I Favor the Villainess Chapter 23

"Ohoho! I shall be the direct reason of your dismissal"

Claire-sama boldly laughed.

"That won't happen, but let's play a lot"

I responded with a friendly grin.

"Play, is it? Lowly commoner, do not think you will defeat me easily"
"Fufu, please do your best"

Like that Claire-sama was easily stirred up.
Yup, she's cute.

"Are both of you ready?"
"I am"
"Yes"
"Then, the final match… begin!"

Despite the signal, neither Claire-sama nor I moved.
Both of us are awaiting other's move.
Although Claire-sama likes to take initiative in everyday activities, in combat she's fairly composed.
I'm not going first as I only want to play with Claire-sama for as long as possible.

"Are you not coming?"
"Claire-sama too"
"I am the one who can afford being calm"
"Is that so"

Silence fell.

"You, will you truly not come? Like that, it will not even be a match"
"Yeah, I'm happy just looking at Claire-sama"
"Are you teasing me!?"

Claire-sama stamped her feet in anger.

"But well, if you're like this, I"

It can't be helped.
I held out my hand towards Claire-sama.

"Shut"

Along with my voice, Claire-sama's figure vanished inside a boulder that suddenly appeared.
With such an application of earth attribute wall, Claire-sama got imprisoned.

But, the boulder was soon destroyed from inside.

"Hmph, such a thing"

Claire-sama came out brushing off dust.
The boulder was melted.
That's Claire-sama's fire attribute magic.

Even if it's said that earth attribute is weak against fire attribute, the melting point of rock ranges from at lowest from 700 to 800 degrees to at highest as much as 1200 degrees.
Although flame temperature normally exceeds 1400 degrees, it's next to impossible to melt rock without continuously heating it up.
Claire-sama's firepower that makes it easy, can be called high without a doubt.

"Then, I'll pester you again"

I made many tiny stone arrows and directed them at Claire-sama.

"It is useless"

All stone arrows were blocked by the flame wall extended by Claire-sama.
By nature, the defensive capability of a flame wall that's not a solid object isn't high.
To extend a wall hot enough to melt stone arrows in an instant despite this, as expected of Claire-sama.

Claire-sama's combat style is the standard magician style - it's commonly known as Crimson Queen.
It's a combat style based on freely ruling flames, it's a versatile style that doesn't specialize in offense or defense.

"This time I shall make the move"

Claire-sama suddenly raised her hand.
There appeared a huge lance she showed in the fight against the water slime.
It's shaped like a lance mounted knights used during Middle Ages back on Earth.

"For us nobles. Even magic is art"
"As expected of Claire-sama! Taste aside, the manipulation ability is at a high level!"
"Keep silent!?"

Cough, Claire-sama cleared her throat.

"Disappear!"

With a rather unsettled scream, she let the lance loose.
I responded by making a wall with earth magic.

"Fool! Have you already forgotten that it melted a while ago!?"

Claire-sama laughed as if declaring her victory, but――.

"!? It doesn't melt!? Why…!?"

The wall I used to defend myself won't melt from a flame lance.
In this world, the earth attribute wall is commonly formed from rock, however what I created was a tungsten carbide wall.
Tungsten carbide - also called tungsten tetracarbide.
It boasts twice the strength of steel, its melting point actually reaches 2800 degrees.
Even for Claire-sama melting it is impossible.

Given that in this world science hasn't developed much, tungsten carbide isn't known.
Even rock wall can protect against ordinary fire attribute magic, there's little reason to pursue improvement.
For tungsten wall I used knowledge of science from modern Japan, it's a slight cheat.

"Even if you are depraved you do have super magic aptitude. However, I have my ways of dealing with you?"

Claire-sama created another huge flame lance and let it loose in a completely different direction.
The lance passed by grandly missing me.

"Turn!"

The flame lance sharply turned and approached me from behind.
Flame lance is a development of the basic fire attribute magic, flame arrow.
Jest launching it is simple, however finely controlling it like this is considerably difficult.
I spread out tungsten carbide wall behind me.

"Split!"

Just before the flame lance crashed into the wall, Claire-sama snapped her fingers.
The huge flame lance turned into countless tiny flame bullets that went around the wall.

"It is my win!"

Once again Claire-sama spoke unsettled.
However――.

"Yes, close"

Against flame bullets that came at me from every direction, in an instant I deployed tungsten carbide bullets and shot them down.

"Whoa, how was it possible to make it in time from over there"

I heard Rod-sama's exasperated voice.
Well, this was also a kind of cheat, I'm familiar with the way Claire-sama fights.
That's why, even if Claire-sama intended to use a surprise attack, I can somehow predict it from the beginning.

"Gununu… Even though you are a commoner…"
"Huh? What's wrong? Are you done already?"
"No way"

Claire-sama created a great deal of flame bullets.

"Rod-sama, forgive my impoliteness"
"Ah?"

Flame bullets flooded me from all directions.
I defended against them with a wall.

"Not yet!"

Flame bullets, being formed continuously without a pause, hit the wall around me and burst one by one.

"I see"

Yuu-sama raised voice like he understood.
Yes, this is a copy of Rod-sama's flame army.
Certainly, Claire-sama's magic aptitude is high, however as expected, without Rod-sama's magic capacity a perfect copy is impossible, but a temporary imitation is no problem.
Claire-sama's probably aiming at the oxygen deprivation tactic Rod-sama showed in the ninth match.

