"S-save me...! Please save me!"
"Got her...?!"
"Waaah..."
Just as Dorothy was about to be caught by Amelia, I frantically picked up the threads that had been cut by the sword and tied Amelia’s arms. Then, I heard Arte’s voice, full of admiration.
I had expected her to be annoyed, but it seemed she wasn’t.
I thought she’d be pissed if I used her threads.
"Ugh, w-what the...! Let go! Ah, why is this so sturdy?! Arte! Make it weaker!"
"That’s difficult... That’s just a thread. It’s just... very sturdy. ...There, I cut it for you. Is this better?"
"Ah, you let her go!"
Damn it.
Arte’s thread had been sliced clean through in an instant.
Last time, it had been cut easily by my sword too. So even if it was sturdy, it seemed weak against slashing attacks.
"H-heuk, heu-heuk... H-hard..."
"Dorothy, we don’t have time to rest. Hurry."
"A-alright! The Scarecrow said, I want a brain. The magician grants wishes... Kyaaak!"
"Ahaha, sorry. I didn’t think it would work twice. Since it’s an ability that strengthens allies... It’s rare!"
Ah, shit.
She noticed.
...Well, Dorothy does need to chant a weird line to activate her ability.
It’s so distinctive that doing it twice would make it obvious.
Still, she could’ve let me use it one more time.
I already had a bad feeling about this. I rubbed my face with my hand.
Arte’s thread wasn’t slow enough for Dorothy to dodge. And there was no way she’d just stand there watching for an opening.
Sure enough, Dorothy was quickly bound by Arte’s thread and left helpless.
"So, now that you’re outnumbered, what do you plan to do? You can admit defeat and forfeit, you know?"
"..."
"That sounds great! Ahaha, if you don’t want to see a worse fate, you can step down, Yu Siwoo!"
Arte and Amelia’s smug, grinning faces were infuriating.
Yeah, that’s how it’s gonna be, huh.
"Sorry, but it’s not like I have no options..."
"...Is that so? Then by all means, show us this ‘option’ of yours."
At this point, I had no choice.
I’m a man, after all. I can’t just sit here and take this mockery.
"I really didn’t want to do this... but Arte, you brought this on yourself!"
"...Huh?"
"Come at me!"
I nervously scanned my surroundings.
Dorothy, neatly wrapped up and pinned to the corner of the arena.
Amelia, face flushed red, catching her breath.
Threads scattered everywhere, already used up.
...And the protagonist, Yu Siwoo, drenched in cold sweat.
[H-holy shit... He can actually do that...? As expected of the protagonist, his evasion skills are insane!]
Was I really supposed to be staring at the protagonist like some lovesick fool right now?!
Anxious, I kicked the ground pointlessly.
Hearing the sound, Amelia accelerated toward me again.
Amelia had already accelerated so many times that she was moving faster than my eyes could track as she charged at Yu Siwoo.
A thread I had wrapped around her neck still dangled from it.
"This time for sure—DIE!"
In an instant, the threads I had arranged around Yu Siwoo pulsed with mana and tightened around him.
…And yet another failure.
He concentrated his force on a single point, breaking through the encirclement.
"Amelia, ‘die’? This is a test. The goal is restraint, not killing."
"Aaaah, another failure?! Shut up! It’s your fault for running away like a coward! Arte, one more time!"
"…"
"Arte?! What are you doing?! …Is there a problem?! Should I go alone?!"
Right now, I’m facing the greatest dilemma of my life.
Amelia was so fixated on Yu Siwoo that she hadn’t noticed, but in my attempt to conserve, I’d used up all the threads I’d prepared.
…In other words, right now, I’m only wearing my leotard, school uniform, and the white coat artifact.
This is a nightmare. What do I do?
This entire match is being watched by every student in the Academy.
Of course, the spectator stands are far away for safety, so they can’t see the details, but sooner or later, someone’s going to realize something’s off.
Like, *Why is her outfit damaged when she hasn’t even been hit?*
Even if they don’t suspect anything, it’s still a problem.
If I keep fighting like this, I’ll have to sacrifice either my clothes… or the leotard.
Naturally, if I can restrain him immediately, using the leotard makes sense.
After all, it’s worn under the school uniform, so it wouldn’t be visible.
…But what if I use up the leotard and still can’t catch him?
That would be a disaster. My ability would be sealed at that moment.
But I can’t just expose the leotard in front of all these eyes either.
What do I do, what do I—?!
"Wha—?!"
"Amelia, you know you’re at a disadvantage against me."
"AAAAAARGH!"
"Stay down."
[Ah, she’s caught. As expected, Amelia really is weak against Yu Siwoo.]
This is bad.
Uh, what do I—
While I was lost in thought, Amelia had already been restrained.
I think she’d asked for help, but I was so absorbed in my own panic that I didn’t respond, and she couldn’t hold back any longer.
Amelia’s speed was incredible for confusing her opponent, but it didn’t work on Yu Siwoo.
What stood out was how he seemed to predict where Amelia would strike next—he’d already positioned his sword along her path before she even moved.
Wait, was that intuition?
Intuition was supposed to be an extra sense that made it easier to evade attacks.
But just now, it looked like he’d placed his sword on that path *before* Amelia even started moving.
…Am I imagining things? I must be.
