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Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? (Light Novel) - Volume 4, Chapter 5: At the Dance Party
Volume 4, Chapter 5: At the Dance Party
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Part 1
Sunday, November 1st
“Hmm, it seems your injuries have completely healed.”
“That's what I keep telling you.”
“Those are just words, I can't trust that.”
One week had passed since Koutarou had gotten a cut on his forehead.
The wound had completely closed and it hardly stood out.
“Besides, your face is yours, but at the same time it's not. Tomorrows the big day; of course I'll be worried about your face.”
“...You're worried about the Blue Knight, not me, right?”
“Is that so wrong?”
“No, I think that's just like you, Tulip.”
“Fufun♪”
Theia lets out a satisfied laugh and began walking next to Koutarou with light steps.
I see, so the pleb's all healed up...
To Theia, Koutarou's and the Blue Knight's existence had begun overlapping, and not even she herself was sure if she had been worried about Koutarou or about the Blue Knight.
“Either way, with this, tomorrow's culture festival will go smoothly.”
“Hey Tulip, you should worry more about yourself instead of the culture festival. That Clan girl is targeting you, right?”
In the week following the light incident, Theia had been put in several dangerous situations.
All of them had been attacks disguised as accidents; moreover, no evidence of the culprit had been left behind.
The reason for why she hadn't been hurt was because of her own athletic ability and Koutarou and the others covering her.
“What? Are you worrying about me?”
“Somewhat, yes. Seeing you get hurt or dying would leave a behind a bad taste in my mouth. Besides, Ruth would cry if anything bad happens to you.”
“However, I won't run and hide, it doesn't fit me.”
Koutarou was worried about further attacks, but Theia herself smiled fearlessly.
“If you keep saying things like that, a light falling on top of you will be the least of your problems.”
“It's alright. I'm not just being reckless. As long as I'm aware that I'm going up against Clan, it'll be fine.”
“What do you mean?”
Koutarou figured that Theia was simply being stubborn, but her answer was unexpected.
“Clan has examined my actions beforehand, so she won't use any attacks that will leave behind any evidence. If she does, it'll be revealed that she was involved.”
If something were to happen to Theia, there will definitely be an investigation to see if Clan was involved.
Aside from Theia who was on Earth for her trial. Clan’s presence on Earth, despite having no business there was suspicious.
And if any evidence of her involvement was found, she would lose her right to the throne.
Which was why Theia was certain that Clan would take that into account as she got in the way of Theia's trial.
“Which means that as long as I act in a way that Clan hasn't seen before, I'll be safe.”
“Is that so...”
“That's right. The reason for why her attacks took such a long time is because of her preliminary investigation and deliberate preparations. Think about it, it's already been two months since she came to Earth.”
“Now that you mention it...”
Koutarou finally agreed with Theia.
It had already been two months since the Blue Knight detected the unknown spaceship.
Meanwhile, what had the crew been doing?
Surely, they must have been scouting in order to attack Theia.
Once he began thinking like that, it started to make sense.
Clan's battleship's lack of firepower, her personality, the various problems that had happened after Theia had been attacked.
Adding all of that together, Koutarou agreed that it was most likely just as Theia had said.
“That's why if I go to school together with you, nothing will happen. Up until now I've never gone to school with you after all.”
“But still...”
However, Koutarou was still uneasy, largely because he didn't know what kind of person Clan was.
Since it was someone he didn't know, he was worried that she might attack Theia using an unexpected method.
The pleb is... worried about me...
Ever since they met, Koutarou had rejected the idea of becoming Theia's vassal.
But now that Theia was in danger, he couldn't help but worry.
He's not worried about princess Theiamillis, but rather me personally; he's worried about Tulip, so to say...
Despite Koutarou and Theia not being in a servant/master relationship, Koutarou was worried.
That was a first for Theia who had been born into royalty, but she didn't dislike it.
“If you're so worried, then why don't you protect me?”
Theia smiled as she said that.
“Isn't that the duty of a knight, Blue Knight-sama?”
“Don't treat me like the Blue Knight whenever it's convenient for you...”
Unlike Theia who had a bright expression, Koutarou dropped his shoulders and sighed.
“Is that so wrong?”
As he did, Theia made a mischievous expression.
“No, I think that's just like you, Tulip.”
“Fufun♪”
However, her mischievous expression only lasted for a moment.
The next moment, she returned to her cheerful smile.
“You should work hard. It is a knight’s highest honor to guard a princess.”
“...”
Tulip?
Her smile was so beautiful that it made Koutarou want to protect her.
Part 2
During the eve of the last day before the culture festival, a party was held.
Because of that, the drama club finished their final rehearsal before the evening.
“Good work everyone. Tomorrow's the big day, so don't party too hard.”
After the drama club president declared the end of the rehearsal, the people inside the gym began getting pumped up.
“Alright! The culture festival is finally starting!!”
“Cosplay cafe! Cosplay cafe!”
“Ah, hearing cosplay cafe reminded me. Apparently, the chorus club is having a butler cafe.”
“Seriously!? But now that you mention it, they can use the suits they wear during their performances.”
“I'm interested in the science club’s annual haunted house.”
Their long and hard practice was finally over.
Everyone was excited for today's evening party and tomorrow’s culture festival.
“Phew, it's finally over...”
Koutarou, who had been scolded by Theia in the middle of rehearsal, stretched his body after the club president had ended today's rehearsal.
When he did, the joints of his body cracked.
Although the armor fit him, it was still tight.
“Koutarou, use this.”
Kiriha, dressed in a clergy's outfit showed a towel to Koutarou.
“Thanks, Kiriha-san.”
“Ah, I'll get it for you.”
Sanae, dressed in her fairy outfit flew over to Kiriha and took the towel.
To a bystander it would look like a towel flying on its own, but Sanae skillfully avoided being seen by anyone as she made her way back to Koutarou.
“Here you go, Koutarou.”
“Thank you, Sanae.”
“Hehehe~”
As Koutarou received the towel from Sanae, he patted her on the head.
When he did, the charm around her neck began swaying.
Normally, a charm and a fairy's outfit wouldn't look good together, but Sanae didn't seem to mind.
“I feel like I'm coming back to life. I can finally rest.”
“You sound like an old man...”
Kenji passed by as Koutarou was wiping his face with the towel.
He had already taken off his soldiers outfit and put on his school uniform.
“Hey, Mackenzie.”
“Kou, don’t forget that you're the Blue Knight, so while you're wearing that, can't you at least act like it?”
“Shut up! The club president said it's over, so it's over!”
“Fine.”
Kenji shrugged and smiled wryly as Koutarou shouted at him.
Shortly thereafter, he began examining Koutarou's armor.
“But still, you're starting to look like the Blue Knight. The armor suits you too.”
“I better. If I didn't, all that time Tulip spent teaching me would have been for nothing.”
“From what I hear, it was pretty rough.”
“You bet. Both the speaker and listener would be in tears. Since I managed to endure that, I'm sure I'll be fine in the future.”
Koutarou remembered the painful experiences he's had these past two weeks.
His posture being fixed, his walking being adjusted, his way of words, manners, sword fighting; Theia's education for knights was unbelievably wide.
And if he got anything wrong, a bamboo sword would come flying towards him.
The only place he could rest was in the toilet.
“I-I'm sorry, Satomi-kun. It's all because I'm so unreliable...”
Before he knew it, Harumi was standing next to Koutarou.
After hearing Koutarou's complaints, she shrunk her body and showed an apologetic expression.
She thought it was her own fault that Koutarou had suffered.
“It's not your fault, senpai. Besides, I was the one who recommended you for the role of the Silver Princess.”
“That might be true... But, if I could have kept it together, Matsudaira-san could stay as the Blue Knight...”
“I don't want any training that would make Kou complain, so I don't mind at all.”
Although Kenji was disappointed that he had to give up the role of the Blue Knight, after having seen how Koutarou looked after training, he didn't regret it.
