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Even after the exciting scene of Mariabelle’s dance, the stage continued to run smoothly. Although the quality of their performances wasn’t as good as the actual members of the troupe, Inglis and Yua were far ahead of the others in terms of dancing, fighting, and other physically demanding performances.

In addition to that, there was the fact that Inglis simply captivated the eyes of the audience with her appearance. All in all, in this play where physical performances were highly demanded, Inglis was probably able to show more than the professional performers.

And now, it was the battlefield scene at the climax of the story, where Inglis and Rafinha were engaged in a fierce aerial battle. Originally, it was supposed to be Rafinha who piloted Inglis’ Flygear, but Pullum had to take over the role in a hurry.
Even if her flight was a bit wobbly, there would be no problem as long as she was on time with the script.

The audience was baffled by the high-speed aerial battle between the two girls as they flew and jumped from Flygear to Flygear. The moment they returned to their respective rides after a series of clashes, voices could be heard from below them.

「A-, amazing! That Mariabelle girl, she’s so strong for such a beauty!」
「That Euthylis girl is pretty cute too, and she’s the one with the bigger boobs of the two!」

As always, Yua was wearing pads on her chest whilst she was on the stage.

「Nfu!」

Perhaps it entered her ear, Yua put on a slight complacent smile. It was good and all she was satisfied with it, but…

「Senior Yua, Senior! It’s your line next……!」

Lahti, who was piloting the Flygear Yua was on, warned her in a hush. Perhaps out of worry for Pullum, Lahti had in fact memorized the whole script perfectly. And that helped in situations like this, very grateful indeed.

「Erm……You’re not half bad! Fair enough, I will let you help. However, we will settle this later.」

That was the line of Euthylis from the script. After recognizing Mariabelle’s strength, Euthylis allowed Mariabelle to fight alongside her, albeit temporarily. And then, after working together to save Prince Malik’s life from the shadow…

Mariabelle and Euthylis confronted each other on the stage, their Flygears lowered.

「……Hold. Where are you going?」
「I have served my purpose. Now, I will be taking my leave.」
「No, you won’t.」
「Hm? What is the meaning of this?」

As they were exchanging prescribed dialogue, Inglis couldn’t help but feel the boiling emotions in her chest. From here on, the segment where they would be dueling in earnest would begin, the scene with no predetermined ending.

Finally, it was time! Time to see Yua’s seriousness. As long as they passed this slight tidbit safely, the rest of the play would be dedicated for Inglis’ amusement!

「There shall be only one to chase after the Prince. For if it was two, the Prince will waver!」
「Fool. Fighting over such a matter is nothing but foolish. You think he will be happy had he known of this?」

Speaking personally, the person addressed in the dialogue might not be happy by it, but Inglis, the person who played Mariabelle, would sure as hell be. She would be overjoyed.

The opportunity to fight someone as strong as Yua was a blissful moment that couldn’t be replaced by anything. Just to achieve it, Inglis had to use various cunning and cryptic methods and even rounded up enough people, only then she finally managed to get to this point.

She would definitely enjoy it from the bottom of her heart, and it would definitely lead to her growth! It was hard for Inglis as she had to look like she hated the very idea of it. While, in fact, she had been waiting so long for this that her expression might break down any moment now.

「It is not to make him happy, it’s so that he won’t be hurt as he is such a kind, sensitive person……」
「You’re wrong! It’s because you are so assertive that he is……!」

Oh no, it’s not wrong! They both had the power for it, so they should try and improve themselves by grinding it onto each other.

The idea of resolving problems using force was not very likable by nature. That was because it reduced strength into nothing but a means to an end. Rather than that, one should have made strength itself to be their goal, removing justice and ideals from their head. Inglis believed that it was the one true way to confront strength.

That being said, this was just a script for a fictional work. It didn’t really matter. Rather than this, Inglis couldn’t wait for her fight to come. These days, between the catering from Weissmall Troupe and the revival of the cafeteria, filling her stomach wasn’t so hard anymore. Therefore, it was her desire to battle instead that grew very, very high.

「——No use to argue. In the end, this is what we should have done from the beginning.」

Yua, playing Euthylis, held up her sword as per the stage direction. It was a striking pose, effective as a display.

「……I shall finish all challenges that come my way!」

Personally speaking, Inglis would warmly welcome all challenges that came her way. But she, too, drew out her prop-sword.

Following the sound of Yua kicking her foothold, she rushed forward with the speed of a bullet.

「Have at you……!」

The way she swung down her sword was, frankly speaking, too much of a mess with nothing but the brute force behind it. It was no wonder, as Yua wasn’t one to use swords.

「Not on my watch!」

Clang!

Sword collided with sword, and, due to their momentum, their weapons bounced off each other’s hands. The crowd cheered, but this was nothing more than a stunt. And thus ended the script. For the rest of the scene, they were given one direction: make the audience lose their mind.

Yua normally wouldn’t have made such a noisy entrance, nor would she have taken such an exaggerated stance.

「……」

With their scripted performance over, they both took some distance from one another, and Yua no longer assumed a defensive stance. She just stood there, a bit upright, and facing just a little bit diagonally from Inglis.

Yua’s mana had been assimilated with the surrounding natural mana, to the point that Inglis couldn’t feel Yua’s individual mana. As a result, Yua didn’t look so strong but was in fact incredibly powerful.

「Let’s get this over with and go to the kissing scene!」

Inglis could feel the motivation that she usually couldn’t feel from Yua. Marvelous. This should be a great battle!