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Volume 7 Chapter 5 Part 9

*Sigh*… dude, I gave you a chance to stop and walk away with you life, and you won’t even stop to consider taking it? I’m not just threatening you with empty words, you know?

 

「I might not look like It, but it’s best not to anger me if you know what’s good for you.」

 

「That’s my line!」

 

「I didn’t sleep much last night, but that shouldn’t be a problem. I’m in my usual condition today, and I’m pretty sure that I could take you on even after a completely sleepless night and still emerge victorious.」

 

「Let’s hurry up and start so I could test that for myself then!」

 

Ugh, it’s no use. No matter what I try to say, this idiot is just not letting go.

 

「Then, if there are no objections, shall we begin the second duel?」

 

「Ooo!!!」

 

Sabo yells, and I nod affirmatively at Gozer. However, I don’t pull out Durandal.

 

I’m not sure if I can win by fighting this guy head on, so instead I should plan an alternative way of winning and utilize it as quickly as I can to secure a fast victory.

 

I can use 「Overwhelming」and Recovery Medicine to heal myself if anything were to happen to me. There is also a possibility that Sabo might try to use The Orb of Self-destruction or some other items, but in that case, I’ll just use 「Equivalent Exchange」on him if her tries anything suspicious.

 

I can win this.

 

「Both of you, come forward.」

 

Instructing us to face each other, Gozer begins the duel. As soon as he gave the signal, Sabo charged in at me.

 

Is it like I expected, that trying to discuss anything with him is pointless at this point? In that case, I use 「Lv.99 Death」, and indicate Sabo as the target.

 

There is no visible change at first. Sabo is still approaching me. However, 「Identify」no longer lists Sacrificial Misanga as one of his pieces of equipment. 「Lv.99 Death」 seems to have been successfully used then.

 

I charge forward and use [Lv.99 Death] again while Sabo swings his sword down on me, so I also use「Overwhelming」. Everything becomes slowed down as I use it to avoid the incoming sword.

 

I grab Sabo’s arm, which has already lost its power. I pull his arm while being careful not to touch the sword. I also move my leg, moving his center of gravity without much effort, and then end 「Overwhelming’s」effect.

 

After time begins to move normally once again, Sabo is on the ground, defeated.

 

「Ah…!」

 

「Huh? But it only just began! So how…?」

 

Roxanne and Sherry call out to me as I came back straight away. Even Roxanne doesn’t seem to be able to work out what happened.

 

「It’s over.」

 

「It was amazing. I saw you move your feet and grab his arm, but I don’t understand what you did afterwards.」

 

She saw everything. I didn’t really do anything special, but still, Roxanne seems to have seen everything. Her eyes are as sharp as always.

 

「Defeating him with such swiftness, without even drawing your sword…」

 

「Wow, desu.」

 

Sherry and Miria give me praise.

 

「He is most certainly dead.」

 

Gozer confirmed Sabo’s status.  He probably doesn’t understand what happened either.

 

「Lv.99 Death」 seems to be a Spell that is designed to instantly kill anything and anyone as long as they are Lv.99. Well, at the very least they die normally instead of some gory way like the bloody explosion that is the result of using 「Equivalent Exchange」, so if I ever were to use it again, I won’t have to worry about not being able to retrieve the Intelligence Card of the target.

 

「I heard that Sabo is extraordinarily strong, but now nobody from the Baradam household will be able to act up. To defeat him so easily… As expected of Master!」

 

「Well, I wonder about that. I still think Roxanne might be stronger.」

 

I wasn’t able to understand how strong Sabo was after all, but it could be said that I didn’t really need to understand it. All I had to do was to win the duel against him. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

「But… but Sabo was…」

 

「That woman who fought against the young lady was certainly strong, but for someone to actually exceed Sabo…」

 

Sabo’s Party Members are surprised as well. All four of them that remained.

 

「I, Gozer of the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy hereby testify that this was a fair duel and that there may be no retaliation for this outcome.」

 

Gozer instructs Sabo’s Party Members. Should I also say something? I feel like I should, since the follow up to this whole thing might be somewhat important. That, and I don’t want to worry about them coming for revenge either.

 

「The circumstances were unavoidable because it was a duel. Please don’t hold a grudge against me.」

 

「Ah, yes, I understand. I don’t intend to cause a dispute with someone who defeated Sabo. But, about the equipment….」

 

「The equipment? What about it?」

 

I thought there might be problems, but there won’t be any grudges? If so, then leaving them the equipment is better than keeping it to myself and causing them to want revenge.

 

「The equipment of someone defeated in a duel belongs to the winner. However, they don’t often take it. Some people challenge others to duels to get equipment in a fast and easy way, especially if there are strong emotions from having equipment taken from you.」

 

Sherry tells me about the inner workings of taking the equipment of someone defeated in a duel. So, the equipment of the one who lost the duel officially belongs to the winner, and that is why there are certain groups of people who challenge others to duels just so that they could get their hand on their equipment. That’s why, in order to show that I am not like that, I should leave Sabo’s equipment alone.

 

Honestly though, it all seems a little confusing to me.

 

「Roxanne, what do you think we should do here?」

 

「I don’t really have a grudge against them.」

 

「Yes, and we don’t really need that equipment either.」

 

I informed the other Party’s members about our decision after hearing Roxanne’s answer. Sabo had equipment with Skills on him, but I think that this is probably for the best, because if I took his equipment, then the probability of them going after me would be that much greater.

 

「Thank you… we’ll take the equipment and Intelligence Cards home, and leave disposal of the remains to you.」

 

「I understand.」

 

「Thank you very much.」

 

Sabo’s Party Members thanked me, and then spoke to Gozer. So they don’t want to take the remains of their fallen comrades back home with them? Are they that unnecessary? Thinking about it, not even bones are left of the body when you die in the Labyrinth either, so maybe it has become a common thing to just leave the bodies where they are so that they could just fade away on their own?

 

But then again, they did decide to take their Intelligence Cards with them, but I guess that’s pretty self-explanatory, since that is definitely a better proof of somebody’s death than, say, a lock of their hair or some other bullshit like that.

 

I thought about getting myself appointed as a Village Chief Lv.1 by somebody who I would make a Knight in my Party so I could check the Intelligence Cards from people’s hands myself, but it look like there is going to be no need for me to do that. Maybe when they check the Intelligence Cards, they can actually see what happened in their minds? They might even be able to see the entire fight, but honestly, I don’t think that such a thing is going to be possible.

 

「Ok, this way.」

 

Gozer leads us.

 

The leftover work and cleaning of the mess that we made is being left for the members of the Knight Order while we head into the castle.

 

「Master, I’m sorry.」

 

Roxanne apologizes to me as soon as we arrive in the lobby.

 

「It’s alright, Roxanne. Actually, I think some of what happened might be my fault, since I was the one insisting on you going for a draw in your duel.」

 

「But…」

 

「It’s fine, Roxanne, really. I’m not blaming you for anything that happened today.」

 

「Oh… okay.」

 

Who knows, maybe Roxanne is just as shocked about everything that’s happened today as I am?