Part 1

I was lazing out inside the room as usual when I suddenly felt a presence from beyond the door. But something was strangely off. It took a few moments for me to realize what felt wrong.

It was something I haven't felt in a long time. Not since being surrounded by a pack of hungry Rouge Fangs with Vance after being purposely stranded in the middle of a monster infested forest during our training with gramps.

Killing intent.

So thick, it could nearly suffocate you from pressure alone.

Why?

What'd I do to deserve facing another life or death predicament? And this time, via human hands instead of an unfortunate accident.

I quickly activated body enhancement magic and pretended to sleep so I could catch the would be assailant off guard. No matter what, I can't afford to die. Not without seeing those two again.

But still, who could want me dead enough to release such dense killing intent? The people on this ship saved me earlier and now they actually want me dead? That just doesn't make sense.

I heard the familiar hiss that indicated the door opening. It closed right after the assailant entered the room, effectively locking the two of us inside.

Light footsteps slowly approached the bed. The killing intent I felt made me have goosebumps. I steeled myself and prepared to act.

Once I felt the presence was close enough, I took the initiative and quickly moved to restrain the assailant, only for me to go wide eyed in shock when I saw who it was.

"M-Miss Miya?!"

There in front of me was the petite girl Miya Iwamori, whose normal spaced out look was now replaced with a piercing hate filled gaze.

Part 2

I was really shocked. This cute girl actually released such dense killing intent. And it's directed at me.

"W-Why?" I asked.

Her answer was a knee straight to the stomach. Even under the effect of body enhancement magic, the blow still hurt like hell. Where does she get that much power with such a small build?

Never giving me the chance to recover, she lunged forward with astounding speed. My eyes barely kept up and I managed to narrowly avoid a blow to the neck. A trickle of blood came from a small wound that opened up on the side of my neck.

She was holding a sharp looking knife and thrust it at me. When the heck did she bring that out? I didn't even notice.

I moved almost instinctively, trying a technique that would allow me to pin her down and disarm her. But her body was too supple and her techniques too fluid. She easily slipped out from my clumsy grappling attempt.

Once she fixes her posture, that nasty looking knife would aim for my vitals once more. I couldn't let that happen.

Maximizing my mana output, I threw a magic strengthened hand chop down towards Miya's wrist. The speed and sharpness of my blow was also augmented. I forcibly disarmed her with all I've got and even stole her weapon.

But I didn't relax one bit. She might have more than one of these things. And her speed and proficiency with them are far from ordinary. Even with that little exchange, I've already determined that she was very skilled.

I was only able to disarm her through surprise and sheer luck. In a battle of attrition, I judged I'd be at a disadvantage. She seemed too used to this stuff - used to killing other people.

I had experience killing monsters before. But, as expected, facing a fellow human allowed for some hesitation. And in a battle, hesitation could be fatal.

Even if I was holding a weapon right now, I still felt like a frog facing off against a snake. I was already sweating buckets.

As the tension reached its peak, something unexpected happened.

The door suddenly opened.

Part 3

The door opening distracted me only for mere moments. But, as expected, Miya capitalized from my blunder. She thrust another knife at me with blinding speed. As I thought, she carried another one with her.

I tried to parry, mustering all my strength and magic, but I wasn't going to make it.

It was only by mere moments. But I was still not going to be able to stop Miya's fatal strike. My life flashed before my eyes once more.

But before the knife bore through my skull, I felt someone grab me and throw me right outside the now opened door. My back slammed on the hallway walls and I got winded.

But due to body reinforcement, it wasn't as bad as it could have been and I recovered rather quickly. I moved my gaze back towards the interior of the room and got another shock.

Miss Aiko Takayama was now facing off against Miya. She briefly looked back and flashed me a dazzling smile.

I shouted a warning. Miya suddenly brandished her knife towards Aiko when she turned away to face me. But my concern turned out to be unwarranted.

Aiko easily deflected the attack without even looking and even countered with a kick which sent Miya flying towards the back of the room. Aiko finally turned her attention back towards Miya while twirling her weapons.

She was touting what appeared to be metal rods with handles fixed perpendicular to them a third of the way down their length. If I remember correctly, those were foreign weapons called "tonfa". Faint lightning sparks emanated from the tips. Are those magic weapons?

"Ara. This isn't very smart of you Mi-chan. Letting your feelings get in the way of your mission I mean." Aiko remarked teasingly.

"Shut up bitch. I have nothing to say to you, filthy Confederation dog." Miya coldly replied.

Am I hearing things? That aloof but cute Miya saying such vulgar words... What is wrong with the world?!

"That's mean Mi-chan. I'm not filthy." Aiko playfully retorted while feigning a hurt expression.

"I told you to shut up, fatty. I'm going to chop that flabby chest of yours right off if you continue to fool around." Miya exclaimed in a hostile tone.

The atmosphere changed. I felt chills run down my spine. Black aura seemingly surrounded Aiko whose expression turned stiff.

"You're really asking for it aren't you shorty? You're just jealous cause you're completely flat." she remarked threateningly.

Now it was Miya's turn to make a stiff expression. Veins seemingly popped out on her forehead.

The two of them launched attacks while simultaneously shouting.

"Don't call me fatty!"

"Don't call me flat!"

The battle turned even uglier.

-Chapter 6 End-