- Before we all start killing each other, don't you people from the East want to resolve this on your own first? -Mashiro
- After all, you have something to resolve with me, right? -Mashiro
- I mean, our little issue? -Mashiro
They then look at a group of 5 people who were in characteristic clothing and oriental appearance among them.
- After all, you came here to get revenge, didn't you? -Mashiro
The small group in question continues to ignore what she says.
- Really? -Mashiro
- Are you going to join strangers, wanderers and dishonorable bandits? -Mashiro
- Just to be able to beat me? -Mashiro
- Your Master must be turning in his grave right now. -Mashiro
- Oh! -Mashiro
She pauses and makes an expression as if she has remembered something important and smiles.
- Wait a minute... -Mashiro
- And truth! -Mashiro
- You don't bury your dead. -Mashiro
- You cremate them. Haha ha. -Mashiro
Mashiro starts laughing uncontrollably.
- It really is, it really is, right? -Mashiro
- He doesn't have any more body to turn around, does he? -Mashiro
- Haha ha. -Mashiro
- Damn!!! -Mage of the East 5
- That bastard! -Mage of the East 2
- Are we going to let her talk like that about our Master? -Mage of the East 3
Everyone appears to be uncomfortable and furious with what she says, some more than others, but they remain as they are without moving.
- And what she said before too. -Mage of the East 4
- Then that's it? -Mashiro
- You won't be able to honor your Master if you continue to follow this path... -Mashiro
- As much as I hate her, what she's saying isn't wrong.. -Mage of the East 5
- Are we just going to accept this? -Mage of the East 2
- Are we really going to act this way!? -Mage of the East 4
- Don't listen to her. -Mage of the East 1
The one speaking was that eastern wizard who had spoken to Attou before, he was among them.
- Akutagawa-sama!? -Mage of the East 3
- She is clearly offending our master's honor! -Mage of the East 2
- That's right! -Mage of the East 4
- Still yes! -Akutagawa
- Do we have to tolerate even that? -Mage of the East 5
- She's right in front of us! -Mage of the East 2
- She's making fun of him. -Mage of the East 4
- She is dishonoring our master. -Mage of the East 3
They start to argue among themselves, and incredible as it may seem, none of the magicians there were caring or paying attention to the situation, in fact they were all just watching everything unfold, they didn't seem to be in a rush to attack Mashiro.
And while the eastern group discussed among themselves, some outsiders had their own questions.
- What is she doing? -Katz von Mut
Katz didn't seem to understand what she was trying to do.
- Mashiro is teasing them. -Attou
- Oh? Do you swear? -Katz von Mut
- I know that, it's pretty obvious what she's doing, in fact. -Katz von Mut
- And they all understand that, that's why they're all standing around just waiting to see. -Katz von Mut
- No one would be stupid to fall into such an obvious ordeal. -Katz von Mut
- Not people as experienced as everyone here. -Katz von Mut
- Hm... Really? -Attou
- You don't think so? What it was? You are very talkative today Attou. -Katz von Mut
- Earlier he was even saying stupid and obvious things that everyone here is tired of knowing. -Katz von Mut
- What was all that? -Katz von Mut
- Are you in love with her or something? -Katz von Mut
- Or were you feeling sorry for her and trying to help? Buying her time to recover her Mana? -Katz von Mut
- Well, I admit that as a woman she is really beautiful. -Katz von Mut
Katz tilts his face to the side a little as he looks at Mashiro's body from head to toe, and finally looks at her face.
- Thinking better, with that body and face, perhaps she is one of the most beautiful, or perhaps the most beautiful, I have ever seen. -Katz von Mut
- Certainly in terms of facial beauty, she is equal to or perhaps even above Bookworm, but in terms of body, she would lose to her, by a little. -Katz von Mut
- That Witch is as dangerous as she is beautiful, I only saw her 4 times in my entire life, but I could never forget all the times I saw her. -Katz von Mut
- She has truly stunning beauty. -Katz von Mut
- I heard that she never had a relationship with anyone. -Katz von Mut
- Don't you think it's a waste? A woman like that, and the only thing she cares about are books. -Katz von Mut
- I wonder if she will ever marry one of them... Hahaha. -Katz von Mut
Katz puts his hand on his chin in thought.
- Ah, thinking about it, given her personality, it's quite possible that she'll do that one day. -Katz von Mut
- Hmm.. Damn, I'm jealous of the book she chooses. -Katz von Mut
Again he turns his gaze to Mashiro.
