* * *


What? Why?

　Second said the words as he thought.
　I'm not sure I understand any of the implications of competing with Renko here and now.


I said I'll find out if you're really a useful man," he said.
...... Heh.

　The second fell for Renko's provocation with aplomb. No, he had to fall for it. The world's number one can't stay licked. It was a provocation that successfully exploited that habit.

　Yes. Renko, strangely enough, had a chance to win. Confidence to fight and win against an unprecedented Triple Crown champion.


'I'm going to show you that a real fight isn't some kind of title game (・・・・・),'


　Declares with a look of spare time. Great provocation.

　However, a little too much. She still doesn't realize that this one word made the second pout.


''Do it. I'll give you the first move.''

What's up with you, Triple Crown winner, you've got a lot of confidence. I'll take you up on your offer then. ......


　Renko quickly backs away from the second and brings his fists together in front of his chest.

　This is a spirited "pose" for the fight to begin.


　--No way. The Second's prediction was immediately affirmed by the activation of her skill.



"Transformation!


　The 《Transformation》 skill - she had thought that the only person in this world who knew how to learn it was Second, and she had mastered it.

　It should go without saying. The person who taught her this was undoubtedly a homegrown being of the Second. Saint Raspberry Belle.


...... I see.

　Here, Second was convinced. To the source of her confidence.

　It was Renko's opinion that no matter how much of a Triple Crown King she was, she would not be able to defeat her 《transformation》 self.
　In fact, Renko had all of her 【Body Technique】 skills, except for Dragon Horse and Dragon King, as well as all of her 【Kenjutsu】 skills, except for Dragon Horse and Dragon King, at a higher rank, so if her status was 3.6 times higher than the second's net status after her transformation, she was generally superior to the second's. Simply put, Renko has a huge advantage.

　If it wasn't a title fight, but an 'anything goes' fight, he could beat the Triple Crown Champion - it was an advantage so great that one could not help but be mistaken (...).


Come on, let's go.

　Renko holds her fist in the air after completing the Wind Transformation. The monastic uniform she wears has been transformed like a skeleton uniform, the hood is flipped up to reveal her long black hair, and her face is covered with a wind-motif mask to hide her eyes. Its shapely lips, which were covered in bright red lipstick, smiled fearlessly with unshakable confidence.


　There's no way I'm going to be licked - she thinks the same way as the second.
　If you get licked, you lose. A belief that was ingrained in her bones. The Second has a dignity that neither she nor the Second can afford to compromise.


.............

　Second is silent as he watches Renko's transformation.

'Are you freaked out?' And Renko closed his mouth on the verge of trying to provoke her further. The reason is that the second was acting strangely.


　At this time, Second was leisurely thinking about what to do.

　What should I do?


　Like wondering whether to have soba or udon for lunch, or how to cook the fish that happened to be lying on the cutting board.

　It's not even perceived as an enemy....... When Renko felt that way, she suddenly became enraged.


''Don't lick it!''

　Renko stepped into the ground with a thump and closed the gap between the two with the speed of a bullet. What he placed on his right fist was the powerful single-attack skill, the Silver General Body Technique.

　The approach and attack with AGI and STR increased by 3.6 times due to his transformation. There was no way he could duck it, and if he ate it, it would be a decisive strike for sure, and Renko didn't doubt that the game would end with this one strike.

　He caught it!　The next moment Renko was sure of it.


'--eh.'


　She was lying on her back.

　And immediately after -


Uh-oh!

　A bone-shattering impact on her entire body hit her, and the HP that had been raised by the Transformation was shaved down to about half of it.

　Why!　Why!　Why!

　Between the intense pain and confusion, she managed to get up and think frantically.

　The answer was to come from the second's mouth.

''The Silver General shield technique parry gets a counterattack effect on it. Your STR was so high for nothing, that's a huge damage.''
............-what did you say? ......?

　Renko is extremely confused.

　He said that Second had parried in that instant. However, right now, Second is not equipped with a shield. In other words, the moment Renko activated the Silver General Body Technique, Second took the shield out of his inventory, activated the Silver General Shield Technique, parried at the right moment, and returned the shield to his inventory again.

