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“This concludes the mana imbuing of the guild card. We will be doing an official card registration, so please wait for a bit more.” 

After winning the duel, Rakura-dono was acknowledged as a Rank 2 adventurer, and she will be issued a guild card. 

The paperwork in those areas will take a decent amount of time, but that in itself is an enjoyable point. 

“Fuah…” 

Normal adventurers would be pretty happy and excited when it is decided that you will become a Rank 2 adventurer, so they would enjoy this time too, but…Rakura-dono was yawning with a sleepy face.

“Whew, that was outstanding, Rakura-dono. I thought you were not that good against people, but it seems like that was needless worry.” (Mix)

“I don’t think I am good at it though? I would have to be careful about not taking their lives away when it is a human, so I can’t just swiftly finish it like usual.” (Rakura)

“It looked like you finished it swiftly though…” (Mix)

“That’s not true! If that person moved to the side, their head would have just gone poof, so I couldn’t relax until after the severing.” (Rakura)

Uwaa, I ended up imagining that for an instant. 

Masetta-dono didn’t move because she trusted her barrier too much, so you could say she was a compatible opponent for Rakura-dono. 

No, if they were to move carelessly, it would just mean they would lose their lives, but the result would have been the same though. 

“Speaking of which, it looked as if the barrier of Masetta-dono was not working, but what was the trick to that?” (Mix)

“There was no trick. I simply severed the barrier from above. Barrier magic disappears when it receives impacts of a certain threshold or is destroyed.” (Rakura)

“So you took her along with the barrier, huh…” (Mix)

The barrier magic of the Yugura Church clerics are iron wall defenses that block even attacks that can slice down a boulder. They are not broken so easily. 

It was broken several times in the battle against the Purple Demon Lord, but it was because of their insane physical strength and the dense mana strengthening.

Destroying it with a magic attack that’s physically less dense is pretty hard to believe. 

“I heard that it is the application of barrier magic, but what kind of thing is it?” (Litial)

“Uhm…normal barriers would be set around your body, but there’s no need to surround yourself with it in the case of severing, so I make it flat. Also, if I activate it thin and fast, the sharpness gets better. In the duel just now, I used the sever 3 times.” (Rakura)

She deploys an extremely thin barrier and she slices them with its momentum then. 

“To think there would be this much of a gap between people using the same magic barrier… Was the proficiency of Masetta-dono low?” (Mix) 

“But that person was really acquainted with magic, you know? She was multicasting several offensive spells outside the barrier by resonating her mana.” (Rakura)

“That’s true. If that worked, you can have a powerful stance of attack and defense. Is there any weak points on you as someone who can get through that?” 

“I have a lot of weak points. For example, I can’t weave several spells at once.” (Rakura)

“Oh, that’s unexpected.” 

There’s the need for a decent amount of proficiency to weave different spells at the same time.

It increases the versatility, but the difficulty shoots up drastically if you try to use it in battle, so people who polish their skills would try to find a middle point, and would flow towards training their bodies and mana strengthening. 

The knights of Taizu can use 2 on average and Lady Ratzel could use 3, I think?

There’s outstanding people specialized in magic that can weave 10 spells at the same time, but the strength in actual combat is questionable. 

“How many can you form at the same time, Mix-chan?” (Rakura)

“Me? 5 if it is within the constraints of actual combat. If I were to concentrate on weaving them, I think I can go as far as 7.” (Mix)

“Uwaa, that’s impressive! I am always only 1… If not actual combat, I would say I would barely be able to manage 2…” (Rakura)

Rakura-dono is bad at doing several things at the same time. But I thought it didn’t apply to combat…no, even with that-desu zo. 

“But you managed to do things like expand the barrier while still deployed, and used the triple slice at the same time though? What about that?” (Mix)

“Expanding a barrier is adjusting the formation of the spell, so it can be done with just the reformation of 1 spell. As for the slicing one, I just activated the triple slice fast.” (Rakura)

“It looked like it was at the exact same time though. So you activated them separately?” (Mix)

“Yes, you can move to the next spell if you simply finish the activation of it, so I activated the 3rd spell at the time the first slice began.” (Rakura)

“Uhe…” (Mix)

If that’s true, it means that Rakura-dono activated 3 spells within 1 second though… 

I am pretty confident in my spell casting speed, but to think there would be this much of a difference. 