- Yeah.. -Katz von Mut
- It's really a shame she's a monster. -Katz von Mut
Then he turns to Attou.
- Hey, are you going to leave me talking to myself now? -Katz von Mut
He looks at Katz for a moment and turns his gaze to the room again.
- Well, you started to divert so much from the main topic to other things, that I ended up losing the chance to answer you. -Attou
- Oh sorry. -Katz von Mut
- It's okay, I don't care that much. -Attou
- But responding to what you said. -Attou
- In love with her? No, admiration yes, her strength in the case. -Attou
- Pity? Like she needed someone to feel sorry for her, she'd probably hit me just for saying something like that in front of her. -Attou
- Beauty? I agree with what you said. -Attou
- Now about marriage with a book... It's quite possible. -Attou
- Huh? -Katz von Mut
Katz is extremely surprised by the answers he was hearing, especially the last two.
- But I can't judge her, while she's always looking for books I'm always looking for more strength. -Attou
- So if absolute strength were something physically tangible I would probably want to marry her too to always have her by my side. -Attou
After hearing this Katz is even more surprised.
- Serious? I didn't think I was going to say anything about marriage with the book, it was a joke. -Katz von Mut
Attou smiles.
- I know, I was doing one too. -Attou
- Coming from you, it didn't seem like one. -Katz von Mut
- And would anyone think that a Nobleman, above all a Duke, would make a joke like that, especially like this? -Attou
- Oh? Worse than true. -Katz von Mut
- And you continue to be informal with me as if it were no big deal even though I'm a nobleman. -Katz von Mut
- I'm not formal with anyone, that's why I ended up with a bounty on my head for the first time. -Attou
- I remember this. Haha. -Katz von Mut
- And well, as for me being very talkative today. -Attou
- I only did what she asked me to do. -Attou
- There is? When? -Katz von Mut
- When I stood in front of her for the first time. -Attou
- Honestly, I wouldn't delay so much. -Attou
- When we started talking, she asked that when we approached any topic, no matter what it was, I should speak and explain things in detail in the most expository and explicit way possible. -Attou
- In a way that even an idiot would understand. -Attou
- And for what reason? Give her more time to recover her Mana? -Katz von Mut
- She didn't tell me. But I also thought it was to gain as much time as possible. -Attou
- And you can already imagine why I thought of that, right? -Attou
Katz gets a serious look on his face.
- I imagined, I think you came to the same conclusion as me, like others around here, the Mana Pressures we felt on the way here and those two enormous amounts of Mana. -Attou
- Both disappeared before we got here, and only Mashiro was left. -Attou
- Everyone here in this room came to the same conclusion when they set foot here. -Attou
- She faced others of the same species, and 2 of them had that overwhelming amount of Mana that far surpasses that of everyone here. -Attou
-Unlike her, who is constantly suppressing her Mana, leaving her almost at the level of a Wizard with elemental affinity, which is already quite high. -Attou
- Those 2 individuals, they were not suppressing their Mana, so we could feel how enormous they were, it would probably take the effort to gather the Mana of everyone here to match that of the one who had the greatest amount of Mana. -Attou
-But still somehow she managed to defeat the 2. -Attou
- So by the time they got here, before even seeing the state of the room, everyone was already thinking the same thing: She's a real threat, this is no joke. -Attou
- They even thought they could face her weakened after her confrontation with them, but when they arrived here they found her drinking blood from a human. -Attou
- And after drinking that boy's blood, she appears to have recovered from her injuries caused during their confrontation. -Attou
- That's why the smartest are all so cautious and afraid when facing her, and they wait without rushing, while they wait for the moment when she will attack or the right moment for them to attack. -Attou
- While they are thinking about various things. -Attou
- Is she weakened because of her injuries? Or has she fully recovered now that she drank blood? -Attou
- Does drinking blood recover Mana? Does it make her recover from exhaustion? -Attou
- First of all, is she really tired? She seems to be totally fine. -Attou
- How much Mana did she spend? -Attou
-How much mana does she still have?-Attou
-Is it safer to attack now before she recovers some of her Mana? -Attou
- Is it safer to wait for some idiot to attack first and see what happens? -Attou
- Or it's better to wait for her to attack first, and run away as much as possible while watching how she fights and thinking of ways to counter attack her. -Attou
- The last 2 are practically the same thing, but that must be more or less what most of them must be thinking. -Attou
- That's why even though we realize that maybe she is just buying time to recover as much of the Mana lost in the previous confrontation, no one has the courage to take the initiative. -Attou
- Of course, except those idiots, who tried to attack while I was talking to her. -Attou
- Right.. I didn't analyze and think about it as much as you did.. -Katz von Mut
- But this shows why you are one of the 6 Emperors of the West. -Katz von Mut
Attou laughs.
