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He grabbed my hand and put something in it. I stared. It was a ring.

 

“Um, uh…the thing is, I’m already seeing someone…I can’t go off marrying other people.”

“Are…are you stupid? It is a magic tool that blocks Presence Detection. It’s not the most precise, but I thought it might be useful!”

 

Oh…that’s great! I put the silver ring on my index finger. It reminded me of something. I think I bought something like this once in Harajuku. For one 1,000 yen.

 

“Thank you, I appreciate it!”

“Aye, see you later!”

 

We bumped our fists together. He grinned at me before disappearing behind a building. And so did his presence. Hmm. Was this the power of the magic tool? As I wondered this, the old man poked his head out again and gave me a thumbs up. Yes, it allowed you to stay hidden. He disappeared for good after that.

 

“Magic tools are great, as you only have to fill them with magic to use them…”

 

A way to stay hidden. A Presence Detection block skill. Though, apparently not that good. If only using this would help me gain a new skill. Well, life would never be that easy. But for now, I relied on what cover it offered as I ran in the direction the old man had pointed.

 

　　□　　　□　　　□　　　□

 

I noticed more and more destroyed buildings. If this was the aftermath of Daniela and Eve’s fight, that meant that Eve still had a lot left in her in spite of the wounds. I felt a cold sweat drip down my back. It made me anxious about Daniela.

Daniela had lived for many years, but she had avoided combat as much as possible. On the other hand, Eve was an elf who had done little but fight during her many years of life. Being a bandit was its own type of race. A race that lived by the killing of others. Fighting was something they did daily.

Daniela had started to fight a lot more recently, and was happy to see that her level was increasing. But I still doubted that she was close to Eve. Still, as someone who believed in her wholeheartedly, I could not doubt that she would win.

 

“I should try blocking my presence now…”

 

There would be no Legs of the Forest Wolf from here on. I wanted to approach her without her noticing. I would finish this fight with an ambush.

 

The sound of an explosion echoed. Dust and bricks flew up into the air. And there was Daniela and Eve!

 

I ran. Thanks to the presence block, I passed by some bandits without being noticed. I could have taken them down easily from behind, but there was no time. I had to reach Daniela as soon as possible.

 

I ran. A mountain of bricks lay in front of me, and I used Legs of the Forest Wolf for just one second in order to jump over it. I jumped much like a certain character I had seen on TV a long time ago, but I messed up the landing and rolled. Practice. I just needed practice.

 

I ran. A pillar of fire lay ahead. Just after that rubble. I pulled out the Schwarz Tempest.

 

“AHHHHHH!!!”

 

Eve’s voice rang. I jumped over the rubble and inspected the battlefield. All of the buildings here had been leveled. There were a few spots on the ground that were burning from Eve’s fire.

 

“Ah…”

 

There she was, Daniela. Eve’s flames shot out towards her. Daniela dodged it. They were right in the middle of this barren area.

 

I could see that Eve’s face was twisted monstrously. I didn’t know why, but I became terribly worried.

 

‘I can’t shake off the feeling that she has a trump card somewhere.’

 

That’s what the old man had said.

 

Her face wasn’t like that because she was angry that her attack had missed.

 

It was because she knew she had won when Daniela moved to that position.

 

“DANIELAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

 

I shouted and ran. Something was about to happen. Something bad.

 

“DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!”

 

Something was slammed into the ground as Eve screamed. Then a magic circle appeared at Daniela’s feet. I had never seen anything like it before. It floated in the air and shone with a jade light. What appeared next was a giant jaw. Its red tongue and rows of fangs tore into Daniela’s left arm. Then the rest of it climbed out of the circle. It was huge and something I had never seen before. But I knew what it was.

 

It was a dragon.

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