Because I dodged her first strike, Shirayuki-san was now watching me carefully, as if measuring the distance between us.

So I turned my gaze back to Emera once more.

“I’ll ask just in case… Is there an option not to fight?”

“If you don’t care about your sister, then do whatever you want.”

In other words, this means she won’t listen unless we fight.

“Looking away from me? You’re quite relaxed, aren’t you?”

It seems she didn’t like the fact that I looked away from her, so Shirayuki-san immediately entered my vision and delivered an uppercut to my jaw without mercy.

This girl… I already knew from the previous hand strike that she’s abnormally fast…

What kind of spring is she using…!?

“――Are you going to dodge this too…”

I barely dodged her, and Shirayuki-san glared at me as if scolding me with a tongue click.

Emera said earlier that this girl had defeated a bear – it seems that wasn’t entirely false.

“H-hey, did you see that…?”

“No way, she’s too fast…”

“As expected, the attendant of Emera-sama…! She’s extraordinary…!”

“She’s got such a cute face, but she’s basically a walking weapon…!”

The boys were astonished while the girls were delighted.

I understood why the girls who wanted to get on Emera’s good side were so excited, but… was that last one really supposed to be a compliment?

It made me wonder, but I didn’t have the luxury to think about that right now.

“Of course.”

…Emera smiles proudly as if she won by the audience’s reaction, which slightly irritates me.

“Are you doing sports?”

“I haven’t joined any clubs or activities, unfortunately.”

Even if I try to knock her down with one strike, she dodges.

Judging that, Shirayuki-san uses her agility to deliver jab after jab.

It’s a bit sneaky to chat while attacking…

“A-Amazing…”

“Wait, that’s not human movement at all…”

“Hey, why is this happening in a private school…?”

The audience was literally stunned by Shirayuki-san’s punches, which were too fast to follow.

No wonder—they couldn’t have expected this. Even I hadn’t imagined things would turn out like this.

Anyway, I think someone needs to give that queen a lesson soon.

She’s going too far with her antics.

“Fu-fu… That girl has received special training since childhood. She’s not an opponent a regular student can beat. In fact, it’s impressive you’re holding on so long. Well, it’s just a matter of time before you end up crawling on the floor.”

――The queen explains this with great enthusiasm.

Honestly, if she weren’t a girl, I would’ve punched her already.

That’s how much I was getting annoyed.

In the midst of all this―at the edge of my vision, Furei slowly pointed at me.

“But… it’s not working…”

“―!?”

When Furei quietly murmured that—correctly recognizing my actual condition—Emera’s eyes flew wide open in shock.

And that reaction set off the rest of the students as well.

“O-oh!? Seriously? He’s dodging…?”

“No way, he’s getting hit! How is he still fine!?”

The boys, who had been overwhelmed by the situation just moments ago, suddenly started shouting in disbelief.

“H-Hmph! He’s just pretending to be tough! Just like Lady Emera said, he’ll collapse any second now!”

“Exactly! There’s no way a normal person could withstand that!”

The girls, trying to hide their panic, put on a smug front and laughed at me.

“Well… if they can’t actually see what’s happening, that reaction makes sense.”

“—! I was told you were an ordinary student… just what are you…!?”

Shirayuki-san, who had previously looked down on me, now twisted her face in humiliation and slightly sweated cold sweat.

Even for the person involved, this was an unexpected situation.

“I mean… I am just a regular student.”

“D-Don’t… don’t mess with me…!”

Angered by my answer, Shirayuki-san made a large opening.

And then, without a moment’s hesitation, she lunged in and drove her fist toward my gut—but just like before, I brushed it aside with a light movement of my hand.

Everyone is surprised, but I’ve been deflecting her hands all along.

That means I haven’t taken any damage, so there’s no way I would fall.

“A mere student shouldn’t be capable of something like this…! You shouldn’t even be able to react…!”

“I really am just a student. It’s just that… until I entered high school, I went through some insanely brutal training.”

Her attacks are indeed fast.

They’re among the fastest I’ve encountered in battle.

But that’s it.

Because she’s so small, each individual hit isn’t that powerful, and as her panic grows, her movements are becoming easier and easier to read. At this point, I can practically see every one of her attacks coming.

So, deflecting wasn’t difficult at all.

As I continued to deflect her attacks –

“What are you doing, Koori…! Stop playing around!”

