The final of the tournament to determine the challenger, against Shisousei.

　The match between Champagne and I is about to begin.
　Before the match, she and I took our positions facing each other and exchanged a few words.


Master, how are you? It's a beautiful day.

'Good day, Champagne. You're in the clear (・・・・).

'Yes!　Really.



　...... There are "great guys" in the world.

　Champagne. She is undoubtedly a great guy.

　Since the day she had a dream in her heart, she has just believed in her own path, never succumbed to the hellish days, and she has been able to overcome adversity and keep going.

　And now, here she stands.
　She is standing here in the very form of the ideal she was aiming for.

　How tremendous that is!　It would take a lifetime for those who mocked her and playfully threw her to hell, but they wouldn't understand.


'--Courtesy to each other!　Ready!

　The order is given.

　Champagne takes out the rainbow naginata.
　I'm a nondescript mithril spear.

　A moment of silence.

　She holds it at the lower level and quietly opens her mouth.


''Thank you for .......''


　A beautiful smile that caught me off guard.

　What in the world was he thanking me for? I didn't really know why, but for some reason it felt right. She must be in the mood to thank me now, anyway.


'Thank you too,'


　Then I'll return the words.

　I'm the one who wants to say thank you.

　You are doing well. You've realized that you're better suited for a spear than a sword, you've started again from scratch, and you've risen to this point in six months.


　I admire you, sincerely.

　If you were me, ...... still, you wouldn't have killed yourself. Yeah, maybe.

　You have the strength, the will power that I lack.

　Now you're going to have a fight with a guy like that. That's what makes me smile.



"Start.

　Cue the start of the match.

　We closed in on each other at once, both of us with a strange, gushing smile on our faces.


''Hee hee!''

　Her first move was the "Angular Gyoroku Jutsu" from the very edge of her effective range (・・・・・・・・). A powerful ranged attack from a horizontal cleave.

　With the breath that leaks out of her mouth, you can see how much power she has.

　Champagne, the seriousness is also serious. This guy, you were sloppy in your first battle, weren't you?


Yeah, I've been thinking.

　Immediately afterwards, I noticed her strategy and couldn't help but spill my frank opinion.

　I responded with the 《Gold General Spear Technique》. A counter skill. If Champagne's spear touched even the slightest bit, she would be forced to counterattack painfully and go down.

　Then ...... she pulled the hilt of the cleaver a little bit and drew it to herself (・・・・・).

　This is probably why she unleashed the Angular Jousting Jutsu at the very edge of her effective range. If she pulled back a little, she could avoid the counter, and if she pushed out a little, she could attack without any problems. She had discerned that fine line.

　It would take a lot of training to be able to firmly discern this line against a moving object. However, even though Champagne had been seen in the grounds of the Firth Test for the past six months, she didn't seem to have the slightest indication of such training, always working gracefully and ladylike.


''Great, when did you learn all this stuff?''
The little girl doesn't let people see the effort she makes.

　That's what they say.

You're a young lady to the bone.
'Oh-ho-ho!


　Champagne laughs with a really happy smile as he prepares his next skill.

　That was the [Incense Car Spear Technique]. While the preparation time is shorter than Kakugyo, it is a horizontal cleave attack with a lower range and power.

　I see, it's perfect as a chase, but it lacks ...... sharpness.


''

　No wait.
　I'm getting carried away with her.

　You said yourself that Champagne is good at thrusting. But two consecutive cleaves from the first strike. This is something she's preparing for, isn't it?


There it is!


　I knew it. After seeing my response to the 《Kangaroo Jousting》 with the 《Kangaroo Jousting》, she immediately cancelled the skill and activated the 《Kingaroo Jousting》.

　《Katsura Jousting》 is a skill that makes a large leap and thrust. It's the most speedy attack in [Spear Jutsu].


　Nice. Nice interval. So shrewd.

　But you can't do that because as soon as I lightly asked you to join in, you just let it out as if you were waiting for it.


"Let's get this over with.


　Almost at the same time as I activated Champagne's Guillermo Lance Technique, I activated the Golden General Lance Technique again while taking a step backwards.


''!

　Champagne's eyes widened in surprise.

　That's right. Because, clearly, the timing of the Golden General's preparation (・・・・・・) was not ready in time.

　No, there was a misnomer. To me, it would be "clear", but to her, it would be "subtle".

　In other words, it was a bluff and a move that left everything to the opponent.

　Champagne will now have to make a decision on what to do in the very few moments before she leaps with Gui Ma, based on the subtlety of whether or not my Golden General will be able to make it in time.

　It would be fun to attack with Gui Ma, or change the direction of the leap to make a new partition.


''You are very good at it!

　...... You mean just for spears? It's funny. This guy is beautiful, a lady, a maid, a contestant in the Four Jari Seisen, and he even has a sense of humor. It's perfect.

　But now that you've put it all aside, Champagne leaps in the opposite direction of me (・・・・) while talking about such funny gags.

　So my golden general has decided that I can make it.

　I suppose. Your first kakugyo, your first move, was still a lot of play (...). The real, real nail-biting move was about seven or eight centimeters before.


