◇

"What is your answer!"

The chief of s.h.i.+ga Eight Swords--Zeff Julberg beat the blunt end of his expensive-looking spear and asked Liza once again.

"Master, would you allow me to accept the match?"

Liza is staring at Julberg-s.h.i.+ while looking giddy like she"s before an extraordinary feast.
It"s as if the fight will begin immediately if I s.h.i.+ft my line of sight.

For the time being, you two, please do something about the thirst of blood that"s on contrary to your seemingly fun stares.
The peanut gallery around us have forgotten to breathe you know.

"Liza, I think you know already but"
"Please do not worry. I won"t be excessive against an old man. I will make sure to hold back."

I wanted to say that you couldn"t fight, but if you say something like that, the other party probably won"t let it go.
Instead of Julberg-s.h.i.+, the peanut gallery around us are br.i.m.m.i.n.g with jeers, or rather, shrieks.

Liza was probably doing just as the elf masters have taught her, a powerful enemy wouldn"t be able to show their true strength if they lost their temper, but I"d have preferred for her to provoke him after we had changed place.

Julberg-s.h.i.+ spins his spear and sets it in low stance.
Please stop gritting your back teeth to the point as if it"ll break.

"Hohou, to worry about this old body of mine, you"re quite the heroine with respect for their elders."
"It is the result of Master"s virtue."

That"s not actually a praise.
Apparently, Liza perceived Julberg-s.h.i.+"s words at face value.

"I"m sorry, but let"s change the place."

I cut myself between the two since it"ll be dangerous if they fight here.
Julberg-s.h.i.+ shoots me a gaze like he"s going to kill me, but it"s nothing compared to the demon lords".

"The n.o.bles might get hurt if you fight here, and we cannot allow the new kingdom airs.h.i.+p to be broken."

With my words, Julberg-s.h.i.+ pulls back his spear and agrees to it with a sour look on face.

I couldn"t stop the duel, but the Liza now should be fine even if she shows off her true strength.
I"ve gotten the personal connections from n.o.bles, apart from the ones who demanded something unreasonable, anyway.
I"m a bit worried as to whether Liza and the others can deal with demons and demon lords, but that can be solved by me doing things as Nanas.h.i.+.
As for the state of things, the only country that looks like they"re going to war with s.h.i.+ga Kingdom is the Weaselkin Empire on the eastern end, if they do, I"ll just fire laser to draw a line before the army as Nanas.h.i.+, that"ll probably make them turn back. If they still insist on marching forward, I can just make a great wall with earth magic so they can"t continue.

While my mind is being full of such a.s.sumptions, Julberg-s.h.i.+ instructs his retainer, the man who"s carrying the white pike, to prepare for the duel on the garrison nearby the airport.
He"s the holy knight that"s also known as the [White Pike Knight] who challenged Liza and lost instead, a bit after our Mithril plate parade.
The peanut gallery told me later that he"s one of the people aiming for one of the three vacant seats of s.h.i.+ga Eight Swords.

The people around cheer as if they"re waiting for Julberg-s.h.i.+ to go out of the airport.
We"re also going toward the duel stage while receiving words of encouragement from our friends and the other Mithril explorers.

Since there was a big incident, like the attempted a.s.sa.s.sination of the Duke, I don"t think this is the time to play around with a duel though...
When I look around, it seems the people who think of that are in minority.

◇

"Now, come."
"Acknowledged."

--Which era do you guys come from.
No one answers that inner thought of mine, and the showdown begins.

Brilliant red traces are crossing in the daytime arena.
The two of them are using Magic Edge from the start since Julberg-s.h.i.+ said, "Do not hold back."

I"ve instructed Pochi and Tama not to use Magic Edge in the middle of the city since they tend to do it unconcernedly, but now that I think about it, I didn"t tell so to Liza.
Still, I think using Magic Edge in a non-lethal match is questionable.
The spears have been outfitted so it won"t injure them though.

