TL: Yuki
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Though temporarily, I have obtained the cooperation of Doppel-chan to help me, and the current objective is to win this fight, and that"s why we now proceed with our offense.
The first objective is to make a proper attack connect cleanly, and if possible send him outside the stage.
The second is to smash or knock off his sword which would drop Vanil Mirth-san"s offense to almost zero.
If either of the two succeeds, then my chance of winning will jump dramatically.
I was thinking that maybe asking for Doppel-chan"s help, it would be a violation of rules and regulations of the compet.i.tion, but that"s not really the case if no one else other than me could see her. Yes, that"s right let"s think of her as a skill, a skill set to be exact.
『Mistress, what kind of evil scheme were you thinking? 』
「You, you"re just imagining it」
『Well never mind that, for now avoid the first bullet, then deflect the next two incoming and avoid the fourth. I will infor you if there are any changes.』
「Nn」
It seems like there"s always a proper direction as to which the projectiles fly so it has become easier to avoid.
Because the Doppelganger suddenly became able to speak, and was talking about a《Channel》 which I didn"t really understand, I don"t know what to do at the moment, and I don"t know why she is helping me now but it does not change the fact that this has given me a big chance anyway.
If I was able to know which attack will explode, I can prepare myself in advance, even if I won"t be able to avoid it.
「That"s right, how were you able to tell them apart? 」
『Oh, that"s because the magical wavelength and the amount of magical power inside it is different, the same with those that were set to explode even if you are not hit. Also, just like before, they won"t be strong enough to do anything to you』
As I have expected, though every one of them looks the same, the contents were different like the ones that can be deflected and the ones that explode on the spot.
「Then, let"s go」
As soon as Vanil Mirth-san starts his a.s.sault of bullets, I with a jump start also went running straight towards him.
But since there isn"t much change in the direction of attack, I dodge all the bullets that explode causing small explosions from behind me and deflected all the others that could be deflected.
「……Ku! 」
Vanil Mirth-san who didn"t expect me to rush in on his bullet rain didn"t expect his attacks to be returned back to him, and for a moment there was an opening on his stance when he deflected an attack in an unnatural angle, and that was just the right time for me to close in.
（If I aim for the sword now, the position is too high and the risk will be greater）
Probably noticing that I was trying to break his weapon in a quick counter, he immediately moved to dodge instead.
At that time I also didn"t want to miss the chance, so I stepped in trying to chase, but.
『You idiotic mistress, a photon sphere is incoming! 』
「Uwah――! 」
My fist that was aiming to attack him or his sword was diverted to deflecting the bullet instead.
「Guh, my feet……! 」
Well, even if I didn"t manage to make my main attack connect, I somehow manage to send the bullet to his thigh, and with that Vanil Mirth-san leaned his body to fix his stance.
「Chance, Oryaー! 」
「Kuu! 」
There"s no way that I would let this chance miss, because I can"t afford to set this up again.
Jumping straight into him aiming for a straight punch, Vanil Mirth"s stare changed for a moment.
（Ohh, was he aiming for this! ）
Vanil Mirth-san though still in a lower stance and a one hand attack aimed at the moment I closed in, it was a really quick move probably using all his strength, and with that speed I definitely won"t be able to avoid it. If that hits me them I might receive a great amount of damage.
But on the other hand, if I could somewhat endure that attack, I will be able to make a clean hit. It won"t even be an exaggeration if the attack I hit would send him flying to s.p.a.ce, so there"s no way for me to back out now.
（I believe in myself, endure it, endure it and hit! ）
From that moment, I saw everything moving in a really slow motion, and I forcefully move my arms and feet while making sure to watch over the trajectory of his sword.
「Uooooooh, Soryaaー! 」
And the moment when the blade reaches my torso, I clamped it with my elbow and knee, and making a loud noise the blade broke in half.
「Wah, my sword!? 」
「Now to finish this! 」
While stunned looking at his broken sword, I immediately gripped my fist and delivered a blow to his torso with as much power as I could acc.u.mulate.
「Guh!! 」
The force of the punch made him spit blood at first contact, but in that few seconds he was able to direct all his photon projectiles towards me before he flies away from the force of my attack.
Vanil Mirth-san was sent straight to the wall outside the stage so I should have technically won, but I still need to dodge the projectiles that a.s.saulted me.
『You don"t need to do that, just dodging the first one should be enough』
「If all goes well, then it"s good 」
All the bullets finally disappeared, and my wounds were healed which is a signal that the match is over.
Vanil Mirth-san also returned back straight towards me, but the entire arena is currently silent as if time stopped.
（Hmm, why is everyone silent……）
Only the sound of gasha* gasha* were heard as he approaches, then when he was in front of me, he sat down to look straight into me and said.
「Haah, it was my utter loss」
When those words were heard, it instantly turned into a tremendous cheer in the blink of an eye, and the whole arena was filled with noise.
「Winner of the match, Toto! 」
The referee finally declared my victory, eh, what. I can"t hear it if there"s too much noise like this, you know?