"Oops.

　Here comes a skill that cannot be overlooked.

　Using the aerial skill cancellation that was also shown in the first game, Champagne began to prepare the Dragon Horse Spear Technique from the leap. A powerful long-range attack skill using shock waves. Is this a strategy to use the pause opened up by Guillermo to hit him with a long-distance attack?


"Well, prepare yourself, master--!


　Champagne turns around as soon as he lands and a look of astonishment appears on his face.

　I can sort of see why. It was closer than I thought (・・・・), right?　I will.

　It's simple. From the moment you jumped on your guillotine, I cancelled the golden general's position and rushed forward with the flying wheel spear technique.

　It doesn't matter what you're preparing for or why you're coming, in this situation, I'm still in the flying car. It's a matter of course, so it's only natural for me to launch an immediate action and immediately rush in. Don't let this surprise you.


Come on!

　There's no way General Kim will make it in time.

　Don't be afraid, go ahead and shoot.

　It's your only chance.


"d*mn it!


　He shot. Excellent!

　The moment the distance between us was less than a meter away from me, Champagne activated the 《Long Horse Spear Technique》.

　My 《Skipping Wheel Jutsu》 and my 《Skipping Wheel Jutsu》 clash, and both of us are shocked.

　The 《Flying Wheel Spear Technique》 is a powerful rushing attack skill that is powerful enough to accumulate. The timing for activating the skill is divided into two parts: when the rush starts and when the finishing thrust attack is made, and the accumulation decision is made until the rush is activated. In other words, he couldn't accumulate much this time around. However, it's still half as powerful as Ryoma's. If you take into account the huge status difference between me and her, ...... sadly the flying car has more firepower.


...... is amazingly powerful, isn't it?

You're the one who didn't chicken out.

I'm a young lady.

...... is the best, totally.


　She's the most spirited woman I've ever known. But.

Sorry.

　I'm the best in the world. I'm not going to give it up, no matter how much you're a young lady.


　The damage was done to both of them and the pause opened up again.

　Champagne is clearly the one who is getting beaten.

　But she didn't wobble, she stood firmly on both feet, her back straight and pinned, her spear ready to point at us. It's no longer mean.

　The time for rigidity is shorter than mine, which had significantly less damage. Hence, I can once again prepare the 《Flying Car Spear Technique》 and start charging ahead.


　A second passed, the pause was clogged up and I crossed the line just in time as she began to prepare the 《Gold General Spear Technique》. At that moment, her rigidity is released.

　Now, the next one will decide everything. Why would you respond?　I'm talking about you. You're not a golden general.




　With a determined look on his face, Champagne prepared--The Silver General Spear Technique.


　The more you accumulate, the more powerful the thrust, a single attack skill.

　However, it is completely inferior to the higher-ranked skill of the same lineage, 《Flying Car Spear Technique》. No matter how much I accumulate from now on, the difference in status between me and her will not be reversed.

　Champagne, what the hell do you think you're doing--




"--Hey!



　No way. ......!





'Dear Master, First Testers, the audience, Karen. And please see your father and mother ...... and Atsushi.


　Champagne finishes accumulating. And the timing of my thrust with the flying wheel spear technique and her thrust with the silver general spear technique overlap, the direction is aligned, and the speed is aligned.



This is my way of life!




　-- offsetting (...).

　This was what she was after.


　Three days ago against Issenza, I showed her a set-off in my match against Raspberry Bell, and now she's going to strike out here and now.

　It's not just a matter of one or two things. It's not a half-hearted skill that can be learned in three days and three nights.

　And yet, in this big game, in this big moment, in this sunny setting, she staked everything on it, which is still probably imperfect.

　This is the strength of someone who didn't care what anyone else thought of her, but stuck to who she believed she was.

　He is trying to surpass himself.
　He is trying to leave something behind.

　Desperately.



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


　The phase kill failed (...).

　Champagne was blown off by a direct hit from the Flying Wheel Jousting Technique and went down with a flourish.


　A sigh of disappointment could be heard from the ...... audience, "Oh. ' "Hey!" and a dismissive voice could be heard, "What are you doing?


　That's probably true, depending on how you look at it. Preparing a silver general against a flying car and consequently taking a direct hit and going down, an action that at first glance made no sense, no understanding of what he was doing.


　Of course, Champagne must have known that.

　He must have known that the audience would not understand him.

　He must have known that his father, his mother, and the guys he used to bully wouldn't understand him.

　They should have known that they would think I was a small fry who lost because of a meaningless mistake: ......!


You don't get it.

　You don't get it, man.


　People don't understand how awesome she is.

　They don't understand how amazing she is for taking her current happy, happy, awesome self and dropping it once and then trying to surpass it further.


　That's natural. She's not trying to be understood. Her dream is not to have someone think of her as a young lady, but to continue to be the young lady she thinks she is.


　Awesome. You're awesome. You're too strong.

　I'm sorry I'm the only one who can say this, but ...... you're just the best.



"That's it!　Winner, second first test!