Chapter 31: Dalian

It was morning.

Normally, I would help Lucius with his physical training in the morning, but today I couldn’t do that.

“Lucius, watch carefully. How to deal with an archer.”

“Understood, Master.”

Because there was an enemy I had to defeat.

“Are you ready, Mr. Rosemas?”

“Yes. I will definitely defeat you.”

Look at that arrogant elf. One look is so scary.

In the past, elves who act like they don’t know their place were called ‘Kanp’ because they would crack their heads off, and that’s exactly what happened.

At first glance, he looks like a high elf who has just become an adult by elven standards, but he’s trying to beat me with his arrogance, and he’s definitely a Kanp.

“Hmm…”

A high elf. Young. In love with a man. But his skills are amazing.

Judging by the way, he seems to have practiced spirit magic. Two elves are guarding him and he’s fidgeting.

I think she’s some elder’s daughter. In the human world, someone like a princess of a kingdom or a grand duke of an empire? Maybe, that’s what I think.

“Master, that…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Lucius gave me a worried look. He must have been worried that I would run out of mana while dealing with Rosemas.

“I know my body best. You don’t have to worry about mana at all. Dealing with that wild elf won’t use up much mana…”

I lightly hit Lucius’ arm and encouraged him.

“If you run out of mana, you’ll bring me some magic stones, right? Can I trust you?”

“__Yes, of course. I’ll raid the magic stone bank and bring you some magic stones, Master.”

“I appreciate your determination alone, you idiot.”

What a wonderful fool. After receiving Lucius’ encouragement, I stood in front of Rosemas.

“……”

Rosemas glared at me with sunken eyes, emitting a murderous aura as if he were going to kill me.

The two elves following behind Rosemas were talking to each other, worried about me, not Rosemas. As if they were worried that I would lose.

“Huh?”

There was a limit to their excitement, they were incredibly arrogant.

“I said I would test your strength.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“As you know, our journey will not be an easy one. I can’t just take anyone as my comrade just because they want to be my comrade. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

Rosemas drew out her silver bow, emitting magical power.

“So I will prove it.”

“Okay. The rules are simple.”

Simple conditions that Rosemas could easily understand.

“You just have to fight me and win. There are no rules. You just have to use any means and methods you can to defeat me. It’s really easy, right?”

This was an open space near the inn. The lack of trees or cover was disadvantageous for an elf archer, but it was the same for me, a wizard.

“What do you think?”

“…Can I use anything?”

“Of course.”

“You don’t regret it, do you? There’s no turning back?”

Rosemas leaned forward with a confident smile. She looked like she could pull back the bowstring and shoot the wind as an arrow at any moment, and I tied my hair up in a ponytail to make it easier to fight.

“But it’s hard to just fight, so I’ll bring only one weapon.”

“A weapon….?”

“Yes, this one.”

I received a broom from Lucius that I had borrowed from the innkeeper.

“A witch’s broom…?”

“It’s just an inn broom. For sweeping the yard.”

The broom handle was as long as my current body. I decided to pay for it if I broke it, and left a silver coin in advance for my borrowed weapon.

“Are you insulting me?”

“You’ll know if it’s an insult or not when you fight.”

It’s always like this. I only picked up a weapon that matched the opponent’s level, but you think it’s an insult to yourself. This is why you’re so immature.

If you’re at that level, you should humbly accept it.

“I’ll leave the start of the duel to Lucius. The moment Lucius claps his hands, we’ll start sparring. Understood?”

“No joking around.”

“Me too… Then Lucius and I should keep in sync.”

“Master?”

Lucius, standing in the middle, was flustered, but Rosemas approached him and whispered in his ear. He couldn’t hear me, but it didn’t really matter.

“Come out and be as deadly as you want.”

A fair duel. That kind of thing sometimes existed in the Demon King’s army.

-One, two, three, and I’ll shoot. Got it?

– One, two, three!

– One, two, three, and I’ll shoot. Got it?

-Hahshot!

– One-Shot!

There were really many demons. Since I had won against them all, I was confident that I could win no matter what I did.

“Then….”

Lucius nodded at me, but I closed my eyes and held the broom long. With the broom part facing backwards, the hard tip pointing toward the floor. I turned my posture slightly to the side, and slightly bent my front knee.

“.”

This wasn’t a wizard’s posture. If Rosemath could figure out my intentions with just this posture, then Rosemath would pass first.

“One.”

Lucius started to beat.

“Two.”

At the same time, the wind that brushed the back of my neck turned forward. I could feel the wind blowing toward Rosemas’s bow.

“Three-”

As if he wanted me to know with my voice, Lucius deliberately made a loud sound for three.

Clap-!