With such speed, it is hard to call her inability to weave several spells at the same time as a weakness. 

“I did my best to learn several spells, but I still can’t weave them at the same time. Sob sob.” (Rakura)

“I see… Right. I also saw some minute ingenuity there.” (Mix)

“Ingenuity?” (Rakura)

“Didn’t you provoke your old friend Masetta-dono in your first conversation telling her you don’t remember her? I think yawning at the end of the match was going a bit too far though.” (Mix)

“Uhm, I really didn’t remember her… I yawned because I really was sleepy…” (Rakura)

“What. Weren’t you both in the same place, working hard together?” (Mix)

“Ahaha… No one talked to me after I began training under Ukka-sama.” (Rakura)

“…Not even once?” (Mix)

“Hmm, they didn’t do so even when we met. I think it is because I was only messing up from the very first day, so they were disappointed in me. Ah, I remember now. She is probably the person that challenged me to a duel when I became a priestess. I was scolded a whole lot that day because of my continuous mess ups too, so I completely forgot. Looks like I will have to apologize later. Haah…” (Rakura)

I am impressed that she has such a peaceful personality in an environment like that… But there are also understandable points from this.

Archbishop Ukka knew about the true skills of Rakura-dono. 

But I wondered why there was no one who evaluated her highly for this. 

If Masetta-dono had seen Rakura-dono’s training once, she might have been able to see a portion of her true strength. 

“But with such high skills, didn’t the people fighting together with you when you were moved to the battlefield paying attention to you?” (Mix)

“After fighting together once, they wouldn’t talk to me even once aside from when giving me instructions…” (Rakura)

They thought Rakura-dono was new blood, but after witnessing her true power up-close, they had their hearts broken, I guess? I would have liked those people to have stronger hearts. 

“You said you were sleepy, but…I think you were sleeping tightly the day before though…” (Mix)

“There’s no issue in using magic in one shot, but I ended up with the habit of concentrating excessively when using magic in actual combat… I get hit with drowsiness in one go when I relax. It is possible to fight for several hours if I don’t put breaks in between though…” (Rakura)

“So you are really bad at switching.” (Mix)

But if that’s the case, her attitude can invite misunderstandings on Masetta-dono.

I am sure she has also caused many misunderstandings on the people she has made contact with. 

She excels in discernment, so if she had explained those things properly, she might have been able to have a more proper…no, Rakura-dono wouldn’t be able to do that. 

She is thoroughly clumsy and doesn’t have leeway in a lot of things. 

She doesn’t even have the leeway to clear the misunderstanding of the person that hates her and make them turn their way. 

Even someone like me who is close to her had to ask her the details to notice, so how can people who don’t even try to look at her know? 

She could only devote herself to her own training even when slighting the others, and so she ended up alone, with no one understanding her. 

I continued polishing myself in order to not lose to Ani-sama, but Rakura-dono couldn’t even see anyone…

Cold sweat ran down my back. 

Throwing away your awareness in everything else and just facing yourself; Rakura-dono continued polishing herself while reaching the realm that masters would reach in their final years.

Of course she would be strong. She poured everything into her talent and growth after all. 

“Uhm, Mix-chan?” (Rakura)

“…Sorry, I was just thinking for a bit there.” (Mix)

Now that I have noticed this, my way of seeing Rakura-dono has changed greatly. 

The lazy personality of Rakura-dono might stem from her inability to take interest in a lot of things. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be good to voice that out brazenly though…

I see, so that’s why Mister Friend has been spoiling Rakura-dono moderately… He really is impressive. 

“Thinking about something?” (Rakura)

“It is but a small matter-desu zo. You really are a prodigy, Rakura-dono!” (Mix)

“Prodigy… That’s not true. I am simply clumsy. The true prodigies are people like Ekdoik-san.” (Rakura)

“Ekdoik-dono, huh. It is true that he is extremely skilled in various fronts contrary to Rakura-dono, but…didn’t you get a complete victory against Ekdoik-dono?” (Mix)

“That’s because Ekdoik-san fought in a manner that wasted his talents.” (Rakura)

Mumumu, I have seen the battles of Ekdoik-dono a number of times, but I have not felt he has been wasteful a single time though. 

