A Wonderful Aspect of Autumn: Action (18)

I raced up the slope while keeping my eyes fixed on the tail of Amaha's partner, the Sprint Drake. Chasing from second place wasn't a bad situation at all. The reason was that, although the entire slope was covered in gravel, there were especially rough stretches here and there.

Of course, having run it many times, I knew roughly where the rough patches to avoid were. However, I certainly hadn't memorized every one of them, because I had enough time to adjust my course after seeing them.

That was where Amaha, running ahead of me, came in handy. The way she and her partner moved let me know in advance which areas I needed to watch out for. Well, I wasn't about to trust her completely.

"I think it's around here... Just as I thought!"

Right in front of me, Amaha and her partner made a great leap. Large stones were rolling all over the road ahead of them, and they cleared them with a jump.

I knew that area was rough, so I carefully detoured around it and continued chasing them. Seeing me avoid it, Amaha, who had been looking back, stuck out her tongue. She looked as though her prank had failed.

Amaha's partner could make that leap because the Sprint Drake excelled at 'Jumping Power.' By waiting until the last possible moment to jump, Amaha had been scheming to delay my reaction. That earlier move had been her attempt to catch me with that trick, and I hadn't fallen for it.

"She's really an opponent I can't let my guard down around. Right, partner?"

"Krrrulul!"

My partner let out a cry as if to say, "So what?" What an absurdly reliable partner. Almost too good for me... I had to put on a performance to make sure no one thought I didn't deserve such a partner...