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Volume 7 Chapter 5 Part 5

The woman stomps the ground pretty hard then goes ahead of us while we followed behind her at what I would like to call a respectable distance while we headed inside of the Bode castle.

 

Gozer leads us to a corner in the courtyard of the castle where there were no trees, grass or anything like that, and if there were ever any weeds there, they must have been plucked on a regular basis.

 

I wonder if this place is actually a training ground for the members of the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy?

 

「Is this the place where the duel is going to take place?」

 

「Yes. We have another location prepared for the duels that have been agreed to be made public, but since both sides have agreed this time that you want to keep this matter strictly between your two groups, we had to prepare another place for it immediately, and this was the best location that we could spare in such a short amount of time.」

 

「Sherry, is what he saying true?」

 

「Yes, master. It is a custom of the Knight Orders to have two types of places ready for the duels: one for the public duels and the separate one for the private duels like this one.」

 

Sherry whispers into my ear as we had a short conversation related to what Gozer said just now. So this is the best thing that they could do for us since we wanted to start the duel right away?

 

「Roxanne, would you like to use my sword for this duel?」

 

In that case, if she is to fight that woman right away, then the least that I can do to help her is to lend my Durandal to her, because its 「HP Absorption」 and 「Chant Interruption」Skills should really come in handy in this battle. There is always a risk that Gozer might end up realizing what kind of weapon Durandal truly is, but at this point, I don’t really care about that. If exposing it to others is the price that I am going to have to pay for ensuring Roxanne’s safety, then so be it.

 

「There’s no need for you to do that, master. Besides, two-handed swords are really not my forte. I feel like I’m much more adept at using one-handed ones anyway.」

 

However, Roxanne declined my offer. Is she that confident in her own abilities to wield a sword that she thinks an ordinary Rapier is going to be enough for her? I could always try to give her yet another one of my Bonus Weapons, but not only there is not enough time for me to do that, but also it would probably be a bad idea to have her go into such an important battle with a weapon that she would be not at all familiar with.

 

In that case, maybe I should give her some kind of helmet that would cover her entire face? That way, I could at least make sure that even if her head was being targeted, she would not receive as much damage as she would have received if she was not wearing it. But on the other hand, if I give it to her now, then this lady might raise an objection, saying that it is illegal and unfair for me to be aiding Roxanne right before the start of the duel. Not only that, but at the current moment I have seven active Jobs, so I am wondering if it is all right for me to be having that many of them all at the same time.

 

I mean, the effects of the Skills that are granted by the Jobs are shared by all Party Members regardless of whether they have the Job equipped or not, although I have yet to test the accurate effects of the Seventh Job that I have equipped.

 

It might look like there is little I can do to actually aid Roxanne in this battle, but there might still be something that I can use. Mainly, another one of the Bonus Skills that I might have at my disposal: 「Partilization」. I have never used that Bonus Skill before, but at the very least I know what it is supposed to be doing: it is a Skill that shares the effect on one item that’s in the user’s possession with another Party Member, so if I consume a Recovery Medicine, then its effects should work on Roxanne as well. I also selected 「Equivalent Exchange」out of the list of my Bonus Spells. You know, just to be on the safe side in case if anything ever went wrong. I doubt that there will be a need for me to actually use that spell, but you know what they say, right? You can never have too many contingencies.

 

Even though Roxanne and Sherry know about it, Gozer and that chick do not, which might help us pass it as something that Roxanne could do in case there was even a moment when I really would have to use it. And before you say anything else, I do realize that interfering with somebody else’s duel is rather distasteful and that its straight up cheating, but I’m not going to hold anything back if it means preventing the scenario in which I am losing Roxanne forever.

 

I also selected 「Lv.99 Death」 as well. I have already confirmed that it’s a single target magic Spell, and unlike AoE Spell, single-target ones can be used against human opponents without any problems.

 

Lastly, I opened up Party Job Settings menu and switched Roxanne’s Job back to her Beast warrior Lv.32. Thinking about it now, maybe I shouldn’t have had her increasing the level of her Warrior Job all the time recently? If I didn’t switch it up, then maybe she could have gained an additional level or two to her Beast Warrior Job?

 

Well, no matter. Even if she were to keep her current Job, which was Warrior Lv.25 by the way, then I’m sure that she would still be able to win against that woman without any major difficulties.

 

「Here, desu.」

 

「Oh. Thank you, Miria.」

 

Miria passed a Hardened Leather Helmet to Roxanne, and Roxanne herself still has her Hardened Leather Shoes of Willow equipped on her, since we have come here to Bode castle right from the Labyrinth without even getting the chance to go back home. I’m not sure if the preparations to such an extensive degree are even needed here, but it’s going to be better for Roxanne to go into this duel while wearing the best equipment possible.

 

「If your preparations are complete, then would the two of you mindcoming to the front?」

 

「Of course. Coming right up.」

 

「Roxanne, remember: losing is not an option here.」

 

「Big Sister, all the best to you, desu!」

 

Both Roxanne and the woman did as Gozer asked of them and took a big step forward.

 

「O~hohohoho~- in a duel, the lives of the participants are always on the line. That’s why I hope you are prepared, Roxanne. Before, I said that I might consider sparing you if you fall to your knees and beg me for mercy, but that generous offer is no longer available to you. I promise you that today is going to be the day when you’re finally going to die by my hand!」

 

The woman goes back on her words just like that. Contrary to her earlier statement, it looks like this Baradam family doesn’t seem to be as benevolent and honorable as she claimed them to be.

 

「Ready… begin!」

 

「Let me tell you something, Roxanne. Six months ago, I didn’t have any Party Member who would back me up, but this time, I have Sabo with me. He’s the strongest warrior of the entire Wolfkin tribe, and the Baradam family is doing everything in their power to make sure that he’s going to stay that way. Up until today, he has already consumed extraordinary amounts of the Dope Medicine. I hope you understand what that means, right?」

 

She admitted something like that so openly.

 

Like I thought, Dope Medicine seems to be an item meant to help you level-up. So this Sabo guy managed to obtain Lv.99 as a Beast Warrior because of that medicine?

 

Job effects are shared by all party members and their effects increase with level, so at Lv.99, the effects of the Beast Warrior Job must be pretty considerable. That also means that this woman is placing the odds of her victory not in her own strength, but rather in the strength given to her by her Party Members, huh?

 

There is technically nothing wrong with using such a tactic, but it is definitely a cowardly one.