Chapter 547:
The Bear Wins the Duel
“I LOST.”
Seleiyu got to her feet after admitting she lost the duel. She wasn’t even a sore loser about it—I could see from her face that she had fully accepted my victory. She was a really good kid, just like I’d thought.
“You truly are just as powerful as Noir claimed.”
“You’re pretty good too,” I said.
“There’s no need to spare my feelings. I know there is a difference in skill between us that I can never hope to make up. That much is clear to me.”
“Aw, that’s not true. I couldn’t even attack you at first because I was so focused on defense.”
Seleiyu looked surprised at first, but then she smiled.
“Yuna, you’re an odd person.”
Was I? I wasn’t even dressed as a bear this time. I could understand her saying that if she saw me in my bear onesie but not dressed how I was now.
I was about to object, but Noa and Shia came over in that moment.
“Yuna, you were so very gallant.” Noa joyfully wrapped her arms around me.
“Noir, you have a great guard.”
“Yes, Yuna is very strong. She’s always there to help whenever I’m in trouble,” Noa said with a smile.
“You defeated Seleiyu so easily. It was amazing,” Shia said.
“Easily?”
I tilted my head. Seleiyu and Shia both were saying unexpected things about me. Shia knew that I was strong. Had it really looked like I’d “easily” won the duel? Or could other people intuit that it had been easy for me too?
“Normally, after exchanging that many blows, people would get flustered, not know what to do, or blindly go on the offensive. You were composed the entire time you were blocking Seleiyu’s strikes.”
“I wanted to at least make you flinch once, but no matter how I tried to strike you, I simply wasn’t capable of it.”
Wait, was that what it had looked like? I thought I’d successfully acted out a closely matched duel where I had focused solely on defense until turning the tables at the last moment. Apparently, that hadn’t worked out. I’d been so focused that I’d failed to realize I wasn’t actually acting out any emotions.
I guess any dreams of being a famous stage actor would have to wait.
“I attempted to stab at you, knowing that it might seem like an underhanded move, but you were able to dodge even that. I’m very sorry about that.”
“That seemed like a normal move to me?”
Stabbing was a normal thing to do with spears, rapiers, or swords. You could even do it with a knife, in battle. It was a regular offensive technique. Jyubei had folded a similar move into his normal repertoire.
“Thrusting like that is very dangerous during practice, so as a rule, we don’t. Of course, all offensive moves come with their own dangers, but we wear protective equipment when we practice jabs. Doing such a thing in uniform would be dangerous.”
Seleiyu looked at our clothes in turn.
Okay, now that she pointed it out, it did seem pretty dangerous. I wouldn’t have let her hurt me, but if she’d sneaked one in on me without my bear onesie, that wouldn’t have just been a run-of-the-mill injury. Maybe I was thinking about this like my game a little too much. In games, your life wasn’t actually in danger. Plus, my bear onesie had made me invincible since coming to this world. I really needed to be a tad more careful.
“That is why I called that jab underhanded. In my defense, I fully expected you to evade it. That was why I attempted that final maneuver, but even so, I suffered a clumsy defeat.”
She’d figured out that I was holding back and had bet the entire match on that last move, knowing I was likely to dodge it. That was why she’d spun around—because she’d expected me to dodge the jab. It made sense, considering how fast she’d moved right after that jab. She’d been planning it from the start.
In other words, she’d seen through my ruse, just like Shia had. Next time, I’d need to think this through a little more.
“You may have this back. Thank you very much.”
After Seleiyu handed back my sword, I put it away in my bear storage, along with the one I’d been using.
“So those gloves are not just an item bag. They also seem to protect your hands. I understand why your hands are so soft now. But why were your arms so soft too?”
Seleiyu started to feel up the flab on my upper arm, a clear result of my shut-in lifestyle and continuous lack of exercise. If she kept squeezing, I was going to have a mental breakdown. I fled from her, taking cover behind Shia.
“Sorry we interrupted your practice, Shia.”
“It’s no problem. We all got to see a spectacular show, after all!”
Shia looked to her right. A bunch of students from the capital were staring at us. I’d forgotten they were there. Had they noticed that I was holding back during the fight?
“Oh, good, then. But we didn’t duel using magic, so watching us won’t be helpful during the competition.”
“Even so, it was spectacular.”
“Though I did completely lose that match.”
“Anyone could tell that both your strikes and Yuna’s techniques as she blocked them were amazing.”
“Thank you. Hearing that from you is some consolation. Next time we duel, I hope that I can put up a less embarrassing show.”
