At that moment, while Aria and the other two were watching the battle from the sidelines at the side of the room!
“...May I offer you something to drink, my ladies?”
“Oh, yes, please. We’re a little tired from traveling.”
“Is that so? Shall I go make us some tea?”
“Oh, would you? Thank you so much, Mr. Sebas!”
“We appreciate the offer, Mr. Tiansteward.”
“But of course. Being a good host is all part of being a steward. I have cookies as well, if you’d like.”
“Yes, please!”
“Aria, you’re so eager, aren’t you...? It may be better to not just accept everything that anyone offers you, you know.”
“Now, now, Résistance! He’s going to the trouble of offering them to us, so let’s eat them!”
Résistance and Aria enjoyed being completely passive spectators to the fierce duel between Wataru and Elphabelle!!
✦ ✦ ✦
“Get a load of this!!!!” Wataru roared as a challenge! He charged forward magnificently as he made a horizontal karate chop, but Elphabelle bent over backwards to avoid it!
“Good reflexes!”
“I didn’t grow up in an assassin’s guild without learnin’ a thing or two!” Still bent over backwards, Elphabelle displayed her superior powers of flexibility with a swift rising kick, the target of which was—Wataru’s crotch!! Oh, the humanity!
“!?”
Wataru rammed his arms downward to bring her approaching kick to a screeching halt!
“Hey, I thought we agreed my balls were off limits!”
“Oh, did we?” Elphabelle laughed, without a trace of guilt on her face!
“Y-You little bastard...!”
“Did you forget, Wataru? I’m the daughter of a family of assassins! Rule breakin’, rule changin’, cruel and unusual punishments... all of those are just tools of my trade!!” As she was talking, Elphabelle appeared to have something in her mouth! Suddenly, she spat whatever she had in her mouth at Wataru!
“The hell are you doing!?!?”
A purple mist emerged from Elphabelle’s mouth! It was clearly poison gas!
Even our brave Wataru had failed to notice that she had, at some point, stuffed her mouth with poison! Poison had specifically been noted as being against the rules in this fight, but Elphabelle couldn’t be bothered to care about that! She was literally a walking example of a pro-wrestling “heel”; a “bad guy” in an event where the fights are, of course, “completely unscripted”!!
“Shit!”
Wataru was justifiably pissed off as he quickly retreated!
Aria, who was sipping her tea as she watched, shouted her objection to this new development! “Hey, now! That’s unfair!”
Résistance, who’d been munching on a cookie next to Aria, turned to Sebas to voice her disapproval! “Om nom... Hey, Mr. Tiansteward... She may be an assassin, but this has to be crossing the line, doesn’t it? Nom...”
Sebas answered her without his expression changing in the slightest!
“Oho, Ms. Résistance, complaining now, are we? You, who with your friends forced your way into another’s home, telling us that we must ‘hand over our family heirlooms’? Surely you can’t be too surprised that there are some ‘house rules’ that apply to this battle, as it were.”
“W-Well... I guess you’re right... om nom nom...”
Résistance was so overwhelmed by the force of the steward’s words that she made no further complaint and went back to munching on her cookies!
It was then that Wataru, his face screwed up in rage, faced his opponent and yelled!
“Elphabelle... I HATE cheating bastards like you!! I will defeat you, no matter what it takes!” These words, the sheer epitome of a hot-blooded fighting teen’s passion, deeply inspired Résistance!
“You tell her, Wataru! A just soul cannot bear the use of such underhanded tactics... You’re truly amazing!!”
“But didn’t Wataru sucker-punch Jacob while his guard was down so we could steal the second orb from him...?” Aria unintentionally countered Résistance’s point about Wataru’s “just soul”! And perhaps rightfully so! But Résistance was full-throated in her denial of Aria’s argument!
“That was then! This is now!” I’m sure we can all agree with Résistance’s logic!!
Now then! I may have said I’ll do whatever it takes, but this is honestly looking pretty bad......!!
Despite his rage, Wataru continued calmly assessing his situation as he kept his distance from Elphabelle! He may have had some sharp words for her a moment ago, but they didn’t change anything about the stalemate they were in!
My opponent’s an assassin, and I knew she’d try some dirty tricks... but at this rate, I can’t see how I can beat her!
If he was going to win this battle, Wataru would have to continue dealing with all of Elphabelle’s dirty tricks while continuing to assault her with ridiculously powerful blows! But Elphabelle was more than underhanded tactics! With her mysterious strength to back her up, she was an agonizingly difficult opponent!
If that’s the way this is going to be... I’m going to have to do this...!!
Wataru’s forte was the speed at which he could identify and fix his own weaknesses! The moment he realized that he would never achieve victory if he continued fighting this way, he instantly had a plan in mind to address it!
If I can’t beat her this way... what about... this!?
In the very next instant Wataru did the most! Unbelievable! Thing!
—He lowered his fists!