Chapter 36
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Reunion with the Princess (4)
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Anyway, it was clear that Riya held some affection for me.
I still wasn’t sure what kind of affection it was, but at least it wasn’t a bad thing for me.
It was just a little burdensome.
“……A disaster?”
I explained to Riya about the incident that would occur in the imperial capital.
As expected, she looked puzzled.
“Yeah. According to Priestess Michel, that’s the case.”
Of course, I didn’t just explain it willy-nilly.
When describing the incident, I invoked Michel’s name for more than half of it, and for the rest, I pointed to the saintess relic on my finger.
I told her that the Eye of Simosa, the saintess’s relic, had warned me of the approaching disaster.
“I see…… That makes sense.”
She gazed at me with a subtle smile.
“So that’s why you helped me back then?”
“Huh?”
“When we met in those mountains, I was the disaster Clay was talking about.”
I couldn’t help but flinch for a moment. I hadn’t expected Riya to bring up that incident.
She even knew that she herself had been a “disaster.”
‘No wonder I thought she believed me too easily.’
Did becoming a disaster make you aware of such things?
I wouldn’t know since I’d never become one.
“……Yeah, that was definitely part of the reason.”
“Was there another reason?”
“You helped me during the New Year’s Festival, right? I wanted to repay that debt.”
At my words, Riya’s smiling face stiffened slightly. Her eyes widened in slight surprise.
“You remembered that…….”
“Of course. It was a pretty memorable event for me too.”
It was the moment I first realized that Riya Asktalin, the princess of the empire, was someone special.
The day I learned there were such remarkable people in the world.
It was undoubtedly one of the most impressive events in my life.
“I, I didn’t hear about that in the reports…….”
For the first time, Riya looked flustered as she pulled her body slightly away from me.
Then she gently turned her head and covered her face with both hands.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, no. It’s nothing. I just realized how arrogant I’ve been. Completely controlling your emotions isn’t as easy as it seems.”
Riya patted her face with her palms and let out a small cough.
“Anyway, fine. Clay wants to catch that being called the disaster that’s about to strike the capital, right?”
“Yeah. So I need your help.”
“A doctor wearing a goblin mask…… was it?”
“I’m pretty sure. First, find someone with that appearance.”
According to Monet’s settings, that doctor was the Plague Disaster.
If we started looking now, we might resolve it before the incident grew too big.
“Finding him won’t be hard. But do you have any other information?”
“Other information?”
“Even if we find him, if he’s really a being called a disaster, we won’t be able to capture him easily.”
Her words left me speechless for a moment.
An incurable plague.
I’d been so fixated on that absurdity that I’d overlooked something crucial.
The Plague Disaster itself, the one that would bring ruin to Drig with its disease, had the power to destroy the world.
‘I was thinking too simplistically.’
But that was a hasty judgment.
In the synopsis, when Michel referred to the Plague Disaster, it was always the one who “spread the disease,” not the disease itself.
In other words, it wouldn’t be strange if that person possessed some power capable of destroying the world.
“Dragons are certainly powerful. But could a single dragon really destroy the world?”
Dragons were the kings of magical beasts, possessing earth-shaking power, and known as guardians of the land.
But as she said, could just one dragon destroy the world? No.
Riya stared for a moment at the broken horn hanging from her waist before continuing.
“When I was on the verge of becoming a disaster, I felt something awakening inside me.”
“Not dragonization?”
“No. It was definitely different from dragonization. When you awaken as a disaster, you must gain some special power. The first disaster surely obtained that power.”
Since her story was set as the Dragon Calamity, I couldn’t dismiss it.
She was probably right.
‘But Fabian is strong…… Still, at this point, with no companions, he beat that disaster alone?’
Ian Silverst, Fabian’s first companion, joins after the Plague Disaster is resolved. Meaning Fabian handled the Plague Disaster by himself.
I couldn’t believe it.
Though incomplete, having clashed directly with a disaster myself, I was certain.
Defeating a disaster with nothing special, through one’s own power alone, was impossible.
‘There’s definitely something I missed.’
I slowly recalled the synopsis from the beginning.
I scrutinized even the sentences I’d glossed over before, matching them to the current situation.
‘There it is.’
[Chapters 66~75, ‘Imperial Martial Tournament.’]
The episode where Fabian participates in the Imperial Martial Tournament.
Right there was the one line I’d overlooked.
* * *
The Imperial Martial Tournament lasted a total of seven days.
Preliminaries and main rounds each took three days, with the finals on the last day.
‘My face is gonna get drilled into everyone’s heads.’
Sitting in the waiting room before the preliminaries, my face strangely tingled.
[After that mess at the banquet, isn’t that obvious?]
‘True.’
The gazes directed at me were half suspicion, half fear.
Those with some insight would have noticed my attack wasn’t a typical Sword Master’s energy projectile. Some even seemed eager to fight me.
