《chapter might be choppier than usual.》《escort interchangeable with guard/bodyguard/personal bodyguard》《bancho is school (delinquent) leader》

100% accuracy and grammatically correct not guaranteed. revisions, corrections and edits are periodically done. only on my site tho. corrections are welcome. text inside { } is kanji reading provided by author-san

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「tei」→ 『gusha!』《………whut?》

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Our chat over tea ended and we left the café. The sky is beginning to be dyed in the color of sunset, blurring the boundary between day and night.

「I ought to return soon. Any later than this, Rand's wrath would be dreadful.」

Faima is smiling bitterly. Did she imagined Rand's angry face awaiting her return?

I stop the girl who was trying to leave by herself in a hurry.

「I'll send you back. It's dangerous to let an ojou-sama walking alone through the town at dusk.」

「Ara, how gentlemanly of you.」

「I daresay that n.o.body embodies a gentleman as much as I do. ………Jokes aside, there's also that time when we first met and you just got yourself entangled with a strange guy a while ago. I'm worried about you.」

「It would have been much better if only you just said the last words. Thank you, nonetheless. Then, would you kindly escort me?」

「It would be my pleasure, milady.」

Acting out the third-rate play brought us to laughter.

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The two of us are walking side by side along the presently lonely road of Draknil, albeit with the same liveliness it had during the day. Even though the surroundings are still boisterous, it felt mysteriously like the loneliness after a festival. It's probably because the conversation with Faima was more enjoyable than I had originally thought.

「……Say, Kanna.」

Adorned with a lonesome smile, Faima begins to talk without any preamble.

「Before, I offered you a contract to be my exclusive escort. I ask you again, won't you accept it?」

Come to think of it, there was that too.

「Are you dissatisfied with only Rand and the other two?」

「That is not true. They are always aiding me and I am grateful for that even if that is their role. However, our talk today made me consider anew the thought of having you as a part of them.」

「Unfortunately, I don't think that there's anyone else who would be more disrespectful to a n.o.ble than me.」

I had already forgotten about 80% of the content on aristocratic measures I attended the other day. I barely even remember the names of the most influential aristocrats. I could never imagine someone like that serving as an escort to an ojou-sama of a n.o.ble house.

「I will not seek the luxury of demanding etiquette from you. Only for you to share a leisurely tea break with me and like today, to walk around aimlessly while childishly engaging in a lively conversation.」

Did the same feeling of loneliness after a festival inundated Faima as well? Feels like she's recalling the fun we had in the last few hours judging from her far away look.

「It does not concern me if my overbearing conduct to someone I have never met would be reciprocated with loathing. In the corner of my mind, I have resigned myself on that matter. Whether I personally dislike it or not, what they are looking at is not me personally but my family name.」

Rather than forcing herself to socialize through a fake persona time and again, it is much more fun for her to study the theory of magic. So says the girl in self-derision.

For some reason, I realize that what she's looking for is not an [escort].

「As far as my memories would serve, with the exception of my family and escorts, you are the first person to see [me] not as the young lady of a n.o.ble household but as the individual named [Faima]. I presume that is the reason why I thought it was so much fun talking with you. When was the last time I had a silly, meaningless conversation devoid of any schemes and pretenses, I wonder?」

You flatter me……

………is definitely not what I can say right now.

From what I've heard today, her household is considerably prestigious and substantially powerful. Even among blood relatives, there's no shortage of those who tried to curry favor with her household through Faima behind the scenes. Just how difficult it would be to make a friend in such an unforgiving environment.

I can imagine the hards.h.i.+p of it because I'm close to Ayana. When we first met, the only person Ayana cared about was her best friend, Misaki.

「It is not particularly my wish to have you to stay by my side around the clock. You are free to spend your free time however you wish. I only ask that you stay by my side when I wish for it. And when we do, it is all right for you to talk with me not as Faima, the young lady of a n.o.ble household but as Faima. Simply Faima.」

「Quite the attractive contract for a mere escort.」

It's no longer about an escort but an invitation to an ordinary tea party.

「So? How about it?」

It's only during the moment but can I bear the weight of becoming her exclusive escort? Such thought is coursing in one corner of my head.

Still, what she really wants is not a connection in the form of a [contract], it's something more [ambiguous]. Her loner days might've been too long and instilled something weird in her mind because a child raised normally wouldn't end up with such a way of thinking.

Now then, how should I go about this and tell her.

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Before I could reply to her, the situation abruptly change.

「There they are! Over there!」

In the midst of hustle and bustle of the evening crowd, a loud voice reverberates. Slightly later, multiple footsteps kicking the ground gradually approaching our position can be heard.

Well now, from when and where did I hear that voice. Recently, at that.

As if thinking the same thing, Faima's countenance goes like 「hn?」while we exchange glances. And then, we turn our attention towards the voice.

