020. Duel is a Major
Inside a shabby shack.
I was conducting a mock duel with Liris to help her grow as a duelist.
To be precise, I was training her by creating situations that she had to solve, in a way that was commonly called puzzle duel.
“Clear my field in this turn. That’s your challenge for now.”
“Yes!”
Currently, my field had a monster card called ‘Illusion Trickster’ and a trap card called ‘Mimir’s Wicked Mirror’ set.
[Illusion Trickster]
Level: 3 / Attribute: Dark / Type: Spellcaster
ATK / DEF: 800 / 1200
This card cannot be destroyed by battle once per turn. Also, this card can be activated when it is targeted for an attack. The player negates the battle damage they receive and returns it to the opponent.
[Mimir’s Wicked Mirror]
Normal Trap
This card can be activated when the opponent’s effect that destroys cards is activated. The card to be destroyed can be designated by the player who activated this card.
A monster with battle destruction immunity and damage reflection, and a trap card that reflects destruction effects.
At a glance, it looked like an invincible iron wall, but it was not.
With the two cards in Liris’ hand, this seemingly flashy iron wall would surely crumble.
[Abyss Dragon]
Level: 4 / Attribute: Dark / Type: Dragon
Attack / Defense: 1600 / 1500
At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card did not declare an attack, you can activate this effect. Target and destroy 1 monster card on your opponent’s field.
[Flood]
Normal Magic
You can activate this card by targeting 1 set monster / magic / trap card on your opponent’s field. Destroy that card.
“Then, I’ll start by normal summoning ‘Abyss Dragon’!”
The problem was that Riris didn’t know how to use those cards harmoniously.
He wanted to point out her mistakes right away, but he bit his lips and held back.
It was important for her to realize what she did wrong by experiencing it herself.
“I’ll attack Illusion Trickster with Abyss Dragon!”
“Illusion Trickster cannot be destroyed by battle. And the battle damage caused by Trickster’s effect goes to you.”
“Ah…!”
“You made the wrong choice. Try again.”
“Then I’ll end the Battle Phase without attacking Trickster. And I’ll activate Abyss Dragon’s effect!”
“Trap card ‘Mimir’s Evil Mirror’ activated. The destruction target is Abyss Dragon.”
“Ugh…! I should have destroyed it with a magic card before entering the Battle Phase.”
“That’s also wrong.”
Mimir’s Evil Mirror has the effect of letting the player freely choose the destruction target.
Therefore, even if the original condition was to destroy only magic or trap cards, the destruction itself is transferred to another card.
Riris’s Abyss Dragon was doomed to be destroyed.
“`
You buttoned it wrong from the start. You should have used Flood to clear your set cards before summoning Abyss Dragon. Then you could have summoned Abyss Dragon and activated its effect to destroy Trickster and clean up the field.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think it through……”
Lilith made a gloomy face, thinking that she had shown a disappointing performance in her first duel, even if it was just a mock one.
I put my hand on her head and gently rubbed it.
“You don’t have to be so down. Everyone struggles and has a hard time at first. And even if you get used to it, there’s no guarantee that you won’t make the same mistakes as now. The most important thing for a duelist is to have an attitude of learning constantly, a habit of reviewing your mistakes, and a mindset of not giving up in any situation.”
“Ye-yes, I’ll keep that in mind!”
Lilith nodded her head repeatedly, bowing it deeply.
We became master and disciple on the condition of silver, but I still felt awkward around her.
At this rate, I wondered how long it would take to teach Lilith the basics.
“Let’s end the mock duel here for now.”
“Does that mean the training is over for today?”
“No. You have to train your duel muscles. If you skip a day, you’ll lose muscle mass.”
“Um, I’ve been curious about this since before. What’s the benefit of training your duel muscles?”
“Training your duel muscles is a matter of life and death, don’t ask or argue, just train.”
“Oh, okay….”
Sorry, I don’t know either.
People say that if you train your duel muscles, you can draw the card you want, but it’s not a proven fact.
But this is a world where duel monsters live and where duelism is everything, so wouldn’t it be good to train your duel muscles anyway?
With that thought, I also practiced drawing whenever I had time.
If I did that in the real world, people would have called me crazy.
“`
“Master, I brought some water for you to use today.”
“Oh! Thank you.”
Phineas was also a wanted man, but he had access to a route called the sky, so he often asked him to get some water from outside.
So today, Phineas brought a jar full of clear and transparent water, which he planned to use for drinking and showering.
“I’m sorry to make you bring water every time.”
“No, it’s not your fault. The problem was that the well in the slums was dried up. I suggested to you that we hide in the slums, so I have to take that into account.”
“By the way, how is the bounty going?”
“It’s the same. I think we have to lie low for at least seven days.”
“Seven days…”
“If you think the stay is too long, there is also a way to break through by force. What do you think?”
