130. Festival

130. Festival

“Domain Expansion!”

Ugh.

Even after the arena was cleaned up much later and we stood facing each other, Claire’s teasing didn’t stop. Now, just hearing the vowel ‘o’ makes my body flinch.

This is the first time I’ve felt this embarrassed since I was shamed for not knowing common sense when I was young. Moreover, unlike back then when I was just being observant, I’m being directly teased, so the impact is even greater, not less.

Besides, this is the first time I’ve been teased since I was reincarnated in this world. My social circle was narrow to begin with, so naturally, I lacked experience in interactions and flexibility in dealing with them.

If I weren’t the one being acted upon, I could have taken my time to reach the right conclusion, but since I’m being teased, no matter how much I try to think, my focus is scattered, and I can’t.

“Stop teasing me…!”

“Domain! Expansion!”

My body is already heavy and I’m struggling, and she keeps poking at my nerves.

… I’ll see you in bed later, Claire.

I glared at the provocative Claire and listened to the countdown.

5, 4, 3, 2… and-

BOOM!

“Ngh?!”

“Hah!”

A flash of light. Claire, becoming a golden projectile, flew at me instantly and thrust her dagger at me.

I quickly swung my sword to meet hers, but my reaction was slow due to my scattered mind earlier. The dagger I couldn’t block grazed my cheek. Although no blood flowed, I could feel my protective shield thinning instantly.

“Ngh….”

“Domain Expansion!”

“Stop it…!”

If you keep teasing me like this, I’ll really do it.

I tightened my grip on Ur. Then, a powerful white light burst from the sword blade.

A chill that pierced to the bone. Snow falls, and my breath begins to mist. The world freezes. The place most familiar to me in the world is created right here, right now.

“Ugh!”

“Claire!”

Crack, crackle. The ground, which had instantly turned into ice, couldn’t withstand the weight of over 10 tons and collapsed. Claire, slipping on the sudden ice, frantically tried to regain her balance, and I seized the opportunity to swing my sword. A piercing sound echoed.

But it was slow.

“Seriously, this…!”

Claire, who had created distance and landed, let out a sigh of relief. My attack, due to these multi-ton sandbags I was wearing as a penalty, couldn’t reach her.

My vertical slash, infinitely strengthened in power, advanced by splitting the innocent ground and sky in half, and eventually hit the protective barrier blocking the arena, shaking heaven and earth.

I glanced and saw a slight crack in the arena’s protective barrier. It seems I need to attack a bit more gently to prevent an emergency.

“Haa… it’s really cold. It’s even snowing. Is this the power of ‘Domain Expansion’?”

“Claire, if you keep teasing me, I’ll hit you really hard.”

My father had trained me to cut and lift a hill, but he never taught me to fight while carrying a hill on my body. However, rather than finding the new training method fun, my irritation from Claire’s continuous teasing came first.

I suggested this match because it seemed fun, but I’m just getting teased. I calmed the vein throbbing on my forehead and gripped Ur tighter. A chill emanated.

Raise my arm, imbue my muscles with strength, and then powerfully- throw!

“Ugh?!”

BOOM!

The sword flew with a massive tearing sound, creating a sonic boom. Due to the immense force, flames ignited momentarily, and the ice floor shattered into fragments and scattered from the impact alone. Claire lost her balance for a moment due to the shaking ground.

That’s the opening. It would be better to hit with my fist than to cut with my sword, as it would put less strain on the protective shield. So, from now on, I’ll fight with my fists. I clenched my fist and pulled my arm back.

“Ugh!”

“Claire!”

However, at that moment, Claire, with a golden aura, threw herself in a strange trajectory and dodged my punch. But the multi-ton fist, already launched, shattered everything with a white light, and that included my domain.

Heaven and earth shook, and the entire arena was overturned.

The dust that obscured my vision slowly cleared. Claire, who had regained her posture in the meantime, and I, who had switched to unarmed combat, were visible.

Due to the sandbags, speed-based combat, which I usually rely on, is impossible. If that’s the case, it would be right to endure with toughness and fight a one-hit battle, but Claire’s attacks, imbued with a golden aura, are too threatening to withstand normally.

Furthermore, if I recklessly cause explosions with my strength, there’s a limit to the strain on the arena’s protective barrier. My wildcard, Ur, is still buried deep in the ground, not having regained consciousness.

I lack strength, speed, toughness, and weapons. I even have to consider the damage to the surroundings. It’s a complete predicament.

Claire looked at me and asked.

“You said you’d grant my wish if I win, right?”

“Yes.”

I clenched my fists a few times. To win, to make a fun wish to Claire after winning, I had to be fully prepared. With that, I powerfully threw my fist forward.