　It no longer makes sense. It is far beyond the scope of comprehension.


''Ugh!

　As Renko was stunned, a liquid splashed on its head.
　The Second sprayed him with a high-grade potion. Renko's HP recovered to its full potential in the blink of an eye.

Hey, come on, tell me quickly. A real fight is a real fight!

　Mean words are thrown at you.

　...... We have to stand up. I have no choice but to stand up to them.
　There is no escape for Renko. No, there is no way to retreat from the edge.


Shhhh!

　Just as he stood up, he struck an unexpected blow.
　A moment later, the "Katsurama Kenjutsu" unleashed by the long sword taken out of the inventory rapidly accelerates to pierce the second's abdomen.

　It was a perfect surprise attack.
　By taking out the long sword, the reach of the attack was suddenly increased. It was such a thrust that Renko himself was convinced that no one could duck this.


''............ e ......''

　That's why I couldn't understand what happened.

'Offsetting (...). You don't think I don't know, do you?　As there is in witchcraft, so there is in swordsmanship.

　Second said stupidly.

　Renko's head was instantly perturbed.
　The attack that should have been unleashed for sure suddenly disappeared (...). All hell broke loose.

　A counterattack?　I don't know!

'You don't know. The only way to do it is to align your sword's speed and direction and activate the same line of skills almost simultaneously.
!

　And, to his surprise, Second mentioned the "how" of the offset.

　It should only be a loss to teach it to Renko.
　He spoke with a spare face, as if it was knowledge he should know.

　The even more frightening fact is that if offsetting was the technique as Second said, that is, Second, in anticipation of Renko's perfect surprise attack, took out his sword from his inventory, aligned its speed and direction, and activated the 《Katsura Ma Kenjutsu》 almost simultaneously.

　--too much, too much of a difference.
　To call it overwhelming is an absurd difference.


"...... This is not the way to pull a potato.

　Renko gets up, straining his trembling legs.
　It's a different dimension. She was made to understand that painfully, but still, she stood on her guts and confronted it with determination.

'That's what I have to come to.

　Second laughed heartily as he tucked the long sword into his inventory.



　...... For the next few minutes, Renko was squeezed one way or the other.

　And I learned firsthand. It's a good thing that the rule of real fights, or "anything goes", is that it's more advantageous to have a wide variety of skills than a status difference.

　But fortunately, she hasn't figured it out yet. A title contender might have noticed a horrible, hair-raising fact.

　It's that in an "anything goes" matchup, a man named Second is even more effective than in a title fight. Compared to the single-skill matches where players are limited to a single skill, these matches where players can combine multiple skills are hundreds or even thousands of times more versatile than the title game. Therefore, the "Seven System" of the second's trajectory would have deeper roots and spread its branches and leaves far and wide.


　Renko could do nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Even after transforming, he couldn't touch the Second with a single finger.

　It was now a frame-up. If you don't know the "best counterattack" against the second's move, or if you don't instantly see it, or if you can't act skillfully, you are doomed to be sealed off without being able to do anything. This was inevitable.


'Haha ...... haha ...... haha ......!

　Renko collapses to the ground, breathing hard, with her HP running low and her SP depleted.

　To Second, who approached her to apply a potion, she thrusts out her right hand to refuse. Immediately after, her 《Transformation》 was released .......



　　* * * *



...... All right. Yeah, I get it. You're too strong. You're too much of a pain in the ass.
There he is.

　A breathless Renko praises me. I don't feel bad about it.

　The result of the battle was terrible. But as expected of the young lady of the righteous bandit R6, this guy has a lot of guts. The way she fought against me over and over again with her desperate form was just like sumo wrestler's match practice.

　I tried to think of some appropriate words to praise her, but Renko opened her mouth before I could.

'I'm sure I can trust you to take care of Lady Raspberry Belle, ......?'

　She didn't mention her thoughts on the earlier match, or her ramblings to me, or her personal life, but rather ...... Saint Raspberry Belle.