But if Kenji had remained the Blue Knight, Theia most likely wouldn't have gone as far.
This was all because it was Koutarou, but the only one who knew that was Theia.
“But if I have to do the Blue Knight at this level, I wish I had more time. Koutarou's probably the best if I had to do this much in such a short time.”
“...I can't tell if you're praising me or looking down on me.”
“Idiot, I'm praising you for once.”
“...Fufufu.”
Harumi who had been watching Koutarou and Kenji let out a small laugh.
Thank god...
Koutarou let out a sigh of relief after seeing Harumi finally starting to smile.
“What are you doing in this place, Satomi Koutarou?”
“Eh?”
However, Koutarou's relief was short lived.
After finishing her meeting with the club president, Theia came running and grabbed onto Koutarou's arm.
“What do you mean by 'Eh'? You're staying behind for some special training!”
“Eeeeeeeh!?”
Theia tried to drag Koutarou towards the stage.
But Koutarou who wanted to go to the party resisted.
“W-Wait, Tulip! I'm going to the party! I'm going to have fun with everyone!”
“No way! If you have enough spare time to party, I'll have you use that time learn how to act like a knight instead! You still have a long way to go before your public debut!”
“Noooo! I don't want to debut!”
However, Theia ignored his resistance and headed for the stage, forcibly dragging Koutarou with her.
“Satomi-kun...”
“I feel sorry for you...”
Harumi looked on anxiously, while Kenji cheerfully waved them off.
“Aaa~ah... Theia sure is selfish...”
“There's no need to make that kind of expression, Sanae.”
Sanae, who was all ready to go play with Koutarou, pouted.
Kiriha, who happened to be looking on, calmly called out to her.
“Koutarou might be saying that, but in reality he wants to train.”
“What do you mean?”
“Considering the strength difference between Theia and Koutarou, if he really didn't want to, there's no way he couldn't get away. He's even wearing that contraption of an armor. If he really didn't want to, he wouldn't be dragged off like that.”
“...I see.”
Satisfied after hearing Kiriha's explanation, Sanae now began feeling unhappy with Koutarou.
Koutarou is always so reckless, but he's weirdly kind sometimes... You only need to be nice to me!
However, Sanae's feelings were complex; she knew that was one of Koutarou's good points, more so than anyone else.
Part 3
As Harumi finished changing and was preparing to go home, Koutarou and Theia were still practicing on the stage.
“Pleb, your posture is dropping! Don't just focus on your sword!”
“It's not that easy to pull out your sword while keeping a straight posture!”
“I don't want to hear your excuses! If you have enough time to complain, fix your grip on the sword!”
Their energetic voices reached Harumi, who happened to be outside of the gym.
“Satomi-kun... you're still at it...”
The day was already nearing its end. It was now evening.
Since the entrance to the gym was secluded, it was especially dark.
And Harumi was standing all alone in that lonely place.
She could hear the commotion from the party being held in the schoolyard.
The voice of the commentator, the music and the student’s cheerful shouts.
She could hear it clearly, even from the gym.
“Don't get too full of yourself because I can't do it well!”
“Watch your tongue! Is that how you talk to a princess!?”
However, Harumi was only listening to Koutarou's and Theia's voices.
She didn't register any other sound.
“Just remember, once this is over, you'll regret it, princess Theiamillis.”
“I already forgot♪”
“Curse you, let’s take this outside!”
Satomi-kun... Theiamillis-san...
Harumi had stopped by to help Koutarou with his practice.
However, once she put her hand on the door, her determination dulled. She had gotten discouraged after hearing Koutarou and Theia argue.
“Calm down, pleb. Once the play is over tomorrow, I'll make it up to you.”
“Now that you said it, you better stay true to your words!”
“Of course. I'm not that twisted. I'll give you a reward worthy of your actions. I swear on my name.”
“Alright, I get it... So, where were we?”
Koutarou's and Theia's practice was completely different from Koutarou's and Harumi's.
Koutarou was energetic and was conversing with Theia without holding back.
Compared to that, when he was with Harumi he was seemingly careful and kept himself in check.
Satomi-kun treats Theiamillis-san like a good friend... but I'm... literally getting treated like a princess...
Harumi understood that Koutarou cherished and treasured her.
But when she looked at Koutarou and Theia together, she felt like she was one or two steps behind.
Even though they were friends, she felt like she was being treated like a customer instead.
Back when I met him at the sea... maybe the girl he was fighting with was Theiamillis-san...?
She recalled when she had met Koutarou at the sea and began feeling very uneasy.
At that time, Koutarou was worried about a change in the relationship with the other party.
If that other party was Theia...
If that really is the case... I have no way of winning... Satomi-kun won't treat me like that...
Because of that uneasiness, she couldn't muster the courage to open the door.
“Wahahaha! Straighten up for a moment, Tulip. Y-You're far too short to play the Silver Princess! Gyahahaha!”
“S-Shut up, pleb! How could you say that to a lady!? Where are your manners!?”
“S-Sorry, kukuku, t-then please use this cardboard box. Hahahaha!”
“Curse you, I treat you nicely and this is how you repay me!? It looks like I'll need to teach you your manners again!”
In the end, Harumi couldn't open the door to the gym.
She turned her back on the door and headed for the schoolyard.
What do I have to do to get Satomi-kun to treat me like that...
However, even after joining the party, Harumi was only thinking about what she heard.
Part 4
While Koutarou and Theia were still arguing at the gym, Ruth and Yurika came back to room 106.
“I'm back.”
“I'm ba~ck.”
Although the party was still going on, Ruth had left early to prepare dinner, and Yurika had left to feed Hercules.
“Welcome home, Yurika-sama.”
“Welcome back, Ruth-san.”
The two greeted each other as they entered the empty room.
“Ruth, here's the key.”
“Thank you. I'll hold onto it.”
As they entered, Yurika gave Ruth the key.
Ruth was the most trustworthy resident of room 106, so she was entrusted with the money and the key to the room.
“Now for TV.”
Yurika crossed the poorly lit room, heading for the TV.
Seeing that, Ruth turned on the light in the room before returning to the kitchen.
As Yurika turned on the aging TV, it emitted a nostalgic high pitch sound.
And because this TV could only receive analog transmissions, the image was blurry.
“Thank god, I made it...”
However, Yurika didn't seem to mind as she stared into the screen.
The program Yurika was looking at was an anime called 'Magical Girl Love Love Heart'.
Although watching that program every week had lowered her own value as a magical girl, Yurika showed no signs of caring.
“Oh no, I need to feed Hercules-chan. That's why I came back to begin with.”
Yurika remembered her original goal once the commercials began.
She tore herself away from the TV and approached the wardrobe.
At the same time Yurika put her hand on the sliding door, Ruth entered the room.
“Yurika-sama, would you like a cup of tea with me?”
“Ah, that sounds great! I'll bring out some snacks!”
Yurika brought out Hercules's breeding case, his food and a bag of rice crackers with a reduced price sticker still attached to it, and put all of that on the tea table.
At the same time, Ruth came into the room carrying a tray with two tea cups and a teapot.
“Here Ruth-san, use this cushion.”
“Thank you, Yurika-sama.”
The two of them sat down facing the TV.
And they began their work; Yurika fed Hercules and Ruth poured tea into the tea cups.
“A new program!”
At that moment, words that peaked Yurika's interest appeared on the TV.
She put the lid on the food container while looking at the TV.
“Thanks to all the viewers’ support, our program will finally be making its return!!”
“Ha―”
The next instant, a large beetle appeared on the screen.
An outstanding horn, a yellow colored back with black spots.
Although its design had been made cuter for the anime, it was without a doubt a Hercules Beetle.
“The king of beetles, Kabutonga – Second impact! The beetles’ fierce fights will finally return to us! Hercules! Atlas! Caucasus! And Japan's burning spirit – The Rhinoceros beetle!!”