Of course, the proof that this match is non-lethal are the high priest of Garleon temple and the water court magicians sitting beside me in wait.
It seems they"ve made the water court magicians who were working in an engineering work in the suburb to stop their works and rush here.

The Knigth Order garrison"s arena that"s become the fight spot is 200-meter wide in radius, and there"s a 2-meter firm wall surrounding it.
In addition, the members of Knight Order that can use magic are providing their magic power to the magic device that creates magic wall, so the peanut gallery are safe.

"As expected of the s.h.i.+ga Eight Swords"s top gentleman. His Magic Edge is more legit than Jeril"s."
"Yeah, Lizdono also coated her spear with Magic Edge as quick as Julberg-sama, but the light is clearly weaker."

I hear such conversations from the peanut gallery.

Liza has only put that much output since she coated the spear with Magic Edge with the intention of not hurting.
I wonder if they normally can"t regulate the output?
I think the fuel consumption is bad if you thoughtlessly put out high power.

"Six consecutive strikes~?"
"Liza is amazing, but Oji-chan is also amazing nodesu."
"Eh, no way?! I could only see one strike just now though?"
"I saw two strikes."
"Arisa, Lulu, you can grasp the general movement if you look at the dust of cloud below, so I announce."

Just as Tama and Pochi have commented, the two have clashed with tremendous speed, exchanging blows in dizzying speed.
However, so this is the strength of s.h.i.+ga Eight Swords huh.

I"ve mostly understood it with the Third Prince, but if this goes on, Liza will end the fight easily.
In any case, even though Liza"s level is lower, Julberg-s.h.i.+ who"s three level higher is being pushed.
Moreover, when I a.n.a.lyzed him with [Magic Perception] skill, Julberg-s.h.i.+ had already used physical reinforcement on himself. Has he gotten weak with age, or does Liza"s basic strength simply surpa.s.s him, I don"t know which is the reason since there"s too little comparison.

The peanut gallery are getting excited with the offense of defense between two spearsmen of different styles. It"s quite a high-speed battle.
However, if this ebb and flow fight continues to go on, Liza will probably win with her endurance.

Julberg-s.h.i.+ was observing her in preparation for when she moved, but Liza made her move ahead of him.

"Ah!? Just now, Liza"s spear has disappeared!"
"Eh? Disappear?"
"Liza"s vanis.h.i.+ng spear~?"
"It hasn"t disappeared desuyo?"

Lady Karina raises her voice as she"s tricked by Liza"s feint.
It seems Arisa couldn"t see it too since it"s a trick that can only be seen by martial artists past certain standard.
Pochi has excellent kinetic vision so Arisa can"t keep up to her in another meaning.

What Liza has done is a feint technique that she only uses against expert opponents.
You can"t evade an attack if you see it normally, you do it by sensing the opponent"s line of sight and the movement of muscles to avoid the attack, and Liza makes use of that to set the feint.
This technique was taught to us by the elf masters, I had also fallen for it the first time they did it.

The type of people who evade the moment they see the attack like Pochi and me can deal with it fine, but for people like Tama who evade attacks by reading ahead, it"s easy for them to be caught by this technique.

Julberg-s.h.i.+ also gets taken by the feint, a single blow hits his torso.
This would have been over without that magic armor, a white magic board like a simplified version of Raka"s Lady Karina protection protected him, it only ended with the scattering of white fragments.

It seems Liza also didn"t think that she would win with the blow just now, she doesn"t seem particularly discouraged.

"I see, you do seem different than my artificially grown comrades who only raise their level and magic edge."

Julberg-s.h.i.+ took some distances away from Liza, and said so.
It"s hard to say that Liza was level 3 just a few months ago in this mood.

"It is the result of Master"s guidance."

Liza tries to raise my stock with a serious face.
Nana, and even Lulu, please stop nodding to it. Look, Pochi and Tama even imitate you.

Liza seems to seriously think so, but I"ve only been doing the power-leveling, and the [Cherish your life] policy.
She"s become strong with her own effort, and the intensive training of the elf masters.

