“Are you saying that I, a single person, am someone you can handle by yourself?”
Seeing the look on Fjodra’s face as if she were about to speak, I deactivated the **[Character Analysis]** skill for a moment, and that was the response I heard.
It wasn’t a particularly important statement, and it was a reaction I had already expected. The reason I chose to end the **[Character Analysis]** skill was that I felt the need to let my brain rest for a moment before it hit its limit.
“That is….”
I let out a meaningless word to buy some time.
Meanwhile, I kept the flow of the Sky-Blue Aether blocked while continuing my train of thought. I held it so that as soon as I released my control, the **[Character Analysis]** skill could activate at any time.
While doing nothing at all would be the best way to let my mind rest, Fjodra might attempt an attack at any moment.
‘Even if Yore helps her, it’ll be difficult for Vigdis to take Pret’s ribbon, right?’
It was inevitable, given the environment. Moreover, Pret was the only professional among us with extensive field experience.
Although direct weapon-to-weapon combat wasn’t his specialty, he had surely experienced indirect combat—hiding, fleeing, or luring opponents—many times.
‘It looks like it’ll take quite a while for Reysir to get used to the combined attack of Liolikin and Lausa too…!’
No matter how much he was the original protagonist, his lack of real combat experience couldn’t be helped. At this point, he had almost no track record of facing two or more opponents at once, and he had never faced a combination of a tanker and a long-range dealer before.
And that wasn’t all. Liolikin’s **[Armor of Protection]** could block Reysir’s lightning attacks. Although not comparable to Yore, who was born as a great dragon, the setting of this novel stated that Familiars were born with naturally high elemental resistance.
He was bound to struggle in many ways.
“Why have you stopped answering?”
“I thought you would obviously know without me having to say it.”
“And why is that?”
“Did you not just experience how I respond to you, Imperial Princess?”
“Hah…!”
Judging by the way she continued the conversation, it seemed Fjodra had chosen a strategy of stalling for time rather than trying to take my ribbon herself.
She was likely waiting for Pret to take Vigdis’s ribbon and return.
If she didn’t know that Pret was an expert who could recognize the presence of traps at a glance and even utilize them, she would have no choice but to fall into a trap.
‘That’s why I sent Yore with her, since he knows Pret is a trap expert, but…’
Unless Vigdis was careful, I couldn’t be at ease. Even if she was conscious of the traps and acted cautiously, it was the same.
Since Pret could manipulate and trigger traps at will, Vigdis falling into one could be considered a predetermined outcome.
‘The problem is that it seems like Pret will come to help Fjodra faster than Reysir can come to help me. Maintaining the **[Character Analysis]** skill for a long time is also a bit of a burden.’
The Cyan Team would gain the upper hand only if Vigdis and I had our ribbons taken here. Only then would it be possible for Team Purple, which included the original protagonist, to stage a reversal. That meant our team’s victory was guaranteed, but…
‘Still, I have to struggle as much as I can, right?’
As I had warned Liolikin two chapters ago, this was just training, so only a ribbon would be taken. However, in a real fight, what was taken would be one’s life.
I didn’t want to leave the power over my life or the characters’ lives in the hands of the original author.
That was also why I spoke provocatively to Fjodra in our conversation. If Fjodra just kept firing arrows from a distance, the story would inevitably flow exactly as the original author intended.
I needed to lure her into close-quarters combat.
“You sound as if you are trying to provoke me.”
“I apologize if it felt that way. However, I thought that lying to the Imperial Princess would be an even greater discourtesy….”
“I suppose you think that if I hear such words, I will approach you once more to prove that I can take your ribbon even by myself.”
It didn’t matter that the opponent had seen through my intentions. This was exactly what I was aiming for.
“Seeing you say that, it seems you are worried. Worried that you might lose your ribbon again if you approach me.”
“I will admit that your reaction speed is fast. But don’t you think you are being far too overconfident?”
“Considering you’re stalling for time by continuing the conversation like this when Yore isn’t even by my side… not really?”
The moment I finished with a lingering, mock-thoughtful “not really?”, Fjodra’s shoulders flinched, and her brow furrowed. Judging by that reaction, her pride had definitely been wounded.
“You’ve become quite arrogant just because you managed to take a ribbon while I was off guard.”
She was saying that she wouldn’t have lost the ribbon if she hadn’t been caught off guard, and that was likely true. At that time, Fjodra hadn’t accounted for my reaction speed and hadn’t even thought to protect her ribbon.
If she had set up even a minimum level of defense, the result would certainly have been different. So, now that Fjodra was wary of my reaction speed, it was natural that it would be impossible to snatch her cyan ribbon in one go if she approached again.