“Hk!”

Less powerful than before, a white light shot out in a straight line. Claire, enveloped in gold, instantly dodged the attack and rushed at me. I threw my fist again.

Again, the attack was dodged. Claire reached me in just two steps. Her dagger was swung, and predicting its trajectory, I ducked my head to avoid the sword.

Every time I touched the ground, the sound of the dirt cracking and compressing was heard. I pushed off the ground and lunged at Claire, but Claire, again, dodged my hand in a strange trajectory. Her dagger approached to stab me.

“Kk!”

“Ngh!”

If my hand touches her even once, I win. If her sword touches me even once, she wins. We were fighting with a cliff just one step behind us.

I shouldn’t have thrown Ur earlier. I should have at least created a domain.

I throw a punch. I dodge the dagger. We continue to exchange attacks. However, I feel myself being pushed back by a narrow margin. My body is gradually retreating.

I can’t just keep getting pushed back.

“Claire!”

KABOOM!

I quickly stomped on the ground, creating a shockwave. The reinforced Jin-gak with the massive sandbags shook the earth. Fragments exploded, and dust obscured the surroundings.

“Gotcha!”

“What?”

A shining light from within the dust. As the dust cleared slightly, I saw golden eyes looking directly at me. She withstood the shockwave head-on…?

“Ugh?!”

Again, the dagger flew towards me, tracing a shining trajectory. Having gained no advantage from taking such a large movement, my situation became much more disadvantageous.

I kept retreating. I had no time to regain my senses, dodging countless attacks while enduring the heavy weight. Even when I tried to counterattack during brief openings, my fists hit empty air with no effect.

Before I knew it, I had reached the boundary of the protective shield. I couldn’t go back any further. I focused my mind and began to fend off the relentless attacks.

Deflect, dodge, deflect, deflect, and deflect again. My balance was increasingly faltering. The dagger flew towards me. I deflected it-

“Ngh?!”

At that moment, Claire tripped me, making me fall. Normally, the difference in mass between her and me would make such a trip impossible, but Claire’s golden aura pushed me in an impossible way.

“It’s over!”

Her dagger flew towards my neck as I fell.

I can’t deflect. I can’t dodge. I can’t block. This is the end.

I need help….

“Master!!”

“Ugh?!”

At that moment, a white light exploded from a pile of dirt right beside me, sending Claire flying.

I opened my eyes wide and looked at the source.

Ur, covered in dirt, stood there wagging her wolf tail. She seemed to have burst out from underground.

“Ur! Are you conscious?”

“Yes! I woke up because Master called me!”

Thank goodness. I was worried about what to do if I lost like this. Now I think I can continue the match. I brushed off the dirt and stood up.

At that moment of relief, the match-ending whistle blew.

“Disqualification!!”

——

The reason was ‘2 vs 1 battle due to a comrade’s intervention’.

The referee’s logic was that Ur, being a weapon that could talk, think, and move independently, was considered a comrade.

I argued that Ur was not human but a weapon, an ego sword, so what was the problem? But when the referee asked if I didn’t consider an ego sword that could talk, think, and move on its own as a comrade, I couldn’t refute it.

If she’s a comrade, then she’s a comrade, so….

“Hoo….”

The match ended so anticlimactically.

I wiped away my sweat and drank the water Ur gave me. I don’t know if it was because I had moved my body a lot or because Ur had made it, but it was very refreshing. Claire said.

“I won, so you’ll grant my wish, right?”

“Um… yes.”

I thought it was a very unfair fight… but anyway, I lost, so I lost. I handed the water bottle back to Ur and asked Claire about her wish.

“What is it that you want so badly?”

“Well….”

Claire hesitated, then opened her mouth. Her face was incomparably more shy than when she was teasing me earlier.

“Marry me.”

There was no lie in her golden eyes as she looked at me. It’s a bit… embarrassing.

“Isn’t that what you said when we first met?”

“It’s different from then. This time… I really want to marry you.”

“But….”

I was thinking of something like just staying still when we have sex, but suddenly marriage? I’m bewildered. But isn’t marriage between people of the same sex impossible?

Claire shook her head and refuted my words.

“That can be changed by changing the law. There are many ways. For example… um, anyway.”

“Uh….”

“So Skadi, I’ll say it again.”

Claire looked at me.

“When the time comes that we can marry, marry me.”

“… Okay.”

I’m the one who said I’d grant the wish. I have to do as I said. Well, what’s the big deal about marriage?

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

Whenever the time comes that we can.

We found Priscilla in a corner of the spectator seats, drying her panties with a fireball, and the three of us continued to wander around the festival. It was a truly enjoyable time.

And the next day, dragons attacked the academy.