Akatsuki Translations

“Gyaaah!”

The last one collapsed with a scream, clutching his arm. Confirming this, Ur released the woman he had been swinging around with his left hand and tossed away the wooden sword.

“Hii…”

“…Ah… I’m tired.”

Ur let out a big sigh.

He was truly, pointlessly exhausted. The adventurers who had picked a fight with him were supposedly copper-ranked, but there was nothing to learn from their fighting style. They probably hadn’t been taking their work very seriously. Their movements were poor, and their group tactics were sloppy. Moreover, defeating them didn’t yield any magic stones nor magical power to consume, meaning they were opponents with no benefit whatsoever.

He still had other business to attend to today, and he wanted to leave quickly. This was Ur’s honest feeling… however,

“Way to go!! 【Slime King Exterminator】!!”

“You did it, you coward! We’ll avenge Gagaru, gahaha!!”

“Avenge? Don’t make me laugh, dumbass! You just want to try it yourself!!”

“Ugh… what a pain…”

The spectators who had gathered at some point were in high spirits.

They were shouting whatever they pleased, completely ignoring Ur’s will. Some were even gripping their weapons, seeming ready to jump in at any moment. There was no sign that they would allow Ur to simply say “Well then, goodbye” and leave.

As Ur was considering various options, like deliberately losing to a suitable opponent and fleeing, though that seemed like it would be troublesome in its own way…

“Then, perhaps you’ll face me,” a sharp female voice rang out.

Simultaneously, something landed with a thud in the center of the ground. A woman with black and gold hair. Her straight, dignified posture. As she grabbed a wooden sword dropped by the thugs and turned towards Ur, her intimidating presence made him reflexively brace himself and create distance.

“Nice to meet you, Ur. I’m Ikaza Gran Sparkray. Shall we have a match?”

The top of the Adventurers’ Guild stood in his way.

Did I do something wrong? Ur wondered, looking back on his actions and lamenting. There were quite a few things he could think of.

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“Oh my, Ikaza-sama is gone.”

《She flew? 》

Shizuku and Akane remarked, eyes widening as they saw Ikaza, who had been watching Ur’s fight next to them just moments ago, now in the center of the grounds. It had happened in an instant. It must have been quite a leap, but she had disappeared without even a sound.

“Master Ikaza is being considerate,” Diz commented, seemingly having noticed her movement, as she observed Ikaza and Ur facing off.

《Isn’t this bullying? 》 Akane mewed.

“If he started fighting with other adventurers, there’d be no end to it, win or lose. But no adventurer will dare to follow after her,” Diz explained.

Indeed, the spectator seats that had been noisy until moments ago were now buzzing with a new kind of excitement. The adventurers who had been about to jump in were the same. They had already entered spectator mode.

“Besides, even if Ur loses to Master Ikaza, his status won’t fall.”

“My, Diz-sama. What if Ur-sama wins?” Shizuku asked a bit mischievously.

But Diz shook her head with a confident expression.

“That won’t happen.”

Soon after, the two began their battle.

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Crossing swords reveals your opponent’s strength.

Ur had never believed in such sayings from some swordmaster. Clashing swords only made your hands hurt. He had seriously thought, “What are they talking about? Are they crazy?”

“This may be against your will, but it’s a good opportunity. Come at me with all you’ve got,” Ikaza said.

Now he realized how wrong he had been.

Ur felt his spine tingle from the sensation transmitted through the clashing wooden swords. The 《Lightning Empress’s》 face before him wore a smile, but the aura overflowing from her depths violently stimulated his survival instinct. It was a familiar feeling – the reflex against a superior opponent.

His waist tried to pull back. His muscles tried to stiffen. His legs tried to flee.

The only reason he could suppress all of these with reason was simply because Ur was accustomed to fighting such opponents. Most of his battles were against superior foes. He was used to his body’s functions instinctually becoming hesitant.

“Oh?”

Seeing Ur’s movements, Ikaza let out a small sound of admiration, pushing him away to create distance. Then she took her stance again. It was a posture like a single taut line extending from the top of her head to her toes. There was not a single waver in her.

Beautiful.

To have such an impression from a mere stance, apart from her, only Diz or perhaps the 【Heavenly Sword】 who had faced her in Ugua recently would think so. In short, that’s the kind of opponent Ikaza was.

Inwardly, Ur grumbled about why he had to fight someone like this. But at the same time…

“Well… it is a good opportunity… though really unwilling,” he muttered.

It was true that chances to fight the top adventurer didn’t come often.

Ur removed his eyepatch, revealing his magic eye of future vision.

“Oh, a magic eye?”

“Is it self-enhancement or opponent restriction type?”

“I don’t think it’ll work, but do your best, you brat!”

The spectators got excited with their own imaginations and speculations. But none of them guessed that this was future vision. That was to be expected. This was something Diz had forcibly created in the midst of a desperate situation. No one thought he possessed one of the higher-tier magic eyes.

Ur looked at Ikaza. He saw her future and moved. She closed the distance again with wind-like speed. Ur leapt sideways.

“Oh?”

The sword was brought down where Ur had been moments ago. Ikaza looked surprised.

No matter how fast, if you know the movement, you can avoid it. Over the past few months of training, Ur had gradually become accustomed to handling future vision. He was at the point where the day he could remove the eyepatch entirely wasn’t far off.

“Ha!!”

He thrust at Ikaza, whose posture was broken right after the evasion. It was a basic move, but one honed through countless repetitions of practice, with no wasted motion. He was confident.

“Not bad,” Ikaza said.

“Wha-!?”

A moment before, Ikaza kicked the ground. Suddenly, the earth of the training ground flew up. But Ur’s attack didn’t stop, thrusting into the cloud of dust.

However, there was no response. The practice sword cut through air. Sand got in his eyes, blocking his magic eye. Moreover, when the dust cleared, Ikaza wasn’t there.

“Future vision is powerful, but there are several countermeasures,” her voice came from behind.

He swung his sword as he turned, but again cut only air. Ur gritted his teeth. He was being toyed with.

“It’s meaningless if you can’t keep them in sight. The same if the magic eye itself is crushed. Furthermore, there’s a lag in processing the information.”

As he wiped the sand with tears and faced forward, Ikaza had again created distance. It was the same as her initial position. By all accounts, she could have taken him down at any time, but instead she was instructing him on how to use his magic eye. It was proof of just how great the difference in their abilities was.

It was frustrating. And he was grateful. She was very clearly teaching him how immature he still was.

“If used incorrectly, it can be turned against you. I don’t recommend using it in close combat with a superior opponent.”

“Understood. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Ur deepened his stance, holding his sword in a thrusting position. Like the movement of the dragon fang spear.

“Come,” Ikaza said.

With her words, Ur kicked off the ground with an explosive sound. It was clearly different from the earlier chase, a charge driven by leg power.

“【Piercing Thrust】”

“【Thunder Slash】”

The two crossed paths.

Silence fell, and all the spectators held their breath. Soon after, Ur’s body swayed. He dropped his wooden sword and was about to fall. Ikaza supported his body with her arm.

Still supporting Ur, she raised her sword and declared victory.

The adventurers’ excitement enveloped the training grounds.