After our fight, I looked Sheila in the eye and told her sincerely, “Thank you.”
“Oh? Whatever for?”
“You made me realize that I’ve been hyperfocused on magic. This was the best way I could’ve found out.”
“Dear me... It sounds like I’ll be in for quite the struggle in our next rematch.”
I nodded. “You bet.”
Though I had no intention of telling her this, I did have physical attacks I could’ve fallen back on when she’d pointed out my overreliance on magic. I had plenty, in fact, besides summoning a Gnome.
As a recent example, I had set up some blue ant beads up in the sky, where they were still absorbing power from the sun even as we spoke. The moment I released the power that was suspending them up there, blazing orbs would come crashing down from the heavens. Naturally, Sheila’s magic barrier would’ve been useless against them.
All in all, I had many cards up my sleeve—if only I’d had the time to think things through. Unfortunately, time was a sparse resource when fighting against a skilled and speedy opponent like Sheila.
When pressed and cornered, my instinctive go-to was always magic. After all, magic was all I had. Sure, I was capable of dealing physical attacks, but I still needed magic for that—like tossing a huge boulder with my mana, for example. When the battle called for decisiveness and flexibility, these kinds of indirect, convoluted means just wouldn’t do.
My battle with Sheila just taught me that I had to fix this, and I very much planned to do so by her next visit.
“Wait, are you leaving already?” I asked.
“Yes. I must work on the finishing touches of my plan to obtain the duchy.”
“Oh...”
Sheila’s lips curled into a mischievous smile. “Goodness. Could you be missing me already?”
“Yeah,” I answered bluntly, causing her to look at me in surprise. “You’re the only person I know who’s on eye level with me.”
“Oh my...” Realizing that I was being serious, Sheila replaced the playfulness in her expression with curiosity. “What does that mean?”
“Lardon and the dragons give me tons of helpful advice, so they’re more like teachers to me... They are superior beings, after all. Meanwhile, the monsters and humans in this city call me their king. They basically place themselves below me.” I shrugged. “But you, Sheila... You act all high-and-mighty, but we interact on the same stage, if that makes sense. We see eye to eye and think similarly. I really appreciate having you around.”
“Have you forgotten that I’ve been attacking you nonstop this entire time?”
“Even better, actually. Thanks to you facing me head-on, I get to notice all the flaws I’ve never realized about myself. I wouldn’t have accepted my weaknesses so openly had it been anybody else.”
Had the monsters been the ones to challenge me, I would’ve just brute-forced my way through with magic. In the dragons’ case, I would’ve just accepted my loss because, well, who’d ever expect to win against them? Only with Sheila as my opponent could I have arrived at this fruitful conclusion.
“Is that so...?” Sheila hummed. “My. I feel rather good about myself now.”
“Oh, yeah. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Hmm? Whatever do you mean?”
“Anything that can help you get stronger,” I clarified. “Aren’t you planning on preparing a new ace up your sleeve for next time?”
“Naturally.” Sheila propped her hand on her hip. The haughtiness suited her perfectly.
“I was wondering if I could help in any way. You don’t have to consider it as my thanks or anything.”
Lardon chuckled. “You seek to nurture your rival with your own hands?”
Oh, that’s a good way to put it. In a sense, Sheila had also “nurtured” me by pointing out my overreliance on magic, so I was simply doing the same for her.
Rivals nurturing one another... I might have been seeking this type of relationship all along. After all, what better way was there to stimulate my magic growth?
“Hmm... In that case, I do have something in mind,” Sheila said.
“Sure. Hit me with it.”
“I would love to learn that cloning spell of yours.”
“Oh... Contract Summoning?”
“Yes. From what I’ve gleaned, it appears that the clone’s memories and experiences are all transferred to the original once the spell is undone.”
“That’s right.”
“Then, I would like to return home...and leave my clone here to observe you.” Her lips once again curled into a playful, devilish grin. “To find your weakness.”
“I get it... Sure. I recall this spell is in my Ancient Memoria... How long does it take to learn again...?” I dug through my memories, but it had been ages since I first learned this spell, so my memories were a little hazy.
“Will it take some time?” Sheila asked.
“Quite a bit, I think.”
“A shame, then. Let us save it for next time. I will make sure to open up my schedule.”
“No, hang on.”
I held up my hand, signaling her to wait as I racked my brain for a method to help her learn this right away. Sheila had to go home soon, so we didn’t have much time left. I needed a way for her to learn this spell in that short time frame... No, before anything, I needed an image to craft that spell.
My string of thoughts spilled from my lips as incomprehensible mutters, while my gaze fell vaguely on the ground. Eventually, I collated all my thoughts and looked up to meet Sheila’s gaze once more.
“Sheila,” I called.
“Yes? Have you thought of something?”
“Yeah. Could you try killing me?”
The girl blinked, her eyes wide as saucers. “Pardon?”