The author said Yu Siwoo’s ability was intuition, after all.
Amelia’s speed and Yu Siwoo’s reactions were so fast that I must’ve misseen.
"Arte. You’re the only one left."
"…So it seems."
Siwoo’s voice snapped me out of my daze.
Right, now wasn’t the time for trivial thoughts. There were more important problems to solve.
…Just how was I supposed to break through this terrible situation?
My mind started to blur.
"Now that the numbers are even, what’s your plan? You can admit defeat and forfeit if you want."
"…."
For a moment, I couldn’t process what I’d just heard.
…What did Yu Siwoo just say?
Admit defeat and forfeit? That’s what he said.
And that line—it was the same one I’d used earlier.
The exact line I’d thrown at the protagonist when I’d urged him to surrender.
Crack.
I finally realized why he’d been so fired up after hearing my words.
Of course, that had been my intention from the start, but hearing him throw my own line back at me sent blood rushing to my head.
[D-Dear Reader… A-Are you angry?]
Angry?
Obviously. He’d just parroted my own words back at me.
I’d been ready to admit defeat and lose, but—!
"Hah, haha… That was a good one."
"Uh, w-what…?"
"Since you went that far, I guess you’re prepared."
Black threads from the leotard beneath her school uniform began unraveling, weaving a spiderweb across the arena.
I knew this was a bad idea.
If I messed up, I’d end up exposing everything in front of everyone… but—
Whatever. It’ll work out somehow.
"T-This isn’t…!"
Siwoo stared in shock at the threads Arte had scattered across the arena.
This confirmed it—Arte’s ability consumed her own clothes as a resource.
Proof of that was the fact that her stockings and half-gloves had already vanished.
And Arte had been moving sluggishly for a while now, so after subduing Amelia, she’d simply made an offer…
…while tossing back the line that had pissed me off a little.
I never expected her to get this fired up. Up until now, Arte had only shown me a relaxed side of herself, so I’d assumed she wasn’t very competitive.
"Let’s see if you can dodge this."
Arte’s eyes gleamed ominously, making Siwoo flinch—but then he suddenly realized something.
No half-gloves.
No stockings.
Her uniform and white coat were still intact.
…So where were all these threads coming from?
"Try dodging. If you can."
Siwoo evaded the threads flying at him from all directions, sometimes even slashing them away, as he closed in on Arte.
The fight had already restarted. To beat Arte, he had to get close to her somehow.
But where in the world were all these threads—?
As he studied her with a mix of doubt and suspicion, Siwoo finally noticed.
The black leotard peeking out from Arte’s collar was gone.
"N-No way…?"
"Why are you staring so much?"
Suddenly, I looked at the threads Arte had deployed.
…I couldn’t tell their color. They were all wrapped in mana, so they just looked a faint blue.
“No, that can’t be. There’s no way… even if she really wanted to win, she wouldn’t do something like—”
On impulse, Yu Siwoo touched a single thread clinging to his sword and brought it to his nose.
It had been a fatal opening during the fight, but the test no longer mattered to him.
His mind was already consumed by something else.
“…What are you doing?”
A faint scent lingered on the thread.
A familiar smell.
When? …When he had snuck into the women’s changing room, from inside Arte’s locker.
“Arte, you…”
“Yes?”
With shock in his eyes, Yu Siwoo stared at Arte.
There was no leotard visible around her neck.
And that same scent he’d smelled before was faintly wafting from the thread cut by his sword.
…This, this is—
Yu Siwoo realized.
If they kept fighting, it would be a disaster.
“Arte, let’s stop fighting. I’ll just take the loss.”
“…What does that mean? Are you saying you’ll forfeit?”
“N-No, that’s not what I—!”
“…”
As if she’d been waiting for him to hesitate, Arte began manipulating her threads to attack him again.
He reflexively dodged her strikes, but his mind spun, desperate for a solution.
Should he just admit defeat now?
No, the way she was reacting, she’d probably think he was running away after winning. Then she’d get angry. Even if he threw the match on purpose, it’d be the same.
But he wasn’t strong enough to beat Arte.
Right now, he was barely managing to evade. And while he was lost in thought, the threads grazed his clothes, leaving small cuts…
…Was his uniform tearing?
“Ugh, I’m gonna have to buy a new school uniform. This one was expensive…!”
“…?!”
Yu Siwoo prayed silently.
Please, just understand what I’m trying to say.
“I lose.”
“What? Arte, are you serious? You were doing so well just now.”
“Yes, Teacher. I’m starting to get a bit of a headache.”
“…I see. Doesn’t look like you’re faking. Alright.”
Teacher Claire announced the end of the match with a displeased expression.
Th-Thank goodness…
Yu Siwoo finally realized he’d barely escaped a crisis and let out a sigh of relief.
When he lifted his head, he saw the many students watching.
If they’d kept fighting like that…
He didn’t want to think about it.
That was way too close.
“By the way, Arte, your ability is really annoying. These threads… what am I supposed to do with them? Sorry, Yu Siwoo, but could you throw these away on your way out?”
“Y-Yes, I understand… Wait, what?!”
“I’d appreciate it. I have to go inspect the arena.”
Yu Siwoo suddenly twitched his nose.
He could’ve sworn her scent was still lingering on the threads scattered across the arena.