"In honor of you who has trained that far at such age, I will bestow you with this technique. The legendary technique that has been kept even more closely guarded than the secret technique Magic Edge."

Julberg-s.h.i.+ sets his spear on his waist and collect his magic power on the spear"s tip.
Is it different than Magic Edge Cannon?

It looks like Magic Edge Cannon judging from the way the magic power is collecting.
Liza also sets up her spear and concentrate on Julberg-s.h.i.+"s movement, trying to steal the technique.

"Oh, huge magic power is collecting on Sir Julberg"s spear!"
"It"s the technique that"s only used against a powerful enemy!"

The peanut gallery become unrest when they see the spear"s Magic Edge swelling.

However, the convergence is loose.
With that state, won"t it end up in cone shape instead of bullet?
I feel that it"ll only work as a distraction against enemies that have powerful magic guard.

Julberg-s.h.i.+ who has finally finished the preparation shoots the magic power while shouting, "Nuoo".
The bombardment of red magic power that"s as big as man"s body a.s.saults Liza.

"Wa, don"t stand still--"
"Lizsan!"

Arisa and Lulu scream in worry.
Liza"s hands finally move when the bombardment shot by Julberg-s.h.i.+ has reached the middle point between the two.

She quickly shoots a small red Magic Edge Cannon that"s been formed in an instant.

The cannonb.a.l.l.s collide in front of Liza, red flash dyes the entire arena.
The magic wall protecting the arena seems to be resonating with it, the wall is also emitting red light, the inside of the arena can"t be seen well.

I saw that the Magic Edge Cannon shot by Liza crushed Julberg-s.h.i.+"s Magic Edge Cannon, and then the leftover hit his body hard.
The white protection magic from the magic armor Julberg-s.h.i.+ is wearing has been annihilated.

--Wait, Liza?

A second Magic Edge Cannon comes flying toward Julberg-s.h.i.+.
Its power has been reduced to the minimum, but Julberg-s.h.i.+ can"t avoid it with his posture.

However, the fact that he"s reigning the s.h.i.+ga Eight Swords" top for a long time doesn"t seem to be just a show, he smashes the Magic Edge Cannon with the fist that"s not holding the spear while shouting, "Nunn", with fighting spirit.
Of course, the compensation for that is his fist. It has been completely destroyed.

The elder warrior"s mental doesn"t seem to be broken with just this much.
He pours magic power into the spear with his remaining dominant arm, preparing for the final attack.

Right at that time, the last Magic Edge Cannon that Liza had shot hits the wrist of the arm that"s holding the spear.
After Arisa talked about how a.s.sault guns could shoot in tri-burst, the beastkin girls ended up using three shots of Magic Edge Cannon to bring down powerful enemies.
It"s probably become a habit due to that.

Liza quickly approaches and sweeps Julberg-s.h.i.+"s legs with her tail, he falls down on his back without the mean to fix his posture, and then Liza thrusts her spear toward his throat, stopping before.

The red light on the arena"s magic wall finally fades, revealing the ending to the peanut gallery.

"Hey, what"s the meaning of this?"
"Why is Julberg-s.h.i.+ who shot the Magic Edge Cannon fallen?"

I can hear such perplexed words escaping from the peanut gallery who are in confusion.
However, that was only until the judge declared Liza"s victory.

"The winner is 『Black Spear』 Liza!"

The moment right after that words were declared in the arena, shouts of joy loud enough to shake the Royal Capital reverberate.
I can"t grasp what each of them is saying, but one thing is clear, that they are congratulatory words toward Liza.

Liza takes some distance away from Julberg-s.h.i.+ and swings her spear toward me.
It"s really like Liza to not let her guard down even after the conclusion.

I also shout congratulation with all my might and wave back with my hand.
Rather than being worried about troublesome things in the aftermath, right now I just want to congratulate her victory.

On this day, Liza became the most famous explorer in the Royal Capital.