An unfamiliar opponent. But…

Rishe exhaled briefly and struck Leo in return.

She grabbed his wrist and dragged him back. She whirled to Leo’s back where his balance collapsed, grabbed his clothes and pulled him back.

Leo clicked his tongue and immediately tried to crouch down. But she expected him to move that way.

It’s the only way out!

“W-Whoa!”

Taking advantage of Leo’s movement, she knocked him to the ground instead. Leo immediately tried to regain his posture, but Rishe instantly swept his legs and knocked him down.

“Damn…”

If he has a weapon here…!!

When his back hit the ground, Leo threw something he had hidden in his sleeve to Rishe. She knew it was a small stone after she reflexively avoided it.

Rishe flipped Leo over and reached for the hem of her dress at the same time. With the rope hidden in the strap on her thigh, she restrained Leo behind him.

“Let me go!”

She tightly knotted the rope around his wrists and finished with a special knot to prevent him from untying it. She didn’t intend to hold him for a long time, so there was no need to break his bones.

“This sucks! You, how did you know my movements?”

“I understand you perfectly. ――I know how to use my small figure to my advantage.”

Leo’s strikes were top-notch.

So, she effortlessly predicted his movements. He was lean and precise – there was no other way out, so Rishe easily determined it.

“All the long range weapons are less powerful. Stone throwing, dagger throwing, not even a bow and arrow.”

“…?”

She stood up, brushed the dirt off her dress, and continued.

“The techniques are difficult to master, despite them having low lethality…If you want to absolutely defeat your enemy, you have to smear them with poison.

“So what?”

“You have the poison, right?”

Eyes as red as strawberries glared at Rishe.

“If you had used it beforehand, you could have at least apprehended me. So why didn’t you use it?”

“You’re the one to talk. You didn’t even give me a chance to hit you.”

Leo retorted resentfully, but it was a question if he paid heed to it.

At any rate, Rishe’s condition was slowly deteriorating. Sweat was trickling down her bandaged neck, though she hid it behind a calm visage.

I’m dizzy and fatigued, resembling an anemic…It’s because I’m running all over the place that the poison is draining my energy.

She really wanted to head for the cathedral right now, but that was impossible if she couldn’t get her breathing under control.

Even though she trained every morning, it took time to build up her physical strength. Rishe looked at Leo, careful not to let her breathing get out of control.

“You didn’t use a weapon smeared with poison because you were worried about me, right?”

“No.”

“I beg to differ. You’re too gentle a child, unfit to kill people.”

“Stop it! It’s only been a few days since we’ve met, but don’t speak as if you’ve known me all my life. Don’t talk to me like you’re a family or sister!”

Leo rolled on the ground and glared at Rishe with a piercing gaze.

“I had to stop you guys. Even if it meant I’m dead here, or kill you.”

“Leo…”

“But why?”

His small shoulders were quivering.

Rishe gasped at the sight of it.

No way…

Rishe kneeled in front of Leo.

As she supported him up, she looked down into his eyes and asked, “Leo…”

“…”

“Who exactly are your enemies?”

She realized that all her conjectures were wrong.

She asked him to confirm that her guess was right.

Leo was holding something back, then looked resigned and let out an unchildlike sigh.

“My enemy is Garkhain.”

Leo looked Rishe straight in the eye.

“And the Archbishops of the Krushade Order.”

“…!!”