DUEL

Kojo slowly opened his eyes. He tried to move but was unable to do so.

"What the?" Sharone, Koniko, and Lin were on the bed with him in their underwear. Sharone hugged his arm tighter, while Lin, who was on top of him, wrapped her arms around his neck. He tensed but then relaxed.

"This isn't so bad. I knew sleeping on a cloud would give me good dreams," he said, closing his eyes.

(Pervert.)

"I'm not. Now shut up and let me dream in peace."

(Sure. Sleeping on the same bed with three young women. I'm sure you feel like a king right now.)

"Yeah. This is a good dream."

(Luckily, it's not a dream.)

Kojo opened his eyes. "Eh?"

(That's right, you're fully awake, you perv.)

"Wait, if I'm not dreaming then..."

Koniko nuzzled closer to him, his arm going between her breasts. Lin hugged him tighter. He turned and saw Sharone was awake, looking at him. He yelled and turned suddenly, disconnecting himself from Lin, who was startled awake. He quickly got off the bed, but his foot got caught in the clothes lying at the foot of the bed, and he fell with a thud.

The girls stirred from their sleep and sat on the bed.

"Good morning," Sharone said, stretching.

"Good morning, Kojo," Lin greeted, rubbing her eye. Koniko just yawned. Kojo sat facing them.

"What were you doing in my bed?" he asked.

"Well, your bed looked too big for you, so I decided to join you. I told Koniko and Lin they could join if they wanted," Sharone said. "I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Kojo replied nervously. "But why are you all in your underwear?"

(You're one to talk.)

"Huh?" Kojo looked down, realizing he was also in his underwear.

"Well, we can't sleep with our clothes on," Koniko said. "And you would be more comfortable, so we took yours off too."

"D-did...?" Kojo wondered.

(No, Koniko burnt your clothes off using her fire magic.)

"Aww." Kojo looked dejected.

"What's with that look on your face?" Koniko asked, folding her arms. He raised his head and eyed her. She saw the look on his face and blushed, turning away from him.

"Don't look at me like that," she said.

"Sorry," Kojo replied, quickly looking away.

"Are you really sure you don't mind?" Lin asked. "Cause if it bothers you, we can take them off." She said, pulling her bra over her head.

"No, no, it's fine," Kojo said quickly. "You know what? Why don't you guys put on your clothes while I go take a bath."

"Well then, why don't we all bathe together?" Koniko suggested. Kojo looked at her.

"To save water," she said, looking away from him.

"That's a good idea," Sharone said, reaching back to undo her bra.

"On second thought, I'm hungry, aren't you? I think I'll go get us some food real fast while you guys are bathing," he said, quickly getting off the floor and dashing out of the room.

"But you're not wearing any." He closed the door.

(Wimp.)

The others looked at Sharone. She just sighed.

"So what exactly is this?" Koniko asked, looking at the tray Kojo brought. Her nose twitching with curiosity.

"It's called a sandwich," he said, handing some to Koniko and Lin.

"Looks weird, like the bread is eating the vegetables," Lin said.

"Come on, try it," Kojo said, handing one to Sharone and taking a bite out of his.

Lin and Koniko looked at each other before taking a bite out of their sandwiches. Lin looked dreamy.

"This is simply heavenly," Lin exclaimed, while Koniko stuffed herself.

"What magic did you use, or was it a kind of potion?" Koniko asked, taking a bite out of her fifth sandwich.

"It's not magic related. I consider cooking an art," he replied.

"So it's a technique?" Lin asked.

"Well, I guess you could say that recipes are cooking techniques after all."

"No, this isn't something as ordinary as cooking," Koniko said, looking at Kojo expectantly.

"Well, I could teach you if you want."

"Really?" Koniko said excitedly. Then she folded her arms and looked away. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

"I want to learn too," Lin said.

"Me too," Sharone said.

"Okay, I could teach all of you if that's what you want."

