Shion is strong.
……Apparently.
More or less.
「Kyaaaaaaa!!」
She claimed herself to be strong, so she must be strong, but right now she’s enthusiastically running away.
「W-Wait, stop stop stoooop! Please wait, Shiro-san! No no no! This is impossible!」
「Hmm?」
「Tilting your head cutely isn’t going to work here! This is bullying! Newbie bullying! When I say stop, you’re supposed to stop!」
「Haa…… nn」
「Jeez…… Do people normally just charge in swinging like that? M’lord! Your discipline is lacking!」
「This is training, so I think it’s normal.」
Yeah. I think so too.
This all started because Shion got a little too full of herself.
『Fufun. My strength? Well…… against Shiro-san…… I’d probably just barely lose, I suppose? Well? If I went all out, even Shiro-san might be in danger, you know!』
She was bragging to me like that when Shiro overheard. So naturally, training was arranged…… and the result was a complete one-sided beating.
「Hmm…… weak.」
「W-Weak…… I-I’m not at my best right now! I’ve been having some trouble with my lower back lately. There’s still this weird feeling like something’s stuck inside my body…… Ah, Shiro-san probably wouldn’t understand.」
「Haha…… You’ve got some guts.」
「Ow ow ow! I’m on break right now!」
「You provoked her, so it’s your fault. We’ll keep going until you cry.」
「Uoooooh! Cry early, me! With all the training I’ve done, shedding tears should be nothing!」
「We’ll keep going even after you cry.」
「Noooo!?」
Is it impressive that she’s barely dodging, or is Shiro holding back a little……?
She does seem strong…… but she’s only running away, so it’s really hard to gauge her actual ability.
「Ara. Looks like something interesting is going on. Training with Shion?」
「Oh? That’s Sorte-san! Oiii, Sorte-saaan! Help meee!」
「Help……? This is training, isn’t it?」
「Yeah. It’s training.」
「It just looks like she’s running away the whole time……」
「Yeah.」
It looks that way to me too…….
She does block every now and then, but it’s completely one-sided defense.
「……Training in running away? It’s not entirely useless…… but for someone at Shion’s strength level, isn’t that pretty low priority?」
「Hyaaaa! It grazed me just now! It really grazed! My peach fuzz got shaved clean off!」
「I’ll make the rest smooth too.」
「Ah, thank you very m….GYAAAAA! NYAAAAA! NOWAAAAAAA!!」
「Haa…… What a waste. Shiro. If you’re serious, I’ll be your opponent.」
「Hmm? Hmm. Got it.」
Sorte swings her spear once to check the feel, then lowers her stance.
Shiro also measures the distance with a hint of caution, swaying the hand holding her knife irregularly to make her attack timing hard to read.
「Haa…… haa…… I thought I was gonna die……m’lord, please stop this already……」
「No, you’re not gonna die in training……」
I’ve thought the exact same thing many times myself.
Still, at the very least Shion is far stronger than me, so as long as Shiro doesn’t make a huge mistake, she should be fine.
And Shiro doesn’t make mistakes like that.
Compared to Shion’s whining…… right now the focus is on the two in front of us.
They glare at each other, the tension so thick I unconsciously hold my breath.
「……Suu…… haa!」
「Hmm……」
「Tch……」
「Too slow.」
「Not even close!」
Shiro deflects Sorte’s lightning-fast thrust with the flat of her knife, twists her body halfway to dodge, then kicks the spear upward and immediately closes in.
Sorte uses the momentum from the kick to leap backward, trying to regain her preferred distance before Shiro can close the gap.
But Shiro’s movement seems faster than expected. Instead of Sorte’s ideal range, she’s dragged into Shiro’s preferred close-quarters combat and ends up taking Shiro’s blinding series of strikes.
「Kuh……」
「Hmm…… good.」
Sorte keeps spinning the shaft to block and deflect, while Shiro presses relentlessly, hunting for openings.
Eventually Sorte is forced back until a tree is right behind her, or so it seems. But she leaps upward, kicks off the trunk, flips in midair to get behind Shiro…… or tries to.
While still airborne, she readies her spear and thrusts.
「There!」
「Hmm…… almost.」
That was…… Black Weasel?
In an instant Shiro’s speed spikes, leaving an afterimage as she evades the spear from behind, then closes on the airborne Sorte. She spins her body and unleashes a roundhouse kick.
Despite Sorte being in an unstable position in the air, the kick carries terrifying force. Sorte tumbles across the ground, rolling a good ten meters before finally coming to a stop.