Yurika slowly turned to look towards Ruth with a terrified expression.
“Will power come out on top? Or will technique? Just who will win!? And don't miss the legend entering the battle!”
Ruth smiled as she kept pouring tea into the cup; the cup that was already full and was now overflowing with tea.
“Hii!?”
Yurika sensed danger from that smile and cowered in fear.
“The king of beetles, Kabutonga – Second impact! It will air on this channel on November 11, at 6:30 in the evening!”
“Hmm, so that's... Hercules-chan is... a beetle...”
“Hiiii!?”
S-Satomi-san, help, save me! Hurry and come back home!! Save me!! I don't want to be all alone in this situation!!
Yurika screamed in her mind. However, she found herself unable to do so in reality.
“Beetle... Fufufufu, I see, so that's a beetle... ahahaha...”
Ruth let go off the teapot, almost as if she was throwing it. Mysteriously enough, it managed to land perfectly.
“R-Ruth-san... l-lets calm down, please?”
“I am calm... I am quite calm enough...”
Ruth said so in a cold, quiet voice as she extended her right hand in front of her.
As she did so, a blue light emitted from her bracelet and a cylinder shaped tool appeared in her hand.
It was a tool that had been sent down from the Blue Knight.
It was a big flyswatter made from green plastic.
“It's just...”
Ruth's eyes lit up with rage.
“Hiii!?”
“In the name of the prideful family of knights, Pardomshiha, I cannot allow the existence of beetles!!”
Ruth finally found out that Hercules was a beetle.
“You may curse the fates that you appeared in front of me, Hercules-chan!!”
Ruth swung down the flyswatter with all of her strength.
“Suffer my judgement!!”
“Kyaaaaaaa!!”
The flyswatter quickly closed in on the breeding case.
“Noooooo! Hercules-chaaaaan!”
Ruth's flyswatter cut through the air and smashed into the tea table.
Yurika had managed to push the breeding case just in time. Thanks to that, Hercules-chan survived by a hair's breadth.
“Haaah... Ahh.. Hah... T-That was close...”
“Yurika-sama, you shouldn't do something like that.”
“R-Ruth-san!”
“You can't let the beetles exist. I need to exterminate them all, or I'll go insane.”
“Y-You can't!”
Yurika shook her head and stood up while holding the breeding case.
“If Hercules-chan dies, the vice-president's little brother will get sad.”
“I'm sad as long as that beetle is alive.”
Ruth took aim at the breeding case in Yurika's arms once more.
“Fufufufufu... Satomi-sama desires me, not some kind of beetle...”
The trauma Ruth suffered that night on the beach had been carved into her heart.
As a woman, she simply couldn't accept that Koutarou liked beetles more than her.
Because of that, Ruth had completely lost self-control.
“Ruth-san, you're scaring me!”
“Suffer my judgement!!”
“Kyaaaaaaa!!”
The flyswatter came crashing down once more, and Yurika hurriedly dodged it.
“We're running away, Hercules-chan!!”
Yurika dashed out of the inner room and headed towards the front door.
The vice-president would take Hercules back on the last day of the culture festival, so Yurika couldn't just let him get flattened the day before.
“Wait, Yurika-sama! I have no intentions of fighting with you!”
“Even if you say that, Hercules-chan will...!”
“It's okay! I'll take responsibility and bury Hercules myself!
“That's not okay!!”
Yurika unhesitatingly jumped out of room 106.
She had gotten attached to Hercules after taking care of him for two months, and she simply couldn't let Ruth take him away at the very end.
Part 5
Although Koutarou's and Theia's practice had started off with a ruckus, it had now gotten serious.
The party in the schoolyard was now reaching its end and the commotion had begun dying down, so the only voices that could be heard in the gym belonged to Koutarou and Theia.
“You're simply playing, princess.”
“I am not playing around. Even though it's a village’s harvest festival, a dance is a dance. As a girl of age, I too am interested.”
Koutarou was acting as the Blue Knight and Theia was acting as the Silver Princess.
Having spent two weeks practicing together, Koutarou and Theia were in sync.
Thanks to all of the training, Koutarou was acting like a proper knight, and because of Theia's deep emotions to the Silver Princess, she wasn't losing to Harumi as she displayed some masterful acting.
“However, it is too dangerous for you to go alone.”
“That's why I am asking you, who hold the title of a knight to be my escort, Lord Bertorion.”
As expected from a princess, I guess...
Koutarou thought highly of Theia's acting after having practiced with her.
Compared to Harumi, Theia's wasn't able to pull of the Silver Princess's fragile portion as well as her; Theia’s own energetic personality got in the way.
However, when it came to manners, she was far superior, and her lines fit her.
Therefore, when compared, Theia was better when it came to acting as the Silver Princess, while Harumi was better when it came to acting as Alaia.
“I am but a mere local knight, I am hardly worthy of the honor.”
“Oh, even though I look like this, I grew up roaming the fields and mountains of northern Mastir. I am quite qualified to be called a peasant girl.”
Well done on working this hard... You've become quite like the Blue Knight...
Theia also thought highly of Koutarou's acting.
He still had a long way to go as a knight and an actor, but considering the mere two weeks spent on practice, he had progressed enough to be worthy of praise.
Besides...
Theia recalled the day when the light came crashing down towards her, and Koutarou's appearance when he had protected her.
His body was clad in a blue armor, and he had called her princess.
As she recalled that, something deep inside her screamed out that the person in front of her was indeed the Blue Knight.
Which was why Theia no longer felt it was necessary to voice any minor complaints about Koutarou's acting skills.
After finishing their practice, the two of them stopped moving.
When they did, Koutarou pulled himself together. After they had finished their practice these past two weeks, Theia would always point out minor flaws.
“Hmm, well, this is good enough.”
“Eh?”
However, opposite of Koutarou's expectations, Theia didn't say anything.
She simply smiled while staying quiet.
“A-Are you sure?”
“I have some parts I want to complain about, but none of them can be fixed before the play tomorrow. So I'll let you off the hook this time.”
“Uaaaaaah! I-It's finally over!!”
Koutarou raised his voice and cheered.
He had finally completed his two week long private lesson.
It had been a long, painful journey, but it was finally over.
“Calm down will you. How many times have I told you to watch your manners in that outfit?”
“S-Sorry.”
“...Well, it's alright. I understand how you feel.”
Theia looked like she was about to complain, but shortly after she began smiling. She was satisfied that she had finished her job.
“Now all that's left is to wait for tomorrow’s play. It went by in an instant...”
“...To me it seemed like an eternity.”
Koutarou shrugged his shoulders and smiled.
“Fufu, you're weak.”
“Shut up.”
Like Theia, Koutarou was satisfied by his accomplishments and smiled.
During these two weeks, the two of them had formed a bond.
“Hmm? This is...”
The gym quieted down after they stopped acting, and because of that, Theia was able to hear a sound coming from outside.
“What?”
“The music and song...”
What she heard was a slow paced ballad. Koutarou noticed it as well and nodded.
“Ah, they must have started dancing at the party.”
“Dancing?”
“Yeah. It's an annual tradition for the ball dance club. Of course, nobody really knows how to dance, so they just go by instinct.”
If it wasn't for the practice, Koutarou would have been at the party, but he had missed it.
“Dancing huh... Now that I think about it, I haven't danced in a while...”
Theia lightly grabbed the edges of her skirt, and began tapping her shoes along with the music.
When Theia had been living on Forthorthe, she would regularly go to ball dances.
Although she was practically unable to let her guard down in Forthorthe, ball dances were one of the few things she didn't hate.
Tulip?
Theia had a happy but at the same time sad looking expression. Seeing that, Koutarou oddly felt that he couldn't leave her alone.
Ah, not good... He finally finished this painful practice and...
“Teach me, Tulip.”
Even though he knew that saying that would prolong his practice.
