Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 111: Listening to Archduke Kharon’s Story (Mock Battle, Part 2)
──From Agnis’s Point of View──
Agnis felt her cheeks growing hot.
It was because she had just confessed her true feelings to Thor.
She hadn’t meant to.
Before she knew it, she had blurted out, “I want to show Thor Canaan-sama my cool side.”
(…I said something embarrassing.)
Imagining what Thor might think made her cheeks burn even more.
The feelings she had kept inside for so long had suddenly slipped out.
Agnis had always been saved by Thor.
Right after they met, he gave her a “Health-Boosting Pendant” that allowed her to control her fire magic.
Thanks to that, she could go out without wearing armor.
Her world grew much, much bigger.
She could be friends with Mabel again, just as they had been before.
She could interact with various people without hurting them.
All of that was given to her by Thor.
But his greatness wasn’t just that.
What Agnis thought was most amazing was that Thor accepted her as she was.
From the very first time they met.
Thor said to armored Agnis, “Shall I fix your armor?”
She was really surprised.
Back then, everyone feared Raisenga and didn’t even dare to speak to Agnis.
But Thor, as though it were perfectly natural, cared about Agnis’s armor—the only clothing she wore.
He didn’t even know what her face looked like yet.
It was the same when they met again at the bathhouse’s water heating place.
He said she looked beautiful while she danced naked, wrapped in flames.
Even after learning about her ignition ability, he said, “I’ll do something about it.”
He wasn’t afraid at all of Agnis or her father, Raisenga.
Thor treated Agnis as “a girl troubled by a somewhat unusual condition.”
For Agnis, that was a first.
She was happy.
She felt like someone had found the tiny self she was hiding inside the armor.
She was neither a subordinate of the “Flame Giant Ifrit” —
Nor the daughter of the “Flame General Raisenga” —
Thor understood that Agnis was just a scared and timid girl.
—That’s how it felt.
Even now.
Thor was always there by her side, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
He taught her how comforting that was.
But Agnis hadn’t yet repaid him.
Thor said, “Agnis is always protecting me,” but it still wasn’t enough.
She needed to give much more—enough to offer him everything she had.
Those feelings smoldered quietly inside Agnis.
(So… at least, I’ll help with Thor Canaan-sama’s item experiment.)
How effective would the “Health-Boosting Pendant” be against the former Sword Saint?
What would happen if she combined it with that item? She would test it here and now.
It would help Thor.
“Then… here I go!”
Agnis faced Archduke Kharon, gripping her sword with one hand.
She left her left hand free—not out of courtesy to the Archduke,
but because the item experiment required it.
How she would fight was already decided.
She was prepared to face the flames within herself again after a long time.
“Very well. Come then, Agnis Freizad!!”
The Empire’s Archduke Kharon raised his practice sword.
Right after seeing that, Agnis—
—removed the “Health-Boosting Pendant” with her left hand.
Immediately after—she felt her body heat up.
It was the excessive fire magic that had troubled her for so long.
Before it could go out of control, Agnis poured magic into the “IC Recorder” she still held in her left hand.
“—tae hoibuki gure yaki!”
A high-pitched recording of the incantation played at double speed.
A giant sphere of flames appeared before Agnis.
The magic’s name was “Flame Blast.”
The formal spell was: “Marvelous flames, by your breath reveal a crimson fireball and burn away the enemies before me.”
The IC Recorder activated it through playback at four times normal speed.
“Oh! So this is the power of the ‘Flame Giant’—!”
Archduke Kharon exclaimed.
The chanting recorded on the IC Recorder didn’t stop.
“—taibu gure!” “—taibu gure!” “—taibu gure!” “—taibu gure!”
“—ta—re” “—ta—re” “—ta—re” “—ta—re” “—ta—re” “—ta—re”
From double speed to four times speed, then eight times speed.
The IC Recorder continued the rapid chanting.
Before Agnis’s body could burst into flames, her excessive fire magic was consumed by the spells instead.
As a result—
“Oooooohhh!? Unbelievable! Even for a descendant of the ‘Flame Giant’… this is extraordinary!”
“Twenty-four flames!? This is impossible!!”
“Simultaneous casting!? Can descendants of the Flame Giant perform super-high-speed magic activation like ‘Instant Caster’!?”
Archduke Kharon, Princess Liana, and Adjutant Nona shouted.
However, their voices didn’t reach Agnis’s ears.
