A girl from one of the sub-races that exists in the Esco world… Yes, she is something that everyone loves, an elf girl.
On top of that, she is a princess of the elf country. And the 『World Tree Dungeon』 that the player will visit at the endgame is part of her country, so the protagonist won’t be able to enter without having Lapis in her party. To put it simply, she is richer than the Sanjou family.
Not only rich, she is also strong. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she is the strongest in long-distance battles.
One of the reasons for that is her exclusive magic device, 『Treasured Bow・Ilova Siremma』 is simply a cheat. It could kill her opponent before they get close. Moreover, depending on the combination of consoles, the bow could make her capable of handling medium distance battles, so her opponent has no choice but to challenge her in short-distance battles.
Actually, in 『Evil Route』, the protagonist will also have to fight her, and honestly she is stronger than the last boss. And Lapis, who is one of the strongest in the game, is also the number one in the rate of killing Hiiro. I don’t even remember how many times Hiiro died on her route (He was killed many times after being revived by necromancy.).
Perhaps because she is an elf princess, if Hiiro makes even the slightest mistake in dealing with her, it’s already game over as he will definitely be slaughtered like a bug. In fact, the funniest cause of Hiiro’s death was when he ate the ice cream that Lapis had saved, but… now, I don’t think I can laugh at that anymore. That really isn’t funny anymore right now.
“What’s wrong?”
Saying that, she turned her body, fluttering her golden hair that stretches to her waist. And that beautiful long hair that hides her back seems to shine even in a dimly lit abandoned train station.
With a beauty that can only be thought of as a game character, she brushes up her hair and stares at me.
“A man, huh.”
Placing one hand on her mouth, she laughed.
“I helped you without thinking, but…if I had known you were a man, I wouldn’t have helped.”
Since every man except Hiiro were mobs, I never noticed this before, but apparently, the treatment of men in this Yuri game world is not something that can be complimented. To put it simply, they’re being discriminated against here.
But well, that is natural. Because men in Yuri are taboo, and a man who gets sandwiched by Yuri can just go to hell.
Anyway, since such things are common sense, in the Esco World, men are either ignored or oppressed. Perhaps if I reincarnated here as a girl, I would also ignore men and kill Hiiro, so I couldn’t say anything about this.
“Moreover, your score is zero.”
Through a magic device, everyone can see other people’s scores. And Lapis giggled, probably because she saw my score.
“I think you seriously should go home now before you get hurt.”
Although I know I’m being made fun of, for me, this is not the time for that. Because…
She is…she isn’t here, right?
I looked around and stroked my chest in relief knowing the woman I didn’t want to meet the most at this stage wasn’t here.
“Hey, are you listening?!”
Perhaps thinking that she was ignored, Lapis, who became irritated, flared up at me.
“Ah, my bad, my bad. You are a great help. Well then, adios.”
I know that was dangerous, but since the current Lapis still doesn’t have her treasured bow and her initial equipment isn’t a big deal… I just replied to her half-heartedly. And that seems to touch her nerves. She grabbed my hand as I tried to leave.
“Wait.”
What do you want me to do!! Do you want me to go home right away or stay here!!
“You. Do you know who I am?”
“An elf who is dressed like a nympho.”
“I-I’m not! This is a formal outfit!! W-where are you looking at?!”
“Your chest, thighs, chest and thighs.”
“Don’t answer normally!! And don’t look at them twice!! You should feel ashamed!!”
While desperately trying to stretch her skirt, her face reddened, and she glared at me. Well, she is originally quick to lose temper, after all. And although late, thinking that I made a mistake in dealing with her, I turned my eyes to her who kept grabbing my hand.
“….”
To be honest, I like Lapis when she is together with the main character. But if I was asked if I like Lapis herself…hmmm… As expected, I think her charming point is that when she joked around with the protagonist, whom she had come to trust.
Yuri can only be completed by two girls, after all…. Even if you try to offer me only one of them, I would be troubled.
“W-what are you looking at… Let me tell you, my score is over 30,000, you know?”
She puffed out her not so ‘abundant’ boobs and boasted.
“Do you understand the difference between you and 30,000 points?”
