In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 12 Page 17

  “[Slip].”

  “Eeek!” She fell flat on her back, so I walked over and tapped her on the head with the stick again.

  “I-I just fell over! That doesn’t count as a loss!”

  “Sorry, little lady... But you fell because of one of my spells. It made you slip over. This spell of mine is actually amongst the top tier of spells in the world, depending on how it’s used, of course.” Amazing spells didn’t necessarily have to be destructively powerful ones. I’d been told that recently by Leen of all people.

  “Nngh!” She clambered to her feet and attempted to hit me from the sides. She was definitely precise with her aim. The way she moved from left to right, attempting to land a feint attack... She was absolutely a prodigy. The fact that she was ten felt almost unreal.

  But I dodged those attacks with ease and landed a few heavier blows on her body. I hadn’t been training with a literal combat god almost every day with nothing to show for it, I could read all of her movements.

  I kind of wondered if this was how Moroha felt when other people fought her.

  “Entwine thus, Earth! Cursed Soil: [Earthbind]!”

  “Hoh?” The ground suddenly rose up and wrapped itself around my ankles. It looked like she’d been concentrating her magic without me noticing.

  “Come forth, Lightning! Pure Sparking Javelin: [Thunder Spear]!”

  Ha! She’s doing what I told her to. Guess she’s good at listening, at least... But it’s still not enough, kid!

  “Gather forth, Water! Swirling Shield: [Aqua Shell]!”

  The bolt of lightning was dispersed by a wall of water and rendered inert.

  “Hiyaaah!” The moment my [Aqua Shell] dissipated, she thrust her weapon toward me. She got pretty close.

  But it was still no cigar. I smacked her hand away.

  “Owie!”

  “Listen. You. Dummy. Don’t charge in recklessly. Use your head.”

  “Shut up! You’ve barely hit me at all! Attack me, please! You’re just running, you idiot!” Her attitude had shifted, she was being a little more honest now, I thought. She wasn’t going to stop until I actually tried.

  Well kid, if you really want me to... Fine.

  “Spark forth, Ice! Frozen, Jolting Maelstrom: [Vortex Mist]!”

  “Gaaah!” Rachael was struck by a flash of lightning. Her body was wracked with numbness, and she fell to the ground. I held back and reduced the power of the spell, so it shouldn’t have hurt her that much... Probably.

  “Wh-What spell was that?!”

  “A combined one. I used Water and Wind magic to create a fog that zaps my enemies.”

  “What?! No fair! I’ve never heard of that!”

  Fair or not, it is how it is. Don’t complain, you asked for this! Guess I’ll dial back the fancy stuff, though.

  “Shape forth, Earth! Pebble From the Ground: [Stone Bullet]!”

  “Hngh!” Rachael quickly contorted her body to avoid the rock I blasted her way. It was a basic Earth spell. She turned to face me, and I launched another shot her way.

  “Better watch it.”

  “Agh!”

  “And another.”

  “Eek!”

  “And another one.”

  “S-Stop! How come you keep shooting them?! Y-You aren’t even doing the chants! Stop ittt!” Chants ultimately served as guidelines to help connect the necessary mental link to the right spell. If you were experienced enough, you could skip that part entirely. You couldn’t use that to cast two different spells at once though, they’d cancel each other out.

  Rachael clambered up and started writhing around, desperately trying to avoid the rocks I was shooting at her. Pfft... This is pretty fun, actually.

  “[Slip].”

  “O-Ouch!” A little stone smacked her square in the forehead as she fell over and landed on her butt. It wasn’t launched especially hard, but that definitely had to hurt. Tears started welling up in her eyes.

  “Had enough yet? I think we should put an end to this soon, since—”

  “I’m not finished!”

  “Really now...” Don’t you get how many times I’ve hit you already, kid? If this was a real fight and I was wielding a real weapon, you’d be dead. I’ve even been holding back on the magic, and you’re still this banged up.

  “Haaah!” Rachael gripped her sword and began charging toward me again. I easily parried all of her attacks and was curious about why she was so frustrated. She was probably angry that I’d been half-assing my attacks. Honestly, people like her were troublesome.