The only person she was consciously aware of was Thor, who was watching from outside the battle area.
Yesterday, when he gave her the “IC Recorder” at the workshop, he said:
“If you have this item, Agnis might be able to control her fire magic without letting the flames run wild.”
—That was what he said.
He also taught her how to use it.
It was a very simple explanation.
“If Agnis’s fire magic creates flames on its own—then before that happens, she should consume the magic with a spell!”
The “Health-Boosting Pendant” prevents ignition by converting fire magic into magic of another attribute.
The “IC Recorder” consumes the fire magic as a spell before it spontaneously produces flames.
What they do is different, but the purpose is the same: “consumption of fire magic.”
Until now, she couldn’t do that because the spell incantation took too long.
If she chanted normally, her clothes would catch fire before the magic activated.
Besides, it was impossible to calmly chant a spell when she didn’t know when she might be left naked.
But with the “IC Recorder,” she could complete the incantation in a few seconds.
Since it was pre-recorded, there was no chance of messing up or making mistakes in the spell.
Agnis could freely consume the overflowing fire magic.
“Here I go, former Sword Saint of the Empire!”
Zudodododododododododododo!!
“U-wooooooo!?”
A gigantic fireball rushed toward Archduke Kharon.
Of course, she wouldn’t let it hit him directly.
She aimed for the ground around him.
The fireballs flew around him, blocking Archduke Kharon’s line of sight. That was all that was needed.
That was how it was supposed to go—but—
“More impressive than I imagined! So this is the power of the ‘Flame Giant’s’ descendant!!”
Archduke Kharon swung his sword—and cleaved Agnis’s fireball in two.
The two halves of the fireball vanished immediately.
Archduke Kharon must have imbued his single-edged sword with magic. The magic-infused blade severed and destroyed the spell.
“As expected of the Archduke of the Empire.”
“No, it’s Agnis-sama who has the tremendous power. But I shall handle it!!”
Archduke Kharon kept swinging his sword at a speed too fast to follow with the eye.
His sword was perfectly precise.
During the battle with the “Magical Beast Nozerius,” he aimed at the giant scorpion’s joints and sliced its legs in half.
Archduke Kharon’s sword never missed its target.
All 24 fireballs released by Agnis were cleaved and extinguished.
But—
“──ta──re!”
“──ta──re!”
“──ta──re!”
“──ta──re!”
Agnis’s magic didn’t stop.
Only those of the “Flame Giant’s” bloodline possess enough fire magic to constantly create flames.
If that power is poured into flame magic—the fireballs will never cease.
“Once again, here I go!!”
“────!”
“────!”
“────!”
“────!”
“────!”
At Agnis’s signal, the fireballs moved again.
What she had recorded in the “IC Recorder” wasn’t only the incantation.
The “Flame Giants” have words for controlling flames created by magic.
“Swiftly ascend,” “Descend like a rock,” “Advance like a gale”—
Those words played from the “IC Recorder” at eight times normal speed.
The incantation took less than one second.
The eight fireballs created by Agnis each traced separate trajectories and headed toward Archduke Kharon!
“──U-wooooooo!?”
Archduke Kharon shouted.
“I see! So this is what it means to manipulate flames like limbs! As expected of Raisenga-sama’s daughter!!”
The trajectories were irregular. The speeds were high.
Still, Archduke Kharon kept slashing the fireballs.
Four out of the eight were cleaved.
He raised his sword to strike the fifth, but immediately twisted around and fixed his gaze on a different fireball.
Yet, he didn’t cleave that fireball.
As if preparing for someone beyond it, Archduke Kharon readied his sword.
And then, at the next moment—
Gagiiiiiinnn!
Archduke Kharon’s sword intercepted Agnis’s sword, which had pierced through the fireball.
Agnis’s chest was glowing with the “Health-Boosting Pendant.”
After releasing the fireballs with the “IC Recorder,” Agnis put the pendant back on.
She used the fire magic again for “physical enhancement” and moved at high speed.
Within seconds, she had moved behind Archduke Kharon.
“As the words implied, all the fireballs were a diversion.”
While gripping the sword, Archduke Kharon showed a daring smile.
“I haven’t felt such danger since my active days. If the fireballs had targeted me, I might have been defeated.”
“I’m sorry. Agnis still can only use brute force.”
“With this much power, no tricks are necessary. Brute force is sufficient. Truly splendid!”
“Thank you very much… so—”
Saying that, Agnis withdrew her sword.
