I had asked Mary last night if she could prepare the Sky Cow meat for us and her first response was asking if I wanted her to make one because we apparently had some of it in storage.
I then explained Odeta’s challenge to her and she assured me that she will keep the Sky Cow meat we had a secret from her so that it won’t devalue her victory over this Eugene guy.
Mary agreed although I noticed that she gave me a rather weird smile when she did so.
When I asked her what that was about, she only told me not to worry and I should look forward to the meal.
For the fourth day of school, I had classes for the rest of the basic elements starting with Hydromancy, Geomancy and then Aeromancy before ending the day with Electromancy.
But just for today, I had planned to skip the first lesson to watch Odeta’s challenge take place in the school field.
It was an official event so there were quite a few people who knew about it and came here to watch as well.
“Wahaha~ Just you wait, sister Aster! We’ll be having Sky Cow meat today and you’ll understand the power of meat!” Odeta bellowed while thumping her chest with a fist.
I couldn’t help but giggle at her enthusiasm, “Fufu~ I’m looking forward to it.”
Odeta was still dressed in her usual clothes with the exception of the school blazer which she had taken off for this occasion. On the other hand, Eugene was dressed in what looked like high quality scale armour which I had no doubt was also enchanted, the only thing he was lacking was a helmet.
The only equipment the two of them had that were equal in quality was their weapons which were basically wooden training swords.
I was expecting Odeta to only use her fists for this fight but she said that Eugene had challenged her to a sword fight so that would be their method of competition.
Her challenge only required them to beat her in melee combat after all.
A teacher then called for both Eugene and Odeta to come forward and I wished her a good fight before heading towards the area they had set aside for the gallery, which was just the stands at the side of the school field.
“Challenger Eugene, present your prize,” The teacher instructed.
The boy crossed his arms, “For my challenge, I wager a cut of meat from a Sky Cow!”
Several people in the audience gasped, probably hearing his wager for the first time. Seems like it really is quite a big prize like what Odeta had told me for them to react like that.
Eugene waved his hand and an elderly man whom I assumed to be his manservant came forward while pushing a large cart with a lid on it.
Lifting the lid, a huge pinkish red slab of meat was revealed to be sitting on top of the cart and I immediately used [Screened] on it.
[Sky Cow Loin Meat – A prime meat cut from the Loins of a Sky Cow.]
Well, at least he brought the real thing instead of trying to substitute it for something else.
Following Katsuki’s advice, Odeta turned to the teacher, “Can you like… Check if it’s the real thing?”
The teacher nodded before turning to a well dressed Mahun standing a few steps away.
He went towards the Cow Meat and chanted a spell before turning back to Odeta, “It is indeed meat cut from a Sky Cow.”
Odeta’s lips curled up into a grin, “Then I accept your challenge! Let’s do this!”
Eugene sneered at her, “I’ll put you in your place soon enough!”
I really wonder where he got his confidence from? Is it from that armour of his?
The two of them then went to their designated positions to start the duel, maintaining about ten metres away from each other.
The teacher gave both of them a look, “Special student Odeta has accepted student Eugene’s challenge for her position in the special class. The challenge shall be a duel using wooden training swords and the winner will be decided once one side admits defeat or is no longer able to continue.”
Woah… Wait a minute… I’m not sure if this was intended by Odeta but those terms did not say that magic could not be used and this duel technically wouldn’t end even if bones were broken as long as they can continue fighting.
Actually… Now that I think about it, I believe Odeta totally intended to have those terms just so that she could beat him up as much as she wanted.
In that case, I pity the boy.
“Are both contestants ready?”
The two of them nodded in response.
“Then the challenge begins!”
Eugene’s armour immediately let out a blinding flash of light that blinded everyone on the field.
I managed to keep my vision thanks to my Lumenmancy so I was able to see him rush towards Odeta’s position with his sword raised in the air, his speed higher than what should have been possible with his stats.
Yep, definitely thanks to his armour.
However, he stopped his rush halfway when he suddenly realised that Odeta was no longer standing at where she had been just moments before.
The boy tried to search for her but before he could even find her, Odeta had moved in front of him using her superior speed and slammed her sword into Eugene’s face, the action similar to a baseball player hitting a homerun.
The poor boy was sent airborne from the attack, his body spinning through the air comically with his limbs flailing around.
Odeta was not giving him a chance to recover as she leapt after him and kicked him in his abdomen, sending him crashing back down into the ground with a loud bang.
She then dropped down from the sky and smashed her sword into his chest, cracking both his ribs and the ground underneath him.
By now, everyone’s sight had already returned and they were treated to the sight of Odeta standing up from Eugene to swing her sword at his face, leaving a very noticeable bruise and causing his face to swell up.𝗈𝔳𝗅xt.𝗇𝓔t
The Amrap then stepped on his chest and raised her sword with both hands, fully prepared to bring it down on his head when she realised that he was already unconscious.
She stepped back from him and looked to the teacher who finally recovered from his stupor.
“Student Eugene is unable to continue! Winner of this duel is Odeta!”
Odeta cheered and pumped her fists in the air before rushing straight towards the meat on the cart. Meanwhile, another teacher ran towards Eugene and started casting what I presume to be healing magic on him.
“Yesss!! Thanks for the meat!!”
She snatched it up from the cart and immediately made a beeline towards me while waving her prize in the air.
“I got it, sister Aster!! I got it!!”
“Fufufu~ That was a splendid fight, Odeta~”
“Ahaha! Do you think I’ve gotten stronger than before?”
“Oh definitely~ Shall we hand your prize over to Katsu–“
“How dare you?!!” Eugene interrupted before I could finish my words.
Looks like the healer had already restored him back to health and he’s now storming up to us with an enraged expression on his face.
“How dare you?!” He repeated, waving his fist threateningly at us. “You dare to cheat in a challenge between swordsmen?!”
Ah… I’m not even surprised by this to be honest… Of course he would be in denial about the result despite being handily beaten and unable to retaliate.
Odeta did not even acknowledge his protests and continued to address me, “Pass it to Katsuki? That’s a great idea! Maybe she can prepare it in time for dinner! Where is she?”
“Hey, I’m talking to you! How dare you ignore me?!”
“Katsuki! Katsukiiii! Why won’t she show up when I call her?”
Eugene reached out and tried to grab her shoulder, only to find himself falling face first on the ground when Odeta turned back to kick his legs out from under him.
“A weak male like you isn’t even worth my attention, much less be able to touch me. Can you go away now?”
Eugene glared at her while on the ground, his face red with embarrassment.
“How dare you?! How dare you?!! You obviously cheated in our duel and you dare to act so high and mighty?! You should have been blinded by my spell! How did you even escape from me and even hit me while you were blind?!!”
Odeta returned to ignoring the boy, “Hey, hey, sister Aster? Could you call Katsuki out? I think she only comes out when you call her.”
I sighed, “Odeta… You might as well just answer him. He’s not going to stop until you do.”
She tilted her head at me, “Eh? What is there to answer? A weakling like him wouldn’t even understand even if I were to show it to him. Even looking at him is a waste of our time.”
“You–“
“Student Eugene, that is enough!” The teacher interrupted. “She did not cheat and you lost purely because of your weakness. I advise you to stop embarrassing yourself and concentrate on learning to get stronger instead.”
“But–“
“I said enough! The rest of you go back to class!”
He obviously wasn’t satisfied but did not protest against the teacher, giving us one more stink eye before walking away.
I’m willing to bet my entire fortune that he’s definitely going to come back and bother us again…
Maybe I should ask Katsuki if she has a permanent solution to this problem?