Waving his arms about, Guiche acknowledged the cheering.
And then, as if finally noticing Saito's presence there, he turned to face him.
Saito and Guiche stood in the middle of the Court, glaring intently at each other.
“First of all, I commend you for coming here instead of running away!” Guiche remarked in a sing-song voice, as he twirled his rose.
“Like anyone would run away!”
“Right then, let us begin,” said Guiche.
Less talk, more action. Saito rushed forward. Fights are won by whoever gets in the first strike!
It's roughly ten paces to where Guiche is. I don't care much for nobles or mages; I'm just going to crush that arrogant nose of yours down to size!
Guiche watched Saito with a leisurely smile and flicked his rose.
A petal floated down as if dancing in the air…
And became the armor-clad shape of a female warrior.
Its height was about the same as a person’s, but it appeared to be constructed from some hard metal. Under the pale sunlight, its skin… its armor gleamed.
It stood stoically in Saito's way.
“Wh-what the heck is this?!”
“I am a mage, therefore I fight using magic. Surely you have no complaints?”
“Wh-why you…”
“I guess I forgot to mention earlier. My Runic name is „the Bronze.“ Guiche the Bronze. Accordingly, my bronze golem „Valkyrie“ shall be your real opponent.”
“Eh?”
The warrior-shaped golem charged towards Saito.
Its right fist impacted heavily with Saito's stomach.
“Harg!”
Saito groaned and collapsed to the ground. Not at all surprising, considering he'd been gut-punched by a bronze fist.
The golem looked down on Saito emotionlessly.
He couldn't stand up through the pain. I guess this is what it feels like to be hit by a pro boxer, he thought.
“What, over already?”
Guiche sounded dissatisfied. From the mass of people, Louise burst out.
“Guiche!”
“Oh, Louise! My bad. I'm just borrowing your familiar for a bit.”
Louise shook her long hair and yelled angrily at Guiche.
“That's quite enough! And besides, dueling is strictly forbidden!”
“Only dueling between nobles is forbidden. Nobody has forbidden duels between commoners and nobles.”
Louise was at a momentary loss for words.
“Th-that's because nothing like this has ever happened before…”
“Louise, do you like this commoner?”
Louise's face burned an angry scarlet.
“No! Don't be ridiculous! It's just that I won't put up with having my familiar beaten up before my eyes!”
“…Wh-who's being beaten up? I'm just fine.”
“Saito!”
Seeing Saito was up again, Louise practically screamed out his name.
“…Hehehe, you've finally called me by my name.”
Louise was trembling.
“You understand now, right? A commoner can never beat a mage!”
“…I was a little careless, that's all. I'm all right, so step back.”
Saito pushed Louise back.
“What's this? I didn't think you could stand up again… Maybe I went too easy on you?” said Guiche, provoking Saito further.
Saito walked slowly towards Guiche. Louise followed him and grabbed his shoulder.
“You need to stop! Idiot! Why are you still standing?”
He shook her hand off his shoulder.
“Because he pisses me off.”
“He pisses you off? Look, there's no embarrassment in losing to a mage!”
“Shut up,” Saito muttered as he kept taking unsteady steps forward.
“Eh?”
“Really, you're starting to get on my nerves too… I know next to nothing about mages or nobles, but to me you're all the same bunch of ego-inflated brats. Just what's so brilliant about magic? Idiots.”
Guiche watched Saito with a faint smile painted on his face.
“The more you try, the more pointless this becomes.”
Saito's characteristic fighting spirit flared, and he uttered a short growl.
“That was nothing. Your little statue, it's too weak.”
The smile fell away. The golem's right hand lashed out to strike Saito's face. He caught the blow square on the cheek and was knocked to the ground.
Blood dripped from his broken nose.
Trying to stem the blood flow, Saito was taken aback.
Crap… So this is a mage's power. I've been in a few fights here and there, but that punch was like nothing else I'd received before.
Despite that, he rose shakily to a stand. Guiche's golem mercilessly sent him flying once more with a kick.
He got up again. And was struck down again.
Over and over, the process was repeated.
The eighth punch connected with Saito's right arm. There was a sick snapping noise.
Unable to see out of his swollen shut left eye, he checked his arm with his right eye. It was bent at a wrong angle.
While Saito stared blankly at his arm, the golem came over and planted a foot on his face.
His head hit the earth hard, and he lost consciousness for a moment.
When he came to, he could see Louise's face framed by a backdrop of blue sky.
“Please. Just stop now.”
Louise's hazel eyes were wet with tears.
Saito tried to speak, but the pain in his chest from the repeated blows was hard to overcome.
Regardless, he concentrated his willpower and managed to croak in a hoarse voice.
“…Are you crying?”
“I am not! Who would cry here? Anyway, this is enough. You did very well. I've never seen a commoner like you before.”
His broken arm throbbed with agony. Saito grimaced.
“That… hurts.”
“Of course it hurts! That's obvious! Just what were you thinking?”
Tears ran down Louise's face and fell on Saito's cheek.
“You're my familiar, understand? I'm not going to forgive you for any more stupid acts.”
Guiche's voice called out to the pair.
“Are we quite done yet?”
“…Hold your horses. I'm just catching my breath.”
“Saito!”
Guiche smiled, and flicked his rose. This time, the petal transformed into a sword. Guiche grabbed it and threw it in Saito's direction. The blade point stabbed into the ground not too far from where Saito lay.
“If you're still willing to continue, then take that sword. If not, all you need to say is a simple „I'm sorry.“ Then I can just forgive you and be done with it.”
“Don't insult him!”
Louise yelled, standing up. But Guiche gave no indication that he had heard her and kept talking.
“Understand? The sword. In other words, a weapon. It's the very least you commoners will need if you want to take revenge against us nobles. So as I said, if you're still up for it, take that sword.”
Saito reached out for the blade with his right hand. But with that arm broken, he couldn't put much strength in his fingers.
His hand was stopped by Louise.
“No! There is absolutely no way I'm letting you do this! If you take that sword, Guiche won't show any mercy!”
“I can't go back to my world… Which means I'm stuck living in this one, right?” Saito muttered, almost to himself. He didn't look at Louise.
“That's right. So what about it?! Right now that doesn't matter!!”
Louise held his right hand tightly. Saito declared in a clear strong voice.
“I don't mind being a familiar… I can take sleeping on the floor… I don't care if the food sucks… Washing underwear? I'll do that too. It's not like I really have a choice.”
Saito paused there and curled his left hand into a fist.