Wanna Fight Me?
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"So why'd you hit her?"
"Gotta hit 'em to know what they did wrong."
"She's not dead, right?"
"No way. She's tougher than she looks."
I answered Haring, who was peeking around curiously, and poked the cheek of the fainted Adella.
Her face was a bit bruised and swollen, but she wasn't dead. I hadn't hit her that hard to begin with.
"As Iri's descendant, she should tank at least this much."
"Who's Iri?"
"One of Bahamut's hero party members. She was amazing with a sword."
Poke poke.
"Nngh..."
"She's alive."
"Yup, alive."
I kept poking Adella's cheek while thinking. I got what Bahamut meant by genius. Her talent seemed on par with Iri's.
If she kept honing herself like this, she might reach that level soon enough.
But with little combat experience, she made plenty of small mistakes.
Charging in without a shield after her wooden sword broke? On a real battlefield, she'd be dead meat. Iri never would've done that.
"Talent's great and all, but..."
"Is it that impressive? She did look badass firing off those sword beams..."
"Yeah. Making 6 Stars at her age? Huge deal."
"S-Six?!"
"Yup."
Heroes blessed by the goddess are special, but normal knights top out at 4-5. Knight captains and swordmasters hit 6-7 before retiring.
Mages can squeeze out a couple more due to their nature, but not by much.
Six at her age? She'd fit right in as a royal high mage or next tower lord candidate.
For reference, the former tower lord died with 9.
Did he? Never saw the body. Probably dead by now, timeline-wise.
I scratched my head.
"So you guys gotta catch up quick. No more stalling at one."
"...Can't get a feel after the first one."
"NyaNya's almost got her second, though?"
"She's a freak..."
"Yugi's getting the hang of it too. Kazen's halfway to his second."
"......"
"At this rate, forget second place—you might drop out of fourth..."
"Heading to train!"
Haring trudged off to the nest clearing. Impressive speed for a mass-produced hero, but I couldn't baby them forever.
They needed to grow fast so I could kick 'em out and nap. Otherwise, no sleep—just endless teaching.
"Ugh..."
"Awake?"
Adella stirred.
＊
"I lost."
"Yup. You did."
Adella stared blankly at me, face puffy. Her beauty still shone through, though—even swollen, she glowed.
"Pfft."
"Don't laugh."
"Nah, you're pretty."
"...Don't tease."
"Iri had days like this too."
Even Iri, master of ultimate offense-defense swordplay, couldn't block everything. Strong demon hits left her face swollen sometimes.
The saintess always freaked out over her "ruined pretty face"—good times.
Adella's eyes widened at the Iri tales.
"...Even Iri had this happen?"
"Yup. More than you'd think. She wasn't invincible."
"......"
"Now I get why Bahamut sent you to me. Too good to waste in peacetime."
Whirr.
I reached out, summoning the remote six times faster—the former tower lord's staff. Red mana blasted out, cleaning Adella's trashed platinum armor spotless.
Face wasn't the only casualty; she'd rolled in dirt, and bits were banged up too.
Adella caressed her pristine armor, then bowed her head.
"Thank you."
"Yup. Thanks."
"And sorry."
"Huh?"
"Truth is, before coming... I had wrong ideas about you, Little Flame Dragon."
She confessed like atoning. History books and fairy tales lacked my exact polymorph form, so she'd pictured a stunning beauty or wise elder.
I never hid it, though.
Time faded memories?
"Blasphemous, but... first sight, I thought 'bratty little dragon.'"
"Blasphemous."
"Sorry."
"Fair enough."
Hmm. Even if Bahamut—the strongest hero ever—vouched for her as Iri-level genius that spooks legion commanders...
My perfect super-ultra stealth fooled her.
I nodded, arms crossed. Adella paused, then spoke.
"Y-Yes. Couldn't even detect it."
"Mm. Train harder. No letting guard down till the end."
"Understood."
"Oh, and teach the heroes."
"The... heroes?"
"Yup."
The one-armed golem was busted anyway, and they needed training. Mages like NyaNya or Kazen could learn spells, but others? Nah.
Seri's swamped too.
Sent a messenger bird— she's busy. No fixing without a magic kingdom trip.
Adella looked serious.
"Sounds tough."
"Don't wanna?"
"Not that—it's advanced swordsmanship. Even setting aside it being secret arts, only the talented in the knights handle it."
"Hmm..."
"Heroes are goddess-chosen, but as you know..."
"Bit nuts."
"Yes."
Immortal trait helps, but mass-produced heroes. If real heroes struggled, these wouldn't cut it.
I waved it off.
"No worries. Can't learn? Means they weren't cut out. Not your problem."
"......"
"Not just Iri Style Swordsmanship anyway."
Royal knight arts exist, or Bahamut's. Though that's barely swordplay.
Adella pondered, then nodded.
"I'll do it."
＊
Assembly!
"What? Assembly?"
"Sudden assembly...?"
"Fighting again?"
"Knight Captain Sis hurt?"
"Eight of us?"
Nest clearing. Just a day after Adella's beatdown, full assembly—including rejects.
"Giving out weapons."
"Real swords? Better than most uniques."
"Insane..."
"We fighting Lea too?"
"Nah, no way..."
Users got job-fitting weapons—better than average uniques. No fancy skills, but top durability and stats.
Survivors weren't thrilled with "just" that.
Five minutes in...
Crack.
Thud.
Adella and I emerged from the nest depths. I plopped on my usual rock, waddling over. She took center, drawing wooden sword.
Users gulped.
"One-arm golem's out. Adella's subbing."
"Huh? Subbing wha—"
"Decides if you stay in the nest."
I grinned at Haring's question, swinging my feet.
"Two weeks. Land one hit on her? Pass. Fail? Out."
"Whaaaaat?!"
"Th-That's impossible!"
"Yeah! How do we hit Knight Captain Sis...?"
Users grumbled at me. 1v8 or not, she's a 6 Star swordmaster superhuman.
They'd seen my fight with her—thought this was nuts.
I tilted my head.
"Wanna fight me instead?"
"That's..."
"Captain's easier."
"Ugh... Sorry, Sis!"
"......"
Adella glanced up at me, looking wronged by the attitude flip.
"...Can I go all out?"
"Go wild."
That day, Adella sent eight heroes to the goddess's embrace.
They came back, though.