◇

"I"m coming for you, my honey!"

Hero Hayato opens the door and enters. Tama who"s curling up on my lap is surprised and thrusts her claws on my lap. It"s bit painful. Pochi, and Mia who are both on my sides harden.

Intruding the peaceful picture book reading time like this, what a troubling hero.

"What...the h.e.l.l."

And, also, why are you in shock, hero Hayato.

Just what is he surprised about.

There"s nothing particularly strange. Pochi had just pestered me to read her a picture book. I"m sitting down on a large sofa, and enjoying the afternoon in carefree after a long while. I"m wearing a refres.h.i.+ng tank-top and short-pants, but since this is a private room, there"s nothing wrong about it.

Lulu, and Nana relaxing on the carpet below are wearing one piece that don"t, although thin, expose their bodies. Liza was listening to me reading the picture book while calmly standing like meditating with her eyes closed. I can sense slight anger on her eyes. Liza unexpectedly likes to hear picture book reading after all. Is she angry because it"s been disturbed?

Mia is scared of Hayato"s eyes, she"s slipping behind my chair, it"s ticklish.

"Oh my, hero-sama, entering a room without even knocking like this, that"s a bad manner you know?"

Even though Arisa is saying that in prim and proper manner, she"s doing it while caressing my leg, it"s a bit laughable. Geez, please stop with the s.e.xual hara.s.sment while you"re pretending to listen to the picture book.

"Let"s fight Satou! You have angered me!"

The hero who screams with a face that looks as if it"s crying blood gets pinned down by lady Ringrande and her group from behind.

Good grief, I don"t understand what he"s going on about.

◇

I change my clothes to easy-to-move knight clothes so as to keep me off from being impolite to princess Maryest, and go out. I don"t intend to fight the hero in the least, but I cannot not go to where the hero and his companions are waiting.

"Are you really going to fight?"
"Of course not."

Lulu asked worryingly, I replied lightly.
Even if I fight, it"ll only expose my true power, there"s no advantage to it.

"You"ve come at last Satou!"

The hero who is being swarmed by big-breasted maid-san from the main building while shouldering Arondight is on the arbor of the courtyard.

"Let"s have a fair fight!"
"I refuse."

The hero challenged me to a fight while pointing Arondight straight here, I flatly refused while smiling.
It seems the hero didn"t expect that he"d be refused, he looked befuddled. I"d like to ask him for an hour why he thought that I wouldn"t refuse.

After all, even if we fight, there are only disadvantages for me right?

"Let"s hear your reason."
"There"s nothing for me to gain in the fight."
"Hee, you don"t say that it"s because you can"t win huh."

The hero asked, and princess Maryest retorted.

"Of course, there"s also the fact that there"s no odds of me winning, but even if, by any chance, I win, there is no benefit for me. It"s useless to fight right?"
"To cross swords with the hero, it"s a very rare honor even in the empire you know?"

You really want me to fight the hero don"t you?

"Please pa.s.s that honor to the knights, and people who fight in battle tournaments instead."
"You don"t think that you will lose to Hayato either right?"
"Maryest-sama, that"s an unreasonable thing to say. He"s the hero-sama see?　There is no way I can win against an existence that can match the demon lord."

I don"t think I would definitely win against a veteran warrior in a straight swordsmans.h.i.+p fight, although it"d be a different story if it was an anything-goes fight. In fact, I had been ripped apart like getting checkmated in a chess match when I fought against elder Dohar, even if I was hiding my ability.

"Really? You"re not harboring admiration, envy, jealousy, and also fear even when you"re in front of an absolute strong. Am I wrong?"

I guess so.

"Oy Mary. Don"t hinder my fight with difficult talks."
"Oh my, I"m sorry. This child"s reaction is quite unusual, so I just inadvertently."

Now then, going back to the main problem, what should I do.

Come to think of it, Arisa sure is quiet.

"Gufufufu, 『Please don"t fight for me』, what a delicious situation."

What are you saying in whisper.

"Alright, then let"s do it like this. You"re betting princess Arisa. As for me, I will grant you anything I can do."

Something big comes out.
Then, I"d like his s.h.i.+p.

"The dimensional wars.h.i.+p, his holy sword, and his holy armor are the properties of the empire, so those are off-limits."

Princess Maryest firmly tells me as if she"s read my mind. I"ve heard from baron Muno"s long talk that the hero appears with a holy sword when he"s summoned, I wonder if that"s not true?

I can collect information as Nanas.h.i.+, so I don"t particularly need to do it as Satou. That"s right, let"s make him an insurance for the time where I alone am not sufficient. I can"t cope if demon lords appear in two different locations at the same time after all.
Moreover, if I have some connection to Saga empire, I can take shelter there if I lose my place in s.h.i.+ga kingdom.

◇

In the end, it"s going to be with the hero and observers.

There were three conditions I gave him.

First, we"re going to have the duel in a place where no one is watching.
Second, the hero is not going to use unique skills, or active battle skills.
Third, if Arisa"s owners.h.i.+p is transferred to him, he has to give priority to Arisa"s will when he"s successfully released her from the gea.s.s.

