Master and Slaves

[A/N: One more golden ticket to get 2 Bonus hapters :D]

"P-please take care of me, Lord Hiroyuki."

"Likewise, please take care of me."

I answered.

Then looking at the Dules, I saw that Muriel and Sara were also wearing armor.

However, Muriel’s armor had no chest section, and Sara’s armor was even more revealing than Muriel’s.

Well, in other words it could also be called armor that was easy to move in.

"Please take care of me, Master."

"Um, please take care of me, Master!"

"Yeah, likewise."

I returned the greeting to Muriel and Sara as well.

Now then, who first...

"Master, as an opening act, may Sara and I have a sparring match?"

Muriel made a proposal.

"Yeah, well, that’s fine. Helene and Julius...-san? Is that all right?"

"Yes, I don’t mind."

"Ah, just Julius is fine, Lord Hiroyuki."

When I asked, Helene and Julius answered.

"She says so."

"Thank you very much, Master, Lady Helene, Lord Julius. Then Sara, get ready."

"Yes. Understood, Muriel-san."

After thanking us, Muriel took a shield and a one-handed sword with the blade dulled, the same as Julius, and walked to the center of the garden.

Sara also answered, took two one-handed swords with the blades dulled in her left and right hands, and walked to the center of the garden.

Then the two of them faced each other.

Muriel bowed her head in greeting, and Sara hurriedly greeted her the same way.

Immediately afterward they took their stances.

"It’s fine. Come."

"I’m going!"

Right after answering Muriel, Sara began dashing toward Muriel.

Muriel raised her shield.

Sara held her two swords forward like a crab, ran up to Muriel in a forward-leaning posture, then abruptly changed direction to the right on the spot.

From Muriel’s perspective that was the left, but because she held the shield in her left hand it became a blind spot.

Apparently aiming for that, Sara thrust her swords from both sides of the shield.

However, Muriel pushed the shield out together with her body and checked Sara.

Sara immediately leapt backward.

Muriel did not miss that and thrust the sword in her right hand.

Without a moment’s delay Sara leapt to the right.

Then she spun around to the left and, in that interval, switched the sword in her left hand to a reverse grip and thrust it with that momentum.

Muriel deflected that with the sword in her right hand.

Sara increased the speed of her spin even more and thrust the sword in her right hand.

Even if she pulled back the right-hand sword she had just deflected, she would not make it in time.

Apparently thinking that, Muriel turned half-sideways and dodged it.

Here Sara unleashed a spinning kick.

Muriel received that with her shield.

There the two of them stopped moving for an instant.

However, Sara’s offensive still continued.

Sara, who had kicked the shield with her foot and begun spinning the opposite way, thrust the sword in her right hand that she had switched to a reverse grip.

Muriel changed her own position around the shield and received Sara’s attack with the shield.

Then she delivered a strong blow with her shoulder to Sara, who was showing her back.

But Sara did not lose her balance; she spun on the spot, crouched, and swept the sword in her right hand sideways aiming at the legs.

Muriel raised her right foot and stepped on it to stop it.

Sara released the sword in her right hand and aimed at the legs further with the sword in her left.

Apparently ignoring that, Muriel raised her sword and brought it down from overhead.

Apparently having read it, Sara was swung by the weight of the sword and escaped from that spot.

The sword Muriel had brought down stopped immediately, perhaps because she had intended to stop it at the last moment.

However, her balance had leaned forward.

Sara did a forward roll and from behind Muriel swept the sword she had switched to her right hand sideways.

Even while losing her balance, Muriel spun on the spot and deflected it with the shield.

With that weight Sara’s body fell backward, but she did a backflip just like that and opened distance.

Then both of them took their stances again and glared at each other.

Looking at the two of them’s fighting so far...

Muriel was the defensive type.

She stood firm and held out without moving much from that spot.

Sara was the offensive type.

She toyed with her opponent with ever-changing attacks like a dance.

However at this point, Sara, who had had one of the swords that served as the base of her attacks taken, was being pressed.

Even so...

Yeah, both of them were pretty good.

"Both of you are moving well."

Helene muttered.

"That’s right."

Of course I thought so as well, so I nodded.

"Well, those girls are Dules. Some kind of ability has probably been raised."

Ah, come to think of it, that’s right.

"Muriel’s physical strength seems to have become stronger. Sara is... I can’t say since I don’t know her original level, but she’s making quite agile movements."

I see.

"Julius, you are... haa."

Helene tried to speak to Julius, but for some reason she sighed as if disappointed.

I also looked at Julius.

...He had a nosebleed.

His face was slack, and he was staring fixedly at Muriel and Sara’s bodies.

"Julius!"

Helene slapped Julius’s head with a pan.

"M-Mother... sniff..."

He came to himself with a start, looked at Helene’s face, and sniffed.

"What are you looking at?!"

"I-I’m sorry."

Julius apologized obediently.

Well, indeed, when Muriel and Sara moved, their bare breasts swayed left and right.

For a man it was a scene where a nosebleed could not be helped.