“Eh?”
Theia stopped in her steps and raised her head.
Because of the unexpected response, she was at a loss for words.
“Dancing. You taught me manners, but you didn't teach me dancing. Knowing that is necessary for the upper class, right?”
“Ah...”
Theia stared at Koutarou in amazement, and she soon began blushing.
“N-Now that you mention, I didn't teach you that yet...”
Is it for my sake...? Really..?
Theia suppressed her internal conflict and looked up at Koutarou. When she did, she saw the expression she had been expecting.
A cheerful expression and calm eyes, watching over Theia.
The moment she saw that, her doubts changed to conviction.
Fool... learn your place. You're being too ambitious...
Despite Theia's thoughts, her blushing wasn't stopping.
“I am but a mere local knight, I am hardly worthy of the honor.”
Koutarou spoke a line from the manuscript and reached his hand out to Theia.
Theia smiled and replied with a line of her own.
“Oh, even though I look like this, I grew up roaming the fields and mountains of northern Mastir. I am quite qualified to be called a peasant girl.”
They held hands and begin moving in rhythm of the music.
Part 6
As Sanae, Kiriha and Shizuka arrived at the gym, Koutarou and Theia were in the middle of their dancing lesson.
Since they didn't want to interrupt the two, they simply watched on from the outside.
“Don't step on my feet! If you keep stepping on them with that armor, they'll be crushed!”
“S-Sorry, it's more complicated to move my legs like this than I thought.”
“At this rate, I'll suffer a complicated fracture!”
“Oh, that's a good one...”
“Stop saying stupid things and learn the steps already!”
Koutarou's and Theia's energetic voices reached all the way to the door from where the three girls were watching.
“What...”
Looking at the two, Sanae let out a heavy sigh.
“I figured they must be getting bored with all the practice, but it seems like they're having fun. Looks like I was worried for nothing.”
“Yeah, I wasn't expecting them to be dancing though.”
Shizuka agreed with Sanae. To her, it looked like they were having fun despite their arguing.
“Karama, Korama.”
However, Kiriha had a severe expression. It was completely different from enjoying herself at the party or worrying about Koutarou's and Theia's training.
It was almost as if she was facing something dangerous.
“Yes Ho-!”
“Here Ho-!”
As Kiriha called out, the two haniwas appeared.
“Did someone enter or leave the gym while I was gone?”
“No Ho-!”
“Harumi-chan stopped by, but she left without entering Ho-!”
“I see, then that's good. Continue keeping guard.”
“Roger that, Ho-!”
“Let's go Ho, Karama!”
Kiriha had ordered her haniwas to watch over the gym.
She had always been bothered about the person targeting Theia.
“Kiriha, aren't you too twitchy? The culture festival is a time for fun, she won't attack then.”
“That would be nice...”
“Are you talking about Theia-san’s rival?”
“That's right. Theia-dono has already been attacked several times, so I'm a bit anxious.”
Kiriha had always stayed on guard, but she couldn't seem to catch Theia's enemy, nor could she find any useful evidence.
“Fighting between families huh... To think that would really happen so close to me.”
“It still doesn't feel like it, but Theia really is a princess.”
The three of them looked at the stage. Koutarou's and Theia's dancing lesson was still going on.
The two of them, who bickering as they danced, didn't look like they felt any kind of danger, despite an enemy targeting them.
Maybe she's confident because she knows the opponent, or maybe being with Koutarou lets her act that way...
“Uuuuh, everyone, s-save me please!!”
At that moment, Yurika arrived at the gym.
She was holding the beetle’s breeding case tightly as she approached Kiriha and the others.
“Hercules-chan will! Hercules-chan will!!”
“Yurika!? What happened!?”
The three of them were surprised by Yurika's appearance.
Yurika explained the situation with tears in her eyes.
“Actually, Ruth-san found out that Hercules-chan is a beetle!”
The three of them knew about Yurika and Hercules, they also knew how much Ruth hated beetles.
So from that, they were able to guess what had happened, but they showed three different reactions.
“Y-You idiot! What are you doing!?”
Sanae scolded Yurika with tears in her eyes as well.
Since she loved animals, she couldn't help but worry about Hercules.
“Oh my, it was so close too...”
Shizuka was worried about Yurika and Hercules as well, but nowhere near as much as Sanae.
However, she was more worried about Hercules's original owner, the vice-president's little brother.
“I see...”
And Kiriha revealed a smile.
Since she had been so worried about Theia being attacked, this minor problem put her mind at ease.
“I couldn't help it! It was inevitable! When we were watching TV a commercial for a new beetle program came up! If you have any complaints, complain to the makers of that anime!”
“Idiot!! It's all because you were carelessly watching anime!”
The anime commercial had only come up because Yurika was watching a different anime.
So if she hadn't been watching that show in the first place, this tragedy could have been avoided.
“Hiiiii! I-I'm sorry!!”
“M-More importantly, what's happening!? Where's Ruth!?”
“Ruth-san has lost it, she said she was going to make Hercules suffer her judgement, then she came chasing after me!!”
Ever since she ran out of room 106, Yurika hadn't stopped running.
Although she wasn't good at moving her body, since Hercules’s life was at stake, she ran all the way to the others without stopping.
And her hard work paid off, as she was able to lose Ruth on the way.
“Please hide me! Please!!”
“I got it. If Ruth-san stops by I'll send here elsewhere.”
“T-Thank youuu!!”
Hercules was to be returned in two days.
Starting with the party today, Kitsushouharukaze Highschool would hold their culture festival for three days.
And Yurika was planning on protecting Hercules by hiding in the school while it was still open.
At that moment, a haniwa appeared at the entrance of the gym.
“Nee-san, Ruth-chan is closing in Ho!”
“That's what they're saying...”
“Yurika, don't space out, go hide somewhere!”
“O-Okay!!”
Yurika forced her exhausted body to run into the gym's equipment room on the left side of the stage.
Since the equipment room led into the stage, it had plenty of set pieces for tomorrow’s play in it.
Because of that, it was the perfect place to hide in.
Right after Yurika closed the door, Ruth jumped out in front of the gym.
“Haah, Ahhh, Hah...”
Like Yurika, Ruth too was exhausted.
Even though they were a bit away, Sanae and the others could hear her rough breathing.
However, she didn't have the time to catch her breath. She looked around the outside of the gym while holding a large fly swatter.
“R-Ruth-san, you came too?”
“Hey Ruth, what's with that thing?”
Shizuka and Sanae called out to Ruth.
“Fuuuh, Hahh, Fuuu...”
However, Ruth didn't react to their voices, and kept moving forward while breathing roughly.
“Hiii!?”
“S-Scary.”
The surreal sight of a teenager wearing an apron and holding an oversized flyswatter, coupled with her dangerous looking expression and piercing look caused Sanae and Shizuka to flinch instinctively.
“It seems she's completely lost control of herself because of her rage. She can't even hear our voices.”
“What can we even do when she's like this!?”
“I-It's over... I'm sorry, Yurika-san, Hercules-chan...”
At this point, Sanae and Shizuka had already given up on persuading Ruth.
Seeing how Ruth was acting right now, neither of them had any confidence that they would be able to persuade her.
It was only a matter of time before Yurika and Hercules fell prey to Ruth.
However, that's when something unexpected happened.
“...!?”
For some reason, Ruth stopped moving.
It had happened as she looked up on the stage while searching for Yurika and Hercules.
When she did, she saw two people.
“Y-Your... highness... Satomi...sama...?”
On top of the stage were Theia and Koutarou, holding hands and happily dancing.
Theia was good at dancing, but since her partner was Koutarou, a beginner, their dancing looked awkward.
And whenever Koutarou made a mistake, Theia would scold him.
Because of that, their dancing only looked like child’s play; hardly worthy of praise.
“Her highness is... dancing so happily...”
However, Ruth knew, she knew that Theia enjoyed that child’s play of a dance from the bottom of her heart.
