I somehow managed to ward off his first blow and cast a side glance at the referee.
As I thought, this wasn't enough to make him raise his hand.
This mock battle was a school lesson, so to speak, so if you could land a hit, the match ended there.
However, it seemed that landing one by throwing a knife at your opponent didn't count.
Even though I could've easily ended it that way.
So I had no choice but to do everything I could to end this battle without getting injured.
With these eyes of mine, I could pull this off.
[Now, here comes the next one.] (Epona)
Epona looked delighted from the bottom of his heart, his face was flushed as he raised his arms over his head and came at me.
It seemed that he took quite the pleasure in fighting me. I was surprised since he didn't look like that kind of character to me.
Epona's weapon was his outrageously high physical power.
That alone overwhelmed everything I had accumulated.
However, there was an opening I could exploit.
The long momentum he had to build for his attacks made them easy to anticipate, plus the way he moved his body was clumsy, and there was an interval between his attacks.
Overall, Epona's attacks were just too straightforward.
I knew that the closer you were to being top-notch, the less likely your fights were to go as you wanted.
Which is why as you watch your opponent's moves, you think about using feints and changing your attacks in the middle of performing them.
However, because he didn't take any of that into consideration, he didn't change his.
He took too much time before every action, and his attacks were so simple I could see them coming a mile away.
I gradually got used to them after dodging two or three times.
Being able to experience the speed and fighting habits of a hero was such an exceptional benefit, his weaknesses were showing.
The hero's physical abilities exceeded all standards, but although his dynamic vision was superhuman, it was inferior to Tuatha Dé's eyes. Only there did I have the upper hand.
That was a good information gathering. I'm glad I got to fight him.
…Well, I would if I could make it out alive.
[Amazing, this is amazing! Why can't I land a hit on you?! Even though you're slower than me!] (Epona)
My head was spinning. My overworked brain was screaming.
I kept my eyes sharper and my concentration higher than necessary, I didn't spare a single dodge so as not to get hit, yet my body was worn out.
Every time I avoided a lethal blow, I was sweating bullets, and I felt like my lifespan was shortening.
I was gradually getting a bad feeling about this.
It didn't look like I could keep this up for long.
However, my spirit didn't waver. Being agitated wasn't going to improve my situation, on the contrary, it would give him an opening.
[What's wrong!? You should attack me too, Lugh. Otherwise, it won't be training at all!] (Epona)
I was aware of that.
But if I spared even a single effort so I could attack him, then I couldn't keep evading him.
That offensive power of his was more than I could take, it could break through my defense.
Because of that, I had no choice but to dodge.
However, I just needed a little more time.
My eyes were starting to grow accustomed to Epona's patterns, his skills, his quirks, I could read them all.
In addition, his attacks were getting wider and wider.
[Take that, that, and that!] (Epona)
I didn't take any of that, and because he was this impatient, he started moving faster while using unnecessary extra power.
His already dull movements had gotten even duller and easier to predict.
Then, because he couldn't hit me, he would move on to his best special move.
It was the one that knocked down the knight captain in one hit, a plain old upperdash.
Instead of anticipating his actions based on his preliminary movements like I'd been doing so far, I moved as soon as he was in motion for his attack. What I did was already akin to foresight.
If I could read into my opponent's abilities and habits, then I could rely on that prediction. It wasn't just a mere gamble.
Nonetheless, no matter how much I may had laid the groundwork, it was still a risky move. And yet, this was my only chance of winning this.
If I didn't take that risk, then not only would I not have the time to dodge, I wouldn't have the time to attack.
The fact that Epona's attacks could be read was his shortcoming.
…If you were up against an opponent who was capable to some extent and using the same strategy as me, you would switch to a different kind of attack.
However, Epona didn't have the ability nor the calmness for that.
Even though I was making my move before he was done with his preliminary movement, Epona, being honest to a fault, stepped forward and swung up his sword, but I just barely managed to evade it, then I aimed for the moment when he would stretch his body to the end and go stiff after that slash, and I hit him with a counter.
He slightly reacted with a bump, and the next moment, he was blown far away by wind pressure, and out of the ring.
Unable to land safely either, he hit the ground several times before finally coming to a stop.
…Well, I guess that was bound to happen since I hit him head-on with a counter.
I really shouldn't have done that.
[Winner, Lugh !] (Referee)
It appeared that the referee was keeping a close watch on the match, as he was able to validate the blow and pick up the winner before he was even out of the ring.
Maybe he could tell because I went for a counter right when she was standing still, but to think he didn't miss it at all, that was something you could only expect from S-class.