“Rakura-dono, can you tell me in detail about that?” (Mix)

“Hmm, you know that Wolfe-chan only uses -san on Ekdoik-san, right?” (Rakura)

“Of course. But isn’t that because he looked after her when he saw Wolfe-chan’s talent?” (Mix)

“If it was only that, Ilias-san, Mix-chan, and the knights of Taizu would fall in that category. Wolfe-chan is showing respect -towards Ekdoik-san who is far ahead even in the areas she specializes in.” (Rakura)

“Mumuh, it doesn’t really click with me.” (Mix)

“Uhm…I told you about casting magic at the same time, right? Do you know how many spells Ekdoik-san can cast at the same time?” (Rakura)

I haven’t asked Ekdoik-dono directly, but…I can tell he can manage quite a good amount of them. 

He would knit wings with his chains to fly in the sky, create thin layers in empty space, and make the weight of the chains lighter than air…

“I think it is quite a lot.” (Mix)

“That person imbues a large number of curses and poisons with magic onto his chains when he is using them with killing intent. And yet, he still manages to freely control them.” (Rakura)

Speaking of which, I have been told by Mister Friend that he has used an attack like that. 

We haven’t fought enemies that curses and poison work on, so he didn’t give off much of an impression on that side though.

…Hm?! 

“Large number of curses and poisons…all with magic?” (Mix)

“Yes, he employs them all at the same time. It was above 30 just from the ones I could confirm.” (Rakura)

“…I am impressed you could come out of that okay.” (Mix)

“It is all useless unless you touch the chains after all. That was beyond wasteful.” (Rakura)

◇◇

“The amount of spells I can cast at the same time? I have counted all the way to 50, but haven’t counted more than that.” 

“Hah?!” 

“Ekdoik-san is awesome!” 

I rented a lodging and Girista asked me a question while I was training magic construction with Wolfe, and then she let out a strange scream. 

Is it something to be that surprised about even for Girista who speaks in a languid tone? 

“As long as you are not too involved with the precision and control, it isn’t that difficult to pump out numbers. In order to bring out the most killing power in actual combat, you go for around 10-20; at the times when I seriously want to kill someone, I would carefully use around 30 curses and poisons.” (Ekdoik)

“Ekdoik, you aren’t a magic specialist, right~?” (Girista)

“Obviously not. I have also learned physical combat and physical strengthening, and I can also use other weapons aside from my chains to a decent degree.” (Ekdoik)

It is hard to continuously avoid the attacks of your enemy. I have obviously learned methods to mitigate the damage when hit. 

That said, I would strengthen my chains when against enemies on the level of Great Devils to put power in defense too, or I would easily end up with fatal injuries. 

Weapons that carelessly require you to close the range are out of the question. I am using the chains I can freely control for such reasons. 

“Just asking, but are you not good at something?” (Girista)

“I don’t have any weaknesses when it comes to combat means, but I would like to avoid barehanded battles as much as possible. If the mana strengthening is not strong enough, I would injure myself even with my own attacks. On top of that, I am always within the range of the enemy when I attack.” (Ekdoik)

Whenever I watch the fights of Wolfe and Ilias, I always think about how they can go into the range of the enemy and act within that sphere. 

If I am within the range the enemy specializes in, I prioritize evasion. Then, I would break their rhythm and attack them with precision.

This fighting style really is the one that clicks with me the most.

“Being able to get to 10 is on the impressive side for magic specialists, you know?” (Girista)

“It is because each of their spells are polished. If it is just constructing and adding them, they should be able to increase the numbers.” (Ekdoik)

“Wolfe can’t do that…” (Wolfe)

“The output of your mana is way too high after all, Wolfe. In your case, it would be more useful in actual combat to increase the scale and quality of the spell rather than going for several at the same time. But learning to cast several at the same time will widen your options in battle. There’s no harm in training it too.” (Ekdoik)

“Yes, I will do my best!” (Wolfe)

“I am impressed the girl called Rakura managed to defeat you~.” (Girista)

“Rakura is a prodigy after all.” (Ekdoik)

That’s right. I fight using magic as my core, but I can’t think of a way to win against Rakura in a magic battle. 

That’s how much of a gap there is. 

