Chapter 67 (1/2)

Chapter 67

Sleeping Powder.

A few minutes later.

…Somehow or other, I had a feeling it would end up like this. But I also predicted that there would be trouble if it did.

The garden of the lord’s mansion. A single no-contact match with wooden swords.

–The result was… Yuel standing over a fallen Astel, holding a wooden sword to her throat.

「K-Kuuhhhhhh…」

Astel, down on her b.u.t.t, glares intensely at Yuel.

…You ended up winning, Yuel-san. You ended up winning against the sage’s spy who has the same amount of interpersonal combat training as a knight, Yuel-san.

「Master! I won!」

Yuel approaches me jubilantly. Then, as if wis.h.i.+ng to be petted, she holds her head in an easily accessible spot and starts wiggling it. I’m worried about how Astel will react, but I’ll pet her anyway.

「Unbelievable…」

Staring at Yuel bashfully getting her head petted, Astel makes a facial expression that no child ever should. Eyes half-covered in tears, biting her lower lip, glaring furiously at Yuel.

…So it ended up like this after all, huh? I wanted Yuel to win, but it was clear that this would happen if she did. I mean, as the saint’s escort, Astel seemed to be highly conscious of her professional status and all.

…But it’s not like I can’t understand Astel’s feelings. Astel most likely beats Yuel by a mile when it comes to combat techniques. And yet she completely lost in terms of specs; that’s the kind of match-up it was.

Astel’s attacks mixed with clever feints were completely overcome by Yuel’s reflexes. Even when she deftly moved into Yuel’s blind spots, Yuel twitched her ears to pinpoint Astel’s location and continued accurately swinging the wooden sword towards her. Yuel ended up covering the difference in technique with her body’s ability. Imagining the potential once Yuel has properly honed her combat techniques, my expectations for her future prospects have risen, but this result is a little cruel for Astel.

Or maybe I should ask, with Astel being so vexed, will she even teach Yuel her combat techniques properly? Even under normal circ.u.mstances she has an att.i.tude like she hates Yuel. I’m concerned about Astel’s mental state.

Even from the perspective of the saint, this result was most likely beyond her expectations when she gave Astel her orders. If Yuel can win against the spy used by the saint, she’ll most likely trample over ordinary enemies. Surely, unless it’s one of a handful of big shots who are stronger than Astel or have skin too hard for her knife to penetrate like the Armor Ogre, n.o.body could win against Yuel.

But such things probably don’t matter to Astel. No matter how strong Yuel may be, as the saint’s spy, Astel lost to someone of the same age, and furthermore someone with barely any combat training. As far as she’s concerned, it would invariably be humiliating. She’s glaring at Yuel as her eyes fill up with tears, and involuntarily trembling.

「H-Hey, Astel, this is…」

I’m feeling a little sorry for her. When I try to find the right words to comfort her,

「I-I lost because it was a practice match. I-If this had been a serious fight, and I had dipped my weapon in poison, it would’ve been my win. If it was a real fight I would have won!」

Astel turns to Yuel, nearly crying, and insists that. Somehow, it looks like she’s claiming that even if she lost the match she wouldn’t lose in a serious fight. Well, if Yuel just goes along with it, as far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter who would win or lose. And they’re both young girls, so it’d be a shame if Yuel aggravates her and makes her cry.

The

rest depends on Yuel’s reaction… and Yuel nods deeply at Astel’s words.

「Yes, if it had been dipped in poison, I might have lost.」

Then Yuel says that, echoing Astel’s a.s.sertion. Did she read the atmosphere?

No, now that I get a good look, there’s a small scratch on Yuel’s right shoulder. I didn’t notice it, but Yuel might have failed to dodge Astel’s attack. A strike of that degree could hardly be called fatal, but sure, if her weapons were dipped in poison for real combat, Yuel might very well have been immobilized.

「I am Saint-sama’s spy! I pursue Saint-sama’s enemies, gather information, and now and then use poisons and chemicals to render my targets helpless. That’s my job. Of course direct combat skills are essential, but there are more important things than that for a spy!」

Yuel keeps nodding in agreement with Astel’s speech. Then Astel starts slowly lining bottles up before her eyes.

「I wasn’t sure what I should teach you, but let’s go with this. These are all poisons that I concocted myself.」

「A-All of these…? A-Amazing!」

Bottles of poison, lined up in a row. When she sees them, Yuel makes an astonished voice and compliments Astel. With a twitch, Astel’s drooping dog ears shake.

「I-I choose which of all these poisons to use depending on the situation.」

「D-Depending on the situation… even though there are so many? Amazing!」

Yuel praises her further. Astel’s dog ears shake again. Did she regain her enthusiasm? Her ears have perked up a little.

「Not just poison, even antidotes, I can prepare them all!」

「That’s amazing! I haven’t ever used poison. It’s incredible that you can use all of those, and even make the antidotes!」

Taking a long hard look at the poison bottles, Yuel exclaims in admiration. Astel’s ears shoot straight up. Then they start waggling.

「A-As long as you understand!」

Before I knew it, the tears have disappeared from Astel’s eyes and she’s stopped trembling. Yuel is looking at her somewhat gently, too. I thought I should say something to console her, but looks like she already recovered.

…This kid is pretty simple, huh. Yuel seems to be lavis.h.i.+ng her with praise naturally, though.