The Undefeated Fencer King Part 3

(Dazai Crowley's POV)

Cerulean Academy, Present Day

"Oh my god! Is she okay!?"

Hmm?

Shortly after the next shot of the race, there seemed to be some sort of commotion on the track. Since we were still nearby, I couldn't help but turn my head in curiosity. From what I could tell, there was some sort of accident with one of the runners.

On the track there was one silver haired girl who had fallen over while clutching her knee in pain.

"Looks like somebody tripped during the race. Poor thing. I hope she didn't break anything."

Ryoku said, worried.

"Yeah."

At first, I wasn't really all that bothered by it.

—But then in the corner of my eye, I saw the tyrant king, Gideon walking by us in the nearby distance.

It seems like he was returning from the last race.

As if noticing each other's presence, our eyes met.

It was then he stopped for a moment and smiled at me before gleefully gesturing his thumb across his neck in a head chopping manner.

I raised my eyebrow at him.

Normally, I would've simply ignore him. However, there was this bad feeling I couldn't seem to shake off.

—Wait a second.

Curious, I ran back to the track without a word.

"Hey, wait a second. Where are you going?"

Shortly after, I arrived at the scene where the girl was slumped over. Yep, it was just like I thought.

It was a girl that I knew.

My little sister, Alice.

Right now, Alice was slumped over to her side with a very pained expression. Moving herself seemed to be very painful.

This wasn't good.

"Hey, you okay?" I said, calling out to her.

"....I'm fine—it just hurts a little." said Alice.

"Should I take you to the nurse's office?"

"Ugh…maybe?"

"—There's no need."

"Huh?"

Coming from behind me, Ryoku approached us.

"Wait, you're—"

"Tell me where it hurts."

"....My shoulder and knee, I think."

"I see. So you should have trouble walking. In that case, Dazai, can you pick her up? It would be a problem for the other racers if Alice was still here."

"Yeah, just leave it to me."

"Let's see. We'll take her…—over there."

"Okay."

I picked up Alice off the track and carried her over to where Ryoku had pointed.

Now arriving at a nearby tree, I softly leaned Alice against the tree trunk. There, she was atleast now out of the sun and underneath some shade.

"Now as for you..."

Turning her attention back towards Alice, Ryoku rolled up her left sleeve and leg cuff, which revealed a nasty bruise and scrape respectively. For the scrape, some of the outer skin was torn, leaving behind bloody white flesh.

Needless to say, it was a pretty bad injury.

In response, Ryoku stuck out her right palm towards her side. For a brief period, it was as if her hand had disappeared, but shortly after, it returned with a small black pouch in hand.

The "Storage" spell, huh.

As the name suggests, it allows the user to access a pocket dimension where time is stopped.

For adventurers or travelers, it's a very convenient skill to have on hand once you learn it.

Inside the pouch she pulled, she grabbed a couple of supplies like alcoholic wipes, disinfectant spray, a few bandages and medical wrapping tape.

A little overboard but okay.

"Hold still."

"Huh?"

Psst, psst.

"Ack! Hey, that stings!"

"Well, I warned you, didn't I?"

Barely giving her some time to mentally prepare, Ryoku sprayed the disinfectant onto both wounds before wiping away the blood using the wipes.

Now having cleaned it, she waved her right hand out in front of the wounds yet again. Shortly after, natural green light began emanating from her palm, coaxing the injury in some sort of magic.

Apparently the magic carried healing properties which were used to close the wounds and made the bruise slowly fade away in shape. In response, Alice's formerly pained expression also softened.

"How's that?"

For a second, Alice moved her shoulder and flexed her knee. A moment later, a wave of relief and surprise flushed her face.

"—Much, much better!~ Thank you!"

Suddenly, Alice leapt forward to hug Ryoku in gratitude.

"O—oh, uh, no problem." Ryoku said, startled.

I sighed.

"Alice, let go of her."

"Ah, sorry, sorry!"

"No, it's fine. I'm just glad you're better."

"...Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to wrap those injuries up."

As she said that, she grabbed the medical tape from earlier and began wrapping up the injuries with a professional look on her face.

"I didn't know you knew druidic magic."

"Ah, so you recognize it?"

"I know a friend who can use it."

"I see. Back at my hometown, ancient druidic practices and magic were persevered and passed down from one generation to the next. This spell you see here is a byproduct of those teachings."

Unlike modern day magic, druidism is a form of natural magic that connects to the spiritual and the divine realms of energy. Though due to its ancient connection to gods and other deities, it's more so considered as a religious force of nature and is primarily used by races like elves.

