"Wait! Ike!"

"...You."

Just as I was about to take on a new quest with Elle and Sheena, I heard a familiar voice call out.

Turning around, I saw him—Nord, my former party member. His hair was disheveled, and he was out of breath.

He wasn't exactly someone I wanted to talk to, but ignoring him would be rude...

"Do you need something?"

"Fight me in a duel!"

"Huh?"

First, he shows up out of nowhere, and now he's throwing out this kind of demand. Before I could make sense of it, Elle tapped me on the shoulder.

"Elle?"

"I apologize, Ike. Actually, there was a bit of a quarrel with that man over there regarding you. He spoke about you with such disdain that Sheena and I got angry and may have upset him in return."

"I see."

I wasn't entirely sure how things got to this point, but I could picture it vividly. In fact, I felt bad for dragging Elle and Sheena into this mess in the first place.

I let out a slow breath and faced Nord directly.

"Sorry, but I have no interest in a duel."

"Are you running away, coward?"

"Not exactly. I just don't have any reason to fight you."

I mean, I did have Sheena next to me with her dagger drawn, but... we can pretend not to notice that, right?

"...I'll erase anything that troubles Ike."

Erase what, exactly? Hate from the world, maybe? Not sure, but it sounds nice!

But as it turned out, Sheena wasn’t the only one unhappy about Nord’s behavior. Flare and Tetra, who were behind me, stepped forward, placing themselves between me and Nord.

"Listen, we’ve overheard some pretty awful things from you. Would you mind apologizing to Ike?"

"Or I’ll rip your arm off."

"Rip off my arm...? Wait, why can these puppets even talk!?"

Nord looked astonished at Flare and Tetra speaking. I guess I hadn’t told him about that yet.

"Yeah, as you can see. Flare and Tetra learned to speak."

For some reason, he burst out laughing. His mood swings are all over the place—anger, laughter, it’s dizzying.

"So, is this what you do now that you’re alone? Teaching your puppets tricks just to stave off loneliness? Pathetic. Oh, Ike, this is hilarious! I haven’t laughed this hard in ages!"

"...Nord."

Watch it, man. Sheena’s moved behind you. She’s signaling to ask if it’s okay to strike. Sheena, hold up—murder’s illegal, remember?

...Fine. If it’s come to this.

Just ignoring him would leave the others unsatisfied. If I have to, I might as well settle it here and now. With Flare and Tetra at my side, I could handle him.

"Alright, I’ll accept the duel. But I'm a puppet master, so Flare and Tetra will join me. Agreed?"

"Of course! But don’t complain if they end up broken!"

Good, I got him to agree.

"Then let's find a better place. This area is too cramped."

"Fine, let’s go to the central plaza."

The central plaza was spacious and well-known for duels among adventurers. A crowd might gather to watch, which didn’t thrill me, but I understood Nord’s desire to publicly humiliate me.

On the way there, I apologized to Elle and Sheena.

"Sorry about this, it was supposed to be just another quest."

"Not at all! We were the ones who invited you, Ike, so there’s no need for you to apologize!"

"Elle’s right. Besides, I’d rather prioritize punishing that fool. My only regret is that I can’t fight him myself."

"Thanks, Elle, Sheena."

Their support was comforting, even if the words were a bit... unsettling.

And as for Flare and Tetra, who were about to be involved in the duel...

"Slash! Slash!"

"Strike! Strike!"

They were already doing practice swings as they walked. The enthusiasm was clear, but maybe a bit too noticeable in front of everyone.

And so, we finally reached the central plaza.

One minute until the duel.