Since she had grown up with Theia and were as close as a sister to her, she understood that, more clearly than anyone.
Theia might have liked ball dances, but Ruth had never seen her enjoy herself this much before.
Even though the dance hall was shabby, the band wasn't playing in sync and her partner was a complete amateur, Theia's smile was dazzling.
To Ruth, that was an amazing spectacle.
“...H-Huh? Why am I here? Eh!?”
And because of that spectacle, Ruth regained her consciousness.
“Why am I holding a flyswatter?”
Having regained her consciousness, Ruth had completely forgotten everything from when she had lost control of herself because of her anger.
Her brain had done so to protect her from painful memories.
“I was pouring some tea for Yurika-sama and... huh?”
“She regained her consciousness!? Alright!”
“Thank god, are you okay? Ruth-san!”
“Hah... Shizuka-sama, what do you mean by okay? Did something happen?”
Ruth had no idea about what had happened, and she was looking around the area in confusion.
“Ah, Eh, Well... Ruth-san.”
“Hah...”
Since Shizuka was able to express herself, Ruth began going through her memories again.
U-Uhm... I was pouring tea for Yurika-sama and then I have this feeling that something big happened...
“Nothing happened, Ruth. Don't think about it too much. We stopped by to look at how Koutarou's and Theia's practice was going.”
However, Kiriha called out to Ruth like normal. She was planning on keeping Ruth from remembering what had happened.
“Satomi-sama's practice...?”
Because of Kiriha's words, Ruth's eyes were drawn to the two on top of the stage.
“W-Watch it, you're being too forceful.”
”Even if you say that, it's hard to adjust my strength.”
“Just take it off!”
“Waah, stop, don't take it off!”
And before she knew it, all Ruth could think of was how much fun Koutarou and Theia seemed to be having on the stage.
“Your highness... Satomi-sama...”
It might just be obvious that I'd lose sight of myself when I look at these two...
Ruth forgot about trying to remember, and happily looked at the stage.
She no longer cared about why she was holding a flyswatter.
“Fufufu, your highness, Satomi-sama, your dance is quite wonderful...”
Right now, the only thing she could think of was of her beloved princess and the Blue Knight that made her smile.
Seeing that, Sanae, Shizuka and Kiriha all let out a sigh of relief.
“Pheeew, I wasn't sure what was going to happen for a while there...”
“Yurika made the right choice in running here...”
“She probably came for Satomi Koutarou since she had no one else to rely on but, it seemed that worked for the best.”
The girls peeked at the equipment room that Yurika had run into and sighed.
After having seen Ruth like that, the three of them were anxious.
“Sanae-chan, when you get the chance, could you go tell Nijino-san that everything went okay?”
“Yeah. I'll sneak away when Ruth isn't looking and tell her.”
But everything was now okay.
Ruth had regained her consciousness, and she didn't notice the three whispering.
Yurika and Hercules were able to survive for today.
“Sis! Emergency Alert Ho!”
Although they were only able to relax for a bit, the next moment, the haniwas who were keeping a lookout on the outside appeared in front of the gym.
“A space distortion has been detected inside the gym Ho!”
“Based on the size, it seems like somebody has infiltrated the gym Ho!”
“Karama-chan, Korama-chan, What do you mean by infiltrate!?”
“Sorry Ho! This is all we can tell with our detection precision Ho!”
Kiriha left the haniwas to Sanae and hurriedly turned towards the stage.
Koutarou and Theia were still dancing.
And Ruth stood next to Kiriha, watching.
Which means!
The only ones related to room 106 with the ability to distort space was Theia and Ruth.
And if the two of them hadn't done anything, there was only one possibility.
“Theia-dono, Koutarou! It's the enemy! They're attacking!”
The only possibility left was the mysterious spaceship that was detected two months ago.
It was the crew of the spaceship that Theia had declared to be an enemy.
“Kiriha-san!? And everyone else!?”
The seemingly sudden appearance of Kiriha and the others surprised Koutarou.
Up until now, he had been so focused on dancing that he hadn't noticed them.
Because of that, he blanked out instead of taking action.
“The enemy!? I see, so Clan is here!”
Compared to him, Theia's reaction was quick.
Since she was skilled at dancing, she had noticed Kiriha and the others a while back.
Because of that, she was able to swiftly react to Kiriha's warning.
“To think she's attacking now! Did I misread her!?”
As Theia looked around, she could see a person below the stage, at the same time, that person began speaking.
“That's correct, Theiamillis-san!”
A sneering, shrill voice spoke up.
And when Koutarou looked in the direction the jarring voice came from, he saw a single girl.
She had light blue hair and a black and white dress.
And on her face were antique-looking glasses.
Koutarou had seen her before during a rehearsal.
“Clan, I never expected you to come at me with a head-on attack!”
This girl is Clan!?
Koutarou was shocked, partly because this was the first time he had seen royalty other than Theia.
But what surprised him the most was that he had seen her before.
“That's why I tell you that you're simple minded every time we meet!”
Clan pointed a weapon towards Theia.
That weapon is...!?
The moment she saw that weapon, she was astonished, but she realized everything.
“I see, so that's how it is!!”
What Clan was holding was a hand-held beam weapon she had made herself.
Since Clan was a renowned scientist, that alone wouldn't have surprised Theia.
What had surprised her instead was that the weapon had been made from parts she had obtained on Earth.
Because of that, the silhouette of the design was far different from the curvy design found on Forthorthe.
I've been had! She hadn't attacked for two months because she was gathering parts for this weapon! And she had used attacks that made it look like an accident to throw me off her trail!
Clan had tricked Theia into thinking she wouldn't attack head on.
If Clan used the weapons from Hazy Moon, a log would remain.
And if she had used parts from Forthorthe, it may have taken time, but it could eventually be identified.
But what would happen if she used parts found on Earth to make a weapon?
Would Forthorthe be able to gather enough evidence to indict Clan in this small country on the outskirts of known space?
The answer was No.
That was next to impossible.
And if Clan disposed of her weapon, there would be no evidence.
That was her plan.
“Fufufu, it's too late for you to notice now.”
An ominous sound started emitting from Clan's hand held beam weapon.
“But it sure was rough. The technological level of this planet is so low that it took me two months to build this. And to think it will end in a single shot, what a waste.”
Clan pointed the muzzle towards Theia and revealed a cold smile.
It was the smile of someone who was certain they had won.
Something's wrong... Where is this Clan girl's confidence coming from...?
Listening to Theia and Clan, Koutarou felt something was off.
If it's as Clan says, why was she here that day? What was she doing here?
While Clan was claiming she was going to kill Theia with this weapon she had made on Earth, Koutarou had seen her in the gym a few days ago.
Everything would add up if she had been there to sabotage the light, but if that was the case, what was the reason to attack her in the same place again?
In fact, Koutarou, Kiriha and the others were right here.
“How clever! In that case I'll just shoot you down!”
Before Koutarou could reach a conclusion, Theia put her bracelet in front of her face.
The bracelet decorated with a blue jewel was a device created to order the Blue Knight remotely.
“Fufufu.”
At that moment, the edges of Clan's mouth rose up slightly.
She laughed!? Which means―
When he saw that unnerving smile, Koutarou reached a conclusion at the same time Theia's voice rang out on top of the stage.
“Blue Knight” Bring out the anti-personnel pulse laser and ―”
The conclusion that Koutarou had come up with was this.
On that day, Clan had come here to set up a trap. That was when he had seen her.
At the same time, Clan had sabotaged the light to make it fall. That was her insurance, in case she had been spotted.
And with Clan laughing at this point, it meant...
“Stop, Tulip!”
Koutarou trusted his instinct, grabbed Theia's hand and pulled as hard as he could.
“P-Pleb!? Don't get in my way!”
Theia tried to shake him off.
She was completely focused on Clan.
