. Black-and-White Princess and Soul Dress [2] – part 2

「Fufu, I will bring you down with the next blow.」

She may have been convinced of victory already.

Ria-san, who had a sadistic smile, hadn’t noticed my preparation.

「Now, prepare yourself!」

Then, she charged straight towards me.

She closed the distance between us in an instant and raised her deep crimson sword overhead, as high as possible.

「High King Style – Strong Strike!」

Ria-san who was convinced of her victory and I, who was convinced of my own victory – our line of sight intersected.

(As I calculated… this is my win)

I sheath my sword back into the scabbard and turned my back towards her.

「Second Sword – Hazy Moon」

And the very next moment,

「Ho…w…!?」

An invisible attack slashed from her chest to abdomen.

With a counter blow that emerged from a completely unexpected place, she simply gave up her consciousness without trying to fight back.

Second Sword – Hazy Moon.

This is a pre-installed slash.

Predict the point where the opponent will pass through and slash it in advance.

A counter that automatically bursts at the moment the opponent passes through.

It is extremely difficult to aim and hit, but if it hits, it is a deadly blow.

「Fumu, it ended as I expected…」

Leia-sensei confirmed that Ria-san was completely unconscious and,

「Ria-Vesteria unable to continue! So, Allen-Rodore wins!」

She announced the result of the duel.

「Fuuu…」

Finally released from the tension, I exhaled deeply.

…She was a tough opponent.

However, it was a really good experience to fight against an opponent who made full use of soul dress.

「As expected, you are strong, Allen. You definitely have my acknowledgement.」

Leia-sensei was nodding with self-pride, 「As expected of me」to find an excellent student.

「Th-Thanks…」

I don’t know where and when she acknowledged me… but being praised does feel nice.

「More so than that… I have to take Ria-san to the infirmary soon.」

As I approached Ria-san who was fallen in a dead tired state, Leia-sensei shook her head.

「Un? Ah, this one is unusually strong, so we can leave her as is. Give her about 2 or 3 minutes and she’ll regain consciousness.」

「Oh, is that so…?」

No, but no matter how strong the body is… Isn’t it bad to simply leave a fainted person alone.

「Aa, just watch.」

「Ha… Haa… Understood…」

Somehow Leia-sensei seems to know Ria-san well, so I decided to leave her alone for a while as she said.

Approximately 2 minutes later,

「…Ha!?」

As Leia-sensei said, Ria-san stood up as if nothing had happened.

「Uh…? What… happened…?」

「Unfortunately, you lost the duel, Ria.」

「…Duel? …!」

Perhaps her shabby consciousness and memory had finally become clear, she quickly stood up and approached me.

「Wh-What does it mean!? Why did I lose!? What did you do to me!?」

To her panicking, I carefully explained the effects of Hazy Moon.

「Th-That is cowardly! Unfair I say, unfair!」

Discontent and grumbling overflowed from her mouth, perhaps due to being dissatisfied with my explanation.

「E-Even if you say that…」

In the first place, Hazy Moon is not a technique created for actual combat.

If the opponent isn’t easy-to-read like Ria-san, I can’t use it in actual combat.

Looking at it from a practical standpoint, it is not as good as Flying Shadow or Yatagarasu.

First, it has many weak points.

Slashes installed in the space are not completely invisible, and if you look really carefully, you can see a slight air gap.

It is also very difficult to set up a slash so that the opponent does not realize it.

(But… this time I could win thanks to her over-confidence in the power of soul dress…)

The next time I fight her, I will definitely have a hard time.

(I also have to train more…)

And as I swore in my heart to train further,

「Ahem ー Anyway, this duel ended in the victory of Allen… What will you do, Ria?」

Leia-sensei expressed a teasing grin.

「What do you mean by that?」

She seems to have actually forgotten.

With a puzzled look, she slightly tilted her head.

「I’m talking about that thing. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten… the promise before the duel.」

「Promise before the duel…!?」

Ria-san suddenly became speechless, and her face turned pale with every passing moment.

(I can’t believe, she actually forgot the conditions of the duel…)

「Oh, that reaction, does that mean you’ve recalled it?『The loser has to become the slave of the winner』…right?」

For some reason, not the winner of the duel, but the witness, Leah-sensei, was in the process of cornering Ria-san.

「E-Err… that slave thing was just a… you know, a figure of speech…」

She began to become visibly dismayed and hastily shook her hands.

Her line of sight swam right and left and was clearly acting suspicious.

「Well, the current duel hasn’t passed through the reception office, and it wasn’t enforced through formal procedure. So, I don’t mind keeping quiet about it.」

Unexpectedly, Leia-sensei reached out a helping hand.

「Le-Leia…!」

Ria-san looked at Leia-sensei as though looking at god.

(…Well, this actually saves me from the trouble)

To be honest, even if she was told to『become a slave』, it would be troublesome.

After all, she is the princess of the Vesteria Kingdom.

If such a thing leaked out, it will surely be a big problem.

(For the time being, this is one issue settled…)

As I stretched my body,

「But … are you really okay with this?」

Leia-sensei asked Ria-san with a serious expression.

「A-About what…?」

「Oh you… The proud princess of the Vesteria kingdom, lost the fight that she『personally』picked, and is also trying to escape from the penalty she『personally』had presented. But, if you’re okay with that, then it’s fine… It was simply on my mind. that’s all. Un, you don’t have to worry about it.」

This issue was finally coming to an end… but this person…

I can affirm, Leia-sensei has a bad personality. Considerably bad.

Even right now, she was completely playing with Ria-san.

(…I should not get too involved with this person)

While I was thinking about that, Ria-san finally started groaning loudly.

「KU, UUUUUUUU! …E-Enough! I understand, I understand already! I will keep my promise, that should be fine, right!?」

Out of desperation, Ria-san yelled loudly halfway through.

Looking at her, Leia-sensei shrugged her shoulders unnaturally.

「Oi Oi, don’t make it sound as though I’m forcing you. This is your problem to solve. Will you keep your promise and become a slave, or will you run away from your promise? It’s no good if you don’t decide for yourself.」

「Mu, guuuu…」

She cried out a voice that couldn’t be heard and glared at me.

And then,

「I-I am inexperienced but, p-please treat me well… Master…」

Ria-san, whose face was dyed in red, bit her lip and while trembling in shame, bowed her head.

「Eh, err… umm, me too…」

Due to everything that happened today, I’m exhausted, but for the time being I decided to put an end to this scene, and bowed my head.