Because It's Dazzling
It was because it was dazzling. So fast. Faster than the enemy. I had grown stronger to defeat Fria, who was slow but possessed nothing but raw power. To keep from being overwhelmed by my sister’s strength, I sharpened my speed. I pressed the attack so fiercely that she couldn’t even attempt a counter. Just a little more. Just a little more, and Fria wouldn’t be able to block every strike with that heavy greatsword. She would lose. That was why there was no way I would have created a technique like “Be imprisoned in the crystal…!”
“If you can block even this, then go ahead and try!”
“This is…”
A crystal prison stretching from the outside in. By lowering its intensity but spreading it wide like a spider’s web to immobilize the opponent, this technique meant that no matter how fast the enemy was—
“You.”
—there was no reason it couldn’t catch them.
“Are the one who fears fast people?”
It was on the right. I hadn’t noticed before, but after hearing it from that woman, the imbalance became clear. The long-held habit. My body, burning from the heat of battle. Even this technique whose purpose I no longer remembered.
Don’t come….
On the opposite side, to the left, I had left a tiny gap. But that wasn’t a failure, nor did it count as a flaw.
“You idiot! Stop! That gap is…!”
Too narrow. If you threw yourself through a hole in barbed wire, your entire body would simply be torn to shreds. That wasn’t a means of survival—it was a means to die faster.
There’s no way….
If they came closer and realized they couldn’t pass through, they would stop. Even if they somehow made it through, it was an act that required staking one’s life. For something as trivial as this evaluation—
“Match over! Both contestants, cease immediately!”
“!”
“......”
The crystal that had been closing in never fully deployed before it shattered. The woman inside couldn’t kill her momentum and pitched forward.
“Miss Eres, are you all right?!”
“......Yeah.”
She had created a puddle of blood exactly where she fell, yet she answered the referee’s worried question with a thumbs-up. She clearly had no intention of stopping until the very end.
“Lord Alto. The victory is yours, but that was hardly gentlemanly.”
“......I am aware.”
“Not gentlemanly?”
Thud.
Eres rolled onto her back. Her face was as expressionless as when she had first tied her hair, but every inch from her face to her clothes was drenched in blood, making that blankness look almost radiant. Just from that, it was hard to tell who the loser was.
“......Do you think it wasn’t?”
“I’ve never seen a gentleman. Everything I know comes from books.”
“Haha… Yeah. The current me has no right to call himself a gentleman.”
After underestimating my opponent first, I belatedly refused to lose and went all out. I drove an opponent already covered in wounds, craving victory. And in the end, I wasn’t worried about her. I was certain that she—that Eres—would never stop, that she would definitely break through the crystal prison. My final thought hadn’t been her safety, but my own defeat.
“Hmm… I don’t see it that way.”
“Why…?”
“Your last attack. It didn’t feel like it was made to win. It felt like it was made to block an enemy.”
“......What?”
“You created it to protect someone from an opponent you couldn’t handle, didn’t you?”
What was this person saying? No. Even if I tried to play innocent, it was already too late. I had lied to myself and tried to forget, but I had known from the beginning. Why I had created something like this.
“Are you planning to spread it around?”
“No. Prove that you’re a gentleman yourself. It means nothing if someone else testifies for you.”
“......I see. Yes. That’s right.”
This person had probably been looking down at us from far higher than someone like me could reach. She stood up without anyone’s help, as if her body covered in wounds meant nothing. She finally untied the twin tails she had worn all day. And then, for the first time since arriving at this training ground today—
“Because there’s meaning in judging with your own eyes. Just as you were as strong as the rumors said. If the chance comes, I’d like to fight you again someday.”
—she smiled.
You really are my complete opposite.
“You idiot… the one who should be issuing the challenge… is me…!”
“I lost, though?”
“That’s… inviting a lady is a gentleman’s duty…!”
“I see. Then why are you covering your face?”
“It’s because it’s dazzling….”
“?”
“It doesn’t work…. But… maybe it was for the best. Eres, even if it had been my brother here instead of you, I don’t think I could have killed him.”
“There are only women with nothing but strength around me. Really. I’ll never be able to win against women like that in my lifetime. Eres, I’m truly sorry for making you dirty your hands in my sister’s place.”
“What? So both of you don’t want to inherit the ducal house?”
“It’s not that we don’t want to. We’re agonizing over it.”
When they were young, the Ripelreus siblings had been outstanding and close. They were rivals and affectionate brother and sister at the same time, so they had competed, played, and grown up together. But the filthy adults were more interested in building skill through rivalry than in letting them relieve stress by playing together. If one of them had been noticeably weaker, things might not have turned out this way. They declared that the position would go to the superior one. They separated the pair so neither could yield, forcing each to have their own person to protect.
