Cereille Fights
âWell then, Iâm going to save Keith with Hugging Bear. Hugging Bear, letâs go!â (Yuna)
`Ku~u ~nâ
Yuna said that, and before I could stop her, she had already climbed onto her white bear, which was named Hugging Bear, and jumped off the cliff.
!!
This place was quite high.
âYuna!â (Cereille)
I shouted.
But when Hugging Bear with Yuna riding on it landed on the ground, they sped directly toward where Keith was. Which also means running into the monster horde.
âThat girl is stupid, sheâs heading for her death. but I canât let her go off like that. If you want to blame someone, blame her.â (Man)
When the man said that, the magic stone embedded in his body under his clothes glowed.
âWhat did you do!â (Cereille)
âI have just lifted the order. Now the monsters will start attacking her and your brother. Both the girl and your brother will be killed horribly by the monsters.â (Man)
I returned my gaze to Yuna. All the monsters started moving at once and began to attack Yuna simultaneously. There were monsters around Keith. But Yuna proceeded to defeat the monsters with her magic, blew away the monsters that were near Keith, and rushed to him. Then, as she held Keith in her arms, Yuna shouted.
âKeith is alive! So donât worry about him!â (Yuna)
Thank God. Keith is alive.
âOh, amazing. It seems that she wasnât all talk. I thought she was just pulling my leg when she said that she defeated the monsters gathered at the royal capital. But still, sheâs surrounded by more than a thousand monsters and plus, there are wyverns in the sky above her. No matter how strong she is, it will be difficult for her to fight while protecting your brother.â (Man)
Heâs right.
No matter how strong you are, fighting while protecting the helpless is difficult. They cannot move freely and must be secured at all times.
Even if they try to escape, they are surrounded by monsters, and there is no way out. Yuna, Keith, and Hugging Bear are all in danger.
While I was contemplating that, Yuna did something, and a large object appeared in front of my eyes.
âA bear?â (Cereille)
Itâs in the shape of a large bear. It has a bear face and a bear body, and itâs a cute bear. It was an out-of-place object in the middle of the monster horde.
In the shape of such an adorable bear, Yuna entered with Keith in her arms.
My thoughts stop for a moment. I am surprised that the man seems to be the same as me.
Soon after, Yuna came out of the bear.
âCereille! Keith will be safe in this house, so donât worry about him.â (Yuna)
âPfft~, fufufu.â
No good. I canât hold back my laugh.
Yunaâs behavior was so unexpected that I canât stop laughing. Just when I thought she started wearing a bear outfit, she had a magic stone that attracts monsters that the man has hidden in the city, then Swaying Bear appeared that I thought we left behind, and after she rescued Keith, a strange-shaped bear house appeared. Inside that bear, she said Keith will be safe.
âStop messing with me! Whatâs with that girl? First, a silly-looking outfit, then a silly-looking building!â (Man)
As I was trying to hold in my laughter, the man became angry, shouted, and put his hand on the magic stone in his chest. Then the magic stone in his chest glowed, and the man looked as if he was in pain.
âIâll kill her! Iâll kill that weird-looking girl!â (Man)
Looking towards Yuna, the monsters had gathered even further towards Yuna and her bear.
No matter how strong Yuna was, it was still dangerous.
I shot wind magic at the man. The man blocked it with wind magic.
âI will take you down.â (Cereille)
`Ku~u ~nâ
Swaying Bear, whoâs by my side, cried along with my words.
Itâs a really smart bear.
I took out my sword from my item bag. I have been working hard for this day, ever since my mother was killed. And Yuna gave me that chance.
Thanks to Yuna, the city would no longer be attacked by monsters.
Thanks to Yuna, Keith was able to stay in a safe place.
If I could defeat this man, the monsters attacking Yuna may stop attacking as well.
âWhy does everyone always get in my way?! Why wonât anyone listen to me?!â (Man)
The manâs face contorted. The face that had been smiling just a moment ago morphed into wrath.
Fufu, just seeing this facial expression change in him makes me happy.
âItâs so simple. Itâs because youâre not attractive.â (Cereille)
âIf you want to go to the same place as your mother so badly, Iâll send you to her!â (Man)
Flames gathered in the manâs hand. I ran to the side.
âSwaying Bear, run!â (Cereille)
`Ku~u ~nâ
Swaying Bear and I evaded the flames.
I also gathered magic power, created flames, and shot them at the man, but he easily deflected them.
âDo you think you can beat me with just that!â (Man)
âI will defeat you. That is the reason I have studied swords and magic until today!â (Cereille)
âA little girl like you who has never even been in a real battle? Donât make me laugh.â (Man)
Heâs right, I have no real combat experience. But I have practiced so hard that my blood was boiling. Above all, I cannot waste the chance that Yuna had created for me.
