“Hey. Isn’t that Doben-kun right there?!”
The next day, I went to town… as I called out to Doben, pretending I met him by chance. I had no one with me right now, and it was more convenient for me to be alone at this stage.
“Who are you? Why are you acting so friendly to me?”
“What? Have you forgotten already? I was with Waffer yesterday, remember?”
“Ah? Ah, yeah. There was a hairless guy near him. Oh, that was you. So? What business does a hairless have with me?”
Doben, who was about a head taller than me, stared at me with a terrifying look on his face. An ordinary human would have pissed his pants seeing that look and ran away saying, “N-N-No, I-it’s n-nothing!!” But for me, this was no big deal.
Doben waved his hand as if shooing off a bug, but I clinged to him annoyingly. Then, Doben gripped my hand firmly without hiding his irritation.
“You. What the hell are you doing? Just because I approve of Waffer doesn’t mean I approve of you, got it?”
“Look, you’re so stiff! That’s the hard part, Doben-kun! We are all hero candidates, so we should get to know each other better!”
“Keh! I never intend to get along with you, and you’re not one of them in the first place! Enough of this die….!!?”
Doben squeezed my hand with the intention of crushing it. However, my hand didn’t even budge, and Doben looked astonished.
“YOUU!?”
“Oh my. What’s the matter, Doben-kun? Your hands are so gentle, like you are picking flowers. Are you, perhaps, asking me to dance with you?”
“…Alright. I am going to win this fight. Come on.”
Doben had a blank expression on his face, but he smiled at me and started to walk away. Naturally, I followed after him, and we arrived at a place that looked like a deserted square. It was perhaps one of the training grounds assigned to the participants of the competition.
“Right here. We won’t be disturbed and there is no one to stop us. Well, no one would complain if I beat up a hairless guy who got cocky in this town.”
“That’s scary! Then, let’s do it before they come!”
I didn’t draw my sword. I leaped close to Doben’s chest and thrusted out my fist. Doben dodged it with a nimble maneuver and dropped an elbow on top of my head.
“ORAA!!”
“Hyuu. That’s so scaryy! You really are a Hero candidate.”
“Shut up! This time, I’m coming at you from this side!”
Doben was the type with long fingers like a human, and like me, he was a swordsman. There were several swords on the side walls, as it was a training ground. However, Doven also jumped toward me without taking them in his hands.
“Guuu! Damn! So fast!”
“I am not yet finished!”
The difference in size was only about two inches, but in terms of weight, he was probably twice as heavy as I was. A mere physical blow to the head would send yesterday’s dinner spewing out of my mouth, his sharp claws would easily puncture my body, and his powerful kicks would break my bones and mess up my internal organs.
That was only if I took it head on. I continued to avoid Doben’s attacks with paper-thin distance, while simultaneously hitting him.
“Ggh! Damn it! How can a puny and skinny fist like yours hurt so much?!”
“Fu. That’s because I train regularly!”
That was a lie. With my physical ability, my hand would normally be more broken than the one I was hitting. I was able to do it because of my banishment skill [Orbit Reflector] which reflected the impact back on Doben’s body.
However, it was not a complete lie. If I really wanted to win, I could just use [Invisible] and only stand, not even a stick would be able to hit me. But I only used that for the handshake earlier, and now it was turned off.
In other words, I had to hit him dozens of times, including with cheats. However, I was walking a tightrope where even one hit from the other side would end the fight, this was made possible by the skills I have developed.
“What’s the matter, Yuusha-sama? Are you asleep already?”
“Screw you! There’s no way I’m going to let a hairless man like you defeat me!”
Still, I dared to fight against the odds. All I needed now was for Doben to recognize my strength. So――
“Geehaa!?
Doben took his sword and unleashed a side swipe, hitting me on the side of my head. A chill ran through my body joined together by an unpleasant sound. My stomach could no longer take it anymore and I finished hurling all the contents onto the ground. At the same time, my consciousness rapidly faded into darkness.
I was prepared for this, but … this guy was tough ……………………
∗∗∗∗∗∗
“………………….. ha?!”
“Yo. You awake?”
As I regained consciousness, a voice called out to me from the side. As I raised myself from the ground, I found that Doben, who was also sitting on the ground beside me, was wiping his sweat from his upper body.
“Damn, I guess I lost. … Ow ow …”
“Oi, don’t take it too hard, okay? I’ve used a recovery potion, but you didn’t have one.”
“I see. Well, that was fun.”
“Fun? Heh, that’s pretty gutsy for a hairless guy. Oi, what’s your name?”
“Me? Ed.”
“I see. Ed … I’m Doben.”
“Yeah, I know. So, Doben, I’m feeling a little hungry. Why don’t you come and have dinner with me?”
“Huh!?”
A guy, who had just thrown up from an injury, invited a guy, who just beat him up, to dinner. Doben made a hysteric sound … and laughed happily.
“Hahahahaha! You’re a funny guy! Fine, I’ll go. It will be my treat. Eat as much as you like!”
“You sure? If you say that, I’m going to order the most expensive meat.”
“Order what you want. In exchange, the drinks I will order will be paid by you, as promised, okay? What would it be…? I heard there’s a fifty year old bottle of old monkey wine …”
“What!? Screw you! You can build a mansion with the cost of that wine!”
“What’s this? You’re a man and yet you’re going to take back what you once said?”
“There’s a limit to how far I can go!”
“I don’t have a choice. Then, I’ll just settle for a random store on the main street,” he said.
Doben stood up with a bitter smile and held out his hand to me. I grabbed it firmly and stood up, and no further words were needed.
“Let’s go, then! Wait. I guess it’s not very appealing for two guys to have dinner together. Let’s go to a place with beautiful sisters, shall we? I recently found a place with a white, fluffy-furry girls…” he said.
“What am I supposed to do with that?”
“I don’t know. I think you should just pet them. You hairless guys like that, don’t you? I know it.”
“Yeah. …?”
It was the height of tactlessness to beat with overwhelming force. Carefully selecting and narrowing down the skills to use and adjust them so you could fight with all your power, and still lose without any major injuries.
I was not afraid of pain. I was not afraid of defeat, and I’d done it so I could walk side by side with Doben. Now that I’ve achieved my goal for now. …
“I love the tail! I love the fluffiness, especially when their thin, long tail is all curled up. I just can’t get enough of it!”
“Haha. …”
The only thing I could do was to smile vaguely in response to the endless talk about his sexual fetishes, which I did not understand in any way.