“The truly influential figures weren’t involved. What they carry falls on the servants or the people of the territory. Commoners like that.”
“It would be nice if we could just ignore them the way you do, Master.”
“Hey.”
“In the end, it’s a tragedy of toying with good, pure people however they pleased. Just like someone else I know.”
This story doesn’t get revealed in episode one. The winner, after receiving Eres’s encouragement and advice, tries to take responsibility and embrace even the people on the opposing side. But it wasn’t as easy as words made it sound. Instead, by isolating the loser, the side that had driven the siblings saw their own people purged. The losers later fell to corruption and caused an incident. The fact that neither of them truly wanted to fight each other can be seen from the conditions required to break the achievement. Fria’s berserk pattern is normally to destroy, but the achievement requires quick evasion. Alto’s berserk pattern isn’t to dodge the range warning but to destroy it. They claim to be keeping each other in check, but in reality it’s an extreme game of chicken where each prepares techniques that would never work on the other. After clearing it that way, a special script appears.
I already knew all of this from the game, of course. But if anyone started digging into where I’d heard it, it would only lead to one place.
“Nine’s Piece… Them again?”
“The white bishop is behind it. That psychopath bastard.”
“I wish you’d just kill someone like that.”
Melina turned her head and clicked her tongue. I agreed. But the fact that they had caused an incident also meant their influence was enormous. If that guy disappeared now, the story would only become more tangled. The story. Right. This episode one had been completely ruined from start to finish!!
The siblings never reached a conclusion. Maybe that was a good thing. But the link between Eres and the Ripelreus family had also vanished. Now there was only one way to normalize the story.
“First, as promised, I’ll beat the living hell out of Alto and then introduce him to Eres.”
“Please give up. I’m begging you.”
“The justification is perfect. Using a finishing move on a weak commoner girl and humiliating her? What an ungentlemanly bastard.”
“That’s still more gentlemanly than just going straight to beating him up.”
“Why do you keep defending that guy? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for him…”
Even by the setting, and even at a glance, he was undeniably handsome. If Melina had actually fallen for Alto—
“Seriously!”
“Ow! That hurts! Why are you kicking with such sincerity?!”
“You! Even when hit! You’re cheap!!”
“Stop before I actually put strength into my leg, all right?”
“Even if my leg breaks, I’m going to kick you right now!”
“No, why… Is it because you’re embarrassed—ack!”
Instead of the older sister who told me to get stronger, why was the younger sister turning into a low-kick master? I had taken the force out, but it still hurt like hell. Who the hell had she learned that from? Rin? Or the thugs from Babbage?
She’s hitting the shin. Seriously, who taught her?
Someone had given her professional training. Or perhaps kicking the master with a low kick was simply part of a maid’s job description.
“Hey, that spot is really… Mel. Be quiet for a second.”
“I’ve been quiet this whole—mmph.”
I pulled Melina into my arms and covered her mouth. Maybe because of the distance, the low kicks stopped too. Hitting me from this position would be awkward in many ways, but at this range the power wouldn’t transmit properly, so even if she put strength into it, I wouldn’t get hurt.
“Mmph…!”
“There they are.”
In the waiting room of the now-empty training ground, Alto and Fria occupied a long bench and sat together.
“Why are those two sitting together?”
Normally I would have charged in to beat Alto the moment I saw him. But the atmosphere between them felt strange. I decided to listen for now.
“......”
“......”
“Are you okay?”
“Do I look okay?”
It still seemed bad. Fria had lost, so it made sense for her to look gloomy. But why did Alto look so rotten? Did he have a death wish?
“I’m jealous. You defeated that unknown woman, right?”
“......Well.”
“Not me… From beginning to end, I never led even once. I was treated like a child in front of everyone, and that guy even—”
Grind.
While I focused on their conversation, a faint pain bloomed in my hand.
“Don’t bite! What are you doing?”
“Munch… uuup…!”
“I wasn’t planning to go this far. This is all your own fault.”
It would have been fine if she had stayed quiet, but she bit my finger? She had been acting too comfortable lately. It was time to give her some proper discipline.
“Ugh! Ha, aap…!”
I slipped three fingers—from index to ring—into her mouth and slowly spread them. Then, using the lower index and middle fingers to pin her tongue and pressing my body against her so no sound could escape, the technique was complete.
“I originally designed this to stop you when you tried to bite your tongue like last time.”
“Ah… aeuup…”
“Don’t think you’ll get off with just this. This time I’m really going to fix your attitude.”
“Uu… uuu…”
Good. Now I could listen to the rest of the conversation I had missed.
“We both suffered because of that man.”
What? What had they been talking about while I was distracted? Why were both of them smiling so wistfully? Weren’t they supposed to be sharing battle impressions?
“Fria. I have a proposal for you.”
