Ch.369[Episode 369] Three-Way Confrontation
by fnovelpia
At the time when Sir Dominic and Alice went to buy furniture in town.
Sir Dominica was changing clothes at home when a thought suddenly occurred to her.
“Come to think of it, Lady Alice is a woman. She’ll need various things, but I wonder if Sir Dominic knows about such matters.”
Sir Dominica began to seriously worry about this issue.
If Sir Dominica’s memory served her correctly, Lady Alice was planning to stay in this house for about a month, or possibly longer.
Then naturally, wouldn’t she need various items?
Sir Dominica, having spent so much time on battlefields, was content with simple makeup and comfortable clothes, but Lady Alice was a noble.
As a noble, everything she wore, ate, and used would likely be quite luxurious.
Of course, this was Sir Dominica’s misunderstanding.
Lady Alice came from the harsh Feralant, and as such, didn’t have the luxury to care about appearances.
This had become a habit, and Alice turned into someone who wasn’t particularly interested in adornment.
Some might question why Alice was so well-dressed when she came to Gacharland, but in truth, that was her work attire.
Alice was so uninterested in appearances that there wasn’t much difference between her work attire and casual clothes.
However, unaware of this, Sir Dominica thought Alice would need various small items like cosmetics and toiletries.
“I guess I have no choice. Let’s see, that furniture store I went to last time…”
Sir Dominica reluctantly got up and began searching for furniture stores on her map app.
Since they needed to buy quite a lot of furniture, they would likely still be in that area no matter how fast they were.
Sir Dominica planned to quickly catch up with Sir Dominic and Alice to buy various items.
It was also perfect timing as Sir Dominica’s foundation was almost running out.
And so, Sir Dominica left the house and headed toward the city center of Gacharland.
…
Sir Dominic knew the identity of the person threatening Alice with a kunai at her neck.
Though her face was shadowed and her eyes gleamed with killing intent, giving her an otherworldly appearance, she was clearly Hime.
“Lady Hime?”
“Ah, Sir Dominic.”
Hime’s demeanor changed drastically at Sir Dominic’s words.
The fox ears on her head twitched, and her tail wagged furiously.
“What on earth are you doing?”
“What am I doing… you ask?”
Hime tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand Sir Dominic’s question.
“Well, I was just trying to give some stern advice to a fox who’s been wagging her tail at Sir Dominic—”
“Lady Hime.”
“—huh?”
Listening to Hime’s words, Sir Dominic realized that she was currently not in her right mind.
How long had he known Hime?
That’s why he could immediately tell that something was off about her.
Sir Dominic took one step closer to Hime.
Surprised by Sir Dominic’s sudden approach, Hime tried to step back, but she couldn’t because she was holding the kunai to Alice’s neck.
Instead, she breathed heavily, and her breathing became more ragged as Sir Dominic drew closer.
“I don’t know what misunderstanding you have, but please calm down first.”
Hime couldn’t move even as Sir Dominic came right up to her.
Currently, Hime had half lost her reason, and her mind was in chaos because she couldn’t calm her racing heart due to her love for Sir Dominic.
Eventually, Sir Dominic grabbed Hime’s wrist.
“…!”
Hime’s eyes widened in surprise at the sensation of the rough, strong, large hand on her wrist.
Only then could Hime regain her senses.
Her feelings for Sir Dominic were stronger than her jealousy toward the woman beside him, allowing her reason to return.
Of course, Sir Dominic was unaware of this and continued to hold Hime’s wrist while looking at her.
“Um… S-Sir Dominic? I’ve come to my senses now…”
“Ah.”
Hime’s eyes darted around as if embarrassed by Sir Dominic’s gaze.
Then she told Sir Dominic that she had regained her senses.
Only then did Sir Dominic release her wrist.
Hime caressed the wrist that Sir Dominic had held.
Come to think of it, had she ever had such physical contact with Sir Dominic before?
Though her wrist now bore red marks in the shape of Sir Dominic’s fingers from his strong grip, Hime was somehow happy as she caressed those marks.
…It seemed she wasn’t quite in her right mind yet.
“I’m glad you’ve come to your senses.”
But Sir Dominic, unaware of this, nodded, believing that Hime had truly returned to her senses.
Then he turned to Lady Alice, whose neck had been threatened with a kunai until just moments ago, and asked if she was alright.
“Are you alright?”
“Huh? Oh. Yes.”
Lady Alice touched her neck where the kunai had been with startled eyes.
She was still in shock from the sudden attack that had happened moments ago.
She had once been one of the knights protecting Feralant, a noble leading the knights of Feralant, and a commander hardened by battles with demons.
She was also someone who had firmly established her position as a Star by working as a Champion under the White Crow for hundreds of years.
How could someone like her have been so helplessly caught off guard?
Lady Alice recalled what was written in the Book of Saint Dominic that Arkus had used.
‘It was certainly a hall of warriors. Every passerby was extraordinary…’
Indeed, this place is a hall of warriors.
Even such a delicate woman could show such an amazing display!
Thinking this, Lady Alice suddenly asked Hime a question.
“How strong are you here?”
Hime looked at Lady Alice strangely at her question.
Of course, Lady Alice hadn’t asked this question without thought.
This question stemmed from Alice’s competitive spirit toward Hime.
Lady Alice was one of the strongest in Feralant.
Not in an anomalous way like Sir Dominic, but in terms of pure strength, she was confident she ranked within the top five in Feralant.
Of course, this was when Sir Dominic was still alive, and now as a Star under the White Crow, she prided herself on being among the top three, including other Stars.
If someone could deceive Alice’s senses to such an extent, Hime must be quite strong.
Alice hoped that Hime was one of the strongest in this battlefield of warriors, Gacharland.
That would hurt her pride less.
However, Hime’s answer mercilessly shattered Alice’s expectations.
“I’m not sure… but probably slightly below average.”
Hime was about to speak to Alice in a dismissive tone but remembered that Sir Dominic was beside her and started speaking as politely as possible.
It seemed the woman before her was quite close to Sir Dominic, and Hime thought that if she misspoke, Sir Dominic might be disappointed in her.
So Hime stated what she thought of her own strength.
Hime was a 3-star melee dealer who focused more on critical hits and utility than stats.
And such dealers generally ranked around the middle.
Moreover, with the recent addition of the 6-star transcendence stage, being 3-star numerically placed her slightly below average.
For these reasons, Hime described herself as slightly below average.
“Slightly below average…?”
Alice was shocked by Hime’s words.
In her mind, she had thought Hime would be one of the strongest in Gacharland.
The reason was simple.
Hime’s combat ability didn’t seem much different from Alice’s.
Although Hime had managed to sneak up on Alice, the sense of power transmitted from the blade’s edge suggested Alice had a slight advantage.
In a frontal battle, Alice would win with difficulty.
If ambushed, Hime would win with difficulty.
That was Alice’s prediction if the two were to fight.
Alice was among the top three strongest in Feralant.
Even after coming to Gacharland, that confidence remained.
“Merely slightly below average…”
But that confidence was completely shattered after meeting Hime.
Alice was only among the top three in Feralant, but in Gacharland, she was just an ordinary warrior who didn’t even rank in the top half.
Of course, unlike Feralant, Gacharland had the assistance of the System, making Alice’s level even more remarkable, but Alice, who didn’t know much about Gacharland, couldn’t know that.
“…”
Alice felt her confidence in her own level crumbling in an instant.
And in that moment when her pride that had supported her collapsed, she…
“…sob.”
Suddenly, she began to shed a tear.
0 Comments