The black holes had already appeared above her shoulders; shortly thereafter the weapons would come out.
Seeing that, Koutarou panicked and shouted.
“Theia!!”
He had only called out her name.
“K-Koutarou!?”
But that was enough to shift Theia's attention away from Clan.
“She wants you to use your weapons!”
“But, Clan is-!”
However, Theia still intended to attack Clan.
That was because of her personality, but it was also to protect Koutarou.
If Clan fired her beam weapon, Koutarou who was right next to Theia wouldn't make it out unscathed.
“Theia! Trust me! I'm your knight, remember!?”
Koutarou!?
The moment she heard Koutarou's voice, Theia relaxed her body.
As she did, she was pulled away by Koutarou and embraced.
Koutarou then bent his body over to protect Theia.
The next moment, an explosion occurred.
The black holes, that normally summoned weapons, had exploded instead.
Although the scale of the explosion wasn't large, if Theia had remained where she was, she would most definitely have suffered a massive injury.
Because Koutarou protected her, the explosion was blocked by his armor.
“Tsk, damn fake Blue Knight, you're getting in the way!”
Seeing that the explosion had been blocked, Clan clicked her tongue.
Since Koutarou had gotten in the way of her predictions, she was getting angry.
The explosion had been caused by one of Clan's inventions.
The device was designed so that whenever Theia or Ruth tried to summon a weapon, the space would get distorted and the black holes would explode instead.
It was just as Koutarou had concluded; when he saw her for the first time, she had been setting this device up.
Clan was planning on using this device to make Theia blow herself up.
Since Clan knew Theia’s personality, she knew that the moment she showed Theia her weapon, Theia would fall into the trap.
Doing that, she wouldn't have to dirty her own hands, and there was a high chance that it would be classified as an accident.
That was why Clan had to make her move here in the gym.
“There is no way I'll forgive some barbarian from a backwater planet for interfering with my plans!”
But her perfect plan had been ruined by some random man. Because of that, Clan lost her cool.
“A-Are you okay, Theia...?”
Having gotten the wind knocked out of him by the explosion, Koutarou loosened his grip on Theia.
As he did, Theia looked up at Koutarou.
“I'm alright, you protected me! There's no need to worry, my hair is only a little scorched!”
Theia touched her own hair; the ends of her beautiful hair had been burnt.
Blood is...
At that moment, Koutarou noticed a cut on Theia's hand as she was touching her hair.
And as blood poured out from the wound, Koutarou began boiling with rage.
It was the same kind of rage as when Sanae had been in danger at the beach.
“Koutarou, are you okay!?”
“Ho! We came to help you, Koutarou Ho-!”
“With us here, you have nothing to fear Ho!”
Sanae and the two haniwas appeared.
Being more mobile than the others, they had moved up to cover Koutarou and Theia.
Noticing that, Koutarou let go of Theia and stood up.
“...You guys protect the princess.”
“Eh?”
“W-What's that supposed to mean!?”
While Theia and Sanae were still confused, Koutarou turned his back on them.
“It means just what I said. Right now Theia has no ways of protecting herself. So I'm counting on you!”
If Theia tried to summon her weapons, an explosion might occur again.
Koutarou didn't know if Clan's trap could cause explosions again, but he had no intention of testing it.
“W-Wait, Koutarou! Going to battle on your own is unreasonable! I'll―”
Theia hurriedly stood up to follow after Koutarou.
“Your highness, please trust me and wait. The battlefield is for knights. Even a princess should not violate that sanctuary.”
What stopped Theia was the Blue Knight's words leaving Koutarou's mouth.
“B-But―”
What had left Theia's mouth was the Silver Princess's words.
However, she hadn't done that intentionally.
Theia, like the Silver Princess, was trying to stop her knight.
“If you don't believe in me, then just who will believe in my victory?”
Koutarou put his hand on the handle of the sword on his waist and pulled it out in a dignified manner.
It was the motion that he had practiced countless times with Theia.
“I am your knight after all.”
I see, so this is how the Blue Knight must have felt...
At this point, Koutarou finally understood how the Blue Knight must have felt as he left for battle.
“B-Blue Knight-sama...?”
As Theia looked at Koutarou's back, she sat back down.
Theia understood that Koutarou wasn't a knight and that he was quoting lines from the manuscript, but oddly enough, she couldn't defy him.
My... knight...
Koutarou's words removed Theia's intention to argue and replaced it with hope.
There was no reason to believe that Koutarou was going to win.
That's right, he's my knight... If I don't believe in him, who will!?
But Theia didn't care about that and simply put her faith in him.
Part 7
Looking at Koutarou who had drawn his sword and stepped forward, Clan let out a loud laugh.
“Ohohohoho, You sure know how to make me laugh! To think a fake Blue Knight with a replica armor would dare fight me! You don't even have the magical gauntlet or Signaltin!”
There were four magical treasures that appeared in the legend of the Blue Knight.
An armor that can block all attacks, boots that let him fly through the sky, magical gloves infused with flames that allowed him to burn a thousand enemies, and the holy sword Signaltin that could cut open the future.
But of course, Koutarou didn't have any of those.
Everything he was wearing were replicas.
His armor was mechanical, and his sword wasn't holy.
Through the power of the armor, he was capable of high jumps, and it partially protected him.
But it didn't hold the same power as of legends.
“For a fake princess like you, this is more than enough!”
However, Koutarou didn't flinch.
He responded to Clan in a dignified manner.
“A fake princess!?”
“That's right! Someone that can only think of holding other people back can't be a real princess!”
As he looked at Clan, Koutarou remembered the first time he met Theia. She had been the same.
However, now she was different; she was still selfish, but she didn't hold anyone back.
She tried to win in a dignified manner, befitting of a princess.
“And to think you hurt my princess! You're the one who knows how to make me laugh!”
“Wha-!?”
Clan was left speechless.
“Kuh, Y-You impudent...”
However, her expression soon changed into one of anger.
She had been angered by Koutarou's words, but she also couldn't forgive herself for flinching for a moment.
“How dare you talk like that to me, born of the noble Schweiger family!”
“If the only thing noble is your name, the Schweiger family sure has fallen.”
“Kiiii! I definitely won't forgive you! I'll reduce you to mere atoms!”
Clan's rage was now all focused on Koutarou.
Sensing that, Koutarou tightened the grip of his sword and readied himself.
Everything's gone according to plan so far, now for the hard part...
Angering the opponent and making them focus on yourself was an old fighting trick.
After Koutarou felt that Clan was similar to Theia, he figured that provoking her might work, but this went above expectation.
What allowed the provoking tactic to work so well was all thanks to her being compared to Theia.
And Koutarou's Blue Knight armor only helped to fuel the flames.
Based on the circumstances, she won't use any flashy attacks like Theia did. Which means that what I need to look out for is that cannon...
If Clan gave in to anger and used the weapons on her warship, Koutarou knew he wouldn't stand a chance.
So he focused on the weapon that she was holding.
“It's best to assume I'll be out if that hits me... In that case-!”
Koutarou held his sword with both of his hands and rushed Clan.
At a distance, Clan who had a ranged weapon had the advantage.
If he didn't close in and prevent her from using the beam weapon, he would stay at a disadvantage.
“Here you are! Do you really think you can hurt me with that dull blade!?”
However, despite his rush, Clan remained confident.
She simply held her beam cannon and remained motionless.
“I've got youuu!!”
Not missing his chance, Koutarou swung his sword.
Although it was a replica, since it's power was amplified by his armor, it had quite a bit of force behind it.
The sword should have destroyed the beam cannon but something had stopped it just before it impacted.
It was a half transparent hexagon like what Theia and Ruth used for defense.
“I see, you had that!?”
It was a barrier that distorted space as a way of defense.
Koutarou knew just how powerful its defensive power was.
Moreover, the barrier she was using was one that she had made for herself.
A half-assed attack would never get through that defense.