“A proposal? If you think I’m weak right now and plan to look down on me, you should stop.”
“It’s not that. I want to bring Eres over to our side.”
“......What?”
“Huh?”
The unexpected words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. The same guy who had toyed with and tormented Eres? If that was the case, why had he slashed at her until blood pooled on the floor? Did our Eres look like an easy target—
“Mel. Stop joking around. My fingers are ticklish.”
“Uup… uuuu, slurp…”
“How did you pull your tongue out again? Stay still!”
Wow… my fingers were completely covered in saliva. Was she doing it on purpose? No, it was probably the same unconscious reaction people have at the dentist. It had even gotten on my clothes. The moment I pulled my face away she would frown and mock me with everything she had. I could already picture it clearly.
“Please stay still. This is an important scene!”
“Uuuup…!”
“When we get back, you’re dead!”
The ticklishness in my fingers? I could endure that much. If I held her head completely and pressed down, she wouldn’t be able to make a sound.
So what about those two?
“Alto, you don’t mean…”
“No.”
What conversation had they been having? What was “no”? Fria was staring at Alto with clear disgust. Alto turned his head, avoiding her gaze. Had Fria opposed recruiting Eres? Since I couldn’t see Alto’s face from here, I couldn’t be sure.
“Sigh… Even if she really is a good person like you say, is it right to drag someone like Eres into our mess? Do you know how dangerous Luke Colwen is?”
Why was my name coming up? Were the three of them planning to gang up on me because I told them to get stronger for revenge?
Not bad, actually.
Those two would train Eres and build a connection with her. But why drag Eres into their family business?
“When the bracket came out, I looked into her. The results only arrived after the evaluation ended, but hard as it is to believe, it seems Luke Colwen holds a grudge against her.”
“A grudge… Wait, not Eres holding one against Luke, but Luke against her?”
?
“Someone saw the two of them fighting on the day of the orientation. Eres tried to resolve it through conversation, but he picked a fight and demanded they duel.”
What? That I held a grudge against Eres? Did that even make sense? I didn’t know who had gathered the information, but they were clearly a terrible informant.
“After one-sidedly beating her, he mocked her for being weak and even brought up her family. After it was over, he had his maid say something horrible.”
“What did he say?”
“They ran away so they didn’t hear it. But right after, they heard Eres’s blood-curdling scream.”
“That’s truly the worst…”
Hmm. This part required the opinion of the person involved.
“Mel. What do you think?”
“Ah……”
“Mel? I removed my hand?”
“...You should at least give me time to breathe…”
“Oh.”
Melina staggered as if about to collapse and grabbed my clothes to steady herself. Her face, covered in saliva, was flushed, and her eyes looked hazy. She really needed to train her lung capacity. Though if I said that she would probably kick me again.
“Mel. As you heard, the Ripelreus siblings seem to want to get close to Eres.”
“I didn’t… hear anything! How am I supposed to hear from this far away…?”
“Speak quietly. At this distance you can hear just fine.”
“This is all because of who…!!”
There were parts I missed because Melina kept interfering, but the Ripelreus siblings had ended in a truce without a decisive match. And not just one of them—both wanted to become friends with Eres?
“Isn’t this better than the original?”
“What exactly is this ‘original’ you keep mentioning, Master?”
“There is such a thing.”
Episode one had ended well, but I still couldn’t let my guard down. In the original work this period was basically the tutorial. It was closer to a prologue meant to teach the game system. This time, before obtaining the magic sword, was the weakest point in Endless Fantasia. Originally it was a part where no one died or disappeared.
“But why are those two trying to get close to my sister?”
“That? Obviously to defeat me.”
“Sigh… You’re doing a great job. Is your goal to earn a grudge and unite every student in the academy against you?”
“That’s going too far. I’m simply giving them a reason to strive to become stronger.”
“As expected, that kind of fetish…”
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
Now that she seemed recovered, Melina pulled away from me and wiped the saliva from her face. Having been disheveled moments ago, she now looked almost icy.
“Good. Today’s work is finished. Let’s head back.”
“Have you given up on picking a fight with Lord Alto?”
“Since he volunteered to become friends with Eres, I’ll overlook it this time.”
“Yes, yes. Master only ever cares about my sister anyway.”
Of course. If it were up to me I would run over right now with high-grade recovery potions and nourishing meals, but our relationship wasn’t warm enough for that. Since she was injured, she was probably still at the infirmary. This was the perfect time to return to the lodging.
“By the way, Alto. Didn’t you say Luke Colwen was coming to pick a fight with you today?”
“Ah. That will probably be difficult. There was an accident.”
“Oh my. What kind of accident?”
“I heard an unexplained fire broke out at the dormitory where he lives.”
“......Isn’t that a really big deal…?”
……Huh?