So it makes sense that Ryoku would have access to it.

Suddenly, Ryoku pulled out an ice pack.

"What's that for?"

"For your injuries."

"What? But I'm fine now. Not only that, the medical tape also seems excessive."

"Just because I applied magic doesn't mean we should skip out on basic procedure. If there is any inflammation left, this will help ease it. Besides, you won't have to keep it there for long."

"—I guess…"

I'm actually impressed by how cautious Ryoku is taking this situation. Usually, especially for minor wounds, most people would just use magic and skip applying traditional medicine.

I mean, of course, applying medicine after utilizing magic would seem rather counterproductive at first glance, but, hey, true doctors can never be too careful.

"So, tell me, what happened to you?"

"I think I tripped and fell…"

"That badly? Yeah, I don't think so." I interjected.

"Huh?"

"Alice, was Gideon racing with you?"

"—I think so, yeah."

"In that case, it's possible that he pushed you."

"No, that's impossible. When we were racing, I made sure to stay behind him as much as possible."

"Then maybe it wasn't Gideon then, but rather somebody else?"

"—!?"

Yep, I thought so too.

"Gideon does have a couple of goons at his disposal. He could've easily relied on them."

"....A push from behind, huh. Tch, damn it. Something told me not to race with that bastard!"

Alice slammed her fist on the ground.

"That wouldn't change anything. So as long as he has people to command and a target on your back, this accident was basically inevitable."

"Tch, I know but still…."

"Who exactly is this "Gideon" anyways?"

Oh, that's right, Ryoku wouldn't know about him.

"A sadistic tyrant, nothing more, nothing less." I said, basically giving her the long and short of it.

"I see…"

"In any case, I think we should go someplace else. With Gideon and his crew here, it's not safe."

"I agree. I'm feeling better too, so let's get going."

* * * * * * * * * *

"Say, Alice. Where's your partner at?", I asked.

"She left a little while ago to go do something."

"I see. Should we wait for her then?"

"No, it's fine. She's been gone a while so I doubt she's coming back anytime soon."

"Oh. I wonder why she left..."

"Me too. Well, either way, atleast we finished our mandatory excerises first, so it doesn't matter."

During P.E, Cerulean Academy had offered more than the usual activities like stretching or relay races. So in the case that we got bored or tired of one particular activity, there was plenty others to choose from.

For example, they had an obstacle course, pole jumping, three legged races, fastball (or as my parents would like to call it, "dodgeball"), hurdles, gymnastics, javelin throwing, archery, etc etc,...

Now while there were of course some events that were mandatory for us students to do, the rest was there for added entertainment and variety.

For the four of us, we had already finished most of the mandatory exercises of the day and were free to enjoy the rest of the period as we pleased.

Hmm, maybe I should go buy something to eat.

—But just when I starting thinking of food, I heard something quite unexpected.

"Oh my god! Look, it's Fraise!!"

"Really!? Where!?"

In the midst of our aimless wandering, we suddenly heard some excited cheers nearby.

Curious, the four of us had turned our heads towards the commotion.

"What's going on there?"

On a certain plot of land, there were several areas that seemed to have been set up for certain students. It was something like an outdoor dojo.

Students clad in training armor were fencing against the other.

But the one who stood out the most was one boy in particular.

With one graceful movement, he downed his foe and aimed his rapier towards his face, signaling his defeat. The crowd went into an uproar soon after. After the match was decided by the referee, the boy removed his helmet, revealing blond hair that embraced the freedom from its confines.

—Wait, that's…..

Now that victory had been decided, the man named Fraise extended his hand towards his foe.

"Thank you for the match."

"You're welcome. As always, I learned a lot today."

The two fencers bowed to the other out of respect before going their separate ways.

Even in defeat, his opponent was still respectful.

You don't see much of that nowadays.

After their fight, Fraise had walked to a nearby bench underneath some shade to cool off.

However—

"—Fraise! Train with me next, please!"

"No, you should spar with me!!"

But even then, despite being clearly exhausted, it seems like he still couldn't escape the presence of the paparazzi that were his fans surrounding him.

Putting the crowd aside though, I noticed a strange cloud of gloom hanging over Fraise himself.

It was almost as if he was brooding.

"Who is that guy? He seems popular", Ryoku asked.

"—Dazai."

Suddenly, I felt a hand lightly tug on my sleeve.

When I looked to my side, I noticed it was my sister.

