As more of her men entered the room to surround me, I couldn’t help but think about just how lousy the situation has gotten. I seem to have taken her too lightly after witnessing her countless fumbles, which in turn made me forget about her serious side completely. Damn, I’m frantically looking around the room for an exit, but they’ve blocked everything off completely.

“Bravo, oh, bravo!” She slowly clapped, “You got ahold of the keys I purposefully left for you, and just like I had expected, you were too impatient to wait for the right moment.”

“Purposefully left…?!” I gasped, “Yeah right, you definitely got too shocked by Issei’s comments and left it accidentally. There’s just no way you could be that good of an actress.”

“S-Shut up!” She began to bicker, “What do you know? How can you say with certainty that I wasn’t an actress? Don’t mistake skill for an accident!”

“Uh, Miss Silvia…” The guard with a helmet next to her carefully approached, “Should we, y’know, attack him?”

“Silence!” She slashed his throat without hesitation, “Do not step out of line! Anyone who does meets the tip of this blade!”

Whoa! Did she just… kill one of her own men? Sheesh, no wonder she doesn’t have a lover yet, she keeps pushing them away. But seriously, where did that blade come from? Looking more closely at it, the blade sort of resembles the ones Miss Cecily had with her. The concealed throwing ones. Makes me wonder…

“Are you the type of person who only knows how to mimic others without actually trying anything out herself, Silvie?” I mocked her, “Those blades seem awfully familiar, y’know~”

“S-Silvie? Never mind, ahem! Fumu~, so you’ve noticed?” She lifted the hem of her skirt for a split second, quite literally showing off her entire stock of weapons in a flashy display, “I’d rather not phrase it so brashly. In reality, I’m just learning from my mistakes!”

“Wow…” I genuinely couldn’t help but stand in awe as I looked on, “Dammit, your panties really are black. Now I owe Issei a drink after losing that bet we made a couple days ago.”

“Y-!” She lowered the hem of her dress in a panic as she began yelling, “You…! That’s it, no more kidding around! Take this!”

Throwing a flurry of consecutive knives in my direction, you could really tell that she had given it her all to master the skill. In fact, if there was one word to describe her accuracy, it’d be pinpoint. Even with the Gray Iro Ability, there were moments where I could just barely keep away in the last second. With how we were positioned, there was just no way for me to approach her, so I had to rethink my strategy if I am to beat her.

“Hup!” I Materialized a tiny screw from nearby, “Heh, now check this out!”

Throwing it as closely as I could towards her, I… missed her completely and hit the guard next to her. She looked away for a second because she thought I had good accuracy, which in turn gave me just enough time to grab the gasoline canister located on the far right corner of the room. She thought I did that on purpose, but in actuality it was the furthest thing from the truth.

“Impressive, to utilize unpredictability in a battle of accuracy…” She genuinely complimented me as she pointed to the canister in my hands, “Well, even with that, it was all for naught. Don’t you know? I’m always one step ahead.”

With my head tilted in confusion, I made sure to call time out for a moment before leisurely checking the condition of the canister. Alas, it seems she’s, be it purposefully or not, poked a hole straight through it with one of the knives she was throwing at me. In short, this means the canister was leaking gasoline, and fast at that. I didn’t have long before it’d completely empty, but that’s just perfect. Time to put on my most convincing acting yet!

“Grr…!” I feigned anger, “Dammit, now I have no use of this!”

Throwing it at her as I continued to dodge her knives, I appeared to have hit an impasse. The knives she was throwing weren’t infinite, so I was guaranteed to survive if I just continued dodging as I am now. But the issue lies in the fact that my Focus is running out as well. I’d like to say it’s anyone’s victory, but I really don’t like considering my victories a fluke. Unless my win-rate is 100.00%, I’m not taking it!

“Ugh, now my dress is all messed up!” She complained about me dirtying her dress of all things, “You’ll pay for this!”

“Oh, was it costly?” I jeered, “Don’t worry, I’m sure the smell only does a horrible person like you good.”

“Grr…! Dammit, why are you dolts just standing there? Attack him!” She commanded her entourage, who hastily approached, fearing that what happened to their friend will happen to them too.

“Oh come on, that’s hardly fair!” I teased, “What if you accidentally hit your men instead of me? Won’t you feel bad for them?”

As if genuinely believing in my warning than the skill of their leader, all the guards immediately turned to her before whimpering, “Please, Milady, don’t do that!”

“Do you seriously doubt my skills that much?!” She continued chucking the knives, “Why, I ought to slice dozens of lines across your throats just for that! But thankfully, I’m a kind woman, so I’ll spare you despite your lack of trust in me. Just this once.”

“Thank you, Milady!” They seemed a bit more willing to fight me, “Now, dog, come here and fight like a man!”

“Fight like a man?” I spit in his face, “Hand me a weapon before spouting that nonsense!”

“Tch! That’s it!” He unsheathed his sword before pouncing, “Haha! There’s no way you can dodge all this!”

“Ow, seems you’re right…” I agreed with him as I got my shoulder slashed, “Cough, ugh, damn this arm. Of all the times for it to stop working…”

Chuckling as I began coughing up a darker shade of blood, both the guards and Silvia looked on with a fear in their eyes as they inched closer.

“No no no! I was supposed to be the one to end him!” Silvia slit the guard’s throat, “Dammit, show me your arm!”

“Suddenly interested, are you?”