The battle between me and the man begins.
My fight against the man was intense. However, his mobility was slower than I had expected. This may also be due to the fact that the man ordered the monsters to kill Yuna, further draining his magical power.
The man was breathing heavily.
âIf I was in good shape, youâd be toasted by now.â (Man)
âIs that your excuse for losing?â (Cereille)
But I shouldnât tone down my pace. I should keep my distance and keep shooting magic.
However, I could tell that the man didnât like close combat. Since a while ago, whenever I try to close the distance, he casts magic as if to interrupt me.
The man was a pure mage. He probably canât use a sword. In close quarters, I would have an advantage because I can use a sword. If possible, I would like to bring him into close combat.
A magical shootout is a war of attrition and takes time. If it becomes an endurance battle, that means more exposure to danger for Yuna.
I look for the right moment to approach the man while blocking his magic.
âAre you sure you can cast that much magic in a row?â (Cereille)
I talked to him to get his attention.
âDonât worry about me. All of those monsters are no longer under my control. They just follow their instincts and attack whoever is nearby. They donât need my orders. Once I kill the little girl and capture you, I can gather monsters as often as possible. It was painful, however, when that little girl broke my magic stone.â (Man)
The magic stone that Yuna had was quite large. It was not an easy thing to get. So there were some things I wanted to say. If I donât defeat this man here, the same thing will happen again.
âBut I can still call some monsters.â (Man)
The man laughed, then a few wolves appeared behind us. Swaying Bear squealed, and at that moment, Swaying Bear knocked them down.
âThank you, Swaying Bear.â (Cereille)
Itâs a fantastic bear.
The wolf that the man had prepared in advance was easily defeated, then the man became frustrated.
âFirst, the girl dressed up as a bear. And now that bear. Iâm starting to want to kill all the bears.â (Man)
âWhat are you talking about? Bears are very cute, arenât they? If you canât understand that, you are the worst match for me. I donât like people who try to kill bears.â (Cereille)
`Ku~u ~nâ
Swaying Bear squealed happily at my words.
âThen youâre going to watch that bear get killed by a wyvern.â (Man)
I looked at the sky in a panic. But there was no wyvern in the sky.
Where was it?!
My tension was high, but it didnât appear from anywhere.
âWhereâs the wyvern? Quickly, get over here.â (Man)
The man shouted.
`Ku~u ~nâ
Swaying Bear squealed as it looked in the direction where Yuna was fighting, and I, caught in the moment, turned my gaze in Yunaâs direction.
There, I saw the wyvernsâ lifeless bodies.
âIf youâre looking for the Wyverns, it looks like Yuna has already defeated them.â (Cereille)
I canât help but laugh now.
Yuna, just how strong are you?
âWhat is that! That little girl!?â (Man)
âI told you she is my friend.â (Cereille)
âI intend to kidnap you, so Iâve done my research on you. If you had a close friend like that, there is no way I would not have known about it.â (Man)
âThatâs not surprising because I only met Yuna a few days ago after all.â (Cereille)
That reminds me, Yuna and I had a problematic relationship.
At first, I was only aware of Yuna as a student who came as Noireâs escort. Then we had a match, and she instantly became my object of admiration and jealousy. I even let her stay at my house, but only as a friend of Noire.
At that point, we shouldnât be friends.
But Yuna was worried about me and came after me. And I was happy that she said I was her friend, even though I was jealous of her.
Yuna saved Keith and fought the monsters for me.
If you donât call such a person your friend, then who would you call your friend?!
If Yuna were in trouble, I would do my best to help her.
âYou mean to tell me that a friend you just made would go so far!â (Man)
âSheâs the best friend Iâve ever had!â (Cereille)
I will defeat the man and go back with Yuna.
I ran towards the man. The man cast fire magic. I try to get close to the man while avoiding his attack.
As if to back me up, Swaying Bear was also running towards the man.
âI wonât let the bear get in my way!â (Man)
The man shot fire magic at Swaying Bear.
âWatch out!â (Cereille)
`Ku~u ~nâ
When Swaying Bear swung down his right forefoot, the fire magic disappeared.
âI wonât lose to a bear!â (Man)
The man was about to cast more magic on Swaying Bear. Swaying Bear is in danger!
I stepped forward, closed the distance between the man and me at once, and thrust out my sword. It was probably the fastest thrust I had ever made.
My sword pierced the manâs right shoulder and pushed him away. The knock canceled the manâs magic.
âHa~a, ha~a, I won.â (Cereille)
âNo, there are no winners.â
The man touched the magic stone embedded in his body with his left hand.
âWhat are you going to do?â (Cereille)
âTogether, we will go to your mother.â (Man)
The man laughs while looking pained.
As I was about to ask him a question, the ground shook.
=====
Authorâs Note:
It looks like it will be settled next time.