Looking closely, isn't that the n.o.ble gaudy I ko-ed with [Crawling German Suplex] a few hours ago? He's rus.h.i.+ng here followed by several guys with a body that screams [physical labor banzai!]

「Oi, woman! How dare you make a fool out of me!」

Says gaudy while pointing here, still running all the while. He looks pretty angry.

Faima beside me goes [uwaa……] with her face cramping.

Apparently, gaudy has been searching for her ever since he recovered. Along with his minions.

Anyways,

「tei!」ーーgusha

「hebuaa!?」

My body moves almost naturally, flicking an instantly manifested ice pebble that goes straight to gaudy's nose.

What happened would've been impossible for gaudy to understand. He was running at the forefront when he got hit by the impact that caused him severe pain and subsequently made him go tumbling down flas.h.i.+ly. His minions -muscle corps- running closely behind also got rolled up, tumbling down like a domino.

「ーーeeee……」

Faima who understood what had transpired pulls an incomprehensible expression with that voice. Looking at it through the lens of common sense, her reaction would be the natural one. I then pull the dumbfounded girl's hand.

「Let's skedaddle.」

「…………Is that okay?」

Faima sends a pitiful glance to gaudy who's writhing while holding down his b.l.o.o.d.y nose. He was further stomped by his muscle corps minions when he tumbled, resulting in a very messy scene. After all, his HP decreased by half in one go.

The first move unfolded exactly as planned.

「Not really but it's not exactly the atmosphere for [let's have some tea~]. Like I said before, we would be brought straight into the back alley for some slimy ma.s.seuse in a nyannyan scene that couldn't be shown to a child. No choice for us but to escape.」

She didn't get the meaning of slimy ma.s.seuse in a nyannyan scene but she must've guessed the overall context from the [taken into back alley part]. Even so, she censures me.

「I do believe that half the reason he is angry was because of you.」

「I did it calmly without any hesitation, but I have no regrets.」

「………I had forgotten that you are a man who would utter those words without hesitation. Perhaps it was a mistake of mine to invite you as an escort. Although I do agree with escaping.」

No worries. I haven't said I'll become your exclusive escort yet. Regardless, we begin our second great escape for today.

As we started running, I look back to see several of the muscle corps who hadn't been caught up in gaudy's fall is chasing after us. Further behind them is gaudy. Teary-eyed due to pain, he's holding his nose and shouting something while pointing at our direction. He's probably clamoring [chase them, you dogs!].

「I could hazard a guess from the similarity but where did [you dogs] come from?」

「My very own version.」

「I hate myself for asking.」

《faima implies yarou domo, text says dabo domo》

Whatcha mean by that?

We exchanged banter in that fas.h.i.+on without a single fragment of tension.

Now then, despite the fact that we are escaping under the cover of dusk, I overlooked a somewhat problematic matter.

First, I'm not familiar enough with Draknil's layout to form a solid escape route. I'm familiar with the area around where I'm currently lodging and the area around the adventurer's guild but I can't say the same for this area because I only come here occasionally. Though that part isn't much of a problem, yet.

It's even lukewarm compared to the great escapade that Yuuzuki started when he was entangled with local delinquents back during our school trip. The cause was the school bancho's girl who became spellbound by the ikemen Yuuzuki, tried to get close to him which resulted in the enraged bancho trying to strangle Yuuzuki.

Incidentally, at the time, I was with my other friends at a shop, horsing around with two-sword style by using wooden swords sold there when all of a sudden, the runaway Yuuzuki clung to me in tears, dragging me along in his escapade.

Eventually, we caught the bancho in a trap, stripped him buck naked and proceeded to immortalize the moment with our smartphone. We then threatened to upload the video if he continued to cause us anymore trouble.

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Let's return to the main subject…

The problem now is Faima's scant stamina.

「Y'know, you reeeally need to work on your stamina.」

Around 5 minutes from the start of our second great escape, Faima is completely out of gas. She's leaning against the wall of a back alley we hid ourselves in, much too breathless to even respond to my words. Running by her side earlier, I noticed that she was close to her limit from her appearance and immediately entered the nearest back alley.

Fortunately, gaudy's minions chasing after us didn't notice. As luck would have it, they must've lost sight of us in the crowd. What's more, the exit to this back alley can be seen at the opposite side from where we entered. After all, rus.h.i.+ng into a back alley haphazardly in an unfamiliar place may end up in getting cornered in a cul-de-sac.

However, even if there's a clear escape route, she'll run out gas again before we manage to get out. Hopefully they'll give up on us and withdraw but it doesn't seem that they will let us go that easily.

I can hear their voice from where we entered the back alley. Following that is the sound of them running. A little while later, gaudy once again makes an appearance.

I take a look at Faima once more. She hasn't recovered enough to immediately continue running. Even if she push on unreasonably, they will soon catch up.

If our opponents are only members of the general public, I'd make a stand here and turn the table on them with Spirit Art. Sadly, gaudy seems to be a n.o.bleman's son. Employing force in a face to face confrontation would only result in a larger uproar.

