074: Rotten Den

Eric and I run down the roads of the royal capital, closely followed by Shelka with Fire Magic ready around her.

“Hey, Eric. Is there a backstreet that we could lose her on?” Al

We haven’t been able to lose her yet, so I prod Eric. I feel like we’ve run far enough that it might have happened.

“Huh? We’re on the main street. There’s not any such streets off of this road.” Eric

“Then let’s get onto a road like that, I thought you knew the capital?” Al

I sighed unintentionally when Eric didn’t think through our problem.

“But, this happened because you taught Ms. Lana something funky.” Eric

“Well, I didn’t expect her to use that technique for that purpose.” Al

Additionally, Shelka’s underwear was surprising, they were cuter than her uptight attitude would suggest.

“Oh, she’s angry. Magic is flying at me!” Al

I quickly deploy a Shield magic, the savage flame aimed at me was blocked and turned into black smoke. You can’t break through my Shield magic with that level of flame. Even so, I don’t feel like Shelka was pulling her punches, I’ll have to be careful.

“How effortless was that, using fancy Shield magic without chanting! Who the hell are you?!” Shelka

“I’m just the second son of a low-ranking country aristocrat!” Al

Also, you’re the one using the fancier magic, but I won’t shout that. Between me and a prestigious aristocrat from a well-known magic family, who should be using the fancy magic? She seems to be strengthening her legs so she can fire magic at us while running after us. She’s good at controlling her magic as well. Will we be able to lose her?

“It’s this way” Eric

“Oh, ok!” Al

Eric grabs my hand so we can hang a sharp right at a corner.

“Hey! No fair!” Shelka

Shelka threw a fireball at our departing forms and hits the corner of the wall, it explodes with a spray of white powder. I wonder why she’s so angry? Does she not want to enter the side street? It’s a bit dark and the road is narrow, it smells a bit dank, the sun must not hit this road much.

Since it’s a side street, the number of people were less than on the main street. I run down the street while being led by Eric, we turn left and right. Eric goes deeper and deeper without hesitation. I wondered if we could lose Shelka here, but she’s keeping pace with us.

Somehow, she’s looking even nastier than before, I’m worried. Even so, we run on hoping she’ll get lost at some point. As we go further down, I keep seeing more and more women. Am I just paranoid? Why are there so many women on this shady side street? Some of them were even wearing gorgeous clothes and wearing strange perfumes. Then I realized what was happening when they started to talk.

“Look, those to boys are holding hands!” Woman A

“Oh, boys?! It’s true!” Woman B

“Those two… they’re picture-perfect. I wonder who is giving and who is receiving?” Woman C

“Them? That boy… looks like someone?” Woman D

“Yeah! But that’s impossible!” Woman C

Those words are enough to make it clear who these women are. Eric has led us into a gathering of the strange women, perhaps a book is on sale? In a nearby shop, I can see a bunch of books piled up, does the cover has some skin showing? Looking at the women and their words, you can deduce that it’s that kind of store. I have to get out of here as soon as possible, for many reasons.

“Hey, Eric! This is a bad place for us! What’s the quickest way out of this area?” Al

“Why? We should be fine, it’s just a little further. There’s a straight path to the back road, right?” Eric

“No, I feel like Shelka might know this area…” Al

“Alfred! I really will get angry at you if you continue that thought!” Shelka

“…and it looks even worse for me. Let go of my hand at least.” Al

“all right…” Eric

Hopefully Eric also understood the unusual anger from Shelka, as he nodded and started running faster in an attempt to exit this area.

“Did we manage to lose her?” Al

I catch my breath as I look for signs of Shelka, but don’t find any. It looks like Eric and I managed to get out of that area and shake off Shelka, two birds with one stone! It seems like Shelka got caught in between two of the strange women, were they trying to get more details on Eric and I from Shelka? Were they calling themselves Freed?

However, I have a bad feeling. I can’t help but worry about the situation. Our priority should be to evacuate the area quickly.

“Anyway, let’s keep moving.” Eric

I’m in agreement with Eric, so I start moving with him to a side street.

“Ah! It’s Alfred!” Voice

Suddenly an unfamiliar voice called out my name, when I looked over, I found Bran holding a wooden sword in his hand.

“Huh?” Al

It’s another person I don’t want to see today. Since I overslept, I missed the duel, and Bran has a low boiling point…

“Hmm? Bran?” Eric

It sounds like Eric was also annoyed with Bran’s sudden appearance. I don’t want Shelka to pop up too, so I feel like I need to find a way to escape.

“Ah! Alfred! What are you wandering around her for when you skipped out on a duel with me!” Bran

“Huh? I thought you said you had handled it safely?!” Eric

“Well, I can just say Bran won, that works, right?” Al

“Don’t be silly! That’s not honorable! Duel me here and now!” Bran

Bran moved to block of my escape while holding his wooden sword.

“Deal with your problem…” Eric

Eric has made it clear he doesn’t want to be involved, so I guess I’ll have to handle it. I guess I’ll have to defeat him quickly, but would he change to pestering me every day I’m in the capital for a rematch? I don’t want to deal with that! The clock is ticking, the longer we stay here, the more likely it is that Shelka will catch up. That’s an instant loss!

“Ok, fine I’ll duel you.” Al

When I answer in the affirmative, Bran looks as if he can’t believe it. Perhaps he thought I’d fight more.

“Well, then take this wooden sword.” Bran

“No, I don’t want a wooden sword. I’ll fight with magic, if you’re fine with that, let’s go right now.” Al

“I’ll allow it, swords aren’t the only way to duel. But you won’t go beyond magic of the stunning variety, right?” Bran

Bran holds his wooden sword fearlessly, while the onlookers are giving him a strange look. Eric informs the onlookers that a quick duel of two aristocrats will occur. Perhaps this a relatively common occurrence in the royal capital, where students, aristocrats and adventurers live?

“Prepare yourself!” Bran

Bran gets into a stance with his wooden sword facing me. I can see that his position is solid, perhaps he isn’t terrible. Even though he was defeated instantly by Eleanora, it might be that Eleanora is a terrifying talent with the sword. Even so, I don’t think I’ll lose easily if I can use some magic, obviously I can’t use my trump card of Spatial Magic in public. I should be able to use body strengthening, that’d allow me to move easier. Bran glares at me as the tension increases, I can’t hear the crowd speaking as I focus my attention on Bran.

“Let’s go!” Bran

Bran made the first move by trying to swing his sword down onto my head. I dodged to the side, he should be able to get a blow in before I can get up. Bran doesn’t believe in my move, but quickly corrects himself and swings for me.

“I got lost in anger OOF?!” Bran

Bran was suddenly impacted in his back, like a cannonball had hit him. That was what I had been aiming for.

“Huh?” Onlookers

Nobody is quite sure what just happened, but a female voice broke in to remove the confusion.

“Ah! I thought it was a sure hit, but he just avoided it! Does he have eyes in the back of his head?!” Shelka

Behind me is a disheveled Shelka, it seems she was able to break away from the rotten women.

“Huh? Why is nobody talking? Eh? Who did I just hit?” Shelka

Translation

Good Job!

Do Better!

Chapter

Love It!

What?

FFS!

Really?