　It occurred to me.
　No way, she was provoking me to ...... for Raspberry Belle?


...... Hey. What were you going to do if I was the unforgiving type?　You're dead more times than I can count on your hands and feet by now.

The time for that is the time. It's just, you see, I'm not dead. You're just what Lady Raspberry Belle thought you were, that's all. Now I know I can trust the man I'm about to cross a line with, so long as it's a good sign.


　This guy risked his own life just to check (...)?

　How do I know I'm not the real sempai so I don't endanger Raspberry Bell?


　...... The guy's a total freak. The thing is, you've casually given your life to someone else.


You know what ...... is, don't you?
...... That's right.

　The person who taught Renko the 《Transformation》 skill was undoubtedly King Framboise I, or rather, Saint Raspberry Belle. Walking a tightrope to secretly gain experience and learn skills under this poor environment of strict surveillance is a good thing. The person in the most dangerous position right now is certainly Renko. And it is none other than Raspberry Bell that is making that happen. In other words, Raspberry Bell is using Renko to escape from the Kamel Godland herself.

　Then why, knowing that she is being used, she has gone so far .......


''Atai, you know, I'm not ashamed to return the favor.

...... gratitude, huh?

When I ran for my life into this country, I was saved by Lady Raspberry Bell. Why wouldn't I spend my life on Lady Raspberry Bell?


　I'll do them a favor and make them obey. It's an extension of what I used to do to Sylvia and Eco. It's a very sentimental way for a Japanese (...) to do things. But .......


"I don't like the idea of only letting you do dangerous things.

Hmm ...... I don't have a choice. You'll figure it out eventually.


　It can't be helped - Renko said that as if he was biting into the unreasonable.


　I didn't understand the truth of her words and crossed my arms to think about it. Then she broke the silence to interrupt my thoughts.

Now, I think it's time to share our strategy. Our side can only suggest one thing. How about that one?

　He asks with a challenging smile as he puts on the hood of his monastic uniform.

　At any rate, no matter what, you say, your priority is to rescue Raspberry Belle, no matter what you do. It's a godsend.

　With a single sigh, I tell her what I've discussed with Winfiled.


"To incite the anti-Church forces to a revolution. I'm working on getting him to agree. On the day of the revolution, we will assassinate the Pope and put the revolutionaries in power. To ensure that everything goes smoothly, you need to give me at least a week to prepare. There is a monster called Wraith. If we can taste it, it can turn anyone into anything it wants. We can assassinate him without blowing our cover.
....... You're awesome, man.
It's not that I'm great, it's that my warlord is great.

　Renko rolled his eyes in surprise, not expecting the conversation to go this far in just one day after making contact, it seemed to be mutual.

''Well, I get it. Our proposal is a plan to assassinate the Pope. We've had a plan in mind for a long time. I have a complete picture of where he is and what he's doing. I could kill him at any time.
Nice. So, give me the information on the Pope. I'll assassinate him myself.

　Considering the certainty, rather than leaving it to the other side, it's better for me to tame the Wraith and then assassinate it by disguising myself as someone close to the Pope. That's what I thought, but Renko's sharp eyes sharpened even more at my suggestion, and she returned the words.

''...... I'll kill you,''
No.

　I wondered what he was going to say, but seriously? If that's the case, it's still better to leave it all to you and hope that your identity won't be exposed, I can't trust you enough to think that.

　It's true that Renko is far stronger than the average person. But no matter how you look at it, she's probably not suited for secrecy. The only thing I can see is a future in which the assassination will fail, let alone be exposed.

''Raspberry Bell-sama also said that he would leave the Pope's assassination to me.
That won't work. Wait for my tamer.
............

　Silence. A look of utter disbelief.

　While I'm wondering this and that about how to convince this jerk-off, Renko turns his back to me, turns around, and opens his mouth.

'It's time. Our next contact will be the day before we decide.


　He got away.

　Holy crap, you might be in trouble if you don't tame the wraith quickly: .......