Chapter 10: Duel/Squabble

「What is with you? Again and again—are you doing it on purpose!?」
「No, absolutely not on purpose. Not that that makes it okay.」

So unlike her usual self, Light Blue shouted; Yutaka answered her earnestly.

「Are you making fun of me!?」

That only poured oil on Light Blue’s fire.

「Isn’t it on you, Light Blue, for not dodging something like that?」

Though Nina’s mutter was barely above a whisper, it seemed to echo through the room.

「In fact, Yutaka caught your sucker punch, didn’t he?」
「…Are you saying this monkey is superior to me?」

A calm tone, the opposite of her earlier hysterics.
But there was clearly more anger packed into it than before.

「Who knows? People excel at different things, and you never know what will prove useful. ‘Superior’ or ‘inferior’ isn’t something you can judge that easily.」

Taking that head‑on, Nina replied coolly.

「But if it came to a fight, Yutaka would probably be stronger.」

If anything, she added more fuel to the fire.

「…Fine. I’ll prove I won’t lose to some monkey like this. …Get outside. I’ll beat you to a pulp.」
「Uh, I’d rather not…」

With Light Blue fixing him with a sharp glare and pointing outside, Yutaka answered, flustered.

「Don’t worry, I won’t take your life. We’re school friends, after all, right?」

Taking that as cowardice, Light Blue taunted him in a mocking tone.

「No, it’s not that—you’re a girl, Light Blue. If you were an enemy, maybe, but I don’t raise my sword against a girl on my own side.」

Yutaka said it flatly, without getting angry at her.
I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

Light Blue instantly shot me a terrifying glare. There goes the pretty‑girl look.

「Don’t mess with me! If you’re a warrior, then fight! Or is this ‘Sword Clan’ of yours just a bunch of cowards?」
「…All right.」

Put that way, Yutaka couldn’t back down. He went outside with Light Blue.

「S‑Sensei! Is he gonna be okay!?」
「Hard to say… I don’t know how strong Light Blue actually is.」

Answering anxious Ruful, we headed outside too.
Yutaka isn’t all that strong.
I couldn’t quite tell how it would turn out in a fight.

「You’re not seriously going to stop them, are you?」

The one who stoked it—Nina—said, sounding almost amused.

「Once it’s gotten this far, butting in would only make it worse.」

Most likely, today’s incident alone wasn’t what set Light Blue off.
So the “problem” Nina mentioned earlier was this.

「You were laughing and egging it on too, you know.」
「No, that wasn’t what I meant…」

Yutaka saying “treat girls gently” just made me chuckle.

「Anyway, if it looks dangerous, I’m counting on you, Rin.」
「Mm. I think it’ll be fine, though.」

Just in case, I asked Rin that.
Her water‑control magic is extremely handy for neutralizing someone without hurting them. My magic doesn’t lend itself to that, and Nina, well—she’s merciless there, or rather, sloppy.

When we stepped outside, Light Blue and Yutaka were facing off about ten meters apart.
A straight, branch‑like rod extended from Light Blue’s palm; she plucked a single petal from the flower in her hair and set it on the tip. The thin, light petal straightened taut and pointed at Yutaka like a blade.

So that’s her elven magic. It probably really cuts like a blade. The branch was about two meters long, and Light Blue gripped it in both hands as a spear.

「Draw your sword.」
「I told you. I don’t point a sword at a girl.」

Saying that, Yutaka tossed the sheathed sword down onto the ground.

「Don’t mock me…!」

Light Blue screamed and hurled the spear. A throw at that length, huh.
Yutaka slipped past it easily, but by then Light Blue already had two more spears in her hands.
He caught the first, delayed throw with his hand and flung it aside as he kicked the second up.

Fending off spear after spear, Yutaka gradually closed the distance.

「Eat this!」

As she shouted, the spear Light Blue thrust this time did not leave her hand. Instead it grew like a plant, bending at joint after joint as it extended, and came at Yutaka on a path no spear should take.

