102　Kongou Match 2

　The final match of the Kongou tournament to decide the Title challenger.()

　Eko Leafret versus Rokunchea.

　A fight between a beastman and a human, a rare occurrence in the Kongou matches.

　And the two contestants made quite the contrast.

　On one side was a small beast girl with a huge shield, as tall as her body.

　And on the other side, a human man, with a buckler shield as small as to only cover his arm.

　It was a wonder who would be victorious in this match that was about to begin.

"Your previous match was quite marvelous. I learned a lot from it."

"Un, I practiced a ton."

"Fufufu, is that so? I have practiced quite a lot, too."

"Then, we're the same!"

"Yeah, we are."

　A peaceful atmosphere, one that seemed out of place in a title match. And only possible due to the innate friendliness of Eko, and the good character of the man named Rokunchea.

"You look like you have fun fighting. I was having fun watching you."

"I'm very happy, now. It's fun."

"Yeah, I will also try to have fun during this match."

"Regards!"

"Yes, likewise, my best regards."

　Eko was very happy now. Something unthinkable in the older days.

　This was the main reason she never tried asking for anything more.

　If, like right now, there was something fun right in front of her, she was the happiest she could be.

"――Begin!"

　Thus, the signal came.

　At that moment, the pair's faces changed expressions. To one of a hunter gazing at its prey.

　Rokunchea activated "Rook Shield Arts" at the start, rushing forward. And in doing so, closing the gap between him and Eko.

　While seeing this... Eko prepared "Soldier Shield Arts".

"!"

　Why chose Soldier?

　As he rushed forth, Rokunchea pondered.

　If they continue as they are, his "Rook Shield Arts" will hit against Eko's "Soldier Shield Arts" and crush it due to the difference in power. Furthermore, he should be able to deal considerable damage to her.

"...No."

　This is a trap.

　I can deal damage to her, but I don't know if it will be enough to get a proper down. Furthermore, I'm afraid of what she might do as a counter.

　She prepared herself to get hurt in order to hit her opponent even harder. This was his final conjecture.

"Owwー..."

　Eko leaked a voice of disappointment after seeing Rokunchea's behavior, who had stopped his rush just short of her, not totally closing their gap. And that prediction was simply brilliant.

　Surprise tactic number two――"Pac-Man".

　It ended as a miss.

　The previous "Soldier Shield Arts" was like a delicious and poisonous candy. One so tasty that everyone would want to eat it right away. This was supposed to make the other party see this as a "chance" and keep the "Rook Shield Arts" going. If she were to prepare "Dragon King Shield Arts" at the moment she was blown back, she could've activated it just before the opponent could make a follow-up attack, and since their distance would be quite short, the opponent wouldn't be able to avoid it. It was supposed to be a game-winning strat, using Dragon King, making the opponent take the brunt of the strongest [Shield Arts] skill.

"Wow, how scary. That's something quite mimic-like."

　Rokunchea said so happily while walking around with light steps. All in all, that was a very accurate description.

　Like those landmine-like treasure chests that if you charge blindly at it, it's over. Step on it and it's over. Open it and it's over too.

"Well then, now it's my turn."

　As if to show respect to Eko's strategy, Rokunchea held his small shield and began to move.

　His strengths were his lightness and quickness. His fighting style revolved around playing with his opponent using his speed since with a shield as small as his, he couldn't expect to have high defensive power. It was a very rare way of fighting in the Shield Arts, which was rarely seen in the Kongou matches.

"HAAA!"

"Ugh!"

　He quickly moved around Eko, trying to find an opening and then attack using "Rook Shield Arts".

　When Eko defended using "Bishop Shield Arts", he lightly stepped back and continued to move around.

　And then, when he found another opening, he used Rook. Eko tried to aim for a knockback using "Knight Shield Arts" this time, but Rokunchea saw this with plenty of time, canceled the Rook, and took distance again. Circling as if to playing with her.

"...Uhhー..."

"How is it? Aren't you getting tired?"