‘Well, whatever…….’
I stared at the arena visible from outside the waiting room.
Knights were locked in fierce combat.
‘That’s definitely it.’
But I wasn’t watching them.
It was the colosseum that the empire prided itself on, and the statue erected to one side.
The statue of the Asktalin Empire’s founding emperor, Raiban Asktalin.
‘It’s too far to see well from here.’
I’d have to check it during my match. Once I confirmed that, the picture would come together.
“Clay Banheart, is Clay Banheart, Count of Talua Kingdom, present? The preliminaries are about to begin, so please proceed to the arena!”
Fortunately, my turn came soon.
After loosening up, I stepped out, and the massive colosseum came fully into view.
The packed stands and deafening cheers made my ears ring.
[Even for preliminaries, the crowd is huge.]
‘I’d heard the Imperial Martial Tournament was impressive, but this is beyond imagination.’
I understood the saying that people need to swim in deep waters.
The colosseum was huge, but the energy from the filled stands overflowed.
“Count Banheart, please stand over here. Thank you.”
Guided by a knight, I took my position on one side of the arena. From the opposite side, my presumed opponent climbed up.
“This is lucky.”
The man facing me said that the moment he saw me. He seemed to know about me.
‘Well, after that commotion, it’d be weirder if he didn’t.’
I gave a wry smile and checked his settings.
‘A mercenary from Aintban Kingdom.’
While representatives were usually nobles from prestigious families, mercenaries hired by nations sometimes appeared.
Since it was a contest of national strength, victory came first.
“You might’ve fooled others’ eyes, but not mine. I’m used to tricks like that.”
As expected from a seasoned mercenary, he had sharp eyes.
He just talked a lot.
“You’re no Sword Master. I’ll prove it right here.”
The man boldly declared, then charged the instant the starting bell rang.
He struck first, before I could even draw my sword.
“Ooooh!”
The crowd roared at his incredible speed.
He aimed for a quick finish, but he misjudged.
Quick finishes were my specialty too.
Kwaaaang!
A massive explosion echoed through the arena.
The Silver Star Sword’s latter half, first form: New Star.
“Uh…….”
The cheering crowd fell silent in an instant.
Though the Aintban mercenary had swung first, my sword was already at his throat.
“N-No way. When did you even draw…….”
“I didn’t draw.”
I smiled and corrected him.
“I shot it.”
The scabbard is the barrel, the blade the projectile.
Accelerating mana to fire the projectile and wielding it—that was the essence of this swordsmanship, New Star.
“W-Winner, Clay Banheart!”
Click.
At the referee’s call, I slowly sheathed my sword.
Only then did cheers fill the once-silent colosseum.
‘Alright then…….’
Pretending to acknowledge the cheering crowd, I slowly circled the arena, staring intently at the statue I’d been eyeing.
‘Yeah, that’s it.’
I sometimes forgot.
That this world was from the novel my father wrote.
And that the novel’s title was ‘The Sound of the Sword.’
The ‘sword’ was another protagonist of this story.
「Human Sword Genova.」
That was the Heavenly Sword from King Leogart’s settings, one of the Seven Heavenly Swords.
It was the first of protagonist Fabian’s seven swords.
* * *
“Teacher, teacher!”
A boy burst through the creaky door. He had to tell someone about what he’d just seen as soon as possible.
“John, what’s wrong?”
A man emerged from the dark room.
It was Edward, the black-clothed doctor Monet had met.
‘Huh?’
John rubbed his eyes upon seeing him. For a moment, Edward’s form seemed to blur.
“John?”
“Ah!”
John snapped to attention and shouted.
“They say the Founding Festival is happening! Did you hear?”
“Founding Festival? Of course I did.”
At the boy’s words, Edward placed the book he was holding on the desk.
“I was thinking of going myself.”
“Really?!”
John’s face lit up at Edward’s positive response. Slum kids like him weren’t allowed to even watch events like the Imperial Martial Tournament without Edward.
“Perfect timing with the Founding Festival. I’ll give you a gift, then.”
“Wow! Thank you!”
In Edward’s hand was a red-tinted candy.
Candy was a luxury snack. Slum kids rarely tasted it in their lives, so John’s reaction was natural.
“Here, this is for the other kids.”
“Huh?!”
Edward handed John a bundle filled with candies of various colors.
John was stunned by the heavy weight.
This amount could feed all the slum kids and still leave enough to sell for a tidy profit.
Reading John’s thoughts, Edward patted his head.
“You can sell it and buy something tasty, of course.”
“R-Really? B-But candy is expensive…….”
“I have plenty more, so it’s fine. If you eat or sell it all, come back anytime. I’ll give you more.”
“O-Okay! Thank you!”
John bowed deeply, then turned and ran off excitedly with the candy bundle.
Edward silently watched John’s receding figure.