Chapter 38

'Alright, focus. This might be dumb and absurd, but you're already in this situation. Like a tumbleweed, I just got to roll with it.'.

Milim actually beat Rimuru…somehow. I'm not going to question it, but this means that she's a very fast learner, and not only that, she also has some experience now. Not a lot, but it's something. Which compared to me is 100% percent more. Maybe she got lucky, but that's not a bad thing. Anyone can get lucky,

/\\//\\//\

'Hey, Great Sage, tell me when the sun is at its peak.'.

[Confirmed. The sun will reach its apex in approximately 1 minute and 23 seconds.]

'Alright, that's enough time to build up some tension.'.

[Notice. It's recommended to start the duel now. The subject Artoria would not be too fond of you taking it further than you already have.]

'I don't think she'll notice. By the way, what are her chances of winning?'.

/\\//\\//\

Me and Milim are set. We were just waiting for Rimuru to say something. I was wondering what he was waiting for. I tried looking around and didn't notice anything. He just needs to say "go", "start", "draw", or anything really. I just want to get this over with and continue on with literally anything else. 

Actually, considering his fanaticism, there is one thing I looked at. The sun. I looked at it and noticed that it was almost high noon. That told me all I needed to know.

'Come on, dude. Don't drag this out longer than it has to.'.

Hold on, this gives me an advantage. I know the signal that he's waiting for. I can do a sort of "pre-emptive strike" on Milim. I assume his Great Sage will help him a lot and to give a perfect reaction down to the last second. I can do that on my own too. Alright, I'll shoot as soon as the sun reaches its apex.

/\\//\\//\

"Hey, Kaijin, did you make that weapon that Lady Pendragon and Demon Lord Milim are using?", Vesta asked Kaijin, who was also specating the duel.

"I made it, but she was the one who gave the designs for it. I wouldn't go too deep into it. She told me herself that they aren't really effective and we shouldn't spend time making them or researching too deeply into it. Maybe if you're not busy doing something else than you can check it out, but I wouldn't recommend it.".

 "Well, if that's what you say then. If she made that, what else has she asked you to make?".

"She asked me to make some stuff for alcohol and of course I accepted. She told me that she would make things different from beer and ale and I helped her.". Kaijin's face suddenly became serious with his eyes narrowed staring at seemingly nothing. 'Vesta, remember this, if she offers you a drink of her 'family' or 'special' brew, don't drink it In fact, don't even ask for it. I thought I could handle my alcohol, but what she made was an entirely different beast. I don't know how to describe how I felt when I drank it, but I was barely able to get a single sip in, while she was able to drink it straight from the jug.".

Vesta looked a bit concerned for Kaijin after hearing his story but changed to another topic while keeping in mind what Kaijin told him.

"Thanks for the insight, Kaijin. Do you think she'll win this duel?".

"HA! You shouldn't even ask that question! Of course, Lady Pendragon will win! You shouldn't question someone of her status! Whatever kind of duel this is, she'll win no matter what! Am I right, men!", Gabiru butted into their conversation before spreading his arms out in a pose in front of his men. 

"You're right, Sir Gabiru!".

"Yeah, you tell 'em, Sir Gabiru".

Vesta and Kaijin just looked at Gabiru and decided to leave him alone while he was getting praised.

/\\//\\//\

Alright, clear your mind. There is a lot on the line here. No matter the result, we will get the attention of many people from different nations, but that's fine, it was gonna happen anyway. After Milim makes a formal alliance with us, it will make us look more like a nation. There's a bit more, but I can think about that later.

I blocked out everything that wasn't important. The only things in my sight and surroundings that I paid attention to were me, Millim, the sun, and Shuna. In my eyes, it was like a blank white void with only those people and things. Milim changed into a regular steel target, I would practice on. Just treat this like any other thing. 

In my own little world, I saw the sun creeping up. The very moment it reached its apex I drew my gun and fired. One shot by pulling the trigger and one more by fanning the hammer. Two shots fired so fast that it would look like I only fired once.

Alright, now to see what happened. 

I got out of my own little zone and looked around me. The first person I looked for was Shuna. She had such a nice and beautiful smile on her face. That's good. A nice thing to see. 

I looked at Rimuru and he had the biggest look of shock on his face. I looked at Milim and she was still standing there. She wasn't even able to draw out her gun. I saw two bullets bounce off the middle of her head and the center of her chest. I looked over at the crowd which was stunned silent. 

I saw Benimaru with eyes wide open. Hakurou had his eyes narrowed as if he were analyzing what he saw. Vesta and Kaijin looked like they were lost. 

Gabiru? Well, he was cheering loudly and his crew were feeding into it. Never change Gabiru. Never change. 

I spun my gun and put it back in my holster.

"So? What are the results, Rimuru?".

"Uh…Y-You won. But…how did you do that?".

"Do what?".

'You were like very fast. Did you cheat or something? Did you use magic?". 

Wow. I'm so good he thought I cheated. That's how I know I did good, but nonetheless, I need to clear any misunderstandings, "Nope. You can use any detection method you want, but you'll see that I didn't use any magic or skills at all. Ask your Great Sage.".

He paused for a moment and even with the confirmation from Great Sage he still had a hard time believing it.

I looked back at Milim. "So, Milim. Are you going to uphold your end of the deal?".

/\\//\\//\

Well, to keep it short she accepted. Even if she kept on bugging me for a rematch. It got to the point where I could barely even be in my home without her just waiting outside until I came out. At least, she was respectful enough to not barge into my home. 