「Gu…… gaha……」
「Hmm. Nice.」
「Auuu…… I was so close……」
「I’m not letting you win yet.」
「That confidence is really pissing me off. I’m still not used to that speed. Use it more often in normal fights.」
「Hmm? Making excuses is lame……」
「Mukaaa! Shiro! One more round!」
「Hmm. Sure.」
It looks like they’re going for another round.
In that case, I should ask Wendy to prepare the bath for after training.
And since everyone’s going to be moving around a lot today, let’s have her make dinner with extra meat.
「……Huh?」
「What’s up, Shion?」
「No, it’s just…… Sorte-san, were you always this strong……? According to the information I had, you’re way…… no, a lot stronger than I expected……」
「Well…… she’s been training like that every day.」
Right now, Red Line is barely taking any regular requests.
They only go on quests when I ask for specific materials, when an A-rank or higher quest gets posted, or when they’re personally requested by name.
Even so, there are still plenty of them, and they seem quite busy, but aside from those, they spend their time training with family or Shiro, or hunting powerful non-quest monsters.
Of course, I make sure they get proper rest. They join my training sessions sometimes, and they take days off for shopping and such, but other than that, almost all their time goes into getting stronger.
Thanks to that effort, Shiro used to never activate 『Cloak of Black Shadow』 back then, but now she uses it several times in a single fight.
That just shows how much everyone has grown.
「This is bad…… really bad. I never planned to lose to Shiro-san, sure, but I definitely didn’t expect to lose to the three of you…… At this rate, my whole plan to shoot up the ranks is falling apart. I was going to beat Red Line as a group, no, at least beat each of you individually, secure a solid second place, and get praised by m’lord……」
So that’s what you were scheming…….
Strength doesn’t actually affect how I evaluate people, though.
「Heeeey. Interesting conversation you’re having theressu.」
「Nyaa!?」
「Beat us individually, huh. Fufu. Wanna give it a try?」
Well, since Sorte showed up, the other two must be here too.
Shion lets out a ridiculous squeak and freezes, but he can probably tell whose hands are resting on each of his shoulders.
「U-Uh, um, that was just…… a joke, you see――」
「So? Which one do you wanna start withssu?」
「I don’t mind going first. I want a round with Shiro too, and I could use a warm-up.」
「I’m fine going first too, you know? I’ll be full power from the jumpssu.」
「Awa wa wa wa wa. M’lord! Help meee!」
「No, this is your chance, right? You said it yourself. Secure that solid second place.」
「Noooo! Grr…… But yeah, you’re right. I’m probably dead last right now anyway, so if I win it’s pure profit, let’s do this!」
I like that kind of boldness in you, Shion.
But…… probably, most likely, it’s going to be rough for you?
「Then I’ll go first.」
「All right! I’ll toy with Aina-san, the self-proclaimed powerhouse, with pure speed!」
「Hmm……」
The weapons Shion pulls from the pouch at her waist are…… a pair of short daggers.
True to her word, she’s focusing on speed for the attack.
By the way, back at the hot spring she used some other weapon to smash rocks, but she can handle short daggers too, huh.
「Here I come! I hate the idea of the m’lord thinking all I can do is run away like earlier, so I’m switching to offense! Choisaa!」
「Weird battle cry, but…… nn. Surprisingly sharp.」
「Heh heh! How’s that, how’s that!? You can’t even touch me, can you!?」
Shion speeds up at the same pace she gets cocky.
She’s nowhere near Shiro’s level, but her movements are fast enough to make it hard to pin her down. Thanks to the sheer number of attacks and her quickness, Aina is forced into a purely defensive stance.
「Take that take that take thaaat! Choi choi choisaaa!」
「……」
Aina holds her greatsword steady and blocks firmly without a word, enduring patiently.
……No, judging from those eyes, she’s probably waiting for the single opening in one decisive strike.
「You can’t win just by defending, you know!」
「You’re right…… Then let’s go on the attack.」
「Huh? How are you going to attack through all this!?」
「……Right here.」
Kiiin!
A high-pitched ring echoes as Aina swings her greatsword in a full arc.
「…………Eh?」
Both of Shion’s daggers fly spinning into the air.
The moment he realizes it, Aina closes the distance in a single step――.
「Crap! Wai!!」
「Fuh!」
「Gobuh!」
She thought she got hit with the flat of the blade…… but apparently she managed to draw a new weapon in time to block.
The speed was too fast for my eyes to follow, but she had wedged a black metal rod between Aina’s sword and her own body.
