Chapter 41: Kiinryu
TL: Scaramochi
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"So, who are you guys and what do you want?"
Grandpa Pai asks, sitting upright on a cushion he retrieved from somewhere, and we decide to introduce ourselves.
"Frey, I'm an adventurer."
"Mirialia, also an adventurer."
"I'm Athena. We are a party of adventurers called Stardust. We are traveling to King's Landing, and since we stopped by, Dale came here to introduce us to you."
"Oh, so you guys are adventurers. Yes, I am not an adventurer, but I used to travel all over the world. I remember when I was handsome and healthy-haired..."
I forced myself to break off the long conversation that was about to start, and asked him what was on my mind.
"I'm tired of hearing your long stories, old man. But more importantly, Grandpa, why is there no one in the dojo? Where are all the students who were there?"
"Don't take away the fun of an old geezer. You have always been impatient. Oh, well, you mean the disciples. As for that..."
Just before the old man is about to speak on the subject, we suddenly hears a shout from behind him.
When all of us turned around to see what this time it was, we saw a girl at the door pointing at us with a surprised look on her face.
The girl's body jerked and jerked, and she dashed toward us at a tremendous speed.
"Anikiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!"
"UGH?!!!!"
The girl who hugged me with the force of a plunge smiled warmly, as if a flower had bloomed.
"Brother Dale, it's been a while! I'm glad to see you again!"
"Hey Meimei, you look good as always."
"Eh, Brother......?"
The girl who rubs her cheek against my chest in excitement is named Meimei.
She is a subhuman of the black-and-white bear species, which is rare among the beast race.
The black ears on her head are round, and the round tail growing from her waist is white.
Her hair is short and white overall, with some black mixed in. Her face is small and cute. She is probably not much taller than Mirialia.
The reason why Meimei calls me "Brother" is because she used to miss me when she was a student at this dojo.
She was about 10 years old at the time, and I think she was hanging around with me every day. She was probably a bit of a curiosity for an adventurer who had never seen me before, and I probably looked like a cool older brother to Meimei at the time.
When it came time to say goodbye to her, I remember she cried a lot.
Remembering the old days and feeling nostalgic, I gently stroke Meimei's head.
"You've grown up, haven't you? Have you become a little stronger?"
"Yes! I'm working hard every day to catch up with brother! You've become more mature than before!"
"Meimei, how could you recognize him as Dale at a glance? I didn't even recognize him until you told me."
"What are you talking about, Master, he haven't changed at all. He's still the same cool guy!"
Ugh....... that's a nice thing to say.
I don't think even I can tell the difference between the old me and the new me. My hair is long and shaggy, and I have a stubble beard. And yet, Meimei can tell it's me at first glance.
"You cute little one."
The smiling Meimei looks around and tilts her head questioningly.
"Hey, aren't you with sister Aisia and the others?"
"......Oh, I'm not with those guys right now."
"Oh, that's too bad. I wish I could have met Aisia."
Meimei is dejected. Well, they were here when I came here, weren't they? Meimei was as much in love with Aisia as I was with her.
"I'm sorry, I'm not with them anymore. As for Aisia, I can't see her again for the rest of my life."
Well, I'm not going to say it here, because it would be uncivilized to do so.
"So, who are these people? Are they your acquaintances?"
"I'm traveling with these guys now."
"Oh! So they are adventurers too? Then, are they strong?"
Meimei asks with a twinkle in her eye.
Oh, you're such a belligerent character, aren't you? If anything, I had a feeling you weren't good at fighting before.
The one who responded to Meimei's story was Frey, who loves battles.
"Oh! I'm stronger than those guys! You want to fight?"
"Really? I'd love to have a match with you!"
"Hey, hey ...... it's not so easy against Frey, is it?"
Meimei may have grown up more than before in the past few years, but she will not be Frey's opponent.
If you recall the recent scene, it may not seem like much, but Frey is a Silver Class Adventurer Silver rank, and in terms of ability, she is a gem that is second to none, even Gold Class, of which there are only a handful.
Even at this stage, her overall strength is superior to Athena's, and now that she has learned to use her head more than before, and has trained herself to be a good passer, Frey is stronger than ever.
I thought that Meimei might not be able to compete with her, but Grandpa Pai said to me from the side, "Give it a try."
"I don't care. I don't care who I play with, I won't lose."
"I'll take care of it!"
So, Frey and Meimei decided to play a game on short notice.
They stood in the center of the room, while we sat in the corner and watched the game.
"Hey, old man, has Meimei become that strong?"
"Well, you'll see."
"I'm not going to hurt you."
"I'm going to borrow your chest!"
The match began, and it was Frey who struck first.
She kicked the floor with a strong thud and closed the gap with tremendous force.
"Oraa!"
"Phew!"
A storm of sharp fist blows. But Meimei is in no hurry to deal with Frey's blows.
I was also surprised at this....... I never expected Meimei to have grown so much.
"Then, how about this!"
"What!"
Frey aborted the fist strike and bent down to unleash a foot strike. Meimei, however, jumped to avoid the foot strike.
It was a good attack that would lead to the next one. By making her jump, Meimei is now out of position.
"You ain't gonna duck this one!"
"Ugh!"
Meimei chose to take the powerful uppercut from below with both hands.
The stone was no match for this one, and Meimei was blown away, spinning backwards through the air and landing on the floor with a thud.
She was so good, she reduced the power of the blow by deactivating her body at the moment of the hit.
"Heh, you're good at that, aren't you?"
"You're the one who hit me with your fist. Now I'm going to start with you."
With a smile on her face, Meimei now lunges at Frey.
Oh, she's going to start with her? I had thought she was a complete after-the-fact type, but it seems I was mistaken.
In an instant, Meimei was close to Frey, and she launched a sharp fist strike. Frey was defending against the attack, but was parrying.
She is still in her infancy, and not all of her attacks can be blocked, but she looks surprisingly good. I'm glad to see that my training is paying off.
"Ha! Your light fists don't work!"
"You're so hard! Then how about this!"
What about this?
"Kikage-ryu, yanagi-kuzushi."
The match was instantaneous.
Meimei inserts her leg into Frey's crotch and performs a foot strike from the inside to the outside, while at the same time grabbing the clothing around the chest and pulling it vigorously toward her.
She accelerated the gravity by falling further herself on her back when she was stooped to a forward leaning posture.
While taking a passive stance, she throws Frey down behind her. Frey was knocked to the floor and hit hard on her back, and was forced to expel air from her lungs.
"Gahhhh...... this--!"
"A match made, I guess."
Meimei's fist, which had straddled Frey's waist before she knew it, was thrust into Frey's nose. The game was decided, and Meimei would win, no matter who saw it.
Frey, gnashing her teeth in frustration, got up and made a slight gesture to fight back, but after a big exhale, she admitted defeat.
"I lost."
"Thank you very much."
When Meimei offered her hand, Frey hesitated for a moment before grabbing it. After getting up, Frey folded her arms and said, "I'm sorry. You...... are so strong."
"Yes! You were strong too, Frey! My hand is tingling from the heavy fist strike!"
"Damn, talking to you makes me feel like I'm going crazy......."
Meimei's attitude of praise with a carefree smile makes Frey scratch her head in annoyance.
Seeing the two of them like that, I decided to do something.
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