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By the time Ciel noticed the arrow, it had already pierced several layers of my barrier before being stopped.
The arrow reached the barrier that should be able to endure a C-rank monster’s attack, so it must be decently powerful.
After the second and third arrow, the C-rank barrier was completely destroyed and then, with a triumphant look, a slim man showed himself.

It was a young noble in a hunter’s attire.
He wasn’t even the one who shot the arrows, why does he look so puffed up about it?
Is he the type that takes this underling’s achievements as his own?

Rather, they should’ve just continued shooting, why did he even show himself?

「Fiiyanamia’s daughter you may be, in the end, you’re no more than a weakling who can only make such flimsy barriers.」

At first I thought ‘Isn’t that rude all of the sudden’, but I then nearly let out an audible Ah.
I felt Ciel’s body instantly tense up.
She’s absolutely using her Dance Princess powers if he does anything stupid, no questions asked.

Yielding to Ciel’s silent intensity, the slim man suddenly started talking again.

「T-that look of yours does not change the fact that you’re outmatched. I’ll personally deliver you to your end.」

It seems like he thinks he can defeat Ciel as long as they can get rid of the barrier.
While it’s true that a barrier that can overpower C-ranks is pretty strong, barriers of this level shouldn’t be uncommon with high ranking hunters.

Also, Ciel paid absolutely no attention to the slim man’s monologue.
『Say, Ain.』 The tone of her voice was really scary. I know that this anger isn’t directed to me, though.

『What is it?』
『I want to lock them up, is that okay?』
『Will you be using an Elicinary¹?』
『Can we go with Sphilamote Elicinary²?』
『One moment. Let me check if it’s doable.』

Ciel’s Elicinary-type dances are techniques that require the boost of power from Song Princess.
I think that’s why she asked me for confirmation, the problem is that we’re inside the den.
In other words, we’re in a place infused with the Creator God’s power. Since she will be using thorny briars, those will have to sprout from the ground or walls.
For that reason, I’m checking if it’s possible to do it here, but it might be difficult for Ciel alone.
Normal magic power would be repelled.

『I will assist. I’ll be using divine power, please try to grasp the feeling of using it as well.』
『Understood. I’m counting on you.』

And with Ciel’s agreement, I started to sing.
While Ciel and I were talking, the ignored slim man seemed to look quite angry, but I could care less.
It’s your fault for angering Ciel.

Matching my song, Ciel began to dance.
Like a spring bud sprouting vigorously in the summer.
Like a beautiful flower blooming from a well grown stem.

She deftly moved her limbs, extending her arms out as she twirled about.

And following her lead, sharp thorny briars surrounded us.
The thorns crawled and twisted into a dome-shaped enclosure.

A thorny dome, or rather a prison, is created to showcase Ciel’s dance.

Since it’s for growing a field of briars, I was using the song Liessyl sung before and, to my surprise, the spirits with us are jumping around happier than usual.
Liessyl is also with them. She looks like someone in a daycare.

And it seems like she’s doing something to the briars.

Ah…… she strengthened it. It was already quite sturdy to begin with, but now I don’t think even a charging wyvern can make it budge. It’d probably be shredded by the thorns, even.
This spell originally had the defensive ability of around roughly C or B rank and immediately heals from any cut and burn damage.

「W-what is this?」
「Well, do your best.」

Imprisoning the slim man and all his cohorts, Ciel sat down with satisfaction.
The panicking men attempted to get rid of the briars, but it didn’t have any effect at all.
These briars, while made with the assistance of the spirits, are composed of Ciel’s magic power, so you can escape as long as you outlast her magic power reserves.
Another way out would be to attack Ciel herself, but my barrier is tougher than these briars, so people who can actually defeat Ciel should have already escaped the horns easily.

And since the men can’t break through the briars, they’re now forced into a battle of attrition.
The men are aware that Ciel is the origin of the briars, so upon concluding that they can’t escape, they turned their attacks to Ciel. However, I won’t allow any of it.

From how they haven’t noticed the existence of the B-rank barrier, their strength must be below B-rank, so I don’t actually need to do anything.
How do I describe it? They’re raining arrows, swords, and spells right now, and it’s an eyesore.

Even so, from the use of magic power, I can feel some upper C rank level sorcery in use.
It looks like they’re giving their all.

A cloud of dust was rising around us and when we couldn’t see them anymore, their attacks stopped.
I can hear laughter from beyond the dust cloud, does he think he’s defeated Ciel?

「That’s what you get for ignoring me. Resent your own folly!」

As I heard his smug voice, the dust cloud began to clear.
And while all this happened, Ciel didn’t move one bit. She’s sitting down, staring only where they should be.

「Something happened?」
「Ha, ha, ha…… haa?」

The slim man’s loud laughter stopped in surprise.
It was likely their all out attack, so I understand the surprise, but isn’t he a bit too careless？
In my opinion, one should never let their guard down until the enemy’s defeat is confirmed. Rather, he should have noticed that the briars are still around.

「If you can break two more barriers, I’ll fight you, so good luck.」

Saying that, Ciel then completely forgets about the slim man.
She’s void of wariness, as though she’s just about to go to sleep.
It’s not out of carelessness, it’s out of disrespect. Not out of overconfidence, but out of complete trust.

In other words, she wants to show off just how amazing my barrier is.
This has happened before, but whenever someone belittles my barrier, Ciel will not be satisfied until she shows the opposition just how strong my barrier is.
And while it does make me feel happy, it also makes me feel conflicted.

By ‘two more barriers‘, she likely wants them to break as much as Friere did, but considering the earlier attacks, they can probably only break one more at best.
Frustrated about being looked down on — or maybe he just either doesn’t see or doesn’t want to see the large gap in power — the slim man angrily started to fire off spells.

His underlings followed after him and resumed their attack on Ciel.

『Come to think of it, Ain?』
『What is it?』
『You’ve been doing something with the spirits lately, right?』
『That’s right. We can see each other after all, so I’ve been playing games with them.』
『Could you teach me those games, too? It feels lonely to be left out, you know?』
『Of course. It’s not really anything complicated, though. Right, then first let’s start with rock-paper-scissors, shall we?』
『Yes, yes. What is this ‘rock-paper-scissors’ thing? What is it!』

While various attacks rain down on us, for some reason, I’m about to teach Ciel rock-paper-scissors.

RIP, slim man. You were completely overconfident, unluckily stepped on a big landmine, and beautifully exhibited several examples of third-rate villain stock lines in the span of half a chapter. May you continue to ham it up in third-rate villain heaven.

In today’s half of the chapter, Ciel is mad. Not pouty mad, mad mad. You never speak bad about Ain’s barrier, lol. And so this chapter presented a new Elicinary, the Stage of Thorns/Briars! Also, it seems like there’s something special about songs sung by spirits, or at least a Liessyl-level spirit. That’s rare breakthrough for Ain’s Song Princess powers, she practically haven’t had growth in that part ever since they discovered their Jobs. And so the chapter ends with our princesses playing around, cute.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!

1. Stage
2. Stage of Thorns