However, since Maryest showed her disapproval, one person from each side was given permission to observe. Lady Ringrande wanted to come along too, but since various problems would arise if she saw the fight, she was prevented to.
I should have also followed the second condition by not using battle skills, but since Arisa insists that it"s not fair, they let me use them.

The four of us have come to an abandoned arena under the duchy capital.
I know this place from an acquaintance who lives in the underground pa.s.sages, it seems to be a place where dark martial art tournament was being held until 100 years ago.

Princess Maryest uses light magic to illuminate the room.
It"s 10 meters high, and there are around 20 meters wide in radius. Since that also includes audience seats, the actual fighting location is smaller.

I asked Arisa about her true intention before we got here, and she said that I should deepen my friends.h.i.+p with the hero without going overboard, and exchange information. I felt that the distance between Arisa and the hero was quite enough already, but I wasn"t moved even though I was entreated, yet when Arisa was being secretive like this, she would only get worse, so I accepted her reasoning.

The [Don"t go overboard] part is difficult since the opponent is the hero, but since it"s not a serious fight, it"ll probably be fine as long as I don"t use weapons from my storage, don"t hit him with intermediate magic, and don"t use my bare hands to block his sword.

"Looks like it"s fine to have a somewhat showy fight if it"s here."

I"ve changed to white leather armor before we come here.

"I"ll properly stop before hitting, so don"t worry."
"Yes, I trust you."

Even though I replied out of courtesy, who would believe you when you have that carnivorous expression.

"Here-sama, this is not a serious battle you know. You lose if your opponent dies. I will go after Satou-sama if that happen."
"Umu, I"m good at holding back, leave it to me."

Arisa gives him a stern warning, but it"s questionable if he really understands when he"s fawning over her like that.

"There are three matches, winning two matches means victory."

Princess Maryest tells the victory condition.

"It"s forbidden to lose on purpose alright!"
"But of course, my honey. Let"s build a white house in the imperial capital when we get married. We"ll keep a big dog at the garden."

Arisa was probably speaking to me, but Hayato who misunderstood had begun to talk about something. His taste is unexpectedly girlish.

"You really~ must not hold back okay!　Please remember that, not only me, Lulu would also be gone!"

Arisa reminds me again in low voice.
I don"t understand what kind of reasoning is that, but even if she doesn"t mention Lulu, I don"t have any intention of handing Arisa over. If Arisa truly wish for it, then I"ll send her off with a smile, but if that"s not the case, then she should be beside me.

"It"s alright."

I nod to Arisa who looks really anxious. However, she"s someone who doesn"t have confidence in strange places.

◇

The hero is prohibited to use not only unique skills, but also active skills huh. I guess I should turn off the menu to make this fair. Even if I turn OFF the menu, the last setting of companion column seems to be kept anyway, alright then.

I turn OFF the menu after a long while.

The view is wide.

I"m with the fairy sword, Hayato"s with a holy sword. I want to tell the hero to restrain himself, but he replies back saying that it"s easier to stop before hitting with a sword that he"s used to, I don"t answer back.

"On your positions, the match begins when this coin touches the ground!"

Arisa flips a coin above.

I"ve learned various things after the fight with the demon lord.

The eyes movements.

The position of the center of gravity of the body.

The slight change in silhouettes reflecting from the movement of muscles.

And also the breathing--

I dive under Arondight"s tip, and thrust the fairy sword toward his heart.

The match is concluded before the the sounds from the coin that"s. .h.i.tting the ground stops.

"First match, Satou"s victory♪"

Oy, umpire.

"What are you doing Hayato! Even though he didn"t move that fast, you let him win on purpose, you"re being rude to your opponent."

Princess Maryest is scolding Hayato from the outfield, but it doesn"t seem like it reaches his ears.

"This is surprising, was that really a level 30 movements?"

More than the hero, I"m surprised at my own movements myself. My body feels lighter than usual. As if I"ve switched something on, I feel that informations are entering me vividly to the point of being surprising.

The trajectory and timing of the hero"s Arondight"s blow were in accordance with my expectation. I"ve understood Hayato"s habit after seeing his fight with the yellow-skinned demon, but more than that, I can predict his movement as if reading the future.

In order to confirm that sensation, I fight on the second match.

I avoid the horizontal slash by swaying back at minimum.

The sword is coming back abnormally fast, I block it with the guard on the reverse side of my hand that holds my sword.

When I show an opening for a very little bit, the hero kicks toward my side abdomen

I predict it, handle it, and purposely receive the attack while breaking the opponent"s balance.

It feels like when I fought a strong player in a fighting game. I want to fight with elder Dohar again. I should be able to fight decently without feeling like I"m being led by the nose this time.

More, and more.

The tip of the sword swing for a bit before it"s swung, the subtle difference in the gripping power of the sword"s handle, there are information everywhere.

I relish every corner of my body during the fight with the hero.

And--

The fun time is over all too soon.

>[Foreseeing: Anti-Personnel Battle Skill Acquired]

>t.i.tle [Sword Dancer] Acquired