[Lugh-sama, that was amazing!] (Talt)
[Unbelievable, he won against that monstrously strong hero.] (Dia)
[I already had a high opinion of him, but now it went even higher. Finn, do you think you could've fought like he has?] (Neusch)
[You've got to be kidding. Forget about landing a decisive counter, I don't even think I could've dodged at all… Lugh Tuatha Dé, he's got incredibly good eyes, and insight to boot. I hate to admit it, but while the hero's a given, I don't feel like I could win against Lugh at all. What about you, Neusch?] (Finn)
[I feel the same. And that's why I want him. If I had you and him as my followers, anything would be possible.] (Neusch)
Having witnessed our battle, our classmates were excitedly commenting on it.
…I somehow managed to win without revealing my hand.
I only use Tuatha Dé's eyes to enhance my dynamic vision, plus no one can find out about them by watching them from afar.
I tried to get up, but I couldn't.
I was terribly out of breath, my legs were about to give away, and I was sweating buckets from my whole body.
It seemed that I was more exhausted than I thought.
Not so much physically as mentally.
Even my Hyper Regeneration couldn't do anything for my mind.
…I shuddered at the thought of what would've happened if this had been a real fight.
Even though I said that I was totally exhausted, Epona had no injury. Never mind being done in one blow, I would've been done for if he had even grazed me, whereas even though I managed to counter him, the damage I dealt was only superficial.
I felt genuinely bitter about it.
Did I really have to kill that?
That very same Epona came to me and offered me his hand. When I grabbed it, he help me up.
[Lugh, I'm glad to have met you. I want to fight you again.] (Epona)
Those words increased my concerns about him being a battle maniac.
Then no wonder he said something dangerous like how if it were me, I wouldn't break.
[I'm surprised, I didn't know you loved fighting.] (Lugh)
[That's not how it is. Since I'm the hero, I have to get stronger. For that purpose, I have to train a lot, but whenever I fought people, they all ended up broken. I want to get stronger, but I never got to. I've always been worried that at this rate, if I ever had to fight a demon or anything that's stronger than me, I would lose. But you, Lugh, didn't break, so I could actually train. Now I can finally become stronger. Say, won't you have another mock battle with me like today? It can't be with anyone but you, Lugh!] (Epona)
So that's what he was getting at.
Even in a mock battle, there was no way to end it safely against Epona.
The reason his movements were so clumsy was probably because he couldn't get proper practice.
There were countless techniques that could only be mastered during a fight, and he had no suitable opponent.
It's not that he loved fighting, but his sense of duty as a hero made him say that line apparently.
If I accepted his proposition, I would become an irreplaceable existence to him, and we could share a deep connection.
Although, that fight was rather life-threatening.
If I did that over and over, then I would probably break.
Even so…
[Yeah, with pleasure. After all, I'll get to benefit from it too.] (Lugh)
There was no doubt that I would also become stronger by fighting those life-threatening battles.
I could strengthen myself and earn the hero's trust while also uncovering everything about him.
After comparing the pros and cons, the pros prevailed.
The problem was that the hero would get stronger as a result, but I concluded that I would benefit more from it.
[Fufu, I look forward to it. I'll ask the teacher to let me choose you for all my fights.] (Epona)
[Hahaha, I feel honored. But I think it would be unfair of me to keep the opportunity to fight the hero to myself only. Surely everyone else wants to give it a shot.] (Lugh)
Looking for salvation, I turned to my classmates, but they all looked away… even Talt and Dia.
They all knew what would happen.
If any of them challenged Epona, it would undoubtedly play out just like with the knight captain. They all prioritized their life over familiarizing with the hero.
[Looks like everyone has no problem with it. I'll do my best.] (Epona)
At that moment, it was decided that all my mock battles would be fought with my life on the line.
…I'd better brace myself for serious injuries.
Above all, I'd better make sure I never suffer any injury that could leave residual effects on me.
_______________________________________________________________
On that day, Epona asked me to help him with a lecture he didn't fully understand after class, then after that, Dia and Talt had their training, then I finally returned to my room.
Back during the lecture, I had a feeling that he was relaxing his guard around me more than before.
As I thought, accepting his proposition was the right move.
[Lugh-sama, I see your body has accumulated a fair amount of tiredness. Does this feel good?] (Talt)
[Yeah, it feels great.] (Lugh)
[I'm happy to hear that. I'll do my best. You're so stiff.] (Talt)
Talt was giving me a massage.
She was dressed lightly in order to not be inconvenienced when she sweats, so I didn't know where to look at, and her soft skin was sticking to me, so as a man, it put me in a pretty tough situation.
But it felt really good.
My stiff muscles were loosened up.
Rather than muscle overuse, it was probably because of mental tension that they were like this.