「Th-That was close……」
「……Mmph!」
「Eh? Wait, no way!? You’re just going to take it like that!? Nooooooo!!」
I thought she had blocked…… but from that frozen position Aina simply follows through with the swing, sending Shion’s body flying and tumbling across the ground.
「Uwaaaaaah! Kuh……!」
「……Haa.」
「Hiii!」
She somehow regains her footing, but Aina doesn’t let up on the pursuit. Before she can fully stand, she thrusts the tip of her sword right in front of her face while she’s still on one knee.
「My win, right?」
「Grr…… I lost……」
Shion flops down with a thud, hanging her head and dropping to her knees in defeat.
Aina, the victor, turns back to me with a smile and gives me a look that says, ‘You saw that, right?’, full of expectation. I nod to let her know I did.
「Haaaa…… I lost……」
「Indeed. But you’re strong, Shion. If I had gotten impatient and attacked carelessly, I might have been the one to lose.」
「Nah…… your patience is just too much. That’s the only reason it was even close to even. You won’t fall for my fakes at all, and in the end I was the one who got flustered……」
……Fakes…… so that’s what was going on.
Yeah. No way I could tell them apart.
I seriously thought she was just getting carried away and attacking nonstop!
「Fufu. I have confidence in enduring.」
「Durability and strength, huh…… so I got smashed head-on…… haaaa……」
「It’s hard to say ‘don’t get so down’…… but I train every day too. Someday I’ll beat Shiro, and as my liege’s shield, I’ll become someone I can truly be proud of.」
「The unyielding shield of m’lord, huh…… I see. But next time, I won’t lose!」
「Yeah. Let’s do it again.」
The two of them exchange a handshake with good-natured smiles.
And then Shion starts walking away with that same good expression on her face.
「I’m still here, you know?」
……she probably wanted to leave looking cool like that.
She tries to walk off without minding the hand gripping her shoulder, but it’s clamped down tight, she’s not moving forward at all.
「No waaay! I’m all beat up! Covered in dirt! I wanna take a bath!」
「Hahaha. You’re still full of energy, aren’t youssu!」
「No, I’m not! After Shiro-san and Aina-san, I can’t fight anymore today! Ah, what a shame! Gueh!」
「Come on come onssu! I’ll give you master’s special potion! Let’s get this over withssu!」
「Forcing it into my mouth like that…… even m’lord hasn’t gotten that privilege yet! ……F-Fine. I’ll blow you away!」
「Ooh, your spirit’s backssu! Then let’s wrap this up quick so you can move on to the next onessu!」
「……Next?」
「Of course! Sorte’s waiting too!」
「……Huh?」
「Renge, hurry up and finish already」
Sorte plops down on the ground covered in sand, eyebrows raised in a pout as she hurls complaints.
It seems Aina took over the training with Shiro, and now the two of them are fighting a little distance away.
「Aww man, don’t take it out on me just because Shiro beat youssu.」
「Shut up! That cat…… someday I’m gonna make her say ‘gyafun’…… Ahh, seriously. I’m gonna vent all this frustration on Shion who looked down on us, so hurry up already.」
「Got itssu. Then, like I said…… I’m going full power right from the startssu!!」
「W-Wait! My waist today is, my waist is aaaahhh! I can’t do back-to-back fights like this! And Renge-san is scary! Too close! Hang on, I haven’t even planned my tactics ye, gyaaaaah!!」
……Self-inflicted, or maybe she just talked too big…….
After that, she lost to Renge, then to Sorte, and finally when it came time for Shiro to take her on properly…….
「Sniff…… hic…… I-I’m supposed to be all-purpose! Combat is just one means! I’m the one who can reach every itch you have! My stats are supposed to be beautifully average! I was going to show m’lord all my good points aaaah! Waaaaah!!」
She ended up bursting into tears. Shiro, faced with actual crying, looked troubled and unsure what to do. In the end she didn’t do anything more, just gently patted her shoulder and called it a day.
「Uuuu…… someday I’m definitely going to beat all of you……! But not in combat! Today I wasn’t even serious anyway!! But definitely not in combat!!!」
And so, contrary to her plans, she ended up dead last in combat ability.
That said, when I asked Renge and Sorte about it later, they both said she was plenty strong, on par with Aina.
She managed to block a few decisive moves, and there were some close calls.
The reason they won was because Shiro’s training had sharpened their snap judgments.
If she trained seriously from here on out, she’d become quite capable, they said…… but apparently she’s going to focus on everything except combat instead…….
Leave a Reply