“No time for jokes, you damned idiot! Show me it now!”

Not even waiting for my reply, she forcefully grabbed my arm and undid the tightly wrapped bandages, revealing the pure black and dangerous looking gash that formed as a result of a year of refusing to act on the Scirp wound.

“This is…!” She gasped in terror.

“Yeah, I got into a bit of a scuffle with a Scirp a while back.” I noted, “I was told it’d heal itself if I just wrapped it up, but I guess that doesn’t appear to be doing the trick.”

“How can you be this stupid?!” She cried out, “My rival, my arch nemesis, to have died to a simple Scirp poisoning?! I won’t have that! You there, guard, fetch me a first aid kit, the battle has temporarily paused for now!”

***

“Silvia, what the hell are you doing, Silvia?” I glared at her as she carefully had me lay down on the floor, “Now’s your chance to act, and you’re going to throw it away?”

“Shut up and save your energy!” She applied some rubbing alcohol to the wound, “I’m not fighting you unless we’re both on equal footing!”

I don’t need your pity, woman…! Ugh, that one stung. Damn, what the hell does she mean equal footing? She literally had her entire entourage attack me while she stood back and chucked a few obstacles! Well, I should be thankful, given I’m not dead yet…

“Seriously… Why were we even fighting?” I decided to use the time I had to ask her a question that was bugging me, “I’ve barely spoken to your father, why are you so convinced it was me who killed him?”

“…” She bit her lips before answering, “I know you’re not responsible, not directly at least. That’s also why I’m saving you now.”

“Then why…?”

“Because Lune is.” She interjected, “He’s still out there somewhere, living freely and happily. He probably doesn’t even remember what my father’s face looks like. That being said, I just thought I could use you as a way to get to him one day...”

“…Even still, he told you he didn’t do anything, didn’t he? Why are you so hellbent on not believing him?”

“Sigh, for someone who prides himself on his brain, you sure don’t know how to connect the dots.” She explained, “Father was last seen entering Lune’s room in the infirmary, where they held their talk. He never came out though, it was only Lune. Father’s body was also never found, and Lune just so happens to have the ability to burn someone to a fine crisp.”

“He’s not as horrible of a person as you’re making him out to be!” I defended Lune, “Ack! Hey, don’t go pressing on the wound suddenly!”

“Sorry, there’s no other way to get the Scirp dart out.” She apologized as she put a towel in my mouth and yanked out a small black prick.

“Argh! A… Scirp… dart?”

“It’s this thing here. In reality, there’s no such thing as “Scirp Poison”, it’s just folklore. In reality, it’s this small prick here that continually pinches the main nerves of the limb, causing numbness and the darker hue. With continued cleaning of the wound, you should be able to make a somewhat full recovery.”

“Now define what you mean by somewhat?”

“Well, your arm's been like that for a year straight. Most people die after a couple of months, so I can’t exactly use my previous knowledge as a reference. I suppose that advice about tightly wrapping it up in bandages was correct, after all…”

“Silvia... Thank you.” I looked her in the eye.

“Hm? This is…?” She leaned in close to my face.

Eh? Eh?!? What the hell is she doing!? Hey, get away from me, woman! I know you’re lonely, but forcing yourself on me is clearly stepping over the line! No, noooooo...! Eugh, why the hell did she just kiss me? And it was on the lips too! Damn this lemony taste that reeks of gasoline, I need to wash my mouth quick!

“A-Ah.” She began blushing uncontrollably, “That was just because of the moment!”

“Don’t go making up excuses!” I jumped up from her lap, “You crazed woman, if I wasn’t imprisoned here, I’d call the cops on you!”

“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad!” She grunted, “Don’t go acting all high and mighty just because I stole your first kiss! It was mine too, you know!?”

“That’s exactly the point! You didn’t “steal” a kiss, you sexually harassed a wounded person! That’s super bad, you know? Ugh, hand me some water, guard. I need to wash my mouth off…”

The guard that was idly standing by, with a somewhat puzzled expression, handed me a bottle of water he had on his person. Silvia, on the other hand, was fuming. She had immediately tossed a throwing knife, hitting the bottle away from my hand.

“Hey, that could’ve seriously hurt me, you damned lunatic!” I yelled at her again.

“So what!?” She smiled somewhat scarily, “If you’re wounded again, that means I can take care of you once more~!”

“Urk, this lady’s gone haywire…!” I said, “Well then, hit me if you think you have the guts!”

“Guts? Phaha!” She laughed maniacally as she threw one last knife, “There is no such thing! The word you’re looking for is love. Don’t worry though, I’ll teach you everything there is to know about love, so sit tight~!”

“Sure!” I stood in place, allowing her knife to just barely graze my cheek, “But I’m afraid I’m a student with a pretty bad attendance.”

In allowing the knife to just barely graze me, I had successfully Materialized a piece of flint in the last moment which I put up against my face. The resulting sparks flew about onto the ground, allowing me to essentially ignite the room laced with gasoline without having to Focus my energy on Spark. What is it that Lune says in these situations… Ah, yes!

“Checkmate!”

Jumping out of the room and locking the door behind me, the screams of a poor man and crazy woman just on the other side could be heard yelling out my name in agony. Her sudden attraction towards me was unexpected, but everything else went exactly as planned. I’m sorry, Silvia, but I do not understand human emotions completely just yet. Sadly though, this is where we part ways for good, so you won’t ever live to see the day I do.