　Because of its lightness, Rokunchea was not very tired no matter how much he moved around with his shield.

　On the other hand, this was both physically and mentally harsh for Eko, and she had to deal with attacks which its direction was hard to predict all the while holding such a large shield.

　The more this situation continues, the lesser the chances of winning I will have.

　...She thought. In that case.

　I have no choice but to use it.

　Surprise tactic number three――"Crab Silvers".

"Hyaaaa."

　Eko rushed towards Rokunchea, without using any [Shield Arts] skill.

　In order to find a way to overcome this situation, this was the first step.

"I see, that's a good move!"

　Rokunchea accepted the challenge. He tended to enjoy the games more than he needed to.

　Preparing "Rook Shield Arts", he rushed ahead, towards the unprotected Eko.

"Now!"

　Eko prepared "Silver Shield Arts" with exquisite timing.

"Whoaa!?"

　With an all-too-nimble turn and an immediate decision, Rokunchea canceled the Rook and moved aside.

　"Silver Shield Arts" was a skill that defended a bit stronger than the others. However, although it was not something that could fully guard against a Rook rush, it wasn't something that could be crushed by it. In other words, a moderate amount of damage would pass through. Therefore, even if they collided, he would've come on top.

　However, it was a different story when it came to Parry by Silver. The Counterattack effect was added and the side attacking with Rook would take extraordinary damage.

　Silver Parry was a very difficult technique. And even more difficult to accomplish was parrying with a Silver done in a hurry.

　And yet, there was a possibility of it happening. Especially when it came to Eko. And due to the uncommon strategies so far, he was quite cautious of something extraordinary that Eko might pull off.

"Here I come!"

　Rokunchea's body was twisted and in a tight position due to the previous evasion. And Eko, sensing this immediately, prepared "Rook Shield Arts" without missing a beat. She switched from defending to attacking.

"Tch!"

　Rokunchea prepared "Silver Shield Arts" and took Eko's "Rook Shield Arts" without aiming for a parry.

　Eko's rush couldn't break Rokunchea's defense, but some damage from Rook certainly went through.

"My turn!"

　Next, without a second to lose, Rokunchea prepared "Rook Shield Arts" once more.

　Not preparing a skill, Eko simply stood there holding her large shield.

　Then, immediately before Rokunchea's Rush hit Eko, she got "Silver Shield Arts" ready again.

"...Not good."

　Rokunchea gave up trying to connect the attack. He was afraid of a Parry. So, he canceled the "Rook Shield Arts" skill and took a few steps back.

　In the meantime, Eko prepared "Rook Shield Arts" again.

　This time, Rokunchea received it with "Bishop Shield Arts". It was a skill that reinforced defense. So, the damage that went through was just in the single digits.

"I see...I get it."

　At this point, while preparing "Rook Shield Arts" as a counterattack, Rokunchea noticed something. That was Eko's strategy.

　Eko is focused on alternating between attacking and defending against me. Rush with Rook, then receive a Rook, rush, then receive, over and over...He thought.

　And considering the series of repetitions thus far, he thought that this was an advantage for her because she had the absolute confidence of successfully parrying with Silver.

　Crab Silvers――A 'bulldozing' by parry technique. A difficult strategy that couldn't be accomplished unless you had the certainty of parrying 100 out of 100 attacks using "Silver Shield Arts".

　However, Eko was quite adept at parrying. This because of the sharp senses particular to the beastmen people, and especially the cat beastmen, who had an improved hearing and sense of balance, making them very proficient at making full use of their five senses to get the perfect timing.

　And certainly, Rokunchea was afraid. He couldn't afford to have his Rook parried by Silver, so he canceled his attack in the middle of his rush again.

　On the other hand, he wasn't very confident in his skill to parry a Rook coming from Eko using Silver himself. The probability of success was about one in three.

　And even if Eko's chance of successfully parry with Silver was not 100% but something like 50%, it would still be Rokunchea the one to collapse first.

"..."

