Chapter 26: Duel

『…Very well. If you can defeat my three elite soldiers, I will acknowledge that you are a true threat—a power to be reckoned with.』

So said the Elder, then he urged us outside, adding, “It’s too cramped in here.”
When he stepped out and lightly raised his hand, the surrounding trees rustled and, as if they had wills of their own, drew back; in an instant a plaza took shape. He had manipulated the woods more powerfully than Nina—and without even using an incantation.

『You sure about that? You just sent your weapons way out of reach.』
『No problem. Evergreen, face them.』

Answering the Elder’s call, a large-framed elf stepped forward.
He wasn’t just tall; his arms and legs were thick, and his face gave a rugged impression.
Among the invariably slim, elegant elves, his build could be called quite robust.

That said—

『Hey, shorty. Planning to trade punches with me in that body?』

Compared to Dalga—easily over two meters tall and sheathed in rock-like muscle—he was like a cute little girl.

『Do you know why the Elder said there was no problem?』
『Because I’m going to lose either way?』

To the question from the elf called Evergreen, Dalga answered with a quip.

『No—』

With a creaking crackle, Evergreen’s body swelled before our eyes.
Cords ran along his arms as they turned into thick, ruddy branches, and his body was overlaid with rough, scale-like bark, becoming a massive trunk.

『It’s because we ourselves are the forest, shorty.』

He had to be ten meters tall.
Transformed into a gigantic tree-man, Evergreen looked down on Dalga as his leaves rustled.

『Huh.』

Gazing up at it, Dalga grunted, sounding entirely uninterested.

『Now then, try not to die.』

The great tree’s branch roared as it swung down at Dalga.
And just like that, with a wet crunch, he was smashed flat.

「Dalga-san…!」

Beside me, Ai caught her breath.

『Hey.』

But from the shadow of the leaves sprouting at the tip of the branch came the same carefree, raspy voice as ever.

『This wooden body of yours—if I bust it up, are you gonna die?』
『No. It’s only a makeshift shell. You needn’t worry about that.』

A sharp crack ran across Evergreen’s trunk-like torso.

『Good to hear.』

Staring up at the giant tree splitting clean in two with crackling pops, Dalga spoke.

『If you dropped dead on me, it’d make for lousy shut‑eye.』
『Magnificent…!』

Evergreen emerged from the split trunk and dropped to one knee.

『Want to keep going?』

Dalga raised a light fist; Evergreen gave a wry smile and shook his head.

『All right, next. I don’t mind if two of you come at once.』
『Violet. You’re up next.』

Ignoring Dalga’s words, the Elder sent out the next opponent.

This time it was a small, slender elf.
Elves are all androgynously beautiful, so it’s hard to tell, but she was probably a woman.

『I shall be your opponent.』

The elf called Violet spoke in a courteous tone and thrust out her left hand.
In the next instant her body was wrapped in thorns, arming her as if with shield and armor. From her raised hand a long rose stem extended, leveled toward Dalga like a sword.

『I get it—Violet, huh.』

Dalga nodded, satisfied.
Here and there on her armor, purple rose blossoms bloomed.

I'd thought their names—Evergreen and Violet—were unusual, but I realized they succinctly indicated their magic. Ultramarine must be called that because she bears flowers or leaves of that hue.

If that’s the case, then what about Nina?

Ultramarine had called her ochikobore… one whose leaves and petals have fallen.
Yet Nina shouldn’t be able to move deadwood.

While I was thinking, Dalga and Violet had already begun to fight.

『Tch…!』

Dalga clicked his tongue and pulled back. Blood dripped from his fist and chest.

『Tougher than it looks, huh.』

The bramble armor wouldn’t break easily even under Dalga’s blows.
If he struck it, the thorns pierced his fists; and Violet skillfully handled her sword to keep him from attacking at full force.

『If you bleed any more, it’ll be dangerous. Please yield.』

Pointing her sword with a quick gesture, Violet called out to Dalga.

The only magic Dalga can use is self‑enhancement.
If he could command flame or blizzard like Ai or me, he could have beaten Violet easily.
If only he’d had his stone blade, he wouldn’t have bled this much either.