  “If you really want me to go all-out, then so be it. Better prepare yourself, because the next attack is ending the fight.”

  “Ha, alright! I don’t know what you’re preparing, but I absolutely won’t lose—”

  “[Gate].”

  “What?!” I opened up a portal right beneath her feet, and she sank into it like a stone. Then, a terrified scream rang out... from high in the air.

  “Auuuuuuuuuuuuugh!” Rachael was five-hundred meters up in the air, plummeting down to earth at incredible speeds. I was subtly using Wind magic to keep her on course, so she’d definitely land right in front of me.

  “R-Rachael?!” The young king stared upward in absolute horror, his face paling as he watched his fiancee rocket down toward the ground.

  “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!”

  “Blow forth, Wind! Soaring, Spinning Gust: [Whirlwind] & [Levitation]!”

  I slowed down her falling speed with Wind magic and abruptly stopped her about one meter from impact with the ground. I wondered if she’d enjoyed her freefall.

  “Agh... Khah... H-Hah...!”

  “Give up yet?” Rachael’s entire body was trembling. Her eyes looked glazed over, and her mouth flapped open and closed like a fish. Even so, she managed a tiny, muted nod.

  ...Oh, oh no. This isn’t good... I think I was a little too effective here.

  “Come forth, Water! Cleansing Downpour: [Waterfall]!”

  “Ghah!” A massive amount of water suddenly appeared above the girl, and then came crashing down on to her. She was soaked head to toe.

  The people watching had no idea why I did that, but Rachael simply hung her head in shame as I gently brought her to the ground.

  Aw hell... Is she scared of heights or something? She must’ve been really scared if it affected her that much... Still, nobody should notice what she did now that she’s covered in water, at least... You’d think with all that prep work she was doing before the fight, she’d have found the time to go to the bathroom...

  “R-Rachael! Are you all right?!”

  “I-I’m fine! Good, yes!” The soaked little girl stood up, glared at me through tear-stained eyes, and ran away from the field.

  Welp. I definitely overdid it. I feel like I probably just created a traumatic memory for someone... Does this world have therapists?

  “...Oh geez, I’ve really gone and done it now.” I really should’ve handled that in a little more tactful manner. I sighed quietly as Regent Rembrandt walked over to me.

  “Seems I had little reason to fret, lad! Seems the lass has learned the meaning of humility, eh? She’s still a beginner, and she has a long way to go yet!”

  ...I dunno, I kind of feel like the inexperienced one here. It literally just happened and I already regret it. I basically just bullied a ten-year-old girl until she peed herself.

  I looked over to the spectators and noticed their somewhat-reluctant smiles. I couldn’t exactly blame them, after seeing that.

  I wondered what rumors would come out of this... Probably stuff about how the grand duke of Brunhild has no mercy toward children, or that I’m cold-blooded or something...

  “I’m really sorry, King Ernest. Could you apologize to Rachael on my behalf, later? I don’t think she’ll want to see me again any time soon...”

  “Y-Yes. I understand, don’t worry. But I don’t think that Rachael is upset with you, Grand Duke. I think she’s mad at herself for not being strong en
ough.”

  Really...? I’m not so sure about that... And man, getting comforted by a tiny kid somehow makes me feel worse...

  “U-Uhm... Well... Th-Thanks for all your help, Grand Duke...” King Cloud looked at me with a bit of a grimace. I wasn’t too surprised he’d have mixed feelings on all of this. I’d kind of blundered in, bragged about my cool giant robot, and then beat up a little girl.

  “Why did you use that Water spell at the end, though...?”

  “A-Ah... Well, uh... she was getting a little hot in the head, so I wanted to cool her down.” I gave a vague enough reply. I didn’t want to mention the real reason because that would be a slight on Rachael’s honor. I’d really done something terrible, though.

  “...You’re a very kind man, Grand Duke.” Princess Lucienne smiled gently in my direction. She’d been standing and watching with her brother.

  “Huh?”

  Oh... You’re perceptive, aren’t you?

