Chapter 246

Chapter 246: Taiyou / Ace and Joker

Translator: Reflet
Editor: ryunakama

　He tied the shoelace, and untied the shoelace .

　He tied the shoelace, and untied the shoelace .

　He tied the shoelace, and untied the shoelace .

　Taiyou was all alone in the afternoon living terrace of Taiyou Castle .

　As Taiyou was silently raising his level, the Level Fairy Hera had warped before him .

　Hera spun around in the air, posing with her fist thrust in the air .

　Taiyou secretly called that “The Levelup Dance” .

「Tereretettettehhh♪　Taiyou-chan has leveled up！」

「You finally came . Is it 17 now？」

「Yes indeed . Let’s do an ability cheeeck」」

「Yeah, bring it」

　Taiyou punched the palm of his hand .

　This was by now a familiar, intimate exchange

　He felt the kind of relief that one might feel with marriage after having been together for many years, as if to say「Hey, go ahead and take this」 .

　As he did that, he chased――after the numbers drifting in『the area between the eyes and the back teeth』, aka the back of his mind .

　His points were essentially what he had predicted .

　His power especially had been preserved in a high area, which made him feel like he could even go to a bonus stage and do time attack with breaking cars with his bare hands .

　He was thinking it was best to somehow use it against Shirokiyami .

「Taiyou-chan Taiyou-chan」

　Hera’s voice broke through his thoughts .

　As he looked at her wondering what was up, he saw her face gazing worriedly at him .

「What’s wrong？」

「Taiyou-chan, your bandages are red . I think blood is coming out」

「Huh？ Oh, you’re right」

　Once Hera had said that, he looked at his body .

　There was a slight amount of blood staining the bandages wrapped around his upper body .

　After treatment, the blood should have stopped, but his wound had apparently opened up again unnoticed .

「Still hadn’t stopped completely, eh」

「Will you be okay？」

「Well, I won’t die at least」

　Taiyou said, tracing the “sliced wound” from above his bandages with his fingers .

　It was in a soft manner of touching, yet not touching, like when he slept with his wives the first time .

　Nevertheless, the kind of intense pain that made him feel his face was being pulled apart coursed throughout his entire body .

「Ow ow ow……」

「……Taiyou-chan? Could you actually……be a masochist？」

「The hell did that come from！」

　He lashed back at the sudden comment with a quip, but that ended up bringing further pain .

　Taiyou held down the area around the wound, glaring at Hera .

「The hell are you saying?」

「Cause you are grinning while touching your wound . That has to be a masochistic tendency」

「No, but well, it’s true that I’m happy」

「So you really are a maso――」

「I am NOT！」

　Further pain raced through his wound for talking so loudly .

　However, he was somehow happy as of now .

　He was even aware that there was a smile on his lips . .

「Hmmm, then why are you so happy？」

「I’m sure you get it, but this is the biggest wound I’ve had since I first met Shirokiyami」

「Yes indeed . It is indeed the biggest wound since meeting her」

「Ah man, ever since then……we stopped being enemies, so she held back against me a lot . Honestly, she probably didn’t have to even go that far」

「She is the strongest in the world after all」

「Yep, that she is」

　Taiyou and Hera nodded together .

　They would know, having fought numerous times, even with the fairy Hera’s assistance .

　Shirokiyami’s power was worlds away from his .

「Plus she can cut steel and leave behind afterimages」

「Yes indeed」

「Anyhow, leaving that as it is…」

　Taiyou said, returning back to his main point .

「I told her earlier that I’d rather have her not hold back even if I end up getting badly injured」

「I see indeed . Which is why you’re like this」

「Yeah . This attack……is proof that I cornered her to a degree」

　Taiyou said, nodding .

　He could tell that the corner of his mouth was rising more and more .

　At that moment, Taiyou had definitely put pressure on Shirokiyami .

　Since he couldn’t even scratch her normally, he used a dirty trick to where she let her guard down, putting his everything into one attack .

　Shirokiyami didn’t look to have much resistance . The fight should have been won with one galaxy-sized punch .

　She had in fact made a very stiff face .

　If that attack had hit, by now――

　Even so, he couldn’t defeat Shirokiyami . Not even his fist could reach her .

　She had immediately gone into attack mode and sliced him .

　And he had suffered a great wound and lost .

　However, he had been able to make her change expression .

　He had been able to draw out a full-fledged counterattack .

　Albeit for an instant, he had certainly put pressure on her .

　Taiyou was madly in love with Shirokiyami . To him, even that one moment made him happy enough to jump for joy .

　Hera saw that, making an unusual tranquil smile . She spoke to him .

「Taiyou-chan, you really do like Yami-chan」

「No duh」

「Then you’d best defeat her quickly . Defeat Yami-chan and have nice flirty moments」

「Right . And for that, I gotta get stronger and stronger . I don’t think such an ambush will be possible again……feels like the path I was on just got more thorns in it」

　Taiyou felt a bit of regret as a result .

「Maybe I should’ve stepped on the brakes」

「Why is that？」

「I used my last resort after all . I can’t use it more than once, so I might have succeeded if I had tried it after further raising my level」

「I see indeed」

　Hera understood . Right afterward, she made her usual carefree smile .

「Then I must also become stronger and stronger」

「Huh？」

「I will get strong and be of aid to Taiyou-chan . I will become the anti-Yami-chan trump caaard」

「I’m counting on ya, Joker」

「Yes indeed！」

　Taiyou and Hera high-fived each other .