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Chapter 23
“Hey hey hey! That guy was blown into smithereens!”
“A-, that’s it. A small child catches a frog, then inserts some straw, firecrackers and random things in it’s holes. What can I say

 quite awful, isn’t it?”
“Shallow! Your reaction is too shallow! That frog guy was your companion, wasn’t he!? If so, shouldn’t you say something more thoughtful!”
“A more thoughtful reaction huh

. he-erm, that was quite some fireworks”
“Strange! Your reaction took a strange turn!”
The dragonfly was stomping her feet.
It’s fine but doing that on top of a person’s head will result in pain for said person.
But we~ll, I know where to say the right things, but we haven’t reached there yet.
“No no, it’s still too early to get so worked up”
“Eeeh?”
I gently moved the firefly unto my hands, then watched the events unfold.
Due to the brilliant explosion, there were a lot of cheers coming from the gallery.
It was a chorus of praise.
However, the one who supposedly won wasn’t wearing a good expression.
And with slightly disappointed eyes, she turned her gaze towards my side.
To be exact, to the one right beside me.
“

.oh dear me, this time’s show seems to be this Mistress’ loss” (Queen)
“Ho ho hi. No no, had we continued like that, I don’t know what would have happened” (K)
The dragonfly was not the only one who was surprised by the voice, everyone, except for the Queen and I, were astonished.
There was a frog laughing right beside me, attracting all the gazes towards him.
Kawazu-san suddenly appeared while brushing his prided beard.
“An illusion huh. To think that I would concede defeat to a show of illusion”
“I only took advantage of an opening. And I had trouble to get it just right”
They are in harmony as they smiled and praised each other.
Like that, It seemed that satisfaction was reached. Both of them were quite calm, unlike the time right before the showdown.
The dragonfly blinked several times as she looked at the unexpected development.
“Since when did he cast the illusion?”
She shook my head and asked me.
We~ll, speaking of when and where exactly, I’m only estimating so I don’t really know.
“Aa-, probably when he stopped playing around”
“A, so he really did all those moves through magic”
“Yes yes, that was kinda lame”
“Right right”
“Furthermore, the [Kawazu Three-Story Drop] was just
.”
“A! I’ve heard that the construction of illusions will reflect the caster’s delusions!” (Tonbo-chan)
“Whithout noticing it, Kawazu-san seemed to have acclimated his mind and body to that of a frog’s

”
“

 I can hear you, you brats”
Oh dear, my bad.
Kawazu-san was glaring at us so I’ll stop there.
After that, the result came out and of course, it was a passing score.
“Alright then. With respect to the well-fought battle, I shall recognize your stay in this Fairy Village. However, there are conditions”
The Fairy Queen narrowed her eyes and continued with a serious face,
“Do not hurt any of the fairies in this place. You must also restore the barrier that you broke. How about it?”
They are called conditions but it’s not like they’re unreasonable, I think.
It’s natural to fix what you broke, and I would like to avoid battles.
I thought it would be more difficult and, some sort of  impossible task, so I was uneasy. I tapped my chest in relief.
“Alright. Shall we make the barrier stronger?” (Kawazu)
In a similar fashion, Kawazu-san suggested with some confidence.
“I have no objections with that. We shall allow you to live in this area, so long as you keep your end of the bargain. However, do not forget that we still haven’t forgiven you”
“

we’ll keep it in mind”
“Well then, we’re good”
At the Queen’s signal, all the soldiers disappeared at once. We were the only ones left.
Kawazu-san, who was mainly in charge with the negotiations, was finally able to relax his shoulders.
“Mu~

”
Then he rolled his eyes and fell.
I placed recovery magic on Kawazu-san’s back, right where a burn mark was.
I knew about it the moment I saw his back. It was a one-shot hit.
“Thanks for the hard work”
“Owowowow, it’s been a while since I’ve fought. Rather than that, you did well on seeing through my illusion”
“Aa, I felt some strange sensation – just like the time when we entered the barrier. By the way, that was reckless”
“And who’s fault do you think that is! I never want to fight with that monster again

”
After I finished the treatment, Kawazu-san bounced back and inspected his wounds.
Doing that while maintaining his anger is showing how he’s quite flexible.
“No no, you looked quite cool”
I remembered Kawazu-san jumping.
Even so, that was a suicide attack to remember.
Tonbo-chan also took notice of Kawazu-san’s condition; and revealed a frustrated, complex expression.
“Wasn’t it a close fight?”
It wasn’t even about her but she looked quite proud. Kawazu-san turned at her direction.
“Of course. Being the Leader of Fairies indicates that much power. She has magical power that far surpasses mine!”
“No way! So that’s the case. I originally thought that Kawazu-san was more overwhelming”
Although he said he was the world’s strongest magician or something, who would’ve thought that there was someone stronger than him right around the corner. If so, then I have really let him do something dangerous.
“If you had time to watch leisurely, you should check out the opponent properly! I nearly died!
My magic is only top-class within human standards. I’d be troubled if you forget that”
We~ll now that he mentioned it, that made sense.
It’s a world with dragons and demons. I used to imagined that Kawazu-san would normally overpower those guys, but I can’t see that now.
“By the way, in your estimate, Kawazu-san – what was the Queen’s magical power?”
“Oh right. It should be around 1500. That’s quite substantial”
“

but that’s not that far off from yours?”
“If seen from your point of view, everyone would look like that!”
While inflating his cheeks, there was a trace of desperation in Kawazu-san.
It’s fine now that we’re allowed to live here, but I felt as if we just walked on a tightrope. It was scary to remember.
“Anyway, Kawazu-san, you were quite aggressive. Why were you in such a hurry?”
“You’re right. Even I don’t want to wander within the forest for months at a time.”
“The truth is revealed!”
Though I was surprised, I have to sympathize with Kawazu-san’s exhaustion.
Furthermore, this place with it’s unparalleled view isn’t something that you can just find anywhere.
Just this once, ‘good job’ Kawazu-san.