- Nonsense, who are you trying to fool Katz? You are just like me in this regard or even worse. -Attou
Katz smiles at him and raises both hands.
- Got me. -Katz
- But anyway, I honestly have no idea what's going on in her head or what she's really thinking about doing with all of this. -Attou
- However, at least in their case, it will be different, after all I know what her personality is like, and more than anyone here, I know very well what the people of the East are like. -Attou
Katz smiles.
- Well, you and your family were from there, right? -Katz
Katz looks back at the room and the group's discussion continues.
Mashiro was watching them smiling, and then for a brief moment she had a dark expression on her face.
- From what I remember, if your master is killed, you had to avenge him at all costs, even if everyone died trying. -Mashiro
- Even though you know the possible result, you should still try, maintaining your samurai conduct and honor. -Mashiro
- This conduct and honor should be important to you, right? -Mashiro
- And what would a monster like you know about honor? -Mage of the East 2
They all look at her.
- I know because that's what your master said before we fought. -Mashiro
- And I also know that you, as wizards and wizards, are great samurai. -Mashiro
Hearing this they remain silent showing some frustration, not because she is right, but because she says she heard these things from their master.
- Hm... There really seems to be a change there. -Katz
- Mashiro, it's very peculiar, I heard that when she visited a different place, a different country, she studied their dialects, customs, traditions, and beliefs. -Attou
- It was like that in the Land of Witches and the Continent of Adventurers. -Attou
- As if you were studying your enemies? -Katz
- I imagine so, that way she learns to deal with them, and attack where it hurts, if necessary, she probably recognizes and admires other people's talent and that's why she learns from them. -Attou
- It was like that during our fight. -Attou
- That time, she showed some immediate admiration for me, she already knew about my achievements, and asked me to surrender quickly, to avoid more deaths. -Attou
- We were in the middle of a war, she as a hired Adventurer from that country and I as a Mage from the rival country. -Attou
- I remember that war there was. -Katz
- But, I refused, I also knew about her actions, and that's why I wanted to face her with all my strength. -Attou
- At first I was happy to face someone so strong, I thought of her as an equal. -Attou
- But during the fight when I discovered that she wasn't human I could only feel anger, after all she was a monster, she wasn't an equal. -Attou
- I really thought that from the bottom of my heart, and I only saw her for the monster that she was. -Attou
- But.. -Attou
- At the end of our battle, we both understood each other's strength. -Attou
-In her eyes, there was no anger, she was different from me, I only saw respect and admiration in her eyes. -Attou
- At that moment, I no longer felt angry at her, I genuinely only felt respect and admiration for her. -Attou
- So at the end of our battle, there was only mutual respect and admiration.. -Attou
-Oh? Now I understand why she admires her, it's a beautiful story. -Katz
- So with that, I ended up defeated, captured and held prisoner and the people of that country paid the price, and that was our first meeting. -Attou
- Really? -Katz
- Haha, yes, but when I recovered my strength I destroyed the prison where I was and escaped. -Attou
- Hahaha. -Katz
- That's more like you. -Katz
- But that's why I know. -Attou
- They have a big dilemma, from what she said, their master was certainly blinded by the code of honor. -Attou
- And he was willing to sacrifice all of his people, as long as they all died heroically facing a powerful enemy, in his view. -Attou
- And they must have been trained in the same way as him, so all their teachings and ways of thinking must be the same or similar. -Attou
- This is bad for them. -Attou
- Unfortunately, this way they couldn't beat Mashiro, following samurai honor, because in a war she won't have any honor. -Attou
- By the way, she will use this samurai behavior to her advantage. -Attou
- Well for her, all this honor makes the samurai predictable in combat, she knows how they act, they always attack head on, they always announce their arrival, they always look their enemies in the eye, so it's easy to defeat them. -Attou
- But, in a fight, in a war, winning is all that matters. -Attou
- You just need to win, if you worry about honor and values, this nonsense will only limit your strength. -Attou
- Waiting for your opponent to draw his weapon or get ready for combat to start fighting, instead of attacking him from behind, with his guard down or hidden when you have the opportunity to do so, is all nonsense in a war. -Attou
- Only those who participated in one will understand, you should even use dirty tricks, if it means you will have victory in your hands. -Attou
