Chapter 51: Chapter 51

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: Weakness Exposed

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm doomed, I'm absolutely doomed..."

Dorothy groaned, scattering a gloomy atmosphere with her endless complaints.

"Dorothy. Don't worry too much. It'll be fine."

"Don't talk nonsense. We barely practiced, so what's there to be fine about?"

"Ugh..."

Shiu couldn't refute her words.

Indeed, it was true that they hadn't practiced properly, just as Dorothy said.

It wasn't that they weren't given time. Everyone else had been given the same amount.

...The problem was, Dorothy hadn't been able to focus properly.

"Doesn't Arte practice...? She just watches all the time."

"Well, I don't know."

From what he'd briefly observed, she didn't seem to be doing anything other than conversing with Amelia.

"Still, don't let your guard down. Both of them are strong."

"It's a tournament, so there's no guarantee we'll even meet them! What's with 'don't let your guard down'..."

"No, we just need to meet them. If we keep winning, won't we eventually face them?"

"...You're overflowing with confidence, aren't you?"

"Of course."

Arte and Amelia were strong. He was sure of it, having seen them himself.

As long as the two of them were together, he didn't think they'd lose to students their age.

He also didn't think *he* would lose.

Unlike other students, he had experienced many different incidents, so he was confident he was better at fighting.

Eventually, if they kept winning, they'd meet them sometime.

"I'm counting on you, Dorothy."

"...Yeah. Well, alright."

And he had also confirmed Dorothy's abilities.

She had been instantly defeated by Amelia at the start of the semester, hadn't she? He understood why now.

Her ability was useless fighting alone.

No wonder she couldn't win.

However, in a 2-on-2 tournament like this, it was a different story.

Because she could fully utilize her ability.

Perhaps they could even defeat Arte.

He entertained that thought.

"Everyone, pay attention! The tournament is about to begin! Those waiting may observe the matches and leave comments! Reviewing other students' performances will also be helpful!"

"Ah, it's starting."

"I wonder what kind of fight Arte and Amelia will put up."

He didn't even consider the possibility of losing.

There was only one thing he was curious about. Would the two of them cooperate?

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't imagine it.

***

"...Hey, Arte. Is this right?"

"Of course. Now, you'll be wearing this tied around you."

The content of this test wasn't difficult.

It was about how well they could utilize each other.

Utilizing someone you've just met is usually difficult, but since she already knew Amelia's ability...

...subduing the students easily wouldn't be difficult.

"This feels a bit unpleasant. This is, well, I mean..."

"I know. It might feel a little unpleasant. But isn't this efficient?"

"Hmm, is that so...?"

Fortunately, Amelia seemed to have been convinced.

It was a bit amusing how Amelia would instantly agree if you just added a few words about efficiency or how it was the best method.

She would never be able to do that herself.

"That's enough chatter. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

She saw the opponents, clearly tense.

Hmm, still, what a pity.

She couldn't lose to mere extras.

As long as she was teamed with Amelia, she couldn't lose to these nobodies, for the sake of the plot.

"Begin!"

*Bang*, the gunshot echoed, and immediately after.

Amelia instantly accelerated, and the battle began.

"...!? Fa-fast! Block her!"

"No! Amelia gets weaker the faster she goes! It won't hurt much, so target Arte first!"

Hmm. ...Who was that? A classmate?

Given they knew her and Amelia, it seemed likely, but she couldn't recall their faces.

She didn't bother remembering the faces of every doll.

She didn't know who it was, but it was a good judgment.

Amelia was harder to catch the faster she went, but her attack power was nullified. They knew her well.

They were as annoying as gnats, but if their attacks weren't significant, the plan was to deal with *her* first, then leisurely handle Amelia.

A gun that dealt consistent damage regardless of the user?

Guns couldn't inflict significant damage on superhumans, and the recoil upon firing created a large opening, making them unusable. They had a good grasp of Amelia's ability.

They were smart extras, knowing to ignore the annoyance beside them and target the main objective.

And it was truly typical of an extra to ruin things with such a judgment.

If her attack power was weakened, they just wouldn't attack, so they wouldn't care?

Then they should have thought about *why* she would bother doing that.

"Sorry. My attack power might be weak, but *this* isn't."

"?! Th-this! It's thread! Dodge!"

Amelia's attack power was weak.

...However, my threads weren't.

What did they think was the reason Amelia accelerated from the very beginning? She didn't even need to accelerate to fight.

Not considering that was their downfall.

My threads were thin and hard to see, but if I overtly attacked, the magic imbued in them would give opponents a chance to dodge.