“Kukuku, it's too late for you to notice now― Wait, what!?”
The sword had hit the barrier, but Clan's confident and cocky expression changed into one of surprise.
“That's impossible! This can't be!!”
Clan hurriedly jumped back.
“What!?”
This time, Koutarou was the one surprised.
Clan who was supposed to hold the advantage had retreated.
And Koutarou had not expected that response from her.
“Satomi-kun, continue attacking! I don't know why, but the attacks seem to be working!”
Shizuka had seen that the tip of the sword had buried itself into the barrier.
Clan had seen the same thing and retreated.
“So that's why!”
Adhering to Shizuka's advice, Koutarou chased after Clan.
The stage was quite large, but for Koutarou who had his legs strengthened by the armor, it didn't feel like it, and he closed the distance between him and Clan quickly.
“Quit running around!”
Clan tried to take aim at Koutarou, but since the beam cannon had been made using materials from Earth, it was too large, and Clan couldn't keep up with Koutarou's speed.
“Haaaaaaaah!”
Koutarou's sword came into the barrier once again.
It's true, this sword can cut through the barrier!
This time, Koutarou saw it too, the tip of the sword had penetrated the barrier.
“A-Again!? What's with that sword!? Does it have power equal to the real Signaltin despite being a replica!?”
Clan couldn't hide her surprise; the sword had pierced through the barrier more deeply than the first time.
This is not possible! This neanderthal on this backwater planet is only equipped with the Blue Knight's replicas, but he's cornering me!
“K-Koutarou...?”
Theia who was looking at the fight developing was more surprised than Clan.
The light from that sword... The sword is not equipped with that kind of power...
The sword that Koutarou was wielding had started emitting a faint white light.
“Kyaaa! T-The barrier’s converter won't last at this rate!”
“Haaaaaaaaah!”
“I-I'm being beaten this easily!?”
The light that the sword emitted grew stronger for each time Koutarou swung it.
And as the light grew stronger, the sword was able to cut through more of Clan's barrier.
“Is that, the same light as that time...?”
Looking at the sword's glow, Sanae touched the charm hanging around her neck.
Right now it was just a plain charm, but in the past it had been glowing with the same light as that sword.
“Could it be... are you truly... the Blue Knight's...”
Next to Sanae was Theia, who was at a loss for words.
The blue armor and the shining sword; it was almost just like the real Blue Knight.
Theia couldn't take her eyes off of Koutarou.
Clan aimed her beam cannon.
If it's come to this, I'll just have to give up on dodging! I'll just hit him with the beam cannon while he's busy trying to break through the barrier!
Clan stopped trying to dodge Koutarou's attacks. Instead, she was planning on taking Koutarou down when he stopped to destroy the barrier.
The barrier might get destroyed in a single hit, but she should be able to defeat Koutarou.
“Come get me, fake Blue Knight!”
“I will, even if you don't want me to!”
Without noticing Clan's goals, Koutarou closed the distance.
“She's inviting you, Koutarou! Don't jump in carelessly!”
Theia had noticed the trap and tried to stop Koutarou, but it was already too late. He could no longer stop.
But somebody else answered Theia's warning.
“Leave it to me, Theia!”
“Sanae!?”
The one who had answered her was Sanae, who right next to her.
She raised both her arms towards Clan and shouted in a loud voice.
“Hissatsu!! Sanae-chan Tulip – Part two!!”
At that moment, Clan's dress lifted up, and her upper body was wrapped up by the dress, just like what had happened to Theia one time.
“W-What!? What is happening!?”
Taken by surprise, Clan was stunned and remained motionless.
“Oh... so that girl has a cat...”
Shizuka observed the design on Clan's underwear.
“Shizuka-sama! This is not the time for that!!”
“I'm sorry Ruth-san. But what can I do against an opponent who has a barrier?”
Shizuka, who was invincible when it came to close combat, had no chance against an opponent with a barrier in a wide open space.
Because of that, Shizuka merely observed the fight next to Ruth and Theia who were unable to summon their weapons.
“Well done, Sanae!”
And as Clan stood in place, Koutarou attacked.
“Uwooooooooooooh!!”
With the momentum he had, the power of the armor and the sword shining with white light, Koutarou unleashed a powerful attack on Clan.
The barrier was only able to withstand that attack for an instant.
The barrier's energy converter gave up and the generation device attached to Clan's back blew up.
And after breaking through the barrier, the sword flew towards her.
“Impossible, there no way I could lose! I don't believe it!”
If she could see, she would have been able to defeat Koutarou.
However, since Sanae was blocking her sight, she had lost all means of preventing Koutarou's attack.
Koutarou's strike hit the barrel of the beam cannon.
Unlike the barrier, it had no real defense and was cut in half.
After that, the base of the beam cannon exploded.
The hems of her skirt were torn apart by the explosion, freeing her from Sanae's restraint.
“T-To think that I, known as the moon of Schweiger, would lose to a mere neanderthal...”
Having fallen over, Clan grinded her teeth as she pushed herself up.
Clan had absolute belief in her plan: she would make Theia use her weapons by showing her an earth-made beam cannon, and even if she didn't use her weapons, Clan would defeat her using the beam cannon.
But with the appearance of a lone man not even worth taking into account, her plan had fallen apart.
“Just give up, Clan or whatever. You've lost.”
Koutarou pointed his sword at Clan and recommended that she surrendered.
“This is all your fault, fake Blue Knight! I should have disposed of you first! If it's only you, it won't matter if I use the Hazy Moon's weapons!”
Unlike Theia and Ruth, Clan wouldn't be held responsible for her crimes if she were to attack Koutarou, a citizen of an undeveloped region of space.
If she killed Koutarou before Theia could make him a citizen of Forthorthe, Theia wouldn't be able to do anything.
“I may have failed to kill Theiamillis-san, but you! I definitely will kill you myself! The fact that I was forced to crawl on the ground is completely unacceptable!”
However, Clan didn't surrender; she simply stared at Koutarou with eyes full of hate.
“Y-You still want to go at it!?”
“Koutarou! Restrain Clan right away! She's planning on attack you with the Hazy Moon's weapons!”
“W-What!?”
However, while Koutarou was surprised, Clan saw her chance and ran past Koutarou's sword and continued to the outside, after which she laughed at Theia.
“Ooohohohoho! It's too late, Theiamillis-san! You just sit there and watch that fake Blue Knight get obliterated!”
“Run away, Koutarou! Don't die for my sake!”
“E-Even if I wanted to, where could I even run!?”
Clan brought a bracelet, very similar to what Theia had, to her face and declared in a loud voice.
“It's already too late! Hazy Moon! Use the disintegrator to reduce that fake Blue Knight into atoms!”
“As you wish, my princess.”
A black hole opened up above Clan's right shoulder, and in a moment, a large weapon would poke through that hole.
“I win, fake Blue Knight! You can regret going against the second princess of Forthorthe on the other side!”
Clan boasted victoriously.
It was as Clan had said. At this rate, Koutarou would get hit by Clan's attack and be reduced to atoms.
“Waaaaah, i-it's all over!!”
Koutarou panicked and started running all over the place. There was no longer anything he could do.
“Oh, we'll see about that.”
In this desperate situation, Kiriha appeared from the side of the stage.
“Hmph, you don't know when you've lost! What could you possibly do to escape from this situation!?”
“...There's an interesting proverb on this planet.”
Clan was overly excited, in contrast to Kiriha who was overly calm.
Despite both being intelligent, they were behaving completely opposite of one another.
“A proverb!?”
“Yeah.”
Kiriha nodded and held what she had in her hand above her head.
“... ‘It is the deceitful man who most often falls into the snares of deceit’.”
“The device I set up!?”
What Kiriha was holding above her head was the space distortion jammer that Clan had used against Theia a moment ago.
It was still active and was now pointed towards Clan.
“...You were close, Moon of Schweiger or whatever.”
