The Most Annoying Matchup
The first thing that popped into my head was a single, furious thought:
A true loyal subject would risk their life to speak the truth!
[Go die.]
Rai immediately shot back.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying! Swordmasters are specialized in one-on-one combat! And that red-haired bastard looks like the fastest among them! If you try to block him by summoning a bunch of spirits, your master-level power will drain away in seconds—even if I act as your mana battery! There’s nothing we can do about your pathetic mental strength!”
[……Then in one shot. With Endairon…….]
“Sure. Let’s say you’re lucky enough to finish the incantation and summon the big guy. The moment you call him, your mind and body will start tearing apart. How long do you think you can last? What if the redhead notices and starts stalling for time? Can you handle that?”
[It’ll be fine. That guy has no situational awareness—……wait. Actually, his battle sense is straight-up animalistic.]
“And if Pain and Adore and all those slow-on-the-uptake kids come out too, you’ll hit your limit even faster. The command structure will get messy from all the distractions, orders will be delayed, and everything will fall apart. Right?”
Fuck. Why don’t you just hold a funeral for me in advance?
I seriously considered whether asking the question had been worth getting my own neck wrung.
[If the command structure collapses, we lose. Agreed?]
[Shit, I’m getting pissed off now.]
[You’re already pissed! Anyway, Master, you have a short fuse and zero fear, so you’re the type to rush into battle! Be careful! You have to be extremely careful! I told you before! Don’t get drunk on power! Fight smart! If you don’t fix that habit of getting excited the moment you see the redhead, your odds of winning won’t even go up a tiny bit!]
[……I get annoyed when you say something that actually makes sense.]
[Ahem! A spirit with ten thousand years of experience is speaking! Believe what Rai says. Master’s combat style is perfect for long-range, wide-area destruction from the rear. Going toe-to-toe with a Sword Master in close quarters is basically a suicide attempt…….]
[You…… you’re not saying this because you’re worried about me. You’re just scared I might actually die, aren’t you?]
It sounded similar at first glance, but the meaning was completely different. Rai, who took after me, had a sneaky side.
[Of course! I’m saying this out of genuine concern! If Master dies, I won’t be able to contain my grief and I’ll turn the entire Spirit Realm into a sea of tears!]
[Because you won’t be able to play in the middle realm anymore?]
[Aww, that’s a misunderstanding. I am a loyal spirit who always prays for Master’s longevity. Let’s stay together for a long, long time, okay?]
While still hidden inside my hood, Rai rubbed his head against my cheek in an unnecessary display of affection.
It felt exactly like someone pressing the rounded back of a spoon firmly against my cheek.
[It hurts. Stop it.]
[Awww.]
My irritation wasn’t just because of Rai’s cutesy act. The more I ran the numbers, the more my chances of victory plummeted, and the sight was downright miserable.
I had expected things to change a little once I actually met Robenin, but I never imagined they would drop vertically like this.
As I ground my teeth, refusing to accept reality, Rai stealthily patted my shoulder with the tip of his tail.
[It happens. Hang in there, Master.]
[I haven’t lost yet, you damn mutt.]
[Everything has its compatibility, right? It’s true that Master is strong for a human, but so is that guy. Unfortunately, the matchup is the absolute worst! It’s like the gods themselves cursed you with the most terrible compatibility!]
[Are you cursing me right now?! Get lost to the Demon Realm!]
[How can you say that! I’m just doing pure middle-realm calculations!]
It probably wasn’t just my mood—Rai was being especially annoying today on purpose.
He was clearly whispering only the worst possible scenarios to stop me from recklessly fighting Robenin.
[By the way, Master. Do you want to fight the redhead and win? Or do you want to kill him?
Seeing how you want to fight him without taking his sword, it seems like the former… but the way you’re grinding your teeth makes it clearly the latter, doesn’t it?]
[I want to fight him, beat him, and then kill him.]
[That’s the most difficult option!]
[This is a matter of a Spirit Master’s pride! Though pride isn’t more important than life!]
While bickering with Rai, we had already left the central district and entered a maze of narrow back alleys.
The path Ash was carrying me on in a princess hold and the one Robenin took kept splitting into cramped forks, but neither swordsman slowed down even once.
No matter how many branching paths appeared, the two would exchange a slight nod or glance and instantly decide which way to go, moving without hesitation.
Sometimes Robenin took the lead, sometimes Ash guided them. They worked together so seamlessly it was like they could read each other’s minds, and I really didn’t like it.
I had no idea how long I’d been sulking in Ash’s arms with a displeased expression.
Before long, I figured out where they were headed. They were deliberately choosing paths with as few people as possible.
[They seem to be looking for somewhere without people, right?]
[Looks like it. Why?]
[What do you think?]
[Is it because I’m too cute?]
Rai spouting nonsense was a year-round occurrence regardless of season.
[Look at our group. A crazy-beautiful crown prince candidate walking the Path of the Trial, a veiled insane genius Spirit Master who is also the Saint. And the continent’s number one just-plain-crazy bastard. We’re the perfect trio of celebrities guaranteed to cause a stir.]
