The Young Lady With the Most Powerful Specs Was Just Too Cute, so I Started Teasing Her—But Then She Tried to Trap Me With a Chain, so I Kept Running Away With All My Might - Chapter 11

The Second Showdown!

“Nil, let’s begin. There is no one left to get in our way.”

With that blank look on her face and those black chains floating behind her back, she looked pretty scary!

“Oldie! Since we’re in a small area this time, maybe you could go a little easy on me?”

“I will do no such thing. Last time, I was out of shape and my mana control was sloppy. But this time, while I rested my body, I practiced moving my mana and did image training specifically to catch you.”

“Please just take a normal break next time!”

“I think you’ve stalled for time long enough.”

I guess she saw through me. Right after that, Oldie started her fierce attack.

For the first five minutes, I really thought I was going to die.

Well, maybe not die, but I definitely thought I was going to get caught.

Oldie’s chains were faster than before.

Plus, since she had already dealt with everyone else from the start today, she didn’t have any hesitation or mercy left.

She was aiming straight for me.

“Whoa, close one!”

A black chain grazed my side and tore up the ground.

“Oldie! Aren’t you being a bit too serious!?”

“I have been serious from the very beginning.”

“No, I know that! But your speed and movements are way more polished than last time!”

I kept running while doing my best to dodge.

I cut to the right, came to a dead stop, and jumped the other way.

A black chain whistled past my back.

It almost took my sleeve with it.

That was dangerous. But, man, this was fun. It was seriously fun.

It wasn’t just been a while since I’d played a game of tag at full power like this.

It might have been the first time in my whole life.

“Nil, you’ve got a grin on your face!”

One of the seniors, who was still rolling around on the ground, shouted out.

“Do I? Hehe, it’s because I’m having a blast!”

“Are you kidding me?! What kind of guy actually enjoys a situation like that?”

Oldie’s chain closed in from the left.

I dove forward and rolled. Dirt got all over my clothes.

I kept desperately running away.

The most important thing right now was to get out of Oldie’s sight, even if it was just for a split second.

Since we had fought before, I pretty much understood how she worked.

This person’s chains were strong. They were fast. They covered a lot of ground.

But they weren’t perfect.

The moment her gaze and focus broke, her tracking became a little weak.

“Right there!”

“Whoa!?”

That was close! She completely read my move just now!

I kicked off the ground and twisted my body to dodge at the very last second.

the chain zipped past my cheek.

“Oldie! That was so close! You almost had that jerk Nil!”

“Whose side are you on anyway, Katary!?”

“Oldie’s, obviously!”

“I guess that makes sense!”

But she really was close. She had completely learned how I moved since last time.

The timing of when I turned, the direction I jumped, my habits when I slowed down.

She must have really spent time thinking about how to catch me.

“Nil. What’s the matter? You’re dripping with sweat.”

“What about you, Oldie? You said you’d catch everyone in ten minutes, but ten minutes are almost up.”

“You’re right. In that case, I’ll turn up the speed even more.”

Once we passed the ten-minute mark, her speed changed completely.

I couldn’t even see the chains!

“That’s totally cheating!”

“Isn’t dodging them the real cheating!?”

Oldie’s serious effort and my survival instincts crashed against each other.

“Hey, Nil! To the right, to the right!”

“Oldie, just keep pushing him like that!”

The seniors were starting to get heated up too.

But unlike me, who didn’t even have a second to hide and rest…

Oldie was the one who might run out of mana.

It was turning into a battle of who would run out of breath first.

I could hear random shouting from the corner of the field, but I didn’t have the energy to pay attention to any of it anymore.

However, she didn’t have that same sharp precision she had when we first hit ten minutes.

Oldie’s concentration was wavering just a tiny bit.

The moment it flickered, I ran again. But Oldie always managed to pull herself back together.

It wasn’t just the chains. She was running toward me herself.

With that expressionless face, her black hair swaying as she headed straight for me.

She looked beautiful, yet scary, and she was looking only at me.

It actually made me kind of happy.

“Please stop running away.”

“No way, this is a game of tag!”

“I know that.”

“Then what you just said doesn’t make any sense!”

“Just let yourself be caught!”

“You’re asking for the impossible!”

What was with that? She sounded like she was making a wish. It was actually kind of cute.

Though, I guess I shouldn’t be saying that when I’m the one almost getting caught.

By the time twenty minutes had passed, I was finally starting to run out of breath. I was reaching my limit.

But it wasn’t just me. Oldie was the same way.

Still, the light in Oldie’s eyes hadn’t faded.