Emera, Shirayuki-san’s master, shouted loudly.

It was probably meant as some kind of harsh encouragement, but…

“―!”

It would be bad to show my master such an unbecoming appearance.

That must have been what she was thinking, because Shirayuki-san, who had been aiming mostly at my face, suddenly shifted her target.

This time, she started aiming squarely for my stomach.

—or so I thought.

Without hesitation, she swung her leg upward straight at a man’s most vulnerable spot.

“H-Hey!? Aiming there—do you not have a heart!?”

I complained while knocking down her right foot with a hand strike as I had before.

Faced with such a merciless attack, I chopped downward with my right hand and knocked her leg away as I complained.

“Silence! This is a duel! It’s only natural to go for weaknesses…!”

“A duel is supposed to have proper rules, isn’t it!?”

“Stop arguing…!”

When I interjected, Shirayuki-san attacked my lower body and stomach with her fist while also raising her voice like her master.

I thought she was the cool, composed type… but she’s actually pretty childish on the inside, isn’t she…!?

Even though I thought that, I had to desperately defend myself because being hit in the man’s vital spot would be bad.

As we traded blows like that, a certain question crossed my mind.

With how quick and agile she was, she could probably run circles around a bear.

But… with attacks this light, could she really take one down?

―Impossible.

I’ve fought a bear before—been forced to, anyway—so I know for a fact that her strikes would never be enough to bring one down.

And besides… after having so many of her attacks blocked, why would she suddenly narrow her range of attacks—?

That was when it happened.

Her lips, twisted in irritation up until now, loosened for just a split second.

At the same time, I heard Emera’s triumphant voice:

“Fufu—this is the end.”

Immediately after… Shirayuki-san disappeared before my eyes.

No, more accurately, she left my field of vision in an instant.

“There’s a gap…!”

Lifting my face from looking down, I saw Shirayuki-san floating in the air, tilting her body while flicking her right foot like a whip.

And without caring about her pink, cute underwear being fully visible, she slammed her entire weight onto my neck.

It was over—everyone must have thought that.

But—

“W-what…?”

What echoed through the classroom wasn’t my groan, but Shirayuki-san’s confused voice as she performed an aerial kick.

“N-no way…”

Following Shirayuki-san’s voice came Emera, who had been boasting of her victory.

She opened her eyes wide and looked at Shirayuki-san and me, who was holding her right foot with my right hand.

“W-Whoaaa!? H-He stopped it!?”

“If he can react to that, then he’s not human either!”

The unexpected turn of events sent the hallway into another uproar.

In contrast, the classroom had fallen into an almost unnatural silence.

Everyone seemed to have lost their words.

“Right before it landed… he instantly grabbed it with his right hand. He must have read Koori’s movement…”

The one who broke the heavy silence in the classroom was, surprisingly, Furei’s calm voice.

Unlike her sister—who was frozen in shock—Furei seemed to be grasping the situation with complete clarity.

More than anything, it seemed she had been able to see our exchange of blows.

Even though they’re twins, their abilities might differ quite a bit between the elder and the younger sister.

“…But keeping hold of her like that isn’t good.”

Because I’d been too focused on watching everyone’s reactions, I was still gripping Shirayuki-san’s leg. I quickly let go.

And then—

“Ah…”

As if all that superhuman agility from moments ago had been a lie, Shirayuki-san didn’t even try to catch herself and plummeted straight toward the floor.

“Wha—!? You’ve gotta be kidding me…!”

Caught off guard and realizing she was about to get hurt, I hastily grabbed her hand and lifted her up into my arms.

Seeing the position we ended up in, the girls all murmured in unison:

“““““Ah… a princess carry…”””””

—Yeah.

I mean… I only lifted her on reflex, so it just ended up looking like that.

I’d really prefer they didn’t make a big thing out of it…

Feeling awkward, I made excuses to myself in my head.

Still, the real concern was Shirayuki-san.

She seemed to be stunned that I stopped her trump card, which must have been shocking for her.

“I don’t think you’re hurt but… are you okay?”

Thinking the battle was over, I worriedly looked at her face.

I’d feel terrible if I actually ended up hurting such a small girl.

While I was worrying about that—

“Y-Yes…”

For some reason, she blushed and turned away from me.

Um… does she hate me?