"Is that—?"

I sigh a little.

"....Yeah, it's him alright."

If what I am thinking is true, then I can only imagine what Alice must be feeling right now. Seeing Fraise again must have triggered all sorts of memories.

Both good and bad.

"You guys know him?" Ryoku asked.

"He's....an old friend of ours."

A reluctant reply.

"Or atleast, "was" a friend."

"Was?"

"Some things happened and some things changed", I mumbled aloud.

"Oh..."

That was all I dared to say about the matter.

At the same time, Alice also started fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Do you want to go talk to him, Alice?"

"Would that really be okay though? I mean, we haven't seen nor talked to each other in so long…"

"It all depends on how Fraise reacts."

"I see...."

"—Well, I guess I won't know until I try, right?"

"Yeah."

With that said, Alice mustered up enough courage to try and approach Fraise.

"Wait."

Ryoku stopped us.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Alice asked.

"I don't think you should approach him yet."

Curious, me and Alice raised our eyebrows at her.

Huh, I wonder what this is all about.

"Look over there."

"Hmm? —Oh."

As Ryoku said that, she gestured her head towards a certain direction. It was then I immediately understood what Aisha had meant.

There, we noticed a certain woman and her entourage walking closer toward Fraise.

"Esmes…."

"Yeah, and she looks like she's on a mission right now. I wonder what she's doing."

"Whatever it is, it can't be anything good. Let's just stay out of her way until she's gone."

"Yeah…"

Ryoku was right though. Judging from the way she was walking and the look in her eyes, it seemed as if she had a certain objective in mind.

In that case, I should stay out of her way.

On the other hand though, it would be beneficial for me to keep an eye on her every move. In that case, it wouldn't hurt to stick around and observe her actions from a safe distance.

"Move."

With one word, Esmes announced her presence to the crowd ahead. As soon as many caught a glimpse of her figure, a wave of intimidation passed over them, causing them to disperse.

Walking through the open path, Esmes stepped forward until she was a few feet away from Fraise.

It was as if she was boldly approaching a king.

"Are you Fraise Azurenacht?"

"....Who's asking?"

Fraise didn't bother to look up and simply asked.

"Heh, so you're the Undefeated Fencer King, huh."

That caught his attention.

"What is this all about?"

"My name is Esmes Montoya, and on my pride as a Montoya, I have come to challenge you to a duel."

"I see…."

"And what is your answer?"

Fraise sighs before leaning forward again.

"Not right now, I'm afraid."

Esmes raises her eyebrow.

"Then how about later?"

"I will be busy then."

"I do not mind waiting till later today."

"No, perhaps on another occasion."

"And why not?"

"If you haven't noticed, I have been training with my peers all day so I am quite exhausted."

"Oh."

"Indeed."

"Well then, if it's about a simple matter of exhaustion, then I have ways to fix that."

"Huh?"

Esmes suddenly snaps her fingers.

As soon as she did, her entourage, (Pyua was it?), stepped forward.

She then pulled out a flute-like instrument out of the heavy duffel bag that she had been carrying prior before placing the flute to her lips. She then played a certain tune for a brief second, to which the latter sounded like a piece of nature itself.

"—!?"

"My exhaustion… It's gone?"

While Fraise was surprised, a small grin appeared on Esmes's fair lips.

"Do you feel any better now, Mr. Fraise?"

"Tch, now that you have done that, I suppose you leave me no other choice."

Fraise stood up.

"But before we fight, there is something that I must ask you first."

"And that is?"

"Why do you wish to fight me?"

"If I was to tell you "it was for the sake of testing my strength against yours", would that suffice?"

"If that was truly the case then certainly, yes."

"If?"

"I could be wrong, but that look in your eyes tells me there is more to this than just that."

"Heh, then your assumptions would be correct."

"Oh?"

Esmes extended her hand outward, before crushing it into a bold and mighty fist.

"I didn't come here to simply fight. I came here to dominate. To show others that I am truly superior."

"—And what better way to do that than to be the first person to destroy the supposedly undefeated king?"

"So that's why you have come? To "destroy" me?"

"Indeed."

There was absolutely no hesitation in her voice.

"Hmph. Esmes Montoya, was it? You should know that you are not the first to come and take my throne. Many have tried, but all have failed."

As he declared this fact, Fraise dared take one bold step forward, only to look down on his prideful opponent with condescending eyes.

"My name is Fraise Azurenacht."

"And on my title as king—"

"—I will never lose."