Gardo, Eugene, Flora, Leon—even though they're B and A-rank, they were no match for Shiina.
To catch everything with just her fists and then flawlessly counter and take them down, it's just unreal.
"So, what are you going to do? Run? Or are you going to fight?"
Shiina stands in front of me, tilting her head slightly and smiling.
In that expression, I can see a hint of expectation, as if she's saying, "I want you to play with me more."
"...There's no way I'm running."
I pour magic into my slightly trembling legs.
Like those four earlier, there's no way I can win if I just go head-on. If that's the case—I have to strike at the blind spot as fast as possible.
"Outsmart her with speed... That's all... I have! Gale Boost!"
In the next moment, I dash forward.
I push my prized leg strength to its absolute limit, accelerating to a speed where even the edges of my vision blur. I kick off the ground as if I've become the wind, circling from the side to behind her.
"—Here!"
While drawing her attention to the front, I accelerate even further, reaching Shiina's back. A perfect position.
If it's this, with this sudden surprise attack, even Shiina—
"How naive."
A low, cold voice echoed from behind. Before I could even blink, Shiina's slender fingers firmly gripped both of my arms. When did she turn around? It's as if she was there from the beginning.
"――――っ"
Eh, or Ah, words can't even come out. Her strength is incredible. She's effortlessly immobilizing my enhanced arms.
"Too bad. No matter how fast you are, your movements are too simple."
The moment she said that, an immense shock ran through my torso.
Whether I was kicked or punched, I don't know. In any case, my entire body was flung back, and my vision spun violently.
Dogaaanッ...!
—Before I knew it, I had been slammed into the ground. It hurts. It's hard to breathe. It's as if all the air has been blown out of my mouth, and my lungs won't work properly.
"Gah... ugh..."
I somehow try to raise my body, but my arms and legs won't work.
So this is..."the real deal." Even if B and A-rank adventurers ganged up on her, she could wipe them out in just a few minutes.
Suddenly, looking down at me as I tried to stand, Shiina sighed exaggeratedly and opened her mouth with a sneer.
"Actually, I knew about you even before you introduced yourself. Now that I think about it, Darling was talking about it while he was eating. He said he was being bothered by a girl who was touting herself as the MVP of some league. That's you, isn't it?"
I don't know who Shiina's "Darling" is, but it's true that I was touting myself in various places, so I must have been overheard by someone.
Even though it was the me from a little while ago, it's an embarrassing memory now.
When I listened silently without denying it, Shiina pointed at me with her fingertip and hurled words at me in an obviously contemptuous tone.
"So, I was expecting a little, but you're surprisingly lacking in guts, aren't you? To give up after just this. Surely that MVP title wasn't just an exaggerated tall tale, was it?"
Ugh...!
I suppressed the urge to retort and clenched my fists in silence.
Before, I would have easily rebelled, saying, "Don't mess with me!" But now I'm keenly aware of how pathetic that would have been. If I take the bait here, it will be exactly what Shiina wants.
But she continues to press, distorting her mouth and repeating her words.
"And, you were boasting that you were the top of the academy, weren't you? If that's the case, this should be a piece of cake, right? —How strange. 'All talk and no action' is the phrase used at times like this, isn't it?"
"Kuh..."
I grit my teeth. I mustn't run away. I repeated to myself as if admonishing myself.
She's clearly provoking me. To take the bait here is to lose... I understand that in my head.
But her words pierce my heart one by one. She's digging out my current weakness and stabbing it as if mocking me.
"Or was your so-called talent not that great after all? Were 'top of the class' and 'MVP' just for show? Poor you, you couldn't even realize that yourself, could you? Now you've finally realized it. Ahaha, how pathetic."
Shiina shrugged her shoulders on the spot and chuckled exaggeratedly. Her gaze, filled with icy contempt, pinned me down.
"You were able to walk around boasting about this? It's a masterpiece. For example, I don't think you have a chance of beating even one of my fingers, even if you struggle desperately. Hey, isn't that right?"
"............"
A warning bell rings in the back of my mind. Calm down, Lilia. Don't fall for this provocation—
If it had been me in the past, I would have certainly gotten angry and charged in. But I've learned from all the painful experiences I've had.
...I thought that was the case, but Shiina keeps driving me into a corner.
"Despite boasting about it, you're actually mediocre everywhere, and no one expects anything from you... Don't pretend to be strong, you pathetic underdog."
A sharp pain, as if I had been slapped on the cheek, runs through my chest.
I can feel my fingertips trembling. Deep inside my stomach, something is simmering—anger, regret, and self-pity.
Even if I try to suppress it, Shiina's words don't stop.
"Is your only option to clam up? Aha, I guess it can't be helped. You don't even have the power to properly argue back, do you? That's right, you don't even come close to me."
"...Shut up..."
It was the limit. I bit my lip hard, and the taste of blood spread. I can't stand being talked down to like this.
I whipped my aching body and craved for at least one hit in my mind. I wanted to wipe out the past where I had lived running away, right here—that feeling finally burst out.
"I said shut up already!!"
The moment I raised my voice, a heat of anger that made me forget the pain all over my body blazed up. As if my shackles had been shattered, my body felt light.
Stomping down as if slamming my foot, I poured all the remaining magic into my legs.
"I'm clinging on with the last of my pride! I can't end up just being constantly defeated by someone like you, Witch of Absolute Zero!!"
In response to my angry shout, my vision accelerated at once. A speed that was incomparable to before—I was surprised myself. Is this the latent power that anger has drawn out?
It may not reach her anyway. But that doesn't matter. All I can do now is put everything into this fist and hurl it.
I rush straight at Shiina and shout as if roaring.
"—I'll make you regret it!!"
Shiina looked at that and grinned with delight.
Even so, I can't stop anymore. I took the bait. In order to pour out the anger that made my blood boil.
◆
I—Setsu—heard a loud roar and saw dust swirling up, and the training ground went silent for a moment... or at least it felt like it, but honestly, I don't care.
After watching the butterfly flutter away, I sit down on the bench and gaze blankly at the sky. Once this mess is over, I want to go home as soon as possible. My gardening is waiting for me.
"...Ah, I wonder if the cherry tomatoes are ripe today. I wonder if I should use them for dinner..."
Because I'm thinking about things like that, no matter how intense the battle unfolds at the edge of my vision, I'm not interested at all.
"Haa... why did my peaceful holiday have to turn into this..."
I know that Shiina is unilaterally beating up the participants. I just want it to end soon.
In the distance, I heard another dull thud. Apparently, a fierce blow was struck.
"—Well, do your best, everyone."
While sending a silent cheer in my heart, I sigh. My head is only filled with thoughts of how to get home, and honestly, I haven't been watching the details of the battle at all.
So, I was just enduring my sleepiness, waiting for time to pass in a place unrelated to the heat of the training ground.
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