Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival [WN] - Chapter 31.2

“Well, let’s get started.”

The woman pulled out a dagger and moved towards my right hand as if gliding. I, with my knife at the ready, followed the suit and started walking in the same direction soundlessly.

The Female Thief seemed to be interested in close combat, which didn’t use magic, probably because of her perverse hobby. For me, it was far better than her using level 3 magic, but there were times when magic was used as a distraction from other attacks, like earlier, so I couldn’t let my guard down.

Even though she was only a Rank 2 in simple melee combat, her fighting power was nothing to scoff at, but if she used her trump card, she could kill me with a single blow.

“”Hah!””

*Gakin! 

As we slowly approached each other, we jumped to attack at the same time. Our daggers and black knives sparked as they clashed against each other.

But when I took a few steps back as if I were being played off because of the difference in skill level and physique, the Female Thief took advantage of the opportunity and slashed at me with her dagger. In response, I also released a throwing knife with my left hand, but the Female Thief, perhaps already reading my moments, changed the trajectory of the dagger and flicked the knife away.

“–[Dust]–“

She must have been chanting a spell while moving. The Female Thief used magic, and at that moment, a cloud of dust blew toward me.

Oh no. As I could see magic elements by color, if my vision was blocked, my detection ability would be drastically reduced.

I hurriedly tried to distance myself from the upcoming dust, but the range was too wide. I tried to hide my face from the attack, but the next moment, I felt a sudden shock in my abdomen and was blown several meters away.

“Aria!”

I heard Elena screaming my name. But having been kicked in the abdomen, I couldn’t move right away.

“…Guho!”

As I rolled around on the ground from the impact, I winced in pain, and the footsteps that had been approaching without a sound became slightly audible.

“Oooh, that’s it! I’ll cut you up properly this time!”

The voice told me the position and distance of the Female Thief.

*Hyun!!!

“Huh?”

I heard the startled voice of the Female Thief. I stopped [Heal], which I had been chanting during the battle, just like the Female Thief, and while drawing the thread in my hand with magic power, I threw a blade at the end of the “thread” at the Female Thief, this action made her look at me with widened eyes.

“What is this?

The Female Thief, who did not understand my attack, hurried away from me.

However, she could not avoid my attack since she was standing too close when I released the attack. The Female Thief drew in my string again and threw her blade in a wide arc.

“Tsk!”

I quickly pulled back the string and hid the blade in my sleeve. The Female Thief stood at some distance facing in my direction, as if she became wary of me as she was at first.

However, the Female Thief did not have the same foolish smile on her face as she did at first.

“…What was that? Your magic?”

“What?”

The weapon I just used was a new weapon I made to replace the Cord Weights.

It was made of raw cotton thread. By soaking it in my blood and letting the magic flow through it, I was able to make it move at my will to some extent, just like my hair.

The blade at the end was a copper coin, no longer used as a weight on the string. This time, instead of using it as a weight, it had been sharpened by tapping it with a flat stone and patiently sharpening it until it became a blade.

Half of the reason for my lack of sleep was also this weapon, but it made it just the right weapon for distraction that was hard to spot, moving fast sideways, too light to strike, but even light damage wouldn’t be negligible.

“…You did it.”

The first blow, or perhaps the first strike, was a shallow cut on the Female Thief’s cheek. With the flowing blood, her appearance changed, and when the Female Thief took off her red-haired wig, her dull silver hair, which was cut short, sparkled.

She was disguised as a shopkeeper with Thief’s skill, either by magic or by skills.

Her facial features had hardly changed at all, but she could transform herself into such a different person just by changing her makeup and gestures.

Finally, the other party had become serious. Normally, it would be better to catch them off guard, but it was easier for me to fight them seriously than to fight against someone I could not figure out.

As was the case during the mock battle with Theo, I didn’t match well with opponents who used strange moves. So, even if I could make him take me seriously, I would analyze every detail of his moves.

With this thought in mind, I tightened my grip on my knife, and the Female Thief’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“I thought you were just a kid… who are you?”

“…”

There was no point in divulging information. But I dared to take advantage of the Female Thief’s flippant tone to direct her attention to me.

“I am… just an orphan, just an adventurer…”

I glanced at Elena, who was also staring at me, and quietly held up my black knife.

“I am just a… [Combat Maid] who protects her escort targets and kills the target’s enemies.”