Damn… Kill it!

"So that's what happened."

"Yep! And then, Hiro-sama was–"

Two girls with practically identical faces were having a spirited discussion

while sitting behind the same table inside the guest room we were assigned

to. Yep. The two girls were, of course, Mimi and Her Imperial Highness,

Princess Luciada.

"They splendidly hit it off huh."

It was the morning after our first night staying within the imperial castle.

When an attendant brought our breakfast, Princess Luciada arrived for a

visit as well. It looks like she was quite interested in Mimi, who had almost

the same appearance as her.

At first, Mimi was quite nervous and stiff, but due to the princess' gift of

the gab or her innate charisma, or perhaps it was simply because they were

of the same wavelength, Mimi soon cozied up to Princess Luciada and was

now having an enjoyable conversation with her.

"You're right… It's a really nice sight, isn't it?"

Elma replied as she calmly brought a teacup to her lips.

"Uhuh. It sure is."

I watched over Princess Luciada, who had a gentle and elegant smile on her

face, and Mimi, who had a cute and innocent smile on hers and nodded in

agreement. They truly resembled each other a lot. They were practically

mirror images of each other. Their voices sounded similar as well. If they

both wore the same clothes and sported the same hairstyle, won't other

people have difficulty telling them apart?

Me? I won't have any trouble though. That's because their breast sizes were

different.

"Ouch."

"Don't be rude."

Perhaps she sensed where I was looking at. Elma, who was sitting alongside

me on the sofa, tightly pinched my flank. The ladies-in-waiting and female

imperial guards assigned to Princess Luciada were also giving me icy cold

looks. My position as the only male in the room was utterly weak.

"…Mei, come with me for a bit. I wanna work up a sweat for a bit."

"Yes. Understood, Master."

When they heard my exchange with Mei, the ladies-in-waiting and female

imperial guards all narrowed their eyes in scorn. It was like they were

looking at me as if I were mere garbage. They were all really beautiful girls

comparable to Mimi and Elma, so the destructive power was immense. Any

more and I'd be awakening to a dangerous fetish…

By the way, I already have an idea about what they were imagining I

wanted to do, but that's not it, okay?

"Excuse me, esteemed ladies from the imperial guards, can you guide us to

the place where you usually practice swordsmanship? I would like to

borrow the place for a while to do some swordsmanship training."

"…I see. That maidroid has combat functions installed, correct?"

"It's as you say, milady. If she isn't held down by limiters, she could rival

professional soldiers equipped with power armors."

"Hou… I see, I see. In other words, she serves as your bodyguard, doesn't

she?"

The lady knight nodded as if she was convinced and glanced toward Mimi.

It looks like she's noticed Mimi's lack of combat skills as well. That's just

how it is. The most Mimi could do was to shoot her laser gun with her eyes

closed while hoping to at least hit something. And that's when she's

shooting at practice targets. She probably won't be able to shoot at live

targets at all.

"So would it be possible to borrow your training grounds for a while?"

"Very well. I shall guide you there. Richelle, Aina, I'll leave this place to

both of you."

""Yes!""

Out of the three female imperial guards, two remained in the guest room

while one accompanied Mei and me. She did call the names of the other

two without honorifics and had the attitude and bearing down pat, so this

lady knight was probably one of the imperial guards' commanding officers.

"Follow me."

"Yes."

Mei and I obediently followed the lady knight's words and left the guest

room together with her. We then began walking around the majestic-looking

corridors of the palace. After walking around for a while, the lady knight

suddenly opened her mouth to speak.

"That person… Mimi-sama has a very cheerful and innocent disposition,

doesn't she? It warms my heart to see her and Her Imperial Highness

chatting happily like that."

"Mimi is a good girl after all."

"That she is. I wonder if that's why she's attracted to a frivolous man like

you?"

"Whoah. How harsh."

I shrugged nonchalantly at the lady knight who was now giving me a nasty

glare.

"I personally don't think I'm that much of a 'bad boy' type though."

"Did you not only extended your poisonous claws to Mimi-sama, but even

the youngest daughter of Viscount Willrose? And you are even keeping two

more women back in your ship, correct?"

"That's scary, milady. How'd you find that out anyway? But I haven't laid

my hands on those two at all, okay? I do think both of them are pretty cute,

but laying my hands on them kinda seems like I'm committing a crime you

know."

"But didn't you already lay your hands on Mimi-sama?"

"Uh, well, it's kinda complicated between Mimi and me."

Back on Earth, it would have been an out. But in this dimension, it was

safe. Mimi was already treated as an adult in this dimension after all. And,

well, there were also the circumstances back then. Her state of mind back

when we first met was very fragile after all.

"And what exactly do you mean by 'complicated'?"

"I don't really have any reason to tell you that much y'know… Oh, right.

Are you going to participate in the sword duels tomorrow as well, milady?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Okay then. Accompany me in my swordsmanship training. I'll tell you

about our circumstances if you win against me."

After she heard my offer, the eyes of Ms. lady knight widened in surprise

and then narrowed in delight soon after.