She felt that she had really lost a "fight" like when we fought in Avalon. I convinced her that it was not a fight, but instead a "fun game" and competition. As much as I don't really like saying it like that, it calmed her down. But now she declared a rivalry with me and to appease her I accepted. So now, we would play some little games and competitions every now and then to add to our total record. I'm up 1 to 0 against her for now.

As for her formally allying with our nation…it was very obvious she needed some help on this. She got a piece of paper and just wrote, "Me and my besties nations will be allies!", and just left it at that along with her signature. 

At least I think that's what it said since her handwriting was…different and unique from other people. I'm not being mean, but she could use those guides that schools give to little kids so they can trace letters to improve their handwriting. 

Which is what I did. She would stay here for some time and I'll try to teach her some stuff. She seemed a little reluctant, but I motivated her by offering her some sweets for every milestone I deemed worthy. Which worked a lot better than I thought it would.

This makes me think that raising children isn't as hard as I hear it is. Maybe.

We made a plan for me to go to her nation so me and her could put together a proper document. She said she wanted to do it here, but I explained to her that she can't just make decisions as big as this for her nation without at least informing and presenting to someone of importance in her nation. 

That should be Middray I think. The head priest of the Dragon Faithful. Maybe not the best guy for that kind of job, but he has his own qualities. What matters is that he worships Milim very fervently. He'll follow whatever declarations Milim makes. Except maybe about the part about serving food raw and uncooked. 

The town went back to business as usual. Vesta and the dragonewts went back to the cave. The orcs went back to building stuff, but they were a little more relaxed. The rush at the beginning to build a lot of things wasn't necessary anymore. 

The cathedral was about close to being finished. Any day and it would be done. My bar, which I see as more of an entertainment place has started construction. A bit late, but it's not a necessary thing. I don't really mind it. 

Another thing that I made sure to do was to announce and put on paper strict regulations and rules about dueling. After this whole thing happened, I know people will want to do something similar, but I don't want spontaneous fights to happen in the middle of the streets. If there has to be a duel, just keep it to magic, skills, and cold weapons. Not guns. Those are only for the shooting range.

There's a bit of detail, but it basically says that only "qualified people" such as me and anyone else I deem "qualified" have the ability to sanction duels and if they do they must oversee the duel and make sure whatever is put on the line is paid. There's a bit to interpret, but that's the job of the person who oversees the duel.

Rimuru was included in this as well. I'm not gonna lie, I was thinking of not including him, but I gave him another chance. He recognized why dueling like he did was not the best.

With all that dealt with, now I can properly examine Excalibur. I was in my house sitting at a table. Now that it has reached mythological grade, it has undergone a "small" change. The first thing I noticed was that as soon as I sheathed it in Avalon, there was a sort of resonance between them. They're probably "talking" to each other or something. 

Another thing was its appearance. I really don't know how to describe it. I'm literally speechless at it's…I don't know. There's a different allure to the sword that can't be compared to when it was a legend-grade sword. The fairy inscriptions on it seemed to have a different life to them. I wonder how Ramiris would react to this. Hell, how would she react to me? 

All this is interesting, but I want to know the subskills of Excalibur. I don't have a status screen, but I have another idea. 

I grabbed Excalibur and said, "Excalibur, what are the subskills for your Ultimate Skill?". Mythological or god-grade weapons should have a sort of mind of their own. An "ego" or something similar. 

I felt a sort of connection to Excalibur. There were no words or anything, but I could feel its "intent" towards me and what it wanted to communicate to me. I understood everything it was telling me.

"Glory and Dreams of Humanity.".

"Knighting Ceremony.".

"Amplification.".

"Last Phantasm".

Those were the skill names I got from Excalibur. I can guess the first one. I can use and control the concept of the "Glory and dreams of humanity". If that doesn't make me qualified to be a hero then I don't know what is. 

The second one, "Knighting Ceremony", is different for sure, but this has to be more cheating than everything else. I can make someone a knight and they will get bestowed a title, but not only that, they will get a Unique Skill as well, but it not only has to be someone that I recognize and deem worthy, but also someone Excalibur recognizes. Both of us have to come to a consensus about who we are knighting. Only then will the skill take effect. 

Makes sense. I can't just go around making absolutely everyone a knight or something. There are a few candidates in my mind, but Excalibur also has to agree. I have in mind Benimaru, Hakurou, Geld, and Shion. Those are the ones that come to mind right now, but I'll have to ask the opinion of Excalibur later. 

The third skill, "Amplification", this skill is…wow. This seems a little redundant to be honest, since I have Torrent of Light, but I'm not going to complain. I can amplify my magic with this ability to a degree of…a lot. Maybe I can amplify other things as well besides just magic. 

The fourth skill, "Last Phantasm". I think this is the part that makes Excliabur stronger when facing opponents that threaten the world or at least that should be part of it. I'm not too sure, but if it is, Milim definitely fits in that category. 

"I know it's Excalibur, but wow.", I couldn't help but say aloud after processing the information presented to me. Those are only the subskills too. What other abilities and skills does it grant me?

Don't worry, Rhongomyniad. You're the next one and won't be left out. I almost can't wait for it. Just gotta have patience. There's no need for me to get it right now. Focus on understanding Excalibur first and then I can move on to Rhongyminiad. 

Is it bad that I kinda want to fight Milim again to test out these skills?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

(A/N)

Orange juice or apple juice?