- It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you win, nothing else matters, there's no point fighting, if you're not going to win in the end. -Attou
- They had to be strong and not let things like loyalty, morals, reason, and emotions get in the way, that's what being truly strong is. -Attou
- So they should do anything in their power and even fight dirty if it helps them gain victory, they shouldn't care about the means, but they are inexperienced in this yet. -Attou
- In her case, she is completely different from them, the way she fights, the way she thinks, the way she lives. -Attou
- She is the complete opposite of those knights in armor or the samurai, as they have some code or honor. -Attou
- I saw what she was like during the war, they say that war changes people, and they are right, after all I was there too. -Attou
-She is a woman without honor, she was capable of doing anything, to fulfill her goals. -Attou
- Something they abhor, because their master created them in a way, that the honor of a samurai is the most important thing in the world. -Attou
- They are attached to rules and traditions. -Attou
- While she will do whatever it takes to win, that sense of freedom. -Attou
- Some of them must envy this a lot, since they are not like that. -Attou
- You think? -Katz
- Yes, at least the hot one and the quiet one there. -Attou
- Oh, them? They don't seem like that type, they seem more like the opposite. -Katz
- And honestly, I didn't think they were that problematic in the East, but after everything you said... -Katz
- Some are, that's why my family left there. -Attou
Attou smiles watching them trying to decide what to do.
- We can't stay here wasting time like this! -Mage of the East 2
- We have to face her! -Mage of the East 4
- That's right! How our master would face her! -Mage of the East 5
Only the Wizard of the East 3 and Akutagawa remained silently listening.
- I did not say? -Attou
Katz appears thoughtful.
- It seems like you were right. -Katz
- After all, for them it may even be different, but the person who is most disturbed by all this is someone else, even if they don't show it. -Attou
- Honor is everything for a person like him. -Attou
Attou stares at the one called Akutagawa.
- Is not it? -Attou
Katz watches Attou silently as he says this and sees that he has a seemingly angry expression, even though it isn't that obvious.
-Oh? -Katz
Katz smiles big and looks back at them in the room.
- It looks like things are going to be more fun than I expected. -Katz
As they listened to Mashiro saying all those things, they were already losing patience and arguing more among themselves, those 3 especially.
- So that's it? -Mashiro
Mashiro smiles big.
- Are you going to throw away your pride, dignity and live in shame? -Mashiro
- You bastard! -Mage of the East 5
- I will not allow you to utter another single word! -Mage of the East 2
They grab their scabbards and prepare to draw their swords, but before they can they hear a scream.
- He arrives!!! -Akutagawa
All 4 get scared at the same time.
- Akutagawa-sama? -Mage of the East 3
- She is right! -Akutagawa
- It's obvious that she's just teasing us! -Akutagawa
- Wanting to attract us and separate us from their group so she can face us alone! -Akutagawa
- But anyway! -Akutagawa
- Everything she said is right! -Akutagawa
- We were about to betray everything we believed in!! -Akutagawa
- Everything we learned!! -Akutagawa
- Our master! -Akutagawa
- Our tradition! -Akutagawa
- Our pride!! -Akutagawa
- Our dignity!! -Akutagawa
- And our honor!!!!!!!!!!! -Akutagawa
Akutagawa said all this shouting out loud, everyone there clearly heard his words, he was clearly furious.
- How far have we reached??? -Akutagawa
- To fight alongside a group of strangers who don't understand our values and customs??? -Akutagawa
- To consider fighting dishonestly? -Akutagawa
- In a battle where we should recover our lost honor!!!!??? -Akutagawa
All 4 are silent, they understand more than anyone there the depth of everything he said.
Akutagawa takes a deep breath and calms down his anger a little.
He takes a deep breath again and starts walking at the same time as he takes out his sword with the sheath from his waist, until he is in front of everyone there.
Everyone there just watched in silence, waiting for what that man was planning to do.
At that moment he squats, placing both knees on the ground and places his sword sideways in front of him on the ground.
Then he places both closed fists against the ground and bows to everyone, almost touching his face to the ground.
- Please!! -Akutagawa
- Let us challenge her! -Akutagawa
- Allow me to challenge this monster alone! -Akutagawa
- I know how arrogant and unreasonable this request is! But please!! -Akutagawa
The other 4 seeing Akutagawa do that at the same moment, go to his side, repeating the same actions as him, bowing to his side.
As he kept his head bowed, he notices them coming and doing the same and he smiles silently.