[Must be because my life was at stake. And just what were the instructors thinking when they allowed the hero to have me as his mock battle sparring partner?] (Lugh)
[I believe it's simply because anyone other than you would become a mess, Lugh-sama.] (Talt)
[If I'd made a single misstep, I would've been done for too… Well, even if I'd sustained an injury that no regular doctor could heal, I think dad could've done something about it.] (Lugh)
[This is Tuatha Dé's forte, after all.] (Talt)
And in the middle of that, I heard a knock.
I gave Talt a signal with my eyes, then she fixed her clothes, and I went to my room to get changed myself.
Talt opened the door.
[Hi, Lugh. You were amazing today. I brought a thank you gift for showing me something good.] (Neusch)
[It's you, Neusch? You know I'm tired, so can you just leave it here?] (Lugh)
[Ahahaha, are you sure? My gift isn't just a regular mail. I've come to give you the information you want.] (Lugh)
[About Epona?] (Lugh)
[Exactly. Epona Riannon. She has a secret.] (Neusch)
[…She. So she really is female.] (Lugh)
She's male on the family register, and she enrolled in this school as a boy too.
[The way you said it means that you already kind of noticed it, huh.] (Neusch)
[Well yeah, she hid it with her clothes, but one look at her body frame and you would guess that she's a woman. Besides, I could tell by looking at the way you came in contact with her. I tried to get closer to her as a friend and an equal, but you tried to get closer to her like a lover.] (Lugh)
[Hahaha, so you figured me out. I thought a love affair would speed things up. Girls like her tend to fall in love easily after being shown a little kindness.] (Neusch)
When he said that, Talt glared at him with disgust.
Talt has a pure and na?ve side, so this wouldn't work on her.
[Talt-chan, please don't give me such a scary look. I don't intend to fool around with her. If I could win the hero over, I would be one step closer to my dream. If my relationship with her ever evolved to that of a man and a woman, I would care for her for the rest of my life and love her accordingly. My goal is what it is, but I mean it.] (Neusch)
[So? You revealed your hand to me because you're having difficulties with that, right?] (Lugh)
[Correct, because after what happened today, she seems to have warmed up to you. …If I could prove that I wouldn't break after fighting her like you did, it would've been a cinch. But unfortunately, I can't pull it off. I can't believe you actually managed to handle her speed.] (Neusch)
I listened carefully to Neusch's explanation.
The content was roughly as I had imagined.
I guess this could be the only reason why an aristocratic woman would be brought up as a man.
Born into a noble household without magical power and raised as a man.
That was two hardships. And that explained how she grew up to be the way she was now.
Even so, just how many complexes was that hero going to carry until she was satisfied?
[Neusch, thanks. With this, I think I'll be able to get along better with her.] (Lugh)
[Happy to help. I'll be on my way then. It might sound nosy of me, but I think you should avoid getting too involved.] (Neusch)
[I know. Unlike you, I don't plan to approach her like I was her lover.] (Lugh)
There must be a moderate sense of distance between people.
Enough so those who rely on you won't become dependent on you.
The sight of Talt, who was beside me, sighing in relief when I said that I didn't plan to approach Epona like I was her lover was both funny and cute.
[After that, I have a favor to ask of you, Neusch. We have the day off tomorrow, right? I'll have some business to attend to, so I'll be away from the academy. Keep an eye on Epona.] (Lugh)
[Keep an eye out, huh… Alright, I don't think she needs protection in the slightest, but it's a request from a friend. I'll take it. I'll do you that favor.] (Neusch)
Neusch walked away.
[By the way, where's Dia? I didn't see her after training.] (Lugh)
[I believe she went to the library to look something up. After training, she changed clothes and went straight for it.] (Talt)
[I see. Oh well. I can talk to her and let her on about it later. …Talt, I have something to ask of you. We have the day off tomorrow. Can you make a few lunch boxes? I thought about going on a picnic or something.] (Lugh)
[Ah, it's a marvelous idea. I'll make them to the best of my ability.] (Talt)
The picnic was for the two of them to take a breather from the usual tension… and for me to try out a new special move.
In the training room, I could learn while also hiding the Tuatha Dé's family techniques, but there was a limit to what I was allowed to do because I couldn't destroy the room.
I developed a new special move in the training room, but because of its limitations, I consequently stopped before it did anything, so I had yet to actually use it, and I couldn't use it in a real fight.
Therefore, I found a place where I could go wild to my heart's content.
So I would enjoy a picnic and practice my special move as much as I wanted. Tomorrow was going to be a fun holiday.
I was concerned about that assassin who was after the hero, but there was no assassin who could possibly kill Epona, and if Neusch was there to look after her, then I could rest assured.