But that isn’t why he’s been driven this far.

『How kind of you. In that case, I’ll apologize in advance.』

Violet tilted her head as Dalga relaxed his stance.

「I’m fast. I’m tough. I’m—」

An incantation so simple it was almost absurd.
The only magic Dalga can use is magic that strengthens himself.
That much is certain.

「strong!」

But that didn’t mean he was weak.

The blow Dalga unleashed wasn’t a clenched fist but a wide‑open palm.

With a sound like being hit by a truck, Violet’s body was blasted away, armor and all.
She slammed into a tree at the edge of the clearing and went limp.

『She’s not dead, right?』

Dalga flicked away the blood spraying from his palm and muttered.

『…I yield…』

Seeing Violet somehow struggle to her feet, Dalga patted his chest in relief.

「If I killed a woman, Aniki would kill me.」

To think that Dalga—the man who used to treat women like objects—had mellowed this much, I thought. If he hadn’t held back from the start, he could’ve won easily.

『All right, last one. Come on already, I’ll flatten you quick.』
『Go.』

At the sight of the third fighter the Elder sent out, Dalga’s face went pale.

『…Hey. Can I surrender?』
「No.」

Swords, spears, axes, hammers, sickles—
A whole array of wooden weapons lined up and were launched at Dalga all at once.

「Wait, wait! Please wait, nee-san!」

He dodged the first, smashed the second, caught the third, blocked the fourth, and endured the fifth, but the wooden weapons Nina unleashed came at him as if endless. Before that simple saturation attack, Dalga couldn’t hold out and was blasted away.

「That’s just insane…」

Leaving those words behind, Dalga collapsed to the ground with a thud.

So that’s it, I realized.
What remains after the leaves and flowers have fallen—
is fruit, and seed.

In other words, Nina’s ability as a “dropout” is to freely create and grow plants. It’s a power worthy of being called an elven princess. I don’t know whether she’s a princess because she has that power, or has that power because she’s a princess.

『It seems the victory is ours.』
『Not yet.』

Ai raised her voice in front of the Elder as he proclaimed victory.

『I will fight.』
『…Are you sane?』

He addressed not Ai but me.
He did not recognize any value in humans.

『She—』

Ai alone among us was not a born magician.
Magic, so to speak, is a gift from birth.

Dalga likely became a mage because he was born with a blessed physique.
He believes only in his own strength; that’s why the only magic he can use is to strengthen himself.

The same goes for me and Nina.
We happen to have been born a dragon. She happens to have been born an elf—therefore we are strong.

In that sense, Ai is the least gifted of anyone here.
And in all likelihood, the most gifted is Nina.

Just as Dalga is a born strongman, Nina is a genius among elves.
Evergreen and Violet were elves clearly older than Nina. Even after ten years, Nina’s appearance has hardly changed; there must be at least a century between them.

Even so, Nina is stronger. What else would you call that but genius?

Which is precisely why—

『She is strong.』

Ai is the best suited to demonstrate the strength of the human race.

『…Very well. Test it, then.』

After a brief silence with his eyes closed, the Elder prompted her thus.
Ai and Nina quietly faced each other.

「I won’t hold back.」
「All right.」

Ai nodded at Nina’s words.

「I won’t either.」

Then she answered with a bright smile.

I could almost see sparks flying between them.
Huh? We’re fighting to save Nina, right? Huh?

「I won’t give you any opening to chant!」

Countless timbers thrust up from the ground, shaping themselves into weapons just like before.

No, she meant it—no holding back.
The swarming arsenal that had appeared only in front of Dalga now completely encircled Ai in a full three‑hundred‑sixty‑degree ring. It was a perfect net she could neither dodge nor block.

And without giving her time for a long incantation, it rushed straight at Ai.

「Come out.」

Against that, Ai uttered only that single line.

And in the next instant, the match was decided—just like that.

「Again—」

From the very bottom of her heart, frustrated—

「You’ve… gotten better…」

In a world of pure white where everything had frozen still, Nina groaned.

「Hoo, hoo, hooo…」

Jack Frost’s voice rang out high and clear.