Shujinkou Janai!

[————–Please wait, your Highness.]

General Sergen, who was present at the time, stopped Ain and I from suddenly starting a fight.

I breathed a sigh of relief at the intervention of the dependable, mature general.

(W- Well, normally thinking about it, this would certainly be something they’d stop.)

I was about to be swept away, but why is a prince speaking like a battle maniac, saying stuff like “You don’t know how strong he is? Then, let’s battle it out.”

At least, there’s no need for Ain, the prince, to take the trouble of being my opponent in this match.

(Thank goodness……)

Ain is the ultimate Cheat Character.

He’s a little lower level now, but even still, the current me is no match against him.

Ain pouted in displeasure at General Sergen who intruded on the topic but……

[Sergen. I’d like it if you don’t stop this, this matter is……]

[No, I don’t intend to stop you. However, if you’re going to battle, I would appreciate it if you would use the <Duel Room>.]

Respectfully speaking, General Sergen pointed to a corner of the training ground.

(……Arehh?)

The story was beginning to take a disturbing turn, but before I could even think of saying anything……

[……I see. I guess that’s true. Let’s take this over there then.]

While I’m feeling dumbfounded about what was going on, I ended up getting whisked off to the <Duel Room>.

※　※　※

(How did this happen……)

In front of the <Duel Room>, the new location we had moved to, I hung my head down.

The <Duel Room> is a place often used for training by knights, where “magic, consumable items and inventory aren’t available”, and “contestants are thrown out of the stage if they are hit by even a single blow”. In other words, it’s something like a simplified version of the Arena.

Indeed, well, this might seem like a simplified version of the arena, but it’s also a way to determine one’s superiority in swordsmanship.

However……

(Why the heck do I feel like a visitor intruding on an enemy home ground!!!?)

Around the stage of the <Duel Room>, the sharp-eyed knights are waiting for the start of the battle seemingly without blinking.

It seems that General Sergen has called out and mobilized all the currently available knights here.

I thought he had done something unnecessary, but I can’t be angry at him for acting out of goodwill.

Incidentally, the reason we’re just standing around like this is because we’re still waiting for the knights to gather.

[……Rex.]

As I was inwardly holding my head in my hands, a voice called out to me from the side.

When I turned around, with her peculiar pointed ears and her face that poorly expresses her emotions, making it so that I couldn’t read what she was thinking at all, she was directly looking at me.

[Prana huh. What’s the matter?]

[I sneaked here.]

My companions were supposed to be sitting nearby the <Duel Room>, but it seems that she had sneaked over here on her own.

I thought she was just here on a whim and came to check things out, but perhaps, seemingly as if she had something she wanted to say, Prana was staring at me for a while, not moving on her spot.

[……Prana?]

When I called out her name, she murmured something.

[————Is it true that Rex has no memories of the past?]

My shoulders involuntarily twitched at this unexpected question.

I could feel sweat pouring down my back.

[Could it be, were you guys able to hear our earlier conversation?]

Resilia intentionally kept her voice down, but I feel like her voice got a little louder halfway through the conversation.

(This is bad. If Radd and the others heard what we were talking about, it could get complicated.)

As for my circumstances, there wasn’t really any reason to hide them so aggressively.

However, whether I push with amnesia or tell them that I have been reincarnated, I don’t know if they will just believe me……

However, as I began to worry, Prana shook her head.

[I think I’m probably the only one who heard it. I have better ears than Radd and the others after all.]

Lightly brushing her pointed ears, Prana reminded me that she was an elf.

Even Resilia didn’t seem to have taken into consideration the Elf’s keen sense of hearing.

[I see. How should I say this…… I guess this is to be expected of you huh.]

[Not really. If you perk up your ears, Rex should be able to hear things of that distance and volume.]

No, I think that was absolutely impossible, but I understood that this wasn’t what we should be talking about right now.

Above all, Prana’s serious eyes seemed to tell me that I can’t skirt away until I answer.

Unable to escape from her eyes, I nodded my head in affirmation.

[……It’s true that I don’t remember my past.]

In truth, I don’t know much about Rex himself, but I didn’t have the courage to go that far.

[Since when?]

I hesitated slightly to answer her continuous questions.

It may have been better to dramatize it to keep the consistency of our explanations but……

[Since a little while before I met you guys.]

In the end, I answered honestly.

[…………Is that so.]

Thereupon, Prana looked down, seemingly in deep thought.

[Prana. If you have something……]

However, when I was worried and tried to speak to her, Prana simply raised her face and spoke before me.

