The Devil Takes the Night Shift

Chapter 45: The Hero and Farmer Compete

So yet again, the group found themselves split into pairs. Hopefully that wouldn't become a trend, but this time it was done on purpose to make it so that Rame and Juuto would be alone together. However, that part of the story would come at a later part, for their setup also created events neither Asaga nor Mifuru knew would make an impact on their own personal relationships.

For starters, there was the man who came up with this plan in the first place. He had never considered himself to be a person who would ever come close to a hero on Enatis, but that was the case today.

The pair had chosen to go to a place filled with people, just like everywhere else really. It seemed this park was popular among the residents of this world, though for these two they still didn't understand the franchise all too well.

In this building, it was set up like a boot camp. A way to give an idea of what training a Robodam pilot would have to endure before they were able to battle in these mechs for war. There were walls to climbs, hurdles to jump, and large amounts of weight to be carried back and forth. It was all safe for an average person, but they did still had to sign of waver upon entering.

"Don't know what so dangerous about this. Looks like nothing compared to wrestling up some bulls, if ya ask me."

"Not everyone is as uncivilized as you." Marie responded to him. She wasn't a fan at all that he was the one who decided to come along with her. The woman really either just wanted to enjoyed this all by herself, or at least have Akitomo along for the ride. Though judging that the staff were adamant about only allowing children into the safer, smaller section of obstacles that were more kiddy than tough. That was not going to happen.

"Well, yer the one who came up with the idea." He replied, not taking the term she used to describe him as an insult at all. "I'm guessing we're both here to test our strength a bit." Looking at the obstacles laid out before them and the dozens of other people, this seemed like it was going to be a cakewalk. If these two were hoping to train, then that would be useless as neither would gain anything out of the experience. So this really was all for fun.

"Ever since you stole my glove from me, I have had to go back to basics." Marie began to stretch as she prepared her body for the task ahead. Most people around them were doing the same thing, so Asaga followed suit.

"Ya know, we could offer a bit of a wager." He suggested. "First one to complete the course gets-"

"How about they get to make the loser do whatever they want?" She thought this was going to be easy to defeat him. So Marie suggested the ultimate bet so that she could get him to do her bidding for the rest of the day. That'll show him his place.

"Sure." He took no issue with the wager at all, for the man was confident in his own skills. "Hope yer ready for what I make ya do."

"Ha, as if." They shared a bit of banter as the pair got into the ready position as the event organizers readied everyone at the starting line.

"Okay, now that everyone's gotten their wavers signed, it time for us to begin." They explained each part of the course to ensure all members of the crowd were informed. Asaga and Marie didn't pay too much attention as they could easily tell how to handle each part. "Everyone! Get set, ready, go!" Finally, they were given the green flag and everyone rushed from the starting line.

Though while all the normal people rushed, Asaga and Marie blasted past the rest of the competition. It was no question that it was going to be one of those two to emerge victorious.

"Huh? He's really fast." Marie was shocked to see someone who had only been known to be a farmer sprinting so well besides her. She had done tons of sprints in her military life as a knight, so she still had that speed. Yet he was faster somehow.

"Heh, when ya got chase chickens all the darn time, you learn a few tricks to keep up." Those were fast little creatures, and he only had to rely on himself to get the work done. So the man was used to running around all day and figured out ways to run in a manner to keep up with them.

So all this ended up giving him a massive lead heading into the first major obstacle. That being the wall they needed to scale by pulling themselves up on a rope. Asaga got there first and began to make the climb with her getting there seconds later. Now this was the point where she had an advantage. This wall was like the exact same that she had trained on as a knight, so she knew how to make the best movements to move up faster than him. This lead to them being neck and neck once more upon reaching the top.

"I gotta say, this is tons of fun." For whatever reason, Asaga didn't seem to be taking this competition as seriously as her. He kept talking to her casually, but more important he didn't sound out-of-breath at all. Meanwhile, she was beginning to feel the onset of fatigue as they reached part two. This was a test of dexterity and finesse as they had to navigate themselves over small platforms to reach the next area.

This was an area of contention for most of the normal people behind them, as many would lose their balance and fall down into the abyss below. And by abyss, it was really just a safety net that would catch them and safely bring them to the ground.

"Ya know, when I was a kid. We used to run on top of the fences to see who was faster." He said, not losing a step to her as they made their way through the course. Now there was only one thing left to do, that being to lug some heavy sand bags that weighed a total of 100 pounds to the finish line.

"I'll have you know that I was the strongest person, man or woman, when I left the knights to become a hero." Marie bragged as she placed the bags over her back. While there was some weight slowing her down, she was doing much better than anyone else with it. That is, everyone else but Asaga.

"Wow, good for you!" He said, but outdid her as he put over the heavy bags over one shoulder. It seemed to not even slow him down a fraction of a second as he had made his comments while also running off right as she put on the last bag over her back.

"What!?" She was in utter shock to see just how far ahead he was of her. Not to mention he was apparently that much stronger than her as well. "Hey, it's not over yet!"

It already was since he had crossed the finish line well before she was barely halfway done with the final leg of the race.

"I can't believe it folks! We've got ourselves a new record holder in outstanding time." Not to mention the crowd were also surprised to see Marie also smash the old record despite losing. They couldn't believe they had witnessed two people with such athletic potential.

"I can't believe it either." Marie collapsed onto her knees in utter disappointment. "I really lost."

"I would say I can't believe I won, but I knew I was gonna all along." Asaga gloated in her face about his victory today. "Now then, looks like that means I'm gonna get whatever I want from ya."