Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 2 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 3===


"------"

Naruse Mio gulped on the chilly sensation on her throat.

In front of her, Basara pointed the tip of his magical sword Brynhildr at her.

He had stopped the sword at a paper-length away because they were practicing. But if this had been a real fight--- If her opponent had been Hayase Takashi, Shiba Kyouichi or Nonaka Kurumi, then Mio would have been dead for sure.

"---Good, let's take a small break."

Basara relaxed his expression and withdrew his sword.

"Ah…"

Mio slumped down with her bottom on the ground after being released from the pressure that had sealed her movements.

At the same time, all the tension left her body and in exchange a sudden exhaustion befell her. However,

"I… I can still go on…"

Mio tried to stand up despite that, whereupon a soft, white towel was put around her shoulders.

"I know. But we'll continue when you've rested a bit and regained some stamina. If you overdo it, you lose focus, which is dangerous."

"……"

With his hand gently on her head, Mio nodded.

---Basara had told them about Hayase Takashi, who was holding the spirit lance 'Byakko', Nonaka Yuki, Nonaka Kurumi and even about Shiba Kyouichi's battle style just in case, even though he had said that he wouldn't participate in the fight this time. 

Afterwards they were training real battles every day.

This city wasn't short on places, where they could practice after setting up a barrier or casting a spell to keep humans away, like the famous park, rivers or various golf courses.

After school, they were immediately training in the forest on the golf grounds next to the park. Taking Basara up on his words, Mio took a deep breath to control her breathing, whereupon

"Here, Mio-sama. A sports drink with minerals. Please re-hydrate yourself with it."

"Mm… Thanks."

Taking the pet bottle of the drink with the catchphrase of having the same composition as sweat from Maria, Mio opened the cap and wet her throat. The pleasant coldness streamed into her whole body through her throat.

"---Ah, Basara-san. Can I ask you to spar with me next?"

"Mh? Yeah, sure."

It had already been two hours since they started the training today. Basara wasn't just taking on Mio, but also Maria all by himself, yet he didn't show the slightest shred of exhaustion.

"Then I will begin"

"Yeah--- Come."

After a short exchange, the two of them erased their smiles--- and attacked upfront in the next moment.

A close range fight with Basara swinging his Brynhildr and Maria fighting barehanded with her superhuman strength, spread in front of Mio's eyes. 

Basara's beloved sword Brynhildr was single-edged with a thick and huge build. Thus he could launch heavy blows even with the back of the sword, but Maria, being a succubus and power type on top, had high physical strength and easily absorbed the blows.

This was training of course. Basara wasn't attacking with his full might, but if Mio were to carelessly take one of these hits, she wouldn't just break some bones, she would be smashed. They exchanged blows, Basara with slashes and Maria with kicks and punches, one after another while each changing back and forth between offence and defense.

"…….."

While watching their fight, Mio felt frustration inside her heart.

''…I understand it in my head, but.''

In the past few days, Mio had fully realized how lacking her own strength was.

It had been half a year since she came to know about the existences and powers that went beyond the laws of this world. As she luckily had a talent for magic, she could cast powerful spells now.

According to Maria, that was an astonishing learning speed. However, compared to Basara and Maria, Mio overwhelmingly lacked actual battle experiences, even though she had trained with Maria so far.

Therefore she was now conducting training in the form of real battles against Basara or Maria, which brought about good results in the beginning, but since she wasn't used to the tension and pressure of a long battle, her stamina and concentration would run out before the other two, getting her cornered gradually.

She was already like that during training. A real fight was even more exhausting. Moreover, Hayase Takashi, the hero she would be facing soon, had a strength on par or even greater than Basara.

''…At this rate''

She would only drag down the others. That was what she felt.

The decisive battle was in four days--- Only unrest and impatience swelled up inside Mio.