[It’s alright, I was just curious. I’ll keep this a secret from Radd and the others.]

[That would be helpful…… but……]

I wonder if the momentary expression she had, seemingly as if she had been brooding about something, was just me overthinking it.

Although I feel like her mind was still caught by something, Prana said that she didn’t care about me losing my memories anymore and ended that topic.

[My business with you ends here. ……More importantly, is this alright with you, Rex?]

[Is what alright?]

While I was unable to keep up with the sudden change in topic, Prana sent her gaze to the <Duel Room>, coldly moving her gaze at the knights still busily moving about……

[I don’t think Rex really needs to be in this fight.]

And there she spoke as bluntly as usual, and I couldn’t help chuckling at that.

[It can’t be helped. This is necessary to show my ability, and besides, quitting after coming this far is just unsightly.]

Moreover, if you think about it calmly, it’s not such a bad idea.

In this <Duel Room>, even if you lose, you won’t get hurt or die.

Ultimately, I would lose nothing even if I were to lose, and regardless of whether I win or lose, if I can show the usefulness of <Manual Arts>, I can achieve my goal.

[……Besides, with the rules in place, I might be able to meet him.]

When I whispered so, Prana asked in surprise.

[Is the prince that strong?]

[Yeah.]

It seems like there’s still some time before the knights gather.

Since this could kill me some time and have Prana grasp the current situation, I decided to let out my complaints to her.

[Since we’re at it, I guess I’ll explain the situation to you, Prana. About how much of a Cheat Character that guy is.]

※　※　※

[First of all, when it comes to base abilities, his abilities far exceed others by a wide margin. I’ll say this now, but there’s no one on his level that can compete with him.]

[You describe him that much?]

[Yeah. He’s just that great.]

Taking out my notebook, I flipped to the area where everyone’s ability values and started writing.

[First, here’s what Prana’s abilities look like now.]

Prana’s ability hasn’t changed since the last time we raided the Ant Burrows.

The reason is that the enemies in that Burrows were only those with lower levels than the party, so they didn’t gain enough EXP, and as for the <Demon Lord>, they didn’t participate in the battle, so they didn’t receive any EXP.

Even so, Prana is the one who specializes in attacking the most among Radd’s party, <Brave & Blade>.

Even though she isn’t a Unique Character, it’s amazing that her main ability, <FOC>, has reached an A- rating at Lv 34.

When I praised her for that……

[It’s all thanks to Rex.]

Without trying to show off or acting haughty at all, she straightforwardly spoke such words.

[I- Is that right?]

[Yes.]

I was so shaken by that surprise attack that to cover up my thoughts, I moved my thoughts away from it and wrote down the following Status in my notebook.

[A- And so, here’s my current Status.]

I had been hesitant to show my Status to Radd and the others, but this would be a good opportunity to do so.

I showed Prana the Status I had measured just before we departed from Frelia.

After the battle with the <Demon Lord>, my level went up by 2.

My Class at that time was <Trickster>, which I had Class Changed to to increase my Skill Level.

Unsurprisingly, I have the same Class as Prana now.

I can’t say it was the best Class when increasing my abilities, but I think it wasn’t a bad Class in its own way.

—————However, even in light of that level-up, it still pales in comparison to Prana’s Status.

In terms of Status Total alone, my 1200 and Prana’s 1400 actually don’t have that much of a difference.

However, the difference between our combat power is like heaven and earth.

Although we can’t really make a simple comparison because of the difference in our fighting styles, the ability that is most related to my offensive power only has 209, while Prana’s has 440.

Roughly speaking, my attack power doesn’t even reach half of Prana’s.

[This is the weakness of someone with equal distribution of stats. It depends on the situation, but basically, All-Rounders like me can’t compete with the Specialized-types.]

[In other words, the prince is a Specialized-type, so Rex can’t beat him?]

At Prana’s guessing question, I shook my head.

[It would have been nice if that really was the case.]

Letting out a sigh, I used <Inspect> on Ain, who was standing across from me and looking our way with a smile.

And the result is……

*insert Ain 2*

[……Huh?]

This may have been the first time I’ve ever heard Prana sounding so speechless.

Reminiscing the faint joy I had felt when I first saw it, looking at Ain’s ability value right now only made me feel half in despair.

He’s currently still Lv 45, but his ability values are exactly 3 times that of Rex’s when he was at Lv 50.

He, who is the Ultimate Balanced-type, is the Ultimate Balance Breaker of the game.

[—————–That guy, you see. He’s a cheat b*stard who has ability values that surpass even the Specialized-types.]