“So, you’ve come without running away!!”
A few days later.
I had come to the dueling arena in a corner of the Demon Lord’s Castle and was facing Lacia.
Lacia was as scantily clad as ever.
However, in her hand, she held a scythe larger than her own height, exuding tremendous pressure.
In contrast, I was wearing light armor, prioritizing mobility, just like when I go hunting, and I had my slingshot.
My waist pouch was filled with carefully selected, easy-to-throw pebbles, so I shouldn’t have to worry about running out of ammo, hopefully.
No, there’s something more important to worry about than that.
“…You’ve gathered quite the audience.”
“Of course, since I am the one fighting.”
There were many spectators in the dueling arena.
Lacia is a beautiful girl, and more than that, she’s strong enough to be chosen as Lucifiel’s close aide.
There are many fans who want to see her fight.
“If I win, you will never approach Lucifiel-sama again. You promise, don’t you?”
“Sure. But if I win, you’ll never waste food again.”
The winner of a duel can make the loser obey.
Because contract magic is used, it cannot be broken.
“Then, Lucifiel-sama. Please watch my battle.”
With that, Lacia bowed to Lucifiel, who was sitting in a luxurious spectator seat high above the dueling arena.
By the way, Lucifiel was munching on the potato chips I had made for her.
She seemed to be completely in spectator mode.
“Yes, both of you do your best in moderation.”
“Yes!! I will show you that I can meet your expectations, Lucifiel-sama!!”
And so, the duel began.
Lacia was the first to move, attacking with speed that was hard to follow with the eyes.
She’s really fast.
In the blink of an eye, her scythe was about to take my head.
It was a completely murderous attack.
I twisted my body greatly to avoid the scythe’s blade just before it could bite into my neck. If I had been a little slower, my torso and head would have said goodbye.
“That was close!?”
“Hmph. Even a low-ranking Demonkin can at least move a little, it seems!!”
“Tch.”
A barrage of continuous attacks.
And it seemed like Lacia wasn’t even going all out, completely making fun of me.
…She’s underestimating me.
I took out a palm-sized ball from a satchel different from the pouch containing the pebbles for my slingshot.
I slammed it hard on the ground.
“A smokescreen!?”
As Lacia said, what I used was a disposable Magic Item that generated a smokescreen for blinding.
I had Eret make it for me.
“Such a petty trick!! As if something like this would work on me—”
“It won’t, right?”
“What!?”
I used the smokescreen to get behind Lacia and fired my slingshot.
My target was her head.
Normally, her bones would be crushed and her brains would be splattered, but Lacia is a member of the Demon Lord Army.
She wouldn’t die even if she took a direct hit.
“Gah!? W-What was that just now!?”
Lacia didn’t seem to understand what kind of attack she had just taken.
If that’s the case, I’ll press the attack while she’s confused.
I changed my position while running and shot pebbles with my slingshot.
This is a strategy to inflict damage steadily.
I think it’s cowardly, but this is a legitimate strategy that weak Demonkin like me use when fighting strong Demonkin.
There’s a saying that the winner is always right, and the loser is always wrong.
The winner is justice!!
“Tch, you’re so annoying with your petty attacks!!”
Lacia swung her scythe, creating a gust of wind and forcibly clearing the smokescreen that was blocking her vision.
I was found in an instant.
My strategy from earlier must have irritated Lacia.
Lacia swung her scythe high above her head.
“Guh!?”
“Serves you right!! I’m going to keep going!!”
She skillfully wielded her scythe, slowly cutting my body little by little as if toying with me.
It hurts. It hurts so much.
Even so, I barely managed to avoid fatal wounds and created some distance between myself and Lacia.
“Oh my, you’re quite battered even though it’s only just begun. Which mouth was it that said you were going to beat me to a pulp?”
“You’re so confident, starting with the taunts. It seems the Demon Lord Army executives (lol) are also good at verbal battles.”
“…You have a sharp tongue.”
“Whoa, your trash talk is weak. Maybe you should work on your vocabulary a bit more?”
Lacia showed even more irritation at my words.
In that gap, I took out a small bottle from my satchel and gulped down its contents.
Honestly, I didn’t want to use this…
After all, a jailer like me, who’s destined to lose, can’t possibly stand up to a Demon Lord Army executive.
So, I’ll use anything to win.
“Heh.”
“…Huh?”
“Heheheh, ahahahah!! Ah, here it comes!! My head is getting clear!! This feeling like I can do anything!! This is the best, I’m totally high!!”
What I drank was a special potion that Eret had made for me before.
My tension is rising, rising, soaring.
“W-What on earth did you drink? You’re like a completely different person…”
“Who cares, you damn twintail!!
I just want to teach you the value of food!!”
“What!?”
I rushed forward with a knife in hand and attacked Lacia.
Surprised that I, who had been fighting from a distance, had closed in, Lacia met me with a startled expression.
Lacia deflected my knife with her scythe, but that created a big opening.
I slipped into Lacia’s guard, aimed my slingshot at her lower jaw at point-blank range, and fired.
“Agh!?”
For a moment, Lacia’s eyes rolled back. She must have suffered a mild concussion.
Now’s my chance!!
I got behind Lacia and wrapped my arm around her neck.
“Hyahhaaa!! It’s a choke sleeper!! Prepare yourself!! When you wake up, I’m going to make you eat my cooking until you die!!”
“Ugh, ugh…”
And so, I choked Lacia out.
The spectators were dumbfounded, and Lucifiel was munching on her potato chips.
I declared my victory with a guts pose.
“I win!!”
It’s all thanks to the slingshot, smoke bombs, and potion that Eret made for me.
Huh? You’re saying I’m relying too much on Eret’s items?
Hah hah hah, let’s not get into the right and wrong of it. Winning is all that matters, winning.
―――――――――――――――――――――
Afterword
A trivial side story
Author: “This protagonist is scary, he’s high.”
Lucifiel: “But you’re the one who wrote it…”
If you thought, “Winning is all that matters,” “He’s high again…” or “The author is the one who’s high,” please leave a comment, bookmark, star rating, or review.