“Eh!? Does that mean!?”
I made a fake surprised expression which made her face shine in anticipation.
“Does that mean… the difference of 30,000 points…!?”
Hearing that, Lapis silently lowered the bow she was carrying.
“You are in luck.”
And she whispered while something like blue streaks oozed out from her1.
“Since this is a great opportunity… I’ll give you a fighting lesson… Get ready…”
Oops, looks like she is going to punish me under the excuse of training. Well, well, how many Hiiros have died in an accident during this so-called training on her route… Anyway, let me give those fallen Hiiros some words… serves you right.
“I’ll be glad to, but I have a condition.”
Well, I guess with this, there is worth inciting her anger.
“If I win, I want you to give me one of the consoles you have.”
There is no way I can patiently look for a low rarity console on this kind of low floor… Since this is a good opportunity, I’ll be pulling a fast one on you.
“Do you really think you can win?”
She laughed scornfully and nodded.
“If you win, not just one, I’ll give you all of them.”
“Ah, is that so… Then, let’s exchange each other’s magic device and check them so that there is no unfairness. It’s one of the rules in Sanjou Family’s duel method, which aims to have a fair and dignified fight. And since you are mainly a long-distance fighter, do you want to make some distance first?”
Lapis and I exchanged our magic devices and checked them. She then nodded and handed Kuki Masamune to me.
“This is fine. I’ll give you a handicap.”
I knew you would say that. Thus, I laughed inwardly. Lapis in the early stages isn’t particularly bad at short-range battles, after all. She will just gradually specialize in long-distance fighting. In other words, she should be confident in close range combat. That’s why I know she would say that.
“Then, let’s begin.”
“OK.”
With a confident smile, Lapis held her bow in one hand.
“Maid, give us a signal.”
The maid of the Sanjou family, who was observing the situation, nodded and raised her hand.
And then–she swung it down.
“Begin!!”
As one would expect, Lapis instantly took a distance as soon as the maid gave us the sign. She fixed her finger to the string of the mechanical bow on her back and pulled the trigger. That instant, her body strengthened, and she tried to jump back– but she couldn’t.
“Eh!?”
“Yes.”
I pulled out Kuki Masamune and–
“This is end.”
I placed my light sword on her neck.
*Zizizizizi* 2
Sweat drips from her forehead as she is hit by the magic sword of light that changes shape.
“H-how… Even though you didn’t know how to control the console before… From pulling the trigger to forming the shape of the light sword… how could it be that fast… Besides, how could my physical strengthening… not work…”
Then, I opened my other hand, showing a console that was supposed to be attached to her device.
“Eh!? W-when did you remove– It was at that time when we exchanged our device, wasn’t it?! But how could I not notice it?!”
“Because I attached the trashy extra console that I have. I know for sure you won’t notice what it looks like. Well, if it was a master, she would probably notice that there is a sense of discomfort due to the weight of her weapons, but… looks like it was still too hard for the 30,000 point princess.”
Lapis’s face flushed with humiliation.
“Y-you coward…!”
“There’s no such thing as cowardice in a fight. Who decided 『You can’t remove opponent’s console』? I think the one who carelessly left the only weapon she had to her opponent is more foolish.”
I released the magic and put the sword back in the scabbard.
“As promised, I’ll take everything. Thank you for your generosity.”
I then tried to take all the consoles I had removed from her device… But, as I looked at the teary eyed Lapis, I gently put them on the floor.
“Alright, I’ll take just one.”
As expected, making the heroine cry is… a different story…
Or rather, I did get carried away and defeated her, but although a bit late, I became worried. Won’t I be killed in the future because she held a grudge from this matter?
Maybe it is a mistake to focus on strengthening my strength rather than fostering relationships with the heroines?
“W-well then, see you…”
Like that, I was sneakily trying to get away from the place until— the hem of my clothes was grabbed.
“….in”
“Yes?”
“Once again!!”
With bright red eyes, Lapis shouted.
“Duel me once again!!”
“Ee…”
After that, I ran away from the dungeon, leaving behind the princess who shouted, “Get serious!!” after I half-heartedly let her win.