"Then, let's do this"

I expanded the wall away from my close surroundings pushing back the flame bullets and securing the space for oxygen.
I further enlarged the wall trying to encircle Claire-sama in order swallow her.

"It will not go like that?"

Having been imprisoned at the start, Claire-sama avoided by running around.
Even if she can't use the boost wind magic, Claire-sama's physical ability is fairly high for a woman.
She's a lady excelling at both studying and sports.

"It's not flashy like ours, but it's an impressive match for experts"
"Isn't it"

Rod-sama's and Misha's words perfectly reflected the audience's remarks.

"This… Impertinent"
"Now, Claire-sama. What will you show me next?"
"Do not get carried away"

With that, Claire-sama lightly stretched her arms to her sides.
Four shining crests were born and floated around Claire-sama.
They're the crest of Claire-sama's François house.

"To have to use this against a commoner opponent… Shine"

Along with that word, a heat ray blazed from each of the four crests.
I tried to deploy the wall at once, but I simply couldn't make it in time.

"This time was a warning"

The heat rays burned the ground right beside me… Needless to say, it was evaporated.
This is Claire-sama's trump card, Magical Ray.
Its true nature is a super high output beam cannon.
Unlike beams of modern world, they're purely magical, therefore the power cannot be compared with real beams.
Because they're generated instantaneously, it's almost impossible to evade through observing alone.

"Even I cannot shoot it many times. But, you do comprehend its power, right? Even if there is barrier, you will not get away unscathed from a direct hit? Surrender"

Claire-sama recommended me to surrender.

"Um, let's see. That might be a good idea, but…"
"But?"
"After all it's frustrating, so I'll win"

I snapped my fingers.
The soil under Claire-sama's feet disappeared in an instant.

"Kyaa!"

With a sweet scream Claire-sama had no choice but to drop.
After confirming that Claire-sama fell to the bottom, I continued digging the hole for 20 meters.

"Hey! This is such a plain magic!"
"But, isn't it effective?"

Unexpectedly, unless you can move in the air like Sein-sama, there's no easy solution for dealing with this pitfall.
It's impossible to form foothold with fire attribute, even if you can use it for vertical propulsion like a rocket, if a hole is narrow it will collapse and crush you to death.
With water attribute, you can use water to slowly float out, even so it's difficult to surpass the speed of digging a hole, and if you're unlucky you can drown.
It's extreme but if you can't use earth or wind attribute magic, there's no way to deal with it.

"I will not accept such an end!"
"Then, please try to escape"
"Wait! I will spread this hole with magic――"
"… Give up, Claire"

Sein-sama who didn't speak a word until then began talking.

"What are you saying, Sein-sama. I can still――"
"… So you haven't noticed. Rei hasn't used water attribute that's effective against your fire attribute even once?"

I heard Claire-sama gasp.
Yup.
As a matter of fact, I was playing by restraining myself.

Fire attribute is extremely weak against water attribute.
So, using water attribute magic I'd be able to completely block Claire-sama from the start.
But, that wouldn't be fun.
My intention is to play with Claire-sama.

Though, the Rei from the game wasn't able to master magic quickly like this.

"You… Did you go easy on me?"
"Yes!"
"Khhhh! Making fun of me…!"
"So, Claire-sama, are you going to continue?"
"Naturally!"

Claire-sama is still motivated.
She's steadily removing the soil from her surroundings with fire attribute magic.
It seems she's trying to escape by transforming the hole into a depression.

"Claire-sama, do your best"
"You truly have bad personality!?"

As for me, it's a simple work to add as much soil as Claire-sama removes.

"Grr!"
"Claire-sama, I apologize but I will put a stop to this match. The winner is, Rei"
"Thank you for your hard work"

Like that, Claire-sama's and my mock battle came to a disappointing end.
I returned Claire-sama to the surface.

"I will not accept it!?"

Claire-sama, who looks worn-out having been covered with dust, appears furious.
However, I think such Claire-sama is also good.
I'm not a beginner who can be satisfied with just the beautiful Claire-sama.

Ultimately, who passed the Order of the Academy exam were those who fought in the last three fights, Rod-sama, Sein-sama, Yuu-sama, Claire-sama, Misha, and me, the six of us.
Having received insignia proving our membership in the Order of the Academy, this Sunday's selection exam concluded.
But, there's still something I need to do.

"Claairee-saamaa!"
"I know. Ask me for whatever you like"

Having won our match, I can ask Claire-sama to do one thing.
I've already decided what to ask for.

"My wish is the same as before"
"Eh?"
"No matter what happens, please don't give up"
"Wait a moment, what do you mean? I promised that the last time"

Certainly, that's right, but that's fine.

"It's fine. The same. Please promise me once again"
"I do not mind, but… Are you really fine with that?"
"Yes"
"I understand. I, Claire François, swear to God I will not give up. I will not abandon hope, I swear to continue struggling until the end"
"That's fine"

With this, the exam is truly over.

"Claire-sama, I got hungry. Let's go to the dining hall"
"You don't feel one bit ashamed of such a foul victory"
"Thank you very much! I did my best!"
"I have not praised you!?"

We had our usual noisy conversation.

"Please stay like you are forever, Claire-sama"
"Haa? What is it so suddenly"
"No, it's nothing. Then, let's go, Claire-sama"
"Hey! Do not familiarly touch me, commoner!"

It's good Claire-sama isn't aware of it yet.
Even if it's something that can't be avoided.

I enjoyed Claire-sama today as well.
Let's also admire her tomorrow.

Chapter end