When I looked in the direction he called out to, a silver-haired man was standing there. He had a large scar on his right cheek. The enemy's attention was completely focused on that man. It seemed I was no longer in his sights. I was saved for the time being.

  "There shouldn't be any reason for you to be here! Right!?"

  Clam Selenberg, he had said. I had heard the name before. If I recall correctly, he was the hero of the Sword Corps.

  The man called Clam smoothly drew the sword from his back and took a calm stance. From his posture, devoid of any openings, I could tell he was a first-rate swordsman.

  "You have gone too far. I cannot let a heinous criminal like you live. I, Clam Selenberg, will personally send you to the afterlife."

  It sounded like a standard declaration, but the enemy suddenly distorted his face in intense frustration. He looked flustered, as if this was completely unexpected.

  "Keh. So that's how it is...! Dammit! That shitty woman, did she plan this from the start!?"

  Plan this from the start? What is he talking about?

  He shouted, his emotions running wild.

  "I won't die yet! You die instead!"

  He raised his hand and took a stance. Since I was currently male, I couldn't sense the rise in Magic Power, but he probably intended to use Explosion Magic.

  It's dangerous. Will Clam be okay?

  I watched Clam, feeling anxious inside. However, he remained composed, showing no sign of moving at all.

  Why is he so calm? Why isn't he trying to do anything?

  The Qi he radiated was powerful, but it didn't seem vastly different in strength from mine. Aside from being first-rate, he should just be an ordinary swordsman. Yet, there was no sign of him using magic, nor was he reinforcing his body with Qi.

  Doing nothing against this opponent—isn't that reckless? At this rate, he would definitely fall prey to the explosion. Or did he have some kind of plan—

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  !?

  "Wha... t..."

  ——————Eh!?

  By the time I realized it, Clam's sword was already—

  Buried deep within him. A single thrust through the heart.

  One strike.

  "Gah...!"

  He coughed up blood. Fresh blood gushed from his chest. The event was so sudden that my body trembled.

  What...!? What on earth did he just do!?

  I was watching the two of them closely. I was watching. And yet, I saw nothing. I understood nothing. It wasn't just on the level of 'impossible.'

  Lately, I had become able to track even Inea-sensei's movements—which were faster than mine by several degrees—with my eyes and Qi. And Sensei was a monster who seemed to have transcended humanity.

  Even with my trained eyes and Qi sensory abilities, I couldn't perceive his movement at all. Could such a ridiculous thing exist!?

  I strained my eyes to observe him again, but neither his appearance nor the strength of his Qi had changed. There was no trace of his body being reinforced. In other words, the possibility that he simply moved at super speed should be ruled out.

  If so, the only possibility left would be magic, but... I had never seen or heard of magic that could do something like that.

  When Clam pulled out his sword, the man who had been so imposing just moments ago—the man who had been so strong—collapsed on the spot. Blood flowed endlessly from his chest, soaking into the ground. He would never move again. He would never speak again.

  He was dead. The man who had overwhelmed me from start to finish had died so easily.

  Clam swung his sword sharply to clear the blood, then sheathed it on his back. Then, he slowly approached me where I lay.

  "Are you safe? Can you stand?"

  "Barely. But standing might be... a bit impossible."

  Hearing that, he sighed in relief, turned around, and shouted loudly.

  "Hey! Your friend is safe! You can come out now!"

  Then, a familiar figure appeared. Alice popped out from the shadow of a building.

  I see. So Alice really did call him as reinforcement. When she found me, she rushed over with tears in her eyes.

  And without saying a word, she hugged me.

  "H-hey..."

  Although I had experienced this many times as a woman, I had never had it done to me as a man, so I was involuntarily flustered.

  "Thank goodness... I heard huge explosions in the distance over and over, and I was so worried about what if you were beaten... Really, thank goodness..."

  Saying only that, she buried her face in my chest and began to cry loudly. I decided to say nothing and let her do as she pleased. We had time now. I would wait slowly until she calmed down.

  When she finally stopped crying, I apologized to her from the bottom of my heart.

  "Sorry, Alice. It was reckless after all. He was crazy strong."

  "That's why I told you! Yu, you really are an idiot!"

  "Yeah. If I had been alone, I definitely would have been beaten. In the end, it was Clam-san who defeated him."

  When we both looked toward him, Clam, who seemed to have read the mood, had moved a little distance away and nodded quietly. Turning back to Alice, I continued.

  "I was powerless and naive. I couldn't do almost anything. But—"

  Out of the corner of my eye, I confirmed that the little boy who had been the only one late to escape was still crying energetically. Finally relieved, I dropped my shoulders.

  "It was only a little, but there was something I was able to protect."