　I need to think of a way to break through this. Rokunchea thought as he prepared "Rook Shield Arts".

　If he rushed with Rook as it was, Eko would aim for a parry again using Silver. However, if he canceled Rook, Eko would start preparing a Rook of her own at that very second and would not receive an attack from Rokunchea. Still, there was no problem if he had the chance to defend using "Bishop Shield Arts" since so little damage went through, but, if so, he couldn't get out of this stalemate.

　With this being the case, it would be better to switch back to the knockback of "Knight Shield Arts" or "Gold Shield Arts"...as his mind was busy in those thoughts, Rokunchea completed the preparation of Rook and activated it.

"Uh!?　Soldier this time!?"

　He was surprised at the sudden change.

　The skill with which Eko responded had changed from Silver to Soldier.

　The mimic thing again. I can't fall for it. He thought.

　From Crab Silvers to PacMan. It was a surprise strategy that had the freedom to change, thus becoming unpredictable.

　Either way, Rokunchea intended to cancel Rook. However, he couldn't hide that sudden moment of agitation. Different from a few minutes before, this was his turn to be at her mercy.

　Immediately after canceling Rook, Eko gave chase using her Rook attack.

　Being a bit shaken, Rokunchea began to prepare "Gold Shield Arts" in response.

"Finally!"

　Eko opened her mouth alongside a smile and immediately canceled the Rook. Then, she began to prepare "Dragon King Shield Arts".

"――!!"

　This is bad. Rokunchea was convinced of this.

　Gold was a range-guided defense skill. If nothing was done, the Dragon King will be naturally lured in. Then, it will be self-destruction. Dragon King had the power to crush him without regard for the knockback effect.

　However, now that he had canceled Gold, neither Bishop, which could somehow withstand a Dragon King skill, nor Rook, which could crush the Dragon King before it could activate, could be prepared in time. He was now paying the price for the agitation from moments ago.

　...Should I do 'that', or not?

　Rokunchea hesitated.

　A secret strategy he planned to use in order to defeat the current Kongou, Gauloise.

"...I'll do it."

　Most likely she's a more formidable opponent than Gauloise Kongou.

　With those thoughts in mind, Rokunchea decided to bring out his secret plan here――

　　＊　＊　＊

"Ahh. So, that guy knew about that..."

　I muttered unintentionally.

　Eko was in a great spot, pushing forward using PacMan and Crab Silvers.

　Eko was caught off guard. It seems that she completely forgot about "that" thing I told her to be careful about. Or should I say that she's way too excited about Crab Silvers? Seems like she has completely left that out of her mind.

　Well, she might as well forget about it. After all, thinking about it with common sense, it's almost impossible.

　The man named Rokunchea saw Eko's "Dragon King Shield Arts" and canceled the "Gold Shield Arts" skill he prepared... Then, he approached Eko, close enough to almost touch her.

"!?"

　The audience buzzed. This at the mysterious behavior of Rokunchea.

　Then, just as I expected, he――activated "Knight Shield Arts".

"Unya!?"

　――The next moment, Eko was knocked back.

　If you use Knight or Gold while your shield is touching your opponent, that action of simply touching your opponent will be judged as an attack, and the knockback effect will be activated.

　Considering the current low standards of the title matches, to be able to research this and arrive at that conclusion. He's indeed a head above the rest.

　The fact that he used this at the last possible moment is probably because he wanted to keep this a secret for some strategy.

　However, I was the only other person to know this, in this place.

　But this now has been revealed to everyone else present. And the current Kongou will most likely take measures against this in this short time left.

　Still, this was the correct course of action here. Otherwise...He wouldn't've been able to defeat Eko.

"――Match over! Winner, Rokunchea!"

　A merciless pursuit ensued after Eko was hit and downed before she could activate Dragon King. And being helplessly beaten, Eko was finally stunned.

"...It was a good match, right?"

　Silvia muttered with conflicted emotions amid the thunderous applause.