He clapped his hands at the exact timing of four. And Rosemas pulled back the bowstring as soon as he clapped his hands. An attack aimed precisely at my forehead. It was faintly filled with life force, but he wasn’t shooting with the intention of killing me. It was a blunt wind arrow, and if I got hit by it, it would hurt like getting punched in the face.

So. I’m intercepting’

Swish—

I lightly swung my broom.

“Huh…?”

And Rosemas’s wind arrow shattered into pieces.

“That’s all?”

“W-what did you just…?”

“Are you out of your mind?”

I slowly walked forward. Rosemas tried to suppress her panic, and jumped back while aiming her bow at me with a calm expression.

Saeaek!

Another wind arrow flying. Still, it seems like he doesn’t have any skills at all, because the wind arrow doesn’t fly in a straight line but curves in an arc.

Then, just swing the broom at it and that’s it.

Pashasak!

The tip of the broom, which he lightly swung, hit the wind arrow exactly.

“Huh, how…?”

“Is deflecting arrows different from the arrows shot by elves? It’s spear technique.”

“Spear… technique?”

“Yeah. Is it strange for a wizard to use a spear?”

Since he’s a wizard, he has to get used to spears. If the top of his staff is cut off, all he’s holding is a long stick.

“Back in my time, if wizards couldn’t do close combat properly, they couldn’t say they were wizards.”

This is true.

500 years ago, the wizards who were fighting the Demon King’s army directly intercepted the Demon King’s army by stabbing them with the tips of their spears instead of using magic before their magic could be activated.

The same goes for the magician of the red lotus.

Although the origins of the spear techniques they use are different, the spear techniques they use as basic techniques are all the same.

Swinging, stabbing. Very quickly.

Haste.

The opponent, so fast that he doesn’t even notice!

Ta-a-aang!!

I lightly rolled on the ground and accelerated my body forward.

I spun the broom around and fired the wind arrow that surprised Rosemath, and aimed the tip of the broom straight at Rosemath’s chest.

“The end.”

The comb part.

With the tip of the comb made of woven straw, I lightly tapped Rosemath’s pubic hair forward.

“…”

Rosemath seemed unable to believe her defeat.

However, her arrows exploded three times, allowing the attack.

What if this had been a real fight and not a duel?

It would have just ended with the blade piercing her pubic hair.

“Ah, I can’t….”

Suddenly.

Rosemath started to sob.

“If I lose, I can’t…”

“I passed.”

“__Huh?”

“I passed.”

“Master!”

Lucius approached from behind, raising his voice.

“What are you suddenly saying? If I pass, are you saying that you’ll take me as a comrade?”

“Huh.”

“Why?”

“Because I see potential. When have I ever seen someone with such skill?”

“Ugh…”

Lucius kept his mouth shut.

“Honestly, objectively speaking, Miss Rosemary is stronger than you. If you fought Miss Rosemary, you’d lose ten times out of ten.”

“Is that all?”

“Yeah. If we fought a hundred times… I might win the last one.”

Rosemary is strong and talented. But Lucius is even more talented. If the number of fights we’ve had so far is 99, then catching up to her would be the hundredth fight.

“Ahem. Miss Rosemary.”

I held out my hand to Rosemary.

“Our journey ahead may be difficult and arduous. Sometimes we’ll sleep outside, sometimes we’ll sleep in dungeons, and sometimes we’ll collapse from exhaustion and want to throw everything away. Is that okay?”

“Yes.”

Rosemary was burning with fighting spirit.

“I’ll get stronger. And someday, I’ll defeat you.”

“That’s fine.”

Rosemary grabbed my hand. It was a sign that she was admitting defeat, and I secretly appealed to the two who were glaring at me from behind.

In fact, I didn’t care about sparring. It was just a way to shake off that annoying fly—especially the one who was fidgeting—after sensing that other elves were following this elf like an escort.

“Then can I be comfortable with you from now on?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Please take care of me from now on.”

I don’t know about anything else, but I can’t be polite to you forever.

“Then….please tell me. How did you destroy my arrow?”

“Huh?”

“My wind arrow…isn’t a normal arrow. How did you do that…with a broom?”

“Oh, this?”

It was simple.

“I shielded the point of impact.”

“_Huh?”

“I just blow a certain amount of air to the point where the wind arrow hits to create a shield, and I make the shield shape like this. In a cone shape.”

I placed my finger on the tip of the cone and folded my fingers.

“You just need to spread the shield at an angle that breaks the cohesion of the mana that makes up the wind arrows. How is it? It’s easy?”

“But… the speed…”

“You saw it. How easy is that?”

I picked up the broom.

“You see the flying arrows and intercept them. Even the goblins at the entrance to the Demon King’s castle can do that easily?”

Isn’t that basic?

“Why not?”

Seriously, I couldn’t understand.