Empty-handed Clash

「Yo, Yuu. ……It sure has been a while.」

「……Zephyr. To think that a guy like you would lend a hand to something like kidnapping. You’ve really fallen.」

Yuu said that to the smirking Zephyr with a cooled down voice as if he had completely misjudged him.

「I can earn money by pretending to be a babysitter. It’s great that I don’t have to do much labor and be at ease.」

「I’m asking if you don’t have any pride, you shitty bastard.」

「Kukaka, to be desiring pride from me, you’re barking up the wrong tree, you know?」

「Come to think of it, that’s true. After all, you’re the detestable kind of guy that would even betray his comrades if it was for the sake of your selfish desires.」

「You’re not much different, aren’t you? With only whether our time as seen from the outside is treated as a moving tale or not, the rest is the same. In regards to that, there’s no change in the interior.」

「You and I are the same? ……That’ll make me throw up.」

「Kukuku……Kuka, kukakah!! ……………Yuuuuuuu!!」

「Zeeeephyyyyyyr!!」

After a one beat howl, Yuu, who stepped up right in front of Zephyr in one breathe, and Zephyr, who cast Body Strengthening magic on himself, vigorously butted foreheads.

With the impact of their foreheads clashing, their foreheads were cut, and they both shed blood.

But the two of them didn’t show signs of taking even one step back. On the contrary, they looked like they were trying to take a step forward.

「You’ve gotten much bigger, haven’t you!! ……Well, I feel like the princess was still taller though……」

「Shut up!! Don’t go poking at things that people get bothered about!! Don’t make a face that says “I went and said something a bit mean~”!!」

They clashed even more. Zephyr’s right fist deeply bore into Yuu’s stomach, and Yuu’s knee kick went into the gaps of Zephyr’s ribs.

Zephyr’s hood was removed from the after-effects of their clash, and his face could be seen.

「Same to you. You’ve got a pretty cool looking face now, don’t you, Zephyr!! Who did that to you!?」

White hair and deep crimson eyes. And then, what stood out more than that were the two large gashes on top of his face that intersected each other.

The cut that went from the left eye to the right jaw was done by Yuu, but the other wound was probably done by someone other than Yuu.

「Kukaka! It was all thanks to your disciple! To think that he’d become able to put an injury on me, I didn’t expect that at all!!」

「Disciple? ……Oi oi, could it be you’re talking about Prokion? Hahah! That’s great! No wonder you were paid back with a serious wound!! You better not have killed him!!」

「You know me, don’t you? That I’m the type to save what I’m looking forward to for last!!」

With that, the two of them separated foreheads, and then attacked once again.

*GON!!!*

「Zephyr!! You, you’re the only one I’m going to beat the hell out of!!」

「Be at ease, Yuu! By killing you, I’ll also get killed too!!」

Yuu opened up his left hand by biting down on the underwear and with that left hand,

Zephyr wore hardening magic on his right hand that originally could only be used on inorganic substances and with that right hand,

They both struck at each other’s face.

「Buh!?」

「Gaah!?」

Although they both made sounds that sounded like their bones were breaking, without stopping their momentum, the two of them unfolded a striking exchange at super close point-blank range.

Incidentally, due to the attack just now, the underwear that Yuu held in his mouth was thrown to the ground.

「Urarararararararararararararararararararararah!!」

The kicks, the fists, the butting heads,

「Kukakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakah!!」

all done with a speed that couldn’t be confirmed with sight, they clashed.

「Uraaaah!!」

「Kukaaah!!」

With the swung fists and kicks colliding, shockwaves struck without discrimination in the surroundings.

◇

「Wh, wha, just what in the world is going on~!?」

From the after-effects of Yuu and Zephyr’s clashes, the still hanging in midair Bernadette was swaying as if she were being hurled by the wind.

(This is Yashiro-san’s, true……っ, what is with this absurd power!)

While swaying from the after-effects, Bernadette trembled in fear from the two’s clash.

「Though, even with that, he’s still holding back. Because of his design, he can’t kill humans.」

「Eh?」

Suddenly being talked to, when she turned her awareness to where the voice came from, there was Jean Jacques Eustace, and Kuon who was wearing Jean’s mantle and covering his body.

「Jean-san! Also, Kuon-san! Were you, injured in anyway?」

Bernadette, who could do nothing but watch Kuon as he received the assault from the men, apologetically said that, but

「Ah, ……Y, yeah. Y, you don’t have to……worry.」

Seeing Kuon, whose face looked red and embarrassed but was hanging his head and looking bitter, Bernadette got an inkling of a small sense of discomfort that was produced within her.

(……Isn’t, isn’t he kind of cute? No, not the kind of cute from being younger, the moe character kind.)

That atmosphere of him watching Yuu fight while he was somewhat fidgety, wasn’t that just like the atmosphere of a younger heroine that would attentively watch her childhood friend from the shadow of the school building as he continued his absurd special training right before a summer tournament?

His feebly collapsed fox ears accelerated that feeling.

「Damn it! Like hell I’ll let you all get away!」

It wasn’t just Bernadette that became dumbfounded by Yuu and Zephyr’s sudden clash. When the kidnappers’ thought processes restarted, the men that sharp sightedly discovered Bernadette’s group semi-desperately ran while screaming.

「Kuh……!」

Kuon probably couldn’t fight due to the fear from being assaulted by someone of the same sex. Also, Jean didn’t have any equipment that looked like it could become a weapon. Bernadette resolved herself thinking that she herself needed to fight, but

「Hold it right there. With your Maryoku sucked up dry, you’re just a simple girl. The most that would happen is the tables being turned on you.」

While untying the ropes that bound Bernadette, Jean said that so as to admonish her.

「B, but……Kuh!」

Having the ropes undone, Bernadette stood directly on the ground, but unable to put strength in her legs, she stumbled forward. Seeing that, Jean made a wry smile.

「Now, now, be at ease. ……Although they aren’t like the current Yuu and Zephyr, I’ve prepared some powerful helpers.」

Getting the better of Bernadette who was about to shout “How could you be so carefree!”, Jean took out a lute from nowhere.

「What we should do now is save the people that were kidnapped, after all.」

*Bororon*.

A light sound peculiar to stringed instruments reverberated, and, interweaving those sounds, a song was spun. As she listened to that tune, Bernadette felt the impatience and confusion she had fade away.

「Hou, ……that certainly is a good tone quality.」

「As expected of an ally sung as a 『Lord of Musical Performances』. While being pleasant to the ear, it stimulates the heart and has a heat to it……Fufu, it is the greatest tune.」

「Umu, my heart is boiling.」

As if they were acting in concert with that sound, the shadows of three people jumped out as if to obstruct Jean’s group’s way. Falhart Enhans, Mary Fe Crestolia, and Priest Ulgan.

「Hahah, that is an honor! ……While Yuu is holding Zephyr back, let us go and rescue the people that were captured!」

The three replied with an “Ou”, and kicked the kidnappers about.