This time, she was moving her body less and focusing entirely on controlling the chains.

Because of that, she was getting sharper and sharper.

I could tell she was starting to have fun.

The way the chains came out and moved was much smoother than before.

“Oldie!”

I shouted while keeping my distance.

“Is your mana holding up okay!?”

“It’s not a problem!”

“Are you sure!?”

“Until I catch you, it won’t be a problem!”

“That answer doesn’t make me feel safe at all!”

But the way she said it with such certainty was a little funny, and I ended up laughing again.

When I did, Oldie looked a little annoyed.

Oh, crap. I keep teasing her without thinking.

The next second, three chains came at me at the same time.

“Waaaaah!?”

I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die! Okay, I won’t die, but I’m gonna get caught!

I rolled forward with everything I had and immediately kicked off the dirt to run.

I felt a cold presence sticking to my back.

They were definitely right behind me.

“Nil, keep going!”

“Don’t just use your mouth, help me out, Katary!”

“That’s against the rules!”

“Oh, right!”

Crap, this is bad! My legs are starting to give out!

When we passed twenty-five minutes, even Oldie’s movements slowed down a little.

Well, it wasn’t so much that she slowed down, but she became more careful.

She stopped making useless moves.

She was saving her mana! This was bad.

Up until now, I could escape through pure momentum, but now she was properly cornering me.

I grit my teeth and kept running.

If I stopped here, it was over. But since I’d made it this far, I wanted to win.

If I could run away from Oldie for thirty minutes, I’d have something to brag about.

“Just a little longer, Nil!”

The seniors were making a ruckus.

“Good luck!”

“If you get away, you’re buying us dinner tonight!”

“Why do I have to do that!?”

“Because you made things exciting!”

“That’s so unfair!”

While we were shouting back and forth, another chain came.

I jumped to dodge it, but it almost wrapped around my arm.

I pulled off my uniform jacket and used it as a decoy.

“That was way too close…!”

“Cheater!”

Oldie said.

“I didn’t get caught, though!”

“I’ll get you next time.”

“Do you know how many times you’ve said that now?”

“I don’t remember.”

“You definitely remember.”

“It will all be over once I catch you.”

“I’m not letting it end!”

I shouted as I ran.

My legs were heavy. It was hard to breathe.

But for some reason, I couldn’t stop smiling.

I’m probably the only one who knows what Oldie looks like when she’s chasing someone this seriously.

Thinking that made me feel a little proud.

“Thirty minutes!”

One of the seniors yelled.

The moment I heard that, I almost collapsed right there on the spot.

“Whoa…! Really!?”

“Really!”

“You made it, Nil!”

“Not bad at all!”

The seniors all stood up at once.

I took deep breaths as I looked toward the middle of the field.

Oldie was standing still there too.

Her shoulders were heaving slightly.

She still had that blank look.

But her eyes looked like she was frustrated.

Yeah, I thought to myself, that kind of face really suits her.

I wanted her to keep looking only at me and looking frustrated like that.

She looked beautiful, and cute.

I got my breathing under control and stood up.

“Oldie.”

“…What is it.”

She was expressionless, but she looked grumpy and annoyed.

“It’s my win again.”

“Not yet.”

“No, it’s been thirty minutes.”

“I haven’t caught you yet.”

“Well, that’s true, but still!”

The seniors laughed again. Oldie looked away for a moment.

Then, she spoke quietly.

“Next time, I will catch you much faster.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be ready.”

“…I am serious.”

“I’ll play with you as much as you want.”

“Huh?”

“I am your personal knight apprentice, after all. Besides, training with you is more fun than any other kind of practice!”

When I said that, Oldie stayed quiet for a bit.

After that silence, she muttered a single sentence.

“Today, only Nil stayed until the very end.”

“Eh?”

“The others were caught immediately.”

“Well… I guess so.”

“Nil ran away properly.”

“Are you praising me?”

“I don’t know.”

She turned her head away.

But her profile looked just a little bit softer than usual.

“Alright! Anyone who got caught clearly hasn’t trained enough!”

The Captain appeared out of nowhere.

“Gah!?”

“Wha-?!”

The Captain grabbed the senior knights by the scruffs of their necks.

“Captain!”

“You guys need a lot more work! Be happy about it!”

I think the Captain is a monster for dragging five people away all by himself like that.

“Fufu.”

Seeing that, Oldie let out a little laugh.

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

“Yes. However, Nil. I will definitely never let you get away.”

“Wait, didn’t you mean ‘catch’ me?”

“Fufu, fufuuhu fufufufu.”

Oldie seemed to be having fun, so I guess it was fine.