But unlike in the first go-around, where Father’s level was barely enough to get by, he was plenty strong. Even though the attack hit him square on, Father didn’t even move. Father was invincible!
I looked around the crowd to find the Crimson Swine. Everyone could tell that the spell came from her direction, but the judge was acting like he didn’t even notice. Or rather, he was so flustered that the attack did nothing that he didn’t know how to react.
“Hey! Unfair!” Keel started barking, pointing at the Crimson Swine.
Suddenly, the king stood up. “Everyone! We must save the Bow Hero from the Shield Hero!” And not just Trash, but all of the nearby spectators that could use magic started to chant incantations.
“Stop it! That’s not fair!”
They aimed their various spells at Father and attacked. A variety of attacks went hurtling toward Father: fire, wind, earth, water, thunderbolts, beams of light. But the moment they launched the attacks, Father raised his shield.
“Shooting Star Shield!”
The shield crushed Itsuki beneath it and rendered him completely unable to move, and the volley of spells dissolved into smoke as they collided with the barrier that Father had raised.
Then I heard Ren’s voice.
“What the hell?!”
Ren had been watching from a distance. He then started to race toward Trash and the Crimson Swine. I was glad that I didn’t have to speak up on behalf of Father and Ren did so voluntarily instead.
Soon enough I would give them their just desserts, I say. Soon enough.
“What the hell are you doing?! Why are the royalty and magicians interfering in what was supposed to be a fair, evenly matched duel?”
“The Shield Hero used a cowardly, poisoned shield,” Trash responded. “Which means that Itsuki is in fact the victor!”
“Poison is a perfectly good battle strategy!” shouted Ren. “Naofumi doesn’t have much choice, does he? Otherwise, it’s just not a fair fight!” Ren drew his sword. “Stop your attacks against Naofumi at once. Because of your overt interference, anyone with eyes can see that Naofumi has won the duel!”
“The Shield Hero unfairly stopped the Bow Hero from being able to move or attack!” Trash said. “This cannot be called a fair fight!”
“So why didn’t you set any rules for the fight in the goddamn first place? What the hell kind of joke of a duel is this, anyway?”
At this point Ren had completely lost his cool.
Then the Crimson Swine started crying and moved toward Ren, but he held up his sword as a warning.
“You really don’t know where to stop, do you?” Ren hissed. “There’s nothing more cowardly than getting the spectators to attack one of the participants! That was your last resort, wasn’t it? I’ve seen enough!”
“Oink oink oink oink.”
“Now she’s saying that you couldn’t bear to see Itsuki, who had rescued her before, about to lose,” Yuki interpreted for me.
“Then why resort to sending a whole damn volley of spells at him! As a princess, you have the power to stop it and let it be a fair fight! But because of you, we all know that Itsuki lost!”
Now that Ren was blaming the Crimson Swine, Trash reluctantly raised his hand and stopped the barrage of magic attacks.
When the dust cleared, Itsuki was still completely held down under Father’s Shooting Star Shield. And Father remained unharmed.
“That was a surprise,” he said. “So? Did I win yet?”
“I . . . I won’t . . . surrender . . .” Itsuki croaked.
“Impressive, given your position,” Father said. “I guess that’s what it takes to be a hero.”
“Unfortunately, thanks to the princess and king here, you’ve lost this duel, Itsuki,” Ren called. “And even if they didn’t try to cheat your way to victory, the poison will eventually take you out.”
“No . . .” Itsuki groaned and fell unconscious.
After checking to make sure Itsuki was knocked out, Father stood up and let go of him. Immediately, the Melromarc court magicians hurried over to Itsuki and started using magic to heal him.
“Satisfied yet?” Father called up to Trash and the Crimson Swine.
Trash clenched his fist and the Crimson Swine grumbled out an oink.
I saw that Ren was still staring at them suspiciously. It made sense—he saw the blunt favoritism right in front of us. He was a little slow on the uptake, but still . . .
Pretty much everyone looked angry and uncomfortable.
“When Itsuki wakes back up, I’m going to force him to admit that Naofumi won,” Ren said. “And since Naofumi’s slaves really seem perfectly content with where they are, he’ll have no choice but to let it go.”
This is the most overt Ren has been so far, taking Father’s side this way. He must’ve seen how wholeheartedly Keel was supporting Father during the duel. I didn’t need to say anything at all.
“You did it, Big Bro!” cried Keel.
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Sakura said. “I wanted to help you so bad.”
“Thanks so much, Keel and Sakura,” Father said before waving to me and starting to walk over.
I didn’t see any need for us to stay in Melromarc any longer.
Father turned back to Trash and the Crimson Swine and gave them an evil grin. That’s right, you fiends—your plan backfired!
“My god, even after seeing all that, they still wanted to attack me,” Father said. “Itsuki’s sense of justice is a bit off. He really has some huge blind spots, doesn’t he?”
“I could not agree more,” I said.
“Hey, Motoyasu,” called a voice. It was Ren. He seemed to have something he wanted to say to me.
“Naofumi,” Ren said.
“What’s up?”
“You had nothing but your shield, but you came up with a great strategy. I didn’t realize you’d be able to pull off something like that. Nice job.”
“Oh, uh . . . thanks?”
“Itsuki just didn’t have it in him. I never thought he would lose to a shield, of all weapons.” Ren shook his head.
I saw a flash of anger cross Father’s eyes.
“Big Bro is strong!” Keel shouted, hurrying over.
“Yeah! Naofumi could beat you up,” Sakura said.
Father held up a hand, as if to apologize for the interruption.
“Well, we’re all finished up here, so we should get back to the carriage,” Father said.
“Agreed,” I said. “Let’s come back to the castle tomorrow though.”
Because of the change in events here, I wanted to find out what Melromarc’s next move might be.
We hurried our way out. All the spectators were quiet and gloomy, as if Father had spoiled the mood.
I heard later that Trash and the Crimson Swine were so angry they completely lost it, but who even cares?