“…I really can’t imagine someone that’s more of a prodigy than you~.” (Girista)

“I think Ekdoik-san has more talent than Rakura in magic weaving.” (Wolfe)

“Wolfe, the talent of Rakura doesn’t come from her ability to weave spells and the amount of spells she has.” (Ekdoik)

“Then what talent is it?” (Wolfe)

“It is how high the concentration she can put on one thing can be. It goes without saying that you need concentration in order to weave a spell and cast it, but with the concentration of Rakura, she can create spells with the highest level, highest efficiency, and highest speed.” (Ekdoik)

“…?” 

It seems like Wolfe doesn’t really get it. She hasn’t fought with magic as a core, so it can’t be helped. 

“That was a bit complicated, huh. Then, let’s explain it with a comparison to you, Wolfe. At the times when you do mana strengthening and attack, how many attacks do you think you can execute perfectly?” (Ekdoik)

“Uh…1 out of 10.” (Wolfe)

“Yeah, it should be around that. No matter how much you train, executing a move perfectly at all times is difficult. You can increase the chances of bringing something close to that with training, but the quality also increases even more with training. In the case of Rakura, she can activate them at the highest value.” (Ekdoik)

“…Rakura is impressive!” (Wolfe)

“But Ekdoik, if it is always the same level, doesn’t that mean she is holding back~?” (Girista)

“I thought that at first, but Rakura is clumsy. I tried to make her hold back, and the quality of the magic wasn’t stable.” (Ekdoik)

“…So the highest quality is the one that’s easier to bring out? Just how extreme can one be?” (Girista)

That’s right, Rakura is the owner of an extreme talent. 

Even if she can’t do several things at once like me, if we were to compete in a single spell, I would lose every single time. 

No matter how many spells I can utilize, Rakura can surpass them with a single spell. 

“Even if I were to cast 10 spells at the same time, Rakura can cast 10 spells within that time frame. On top of that, the quality of all of them would be of perfect execution for Rakura. There’s no doubt she has polished them with training, but you can’t reach that realm without talent.” (Ekdoik)

“It is hard to believe that a girl like that had a bad reputation until just recently.” (Girista)

Archbishop Ukka noticed the talent of Rakura at the very least, but even with that, Rakura was so special that she wasn’t recognized by her surroundings. 

But rather than mourning the fact that she couldn’t make use of her talent until now, we should be happy that she now has a whole lot of opportunities for it. 

Rakura is at least lucky. There’s a person that understands her right by her side. 

…That can be said for me too though. 

“That must be thanks to Comrade. Rakura is fully aware of this too.” (Ekdoik)

“Shishou is the most impressive!” (Wolfe)

“Right. Even if he himself doesn’t have talents, he can make use of the talents of others which makes him above any individual. Comrade should be making progress at Taizu by now. We have to do our best not to lose to him.” (Ekdoik)

“Yes!” (Wolfe)

“What a sweltering team~.” (Girista)

◇◇

There’s barely any adventurers in Taizu where the influence of knights is high. 

The infamous Riodo can’t get close, and Morgana concentrates on taking requests from outside. 

Only the wide entrance of Shunait has facilities in Taizu. 

And so, I have stepped into the Shunait Guild in Taizu. 

He decided to join Shunait and gather information. 

Everyone else is already in the headquarters of Morgana and Riodo, doing their job. 

I have no complaints about that, however…

“Please make do somehow…” 

“But I don’t think someone who prides in having no combat capability at all can do his job as an adventurer though.” 

“No, I may not have battle power, but see, I have motivation! I wouldn’t frown upon odd jobs either!” 

“Even odd jobs have their dangers for adventurers.” 

“It is okay. I always have a bodyguard with me! She is really strong!” 

“I have never heard of an adventurer who always has a bodyguard with him.” 

As you can see, he is desperately negotiating with the receptionist and it is pretty sad. 

I didn’t expect him to get rejected at the gates by Shunait which has the most accepting policies. 

I proposed to have His Majesty prepare a recommendation letter, but he said ‘No, it would make me stand out too much if I have a backing. I would like to go with my own position’ while acting all cool, and that brings us to the present. 

In the first place, he is referring to me as his bodyguard, right? 

Just what in the world is my standing here…?

“I seriously will work super hard!” 

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to become a merchant?” 

I think so too. 

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