Well, for the time being let us wave at everyone from the audience.
But still, fight someone called an S Rank is a very strong opponent, I was barely able to win.
……sorry about that, if Doppelganger didn"t come to help, then I wouldn"t have been able to determine which of the bullets does or doesn"t explode.
I do know that the magic recovery can only heal wounds, but it can"t recover fatigue huh, because of that Vanil Mirth-san was sat down adjusting his breathing.
Oh, speaking of which, I didn"t know what to do after this.
Is there still some kind of ceremony after this?
Because the cheers were not ending, I kept on waving my hands with a smile at the audience as I think about what to do next.
Inside, I am half troubled since I don"t know about what will happen next, and half was about to cry from panicking.
「Toto-san, if we don"t return soon the audience won"t also calm down, so let us go back to our waiting rooms soon? 」
That was a nice back up from Vanil Mirth-san and I secretly thanked him. Then before heading towards the waiting room he informed me that the soldier in the waiting room will explain later what would happen later.
When I returned to the waiting room, a female knight was standing there and that person was one of the knights that were holding a trumpet before the game started.
「No way, I didn"t expect for the commander to actually lose……Not to mention, to such a small child」
「Nn?」
「Ah don"t mind it, I have no ill intentions」
「Nn, don"t mind, what to do after this? 」
「There were no other plans in particular, other than the talk about the distribution of award that is, and also to confirm with you if you will be appearing or not in the next tournament next year」
「Me, how process, reward? 」
「Ah, before that, let me introduce myself. I am Ansel Wavec, vice commander of the Royal Knights of Aries」
「please to meet you」
I was thinking that she was a proper knight of the kingdom, but I didn"t expect her to be the vice-commander of the Royal Knights as well.
I don"t how to validate and she only declared verbally, but there"s no one who would normally introduce themselves as the vice commander, that position is an important post after all.
「The payments would usually be transferred via guild cards normally but……do you have one? 」
「Gild kard? 」
「I see, so you still don"t possess one. If you are an adventurer then you would normally possess one, but it seems like you were still too young to possess one」
「Can make it now? 」
「No, it would be the adventurer"s guild that makes it, and there is also a procedure to do so, so it won"t be processed immediately」
「What to do」
「Um……Did your parents come with you? 」
「Un, came with mom? 」
「Ah, then it should be fine」
After asking where she is, we went out of the waiting room to head to where mom is in the audience area, and by the way Doppelganger-chan is also silently following.
Looking sideways and speaking silently, I found out that she reacted with a snap.
「why are you coming along」
『Well, because it"s interesting? Our channels have finally connected after all』
「Hm, I don"t get it」
『Hmmm. Well, there will be a lot of explaining so we"ll do it later. It will be much better to talk about it slowly later』
「Is that so? 」
『Don"t worry about it. For the time being, I will be following you around and you don"t have to mind me』
「Eh, no way」
『There"s nothing wrong with that you know? I mean I have been following you for a while now. It"s only because our channels were disrupted that I wasn"t able to manifest in front of you ending up with finally showing myself again this late』
「Privacy, None!? 」
『Well, that is indeed so. I while ago, I also adviced you on what to do with that girl called Rikka』
Then the moments about the kiss scene rush up my brain.
After thinking about it, my face went red, and then became even redder when I realized that we were being watched at that time!?
Even though it was an embarra.s.sing moment, I sure do remember that memory quit clearly!
「Tha, that was! 」
『It was me who told you what to do……』
As we walk on the hallway, my face started burning up, but after a while it finally calmed down, and then I remembered that it was certainly Doppel-chan"s voice that helped me at that time.
「Um, about that time, thank you for telling me」
『Um, you don"t really have to, I was also not sure what would happen at that time you see』
「Ehhh……」
『Well, everything ended up well, so don"t think much about it』
Kakaka, Doppel-chan laughs about it, but still it was thanks to her that I was actually able to save Rikkchan at that moment, though it wasn"t really expected to happen.
Then I tried asking why at that moment, I was able to hear her voice, but before she could answer I was already out time because I have finally reached the audience area where mom is seated.
I was talking with Ansel-san a while ago, but it seems that not much time have really pa.s.sed, that was because there were still many people at the audience area, and so we looked for the place that I am supposed to be seated.
「That was amazing, at the same time it scared me! 」
「Thank so much for the great match, thank you! 」
「Are you fighting with Vanil Mirth-san again in the next tournament, or maybe become toe to toe for the next incoming years!? 」
As we move forward, the amount of people talking to me or talking about me were also increasing. Fortunately, n.o.body is blocking our way, though there are some who were waving and trying to shake hands with me.
After we reached where mom is, she immediately stood up and rushed to hug me.
「Thank G.o.d, you"re alright Toto. You even won! I did believe in you, but that match was really unbeleivable! 」
Ah, Ahh, mom, too tight.
「Um, well, mom, can come along for a bit」
After saying that, I escaped from the hug and while holding her hand, we returned to the waiting room.