They were fast, but not impossible to dodge. ...However, the more they dodged, the fewer times I could attack. Because my clothes would decrease.

But this was an arena, observed by countless students. I wanted to conserve my threads as much as possible. So what should I do?

Normally, to conserve threads, I would set them up in one place and use them as opponents approached, but pre-setting wasn't possible here.

So how could I make sure the opponents wouldn't notice?

The solution was quite simple. I would tie invisible threads to Amelia's body, and Amelia would scatter them throughout the arena.

They hadn't noticed the thin threads and charged at me, but it was already too late. The threads had already been set up across the arena.

When the threads scattered by Amelia, imbued with magic, flew at them from all directions, they panicked, but it was already too late.

One student who knew us well managed to escape in time, but the other panicked and that was the end of him.

His entire body was bound by threads flying in from all sides.

"Hey, Arte. Did you *have* to tie this around my neck? ...It feels so dog-like. No, not swearing. Couldn't you have just tied it to my hand?"

"It might fall off if I tied it to your hand."

"...Really?"

It felt unsettling, though...

Saying that, Amelia fiddled with her neck.

...Well, it wasn't wrong. It was true that this was more comfortable than tying it to her hand.

She had grown too accustomed to tying it around her neck by now.

If she tied it to her hand or something, it would feel a bit... how should she put it?

Like she might make a mistake? She preferred tying it around her neck.

"You're alone now. What will you do?"

"Co-come on!"

"Oh, you've got spirit. Good."

Amelia, having deactivated her acceleration, cut the thread on her neck with her spearhead and laughed spiritedly.

And that was the end of it.

Though he charged spiritedly, he couldn't withstand the attacks from her and Amelia, whose threads were already spread everywhere, and he was overwhelmed.

"...It's good that it ended quickly. Good work."

"Alright. Now that you're done, return to your seats and rest. You may also observe the other matches."

[Good work, Reader! You were awesome!]

Ending the game instantly with minimal threads made her feel good.

To think the battle ended with just one half-glove.

Of course, they were just extras who could be easily dealt with, but it seemed she could easily finish future battles too.

It felt like her biggest concern had been resolved. After all, the longer a fight dragged on, the more disadvantaged she became.

If she killed them, it wouldn't matter if she ended up naked, so that would be fine, but this was a school. Her opponents were students. She couldn't kill them.

So she had to fight while holding back, which inevitably increased the consumption of her threads.

Ultimately, the threads she could use were limited to her half-gloves and stockings. Using anything else incorrectly would lead to big trouble.

Of course, a break time was given after the fight, so she could replenish her clothes.

...Still, she couldn't suddenly change her clothes in the middle of a fight, could she?

Unlike villains, the dolls watching now were students.

It was impossible to eliminate such a large number of people, not just one or two.

She absolutely couldn't accidentally use too many clothes during a fight and end up looking like a pervert in front of this many people.

Fortunately, thanks to Amelia, she seemed to have found an easy solution, which made her feel good.

***

"Wow, so that's how they do it."

"...Simple, but effective."

This was Shiu's impression after watching Amelia and Arte's match.

It was a simple but effective method. Amelia's incredible speed was used to set up threads, then attack from all directions.

A method to supplement Amelia's lacking attack power with Arte's threads.

A very efficient method.

"I'm envious. If they do that, they'll probably get good evaluations."

"...Well, I don't know."

"Huh?"

"Couldn't Arte have just attacked normally...?"

That was Shiu's question.

Of course, it was a good method for Amelia to set up and Arte to attack.

...But, did they really *need* to do it that way?

Wouldn't it have been enough if Arte and Amelia had just attacked separately?

Dorothy answered Shiu's question.

"Isn't there a reason they *had* to do it that way?"

"A reason?"

"Yes. If they did something they didn't strictly need to do, there must be a reason for it."

A reason, huh.

Shiu pondered why Arte hadn't used her threads directly.

...And after a moment of thought.

Shiu finally realized.

"N-no way."

"...? Did you realize something?"

"No, no way. That can't be..."

Until now, Shiu had thought Arte possessed the ability to emit magic as threads.

Even when he first fought Arte, magic threads had been unleashed.

But what if that wasn't it?

...What if, instead of converting magic into threads, the threads simply *absorbed* magic to become stronger?

Suddenly, Arte's hand entered Shiu's vision.

One of her half-gloves, which should have been there, was gone.

"No way, even back then...?"

When he first fought Arte.

He had been too busy frantically dodging to properly observe Arte.

...Back then, had Arte been wearing stockings on her legs?

He felt as if he had seen Arte's weakness.

But if that was true, could he really exploit it?

Shiu's mind became complicated.