Sola!　Yes, there was never an agreement to have just one duel!　I'm going to win this time!

Hm. Well, no problem. Who are you going to call next?

What?

I win this game. That means Lunamaria is mine now. If we're going to fight again, you'll have to get another slave for me. I'm telling you, I don't need Miroslav, so the only one you can provide is Ilaria.


　When Lars heard that, he looked at Iria as if he couldn't help it.

　Ilaria, who was covering Lars' wounds, shook her head with a stern look at Lars.


''Iria!''

No, Lars. I closed up the wound, but the blood that you lost isn't back. You can't win a fight like this.

'Hey, it's okay, I know how to fight Sora now. I'll win next time!


　Ilaria's slap struck Lars' cheek sharply as he shouted that.

　A dry sound with a thump echoed around the area.


''Enough!　How long are you going to run away from the consequences?　You've lost!　If you don't admit that first, there will be no rematch or anything else!

Ili...................

　With that scolding, Lars finally acknowledges reality in the true sense of the word and falls to his knees with a crumple on the spot.

　Watching the two of them, I chuckled inwardly.



　Ilaria's attitude is a stern yet gentle one. It's probably the most correct response I could think of.

　However, for someone who has been beaten down to the core, sometimes correctness can be disagreeable.

　At such times, if there is someone to say sweet words to - only sweet words, a man will flirt with them. It's not an eternal relationship, even for childhood friends.


　--I didn't look at Miroslav. I didn't need to see him.
　--Everything was going according to plan.