  “Ernest. I’ll take care of your duties for the time being, so please go and tend to Rachael.”

  “Oh, but...” The little guy seemed a little hesitant to leave, so he looked from his sister to me. I gave him a small nod, and he smiled before bolting after Rachael. I had a feeling he wanted to go lift her spirits.

  I hope she’ll be alright... I let out a small sigh, only for my eyes to meet with Elze and Linze.

  “Touya... That was... a little much, wasn’t it?”

  “Well, you made a nice save at the end, but still...” I didn’t need them to say it. I knew I’d overdone it. Elze also seemed to have noticed why I cast [Waterfall] back there.

  Well, even if you took that last generous act into account, I was still in the wrong.

  “Grand Duke, we’ve prepared tea. Would you like to follow me?” Princess Lucienne began guiding us toward the castle. I quietly reflected on how difficult it was to have a child as your foe. I hoped that I was doing alright with Sue, Renne, and the children of Brunhild... Honestly, after that ludicrous display, I’d sort of lost confidence in myself.

  ◇　◇　◇

  We were having some tea on the balcony of Palouf Castle, and I’d managed to compose myself a little better.

  I didn’t need to fall into a trap of self-hatred. I’d definitely gone overboard, and some people probably found my actions a little drastic... But it wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if they hated me for it.

  Princess Lucienne turned to me.

  “Please forgive us for the discourteous behavior that my cousin Rachael has shown you today...”

  “No, don’t worry. She’s just a child, after all.” I certainly didn’t have a problem with it, but I was half-wondering if the Princess was expecting me to get angry and demand Rachael’s execution or something. I wasn’t a tyrant or anything! Those kinds of people were the worst.

  “The fight we had was separate from social affairs. I wouldn’t see it as a slight against me or my country, so please don’t worry.” I didn’t really expect the little girl to forgive me so easily, though...

  “I’m glad you feel that way. Ernest and I are thankful to you, Grand Duke.”

  “By the way, Grand Duke, what do you make of the king of Palouf?” King Cloud posed a question, which caused the two of them to turn toward me curiously across the table.

  “Let’s see, hm... I think he takes instruction well... But I’m worried about his general lack of confidence.” I felt like he was the submissive and negative type. I didn’t necessarily think it was bad, it was at least better than being plain.

  When I thought about it, I realized that the boy and his sister were pretty different but similar in the same way. Neither of them seemed especially suited for royalty, and they didn’t care too much for court etiquette and stuff. Then again, I did that all the time.

  “Does the king of Palouf have any special talents?” Linze turned to the princess and posed a question. Linze lacked in self-confidence. Well, she’d gotten better recently, but her self-esteem wasn’t so great. She probably saw part of herself in Ernest and wanted to see if he had any redeeming qualities.

  “Talents... No, not really. He has no skill in battle and no talent for magic. He can kind of play the flute? But not in a way I’d call impressive...” Damn... So the kid’s just mediocre? Well... I mean, he is a king. At least he has that.

  If I grew up with a genius like Rachael near me, I’d probably end up finding my confidence diminishing by the day, though.

  “Ah, though...”

  “Hmm?” Lucienne looked as if she suddenly remembered something. She went back inside and quickly came back out with a small box and a folded board. I recognized it.

  “That’s a shogi board.”

  “Yes. Are you familiar with the game, Grand Duke?” Listen lady, I invented it in this world.

  We cleared our teacups and plates, then set out the box. Just as I’d thought, it was shogi. Well, it was a little different. The pieces were squares instead of five-sided.

  “Can the king of Palouf play it?”

  “He can. He used to play it from morning till night, but he stopped once he found himself lacking more opponents.” Guess that makes sense. I doubt a random maid would be able to play shogi with the king... Plus with his personality, he probably wouldn’t just bring it up with someone. He’s way too shy with strangers.

  “He typically played against me or our uncle, but I wasn’t a particularly good opponent.”

  “Has he played against Rachael?”

  “He did, but he completely defeated her... Which made her get upset, and she flipped the table over. They didn’t play again after that...” Man... They really are kids... It’s more obvious when I hear stuff like this.

