Meanwhile, a hundred blue Fireballs descended upon the Level 3 Healer, burning her to a crisp.
No, wait... scratch that last part.
“Whoa! That’s amazing! Who is she?!”
“I’ve never seen a Healer with moves like that!”
The crowd went wild as Nadine wove her way between globs of blue fire like a dancer on stage. She was so skillful, it appeared as though the Fireballs were avoiding her on purpose.
“Dude, she’s on par with a Thief or something... No, maybe a Brawler!”
“But she’s pretending to be a Healer? What a scam!”
“No, wait... Oh my god, you guys, I don’t think that’s a class skill! I think she’s just dodging them!”
“WHAT?!”
“You mean she just... knows how to do that?!”
“Everyone in this match is completely inhuman!”
As she danced, Nadine planned her next strategy. She was equipped with her Healer’s staff, two combat knives hidden up her pant legs, and an oversized dagger on her back. This was only possible, of course, because she was going against conventional “wisdom” and had dressed modestly. All thanks to Lilium’s equipment policy, instated by none other than Laplace herself.
“Rrgh! Why can’t I hit you?!” Katherine growled in frustration.
One hundred Fireballs, and not a single one hit its target. Worse still, Nadine had been steadily working her way closer and closer. And Mages were generally not equipped for close combat.
She started to panic.
“Round and round the wheel turns—”
And that was the moment Nadine closed in. The crowd gasped.
“She’s so fast!”
Flinging down her Healer’s staff, she brought her center of gravity low to the ground and shot forward like a bullet. Meanwhile, she pulled out one of her concealed combat knives.
She still wore her dowdy braids and big, round glasses... but now the gentle look in her eyes was gone, replaced by the unfeeling darkness of an Assassin.
Her knife glinting, she growled: “Think you can keep up with my dark blade?”
“Eeeek!”
Her murderous aura froze Katherine in her tracks. But just then—
“Neeheehee! We can’t afford to lose this match, little ladyyyy!”
—Goliath swooped in at the last moment to stand between her and Katherine. Nadine clucked her tongue in frustration. He was an unknown quantity; engaging with him would be too risky. Instead, she made a split-second decision. The majority of her assassination techniques were surprise attacks... and when it came to pure combat skill, she was confident she could take him...
“Hé hé, Nadine!”
A split-second later, she heard a snap. Reflexively, she looked over to find Laplace grinning back at her.
“What say we take another trip to the clock tower?”
At this, Nadine couldn’t suppress a smirk.
All at once, she took off running straight at Goliath like a raging bull, dodging a hailstorm of Fireballs as she went. He saw this and donned an eerie, sadistic smile—one that said he was sure of his imminent victory. That he would enjoy crushing his weak little opponent.
She was nearly upon him now, her blade glittering in the light. Meanwhile, he imbued his staff with mana and swung it down—
“Huh...?” He let out a confused grunt as his weapon cut through empty air. “She vanished...?”
He stared down blankly at his staff for a moment. Then it hit him.
“Blast—!”
But by the time the Master Mercenary had turned around, it was all too late.
“......Huh?!”
Katherine Foxxi yelped in confusion as she felt cold metal touch her neck. Nadine was behind her. How? How did she do it? Katherine knew she should’ve been completely protected. She was certain their attacks should have hit the healer.
“...That went over my headddd... literallyyyy... Damn, you got meeee...” Goliath grumbled miserably.
Just before Goliath’s swing could connect, Laplace had scooped Nadine up with her magic and sent her sailing up and over him. Then she’d quietly deposited her right behind Katherine.
“Forfeit or die. Your choice.”
Nadine glared at Katherine from behind the round lenses of her glasses, so fiercely it felt as though she were about to plunge the knife in at any moment.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Aah...!”
Her instincts were screaming that she was in mortal danger. Her legs shook. And then she felt something warm and wet hit her feet.
In her fright, Katherine... had wet herself.
Instantly her face flushed red with shame. She wanted to scream. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She’d wanted to turn heads, but not like this!
“Ggghhh...! I forfeit!” Katherine began to sob uncontrollably. “Don’t kill me...!”
