In her private quarters at the Syness Castle, Nephira sat in a chair, her knees bouncing up and down. It had been more than a week since Suzuki had left the castle. Honestly, she thought he would be back in two or three days at most. However, Suzuki still hadn\'t returned.

She could not eat, had trouble sleeping at night, and often tapped her foot unconsciously whenever she was alone. It even caused the floor of the room to sink in some places.

She was so worried that she sent a search request to the Thunder-Lance Soldiers. Some fiend had seen Suzuki at the market not long ago, but that was all the information they had found.

(Fueeeen!! Where did you go, Suzuki!)

Lying on the bed in the empty room, she burst into tears. If Suzuki ever came back, she wanted to apologize sincerely. 

(So, please. Please come back soon, Suzuki. I miss you. I miss you so much. Without you, Suzuki, I can\'t go on...)

Knocking was heard. And Nephira stood up from her bed with a jolt.

"Lady Nephira. It\'s Excella."

Adjusting the clothing around her bosom, which had been disheveled from lying on the floor, Nephira spoke with a firm voice.

"Uh-huh. Come in."

"Pardon my intrusion."

The former Third Princess, Excella, entered the room dressed in a maid\'s outfit. The limping that resulted from her severed tendons was now not much different from a normal person\'s gait.

Since then, Nephira kept Excella by her side as a slave in place of Suzuki. For Nephira, Excella was the cause of her fight with Suzuki. She didn\'t really want to see her, but she thought Suzuki might get angry again if she treated her roughly, so she let her work as her slave.

However, Excella was a modest woman unlike most royalty, and she performed her assigned tasks with great speed and efficiency. So, putting aside the whole incident with Suzuki, Nephira regarded Excella as a remarkable slave.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"Yes. It seems that Lord Hero has returned."

"What!!? Really!!?"

She shouted in a high-pitched voice. Nephira coughed when she saw Excella smiling at her.

"S--So where\'s Suzuki now?"

"The demons say that he\'s supposed to hold a promotion match at the training grounds..."

"...huh?"

Nephira rushed to the training grounds beneath the castle with Excella in tow. The demons were swarming in one corner of the vast training ground. The boisterous crowd hung their heads and moved out of the way when they noticed Nephira\'s arrival.

"Ah! Lady Nephira came too?!"

"THIS WAY--, Lady Nephira--!"

The twin demoness, the Meru-Kiru sisters, waved at her. Nephira joined Kiru and the others.

In the center, surrounded by the other demons, was Suzuki holding a wooden sword. And facing him was a skeleton soldier holding a wooden sword as well.

(Eh. Suzuki...?)

Seeing Suzuki, Nephira felt a sense of incongruity. Of course, there was the fact that it had been a long time since she last saw him. But... she couldn\'t quite put it into words, but she felt he was much cuter than before.

(Ah... So cute...! Haa haa... So cute...!)

Nephira admired Suzuki\'s cuteness for some time but soon shifted her gaze to the skeleton soldier confronting him and wrinkled her brow.

"Hey. That skeleton is a Bronze-rank soldier, right? Isn\'t Suzuki still a Stone-rank soldier?"

"That\'s true. Apparently, Suzuki himself came forward and volunteered to do it," Kiru said in a concerned tone.

(Are you being stubborn because of what I said to you last time? But that doesn\'t mean you are unfit, Suzuki...!)

There are several skeleton soldiers in the Thunder-Lance Charge. Their appearances are so similar that it is difficult to tell them apart. Nevertheless, Nephira recognized the skeleton soldier with a crack on his forehead who was confronting Suzuki. His name was Jilfried, as she recalled.

When he was a human, he was a renowned soldier and master swordsman. He was killed in a great battle in the past, but because of his extraordinary swordsmanship and attachment to life, the Demon Lord brought him back to life as a skeleton soldier. Of course, Jilfried himself has forgotten that such a thing had happened...

Jilfried walked up to Suzuki. He then made an apologetic expression on his fleshless face.

"Suzuki. I\'ve told you before, lad. I can\'t go easy on you on a military duel."

"Ya. It doesn\'t matter. Let\'s fight each other with all our might."

And then, a moment later------ they shook hands.

"...Pritis\' 48 Gestures--Fourth Gesture, \'Hands Clasping\'"

Nephira asked Meru, who was watching the match next to her.

"Just now, didn\'t Suzuki say something?"

"Mhm. Is--- Is that so---? ...Ah, more importantly, the duel is about to begin ya know---!"

The arbiter, a cat-eared beastman, announced the start of the duel. Both contestants hold up wooden swords. However, something unusual happened soon after the beginning of the match.

Jilfried was shaking while holding the wooden sword. The Meru-Kiru sisters look at each other quizzically.

"That fellow, what in hell is he doing? That Jilfried guy."

"It\'s like all his momentum from earlier has just flown away, huh---?"

Nephira turned her sharp eyes on the duel and muttered.

"...It\'s the handshake from earlier."

"Eh? What do you mean, Lady Nephira?"

Nephira had not overlooked it. As Suzuki shook hands with Jilfried, he muttered something. That must have been Suzuki\'s technique.

"At that point, the battle had already begun. Suzuki\'s handshake before the match was a blow to Jilfried\'s morale. Furthermore..."