When My Enemies Began to Regret

How can he be so cruel about something I’ve been working on for so long? Is he saying that I shouldn’t even think of responding to my enemies with violence since I’m weak? I’ve already been beaten by them over and over again! He’s saying this because he doesn’t know Io is in my hand.

 

Soon, Fanora shot him back with a fierce look that he had never seen before.

 

“All right. Let’s have a duel right now. Instead, you and I are under the same conditions.”

 

“Yes? B-But—”

 

“If I lose, I will consider your words.”

 

Step, step.

Fanora took a couple of steps before him and lifted her gaze upward. There was Carl Andras, who was very tall in the meantime. He stiffened his body unbelievably.

 

“But if I win this duel, don’t criticize my choice again.”

 

“…!”

 

Fanora spoke strongly, and Carl put on a gloomy expression like a dog in the rain. But even with such a gentle appearance, the blood of the Andras family eventually flowed into his body.

 

“Okay, then we will have a duel just once.”

 

It wasn’t long before his true nature was revealed.

 

“Let’s set the rules. Let’s say we’re both bare-handed, and since Lady Fanora is still a beginner, if you hit me effectively enough to hurt me, I will say you won.”

 

“Is it really okay to have such rules?”

 

They wore very simple clothes from the moment they entered this warehouse, so it was enough to prepare by taking off the cloak they had worn to avoid the cold.

 

It’s rather good. Because I wanted to have a spar with people at least once.

 

It wasn’t difficult to prepare her mind either. Although it was the first duel in her life, Fanora wasn’t nervous. Unlike in the past, when she spent her entire life as a weakling, her physical strength and skill improved significantly during this time period through hard work. Besides, it was not that she was going to knock down Carl. She could win if she gave him one effective blow. If so, Fanora thought there was no need to borrow Io’s power.

 

He’s arrogant because he’s still young.

After all, Carl in the future and Carl in this time cannot be the same.

 

Fanora thought briefly as she looked at Carl’s young face, and soon the signal that the two of them had started a duel rang out.

 

“Then, shall we begin?”

 

But a few minutes later, Fanora realized who was really arrogant.

 

“!”

 

A panting breath. The sound of blood rushing around and the voice of the boy in front of her muttering. Fanora felt all the sounds were distant, even though her ears weren’t hurt. It was due to the beating of her stomach. As a result, she felt suffocated, and physiological tears filled her vision instantly.

 

It had only been a few seconds since the duel started.

Less than two minutes

. Nevertheless, Fanora was already gasping for breath. It contrasted with the boy who had not even a single strand of hair disheveled.

 

I can’t beat him.

Fanora admitted right away, though they only sparred for a few moves.

 

Carl was different. Standing before Carl, she was like a chick in front of a fox.

 

I’m only at this level, but I’m screaming like I’m going to kill someone.

 

There was someone more heartbroken than Fanora who had learned her weakness with her own body. Carl stopped the attack and thought when his opponent couldn’t straighten up due to pain.

If I let Lady Fanora wield what she has learned in this insufficient state, she will face great trouble later.

 

Carl was the type who usually enjoyed fighting with others. After fighting all over, his whole body was excited, and his heart was happy to the extent that he felt alive because of this. But it had been a long time since he had such an unpleasant sparring. A sparring must be established to some extent to be enjoyable. It was not his temper to bully a weak person for nothing.

 

Lady Fanora has a reason to desperately want strength. I wonder if she will give up with only one sparring…

Carl Andras was soon in agony. And it was then.

 

“!”

 

While Carl was distracted by other thoughts, Fanora narrowed the distance, grabbed him by the collar so he wouldn’t run away, and targeted his vital point. Carl twisted her arms with force and pulled himself out, but he was surprised that she had not yet given up.

 

But how could sheI give up?

 

I already know that I’m weak…

She was born weak from the beginning. Because she didn’t have more strength than them.

That’s right, I’m a nobody.

 

Fanora lived her entire life acclimatizing to the fact that she was not born with it. However, she believed it was the right life if she lived with a good heart, even if she had no power. As a result, she had been driven to the cliff. How could she be convinced of her shortcomings twice?

 

“Aargh!”

 

“!”

 

She couldn’t live like that anymore. Fanora wanted to prove that her efforts to get revenge were not vain by winning this duel.

 

“Uh?”

 

Soon afterwards, Fanora gritted her teeth and rushed, and Carl took herfist straight into his grasp. A different heavy sensation from before made her wrist bones tremble.

 

“I’m sure…”

 

Carl Andras. He wasn’t the type to hesitate to hit his opponent, whether they were old or weak. There were even rumors that he broke his engagement by assaulting his fiancée.

 

“I thought it’s been a while since I had such a boring duel.”

 

However, no matter how many times he looked after her, Fanora was still standing strong no matter how many times he hit her. In addition, this duel wasn’t even with Andras’s family but Celsius, who grew like a flower in the greenhouse.

 

“It’s starting to feel better.” Carl’s cheek began to flush at this situation. To him, her growth was amazing. A person who didn’t even know to hold a dagger until a while ago has now stimulated pain quite a bit. Carl’s heart gradually fluttered as he did when he was enjoying a duel, and he soon burst into laughter with a flushed face.  

 

“…”

 

When Andras’s family fights, they laugh so happy like that. That’s why their family got called as monsters. So how could she stop this laughter? Fanora, who was thinking about it, came up with a simple method.

