There is No Escaping the Hero 9

There is No Escaping the Hero

Chapter 9: Thief vs. Princess Part 2

Seeing Soare cover her chest and back away, Solo was convinced of his victory. Someone born and raised in the gutter like him might be different, but for a princess of noble birth, no matter how much she was wearing underneath, her sense of shame should prevail.

A brilliant move striking at that very point—this was the fighting style of a thief.

“…”

“Princess, let us leave it at this for now.”

Schutz intervened at the perfect moment. The method was highly regrettable, but it didn’t change the fact that her will to fight had been broken.

At this moment,

(Solo, I’m counting on you!)

(Leave it to me, Pops!)

Knight and thief; though their acquaintance was brief, they could communicate their hearts like this.

Solo, with all his might,

“Yesss!”

“Ah, he got away.”

Full-speed dash. Being detained as a suspicious person was a concern if he waited outside the door. Here, he had no choice but to run with all his might and escape the royal palace.
While her anger was deflated—escape outside.

But, right before the door,

“Azul-Proc Fahr.”

A wall of blue flame blocked Solo’s path.

“Eh? What is this?”

A flame he had never seen. Yet, he knew without even getting close.
Because it was incredibly—

“I won’t let you escape, obviously.”

Hot. He could tell even from a distance, it was an outrageous temperature. He didn’t even feel like getting close.

“…P-Princess. Even if this is a training ground, using magic inside the royal palace is…”

“Silence, Schutz.”

“Eep.”

She removed the hand covering her chest and stood up as if to say, If you want to see my underwear, go ahead and look. It was a dignified demeanor. As expected of royalty, she was resolute.
However, she absolutely would not let him escape, and she would take his life.

That absolute killing intent was evident in her eyes, deep blue like the flames.

“Are you prepared? Thief.”

(…This is baaad.)

He intended to break her will to fight and run away, but he had completely stepped on a tiger’s tail. Whether it was Luna or Soare, he wished they would act more modest and princess-like.
If they did, he could have escaped perfectly—

“Actually, why are the flames blue?”

“That is nobility.”

“I-I don’t understand the meaning. …Anyway, I’ll return the buttons, so forgive me?”

“…?”

Seeing Soare tilt her head with a smile, Solo realized his desperate negotiation had failed and looked up slightly at the heavens.
The opponent intended to kill. However, he had no intention of killing royalty inside the royal palace. He was already hated tremendously by the King; if he laid a hand on the Princess in a place like this, it would normally be an execution offense. Even gutter-raised Solo could understand that.

He had to neutralize her without killing her.

However,

“Bloom blue, Azul-Lever.”

Seeing blue flames spilling from her mouth as if her insides were burning, he felt it was impossible no matter how he thought about it.
More than he thought—

“Huh?”

“Was speed your pride?”

Strong, and fast.
She got behind him in an instant.

『She’s temporarily boosting her physical abilities with fire magic!』

(Toro-suke! Do that for me too!)

『Even if I can boost magic, if you can’t use it, Partner, it’s impossible for me!』

(Dammit!)

Solo threw away shame and reputation, executing a forward roll to dodge. His wild instinct told him that a diving dodge was necessary or he would be killed before his next move.
He rolled around and ran away with that momentum.

“Ooh, magnificent evasion.”

“I don’t need compliments, so stop her, Pops!”

“But, exposing a lady’s, um, boing was bad on your part, or rather—”

“Schutz, prepare yourself as well.”

“…Should I escape while I can?”

Incredibly fast. Incredibly strong. And incidentally, hot.

“Bloom Blue Flames! Azul-Proc Blade!”

While further improving her physical abilities, she clad her sword in blue flames. That flash—he had no choice but to rely on his wild instinct to dodge.
As expected of a skilled thief (self-proclaimed), he managed to dodge even in such a state.

But,

“…Ah, aah.”

Solo was speechless at the power of the blue flame blade that carved incredibly deep into the wall and even cut through the trees outside.
If that hit, he would die.

“Die.”

Soare’s death sentence.

“H-Hieee.”

Solo was scared out of his wits.

『Partner, um, I don’t want to use it in such a lame place, but, well, just so you know, there is a way to do something about it.』

(W-What did you say!?)

『Offer a sacrifice to me. For example, offering an arm… this is technically the pay-to-win plan. Usually, this kind of thing is reserved for when the opponent is a much stronger enemy, though.』

(…I just plainly hate that.)