A little after, Archduke Kharon sheathed his sword as well.
Sweat trickled down his forehead.
Before either of them realized it, his position had shifted considerably.
To intercept Agnis’s sword, Archduke Kharon had to retreat several meters.
“That was tremendous power, Agnis Freizad.”
Archduke Kharon took a deep breath to steady himself, then—
“Raisenga-sama has every right to boast of you. I’m grateful to have witnessed the power of the ‘Flame Giant.’”
“Thank you very much, Archduke of the Empire.”
“Tell me, how did you, at such a young age, come to possess such power?”
“…Agnis has grown strong because someone important is watching over me.”
Agnis murmured with a clear smile on her face.
“Just knowing that person is watching gives me strength. I’ll never forgive anyone who harms that person. If it means staying by that person’s side… even if my body is engulfed in flames, I’ll wield my power.”
“…Uh, hmmm.”
Archduke Kharon put down his sword and crossed his arms.
“The Demon Lord’s Domain is fearsome… No, what’s truly fearsome is the person who inspired such devotion in you. I’m at a loss. Between peace in the borderlands, the Domain’s powerful magic items, and the future of a young woman who shares my blood… the problems keep piling up.”
“…?”
“Agnis Freizad-sama.”
“Y-yes.”
“Will you come to the Grand Duchy?”
It was sudden.
The tall Archduke Kharon looked down at Agnis and said.
“If it’s you, you might be able to inherit all of my swordsmanship. Of course, I don’t intend to take you away from the Demon Lord’s Domain. Even if it’s in the form of studying abroad, will you come to the Grand Duchy?”
“It’s an honor. But, no, I can’t.”
“I thought so.”
“Agnis has already decided to whom she’ll dedicate her life.”
Agnis said.
Archduke Kharon shrugged.
It was as if he had known from the start that she would refuse.
Agnis was no longer looking at Archduke Kharon.
Her gaze was fixed on Alchemist Thor.
He waved at Agnis with an innocent expression. This was in stark contrast to Princess Liana beside him, who looked stunned.
Even after the mock battle ended, Princess Liana remained dazed.
It was no wonder.
Liana had been unable even to disturb Archduke Kharon’s breathing or make him sweat.
Yet Agnis had forced him back and made him sweat.
“…T-That the Archduke… couldn’t even parry the sword…”
“…I can’t believe it. How should one deal with a magic user who moves faster than the spells they cast…?”
Princess Liana and adjutant Nona both looked as if they had seen something unbelievable.
“You’re amazing, Agnis—”
Beside that Liana, Alchemist Thor waved innocently.
He seemed completely unsurprised by the results of the mock battle.
“…It’s been a long time since I felt regret over not being able to use my left arm.”
Archduke Kharon pressed his left shoulder and gave a wry smile.
“To repeat myself, allow me to say this: Agnis Freizad-sama, well done.”
“Y-Yes.”
“The swift chanting reminiscent of the legendary ‘Instant Caster,’ the martial arts that had you behind me in an instant—all were splendid. At my age, I have gained valuable experience.”
“Thank you very much, Archduke. Well then!”
Agnis bowed toward Archduke Kharon.
She immediately turned on her heel and started running.
Straight toward Alchemist Thor, who had been watching the mock battle.
“Thor Canaan-sama! Did you see it!?”
“I did, Agnis. You were very cool.”
“…Ehehe.”
“Thanks to you, I finally understand why the ‘IC Recorder’ from the Heroes’ world is pen-shaped.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. I think the Hero fought freely with the pen-shaped IC Recorder in their chest pocket. It had to be pen-shaped to keep both hands free for battle.”
“I see, I understand!”
“I might not be able to do the same, but… maybe I can make one that can hang around the neck? That way, Agnis, it would be easier to switch items. Let’s experiment when we get back.”
“Yes, Thor Canaan-sama!”
Agnis replied with a beaming smile.
Thor narrowed his eyes as if dazzled by that smile.
And so, the mock battle between Archduke Kharon and Agnis Freizad ended—
“Well then, let’s return to town and change clothes. After that—”
Saying so, Alchemist Thor looked at Archduke Kharon.
“I believe Princess Sophia is also waiting. After resting in town—could you please have the promised talk, Archduke Kharon Listan-sama?”
“Of course, Alchemist Thor Canaan-sama. I apologize for making you wait…”
—They returned to Noza Town and prepared for their meeting.