The best way to pick a fight with an influential person is to sink them with a single blow without letting them see my face or enlist the help of someone even higher and crush them flas.h.i.+ly to make it easier for any clean up afterwards.

Faima is an ojou-sama of a n.o.ble household but she's from another country. How much can we rely on the influence of her household remains to be seen, and there's no denying the possibility of this trivial issue leading to diplomatic relations.h.i.+p between two countries deteriorating.

It was also for this reason that Faima hesitated to name herself when she was first entangled with gaudy. As we couldn't settle this matter through physical means{negotiation}, it would be best to concentrate our effort to escape, but the problem is, Faima still doesn't have enough strength to continue escaping.

Frankly, it'd be nice if I could use the ice board. I'd be able to give her a ride and quickly gain some speed all at once. But the ice board doesn't have the maneuverability needed for tight turns. If I were to use it inside the city, accidents are only a matter of time. As soon as I glide out of this back alley, I won't be able to avoid colliding with any pa.s.serby by relying on my sight.

After thinking that far, I finally recall one of my technique.

「Faima, decide in 3 seconds. Piggyback or princess carry. Which one do you prefer?」

「Haa………haa………………Princess carry」

I meant [3 seconds] to urge her, yet Faima responds in exactly 3 seconds while holding her breath. She might've guessed I'm onto something from my expression. I nod with a determined look.

「Today will be the debut of my new technique.」

To start, I manifest ice and put them on my tekkou, elbow, knee and lastly, the sole of my shoes. The crux of this technique lies on the sole. The ice on both shoes are shaped like a blade perpendicular to the ground. Although it has the appropriate sharpness, the purpose of this blade isn't for attacking.

「Forgive my discourtesy, milady.」

「P-Please be gentle.」

As I extend a hand to her, she gingerly entrust herself to me.

I manipulate the ice attached to my tekkou and elbow in a way that increases my physical strength. Thanks to that, I'm not feeling the weight of carrying a person with my arms. Even without taking that into account, Faima is actually lightweight. A surprising category of weight despite being loaded with two large ma.s.s on her chest.

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Gaudy's men are going to pa.s.s the entrance anytime now. In less than a few seconds, they'll reach it.

「Hold on tight so ya don't fall off.」

Faima nods firmly to my final check and wraps her arms around my neck, tightly hugging me. After confirming her body is secured, I turn to look at gaudy and his men.

「Later, pops.」

Leaving behind a parting line not unlike that of the 3rd generation phantom thief, I kick the ground vigorously.

The blade sc.r.a.pes the ground, producing a high-pitched sound. My body steadily accelerates forward with Faima firmly in place. As we steadily glide further into the back alley, I can feel the presence of gaudy and his men surprised by our sudden acceleration.

[Kickblade] should do for the name, I guess. The theory behind it is almost the same as that of the ice board. This is what I'd developed in the last few days.

「As always with you, an ingenious use of magic.」

「I'm honored by your praise.」

Faima's half amazed half surprised remark got me chuckling in high spirits. I slow down a bit before das.h.i.+ng out of the back alley and entering the main street but even by doing so, I still retain a sufficient speed to weave through the crowd.

As the possessor of an [average] level of physical ability, my style is to maintain a distance against superior opponents and shoot them down using Spirit Art. However, distance is meaningless when it comes to opponents as skillful as Answerer. They would forcibly close the distance and bring the fight into close quarter combat. Conversely, in the case of a long-range opponent, I might be able to find a way to escape if I maintain the distance.

Anyhow, it was clear that I need to improve my mobility. That's the reason behind kickblade's completion.

It is inferior in maximum speed compared to the ice board but in return, it has high maneuverability achievable by skillfully controlling the ice blade{glistening sword} attached to each foot. Furthermore, it is possible to instantly accelerate by using only a small amount of force. A very useful feature for emergency avoidance. Going from zero to top speed is impossible but it would be more than enough if I can go from zero to a step below top speed.

Incidentally, I experienced two days of tumbling over and over again before I could achieve a satisfactory level of control.

By paying with merely large amount of sc.r.a.pes, I can now smoothly weave through crowds. Everyone we pa.s.sed by had an astonished look but we are moving at a considerable speed so they probably won't be able to recognize our face.

She seems to have calmed down now that we have settled into a steady speed as Faima loosens her arms around my neck while donning a joyful look.

「fufufu It certainly does not bore me when I'm with you. All the more reason to have you as my escort.」

「Even if I'm not your escort, I'll go out with you when I'm free, y'know.」

When she heard that, she goes 「eh?」while looking at my face. The sight of her staring blankly is so comical that I ended up laughing.

「You don't need a reason to meet your [friends], do you?」

With Faima in my arms, I sped through the capital at dusk.

《nuuuuoooo kannaaaa, you dumbo. why'd you have to go n add the last line!!》