『But, aren’t we out of options? An eye is fine too. Or even hair would work somehow.』

(…Will I go bald?)

『You’ll go bald.』

(Will it grow back?)

『Won’t grow back for a lifetime.』

(Rejected.)

Solo and Toro exchanged bullet-speed talk in their minds while in a predicament. Finally, the Demonic Sword Troll’s original function, the Sacrifice System, was presented.
However, Solo plainly rejected it.
It was better to have two arms, and distance perception was important so he needed two eyes. He absolutely hated going bald. If it grew back, maybe, but never growing back was out of the question.

So,

(I got an idea.)

『Nani!?』

(Move exactly as I imagine. I’ll leave everything except the left hand to you.)

『…Seriously? Eh, can you do this?』

(I’ll do it. I… won’t go bald!)

Hearing the pay-to-win plan, Solo awakened. He had relied completely on Toro until now, but here, if he didn’t get through this with his own power, in the worst case, he would end up bald.
He wanted to avoid that at all costs.
Still,

(I’m young!)

He was too young to accept baldness.

“…Does that mean you surrender?”

Seeing Solo suddenly sheathe his sword and stand still, Soare floated a question mark. She intended to behead him no matter what he said, but even so, she hesitated a little to cut down a defenseless human.

“No way. I’m gonna win.”

Straight, clear, powerful eyes.
Slightly overwhelmed by them,

(…It’s a bluff. There’s no way a man like that can do anything about my strongest magic combo. The opponent isn’t Elder Sister. Just a thief; there’s no way I’ll lose!)

She scolded herself.

“Then, die!”

Spilling breaths of blue flame, she gripped the sword of blue flame.
This is the end; she closed the distance at once.
Tremendous speed.

“…?”

During the approach, Solo’s right hand touched the sword. What does he intend to do? She was slightly wary, but that was no reason for her, who boasted superior speed, to fall for a petty trick.
She would crush him head-on, fair and square.
High stance, cutting everything down with a diagonal slash.

“W-What the!”

Schutz was astonished.
Solo,

“Fungaaa!”

With the intent to die trying, executed a diving dodge, ducking under and to the opposite side of the diagonal slash’s trajectory. As expected of his escape skills; his tenacity to escape somehow even with inferior speed was magnificent.

But, she could simply turn normally, look back, and cut down Solo who was lying prone from the emergency evasion. It was futile resistance.
Soare looked back.
And she saw.

“Don’t move.”

Solo’s annoying face, triumphant for some reason.
That face, she would cut it down. She stepped forward.

Then,

“Huh?”

Her legs got tangled. No, it wasn’t that she fumbled her footwork. There was no way she, who had trained chasing her supreme sister, would make such an elementary mistake.
But her legs wouldn’t move properly.

And then, she realized.
What was gripped in Solo’s left hand.

That was,

“W-What does this mean?”

It was a belt. The one she used habitually. Her legs tangled, Soare fell vigorously face-first onto the ground. There, she finally realized.

“Hegy!?”

Not just the belt, but her trousers had been pulled down to about halfway.

It was an unbelievable story. In that split second, he stole the belt and, as if incidental, pulled down her trousers. Incredible sleight of hand; it was on a different level.

“Told you, didn’t I? I win.”

Solo thrust his partner Toro at Soare, who was prone on the ground, and loudly declared victory. Clutching the belt in his left hand—
It was a smug face that outdid his previous one.

***

“Schutz! Why did you stop me!?”

Soare stood up again to kill Solo who had declared victory, but Schutz stopped her, and Solo escaped from there like a rabbit.

This is what happened after.

“It was Princess’s loss.”

“T-That is…”

“Moreover, many times… that man could have killed you.”

“Haa? I understand the end, but I was overwhelming him the rest of the time!”

“No, if the hand that swiped the buttons had held a knife, Princess would have been killed. For every button stolen, Princess was defeated.”

“…Tch.”

Yes, if Solo had the intent to kill, he could have killed Soare with the same motion he used to steal the buttons unnoticed.

Moreover,

(Regarding the end… he guided her gaze to his right hand by sheathing his sword and touching it during close quarters, creating a blind spot on the left side despite being directly in front. The precision of his left hand was tremendous, but the true worth was in the setup before that.)

