Puerperal Fever (3)
Alpha and Leona stood facing each other, waiting for the starting bell. Both of us were protected by Melania's defensive magic, our bodies glowing faintly with a blue light. The first to have their shield completely shattered would lose.
"Are you certain you won't use a sword?"
"Yes."
Melania asked me. I had already decided to fight Leona with nothing but my fists. No sword.
"That arrogant look on your face… You think you killed Alex and now you're untouchable? Was it that pride of yours that branded us thieves? Today I'll make sure you understand exactly what kind of being your master is…!"
Leona, the wolf beastkin, bared her fangs and spat the threat. She clearly found my attitude ridiculous.
A mere female.
If I drew a sword, this would be over in an instant. Why would an Alpha Male ever need a blade against a female…? Melania was the exception. She was an entirely different species. Still, after watching me defeat Alex, Leona had already formed a rough estimate of my strength. Masters were divided into low, mid, high, and highest ranks. Leona was currently a low-rank Sword Master. Beating her wouldn't be easy, but it was possible.
"You'll make sure I understand? Then how about we make a wager?"
"A wager?"
I tried to lure her in. She was a female I could defeat without too much effort. Securing her now would be ideal.
"How about the winner gets whatever they want from the loser?"
"……."
Leona began to hesitate. The words "whatever they want" clearly made her think. Of course, Melania had cast protective magic so neither of us would die, so there was no risk of anyone demanding the other's life.
"First, I need to hear what you would demand."
Leona remained cautious, as expected. If my request exceeded what she was willing to give, she would refuse the bet.
"I want you, Lady Leona."
"Me?"
"Yes. I want to hold you in my arms like the other females who enter the Breeding Chamber."
"Grk…."
Leona ground her teeth at being treated like a mere female. No one had ever spoken to her like that since she became a Sword Master.
"Hah—!! There's no way something like that could happen! If you lose, you'd better be prepared."
"While we're at it, why don't you tell me what you would demand if you win? I'll accommodate it."
"I'll make you my slave. Breeders only mate a few times a day, right? If you become my slave, I'll work you from morning till night. There are women who like men, so look forward to it."
Leona glared at me with a vicious glint in her eyes. Terrifying.
"Then… begin!!"
Thanks to hearing how easily I had beaten Alex, Leona didn't charge in immediately. She maintained her distance and observed me. Today was our first meeting. Since I had been summoned to this world, Leona had been constantly dispatched to subjugate monsters. In other words, she had only heard the story of my victory over Alex. She didn't know exactly how I had done it. That led to a long, tense standoff.
"Here I come…!"
Finally, Leona, who had been watching my every move, rushed in with her sword. A wide horizontal slash. If that aura-infused blade connected, even armor wouldn't save you—you'd be cut clean in half. For the record, I wasn't wearing any armor. The weight would only get in the way. My mana reserves were already far below hers, so I had no need to burden myself further. Thanks to Melania, I didn't have to worry about dying.
I took a small step back and dodged the attack.
Grin—!
"As expected…!!"
Leona's sword chased after me like a snake, as if she had predicted this. This one was impossible to avoid.
Thud—!!
"Huh?"
But before the blade could touch me, I kicked the flat of the sword hard. It flew upward, its trajectory completely thrown off. Still, she was a Master. She quickly regained her stance and launched the next attack. Unlike Alex, who had relied solely on aura and swung wildly, Leona's swordsmanship was proper. Her blade thrust toward me like a serpent, aiming to pierce.
Clang—! Thud—!!
I dodged what I could and, for the attacks I couldn't avoid, coated my hands in mana and precisely struck the flat of her blade to deflect them.
"This is—!"
Her sword came straight for my neck. Melania had said that vital areas would drain the protective magic faster. In other words, this duel wouldn't be decided in a single blow! Still, I had no intention of letting Leona land a clean hit. I ducked, narrowly avoiding the blade. A few strands of my hair were sliced off by the aura. At the same time, I launched a palm strike.
Boom—!
The impact of mana against mana produced a sound far louder than the clash of palm and armor should have been. Leona staggered back several steps.
"Ugh—!!"
"Kuh… H-how…?"
Leona muttered in shock, her wolf ears twitching upright in alarm.
Whoosh—! Whoosh—!