  Still, I wouldn’t mind playing him. I wonder how good he is.

  Almost as if on cue, King Ernest walked out on to the balcony.

  “Sorry for my absence!”

  “Don’t worry about that. How’s Rachael?”

  “She’s okay. Sort of, anyway. She’s shut away in her room, but she always does that when she gets mad...” Hmm... She’s probably fine, then. Hopefully, she eventually comes out, though.

  “Hm...? Oh!” The kid noticed the shogi set out on the table.

  “I heard from your sister that you’re quite fond of the game. I actually created the game, you know. I didn’t think it had already gotten as far as Palouf.”

  “Wait, really?!”

  “Really. Wanna play?” I grinned, proposing a match, which prompted the little king to start nodding his head up and down. There were practically stars in his eyes.

  We headed indoors and sat down at a small, square table. Then we lined up our game pieces.

  Alright, let’s see here... It’s been a while, but I should be okay.

  “...I can’t believe I lost.”

  “Good game, Grand Duke.” I bowed my head, and the little king did so as well. Three times. He’d beaten me three times.

  “Pfft... How miserable. I’ve never seen you lose so fast, Touya.” Elze giggled slightly as she gave me a sidelong glance. This kid was unusually good at shogi. I was pretty good at it, myself. But actually playing this kid head-on gave me a good understanding of just how outclassed I was. I was impressed.

  “You’re really good. I’d say you’re probably the best person I’ve ever played against.”

  “R-Really? I-I’ve only played against my uncle for the most part, though...” I wonder if Duke Rembrandt is good at it, too... Hmm... I have an idea. It’s a little short notice but I should be able to pull it off. Let’s see if we can build this kid’s self-confidence a little... I opened my mouth to bring up my idea.

  “You know... Brunhild’s actually hosting a shogi tournament around ten days from now. Would you like to join?”

  “Wh-What?! W-Would it really be okay for someone like me to do that?”

  “It’s no problem, honestly. You wouldn’t be the only member of royalty participating. There’d be others, in disguise of course. We’d guaran
tee your safety, too.”

  Elze and Linze side-eyed me as if to say “What tournament?” Obviously, I was ad-libbing this entirely on the spot, so I didn’t have an answer for them.

  The tournament might have been fake, but I was sure that Duke Ortlinde and the king of Belfast would want to join, so it wasn’t technically a lie.

  Besides if I had a tournament and didn’t tell them, they’d get mad about it later on.

  I’d just go around and recruit people I knew were talented players, and the tournament would build itself up through word of mouth after that. “O-Oh gosh...” Princess Lucienne noticed her brother starting to flail, so she began talking to him.

  “Don’t think too hard about it, Ernest. Taking a little trip to Brunhild might even be good for you! I can come too, you know?”

  “...Th-Then yes, I-I wanna play...”

  “Sounds good to me.” I grinned, then clapped my hands together.

  Seems I had some work cut out for me, but the end result was probably going to be pretty fun.

  ◇　◇　◇

  “...This is short notice, but I’m hosting a shogi tournament!”

  “...That’s short notice, alright.” I was back in the town of Reflet. More specifically, the Silver Moon Inn. I was talking to an older man with a red head of hair, and a full beard. It was Dolan, Micah’s dad.

  “So you wanna invite us to participate, eh?”

  “Well, yeah. It’s not like you’ll have any advantages in the contest though, it just means you get to skip the registration rounds.” I’d recruited Dolan, but I’d also gotten Barral from the Eight Bears Weapon Shop, and Simon from the general store. They’d been playing Shogi from the moment I introduced it to this world, so they were more likely to be better than me.

  “So, will you play?”

  “Damn straight I’ll play. We’ll show everyone that Reflet is where shogi began, an’ where it’s done best.” Oh, right. Totally forgot they decided to do that.

  “So, lad. How many people are playin’?”

  “Uhh... We haven’t decided just yet. We’ve invited a few, and each person hand-picked are among the best of the best. You and the others will be participating starting from day two, so you guys don’t have to come over until late on day one.”