To accomplish the final big job, he sheathed his sword and touched it during the approach to guide her field of vision to the right side of his body, creating a blind spot on his left side even though he was in front.
At that point, if it was just killing a person, he could have done it easily.
The fact that he didn’t was Solo’s pride as a thief. He would not kill; that strong will was felt. Even when he was about to be killed, there was not even a hint of wavering.
Schutz saw a man in that.

“Unexpectedly, he is a man of backbone, isn’t he?”

“I… do not acknowledge him.”

“…From here on, we intend to go on a long journey to search for a stronger weapon blessed by Goddess-sama.”

“Schutz is? Why?”

“I forgot to mention, but I have been banished from the royal palace.”

“…Father did that?”

“I am a knight who could not protect his liege. It is a natural treatment.”

Soare had an expression that said unbelievable.

“How the man whom Luna-sama protected with her life at the very end will live. I intend to watch over that while doing what I must do.”

“…”

“Well then, farewell!”

Having lost the kingdom’s strongest warrior, the kingdom’s most trusted knight was also leaving. Soare watched that large back leave.
Just like the time she saw her sister off—

“…”

It overlapped with the scenery of that day when she felt her powerlessness.

***

“Oy, oy, oy, Pops. Isn’t this quite the treasure chest?”

“Well, it is my retirement money, after all.”

Having met up outside the royal palace, Solo and Schutz stayed one night at the finest hotel in the White City Andweiss, the pride of the Kingdom of Andreia, thinking might as well. Two men sharing a room didn’t matter. Solo cried loudly at the fluffiest bed he had ever experienced in his life and fell asleep instantly.
When he woke up after sleeping like a log, it was morning, and various things had been delivered from the royal palace to the hotel entrance.
Among them, a magnificent treasure chest stood out.

“Hey, hey, Pops. Can I open it?”

“Hmm, can’t be helped. Just a little, okay? Just a little.”

“Hehehe, I’m looking forward to this.”

Even Solo understood that Schutz was quite the knight. If it was his retirement money, wouldn’t it be considerable? He expected.
What if there were incredibly valuable things in there?
Opening it with such excitement—

“…Hmm?”

Inside was a wooden stick that looked foldable. And one white coin.
That was all.

“…”

Both of them were speechless.

“…Th-This stick is a cane, like ‘Do your best on your long journey’? C-Could it be that this coin is incredibly, um, valuable?”

“…White iron isn’t a particularly expensive metal.”

“…Then, um, what is this? Harassment?”

“Fuhaha, perhaps.”

“It’s not a laughing matter! It’s definitely that King! This is too insulting, no matter what! We should go protest, Pops. For my sake too!”

“I will not. Besides, look, leaving the carriage behind means we can take this too. Carriages are expensive, you know. And the horses.”

“How do we pay for the horses’ food?”

“Just let them eat grass along the way.”

“Mukiii!”

Having stayed one night at a luxury hotel, just that made him feel like a rich man, and as a result of his mental Engel coefficient skyrocketing, Solo couldn’t forgive a meager profit.
Actually, the carriage was very grateful and high-class, but—

Also,

(…A white iron coin. How nostalgic, Your Majesty.)

In a sense, this was happier for Schutz than any treasure. Because he could reaffirm that even amidst anger, grief, and despair, there was a bond between the King and the knight.
A commemorative coin of Andweiss. Issued in the era when he became a knight.
At the same time, it was the era when the current King ascended the throne at a young age.

“Well, I have some savings myself. I won’t let you go hungry for a while.”

“What the heck~. Pops is mean too. If that’s the case, no problem!”

“However, luxury is the enemy.”

“Mukiii! Let’s stay one more night!”

“No.”

“Mukimukiii!”

Smiling wryly at Solo throwing a tantrum, Schutz thought about this city. It would be a long journey from now on. He might never return.
Either way, for him—

“Pops. Teach me how to drive the carriage!”

“Fuhaha, I don’t mind.”

Pulled back by Solo’s endlessly cheerful voice, Schutz switched his thinking and decided to look forward. Surely, ahead—

“Good morning, Schutz. It’s a perfect day for a journey.”

Surely good things,

“…Princess? Why are you here?”

“I said I was going with Schutz and got disowned. So, treat me well.”

“Huh?”

Might happen. Or might not.
Anyway, the traveling companions increased from two to three. Happily ever after.

Soare Andreia, now Soare Azul, joined the party.

Forcibly.