Chapter 11 - Rematch
I woke up. I didn't know what time it was because there were no windows, but since I felt hungry, I thought it was already morning.
For now, let's get dressed and eat the bento.
Yesterday was a tough day.... let's eat two boxes.
This is a bliss.
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Having finished eating and checking my appearance, I decided to step outside.
Come to think of it, I wonder what happened after that. There was also that weird macho.
When I opened the door and looked outside, it was dark due to the trees, but it seemed that it was already morning just as I had expected. I saw the elves gathered in one place, and Mittor who was banging his hands against an empty air.
What is he doing? Pantomime?
Some distance apart, I saw the three sisters, the macho, and a human kid I saw for the first time, were sitting on the ground while having meal.
I can see it clearly, but it seems they're eating some kind of dish --- a meat sandwiched between breads and dressed with a tomato sauce. Looks delicious....
"Good morning. Have you made up with the elves? Go home when you're done. But before that, if possible, give me that breakfast as well.'' (Fell)
No one answered. That hurts a little.
"Still saying such things even in this situation. You're interesting as ever." (Ur)
It's you who's interesting. There's tomato sauce stuck on your nose.
"Y-You!? I've been waiting for you until morning!" (Macho)
"So what? I believe I've told you to wait yesterday." (Fell)
"I didn't think I would have to wait until morning! I couldn't enter the house because the barrier that you had set up was too strong!" (Macho)
It's still morning and he's already this noisy. I hope he would go home soon.
"Fell! Help!" (Mittor)
Mittor is asking for help, but what kind of help?
"I don't understand. What do you want me to help with?" (Fell)
"This barrier, we were locked inside this barrier and couldn't get out!" (Mittor)
Barrier? Now that he mentions it, there is indeed a barrier surrounding the elves. I guess it's not something they created themselves.
"That's a barrier created by this child, and it's not as easy to break as yours." (Ur)
Ur said while placing his hand on the child's head.
Is that a boy? Maybe he was the one who shot Thunder Spear at me yesterday. Well, if he could create such a strong barrier, he might be able to shoot magic from such a great distance without losing the firepower. But not easy to break, huh. Interesting....
I punched the barrier once. There was a visible crack running through the air.
"Indeed, it's pretty strong that I couldn't destroy it with single punch." (Fell)
When I punched it for the second time, the barrier was shattered while producing a breaking sound of falling pottery
Two punches. This could be considered not easy to break, I guess.
Still, I wonder why they're looking at me like that. I don't have bed hair or something on my face, right?
When I was worrying about that, I heard the elves raised a battle cry as they charged towards the Ur group. Snapped back to their sense because of that, Ur and her companions unsheathed their weapon and got ready to fight. Dozens of mud golems were also created around them to act as shield.
From the flow of mana, I guess it was that child. He is pretty good.
"Fell! Help us!" (Mittor)
Why should I? This is not my problem.
"Stop spacing out! I got it! The apples, I promise I will sell them to that village!" (Mittor)
“Deal!” (Fell)
Okay, where should I start?
"Putting the elves aside, Fell is really a bad news. Everyone, we are withdrawing! Our first priority is to escape! When you reach the evacuation point, teleport yourself to another place and make a run!" (Ur)
"What? I'd rather fight her!"
"You, did you break the barrier using brute force?"
"Tch, it can't be helped.... Your name is Fell, right? Let's play with me next time." (Macho)
Macho pointed his index finger at me.
Don't point your finger at someone's face!
"Idiot! Escape fast---" (Ur)
Also, don't go assuming there will be next time. You haven't escaped and I wouldn't let it happen.
I appeared right in front of Macho using teleportation and unleashed a body blow.
"Ugh!?" (Macho)
Macho guarded my attack with his both arms and got blown away to the back.
The distance is too far. Did he use a jump to propel his body backwards?
I appeared in front him again using teleportation.
I feel a little dizzy from using teleportation in a quick succession....
"Give me a break!" (Macho)
This time, instead of dodged or guarded, he counterattacked my fist with his own fist.
Maybe he's someone who fights with bare hands like I do?
My right fist collided with his right fist, producing a dull sound like lumps of metal hitting each other.
I thought he was bare-handed, but it looks like he's wearing something like gloves. I sense magic from it. Is that a magic tool?
"Your bare fist is even on par with my Dragon Fang!?" (Macho)
Is that the name of his gloves? However, it's not on par. My fist is much stronger.
We clashed fists five more times after that.
The basic tactic in combat is to invalidate the attack method of the opponents. This act will make the opponents think their attacks are meaningless and put them under pressure.
"Dammit!" (Macho)
Macho who started getting impatient, lost his balance when his right hook met an empty air. Seeing an opening, I changed my center of gravity to my left foot and punched his left flank. Macho's body flew to the left side and crashed into a tree.
It will be troublesome if he tries to get away from me like before. He looks quite sturdy, I’m sure he won't die that easily.
"Guha!?" (Macho)
Leaking such a pitiful cry, Macho lost his consciousness.
Yeah, not dead. Good.
Ur came attacking me with her sword in the next moment.
Fast! Did she use acceleration magic? I'm sure I had crushed her sword yesterday. Is that a spare?