"That sounds good. Deciding things by way of the sword is a great

suggestion. I may have underestimated you a bit much."

Ah, she's one of 'those' types huh. This lady was pretty and had an elegant

way of speaking, but she's a muscle-head to the core.

"Kuh, kiiiill!"

After roughly over thirty minutes, the female imperial guard, Isolde-san,

showed an expression that seemed really inappropriate for a lady.

"No killing please."

I brandished a pair of blunt training swords and retorted in bafflement.

Well, y'see, I successfully borrowed the training grounds of the imperial

guards and engaged Isolde-san in a practice match, but I ended up winning

quite easily. I was also surprised, of course, but Isolde-san and the other

imperial guards present at the grounds were even more surprised.

"O-One more match!"

"Oka y."

The lady imperial guard Isolde-san picked up her training sword that was

blown away by me and challenged me again. As a qualified professional

imperial guard, Isolde-san's movements were quite agile and powerful. Her

swordsmanship was also very sharp.

"Haaa!"

With tremendous momentum, Isolde-san wielded the training sword made

of a tough and heavy plastic-like material and slashed it at me. But her

move seemed pretty slow in my eyes. I wasn't even holding my breath and

activating my ability. I was just used to Mei's attacks that were way more

fast and powerful.

"Yo."

"Nuuh!?"

There's no doubt that Isolde-san was fast. She was fast, but Mei was just

that much faster and stronger. Furthermore, her strikes were less accurate

compared to Mei's and she displayed far too many openings.

"Ah!?"

I hit her sword-wielding hand and made her drop her weapon. I didn't give

her the chance to recover the sword and immediately unleashed a slash to

finish Isolde-san off.

A buzzer rang out within the training grounds, and Isolde-san once again

lost the match. With this, I already had a four-match winning streak.

"Kuh… Kill me!"

"Uh, the training system already judged that you've been cut in half and

killed though."

The training facility had advanced training equipment and systems that

would allow you to simulate a real sword fight while wielding blunt

training swords. If you wore specialized headgear and slashed at each other

with the training swords, the system would automatically measure the

damage dealt and impose appropriate penalties to the body.

For example, if the right arm got slashed, it would be paralyzed for the

duration of the match. If a leg got slashed, it would become immobile and

you'd most likely trip on the ground. If your fingers got slashed, they'd lose

their gripping power and would no longer be able to hold the training

sword. And if you get dealt a fatal blow, a buzzer will ring out, and you'd

be judged as dead. I don't know how exactly the whole system works

though. Did they install sensors on the walls, ceiling, and ground, perhaps?

"He's handling that Isolde-san like it's child's play."

"You're right… But is something like that really possible?"

"There's no need to hold back, Isolde. Use your full strength."

"Barring the first match, I've been giving my all from the second match

onward!"

Isolde-san got up, retrieved her sword, and got into a fighting stance again.

It looks like she still wants to continue.

"Let's go!"

"Come on then."

Isolde-san was pretty enthusiastic and attacked again. She unleashed a

simple but powerful diagonal slash. Her step-in and swing speed were

practically perfect. Fumu. I guess I have no choice but to receive her sword

attack.

I dropped my waist and decided to concentrate on parrying Isolde-san's

slash. It seems that Isolde-san was one of the most prominent and skilled

imperial guards, and this was a good opportunity for me to observe the

imperial guard's swordplay as well.

"Haa! Yaa! Sei!"

I dodged and parried Isolde-san's storm-like series of attacks. All her

attacks were heavy, sharp, and probably meant to end the fight in one hit. If

we were seriously fighting with real swords, sparks would have been flying

by now.

"You're slow."

"What!?"

But she was still quite slow for me. Her attacks were light. They were

lightyears away from Mei's attacks. If I tried to parry Mei's attack like what

I'm doing now, my defense would probably get blown away instantly. And

even if I did manage to parry her attacks somehow, my arms would be too

numb to move after just one or two attacks and would then be rendered

useless. Compared to those, Isolde-san's attacks were akin to a gentle

breeze.

"Yaaa!"

I parried the piercing thrust Isolde-san unleashed together with a sharp

battle cry with the sword on my left hand, pulled my left foot outward, and

unleashed a counterattack with the sword on my right hand. I aimed my

attack on Isolde-san's chest. Isolde-san managed to twist her body and

narrowly avoided my attack, but I then sharply stepped forward with my

left foot that I just pulled back earlier, and cut Isolde-san's neck with the

sword I used to parry her thrust, ending the match.

"Gunununu…!"

The buzzer rang out once more and Isolde-san was given the death penalty.

If we were using real swords, Isolde-san's head would have been separated

from her neck already.

"Just what style of swordsmanship is he practicing…?"

"It's similar to the Geos style, I think. But the footwork and defense

techniques are quite different."

"Can I ask for a match as well?"

"I will avenge Isolde's loss."

The imperial guards who were watching the matches between me and

Isolde-san began clamoring for a match with me one after another. It looks

like I won't have trouble finding training partners after all.