Leona attacked again, using the explosive speed and power granted by this world's mana. Faster and stronger than before. She must have decided a prolonged fight would be disadvantageous if I kept dodging and countering at critical moments. But I had already grown accustomed to the attacks of Erika and Alex. If this had been my first time seeing such speed and power, I might have been flustered. Instead, I had far too much experience. I only circulated mana through my body when necessary to dodge, while mixing in attacks of my own.
"Hah… hah… So you're a martial artist?"
"No."
I had learned martial arts. For about a month. Of course, I had mastered most techniques in that time. But if someone asked if I was a martial artist… well, my actual profession was a businessman. If I had specialized in martial arts, Leona would already be dead. Still, it was about time to end this. I had been going easy on her out of consideration for her pride, but not anymore. The swordsmanship of this world was far too crude and unworthy of the title "Master." A pearl necklace on a pig. That proverb fit perfectly. Even with the absurd power of mana and aura, their swordsmanship was crude and sloppy. Or perhaps it was precisely because they possessed such ridiculous strength that this kind of swordsmanship had developed. With aura, there was no need to break through an opponent's defense. You could simply cut through everything. Knights who didn't use aura in their training would never realize this. Even during duels, they thought only of how to crush their opponent with aura rather than deflecting attacks. In fact, Erika had mentioned that most knight order training consisted of mana training rather than swordsmanship or physical conditioning. Knights doing mana training instead of mages—it was laughable. Expecting swordsmanship to develop under these conditions was unreasonable.
"Hah—!!"
Leona seemed determined to end it as well, charging at me with all her remaining strength. But no matter how many times she tried, the result was the same. Her swordsmanship couldn't defeat me.
"Gah! Kuh! Kack!!"
After dodging her assault, it became a one-sided beating. I twisted the hand holding her sword, then struck her sides, stomach, and face with elbows and knees wherever I could land a hit.
"You bastard—!!"
As expected, joint locks were easily broken due to her strength. But even after escaping them, the outcome didn't change. I grabbed Leona's hand as she attempted a horizontal slash, spun with the force of her own swing, and tripped her by hooking her leg. She hit the ground, eyes wide as if this was the first time she had ever been thrown by her own power.
Thud—! Thud—!
I didn't miss the opening. I immediately stomped on her body from every angle.
"Stop!! The winner is Alpha."
Whether Melania couldn't bear to watch Leona being trampled or simply knew the result was decided, she called an end to the duel.
"Leona. You acknowledge your defeat, don't you?"
"…Yes. I lost."
Leona, having admitted defeat, stared blankly at the floor with her ears drooping in shock.
"Hahaha. I really do like you. However, I have no intention of using you as a knight right now. You said you could prevent the Black Death, didn't you? You'd better produce results quickly. My patience isn't that great."
"Understood. That's why we tried to use some of the money leaking out of the territory."
"Fine. Do as you will with that."
She said to handle it ourselves, but now that it was revealed the reports to Melania had been falsified, there was no way they could siphon off funds for the time being. From her reaction, Melania hadn't been completely unaware, but she had been turning a blind eye to give them some breathing room. Everyone here probably knew about it. It was ridiculous. If she was going to overlook embezzlement, she could have just raised their salaries instead of letting them resort to this.
"Lady Leona. I'll summon you to the Breeding Chamber later."
"…Ah, understood…."
Still, today's gains were significant. Unlike with Elisa, I had legitimately earned the right to claim a Sword Master, and I had secured the funds as well. Now the department could finally operate properly. To some extent, at least…
*
'Thank goodness. No! What am I thinking? Get a hold of yourself!'
Elisa felt conflicting emotions as she watched Alpha's victory over Leona. Relief that he hadn't been hurt, and jealousy that he had called the knight order commander to the Breeding Chamber. The two emotions clashed, constantly tipping the scales in her heart.
'…Did that female bitch deliberately challenge him to a duel? Typical commoners!'
When the scales finally tipped, Elisa cursed Leona furiously in her mind. How could the knight commander of an entire territory—a Sword Master, no less—shamelessly seduce a man like a female? If she had been bold about it, Elisa might have understood to some degree. But to use a duel as an excuse to seduce a man so sneakily…!
Elisa decided she needed to speed up her plans.
The next day.
Wearing sunglasses, Alpha watched as a woman he had been waiting for entered, looking around nervously.