Fool's

“Hehahaha! You sure that was a smart move?” The silver spear, Walter Hoshea, asked Neia as they attempted to stand.

“Hrk.” Neia wearily stands, leaning against the newly formed stone wall. Two broken ribs…

“Haven’t I seen you before… Ah! You were in the alley yesterday morning!” The silver spear has a moment of clarity. “What a coincidence! All three of you ended up here, hahahaha!”

“...” Neia barely manages to walk a few steps forward. “What… Was it you were asking back there?”

“Hm? Hahahaha! I don’t know! It just popped into my head! Here, you know where this is?”
From the silver armor, a small slip of paper appears. On it, a crude map of a vaguely familiar city appears. On one of the large streets, on the left side of the paper, is a red X.

“...” That old granny apothecary?

“No luck? Well, that's too bad…” Despite his words, the man didn’t seem upset. “Well, no point in dragging this out any longer, I've got somewhere to be!”

With those words, the battle begins.

Walter, however, was not the first to move. Neia quickly lunged towards him, attempting to punch him in the head.

Over the whole, a large glowing crystal glows, as if watching the fight below it.

“Ha, try it! Unmoving!”

Tung!

A loud metal thud rings out as Neia makes contact with the silver armor.

“Heh, nice try! But you’ll find I’m quite hard to move!”

The Pneuma of the Silver Spear is ‘Unmoving”, which freezes the target's movement. Until it’s released, that thing cannot move, as if stopped in time. Though the ability does not affect breathing or other bodily functions. One must see the target to activate the ability.

The title of Silver Spear came neither from the weapon he uses nor his ability. It had been an ironic title given by his subordinates, derived from the famous saying- The unmovable spear, Walter Hoshea.

“Hyah!” Walter quickly grabbed Neia by their arm, swinging them to the side and into the pit.

“Have a good fall! Hahahaha!”

Neia Sampsa fell into the abyss.

–

“AHHHHHHHHH!” Hajime Hiiro cries out as he’s forced upwards.

“Brat, just hold on or you’ll be eaten!”

“- I know!”

The dragon had attempted to throw him off, but had failed. Its next plan was to travel upwards, hoping the pest assaulting its snout would fly off. It had gone through many different tunnels before entering one that shot straight up.

“AAAAH-”

The dragon continues to ascend, suddenly opening its mouth slightly.

“WHHHHA?”

Plap

Something falls into the dragon's mouth.

“D-DIIID SOMETHING JUST FAAAAAL!?!” Hiiro hadn’t gotten a good look because of his speed; however, he had seen a light gold color.

“I don’t know, brat! Just focus on your grip!”

“DAMMMMMN IIIIIT!”

Hiiro and the sword continue upwards.

–

“Hm… Maybe I should go find that Hunter’s daughter…” Walter Hoshea says as he watches the darkness, looking for any sign of ascent from the injured Neia. “How disappointing…”

“I hear that a lot…”

“!”

Walter quickly turns around, only to find a fireball flying towards his face.

“Unmoving!” The fireball freezes in place. Walter steps to the side, allowing the fireball to fly past him and under the large crystal. “How! I watched to fall!”

“...” Neia doesn’t answer.

“Hah! No matter, I’ll just have to find out after I beat you!” Walter says as he charges forward again.

““Pillier!””

A stone pillar shoots up from the ground just in front of the silver-clad knight.

Walter quickly swipes with his arm, smashing the pillar into pebbles. However, this moment allowed Neia to create a larger distance between the two.

“Heha! Good one!”

“...” How am I supposed to beat him? He can freeze anything in time- no, that's not it! If he can do that, he wouldn’t need to dodge that fireball or wear that heavy armor… That means he can still be hurt well-being ‘unmoving’... Huh?

Neia freezes as they retreat, their eyes dilating as if looking at something.

“Huh? Hey, what are you looking at?”

Neia moves after a moment, but is no longer retreating.

“... You survived Hajime’s slash yesterday morning… But he should have connected. Why is that?”

“Huh? Hehahaha! So, you give up?” Walter stopped his pursuit, looking at the future student, amused. “I stopped his sword just before it made contact, for him, it must have felt like he completed the swing!”

“I see… Such precision…”

“Hehaha! Of course! Sorry, it seems like you’ve realized the weakness of this ability, but that won't help you! No attacks of yours will connect!”

“...” Neia pauses, looks to the man, and says, “Then let's play a game.”

“A game?”