I widened our distance since I found it difficult to dodge all of her attacks. Ur turned her palm towards me and shot several Fireball and Waterball.
Her magic attacks were lacking in power because she was focusing in number and speed. However, since I didn't want my clothes to catch fire or get wet, even if I wouldn't get hurt by them, I hid behind a nearby tree and used it as a shield.
The elves might get mad if the tree caught fire, but it couldn't be helped in this situation.
"Take Rock and run away!" (Ur)
Is that Macho called Rock? Not like I'm interested.
One of three sisters emerged from Ur's shadow, picked unconscious Macho, and immediately ran away.
Oh, she's running while shouldering someone who's almost two times bigger than herself. What a surreal sight! Oops, it's not the time to be amazed.
When I was about to chase them using teleportation, Ur interrupted by jumping into my field of vision. Her sudden action surprised me.
"You seem to be able to teleport only to somewhere within your field of vision. In that case, I can predict it so some extent." (Ur)
You spotted my weakness in this short amount of time? Not bad.
"Eat this too!" (Ur)
Ur threw something at my feet. When it hit the ground, thick smoke overflowed from that spot.
Smoke bomb? Indeed, it will be difficult to use teleportation in this limited visibility. Still, where did she take it from? Maybe she can use space magic like I do.
I gave up on chasing the two since Ur kept getting in the way. Meanwhile, the elves also seemed too busy engaging with the other two.
There's no helping it. I will defeat Ur first and then go after them later.
"Deceleration. Deceleration. Deceleration." (Fell)
I canceled the effect of her acceleration magic using deceleration magic, but Ur restored them without missing a beat.
"Acceleration. Acceleration. Acceleration." (Ur)
Then, I will just need to repeat it until she runs out of mana.
The same exchange was repeated for many more times after that. From the onlookers’ point of view, we might appear to be doing something pointless.
"Ugh, hold on... If you let us go now, I will make sure to return this favor later.... How about that...?" (Ur)
"I'm not interested in you people who don't have apples. If it's a payment, I'll get it from the elves." (Fell)
"Too bad. Then, I have no choice but to go all out!" (Ur)
Go all out? Is she still hiding something? Interesting. Bring it on!
Ur stabbed her sword into the ground. I couldn't see her well because the smoke was still hanging in the air, but a magic circle emerged in the sky above her. I had no idea what kind of magic she was trying to cast. Just to be safe, I evacuated to the outside of magic circle's range.
Okay, what’s next?
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Hmm….
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Nothing happens….
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"Hey, are you done yet?" (Fell)
I tried asking her, but no answer was returned.
I wonder how long I have to wait....
"Fell, what are you doing?" (Mittor)
What am I doing? Fighting, of course.
"Ur seems to be going all out now. Be on guard, even I have no idea what will happen." (Fell)
"That’s not her!" (Mittor)
Huh? What are you saying?
“That’s just a golem who looks like her due to illusion magic. The real one has escaped a while ago.” (Mittor)
Eh!? He’s right..... That’s just a golem. Just when did she trade places?
Now that I think about it, those three sisters disguised themselves as the elders using magic. Ur might have used the smoke bomb for this purpose as well.
I've been had! I should have used my Mystic Eyes during the battle. Because I had a very bad headache yesterday, I decided to not use them as much as possible today. Just in case, let's check their location with search magic....
They have already gone that far, huh.
"I'm sorry, they got away." (Fell)
"Nah, that enough. I mean, we didn't even have our hands or feet before them." (Mittor)
"You guys are surprisingly weak." (Fell)
"They're just that strong!" (Mittor)
I heard from Maou-sama that human race was weak, but I have never though they were strong enough to be able to defeat elves. Speaking of which, I also heard that they would use various tools to supplement their lack of power. In that case, they might have been using various magic tools all this time.
"How about the others? Are they still fighting against mud golems?" (Fell)
"Don't worry about that. We have destroyed all the mud golems." (Mittor)
Is this over? Great. Now let's go back!
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"Thanks. You saved us again." (Captain)
The captain bowed her head to me.
You don't need to thank me. This is just a part of the deal, after all.
"Don't mind it. I just hope you haven't forgotten the deal." (Fell)
"Of course not. Mittor will take care of it." (Captain)
"Captain, please ask for my consent first!" (Mittor)
"You made the promise, so take responsibility!" (Captain)
Everything seems to have been decided. If it's Mittor, I'm sure there will be no problem. No, his personality is a little problematic. Still, I just decided to open a trade with the elves on my own. I hope it won't become a bother to the people of Sodogora Village. If the village chief against it, maybe should I do it outside the village.
Mittor made a suggestion when I was worrying about such problems.
"Since the elders should have woken up by now, how about we finish this trial stuff as soon as possible? (Mittor)
That's right, everything started from a false accusation. I'm innocent since I haven't done anything. However, Maou-sama turned out to be the perpetrator. He said he would restore the World Tree, though. I feel like we were fueling the fire only to take advantage of it.
"I don't mind. However, the testimony from those humans had become practically invalid at this point, right? That should have proven my innocence." (Fell)
"Tell the elders that you are innocent. I guess that's all there is to it." (Mittor)
This is just for a formality, huh. There's no helping it.
"I understand. Let me meet the elders." (Fell)
I will win the trial!