――Know your enemy, and know yourself, and you will never be in danger in a hundred battles.
Of course, knowing your enemy is important, but knowing yourself well is just as important.
So right now, I am conducting a certain experiment in my room.
An experiment with sword-based skill arts.
「Nnnngh……」
I stand with my feet about shoulder-width apart and pour magic power into the wooden sword I grip with both hands.
I picture the activation of the skill art as clearly as possible and pour in as much magic power as I can……
「Gnnnghghghgh……」
After continuing to pour in magic power until I reach the limit of what I can control, I activate the skill art.
「Gnuahhh!! 『Glowing Moss』!」
When I chant the spell with force, glowing moss suddenly sprouts thickly from the wooden sword.
「Phew…… now with this――」
「Alecー」
「Hm?」
As I stare at the moss-covered wooden sword, I hear someone calling me from outside the room.
That voice must be Diana-chan.
「It is openー」
「Okaaay」
When I answer from inside, Diana-chan opens the door and comes in.
「Hello, Diana-chan」
「Hey. Sorry to barg――what is that?」
Skipping most of the greeting, Diana-chan’s eyes are glued to the wooden sword in my hands.
「Oh, this? I was just testing a skill art」
「A skill art……? Eh, what kind?」
「Hm? What kind? Um…… I used a skill art to grow this moss」
「You grew moss with a skill art……?」
Come to think of it, I do not think I have ever shown Diana-chan 『Glowing Moss』 before.
Well, it is not exactly a skill art I get many chances to show off.
「It is glowing though……」
「Yeah. It is a skill art that lets you grow Glowing Moss」
「Glowing Moss…… like the stuff that grows in dungeons?」
「Yeah, that is the one」
「A skill art that grows that……? Wait, what kind of skill do you need to even learn something like that?」
「That would be――ah」
Ah, I see…… I messed up……
The 『Dungeon』 skill is one of those skills I am not supposed to let other people know about……
「I cannot imagine it at all. What kind of skill lets you learn a skill art like that?」
「Umm……」
Of course you would be curious……
Anyone would be curious and unable to imagine it.
I mean, even I never imagined that a skill art that grows Glowing Moss would come from the 『Dungeon』 skill.
When I found out for the first time, I thought what in the world is this too……
「……Sorry, Diana-chan. I cannot tell you that」
「You cannot tell me?」
「That skill is kind of, how should I say it, a secret of secrets. It absolutely has to stay secret」
「Eeh. If you say that, it just makes me more curious」
「Sorry, yeah, I get that. But――ah, stop, stop it, Diana-chan……」
Diana-chan resorts to brute force. She grabs me and starts shaking me back and forth.
The wooden sword I am holding is also getting shaken hard, but……
Surprisingly, the moss is not falling off at all.
Yeah, it has grown pretty well.
「Wait, Diana-chan. That kind of thing is, you know? Not good, okay?」
「What do you mean not good?」
For starters, I think forcing someone to talk with physical strength is not good.
And also――
「Wanting to know other people’s skills is, um…… a perverted act, you know?」
「Hah!?!」
Startled by my words, Diana-chan lets go of me.
Oh. As expected of Yggdrasil-san’s saying, 『Anyone who wants to peek at other people’s status is a pervert』.
Even Diana-chan has been successfully pacified.
「W-What is that. Are you saying I am lewd?」
「Eh? No, I am not saying that. Diana-chan is not lewd at all」
「Hmph」
「Ow」
Even though I denied her concern, I still get punched on the shoulder.
How unreasonable……
I wonder what it was. Maybe the word 『at all』 was unnecessary.
Maybe she took it as something like 『I feel no sexiness at all』 or 『I do not feel any feminine charm at all』.
That probably hurt her feelings. A girl’s heart is complicated.
…That said, Diana-chan is still thirteen, and if I felt that a thirteen-year-old was sexy, that would obviously be bad.
「So, what was it again? Fire something day?」
「Yeah, a secret of secrets. A secret among secrets」
「Ah, right. A secret of secrets. Is it really that secret?」
「Yeah. I have not even told my parents about this skill」
「Huh? Really? It is that secret……」
Well, it is the 『Dungeon』 skill, or rather the fact that I am a 『Dungeon Master』.
This is not something I should tell other people. Mr. Roded said it should be kept hidden too.
「The ones who know are Laudette-san, Yggdrasil-san, Nana-san…… and, well, two acquaintances」
「That is a lot……」
Now that she says it, she is right……
「Anyway, who are these two acquaintances?」
「Huh? Well, they are acquaintances, but……」
I mean Deis-san and Mikoto-san……
Somehow, the circumstances around those two feel even more sensitive than the dungeon.
Honestly, I probably did not need to say 『two acquaintances』 at all.
「More women?」
「What do you mean, more……」
「Ah, it is women. I can tell. That feeling says women」
「…………」
Well, yes, both of them are women……
「Alec, if I take my eyes off you for even a bit, you immediately add new women」
「That is a terrible way to put it, Diana-chan……」
Besides, I met those two before I met Diana-chan.
So if anything, the 『new woman』 would actually be Diana-chan……
「……Well, whatever. See, I am not as jealous as Ralina」
「I see」
「So even if Alec gets distracted by other women, I will forgive you a little」
「Thank you, Diana-chan」
…Well, most people are not as jealous as Ralina-chan.
If someone were more jealous than Ralina-chan, that would be scary.
next chapter: 『Glowing Moss』
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