 

“Aren’t you going to surrender now?”

 

Pow! Fanora fell backwards with a blunt sound of a fist hitting a human’s chest bones. She woke up in a hurry, but the shock seemed great. Carl, who saw her tied hair was disheveled, asked that question. But what came back  was not her voice but her right fist.

 

Does she want to suffer like that again?

For Carl, the repetition of an attack that didn’t give a valid hit was questionable, but in fact, the target was his left hand.

 

“Huh!?”

 

Suddenly there was something like powder in front of Carl’s eyes. Fanora’s left hand held the dust on the warehouse floor when she fell.

 

She’s really good at using the contents from the book!

Even if it was a street fight or a duel, it was enough to help you win. Of course, Carl protected his eyes because of his reflexes. It was a situation in which he stopped moving for at most one second. But it was the moment that decided who won the duel

…Oh god.

 

Tuk.

Fanora dug into the gap without missing a beat, grabbed Carl, and pulled him. She was trying to hit the floor like a knight wearing armor would normally do.

 

Give me strength!

In order to do that move, it was enough to borrow a little bit of holy relic power.

 

“Huh?!”

 

Soon afterwards, with a huge fricative sound entering the old warehouse, Carl banged his back on the floor. It was a shame that there was straw on the floor. If he was thrown straight on the hard floor, he couldn’t be safe no matter how strong he was.

 

“…!” Shocked, he blinked and couldn’t get up from his seat. His whole body was startled, and he didn’t even think of fighting back.

 

“…Gasp, gasp…” Fanora looked at the collapsed boy and took a rough breath.

 

Is it finished?

With the power of the holy relic, she was able to bring Andras, who was also called the monster of the kingdom.

 

“…”

 

But should this really be considered as a victory? Fanora immediately lowered her gaze and examined herself. The ends of her dress were torn, and the skin except for her face was on the verge of bruising. Moreover, the string that tied her hair was nowhere to be seen.

 

“…Would I get caught… even if I wear the cloak well?” When she was muttering with an unsure voice, the boy who had been lying there soon burst into laughter.

 

“Haha… Ha…” He began to laugh in disbelief. The pain rising from his back had blood vessels lined up on the nape of his neck, but his expression was bright.

 

“Wow!”

 

“

!?”

 

“Oh my God, really…”

 

Then Carl leapt up his upper body. With an excited face, he clasped her hands tightly and spoke softly, “It’s the first time I’ve lost to someone other than my older sister!”

 

“No, it’s just that you’ve been generous with the rules…”

 

“I lost this! I couldn’t even move for a long time! If this was a real duel, I would be dead!”

 

He must be still hurting since she knocked him down with Io’s power. When Carl smiled brightly with his eyes twinkling like that, Fanora just nodded with a puzzled face.

 

“Oh my God. Wow.”

 

“…”

 

“Can’t we spar one more time?”

 

“No way.”

 

“Just one more time! It was so good!”

 

But it had been a while since they tidied up their appearance. Perhaps it was so impressive to be beaten by Fanora that Carl asked for a rematch while she thought about it coldly.

 

Come to think of it, when it was my birthday. Carl asked for a spar at that time, but Aloken expressed his displeasure. I think I know the reason…

If Aloken had a duel with such a fighter, his limbs would not be fine, so wouldn’t everyone say Aloken is being out of his mind again?

 

Fanora talk to Carl in a calm voice, “You know when I say no, it’s remained no.”

 

“But.”

 

“Are you now refuting my answer again…?”

 

“Ah, n-no.”

 

Fortunately, Carl didn’t forget the memory what they had promised before the duel. He looked at her as if he would no longer fight.

What’s wrong with him making me feel guilty for nothing?

 

“Then, what about my assessment now?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I was asking if today could be my last class.”

 

“Um… Of course…”

 

After that, it was already the moment when the two of them were ready to leave the hut.  When Fanora asked that question before, Carl smiled more sincerely than anyone else and said, “Congratulations on your graduation, Lady Fanora!”

 

Graduation. From Fanora’s point of view,, it was a word she had never heard before because she had never attended an academy, but it didn’t make her feel so bad.

 

* * *

A few minutes later.

 

“Then I will be on my way. Goodbye~”

 

“All right. For the time being, I’m busy preparing for my debutante, so I won’t have a chance to contact you. Still, if I need help again later, I will send you a letter.”

 

“Yes!”

 

They said goodbye in the middle of the forest road where they always parted. Fanora went straight down the road and returned to godmother’s mansion, and Carl went out over the bushes and set off to find the carriage.

 

Today was really fun.

Carl, who came out alone, though. Except for his family, there were a few people with the same hobbies as him in the society, so he was a loner wherever he went. The meeting with Fanora, where he could freely talk about his interest, was fun.

 

She’s a good person.

Carl had always been good-natured, so it had been a long time since he realized that her nature was good. Fanora didn’t look at him strangely no matter what he said, so he was naturally comfortable with her.  

 

And today was amazing! I really want to serve Lady Fanora!

It was a pity that he couldn’t meet Fanora for a while from tomorrow.

 

“Wow, how did she hide that power?” Besides, today’s duel was fun enough to make his hair stand still. Carl recalled when he was severely beaten again, but his footsteps stopped at that moment.