CHAPTER 31

Slap

The warrior with a masculine build, Bhat, lets out a bitter laugh when he hears Seiya’s response.

“Su-surely, you’re joking!”

“I’m not. I’m leaving.”

The robed female mage yells:

“You can’t! You’re just going to abandon us?!”

“I’m leaving, and that’s final.”

The officials’ expressions in reaction to Seiya’s stubbornness are a mix of astonishment and sorrow.

I—I have to do something! They probably think his training is going to take days!

I speak up in order to clear the air.

“Please settle down, everyone! It’s going to be a very short training session!”

“Exactly. I only need about three days.”

Seiya’s reply causes each of them to scream individually.

“You’re going to be gone for three whole days?!”

“Since when does ‘three days’ count as ‘very short’?!”

“The fortress is going to be in ruins if we wait that long!”

The officials are so taken aback that they yell out in rage one after another. Then, as if realizing they are behaving in an undignified manner, they clear their throats as their faces turn red.

I turn to them and plead:

“P-please listen to me. Three days in the spirit world is barely an hour in your world, so…”

“An hour…? R-really?”

Just as everyone is on the verge of being persuaded, Rosalie, who has been quiet this entire time, makes her voice heard.

“Is training really even necessary? Earlier, I saw white wings on the goddess’s back! The goddess can fly! So we already have a means to attack, do we not?!”

What?! M-me?! What does this girl think she’s saying?!

While I’m taken aback at being suddenly called out, Seiya almost immediately sets forth a counterargument.

“That won’t work. The goddess can only provide backup. She can’t fight.”

S-Seiya…! Thank you so much for standing up for me!

“Besides, she wouldn’t be any help anyway. She can barely float with those wings. She has about as much use as a balloon—or maybe even less than that.”

“…! I can’t believe you! You went too far this time!”

Being told that I am even less useful than a balloon makes me pop with rage, but Seiya simply ignores me as if it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

“By the way, I can fly as well.”

“Oh…! Then…!”

A voice from the round table starts to speak, but…

“But we have no chance of winning like that. Trying to have an aerial battle against the enemy would be the height of stupidity. That’s exactly what they want.”

“Hero, aren’t you being a little too timid? How can you say that without even trying?”

“I carefully observed the enemy before coming here, and its speed is extraordinary.”

Seiya’s casual response causes Rosalie to furrow her eyebrows.

“Wait… Hold on. What did you just say? You were ‘carefully observing’ Beel Bub? Don’t tell me you watched my men get slaughtered from afar and didn’t do anything to stop it.”

Rosalie glares at Seiya fiercely, so I butt in, sensing that things are going south.

“You’ve got the wrong idea! Even if we wanted to save them, it was already too late…!”

Rosalie slams her fist on the table, and I let out a shriek.

“I am not asking whether you saved them or not! I am asking if the Hero saw what happened yet still decided to do nothing!”

Despite Rosalie’s extremely threatening attitude, Seiya manages to maintain his composure.

“You’re saying some pretty strange things. If you can’t save them no matter what you do, then nothing can be done about it.”

“People are dead! They were slaughtered by that monster! What kind of Hero can see that and not feel anything?!”

“How would feeling something change anything exactly? It’s at precisely times like this that you need to remain calm and proceed carefully. You cannot let yourself be influenced by your surroundings, and only when you remain collected can you do what’s truly necessary during crucial moments.”

It is like fire and ice. Two completely opposite personalities like this would never compromise. And eventually, Rosalie’s gaze turns to contempt.

“This man is no good! He is but a fool and only a Hero by name!”

“M-Madam Rosalie! You cannot say such a thing to the Hero!”

“A Hero—by definition—means that you are heroic, but this man is nothing more than a coward!”

Rosalie is exploding with rage, but I find myself becoming slightly annoyed by her.

For some reason, it’s aggravating when someone else says it! Seiya may not look it, but he puts a lot of thought into his actions! I used to think like Rosalie and get mad at him, but now I know that Seiya’s cautiousness is of a completely different nature than cowardice.

“Excuse me, Rosalie! Seiya may be slow to act for a Hero, but we have weathered the storm over and over again thanks to him being so well prepared!”

I look at each member gathered in the meeting room before assuring them:

“I promise you that the moment this Hero has finished training and is completely ready to go is the moment that Beel Bub’s Aerial Assault Flies will be vanquished!”

The room is overcome with silence. I follow up by saying to Rosalie:

“So please…? Just wait an hour for him to train, okay? Rosalie…”

I thought she would just say, Fine. Do what you must. But I was naive.

“…Do you honestly expect me to believe you?”

Rosalie is excessively more stubborn than I even imagined.

“I have lost a little over one hundred men to Beel Bub. Do you understand how I feel?”

“O-of course I do! It’s painful. It’s sad and—”

“A being that transcends humanity can never truly understand the preciousness of human life. According to the legends, goddesses are blessed with eternal life. Am I wrong?”

“W-well, yeah, but…”

“Then stop talking.”

Tch…!

As I grind my teeth, Seiya murmurs:

“You have no right to talk about the preciousness of human life, either.”

“Excuse me…?”

Rosalie speaks in a deep voice as she scowls. However, as if not to be outdone, Seiya glares back at Rosalie like a hawk.

“Your soldiers weren’t killed by the enemy. You killed them.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your lack of planning is what created that mountain of dead bodies.”

“You bastard…! Take that back!”

Rosalie walks all the way over until she is standing right in front of Seiya.

“M-Madam Rosalie?!”