Kojo finished his sandwich and stood up.

"Okay, how about we head for the bureau and find a quest?" Kojo said.

"Okay," Sharone agreed.

"It's not like we have anything better to do," Koniko said and got up.

They left for the bureau.

"Let's go check if there are any good bounties," Lin suggested.

They moved toward the billboard.

"Mr. Kojo, I was just coming to see you," said a voice from behind. They turned and saw the raid chief standing behind them.

"Hello, chief, but you don't need to add mister to my name. I'm your subordinate and younger than you," Kojo said.

"In that case, there's no need for formalities. You can call me Jack."

Everyone around was stunned.

"Let's get right to it. The abilities you used to vanquish the Silver Lynx were abnormal. Even an old man like me thought it impossible, yet you managed to do it. There's no one who can explain how you vanquished the beast except yourself. It is my job as raid chief to play my part in protecting the citizens of this province. I need to know of your abilities in order to assess if you're a threat or not. That said, I cannot go against the agreement you signed when you registered. Therefore,"

A ring on his right little finger glowed, and his sword appeared in his hand. He pointed it at Kojo.

"I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you tell me everything I need to know. The same applies if you win."

"Pass," Kojo said. The room fell silent as everyone stared at him.

"It'd be a waste of time, and I feel too lazy to do it. Besides, shouldn't you be more concerned about protecting the city while the walls are being fixed? I know why you're doing this. You want to test out my power to see if you're stronger, but I like to keep people guessing."

The people around began to murmur.

"Such insolence. He must be taught a lesson," one raider said.

"No, Gaston. He's right. I'm basically the strongest raider here. I'm curious to know if there's someone here who could best me," he put his hand behind his head. Lin tugged at his jacket.

"Hm?"

"I know this is selfish of me to ask..."

"Okay, I'll do it."

"Huh?"

"You want information about something."

"But..."

"Come on, you're free to ask. After all, we're friends, and friends are meant to help each other." He smiled at her. She blushed and smiled back.

"Hey, Jack, I've changed my mind. There's this thing I'm curious about. If I win, you tell me everything you know. Sounds fair?"

"It's doable. Yes, I agree."

Kojo lowered his arms and pocketed them.

"Okay, so where are we doing this?"

They stood in an open space outside the bureau compound. People had gathered around to watch the fight.

"Be careful," Sharone said before going to join the others in the crowd.

"Don't hold back," Jack said, raising his sword and making his stance. He then charged at Kojo and made a swing. Kojo sidestepped, and the sword hit the ground, causing it to break. He then turned and started swinging the sword, trying to hit Kojo, but he dodged while moving back.

"Your friend is quite good," said Gaston, who stood next to Sharone. "He must be something if he's able to attract a fine woman such as yourself." He looked at her breasts with a hungry look.

Sharone glared at him from the corner of her eye. He backed off immediately.

"Why won't you attack me?" Jack yelled. He made vines shoot from the ground and wrap around Kojo. He then lunged, cutting Kojo up.

It was then he saw the sparks coming off Kojo's body.

"What is this, some kind of hardening ability, yet he looks normal?" Jack wondered.

Kojo yawned. "I'm bored," he said.

The vines burnt off, and he caught Jack's wrist midway into a vertical swing. He held his shoulder with his other hand and threw him, slamming him into the ground. The crowd murmured.

"That was a fluke," Gaston yelled.

"Actually, that was judo," Kojo thought to himself. Jack got to his feet.

"There's no need to continue this duel. I yield."

The crowd murmured even more.

"You've got to be kidding me," Gaston yelled.

"There's no way our raid chief would lose to a scrawny seventeen-year-old."

"He's trying to use the chief's pride to make him serious," Kojo guessed. Jack, however, ignored him.

"Come, we'll talk in my office," he said, walking toward the building.

Kojo followed. Sharone, Koniko, and Lin went with him. The crowd began to disperse.

Gaston stood there and gritted his teeth.