'Haha!　Your muscles are happy to know you can fight Ray!

'Brother. Could you please shut up for a moment, as it's too hot beside me?　But, well, not that I don't know how you feel about that.

　With that, the two men hold their weapons at the ready. Marco comes equipped with a basket of arms and holds them at the ready. It's a fighting style as it looks. But ... why do you take off your top? I'm just afraid of being forced to take off my top.

''Cah!　Marco is so cool!

　........although only Arabella's sister-in-law is very excited about things.

　And Wonto has a blue scythe. I've never seen anything like that before.

"Come on, Wonto!　Let's get rid of the hero!

　What a horrible thing to say with a pretty face, Krill sister-in-law....... If they cut us to pieces, we'll be split into two, right?

　I came to the training ground behind the mansion, but I don't feel motivated. I just came to say hello, so why is this happening? The women are in spectator mode on the terrace, drinking tea in an elegant manner.

　All the maidservants and soldiers in the mansion have gathered there. It was extremely difficult to do.

"Good luck, big brother!

Good luck, my dear.

""Lose and you're out!"

　But we'll have the ladies' support. I don't want them to see me embarrassed.

I'll be the judge then. The rule is, one of us must yield or pass out. You may injure them, but avoid fatal injuries. Is that all right?

　We nod at Eileen-sensei's words. I'm going to take out the Rowga from the item ring and prepare it, and even though it's two against one, the ability of the two of them is moderately good, as can be seen from here. Not only are they students, but they are also higher than most adventurers. But.

You can't lose.

　I mutter with a grin. Then.

Ugh!

　I heard a voice from the ladies and my face turned red. I wonder why?

Totally, that's the way you are with Zeke.

Yeah, totally.

　Mrs. Eliza and Dr. Eileen are talking about something, but what are they talking about?

Come on, Ray, let's get started.　Man to man clash!

　....a bit of a man to man clash.

Well then, try not to get hurt. Begin!

　The moment Dr. Eileen gives the signal, Marco jumps out of the way. He's faster than he looks!　Kagome has been given a magical weapon grant and uses full body enhancements. It's a power fighter just like it looks.

''Humph!''

　Marco lets out a spirited yell as he approaches me and hits me with a right hand. I could dodge it, but not here.

Activate body armor, Lightning body and weapon.

　It's a head-to-head match. I hit back at Marco's striking right hand with my Rowga. I can feel the chattering and vibration all the way down to my hand, but it's not as bad as it was with Gilgas.

It's light!

Nuh-uh?

　It must have been a confident attack. He screams in surprise as I rebound head-on. But Marco isn't capable of stopping like that, either.

　Straight away, he strikes me with his left hand. I dodge it and thrust out Rowga. Marco kicks Rowga away with his right foot, but I use the momentum to spin him around.

　I then gather my magic power into a stone thrust, and unleash a thrust at Marco. It's a great way to get a good idea of what's going on in the world. However, it was not able to kill the momentum, or it was blown backwards as it was. It's a good idea to get your arms back up, but your arms seem to be numb, and you're waving them around.

''Gunnu!　What power!

　He's saying that with his mouth, but his face is smiling. Maybe I'm laughing too. We're brothers, you know. The moment I step out to go after Marco.

Go!

　The scythe swings at my neck from the side. That's dangerous!　I'd turn away from the straight body and avoid the scythe, but if I hadn't noticed, my head would have been off my body!　...I feel like I've had a similar experience before.

Well, avoid. But....

　Wont wielding the scythe, he swings it at a distance that is too far away for the scythe to hit. At that moment, the scythe glows blue and a blade of water is released. So that's what it means!

　I move away from the spot to jump away. But Wonto is insistent, swinging his scythe and sending his blade flying. At the same time, Marco, who comes closer, strikes at me.

　As I flick Marco's fist with my lowga, Wonto is behind me. He swings his scythe down on my body, aiming at my body. ....Don't be shy about it.

　I use my looga to prevent it, but in the meantime, Marco comes at me. If you take on Marco, Won't he be able to cut you down? It's not easy to take on someone who is skilled at both. But

Mr. Ray, it's going to be fun.

Pricia is right. It sounds really fun.

　I'm slowly getting used to the two of them moving. I'm going to increase my speed from here on out. With that, Marco and Won't are gradually getting more wounds.

''Ugh!''

Gah!

　Marco and Won't both speed up more than ever before, but I body-grant again and get on top of both of them, and I'm sorry for both of them, but I can't let them lose so easily.

