Duel

After breakfast, Ari and Earl entered their white carriage and went to the agreed upon location of the duel. For people of their caliber at the Grand rank and beyond, it was not logical to carry it out within the city.

The carriage arrived at the sandy beaches. Earl peeked his head out of the carriage and could see a figure clad in red had already arrived. The salty scent of the ocean filled his hose.

On top of the white sand, Sheryl's small figure stood. Her cherry pink hair moved with the wind, exposing her nape. Her pink ears would move occasionally. Her delicate face was expressionless. A beautiful, well-crafted red kimono covered her modest body. Her pink fox tail was waving in sync with her ears.

When the white carriage arrived by her side, her expressionless face crumbled, showing her honest face. Her eyes shifted side to side awkwardly as she anticipated for the opening of the carriage door.

Clank!

The door opened and Earl hopped out. He was wearing a white yukata with black patterns. Following him, Ari stepped out with one leg. Her smooth, pale thighs peeked out from under her blank yukata and was quickly covered up when she fully exited.

As usual, she wore her black yukata loosely, letting her breasts hang loose. The only support it had was the tightly tied yukata belt.

"Good morning, Sheryl!" The mother and son pair greeted her normally, as if last night never happened.

"G-good morning." Sheryl returned the greeting quietly.

"Did you sleep well last night? Do you want a kiss?" Ari teased.

"N-no..." Sheryl blushed and looked away.

"What about me, Sheryl? Can I get a kiss too?" Earl asked with a grin.

To Earl, Sheryl said sternly. "Not. You."

Her red eyes directly met with Earl's purple eyes. Earl felt strangely turned on under her stern gaze. "Hehe."

Without knowing it, Sheryl placed her hand over Earl's head unknowingly.

Now that the mother and son pair had arrived, it did not take long for Tadashi to appear.

Wee!

They heard the sound of air cracking in the distance. A black dot appeared in the sky and crashed down into the sand like a meteor, forming a crater.

All the sand flew everywhere. Ari waved her hand and a barrier appeared in front of them, blocking all the sand before any could land on them.

"Not very tasteful." She commented.

From where the "meteor" landed, Tadashi stood up. He was the "meteor" that came crashing down. He wore a grey kimono and had a pretty face with brown hair and tiger ears. He was the head of the Giant Tiger Clan, Tadashi Lotora.

In one arm, he carried a sack.

"Apologies for my lateness, I was retrieving your end of the deal." Tadashi said as he placed the sack on the ground. When it landed on the ground with a sound, it squirmed.

"Per our agreement, Sheryl will be our judge and witness. If I win, you have to spend some time with me. If you win, I have to give you a reward of equivalent value."

"Correct." Ari nodded as she stepped. "So what is this 'reward' you have procured for me?"

"I'm glad you asked." Tadashi lifted the bag up, letting the content inside roll out.

What came out of the bag was a little girl with lightly tanned skin. Her hair was silver white, like the moon. Her face was small and cute with a pair of bright yellow eyes. When exposed to the sudden sunlight, they darted around in panic. A thin, black fabric was wrapped around her small neck, indicating her status as a slave. Despite wearing rags, her smooth and tight body could not be concealed. And the most particular feature of all, her long, elven ears.

"A dark elf." Ari commented as her purple eyes ran itself over the little girl. "Quite rare indeed, but what's special about her?"

"She's the princess of a tribe we've recently killed off. She has great potential for Dark Elven magic and she also has great looks. She could be your maid or experimental subject with her resilient body. Whichever one you prefer. "

"Quite valuable indeed. Very well, I'll take her."

"Don't speak so soon. I might win, you know?"

At Tadashi's words, Ari laughed softly, hiding her smile behind her sleeves. "Fufu, you are quite funny, Tadashi."

Ari's mocking words reached Tadashi but he could do nothing about. He gripped his fists tightly. Why? Why won't she accept him? He was a Grand Adept! A Council member of the Beast Kingdom! One of the bigshots of this continent! Why won't she acknowledge him as a man...?

He swallowed his discontent and smiled weakly to Sheryl. "Could you take care of her?" He pointed to the beautiful dark elf slave.

"Of course." Sheryl nodded. Her eyebrows furrowed together when she saw the slave collar. As a righteous person, she did not like the concept of slavery, but there was nothing she could do about it. She squatted down to the girl and asked, "Can you stand up?"

"Mhm." The girl nodded and stood up.

Sheryl let out a sigh of relief at this. At least she didn't appear to have been treated too badly. While standing up, the girl reached Sheryl's shoulder height whereas Earl only reached up to her breasts. She held the litle girl's hand and brought her over to the carriage.

When they arrived, Earl circled around the girl as if he was inspecting an object. His eyes scanned every detail of her pretty face and down to her exposed body that was covered in rags.

Bonk!

Sheryl chopped Earl on the head. "What are you doing?"

"I'm inspecting what's mine!" Earl told her.

"..." Sheryl was speechless. "How do you know that she's going to be yours?"

"Why wouldn't she? I'm sure mom is just going to give her to me." Earl replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're that confident in her winning?"

"Hehe." Earl laughed. "You're pretty funny too, Sheryl. This isn't a fight."

"What is it then?" Sheryl furrowed her eyebrows. Even though she was not close to Tadashi, she could not help but be dissatisfied seeing a Council member of her Kingdom disrespected like this.

Earl responded by giving her a smile.