He glanced at Liris, and she flinched and avoided his gaze.
An implicit will to leave the decision to him.
If he left the village, he wouldn’t have to owe anything to this house anymore, and his obligation to teach Liris dual would naturally disappear.
She knew that fact, and she didn’t express any opinion.
It would be fine if she acted like a child and asked him to stay.
“It’s okay, seven days is bearable. And it’s not like we don’t have anything to do.”
He felt sorry to leave her now that she had just started to walk on dual.
Besides, he was Liris’s teacher.
The one who became a teacher, he had to take responsibility for his disciple until he could stand on his own.
So leaving this village was still premature.
“Lilith, as you just heard, things turned out this way so I think I’ll have to stay here for about seven more days. Is that okay?”
“Yes…? Ah! Yes, it’s okay!”
“Good. Then let’s finish the draw training quickly as the day is getting dark and rest.”
“Yes…!!”
The girl who answered energetically with sparkling eyes to my shameless request.
She was welcoming a freeloader who said he would live in her house for seven days, but I couldn’t understand why.
Did she want to be a duelist that much?
Well, in a world of dueling omnipotence, you’re a spy if you can’t duel.
Anyway, I decided to focus on Lilith’s training for the remaining period.
And after seven days, when she becomes a proper duelist, I’ll leave for another journey.
Waiting for that day to come, I draw cards with Lilith again today.
***
Splash!
Water poured over the girl’s red head, wetting her body.
The cold water touched her skin, and the girl shivered and trembled, but did not scream or cry.
Then a hand full of bubbles began to gently rub the girl’s body.
The girl sat still and entrusted her body to the hand that caressed her.
“Lilith, you worked hard today. It was hard, wasn’t it?”
“No, no! Rather, you must have been more tired than me, teaching such an inexperienced child like me.”
“hehehe, you’re humble.”
“But it’s true….”
Behind the shack.
In that gloomy place where there was no sign of life, two women who had nothing but straw to cover themselves were washing themselves.
They rubbed their bodies together, taking turns to wash their hair and body with a fragrant soap.
It was Liris’s turn now, and Phineas observed the girl’s outline as she soaped her body.
Liris’s figure was thin from starvation.
But the blood of the succubus could not be deceived, and the places where she should have curves as a woman were clearly visible.
Phineas believed without a doubt that if she had the conditions to eat regularly, she would grow up to be a beautiful lady in the distant future.
“Liris.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll ask you bluntly. What do you think of the master? Do you like him romantically, for example….”
“Li, like him? That’s ridiculous…!!”
“You don’t have to hide it. I’ll keep it a secret from the master.”
Liris blushed and panicked at the sudden question.
But she was drawn into thought by the seriousness in Phineas’s tone.
As time passed and Liris’s soaping was almost over, she began to whisper.
“I’m still young and I don’t know what it means to like someone. But whenever the teacher praises me or strokes me, my heart beats fast. Is this what it means to like someone?”
“I don’t know. It could be just embarrassment, or it could be arrhythmia.”
“Is that so….”
“So keep finding out what that feeling is. You’ll eventually reach a conclusion.”
“…Ah, yes!!”
Phineas slowly poured water over Liris and smiled sweetly.
From Noble mtl dot com
A girl who might become a comrade and a rival in loving the same person.
He felt anxious but also hopeful for the girl’s growth.
“Then, you know. Does Phineas sister like the master?”
“Yes, I adore him more than anyone in the world!”
“How did sister come to like the master?”
“hehehe, there are many factors, but if I had to choose one, I would say it was fate.”
“Fate?”
“Yes. Why I and the master are fated is because….”
The quiet and gloomy back of the hut was heated up by the conversation of the two women.
*
Meanwhile, Han Se-yoon, who had washed up and rested early, was asleep before he knew it, and his consciousness was in a place he had never seen before.
A void space where only white could be seen no matter where he looked.
As his mind gradually became dull in the endless white background, a huge throne suddenly fell from the sky in front of him.
He startled and unknowingly stepped back.
A few steps back, he could see a woman in a graceful dress sitting on the throne.
“Welcome to the space I created, stranger. I am the god of justice, Minerva.”
“A god?”
“Yes. I am one of the 12 gods who are responsible for the order of this world….”
“So you finally showed up to take revenge on me!”
“Ye…yes?”
“Fine, I’ll accept your challenge!”
“Now, wait a minute, there seems to be a misunderstanding…!”
“It’s a duel!!”
“Listen to me, you bastard!!”
Mineru couldn’t hold back her anger at Han Se-yoon’s attitude, who judged and misunderstood her arbitrarily.
But her hand was holding a deck of cards, so even if she claimed to be in charge of justice, she was ultimately a god of the Duel Monsters world.
She too had a body optimized for dueling.
““Duel!!””
the mtl will switch from here on
Minerva? They’re really Lightsworn, huh