　I bounce Marco's straight right up from underneath him with a lowga, and then turn and kick at his empty body. It goes straight into Marco's gut, and Marco is blown away.

　Behind him, Wonto is gathering magic power into his scythe. Wonto must have noticed. This battle is coming to an end. That's why he's about to unleash his final technique.

'Let's go, Ray!　Slice through it!　The Hydro-Death Scythe!

'Phew!　I'm coming with you!　Giant Meteor, Giant Meteor!

　From the front, Won't with his life-reaping water scythe looms, and from behind, Marco with a huge rock on his arm that is about to crush me. These people at all........

"Light.

Yes, sir.

　I'm gonna bounce you back head on!

"Luminous cloak!

　My back glows and my cloak appears, glowing white. Then, reacting to the magic of Wont and Marco's attack, I start to move. The moment the cloak collides with the scythe and the rock

"Haha!

Gawd!

　They were blown away. I'm the only one standing, and they don't move. I looked at Dr. Eileen.

This is more than I expected. I'm no match for you now. I thought you were stronger than Zeke.　... well, winner Ray!

　With Dr. Eileen's declaration, the showdown between the brothers ended in my victory.

　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.

'Hahaha!　No, it's a total loss!　I didn't expect a difference of that magnitude!　Hahaha!

'Totally. Ray wouldn't have had to perform that last move to prevent us from doing it either.

　Right now, I'm back inside the mansion, healing them both. I'm healing Marco and Won't because my sister-in-law Krill seems to be able to use water magic, so she's healing him.

That was amazing!　That shiny cloak of magic. Is that light magic?

　She comes from a family of sorcerers, and her sister-in-law, Krill, has been harassing her with questions.

''Don't do it, Krill. That's Ray's magic. I wouldn't understand if I asked.

　However, Won't admonish me for that, Krill's sister-in-law. I could talk about it, but like Wonto said, it's designed to suit me, and it can only be used at level 9. Then it's probably best not to talk about it. As we're talking about it, Marco says something outrageous.

"Well, now I can return to the frontier county without a hitch.

'What?　Shouldn't your brother Marco have a few more minutes left?

　I was curious, so I asked him.

''I asked the headmaster to speed up my graduation. I'm going to leave King's Landing next week.

...or is that why?

"Mm. Just as Ray thought. War's coming up. I thought I could be of some help. The headmaster gave me permission, albeit reluctantly.

　Mrs. Eliza must have known, of course, when she looked around. She does not change her face. Won't say anything, though Won't look pained either. Dr. Eileen must have known, too. Just like Mrs. Eliza. The only ones who didn't know were me and Aeris.

'Then I'm a "No! .........!

　I'm about to say I'm going too, but Marco stops me.

'I did some stupid things a long time ago that I shouldn't have done to Ray and Phelia. And I pushed the idea of taking over the frontier count on Wonto. He's an utterly useless brother. So I want to do what I can on your behalf.

　He looks at us and laughs.

I'm not going to die at all. I've heard that the combined forces of the Royal Army and the Frontier County Army have the same number of men as the Empire. It's not so easy to get beaten. And you'll have to love Arabella for the rest of your life.

　Then he pulls Arabella's sister-in-law into a hug. Arabella's sister-in-law also looks up at Marco, enthralled. There is no sadness on Marco's face. Then.

All right. Don't ever die, okay? I still want to see your brother Marco.

'Hahaha!　Of course!　I swear on these muscles!

　Even though my muscles swear by it....

　After that, we all talked about a lot of things, had dinner at the mansion, and then dismissed. During dinner, some maids were looking at me with moist eyes, but I wonder why?　I don't know.

　We finish dinner and leave the mansion, and we're slowly rocking in the carriage. Mei and Haku must have been tired from all the huffing and puffing and nervousness. They must have been tired from all the horsing around and being nervous, and they have fallen asleep.

　I stroked their heads and looked at the moon.

'Does it bother you?'

　Then Aeris, who was sitting next to me, asks me about that. I look around and everyone else is looking at me too.

'Are you talking about your brother Marco?'

Yeah.

''Well, I can't say I care, but I'll take your brother Marco's word for it. He'll make it through this thing. There's also your father, your mother, and Dr. Eileen. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work. I'm not going to let that stop me.

　I believe that. They said the numbers were the same, and they wouldn't be defeated in a siege battle. And I can't imagine those guys losing more than that. I laughed and looked up at the moon again.