Chapter 30: Stop kidding, your brother is super brave, alright?

“So,” Yukina, holding her bamboo sword and ready to spar with her brother, pointed to the weapon rack. “You want to compete with me in swordsmanship, right? Why don’t you go pick a sword?”

“Actually,” Charlotte pulled her usual broomstick out from the dimensional space beneath her skirt and gave it a symbolic swing. “I’ll just use this.”

“Eh?” Yukina was completely taken aback.

She couldn’t believe Charlotte was going to use her flying broomstick for a fight. Could that thing really be used as a weapon?

“Are you sure you want to fight me with that thing, brother? If it gets broken, I’m not paying for it!”

“Don’t worry, Yukina. This broomstick was custom-made for me by Master Chloe. It’s very sturdy and won’t be easily broken.”

“Is that so? Well, then I don’t care!”

“But this broomstick is a little long. I hope you don’t mind, Yukina.”

“A little long? That’s way too long!” Yukina couldn’t help but complain.

The broomstick, held in Charlotte’s hand, looked exactly like a spear.

Yukina was genuinely worried that Charlotte would hit her with a full combo, launching her into the air for a lengthy float before she could even land.

However, while “a foot longer is a foot stronger” was an undeniable truth, if her opponent was her brother, who only knew “a thing or two” about swordsmanship, she was confident that she could charge right into her face and attack before she could even swing a forty-meter long greatsword.

Because of this, Yukina hadn’t even bothered to put on her protective gear.

Thinking this, Yukina sighed softly.

“Fine by me. You won’t be able to win no matter how hard you try, brother.”

“Hmph, watch me make you cry!”

With that, Charlotte gripped the broomstick, ready to fight.

Watching Charlotte hold the broomstick behind her back with one hand, Yukina, who held her bamboo sword with both hands, frowned.

“Brother, are you trying to mimic Kirito’s pose? Is that stance even useful?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Wouldn’t you know if it’s useful by trying it?”

“In that case, I won’t hold back.”

Yukina took a deep breath and adopted an exceptionally serious expression.

Instantly, she moved like a swift swallow, rushing up to Charlotte in the blink of an eye and bringing down a strike.

No matter how long Charlotte’s weapon was, if she couldn’t defend in time, it was useless.

However, the blow didn’t connect with Charlotte’s body.

As the strike came down, Charlotte leaped backward, and the tip of the sword barely grazed past her chest.

It had to be said that this was the benefit of having small breasts. If Charlotte’s chest had been even a little bit bigger, she might have been gutted by Yukina.

Seeing her first attack miss, Yukina didn’t get discouraged but immediately followed up with additional attacks.

However, the second and third strikes were also dodged by Charlotte with agile movements.

Yukina felt a sense of déjà vu.

Last night, when she swung the wooden sword at Charlotte, she had also dodged all her attacks.

“Tsk,” Yukina clicked her tongue.

She must not be fast enough.

Yukina threw caution to the wind, switching to a single-handed sword stance, abandoning defense to increase speed, and continued to strike at Charlotte.

Yet, even so, she always missed hitting her opponent’s body by just a hair.

Her opponent even managed to step on the tip of her bamboo sword the moment she missed a strike, flying over her head to land behind her.

“What the hell, brother, are you sure you’re not using magic? Are those movements even possible for a human?”

“Of course! I’m not using any magic right now, brother. I already promised you!”

“Then what’s with the incredibly nimble movements? You’re as agile as a flexible dog in the mountains. This isn’t something a human can do. Or have humans in your other world evolved to this extent?”

“It’s probably because we witches use magic so often. Our magic circuits are constantly activated, so our bodies naturally become much more sensitive than ordinary people’s. Even without using magic, Yukina, I can see your movements perfectly clearly.”

“Tsk, what a troublesome body!”

“What do you say, Yukina? You can still surrender now.”

“Surrender? Me? What nonsense are you talking about, brother? Aren’t you the one who’s been constantly dodging? Besides, we’re sparring in kendo. You haven’t even launched a single attack and you want me to surrender? Are you joking? If you’ve got the guts, stop dodging and come at me head-on!”

“Hmph,” Hearing Yukina’s words, Charlotte was slightly surprised, then smiled faintly. “Then I won’t hold back, brother.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Charlotte gently closed her eyes. In her mind, she began to recall the image of that red-haired girl she had once seen.

In a slum alley, three thugs of different heights and sizes blocked the way.

They each held a sharp dagger and looked like they were not to be trifled with.

However, our red-haired girl showed no fear. She abruptly charged at the thugs.

Mid-sprint, she spun around, pulling out the long sword on her back, which was nearly the same length as her body.

After a single, bottom-up slash, the three thugs, who hadn’t even realized what happened, were sent flying.

And this cool swordsmanship technique was called—

“Sword Skill—Heaven-Soaring Dragon Slash!”

After deeply embedding the image of the red-haired girl in her mind, Charlotte abruptly opened her eyes and suddenly charged toward Yukina.

Mid-charge, Charlotte also mimicked the red-haired girl’s motion, spinning around and pulling out the broomstick, striking upwards from below.

Seeing Charlotte suddenly charge toward her, Yukina was slightly surprised.

‘She’s charging at me instead of running away?’

She quickly raised her bamboo sword to defend.

But Charlotte’s movement was faster than she anticipated. Before Yukina could even set her defense, Charlotte had already rushed close to her and swung the broomstick toward her face.

However, the move Charlotte had envisioned did not successfully materialize.

“Huh?”

Charlotte looked down in confusion, realizing her broomstick couldn’t swing upwards from below.

Since Charlotte herself was incredibly short, and her broomstick was longer than her height, even if she stood on her tiptoes and raised her right hand high, she couldn’t replicate the red-haired girl’s sword technique and send Yukina flying with one blow.

And so, Charlotte, who had charged right up to Yukina’s face and stopped short, was rightly met with a torrent of pats and slams to the head from Yukina’s bamboo sword.

“Ah… Ah… Ah… It hurts… It hurts so much… Yukina, stop hitting me… Your big brother admits she was wrong… Your big brother won’t dare to do it again…”

It had to be said that Charlotte was quite skilled at begging for mercy.