Since the weapon that Clan was summoning was large, the explosion was several times larger than Theia's.
Part 8
Once the smoke from the explosion cleared, Clan was nowhere to be seen. Only fragments of her weapon were left.
“So she's run off... her plans might be second-rate, but she is a first-rate runner...”
“Theia-dono, are you sure we shouldn't be chasing after her?”
“It's fine. She specializes in running. Chasing after her would be a waste of time.”
Theia shrugged at Kiriha, and threw a fragment of the weapon away.
The fragment slid down the stage floor and stopped as it crashed into Koutarou's body.
“I, I thought I was a goner...”
Koutarou was lying down on the stage with his arms and legs stretched out.
Having moved nonstop since the rehearsal, he'd finally ran out of energy.
“By what? Exhaustion or by Clan?”
“B-Both...”
Today's just been nonstop action...
Koutarou just wanted to hurry on home and go to sleep.
“Wait, I'll get the armor off you.”
Normally Theia would look down on Koutarou in this state, but this time she was gentle.
Well done for today, Koutarou...
Even Theia couldn't find it in her heart to shout at him today.
Theia approached Koutarou with a rare, calm smile.
“Tulip, sorry to interrupt when you're in such a good mood-”
As Theia came closer, Koutarou called out to her with a serious look on his face.
“What?”
“It broke.”
“Eh?”
“I said, it broke.”
As Theia squatted down, Koutarou showed her the Blue Knight's replica sword.
About ten centimeters from the handle, the blade had snapped off.
“I think it happened when I swung it with all my power that last time. When I noticed, it was already broken. Sorry.”
Koutarou knew that Theia treasured everything related to the Blue Knight, so he was afraid that she would yell at him again.
The sword is a knight's soul.
Koutarou could vividly imagine Theia scolding him.
“I see. So it broke...”
“Eh?”
However, going against Koutarou's expectation, Theia wasn't angry.
As Koutarou looked at her with a surprised expression, Theia called out to him and laughed.
“What's with that surprised look on your face? Fufufu.”
“What do you mean by that, aren't you angry? You were always going on about how the sword is a knight's soul...”
“You fool!! So in the end you didn't understand what I was talking about!?”
Theia raised her eyebrows at Koutarou’s words, but she wasn't angry about Koutarou breaking the sword but rather that he hadn't understood what she had been trying to tell him.
“The sword is a knight's soul because of a vow placed on it! What can't be broken is that vow, not the sword itself!”
Theia excitedly swung the sword around as she yelled at Koutarou.
“That's why this sword hasn't been broken! Why can't you understand such a simple thing!”
“The manners of a knight are too difficult for me to understand.”
Theia fell silent as Koutarou complained.
She then stared at Koutarou and began speaking in a quiet voice.
“...That decides it. You're going to keep training to become a knight.”
Although the tone was quiet, the anger in it was more intense than ever.
She narrowed her eyes and glared at Koutarou.
“Ehh!? You mean it's not over!?”
“As if I can let it end! If I just left you as a half-assed knight, it would bring shame to the Mastir family! At the very least, we'll keep training until your public debut!”
“I don't want to!! G-Give me a break!!”
The rehearsals and the fight with Clan had ended.
However, it looked like Koutarou's knight training was not over yet.
And as Koutarou and the others calmed down, inside the equipment room, Clan who everyone had thought vanished began taking action again.
“Theiamillis-san, and that fake Blue Knight.... You're making a huge mistake if you think I'll retreat because of something like this...!”
Clan dragged her body, damaged by the explosion, towards the stage.
However, while she looked to be in terrible shape, her eyes were burning with rage.
“I won't accept it, there's no way I lost! There's no way that I lost to Theiamillis-san and that fake Blue Knight! There's no way I can accept that!!”
The only thing keeping Clan from collapsing was her incredibly deep refusal of admitting defeat to Theia.
Without that, she would have passed out long ago.
“Fu, fufufu, 'It is the deceitful man who most often falls into the snares of deceit' was it!? In that case, you will be the one who falls into my final snare!!”
Clan pulled out a small box with a button.
“I didn't want to use this while it was still in research but... now that it's come to this I have no choice... fufufu.”
It was a new type of bomb using space-time technology that Clan had developed.
Although it didn't have the same power as old-fashioned bombs, it was capable of destroying everything in a specified range.
“G-Good bye, Theiamillis-san. It was nice to ha―”
However, Clan was unable to push that button.
The moment she was about to push it, something had fallen down on her, causing her to lose her consciousness.
And just like that, Clan's final attack had failed.
Part 9
Roughly 20 minutes had passed since Yurika hid in this room.
She could hear some kind of commotion outside, but she prioritized her own crisis.
“...I can't hold on... I'm falling, I'm falling!”
Yurika's limbs had reached their limit a while ago.
When she had run into the equipment room, she figured that she would be found right away if she half-assedly hid herself.
So when Yurika, unusually enough, used her brain to think, she came up with the idea of hiding in the air duct leading up to the ceiling.
While it was a hard to find location, the air duct was diagonal so in order to hide in there, Yurika needed to use some strength support herself.
However, she still chose to hide there.
If she managed to avoid Ruth, she would be able to hide in the equipment room for a long time.
It was a bright idea for Yurika.
“I can't, it's too much... I-I'm falling~”
However, Ruth hadn't shown up, no matter how long she waited.
But Yurika wasn't planning on coming down until Ruth had shown up.
At times a rat would run by above her, or a spider would crawl around her hand, but Yurika withstood it and waited for 20 minutes.
And that's when the equipment room's door opened and a lone girl appeared.
Convinced that the girl was Ruth, Yurika used the last of her strength to hang onto the air duct.
“I didn't want to use this while it was still in research but... now that it's come to this I have no choice... fufufu.”
“Huh?”
However, the girl wasn't Ruth.
As she realized that, Yurika became discouraged, and as she did, all the built up tension vanished.
“H-Hercules-chan, lend me your strength!”
Without anything to rely on, her limbs were at their limits.
And she didn't have enough strength to let go with one hand to use magic.
Of course, when she asked Hercules for help, she got no response.
“I can't hold on! I'm sorry, Hercules-chan! I'm sorry!”
Yurika finally fell. The only thing she could do was hold onto the breeding case so that it wouldn't break.
The floor in the equipment room was a lot softer than Yurika had imagined.
“H-Huh?”
She had braced herself for a strong impact but when that didn't happen she slowly opened her eyes.
“T-Thank god, Hercules-chan is okay...”
The first thing she could see was the breeding case with Hercules in it.
Fortunately it seemed to have survived the impact and didn't seem to be cracked anywhere.
And Hercules who was inside was moving around energetically.
“Mmm~”
Breathing a sigh of relief after seeing that Hercules was okay, she calmed down and noticed that she was sitting on top of something.
“U-Uhm...”
She was scared she might have broken a set piece or the likes.
“Eh!?”
However, what Yurika was sitting on wasn't a broken set piece.
It was a girl dressed in a black and white dress.
As she noticed that she was sitting on top of a person, Yurika hurriedly jumped off.
“Kya, n-noo―”
She was about to scream but she quickly blocked her mouth.
If she screamed here, Ruth might appear and even if she didn't, it would become a messy situation.
“W-W-What should I do!? I-I can't just leave her like this, but at the same time I can't call anyone over!”
Still holding onto Hercules' case, Yurika ran around in circles.
After doing that for a while, Yurika made her decision and stopped running.
“A-Alright, let's just pretend this didn't happen...”
Since she was worried that someone else might find out that Yurika had hurt someone, she was planning on healing the girl using magic.
“This is for Hercules! That's right, I'm protecting Hercules's owner’s dreams! That is a magical girl’s duty!”
The magical girl of love and courage ☆ Rainbow Yurika.
“Come, Angel Halo!”
Without anyone realizing, she had knocked out Clan and then saved her life.