If it were Giacomo he would probably groan ooooh and spray a nosebleed.

I... had gotten used to it, maybe.

Now then, while we were having that event, Muriel and Sara’s sparring match looked about to be decided.

Sara, who had at some point already picked up the other sword, was skillfully manipulating the two swords and launching a fierce attack on Muriel, who was holding her shield.

Muriel received all of it by moving her shield only slightly, but she was being pressed by Sara and slowly backing up.

At this rate she would be worn down, but Muriel took a drastic action.

She removed the shield and kicked it away.

Sara, who had been attacking with the left and right swords from both sides of the shield, took the shield Muriel had kicked away full in the chest and was sent flying backward.

"Goh, goh..."

Sara put both knees on the ground, leaned forward, and coughed.

Without a moment’s delay Muriel ran up to Sara and thrust her sword.

The tip stopped at Sara’s throat.

"I-I yield."

Sara surrendered to Muriel in a groaning voice.

Hearing that, Muriel lowered her sword and held out her left hand to Sara.

Sara also grasped it with her left hand and stood up.

Seeing that, I clapped.

Helene, Julius, and the other Dules also clapped.

Muriel and Sara turned toward us and bowed their heads.

"How was it?"

Muriel asked us for an evaluation.

"That’s right. It was good."

I gave an impression rather than an evaluation.

I thought it would not be good for an amateur like me to say too much.

Then I looked at Helene.

"Yes. First Muriel. She is flexibly adapting from a knight’s form to the situation on the spot. It looks unsightly, but she is definitely handling it. You cannot easily do something like this without experiencing real combat many times. But what if there were many attackers? Sara was using two swords, but she was at her limit with that, wasn’t she? I want her to have the leeway to look around even while dealing with the enemy in front of her."

Helene gave Muriel a critique.

Next she looked at Sara.

"Sara, conversely, has too many wasted movements. If there were many opponents she would have the leeway to deal with her surroundings, but since it is only Muriel, I think she could concentrate more. But the final offensive was good. She used the two swords well. Muriel’s last move surprised even me, so it couldn’t be helped that she couldn’t defend against it. Though of course ’couldn’t be helped’ does not apply in real combat."

Helene also critiqued Sara.

"Julius is... humu, that’s right."

Helene turned toward Julius and pondered something.

Then she turned her face toward me.

"Hiroyuki-sama, I would like to have Julius and Sara fight. May I?"

She made that request of me.

Why me... ah, that’s right.

Because she is my Dule.

"How about it, Sara?"

"Um... yes. Understood."

Sara nodded while looking at my face in confusion.

Did she not want to do it?

"Then. Julius, get ready."

Before I could call a wait, Helene spoke to Julius.

"Y-yes. Understood."

Julius also answered immediately.

Can’t be helped.

"Sara, I’ll be your opponent later, so do your best."

I whispered to Sara so that Helene and Julius could not hear.

"Y-yes! I’ll do my best!"

Sara answered with more force than necessary.

For some reason her face was also flushed.

Did I do something?

"Hiroyuki-sama, is it all right?"

"Ah, yeah. It’s fine."

I hurriedly answered Helene.

"Then I’ll do my best."

Sara put in a unn of fighting spirit and ran to the center of the garden.

Julius and Sara faced each other and bowed.

Oh my, Julius has a nosebleed again.

Helene ran up to Julius, rolled up a torn cloth, and stuffed it in his nose.

...Haa, will he be all right?

...

Contrary to my worries, Julius was moving fairly well.

However, Sara’s movements were even better.

Or rather, her fighting spirit was intense.

Under Sara’s excessive offensive Julius backed away, stumbled, and sat down on his rear.

There Sara’s two swords crossed like scissors and were pressed against Julius’s throat.

"I-I yield."

Julius dropped his sword and shield to the ground, raised both hands, and surrendered.

"Fuu. Julius. Having Hiroyuki-sama be your opponent is still a long way off."

Helene said that to Julius as if exasperated while sighing.

However, Helene’s face was not completely exasperated.

Perhaps she was somewhat satisfied with this result.

It was true Julius had lost, but holding out for a long time against that much of Sara’s offensive was quite something.

"Um! Um! Master!"

Sara called me impatiently while running in place.

"Yes, yes. Helene, is it all right?"

I answered Sara twice and asked Helene.

"Julius can wait until later."

Oh, so I really am going to do it.

"Got it."

I nodded lightly to Helene and walked to the center of the garden.

When I came in front of Sara I turned toward her.

Sara and I both bowed to each other.

Then I took my stance the same as this morning, with a one-handed sword in my right hand and the greatsword Destroyer in my left.

Sara also took her stance with one-handed swords in both hands.

"Master. If I win, please give me some kind of reward."

Perhaps having gained confidence from the fight with Julius just now, Sara said something like that in public.

"Yeah, that’s fine."

I nodded lightly at Sara’s request.

Well, I didn’t particularly mind.

Hearing my reply, Sara seemed to have become much more motivated.

"Then I’m going!"

Together with her cry, Sara ran toward me.