Part 8 (2/2)

Usually players who teleported appeared on the ground, but this person appeared a meter off it and-flew through the air and headed straight for me.

”Huh, huh...!?”

Without any time to catch or dodge, we collided and fell to the ground in a single heap. I hit the back of my head on the stone ground, hard. If I wasn't inside of a settlement, a couple of dots from my HP would have been taken away.

This meant-that this idiot player had jumped into the gate from the other side and appeared like that here, most likely. The thought flashed calmly though my mind. Still a bit dizzy, I raised my arm and grabbed the idiot on top of me in an attempt to push the person off.

”...hmm?”

The feeling of something strange and full registered in my hand. I squeezed it twice, and three times to figure out what the springy and rich feeling in my hand was.

”K-Kya-!!”

Suddenly, a loud scream sounded in my ear and my head hit the ground again. At the same time, the weight lifted from my body.

In front of me, there was a female player that was sitting on the ground, wearing a red on white knight uniform and a knee-length miniskirt, with a silver-white rapier in her scabbard. And for some reason, she was glaring at me with an inexplicable anger evident in her eyes. Her face was experiencing the highest degree of the emotion effect and was red all the way to her ears, and her two arms were crossed protectively against her chest-...chest...?

I was immediately able to guess what I had been grabbing with my right hand. At the same time I realized, a little too late, the dangerous situation that I was in. All the ways to avoid dangerous situations that I had trained into my head had all but vanished. While opening and closing my right hand, not knowing what to do with it, I opened my mouth.

”H-Hey. Good morning, Asuna.”

The anger in her eyes seemed to flare brighter. Those were definitely the eyes of someone who was contemplating about drawing their weapon.

I started inspecting the need for the ”escape” option that had flashed to mind when the gate s.h.i.+ned blue again. Asuna looked back with a surprised expression and got up quickly before hiding behind me.

”Eh...?”

Without knowing why, I stood up as well. The gate s.h.i.+ned brighter when a newcomer appeared in the middle of it. This time, the player had both feet on the ground.

As the light faded, I recognized the person inside, and the impressive white cape with a red symbol on it. The man, who wore a KoB uniform and carried a sword that seemed to be a little overly decorated, was the long haired bodyguard who had been following Asuna around yesterday. His name was Kuradeel or something.

Kuradeel's frown grew deeper as he saw Asuna behind me. He didn't look all that old. He would only be around his early twenties, but the wrinkles on his face made him look older. He gritted his teeth so hard that we could almost hear it and then spoke with a barely concealed anger.

”A...Asuna-sama, you shouldn't be acting on your own like this...!”

As I heard the voice that bordered on hysterical, I thought This is going to get complicated and pulled in my shoulders. With his heavily lidded eyes glowering, Kuradeel spoke again.

”Now, Asuna-sama, let's return to HQ.”

”No. I'm not even on duty today! ...and Kuradeel, why were you standing in front of my house so early in the morning?”

Asuna replied angrily behind me.

”Fufu, I knew that such a situation would occur, so I started going to Salemburg to watch your house starting a month ago.”

I could only be surprised at Kuradeel's proud answer. Asuna froze too. After a long silence, she asked with a forced voice.

”That...that's not part of the leader's orders is it...?”

”My duty is to escort you, Asuna-sama. Watching your house is included in...”

”What do you mean included, idiot!”

Kuradeel walked over with his expression becoming even more angry and annoyed, then pushed me out of the way and grabbed Asuna's hand.

”You don't seem to understand. Please don't be like this... now let's go back to HQ.”

Asuna appeared to have been frightened by the voice that seemed to hide something barely concealed behind it. She threw an imploring look my way.

To tell the truth, I was wondering whether to run away like I always did until that point. But the moment I saw Asuna's eyes, my hand started moving by itself. I grabbed Kuradeel's right arm, the one that was grabbing Asuna, and increased the strength in my hand until just before the crime prevention code would be invoked.

”Sorry, but I'm borrowing your sub-captain for today.”

The line sounded stupid even to my ears, but I couldn't back down now. Kuradeel, who had been purposefully ignoring me until now, scrunched his face up and pulled his hand away.

”You...!”

He screamed in a voice that seemed to rasp. Even if the system overstated expressions, there was still something that seemed strange behind his voice.

”I'll guarantee Asuna's safety. It's not like we're going to fight a boss today. You can return to HQ by yourself.”

”D...Don't kid with me!! Do you think a pathetic player like you can protect Asuna-sama!!”

”Better than you can, most probably.”

”Y-You insolent fool...! I-If you can talk big, I suppose you're prepared to back it up...?”

Kuradeel, his face now white, called the menu screen with his right hand and manipulated it quickly. Soon a semi-transparent system message appeared in front of me. I could guess what it is before I even read it.

[A 1-on-1 duel has been requested by Kuradeel. Do you accept?]

Below the expressionlessly s.h.i.+ning letters were the Yes/No b.u.t.tons and a number of other options. I glanced sideways at Asuna. She couldn't see the message but seemed to have guessed what was going on. I thought that she would try and stop me, but surprisingly she nodded slightly with a rigid expression.

”...is it okay? Won't this pose a problem in the guild...?”

Asuna answered to my whispered question with one of her own.

”It's fine. I'll report this to the leader myself.”

I nodded in reply, then pressed Yes and chose the ”First Strike Mode” from the options.

This was a duel that could be won either by landing the first clean hit or by reducing the opponent's HP to half. The message changed to [You have accepted the 1-on-1 duel with Kuradeel], and a countdown of 60 seconds appeared below it. The moment that number reached zero, the HP protection system that was in effect within the town would be momentarily withdrawn, and he and I would be able to cross swords until one of us won.

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