"It was a pretty advanced match. If it wasn't for that last mistake, Eko would've won."

"Umu. Vexing...indeed."

　I too felt a bit of frustration as I watched Rokunchea receive that roaring ovation.

　Still, he did earn that generous praise. It was a great match.

"......"

　As I glanced next to me, I saw Eko's father, Sho, silently staring at his daughter lying down at the center of the arena.

"...Let's go. You're coming too, right?"

　I called out. To go to pick up Eko.

　Sho-san nodded silently and stood up on his own.

　We then walked straight to the contestants' waiting room. We no longer had to sandwich him between me and Silvia.

"――Eko!"

　Sho-san was the first to enter the waiting room.

"Ah...Dad."

　Eko had already recovered from the stun and was lying in bed, tucked in.

"Are you alright? Do you have any wounds? Here, drink this."

　Sho-san approached Eko, taking out a not-so-cheap potion from his inventory, and calling out to her in worry.

"It's alright. I can do it myself."

　Refusing the potion, Eko healed herself using the [Healing Magic]"Recovery・Medium".

　You don't have to worry, I'm alright, she said.

　She desperately tried to appear so, displaying her energetic nature.

"I see...I see now."

　Muttering a few words, he was both surprised and relieved.

　Sho-san simply looked at the current state of his daughter, with rounded eyes that seemed a tad bit lonely.

"Second...You saw?"

"I saw."

"I lost."

"You did lose."

"Un..."

"Are you frustrated?"

"...Un."

"Did you have fun?"

"...Un...un...!"

　Eko tried her hardest to laugh, but as she did so, large tears spilled from her eyes.

Saying "Come," I received her in my chest, hugged her, and stroke her little head.

　She got so fired up and zealous in her match that she cried tears from vexation.

　Seeing her like this, I couldn't help but feel my eyes also getting a bit hot.

"Want to come to my house?"

　Evening. After the Kongou matches were over, I invited Sho-san to my house.

　The result of the final match was the victory of Rokunchea after a hard-fought battle. And that was the birth of the new Kongou, Rokunchea.

　Apparently, he's the first human to have ever won the Kongou title in the history of the title matches. It's a pity that he isn't receiving so much attention because I just won the first double crown in history. And I feel like apologizing to him, since I'll be winning a triple crown in a bit, he will be even less noticeable...

"I'm sorry, but I'll be joining Capito now――"

"――Huh? Sho-sensei? Are you back from the Magic Academy already?"

　As I was having a conversation at the back entrance of the arena, a voice called out from behind. It belonged to a young man.

"Did he say sensei?"

"Ahh, yeah, I'm a teacher at the school back in our village."

　I see, so 'that" kind of sensei. Still, how can he be a teacher with such a lack of common sense...?

"Ahh, Capito, great timing. This here is my daughter Eko, and this one――"

"...EHH!?"

　A strange sound leaked from the dog-eared beastman named Capito, and he froze the moment his eyes met mine.

"Co-co-co-co-could i-it b-b-be, Se-Se-Second Nikan (double crown)..."

"Ohh, so you know of this man already. Then things are easier to explain. This man is taking care of my daughter right now."

"It's not 'this man', sensei!! Don't you know who he is!? One moment, did you say daughter? So, the one who gave Rokunchea Kongou so much trouble was Eko-san!? Whoaa!! Now that I see, isn't that Silvia, the challenger for the Kisenshou title!?"

"Even if you say that..."

"AAAAARGGH! Seriously! This is why I hate country bumpkins!"

"What? Hey, Capito, are you making fun of your village?"

"Shut up! Sensei, please just keep your mouth shut! It's Second Nikan! country bumpkins like us should just stay silent, we're being rude to him...!!"

　Capito bowed his head with a pretty pale face.

"I knew it, now THIS is the correct reaction."

　Silvia muttered something by my side.

　I didn't really hear her, but whatever. It's getting late already.

"Capito, was it? Are you coming too?"

"...Eh? Go where...?"

"To my house."