Chapter 34. Lesta VS (2)
Lesta and Ridipin stood on the stage.
Seeing Ridipin holding a bow, Lesta smiled.
“I thought it was a lie, but it seems you really learned how to use a bow.”
“Y-yeah.”
Lesta calmly shared his analysis.
“Since I haven’t heard any reports of your archery, either you just learned it recently or you haven’t fully mastered it yet. Or maybe both.”
His analysis was almost spot on.
For him to analyze his opponent before a fight meant he was revealing part of his strategy. Knowing this, Ridipin tensed, gripping the bow tighter.
“T-then, why don’t you wield a sword?”
“I’ve abandoned the sword. I’ll never hold it again.”
He slung the spear resting on his shoulder.
“Besides, even without a sword, I’m strong. I don’t need to be bound by it.”
“I see…”
Ridipin realized anew that Lesta had changed a lot from the person she once knew.
Back then, Lesta was interested in other weapons but was sincerely devoted only to the sword, proud of it.
Why did he abandon the sword?
Why live a powerless life and cause trouble?
She wanted to ask what had happened but swallowed her words.
It must have been an event that changed his character. She wasn’t sure if it was right to ask so easily.
Lesta read her thoughts first.
“You probably have a lot you want to ask me, right?”
“H-how do you—?!”
“You’ve never been good at hiding things. And I have a good instinct.”
Lesta pointed his spear at her and said:
“If you win this duel, I’ll answer whatever you ask.”
“W-what if I lose?”
“You don’t have to stake anything. I just want to settle a grudge from back then.”
“T-that time…”
It was a winter when Lesta was physically wounded, and Ridipin mentally scarred.
They barely thought they had overcome that trauma, but when the victim directly mentioned it, that winter’s memory unfolded again in front of them.
She closed her eyes, trying to deny it, but her trembling hands didn’t stop.
‘Is it just because I lost and want to win this time? Or do you want revenge on me…?’
Just as Ridipin’s thoughts darkened, Reina called out to her.
“Ridipin!”
She was being treated by Ban and had regained consciousness, watching the fight.
“Hit that annoying person hard! You can do it! Aaah!”
Reina, cheering with swinging arms, suddenly screamed as if she had caught her sleeve.
Ridipin couldn’t help but smile.
If Ban was someone she trusted more than herself, Reina was like light that erased gloom lightly.
A wonderful person who pierced through dark feelings and slowly filled them with light.
Thanks to her, Ridipin could erase the scenery before her and draw the bowstring.
“I will definitely win!”
Lesta briefly showed an unreadable expression at her determination, then smiled and murmured:
“I see. I envy you.”
He tightened his grip on the spear and took a battle stance.
“Now, you brat. Declare the start of the duel.”
“Then, Ridipin VS Brat duel begins!”
Before Lesta could object to Ban’s nickname, Ridipin’s arrow flew.
Whoosh!
Her arrow was just a bit slower than the speed of sound.
Normally, it would be impossible to react, but Lesta, as if it was nothing, rotated his spear in time with the arrow’s speed.
Crack!
But Ridipin’s arrow broke through the aura surrounding the spear and grazed past Lesta.
He wiped the blood running down his cheek and laughed.
“Has the density improved since then?”
Ridipin, gaining confidence, fired several arrows, but Lesta retreated while deflecting the arrows’ sides, redirecting them.
He adjusted his grip on the spear and threw it toward Ridipin.
Thud!
Ridipin barely dodged the spear flying at near sonic speed.
She prepared to attack again, but Reina shouted.
“Ridipin! Behind you!”
Ridipin glanced back. The spear that had flown behind her was caught in aura, circling once before flying back toward her.
She quickly shot an arrow to change its trajectory, and the spear passed by, embedding in the ground.
But before she could relax, Lesta approached from behind and swung a fist.
Ridipin blocked the attack with the bow, reloaded an arrow while holding that position.
Lesta lowered his arm to knock the arrow away, then aimed a punch with the other hand.
Too close to dodge, Ridipin released the bowstring and raised a guard.
But the attack was too much for her to withstand.
Thud!
Lesta did not stop there.
With successive attacks, Ridipin was pushed back.
Lesta kicked the spear embedded in the ground up, caught it, and relentlessly pressured her with a mix of spear and hand-to-hand combat.
Despite defending the assault, Ridipin tried to find an opening to reload an arrow, but Lesta effortlessly grabbed the bow and arrow to block her attack.
“The moment an archer’s position is discovered, they lose their advantage. And the moment they give distance to the opponent, they lose.”
“Ugh, ugh!”
If he blocked her attack now and counterattacked with the other hand, Lesta would win.
But he deliberately released her and created distance.
“Now, let’s settle this. We’ll clash with our strongest moves.”
“…”
Ridipin’s pride was hurt, but she silently drew the bowstring, knowing Lesta was preparing.
[Light Archery – Threefold Radiance]
Three kinds of light aura imbued the arrow, fired toward Lesta.
Her aura density was higher. Confident of victory, Ridipin fired, but Lesta ignored it and gathered aura.
A violet aura condensed at the spear’s tip, which he then threw at Ridipin.
[Throwing Spear]
A technique that simply throws the spear, originating from nowhere.
But the spear’s energy was heavy, pressing down on the surroundings.
The rotating spear shattered all three arrows and passed by Ridipin.