The imperial officials are panicking, but…

“Take that back! Take that back or…!”

Acting on impulse, Rosalie draws her right hand far back without even a moment of hesitation.

Ack! Seiya’s gonna get punched by a girl!

It looks like Rosalie’s right hand connects with Seiya’s cheek, but an instant before she actually hits him, he grabs her arm at a blinding speed. But if anything, what surprises me is what comes next. After fending off her attack, Seiya slowly gets out of his seat, then smacks Rosalie’s cheek with his left hand.

SLAP!

A loud pop echoes throughout the meeting room.

“Ufff?!”

An uncharacteristically strange sound escapes her small mouth. Seiya’s right hand is already in the air, prepared for a counterattack.

“OKAY, THAT’S ENOOOOOOOOOUGH!!”

I slide in between them and start making excuses for Seiya.

“Th-this isn’t what it seems, Rosalie! He thought he was going to get punched, so he naturally countered! It’s basically a conditioned reflex for warriors! Seiya didn’t mean to hurt you!”

I immediately turn around and scold Seiya.

“I don’t care why you did it! You should never hit a girl!”

“But she tried to punch me first. It was self-defense.”

Despite my effort, though, Rosalie’s fury has already reached the point of no return.

“I—I can’t believe you…!”

She pushes me out of the way and throws another right hook at Seiya, but it ends up being a replay of what happened a moment ago.

SLAP!

“Ouch…!”

A high-pitched scream of agony slips between Rosalie’s lips once more. But it’s not over yet.

“Take this…!”

SLAP!

“Ahhhn!”

She lets out an adorable cry…

“Y-you’ll pay for that!”

SLAP!

“Unf!”

She audibly pants…

…I tried sticking up for Seiya by saying it was nothing more than a conditioned reflex and that he meant no harm. Nevertheless, it has come to my attention that nothing about that was reflex, and he definitely did mean to do harm. Seiya is slapping Rosalie as if it were nothing.

Every time she tries to punch his right cheek, he slaps hers before she can, and the left side fares no better, either. Therefore, only Rosalie is getting slapped silly, causing her cheeks to swell like plump red apples. I audibly swallow my saliva in the midst of the dead silence.

At any rate, he has hit her way too much! Get with the times, you pig! This isn’t the fifties! Wait… What era is he from anyway?!

I shudder at the fact that the Hero doesn’t even have a speck of decency. That’s when, with tears rolling down her cheeks and a runny nose, Rosalie suddenly unsheathes her sword.

“I-I’m going to kill you! S-s-say your prayers…!”

“M-M-Madam Rosalie! You can’t…!”

“You…sniffle…are no…snort…Hero!”

“S-S-Seiya!! Apologize to her this instant! I mean, look at her! Can’t you see she’s crying!”

“I’m not…sniffle…crying! Mm…!”

“Seiya! Hurry up and apologize!”

“No. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I didn’t ask if you did! Just look at how much she’s crying!”

“I told you…I’m not…hic…crying…! I’m not…crying…sniffle…one bit…!”

“I’m not apologizing. I did nothing wrong.”

“You two are acting like children! I don’t care who’s wrong! Just say you’re sorry!”

But neither apologizes. Eventually, Rosalie breaks the silence while still sobbing.

“I’ve had…enough! I don’t…sniffle…need any Hero! I’m going…hic…to go to the enemy’s hideout…by myself!”

Seiya glares at Rosalie as she tries to hold back her tears. Wait… I don’t think he’s glaring at her. He’s using Scan.

I decide to use Scan as well to check Rosalie’s stats for future reference.

ROSALIE ROSEGUARD
LV: 23
HP: 6,780	MP: 0
ATK: 4,120	DEF: 3,655	SPD: 3,987	MAG: 0	GRW: 48
Resistance: Fire, Water, Dark, Poison, Paralysis
Special Abilities: Light’s Blessing (LV: 3)
Skills: Knocking Sword
Personality: Impulsive

She has very high stats for a human, but…they aren’t that impressive compared to those of the flies.

Seiya then says:

“You’re the so-called Warmaster’s daughter, so I thought you’d be at least halfway decent, but…sigh. Your attributes are painfully mediocre. You’d die a meaningless death if you attacked their base like this.”

Just then…

“Grrr…!”

Grunting, Rosalie’s face turns as red as a tomato. She shakes her disheveled azure hair as the mountainous tears fall ceaselessly to the floor. Rosalie then begins quivering as she tightly clenches her fists.

…Ack! I’ve never seen someone get this angry before!

From my side, Elulu shrieks:

“S-something isn’t right! Rosalie’s growling like a dog!”

“Just ignore her, Elulu. She’ll bite you if you get too close.”

“Grrrrrr…!”

As the captain of the guard growls even more after being insulted, Mash anxiously pokes Seiya’s arm.

“M-Master Seiya…! Maybe apologizing would be for the best…?”

“I’d rather die. More importantly, we should be going now. Rista, create the gate.”

“Ah… O-okay…”

I create a gate because it seems like things are only going to get worse here. But even then, I can still hear Rosalie behind me…

“Grrr…! Grrrrr! Grooowl!”

Sh-she won’t stop growling! She really is acting like a dog! I almost want to put a muzzle on her and give her belly rubs until she calms down.

“A-anyway, we’ll be back in an hour! So don’t go anywhere, okay?! That means you, too, Rosalie! Sit! Stay!”

And just like that, we turn around and return to the unified spirit world, despite the fact that Rosalie looks like she could bite us at any moment.