"Huh, nya? Hermes-sama, where did you suddenly come from, nya?"
Anya jumped in surprise at the sudden appearance of the god.
"Isn't it obvious? Wherever Bell-kun is, you'll find me too!"
Hermes chuckled as he walked closer.
"Uwah... even I might want to say that, but hearing it from you is kind of gross, nya..."
Chloe didn't hold back her blunt criticism.
Bell gave a helpless smile, having already noticed the god's arrival.
"Hermes-sama, you used a magic item, didn't you? With something like that, I can't believe you didn't use it to peek at girls bathing."
"Ahem, don't just blurt out my Ace! And besides, I'm not like Apollo. I don't have those kinds of hobbies."
Hermes casually brushed off the accusation.
In response to the god's frankness, all three of them turned cold looks toward him.
"D-don't look at me like that! I wouldn't use my [Ace] for anything excessive."
Hermes quickly changed the subject.
"I just happened to pass by. Anyway, if you're going to duel, I'll be the one to witness it."
"Huh, nya! I almost forgot, nya! White-hair, hurry up and duel, nya!"
"You're way too forgetful, nya..."
Chloe muttered.
Ignoring Chloe's complaint, Anya stared at the boy with sparkling eyes.
Looking at their eager expressions, Bell asked,
"Anya-san, why do you want to duel?"
"Nya... detectives and assistants always end up clashing. After they fight once, they make up again. That's how the detective novels Syr gave me describe it, nya!"
Anya explained with complete seriousness.
"I see... so Anya-san can actually read..."
Bell murmured thoughtfully.
"Huh nya?! White-hair, are you looking down on me, nya?! I'm going to teach you a proper lesson, nya!"
Anya cracked her knuckles.
"That's right, nya! The crime of insulting the dumb cat must be repaid with the young man's body, nya!"
Chloe stepped forward as well, clearly eager to fight.
"Even though it was Chloe-san who said 'dumb cat' just now... still, if the two of you want a match, I'm happy to accept."
Bell replied as he walked toward an open space nearby.
He had just reached Lv.3, and adapting to his new [Vessel] would be easier by fighting people rather than monsters.
"Excellent! There's no need to ask about Bell-kun's weapon," Hermes said as he checked their readiness. "Tavern girls, what about your weapons?"
"As a qualified [Assassin], I can draw my weapons at any time, nya."
Chloe pulled out two daggers from who knows where.
"I don't need weapons, nya. Taking down white-hair will be easy, nya."
Anya puffed out her chest proudly.
"Oh, oh, starting off with small-fry trash talk already, huh?! Don't even think about attacking the referee. The match begins!"
Faced with Anya's glaring hostility, Hermes hastily retreated backward.
On the open grassland, Bell kept a measured distance from the two Cat girls.
With neither side wearing armor, the most dangerous factor was Chloe's poison-coated daggers.
Given Anya's personality, the chance of the two coordinating their attacks could be safely ruled out.
Taking all this into account, Bell chose to remain where he was and observe.
"White-hair is only Lv.2. I'll knock him down in two seconds, nya!"
After declaring her victory, Anya charged straight ahead.
"You idiot, nya! Don't be careless, nya!"
Chloe let out a long sigh.
In her eyes, Anya was a complete idiot.
She couldn't formulate tactics, nor could she read an opponent's setup.
Yet in their past fights, it was precisely Anya's straightforward nature that had left Chloe, who preferred main offensive strategies, at a loss.
"So, young man… how will you respond, nya..."
As Chloe murmured to herself, a small body kicked up a fierce gust of wind, rolling forward like a speeding wheel.
Bell had once only suspected that the tavern staff possessed remarkable strength.
Now that he had reached Lv.3, he could be certain that Anya rushing toward him possessed Lv.4-level power.
The wheel surged forward, the wind howling.
Bell adopted a head-on stance, raising the Hestia Knife straight in front of him.
"Trying to take advantage of the fact that I'm unarmed, nya? Too naive, nya. You think I'd just crash into you like an idiot, nya?"
Anya's speed didn't slow in the slightest.
"Besides agility, Cat People also have claws and sharp teeth, nya!"
Anya shouted as she lunged toward the boy.
The Hestia Knife had been waiting.
A blue-violet arc brushed past the speeding wheel.
"This is my victory… nya?!"
Before Anya's claws could reach him, another crimson dagger had already appeared in the boy's right hand.
She had seen Bell fight during the War Game and had been wary of this.
By all logic, in such a short span of time, a Lv.2 adventurer shouldn't have been able to recover and counter.
"Wha-nya?! White-hair leveled up, nya?!"
The boy's speed exceeded Anya's expectations by an entire tier.
In the midst of her shocked cry,
Anya paid the price for her carelessness.
"Ohhh! Anya is down! Bell-kun really has reached a higher stage!"
As the sole spectator, Hermes cheered loudly for the boy.
"Nya?! Just over a month, and he leveled up again?!"
Chloe frowned deeply.
Reaching Lv.3 directly from Lv.1 in barely two months?
This could no longer be described as talent. It had stepped squarely into the incomprehensible realm of the [unknown].
No matter how she thought about it, it was far too abnormal.
Faced with this shocking reality, even though Chloe was one level higher than the boy, a sense of impending defeat quietly rose within her.
"Sorry, nya. I'm getting serious now, young man..."
Chloe charged forward.
Her slender frame showed no obvious threat, yet in the next instant, several throwing knives shot straight toward the boy.
"...Just where did she pull out that many weapons from?"
Bell nimbly dodged the flying knives.
Any attacks he couldn't avoid, he deflected cleanly with the dagger in his hand.
"My skirt is quite special, nya. If it's you, I could let you take a look, nya~"
Chloe replied with a playful smile.
The distance between them closed rapidly.
Just as they were about to clash, a smoke bomb silently detonated beside Chloe.
In an instant, the surroundings became pitch black.
"Play around."
A short chant was woven from the girl's lips.
"Feles Cruz!"
Bell could hear the magic being chanted, but he couldn't see Chloe's movements at all.
With his vision blocked, a sharp sense of pressure bore down on his nerves.
What exactly was Chloe's magic?
And what was the purpose of this smoke?
A slash cut through the fog, striking from behind.
Bell was already prepared.
He twisted his body and swung the Hestia Knife to block.
But in the next moment, a blue-violet arc shattered the dagger's path, slicing Chloe's figure into countless fragments.
There was no sense of impact at all.
This was... illusion magic?!