Now the 5 of them were bowing to everyone there while asking vigorously.
- Please!!! -The 5 Magi of the East
They all start begging together at the same time.
- Give us a chance to avenge our master!! -The 5 Magi of the East
- We beg you!! -The 5 Magi of the East
The other wizards face each other and there are some who seem to care and others who don't.
But overall, they didn't really care, at this point, they were waiting for this, for someone to take the initiative, someone to take the risk of attacking first, so that they could all see what she was capable of with their own eyes, without have to take risks.
But of course they wouldn't admit it so easily, and if they did it would be the same as admitting what they wanted to do, and they didn't want that, not after having witnessed everything that man, that Akutagawa, had said.
His words really affected some of them, even if they didn't want to acknowledge it.
When one of them looks like he was going to say something, one of the magicians who was with the apostles raises his hand in his direction, preventing him from taking the initiative.
- Leave them. -Unknown Apostle 3
One of the magicians from the group of apostles speaks up, taking the lead.
- There is? Why would we leave? -Unknown Wizard 27
- Yeah, why would we do that? -Unknown Wizard 35
He looks at them sincerely.
- Because I don't want to face an unknown monster without knowing how it fights or what it's capable of beforehand. -Unknown Apostle 3
- I don't care what you think, that's what I, as the Apostle of Hermes, want, that's what I want. -Apostle of Hermes
- And some... No... Several of you too, right? -Apostle of Hermes
- But you don't need to admit that. -Apostle of Hermes
- You can let me carry all the shame of admitting and asking for this. -Apostle of Hermes
They start to look at each other again, not wanting to agree with what he was saying.
- I think it would be more advantageous if everyone could see how she fights first, right? -Apostle of Hermes
- And besides, she will get more tired with this confrontation, in addition to having already faced her own race before. -Apostle of Hermes
- The more weakened she is, the better, don't you think? -Apostle of Hermes
- With this we will get an idea of how she is currently, before facing her. -Apostle of Hermes
Even though they didn't want to admit it, they understood all the points he raised, after all it was exactly what they wanted, and as they had no arguments to confront him, since no one would offer to fight before, they ended up agreeing to let him continue as he did. wanted and nod positively, stepping back and moving away behind.
- So since no one else has any objections. -Apostle of Hermes
- You can face it however you wish. -Apostle of Hermes
The eastern magicians bow again thanking them.
- Thank you all very much for this opportunity! -The 5 Magi of the East
They pick up their swords and get up from the ground, putting them back on their waists.
At the same time, above them, Attou was not surprised by the way things were going.
- It was exactly as I said. -Attou
- It really was. -Katz
- The knights of my kingdom would never act like that or subject themselves to that. -Katz
- These samurai from the east are really different. -Katz
- They really are, but whether that's a good thing or not is another story. -Attou
Looking ahead, the 5 Mages from the East realize that Mashiro was waiting for them with a smile on his face, even though they had serious expressions.
- Very well, a samurai can't run away like that without a fight, and that's exactly what we were doing. -Akutagawa
- Until now we were just dishonoring ourselves with these wrong attitudes and decisions, now is the time to change that. -Akutagawa
- So... -Akutagawa
- I go first. -The 5 Magi of the East
- You can't Akutagawa-sama! -Mage of the East 3
- But we can only challenge her one at a time! -Akutagawa
- That's why you shouldn't be the first! -Mage of the East 4
- No way! I go. -Mage of the East 5
- I go. -Mage of the East 2
- After Akutagawa-sama I am more agile here. -Mage of the East 2
- Teruo you shouldn't! Taking the lead in battle is a leader's duty! -Akutagawa
- It is also a leader's duty to survive and return to his people! -Teruo
The other 3 Mages from the East were silent, they agreed with what Teruo said.
- Anyway, this is not open to discussion. -Teruo
-I'm going to make her show the maximum of her skills, watch carefully and think about how to counterattack them. -Teruo
- Teruo.. -Akutagawa
- Do not worry! You can let me face her alone and maybe I can defeat her myself! Haha ha. -Teruo
- Well, that would be quite a dream, but... I'll try to take at least one arm! -Teruo
- Watch me! -Teruo
He starts walking and goes ahead of their group, stopping in front of Mashiro and looking at her as he rests his hand on the hilt of his sword.
- I will be your first opponent. -Teruo
Mashiro smiles and laughs a little.
- Haha, I said that, didn't I? -Mashiro
- What? -Teruo
- You, as wizards and witches, are great samurai. -Mashiro