“You’re the dummy,” Sophie grumbled. “Can a Hero really refuse a companion’s request to spar for the sake of getting stronger?”
“I suppose not.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, the atmosphere shifted.
No, the environment shifted.
Sophie stared blankly at her surroundings—a wilderness overgrown with weeds and dotted with jagged rocks. She looked back and saw the city walls in the distance.
The rough lead-tiled roofs were gone, replaced by a clear blue sky.
The massive, iron-gray city walls loomed several kilometers behind them. The hustle and bustle of the city had been completely swallowed by the whistling wind of the open plains.
She and Kaila were now outside the city.
I didn’t even blink. When did this happen?
But Sophie didn’t have time to dwell on it.
Kaila held a one-handed sword made of pure light at an angle, her face devoid of any emotion.
“Come at me,” Kaila said calmly.
Switching to battle mode in a second again?
“You asked for it!”
Sophie took a deep breath, pushing her confusion aside. She raised her Oil-paper Umbrella and charged at Kaila.
“Take my Salted Fish Thrust!” Sophie shouted, though her attention was fixed on the system logs.
【Log: Skill [Seeking Defeat (Reversed) Lv. Max] triggered!】
Here it comes!
Sophie’s gaze sharpened. Even though Kaila was swinging her sword as slowly as possible, Sophie still couldn’t track the trajectory of the light blade at all.
But it didn’t matter.
Clang—
A crisp, logic-defying sound of clashing metal echoed across the wilderness.
The sword of pure light briefly ground to a halt for half a second when it touched the blunt, rounded tip of the Oil-paper Umbrella.
Then, its momentum undiminished, it slashed toward Sophie.
Sophie felt her arms go numb. Using the counterforce, she slid backward with an elegant, almost master-like poise.
Her deerskin boots left two shallow tracks in the withered grass. After sliding about three meters, Sophie came to a steady halt.
She looked down at herself.
She was completely unharmed; her heart hadn’t even picked up speed.
Only the edge of her newly purchased dark blue skirt had caught a bit of grey dust kicked up during the slide.
A slightly dirty hem—that was all.
“Phew...”
Sophie exhaled slowly, closing the undamaged Oil-paper Umbrella and resting it against her back.
She tilted her chin up slightly, looking at Kaila with a profound gaze that seemed to have seen through the world’s vanities.
“Such overbearing sword intent,” Sophie sighed lengthily. “My ultimate strike, which concentrated my entire life’s power and ignores all defenses, was actually neutralized by your casual blow. I lose this round. However, the gap was but a hair’s breadth. Truly... a narrow defeat!”
This skill is invincible.
It’s concept-level.
I really could take on Sukuna now.
Sophie thought gleefully.
She opened her eyes.
And then she saw it.
Kaila was right in front of her.
Still holding her sword.
A bewildered Sophie met a bewildered Kaila’s gaze.
Sophie: Why are you still coming?
Kaila: Why aren’t you defending?
Thwack!
The flat of the light sword slammed squarely into Sophie’s chest.
Even though Kaila had pulled her strength at the last moment.
Sophie was still sent flying like a baseball hit by a power batter. Her feet left the ground instantly as she zipped backward across the grass.
Thump.
...
“I... I didn’t use much strength.” Kaila pulled Sophie, who had been flattened like a pancake against the city wall, back down. “Are... are you still alive?”
Flat Sophie: “...”
She silently looked at the log, noting that she had gained one point of Blood Essence.
I’m angry. The kind that can’t be fixed with an apology.
Bathed in the fierce afternoon sunlight, the flattened Sophie puffed back up like a balloon.
“Unless the Hero accompanies me on a date, I’m going to stay very angry,” Sophie said.
“B-but today, I really do have commissions,” Kaila said, looking troubled. “How about this... tomorrow, I’ll stand with you for a bit. The day after, for a bit too. And the night after that, I’ll have time.”
How much does this Hero love standing around?
“Is that okay?” Kaila asked cautiously.
“Hmm...” Sophie nodded reluctantly. “Seeing as the Hero is being sincere...”
Kaila breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the sky. “Then, see you tomorrow.”
“I have to go... complete the things a Hero should do.”
After saying that, Kaila didn’t linger.
She turned around, and the next moment, Sophie found herself standing in the middle of the street again.
Kaila was nowhere to be seen.
“The things a Hero should do... are they really that important?” Sophie murmured.
She didn’t understand.
If the Hero felt joy from helping others, or satisfaction from upholding justice and receiving praise, Sophie would have understood.
But Kaila’s face showed none of that.
On that expressionless face, only someone capable of reading micro-expressions could see her true emotions.
Fatigue.
A deep sense of fatigue.
When she had questioned Sophie about whether she had ordered any crimes and received a negative answer.
Sophie had clearly seen a look of relief cross the Hero’s face.
The only hint of joy she had shown was when Sophie invited her out.
She was clearly happy.
Yet Kaila had refused.
Sophie didn’t understand why.
Whatever, they had a date now anyway.
Sophie stretched and began to wander through the city.
Time to scout the area and decide where they should “stand around” tomorrow.
Rate on N.U.