“Yeah, both of us know how this fight will end. I’ll lose. So, why should we take any longer? Let’s play a game to decide the outcome.”

“Hehahahahaahah! But then why would I do that, when I can kill you right now!”

“Because I want to be able to say, when I make it to the pearly gates, that I did my best.” Neia looked towards the man, giving him a wry smile. “So, we could end this quickly with a game, or we can fight and take a long time… what do you say?”

“Hehahahaaha! I like it, what do you have in mind!?” Walter combs back the short chestnut hair on his head.

“Simple, you stand half over the edge. I try to push you over, one hit attempt.”

“Huh?” Walter’s face turns perplexed, “Isn’t that a little too unfair for you?”

“It’s the same outcome no matter what, isn’t it?”

“...” Walter stares with suspicion for a moment. “Fine, sounds like fun! But how do I know you won't just pop back up afterwards?”

“Even if I do, what does it matter?” Neia says as they step as far back as possible. “I can’t, for the record. But even if I do, you’ll just have to kill me after… It’s the same ending either way.”

“Fine…” Walter steps to the edge of the hole. The ball of his foot remains on the edge, with his heels hanging over the abyss below. “Unmoving!”

His body stops wiggling for balance, remaining still.

“Alright, come and get me!”

“...” Neia takes a moment, as if waiting for something.

“AAAAAH-”

As a sound comes from below, and the silver spear is distracted, Neia makes their move. Running towards the paladin.

Tch!

Neia’s foot flies toward the distracted Walter’s face.

“Good try!”

The foot connects; however, Walter’s body stays still.

“You thought that since my mouth moved, my face was free from the unmoving, right?” Walter looked towards the girl and grabbed her long leg. “But that’s the trick, show a fake weakness and disguise your true ones!”

“Good advice, I read that in a book once.”

Those words flow into Walter's ears, but are unable to make an impression. At that moment, Walter had finally noticed that the sound from below had gotten louder. I thought it was part of her trick from before! Wait, since she fell, she’s moving as if her ribs aren’t broken… Dam-

GRAAAAAAA!

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

In less than an instant, the blue scales, which had been invaded by gold, of the azure dragon fly by. In the process, the dragon had opened its mouth, swallowing the large crystal that had flown over the hole.

“Gah-!”

The blue and gold scales continued to fly by. In front of the moving monster, the body, or what was left of it, of the unmoving, silver spear kept still.

“Buh! G-good one.” All that remained of the man was his front half; the fact that his body could still release words was a miracle. “Y-you… How’d you know?” About the dragon?

“You’re the one who threw me down.”

“Ha! Hahahahah!” The man, frozen seconds before his death, laughed maniacally.

The moment Neia found out the dragon was coming up, they had a plan. To use their opponents' power against them. By having Walter use his ability while over the edge, it made it so that contact with the dragon wouldn’t simply drag him upwards, but would cut him in half, guaranteeing his death. Though there are people who don’t die…

“Hahahah! Yes, what a treat!” Walter Hoshea said as the dragon's tail disappeared upwards. His body finally released ‘Unmoving’, lurching backwards into the abyss below. “Hehahaha! Until the stars align and we meet again!”

The Silver Spear, Walter Hoshea, perished. His body fell into the abyss, joining his soul.

“...” Neia watches on in silence, those final words digging deep into their mind. “Eh?”

As Walter’s body disappears over the edge, Neia catches a glimpse of his eyes. The once blood red eyes seem to fade to a light blue, like a blood moon returning to its lunar hue.

“...” Neia does not stay, fearful of the paladin returning.

They quickly approach the stone wall that cuts them off from their companion.

““Émietter””

A small part of the wall falls apart, turning into a doorway. Neia passes through the door, stepping into the passageway, which now has its ceiling collapsed.

“Wha..?”

“Neia!”

From the bend in the tunnel, Helia and Locke appear.

“Ah, glad you two are okay.”

“Eh? Where’s the guy in the silver armor?”

“... A dragon came by and ate him,” Neia said with some sarcasm.

“Ah! That dragon just flew by; it seems that demon caught a ride with it.” Locke explained, accepting the explanation.

“...” Neia looks wryly to the two. “What about the others?”

“They went down like planned, but haven’t come back yet.” Locke looks at Neia with a comforting look. “But they’ll be fine, our help arrived.”

“Eh?!” That fast?

“Still, we should go help!” Helia said, leaning on Locke. “Especially Hiiro!”

The three continued deeper into the dungeon.