[It feels like only Master and Ash got cool modifiers though?]
[Exactly. And right now we’re in the place with the most travelers on the entire continent.]
In other words, it was best not to be seen by others.
If there was one thing the three of us—who had completely different personalities—could be said to have in common, it was that none of us liked other people’s attention.
In my case it was purely because it was annoying. Ash had no choice but to be cautious since he had to hide his identity.
And Robenin… was simply an indifferent human being who had no interest in others to begin with. Most of the attention he received seemed completely unrelated to his own will. Whether he wanted it or not, his mere existence drew eyes.
I wasn’t exempt from that category either.
Robenin’s presence irritated me so much it was almost bizarre.
‘Can a person be this repulsive?’
I was staring intently at Robenin, who was running close by, when suddenly—whoosh—he vanished as if shooting into the sky.
It happened in an instant.
No way. I lost sight of him right in front of me. I was still stunned by how pathetically I had let him slip from my vision when Ash tightened his grip around my waist and gave a short warning.
“We’re jumping.”
“Huh?”
While I had been distracted by Robenin, we had reached a dead end. Ash, still holding me, leaped lightly onto the top of the wall.
Tap. Tap.
He stepped once on the middle of the wall to his right, used the recoil, and soared straight up onto a wall far taller than a person’s height.
It was such a smooth and light movement that if I had closed my eyes, I wouldn’t have realized what happened.
I blinked, feeling like I had turned into a cat, and only then spotted Robenin on the other side.
He was standing atop an ownerless luxurious carriage, looking in our direction. Beyond the wall, hundreds of carriages were lined up in tight rows.
Judging by the scale, this was probably the largest carriage depot in the city.
“Jeanie.”
Maybe because we were on the outskirts where there were fewer buildings, wind was rushing in from all directions.
Because of that, Ash’s voice coming from above my head sounded much lower and more subdued than usual.
I felt his hand gripping my waist tighten with considerable force, so I looked up at him with puzzled eyes.
“What? Oh, I’m fine. I wasn’t startled.”
I thought he was worried that I might have been scared when he jumped onto the wall.
But his expression said otherwise. Ash’s face was somewhat stiff, and he looked strangely gloomy.
When I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with this man, I just had to feel his bare skin. Ash was the type who kept a lot to himself. Naturally, I tried to cheat by using the hand that wore the ring.
—She only seems interested in the young master. Those persistent eyes… She’s never looked at me that way even once.
What? Was he jealous?
That was nothing serious.
Having satisfied my curiosity, I whipped my head around to find Robenin again, but he was already gone from that spot.
Damn it!
“What the—! Where did he go?! Robenin!”
“……”
“That ghost-like bastard!”
I was furious that I had lost track of his presence again.
Every time this happened, I felt incredibly powerless. If I couldn’t even follow his presence, there was no way I could talk about having a chance of winning.
As I kicked the air and shouted, Ash let out a small sigh, then gently landed on the ground below the wall while still holding me.
“Don’t get angry. Jeanie, the young master will be waiting for us further inside.”
He set me down on the ground with unnecessarily polite hands and whispered as if to calm me.
When he held my hand tightly, looked into my eyes, and spoke in that gentle voice, I had no choice but to soften.
“Really? He didn’t run away?”
“We’ll find out when we go.”
Through the warmth that lingered between the back of my hand and my palm for that brief moment, I automatically understood what Ash was thinking right now.
It flowed in without permission and let me feel every bit of that emotion.
Ash was displeased that my attention was focused on Robenin, but he was trying not to show it.
He seemed to think that feeling was immature and even rude.
And he believed he wasn’t important enough to me to even be allowed to feel jealous.
It came across as sad and bitter.
Not me—Ash was the one feeling that way.
Of course, that was an emotion he wanted to hide. The most prominent feeling on the surface was a nervous, anxious kind of tension, terrified that Robenin and I might actually fight.
Detecting Robenin’s presence among the countless carriages was impossible for me, but it seemed to be a different story for Ash.
Ash moved through the maze of carriages without hesitation, and I followed behind him with my nerves on edge, fur standing on end.
Only after going quite deep did we find a small clearing hidden between the carriages. It looked like a resting area for the workers of this carriage depot.
Robenin was standing right there, staring straight at the direction we would emerge from.
The moment our eyes met, I didn’t want to admit it, but goosebumps rose faintly across my skin.
Because he had seen through all our movements. It was like these guys had high-performance radar in their heads.
At this rate, a surprise attack was hopeless.
“Jeanie, young master! Fighting is not allowed.”
Ash was putting his entire heart into blocking me from stepping forward, but whether he did or not, Robenin and I were completely absorbed in glaring at each other.
Two fighting dogs growling at each other would probably look more peaceful than this.
“Calm down, calm down. We’re here to talk.”
I heard a genuinely worried voice, but it flew right out of my mind in an instant.
Because I had just noticed one terrifying fact.
Robenin had already drawn his sword.
The blade, glowing with a strange color close to black, was pointed threateningly in my direction. The sight stabbed into my eyes like a brand.