Overwhelmed, Ridipin sank to her knees.
Lesta retrieved the spear with aura and aimed it at her.
“You still don’t know enough to hear my story.”
“…I-I’ve lost.”
After the duel, we left the Trich Hall.
Reina was having trouble moving from aura break aftereffects.
She needed treatment, but it was too far to go alone, so Reina was on my back, and Ridipin followed, worried.
“A-are you okay?”
But Reina smiled as if nothing was wrong.
“This much is fine! Since we’re inside Trich Hall, no scars remain anyway. Ah!”
“I told you to stay still, didn’t I?”
“I only moved my arm!”
“I said don’t move that arm either…”
Unlike me, who had aura flowing through the magic path, Reina had to open the way from the start, so she seemed to have aftereffects.
Still, even though Reina kept saying she was fine, Ridipin’s expression didn’t brighten.
Maybe she couldn’t believe it because of similar past experience.
Reina tried to reassure Ridipin.
“It hurt a lot at first, but Ban handled it well, so I’m totally fine now!”
“T-that reminds me. Where did Ban learn how to dismantle aura breaks?”
I was about to lie and say Ban just heard it as a brat, but Lesta, who leisurely exited the hall, answered instead.
“I taught him.”
“Y-you taught him?”
“Yeah. At lunch, we were fighting to test that guy’s level, and I casually used an aura break. So I taught him how to dismantle it.”
“I see.”
“So use aura breaks without worry. Even if something goes wrong, he’ll handle it.”
It wasn’t the development I wanted, but fortunately the purpose was achieved.
I was about to let Lesta go, but he continued.
“Ridipin, the reason you lost isn’t just skill difference but hesitation. No matter how powerful and precise you are, the hesitant you is useless.”
Ridipin’s face darkened, but he didn’t stop.
“And Serenia, you were weaker than any Serenia I’ve fought.”
Reina got angry.
“Of course! You’ve never fought anyone my age!”
“I have. Your dead brother.”
“Did you meet my brother…?”
“Yeah. At the northern training camp.”
This was the first I’d heard of that.
In Spell Breaker, Reina and Lesta had no connection.
And at the northern camp, Reina probably just exchanged letters, so they might not have known about each other.
“Is my brother really dead…?”
“Dead. I witnessed the corpse myself. We couldn’t recover it because the building collapsed.”
Reina seemed to want to say more but ultimately didn’t.
“Kariel, that guy was amazing. Learned aura at a young age. If he were alive, he’d have been worth fighting.”
His words sounded like ‘It should have been him, not you, who lived,’ and Reina’s expression darkened in understanding.
I couldn’t stand it, so I told Ridipin.
“Take Reina and go ahead. I’ll catch up later.”
“Y-yes…”
Reina, on Ridipin’s back, quickly wiped the dark look away and smiled.
“Go, Ban! You’re our last hope! Completely crush him!”
“Yeah. I’ll tell you later how I did it, so go ahead.”
“Okay!”
Reina answered enthusiastically, but I saw that her expression briefly darkened when she turned her head.
After they left, I asked Lesta.
“Why do you insist on playing the villain?”
“What do you mean? I’ve always been like this.”
“The part about Reina being weaker than any Serenia— that’s a lie, right?”
“Even if it’s true.”
“Reina’s brother couldn’t use aura.”
At that, Lesta wiped the smile off his lips.
“Impressive. Guess it was impossible to fool you too?”
I didn’t know if he could use aura, but it was certain he was weaker than Reina.
Because Kariel Serenia was later resurrected as a zombie minion in an ambush.
Reina alone could handle him easily, so he couldn’t have been weaker than her.
But since it couldn’t be proven he was weak, I guessed maybe he just couldn’t use aura. Seems I was right.
“How did you know?”
“I just guessed, but I got it right.”
“Damn. I overestimated you.”
Lesta sighed softly.
“Your brother wasn’t exactly strong. But he was strong at heart. Just like your friend Serenia.”
“So why do you insist on being the villain?”
“You never believe me anyway. I don’t want to waste my breath on you. The reason I’m trying to break Serenia’s path through Ridipin, not me, is because you don’t trust me.”
“That’s not true.”
“Lying. Then there was no need to make the plan so complicated.”
I knew my plan was unnecessarily complicated.
Still, I executed it thinking Reina might smile if Ridipin attacked, and for another reason:
“I have a rough idea why the senior is acting so unlikable.”
I liked Lesta quite a bit, though not as much as Reina or Drenner.
He was a lot like me, maybe my other possibility if I hadn’t known Reina.
Lesta smiled and asked:
“Then why do you ask, when you already have a rough idea?”
“Being unlikable to everyone isn’t related to badmouthing Reina and Ridipin.”
“…Looks like you’re not guessing this time.”
He didn’t want to get fooled twice.
He sighed shortly and replied:
“Why would I want to be the villain? To be hated.”
Then he patted my shoulder.
“And Reina, right? She shows potential. What she lacks is aura. Now that’s fixed, take good care of her.”
He passed me by.
“And Ridipin?”
Lesta stopped and hesitated a moment before answering.
“She just needs to stop hesitating. You take care of her too.”
He acted uninterested and annoyed, but he was watching those two carefully.
A person who had plenty of annoyance but never looked away.
He waved his hand behind me and walked off.
“I’m too tired to answer questions now. Don’t ask. I’m going.”