The possibility of me being overwhelmed in close combat was also very high.
‘When I saw her sparring during the Martial Arts Lecture, it looked like she had received quite a bit of training for close-quarters combat!’
To be blunt, I was currently acting out solely by relying on the Mental Acceleration effect of the **[Character Analysis]** skill. Since this was training and losing the ribbon was practically a predetermined outcome, I didn’t think there was a more appropriate time to take a reckless risk.
If I succeeded in taking Fjodra’s ribbon again, it would be good because I could gain the confidence that I could protect my life even in a real situation by breaking away from the author’s will.
Even if I failed, my life wasn’t in danger!
‘Though my mood would be a bit… no, very bad. But this much risk doesn’t even count as a risk.’
Anyway, I had rested enough, so I had to jump into the battle before it was too late. Making that decision, I spoke as follows:
“Am I truly being conceited? If so, Imperial Princess, please correct my thinking.”
“Goodness… Even though I know you are provoking me to lure me into a melee, I find myself unable to refuse.”
Fjodra let out a hollow laugh and pulled her bowstring. Looking at that alone, it seemed like she was going to continue a time-wasting skirmish by firing arrows from a distance, but…
‘Based on what she just said, the arrow she’s about to fire will be nothing more than a diversion. The real attack will come when she closes the distance with the **[Space Leap]** skill while I’m busy parrying that arrow!’
As I swung my whip to parry the incoming arrow, I simultaneously released the Sky-Blue Aether I had kept trapped inside my core. Immediately, the **[Character Analysis]** skill activated, and the world seemed to come to a halt.
Sure enough, Fjodra’s body was enveloped in cyan light. As I adjusted the flow of the Sky-Blue Aether, the distant light faded, and an identical light appeared very close by.
‘This time, Fjodra will be gripping the knot of her ribbon tightly so it won’t come loose even if pulled, all to protect it…!’
There was no point in reaching out to snatch the tail of her ribbon. I guessed Fjodra would be thinking the same thing. Therefore, I expected she would try to suppress me first or look for an opportunity to take the ribbon while the battle progressed.
‘Will she swing the bow she’s holding?’
Fjodra’s greatest strength was her ability to freely switch between close and long range using **[Space Leap]**, so she wouldn’t let go of her bow. Moreover, it was common sense that swinging something was more powerful than using bare hands.
There was a risk of the bow breaking if something went wrong, but a wealthy Imperial Princess wouldn’t worry about such things.
Even though a bow isn’t a striking weapon, it becomes a very threatening attack when a scout using a longbow—which requires great strength to draw—swings it.
Thus, at the moment my whip parried the arrow, I let go of it, pulled a dagger from my **[Inventory]**, and leaped backward. It was only by a hair’s breadth that Fjodra appeared and swung the bow in her hand.
Her weapon didn’t touch my body, but the air pushed aside by the swing hit me, making me momentarily lightheaded. Fjodra had swung the bow with one hand while protecting her ribbon with the other, and she hadn’t even coated the bow in Aether out of consideration for me, yet I could feel the immense power behind it.
‘That would have been a disaster if it hit. Just how high is Fjodra’s physical strength right now?’
I added that question to maintain the **[Character Analysis]** skill as a reflex. After throwing the dagger in my right hand toward Fjodra, I immediately pulled a new one from the **[Inventory]**.
At the same time, I took my left hand off my own ribbon knot and gripped a dagger with it as well. I decided there was no need to keep holding the ribbon, as I could just drop a dagger and grab the ribbon or swing the dagger at her reaching arm the moment she tried to take it.
No matter how quickly I could react to the opponent’s movements thanks to the Mental Acceleration, there was a limit to the physical ability to carry it out, so the risk of the ribbon being taken wasn’t non-existent.
However….
‘Fjodra will only continue the melee if she sees a hope of taking the ribbon like this!’
Just as that thought crossed my mind, I saw Fjodra coat her bow in Aether to parry the dagger flying toward her. Then, she took a step forward, making a move to swing the bow again.
I coated the two daggers in my hands with Aether and crossed them to block her attack. Seeing this as an opportunity, Fjodra took her hand off her ribbon.
Naturally, it was to take my ribbon, which was now exposed and defenseless.
To escape that reach, I twisted my body and retreated. Fjodra’s hand grabbed only air, and her weapon cut through the void. It was then that cyan light enveloped her entire body.
She must have thought I would attack by throwing another dagger, and used **[Space Leap]** to both evade that attack and readjust her broken posture.