A beat later, the referee’s voice rang out across the stadium: “We have a winner, folks! Championship match, round one goes to... Lilium!!!”
For a brief moment, the arena fell silent—and then the crowd exploded into cheers.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Welcome back, ladies!” Tanya exclaimed as Laplace and Nadine walked back over to the bench.
Nadine stiffened, wary.
“I can’t believe it! You used levitation magic on Nadine to get her into the opponent’s blind spot?! When did you guys rehearse that?!”
“Hahaha! I’m afraid that’s our little secret. Isn’t that right, Nadine?” Laplace grinned.
As for Nadine... she’d never imagined that splendid midnight stroll through mid-air would come in handy during the Sparring Tournament, of all things. Her body still felt light and floaty, and for some reason this made her feel a little bashful.
“Yeah... Haha... Honestly, we’re fortunate our opponents were too busy grandstanding to take us seriously. And we caught Goliath off-guard completely by chance.” Fidgeting, she tugged on her sleeve.
“Oh yeah, that reminds me! I never knew you were such a badass, Nadine! Why didn’t you tell us?! Wait... I know... you wanted it to be a surprise, didn’t you?!”
“Oh, um... well... you see...”
Steeling herself, Nadine resolved to tell them the truth—the whole truth.
“Wow... You really went through a lot, huh, Nadine?”
“No, no, it’s no big deal. Really, I’m just... touched that you still want to be my friend. I can’t express how much that means to me. So in exchange, Tanya, I’ll serve as your blade. The Assassin class is a master-level class, you know. So I’ll just change back, and once I switch out my equipment, I can be more useful and—”
“...What are you talking about?”
“Huh?”
Tanya stared at her in blank bafflement, a look Nadine returned in full.
“Is... Isn’t that what you want...?”
No... Maybe she doesn’t feel comfortable having an Assassin around... But just as Nadine hung her head—
“Not at all! Look, you wanted to be a Healer, right?”
“Oh... Well... Yes, but...”
“Then who cares if you’re good at it? Who cares if you’re ‘useful’? I admit, it really grinds my gears when they try to tell us women are ‘supposed’ to be Healers, but if it’s what you actually want to do for a living, then so be it! So what if you’re Level 3? Do what makes you happy!”
The words made Nadine’s chest ache, and she bit her lip. Yes... She had chosen of her own free will to forsake the path of a killer. She didn’t want to hurt—she wanted to heal.
“But I’m only Level 3!”
I’m useless, and I won’t get any stronger. Am I allowed to live my life this way?
“Seriously, who cares!” Tanya donned her usual carefree grin—the grin Nadine so dearly loved. “You’re Lilium’s Healer, and that’s that!”
Hearing this, she couldn’t possibly hold back her tears.
“Wehh... weeehhhh...!”
The drops smeared her lenses. How long has it been since I last cried? Years?
“Nnn... weehh... bbbhhhweeeaaahhh!!! Hhhggghhh!!!”
“Uh, Nadine?! Those are some really weird crying sounds!”
At Tanya’s remark, Laplace burst out laughing. “Hahaha! Reminds me of someone we know!”
“Gah...!”
“Hee hee... Go on and cry it out, Nadine. We’re all girls here, you know?” she continued.
It was the same thing she had told Tanya that day in the wasteland.
Women are so emotional. Women think they can cry their way out of anything. Society was filled with stock phrases designed to steal away a woman’s right to cry. Well, fuck that, Tanya thought. Everyone’s gotta cry sometimes.
As Nadine sobbed, Tanya pulled her into her arms, then looked over at Laplace. Together, they recited:
“And sometimes a girl’s just gotta cry.”
“Whew... Setting aside everything with my father,” Nadine began after she’d composed herself once more, “there were... other reasons I didn’t want to identify as a female Assassin.”
“You didn’t want people to mistrust you or something?” Tanya asked.
Nadine shook her head. “No... When I worked as an Assassin, I’d sometimes encounter older men who’d ask ‘So, if you’re a femme fatale, does that mean you do sex stuff on the side?’ But I never understood how they’d reached that conclusion.”
This was one of many reasons why being in a female-dominated class was simply easier.
“WHAT?!? You totally should’ve gone all Assassin on their asses!” Tanya shouted.