Next time? There wasn’t going to be a next time. This was the last duel I wanted with her.
“Lady Seleiyu, you have no objections to Yuna being my guard then?”
“Yes, as promised.”
Looked like we didn’t need to worry about Noa getting another guard.
“Noa, what do you want to do now?”
We’d planned to meet Shia after a walk around town today. Since Seleiyu had caught us in the middle of our walk, we’d put a pause on that, but we still ended up seeing Shia early.
“You’re still practicing, Shia?” Noa asked.
“Yes. The gathering is the day after tomorrow, after all. I don’t think I’ll be able to spend time with you today.”
Noa looked a little disappointed. Shia placed a hand on her head.
“I need to practice today, but we could catch up tomorrow.”
“Do you mean it?!” Noa seemed ecstatic.
“Since it’ll be the day before the competition, both schools are taking a break,” Seleiyu told us. Apparently, she had been listening in.
“Let’s spend time together tomorrow, then. We’ll meet up at the bridge right at the front of the school.”
“All right. It was nice to see you today, and we don’t want to get in the way of your practice, anyway. Let’s head back.”
Noa was really excited about tomorrow’s plans. For now, we left the training grounds with Seleiyu so as not to get in the way of their practice. The students were gossiping behind us, but I decided not to worry about it.
“I didn’t expect to lose. I thought that I was rather powerful myself, but it seems there is always someone better.”
Seleiyu started to recap the duel as she walked beside us. I’d only won because of my bear gear increasing my abilities. Without my bear puppets, I couldn’t even hold a sword, much less block someone else’s. And without my bear shoes, I wouldn’t have the stamina to hold out.
The only thing that truly belonged to me was my skill in handling my sword. My offensive and defensive techniques were mine alone. No matter how much the bear gear powered me up, if I hadn’t been able to block attacks, I would’ve still lost. And if I couldn’t strike back, I’d never be able to win. I needed both.
“Who taught you how to fight with a sword, Yuna?”
A video game. Obviously, I couldn’t say that.
“Uh, well, I got training from a lot of people.”
There were the NPCs who taught me how to handle weapons in tutorials. I’d learned by watching other players fight, too. Honestly, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the internet had trained me too. I’d been hit a lot of times. In the worst cases, death had been a great teacher.
“I see. Even with others teaching you, it’s difficult to put that into action. Some people simply are not capable of implementing what they learn. If you learned that at your age, then you must have talent. I’m so jealous.”
I wished she’d stop praising me. It was making my heart seize up.
“Yuna was amazing, but so were you, Seleiyu. You fought, well, beautifully.”
Noa came to the rescue, redirecting the conversation.
“Ha ha. Thank you. But I was just doing as my instructor taught me, so I’d like to become stronger. I’ve been told I need to learn how to put the things I’ve learned to more practical use as well.”
“But if you know how to use magic, you should be able to improve by combining that with your sword fighting abilities.”
“Of course. I would like to have another duel with you Yuna, a magic duel this time.”
“I’m all dueled out.”
“That’s unfortunate. If only you had been part of the gathering, I could have defended my honor.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any plans to participate. More importantly, even though I was wearing a uniform, I wasn’t actually a student.
“By the way, Noir, when did you come to town?”
“Yesterday. I was planning to meet up with Shia today, so I was walking around town with Yuna until then.”
“Ah, so that was how you ran into me. If you arrived yesterday, where are you staying?”
“It’s an inn on the main road near the place where we ran into you. It has a bath in the room and the food was very good too.”
Noa had no reservations about giving away where we were staying.
“Ah, that inn. They’re well known for their quality.”
Seleiyu immediately recognized the inn.
I knew it was a nice place. They hadn’t even commented on my bear onesie. That said, it was probably just in case I was some well-to-do girl who could cause them potential trouble.
Seleiyu thought for a while.
“I have an idea. Noir, why don’t you and Yuna stay at my house while you are here?”
“Do you mean—”
“Oh, please don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t intend to assign a guard to Noir. I’d like to apologize for earlier by being your host.”
“Yuna...?”
Noa looked at me, not knowing what we should do.
“We’re grateful for the offer, but we’ve already paid for several days at the inn.”
I gently turned her down. I wouldn’t be able to relax at a stranger’s house. I really didn’t want to stay with her.
“Ah, so if you receive your money back, it would be all right? I know the person who runs the inn, so I can ask them for a refund on your behalf.”
She apparently hadn’t gotten my hint. It wasn’t about the money… I was turning her down in a roundabout way.