"Auntie Marigold?" I asked.
"I told you to stop calling me Auntie," Marigold said. "I hate that nickname."
Sakimi crossed her arms. "Fine. I'll stick with Marigold if you want."
Marigold pointed an accusing finger at me. "The Fujimoto's sent me, so you better hand over Sakimi right now!"
It was obvious that Sakimi and Marigold knew each other, so there was no reason to doubt the claim. It also seemed that the two of them were close enough that Sakimi used the nickname Auntie. Maybe Marigold was a family friend.
"I don't want to go back!" Sakimi said.
"You don't have a choice," Marigold replied. "Your parents are worried, and I'm not gonna go easy on you just because we've known each other for years."
"Why don't you listen to Sakimi?" I asked Marigold. "She says that she doesn't want to go back!"
"You don't know anything! You don't know how badly Sakimi's parents are hurting! Just when Ayame died, Sakimi ran off and abandoned her parents too!"
"I know that Sakimi's parents must be sad, but that isn't an excuse for them to imprison their daughter at home!"
"I'm not a child!" Sakimi added, scowling at Marigold. "I can make choices on my own!"
"That's right," I said. "It's true that Sakimi is still learning, but I underestimated her. She's more mature than you think, Marigold. Sakimi knows the risks of becoming an adventurer, but she's ready to face any challenge. And if things get dangerous, I'll be there to help her too."
Marigold scowled. "You'll protect her, you say? I'm sure you said the same thing when Ayame went with you."
"Don't bring my sister into this!" Sakimi wailed. "Stop talking about her!"
The girl's tone of voice was staggered as she tried to hold in her sobs.
"What's it gonna take to prove that Sakimi can become an adventurer?" I asked.
"Alright," Marigold said. "You said you could protect Sakimi, but I'll be the one to decide if you can truly uphold your word. Fight me in a duel, and if you win, Sakimi can continue adventuring with you. If you lose, then Sakimi comes back."
"I don't want you guys to hurt each other!" Sakimi said.
"It'll be fine," I said calmly. "Stand aside."
Sakimi backed away begrudgingly.
"Ares, do you accept the challenge?" Marigold asked.
"Yes," I said.
"In that case, I won't hold back!"
Marigold mounted her spinebear and came charging straight for me. If I faced the beast head-on, I could land a hit, but then I'd get sent flying. Even though spinebears don't do too much damage, I would be putting myself in a disadvantageous situation.
Instead, I opened my console and quickly swapped to my Wing Boots. I jumped backward, landing horizontally on the wall, and I pushed off, rushing forward at a tremendous speed. I aimed for Marigold, but the spinebear raised its arm to protect its rider. The attack took the beast's health down to eighty-eight percent.
Mounted enemies were a pain. I probably wouldn't have any chance of winning if I couldn't knock off the rider.
I continued pressing my initiative, leaping into the nearest wall again. Tight streets allowed me to utilize the boots to their highest potential.
"That same trick won't work on me again!" Marigold said.
Right as I launched myself forward, Marigold tugged on her mount's reins. The spinebear caught me with its jaws and slammed me to the ground, taking my health down to eighty-two percent. If I still had my default armor set, I'd nearly die from that hit.
I activated Angelic Blaze, sending forth a flaming wave, but Marigold and her spinebear jumped over it.
That's exactly what I wanted.
Unlike how most anime would lead you to believe, normal people couldn't change direction in the air. Now, Marigold was vulnerable.
I used this opportunity to leap forward with my Wing Boots, and I managed to land a thrust with my sword, launching Marigold off the saddle. As she hit the ground, I removed my Wing Boots (just to make sure I didn't screw up), but I didn't have the time to re-equip my normal armor piece. Instead, I followed up with two more attacks, bringing Marigold's health down to sixty-nine percent.
Marigold rolled away and launched two arrows in my direction. Simultaneously, I used Chromius to fire blasts of energy, but one of the arrows struck my shoulder, and the other one struck my gut, sending my aim off trajectory. My health ended up dropping to seventy-four percent.
"Get him, Vortigern!" Marigold called.
From behind, the spinebear—Vortigern—pounced on me, but I side-stepped and landed a slash. Unfortunately, Marigold let loose another arrow, which brought my health to sixty percent—a critical hit.
Marigold and I took a few moments to catch our breath. Using this short respite, I re-equipped the boots from the Radiant Majesty set. Without the full armor, I didn't have the Golden Blossom ability, which made me immune to critical hits.
Then, I noticed that the blue circle on my wrist was pulsating.
If I had Laevateinn, this would have been the perfect time to test out its special attack, but it looks like I was still stuck with my default sword for a couple more days. Still, it had a formidable special attack.
I raised my hand into the air and activated Messenger of the Heavens. Just as I did that, Marigold placed a glowing arrow on her bow. She was too focused on me to notice that a blazing pillar of light was descending from the dark clouds.
Everything in the vicinity was illuminated as Marigold took the brunt of the holy damage, screaming in agony. Messenger of the Heavens hit every inch of the target's body, and it lasted for a significant period of time, so it was a tremendously painful attack.
After about six seconds, Marigold's health dropped to three percent.
I was cutting it close with that special move, having nearly killed her. Still, I won the duel.
Marigold fell to her knees and slumped her body forward, coughing up blood. I found it strange that games and anime have normalized blood-coughing, even though it meant that there was serious internal bleeding. Of course, this was a video game, so Marigold's internal organs weren't really damaged.
In surrender, Marigold raised her arms, and said, "You win. Well-played."
"Auntie!" Sakimi yelled, running toward us.
"You idiot. I told you to stop calling me that."
"Sorry, sorry. I'll fix you right up! Mega Heal!
Immediately, Marigold returned to seventy-eight percent health.
There were dozens of healing spells, but the three basic ones—Heal, Medium Heal, and Mega Heal didn't use incantations. Those spells gave twenty-five percent, fifty percent, and seventy-five percent health, respectively.
Other healing spells, such as Full Heal and Rejuvenation, had their own incantations.
Sakimi faced me and glared with her hands on her hips. "You didn't have to go so hard on her!"
"It's fine," Marigold said. "This just proves how much he's willing to protect you."
"Are you sure you're alright?" Sakimi asked.
"Yeah. It was just a scratch."
"You nearly died!"
"Psh, I've seen worse," Marigold replied. She then turned to me and said, "Ares, you have my trust."
"Thanks."
"No. I should be thanking you for taking care of Sakimi. I'm sorry for ever doubting you."
"It's fine. I understand why you'd be so worried."
Marigold's spinebear growled in my direction.
"There, there, Vortigern. Ares is a friend, so you should be a good boy, now. You don't have to be so hostile."
Vortigern let out a whimper as Marigold scratched his neck, but the spinebear still kept glaring at me.
"In any case," Marigold said. "I'll have to go back to your parents, Sakimi. I'm sure I'll get an earful when they hear what happened, but I'll try to convince them to leave you be."
"Thank you!" Sakimi said.
At that, Marigold hopped on her spinebear, and they raced off into the night.
"Let's go back to my room, Sakimi," I said. "I'm exhausted."
"Me too."