Used to the straight lines of the earlier throws, Yutaka barely dodged it, but his posture fell apart.

「Skewer him!」

Aiming for that opening, Light Blue’s spell flew—the shafts of the spears she’d thrown so far sharpened to points and shot at Yutaka from every direction.

Yutaka is weak.
Of course he’s still very young, so there’s plenty of room to grow, but he has no standout talent to speak of, and he’s even shorter than Light Blue.
At least for now, you couldn’t call him strong.

—But that’s only within the Sword Clan.

「Ah. That surprised me.」

With a spear pinned between every finger, stopping them all, Yutaka let out a breath.
For them, pulling off something like that is only natural.

「I am quick. I am nimble. I am fast. I am swift.」

As he flung away the spears he’d caught, Yutaka chanted in rapid succession.
Normally repeating the same word has no meaning, but Yutaka’s is different.
His reflexes. The speed of his hands and feet. The act of pushing off the ground. The body driven by the kicking leg.
A multi‑layered enhancement magic that boosts each separately.

「Don’t think blocking it once means—!」

Light Blue’s hair bristled, sharpening like the fangs of a wild beast.
Countless spears shot out from it and pierced Yutaka all at once.

—At least, that’s how it looked to my eyes.

「I am weak.」

Right after my mind registered that sight, Yutaka’s voice struck my ear.
Faster than thought, faster than sound, his fist had found Light Blue’s heart.

He must have killed all the force himself in the instant before impact.
That blow, which thrust into Light Blue’s soft chest, struck without injuring her in the least.

「Can we call this my win?」

Keeping his guard up, fist still poised, Yutaka asked.
If Light Blue refused to concede, he was set to follow through immediately.

Light Blue stared down at her own chest as if seeing the impossible, then gazed blankly at Yutaka…
And then she suddenly started, as if realizing something, and snapped her eyes back to her chest.

「W‑Why are you touching my boobs, you pervert!」

The slap she let fly was many times duller and slower than her spears… yet it landed squarely on Yutaka’s cheek.


* * *


「I can’t believe it. ‘I don’t raise my sword against girls,’ huh? So that’s what you were after, you pervert.」
「No, wait—absolutely not, that’s really—not it. It’s not.」

As Light Blue rattled on, Yutaka flustered and stammered excuses with a pitiful look.

「I‑I just—uh, no, really, I didn’t—」
「Yutaka.」

Nina, face serious, asked Yutaka, who looked on the verge of tears.

「Was it soft?」
「Yeah, really.」
「What are you even asking with a straight face?」

And you, Yutaka, don’t answer so honestly.

「See? Total super‑pervert, aren’t you—!」
「No, that’s not—just now—that was—Nina‑nee‑san!」

As Light Blue and Yutaka shouted, Nina was unfazed.
…No helping it. I’ll throw them a lifeline.

「I’m the one who taught Yutaka that, if you trace it back.」
「Sensei!?」

Light Blue covered her chest with both arms and put distance between us.

「No, not that—not that. …I mean ‘be gentle with girls.’」

That reaction stung more than a little. I sympathized with Yutaka and put some heat into his defense.

「Uh, but I was taught that by my old man…」
「Of course you were. I taught that over six hundred years ago—to a very distant ancestor of yours.」

Six hundred years ago, human women in this world weren’t treated properly.
But it’s completely different now. If anything, Yutaka’s thinking is almost anachronistic.
These days, the common view is that while abilities may differ between men and women, there is no inequality between the sexes.

That’s because in this world there’s almost no difference in physical strength between the sexes.
Of course, women tend to be smaller and less strong overall, but that’s purely physical.
As seen in the Sword Clan often having female heads, magic has the power to easily overturn minor differences in build.

…Still, I didn’t expect that lecture I gave Dalga to be kept so dutifully after dozens of generations.
It was so nostalgic I couldn’t help but laugh.