Well, even I have my pride, no matter how paltry it might be. True, I was the type of person to throw away any pride I had in times of emergencies, but this was different.
“I’m not bothered by her drawing on my face. Even if she wrote ‘meat’ on my forehead, I wouldn’t bat an eye. But...” There was something else I absolutely couldn’t forgive. I clenched my fists, and they began to shake.
“‘Meat’?” Sensei questioned, tilting her head.
“I can’t forgive her for turning me into the canvas of a high-quality drawing and a joke.”
“Huh...?”
“She delivered the entire punch line herself. I couldn’t do anything about it. And I wasn’t aware of it happening at any point. There was no possible counterplay. The only thing I could do was stand there and be a laughingstock.”
It didn’t have to be my face that she’d drawn on. I might as well have been a scarecrow. The joke hadn’t been my idea either. Despite that, everyone was laughing at me. I couldn’t forgive that. I wanted to be the one making the jokes.
“I do not understand your reasoning whatsoever... However, I do know now that you are an idiot.” Surprisingly, my passionate speech had not moved Sensei in the slightest. “That being said, I remembered something that may be of use to you. Today I noticed that Aegiana is a skilled artist. She seemed less guarded when she was drawing on your face. It’s possible that it’s her hobby.”
“I don’t like how the source of this information is my face, but okay. I’ll use this to plan my next moves.”
“I’ve never seen her draw before, though.”
“I just need to create that opportunity. I’ll get the canvas ready for her.” I pointed to my face.
Sensei made an exasperated expression.
“I’m gonna fall asleep during your class again, and she’ll draw on me. Can you make up a reason and call her to class?”
“You really expect me to assist you, huh...? Even though Aegiana punished you for my sake?”
Though she was saying that, I had a feeling that she’d help me anyway. I love that part of you, Sensei.
“I call this plan ‘Punk’d: I try drawing on the captain’s face, gone wild!’ Let’s do this!”
“What’s with that name?!”
Aw, come on, that’s no way to get hyped. Come on, cheer with me!
The next day, I lay on my desk and fell asleep...or at least, pretended to. Sensei was reading as usual. The captain should have been arriving at any minute. I heard footsteps in the corridor. There she is.
“Pardon my intrusion, Second Princess. It’s me, Aegiana.”
“Sorry to have you come when you’re so busy.”
“Think nothing of it. I will come whenever you call for me. What do you need from me?”
“I have a question about the birthday party...”
“Oh, in that case...”
They began to converse. It seemed that Aegiana still hadn’t caught on that this was all part of my plan.
When the conversation died down a little, Aegiana looked over at me. “He’s still sleeping? Dear lord...” I sensed that she was approaching me, then I felt the tickling sensation of brush hairs on my face.
No, not yet. Steady... Steady...
“You really are good at drawing, Aegiana.”
“Heh. I used to draw a lot in the past.”
She sounds nice and relaxed. Her brush strokes began to pick up. Good. Get more engrossed in drawing. Okay... Now! I bent my fingers in her blind spot and activated my trap.
“Hm?!” She reacted to my trap, but it was too late. As soon as she’d failed to notice its activation, I’d won.
Trapper may have been sealed during the day, but I was still able to put my experience to use. Something flew over from behind me—a bucket filled with black ink. It was on a direct collision path for all of us, and I didn’t care if I was caught up in the splatter. Let’s die together, Captain!
“What happened to drawing...?” I heard the second princess mumbling something, but I didn’t care.
“Foolish!”
Dammit. With her light body, the captain had dodged the wide spray of the ink. Not even a single drop landed on her. In contrast, I was drenched in black ink.
“That’s fine!” I’d accounted for her dodging my first attack. Now my body was essentially a wet brush. All I had to do was touch her, and I’d win!
“Weren’t you supposed to be drawing?”
Shut up, Sensei! This doesn’t end until I’m satisfied!
“I see... I’ve read your intentions, Inori.”
“How did you know, Aegiana?”
Shut up, Sensei!
“This is your revenge... I’ve been thinking about battling you at full strength. You seem as if you’ve become stronger recently. Now, come! Try and dirty me!”
“You don’t have to tell me twice!”
I began attacking her with more brushes, but she didn’t draw her sword. In other words, she was declaring that she didn’t need it to fight me. But she was underestimating me. She dodged my first brush thrust—she’s fast!—but I could still track her! I pointed my left hand in the direction in which she had evaded. I didn’t need to put any force behind it—all I needed to do was touch her. But she even dodged that.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
“I’m just getting started.”
What a weak taunt, but I’ll play your game!
“You two are surprisingly quite similar.”
Shut up, bystander! Dammit, her physical abilities are too high. My win condition was to hit her. For her, it was to leave her sword sheathed. But it didn’t feel as though she was fighting with a handicap. If I wanted to employ a surprise plan, I needed my Skills, but I couldn’t use them. I didn’t have many cards in my hand. I needed to somehow create an opening.
“How about this?!” I moved my hand in an arc, making drops of ink fly forward in a semicircle. I knew they wouldn’t connect, but that’s exactly what I wanted. As she dodged, I threw my brush at her. If she dodged, she’d get hit by the ink I’d thrown. But if she didn’t, she’d get hit by the brush. Your move.
“You still haven’t learned!”
Dammit! She slipped between the two by the smallest of margins. How can she move so precisely? This spelled the end of that strategy. I needed to move to the next—
Splat.
“Ah.” Both of our mouths fell open in surprise.
The brush that she’d dodged had instead hit the person who’d gotten bored and returned to reading—the second princess. Now, Her Highness’s left cheek had a splotch of black ink on it. I began to panic. The captain’s face grew pale. As for Sensei, she began to tremble with anger.
“You two...”
“Yes?” the both of us responded.
“Kneel on the floor.”
“Huh?” the two of us questioned.
“Now.”
She made us kneel while she gave us a lecture. A very long lecture. One that lasted about an hour.
“Um, Sensei, the ink on my body’s pretty much dried up. May I go wash—”
“No.”
“Second Princess, I have patrol duties to attend to. May I—”
“No.”
Both our requests were rejected. In the end, we were lectured until the sun set. Um, I’m hungry. Can I... No? Oh, okay. That request was rejected too.
Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It! Volume 1
End