“I don’t mean to belittle others, but when it comes to experience and skills, I think the answer is….”
“Andras, what do you mean? I don’t think I’ll ever be pushed back, either.”
“That’s great. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to take this opportunity to check each other’s skills.”
Everyone showed no signs of backing down easily.
It felt like they were about to start the “second-ranking battle” following the last outing.
Ryan and I were flustered by the atmosphere that keeps getting heated up.
“Hohoho, that’s nice. You all want to check each other’s skills, right? Then, I’ll help you.”
SLURP!
SLURP!
SLURP!
“Mi, Mister. Kaneff?”
“Ah?!”
Blue chains shot forth from Kaneff’s wrist.
“The person who endures my attack for a long time will be Sihyeon’s escort. I will attack you with all my heart without taking any regard for you, so there will be no complaints, right?”
He said he would help, but his eyes were full of thoughts to vent his anger on the three people.
The three, who never backed down until a while ago, waved a white flag.
“Shall we decide by drawing lots?”
“Well, that sounds fair?”
“I’ll bring some paper and a pen.”
The three prepared hurriedly for drawing lots.
Kaneff pulled back the chain with a look of boredom.
Andras cut the paper he had brought into small pieces and wrote down the names of the three while writing his name on a bigger paper.
Ryan shook the bag of paper well and held it out toward me.
“Sihyeon, please pick one. You’ll be taking the person whose name comes out, as your escort.”
“Um… okay.”
I put my hand in the bag under the heavy gaze of the three.
Every time I moved my hand, I felt the crunch of the paper.
After stirring the bag to mix well, I picked up a piece of paper hanging on my fingertips.
Then I slowly unfolded the folded paper and read out the name written there.
“…. Kaneff!!?”
“‥‥?”
“What? Kaneff?”
Everyone looked puzzled by the name that came out of the blue.
Kaneff scratched his cheek and muttered embarrassingly.
“I was bored, so I wrote down my name. Do you have a problem with it?”
“Ah, no, Mr. Kaneff!”
Huh… when did he sneak in one?
It was even more amazing that I picked that one.
For a moment, everyone looked at Kaneff with a disappointed look.
Kaneff got irritated by the slightly resentful stare.
“Argh! What!? Even if I can’t go, can’t I join in……Yeah Yeah, go ahead… have fun on your own.”
Kaneff lay down on the couch in a sulky way and turned around.
It must have felt very unfair to him for being excluded from the candidate.
After a moment’s delay in appeasing him, I put my hand back into the bag.
This time, I picked up a piece of paper faster than before.
Three demons were full of nervousness and anticipation.
I unfolded the paper and read the name written on it.
BAM
The standing target exploded with a loud explosion sound.
Andras, who was watching from the side, nodded his head satisfactorily.
“I think you’re good at using Artifact’s attack magic.”
“Really?”
“Yes, just one more thing. If you use a series of high-output magic, the defense magic may not work. If you just keep that in mind, there won’t be much of a problem.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you for making such a good artifact.”
“No problem.”
Andras smiled at my thanks.
I also replied with a smile, but suddenly his face darkened.
“If I had been with you, I wouldn’t have had to give you these artifacts…”
Andras muttered with a lot of regrets.
Looking at Andras feeling that way, I felt sorry for him.
I patted him on the shoulder and offered him words of comfort.
“Don’t be too disappointed. We’ll have another chance.”
“I hope so too even though I don’t want Sihyeon to get into danger. If I get that chance, I’ll definitely protect you.”
Andras was not chosen for the escort mission.
I guess he was looking forward to it.
Although he usually doesn’t show his emotions well, right now, I could clearly feel his disappointment.
I would like to take all the farm members, but the inflexible Angels’ side would not allow it easily.
Still, I didn’t let go of my expectation that I would have a chance someday.
After practicing using the artifact, we headed to the farm building while talking about various other things.
“Senior!”
Alfred found us and came running from afar.
He held my sword in his hand.
“Where did you two go?”
“I went to learn how to use artifacts from Andras.”
“I see. Here’s your sword, I’ve done all the maintenance.”
I took the sword from Alfred and drew my sword.
A sharp light shone on the cleanly polished blade.
“Wow… You should have gone through a lot of trouble for this… I’m sorry.”
“No, I did it on my own, Senior. I can’t make you a great artifact like Andras, this is all I can do for you. I’m glad I could help you like this.”
“You’ve been helping me a lot recently, including all the training.”
“That’s all right, hehe.”
“Thank you. I’ll use it well.”
I thanked Alfred while holding my sword.
He nodded with pride.
Andras, who was watching from the side, asked Alfred.
“Elaine, aren’t you sad that you couldn’t go with Sihyeon?”
“Me? Um… I was really sad at first, but I think I’m okay now. There’ll always be another chance.”
Alfred replied calmly as if he had brushed off his lingering feelings.