Chapter 90: Leslie
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 90: Leslie
“It’s cold…” Katarina said, shivering under a blanket.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I told you to wear warmer clothes. You never listen to me.”
We were in the Duchy of Policia, in the northern part of the continent. I had told her to buy thick clothes in the town on the border between the elven domain and the duchy, but Katarina had just scoffed and shaken her head.
She’d said it was nothing.
And now that we were deep inside the duchy, this was the result.
“I didn’t know it would be this cold…” Katarina grumbled, making excuses.
She then shot a resentful look at her own shadow. Inside that shadow was Shedia, who had been chatting happily with Katarina just a short while ago.
She had retreated inside, complaining it was too cold.
“Traitor.”
There was no response from the shadow.
I chuckled and said to her, “Just hold on until the next town. We can buy some fur clothes there.”
“Ugh… When will we get there?”
“I don’t know. If we’re lucky, we might find it today. Or maybe tomorrow, or the day after.”
A look of despair washed over Katarina’s face.
“If it’s really unbearable, ask the fire spirit for help.”
“He said he hates the cold too and went into hiding.”
It seemed spirits disliked the cold as well, seeing as they fled to the spirit world.
Though she was trembling, Katarina didn’t stop walking. We pressed on, and thanks to our pace, we arrived at a decent-sized town by sunset.
“We’ll buy clothes tomorrow. Let’s just rest at an inn for today.”
Katarina nodded vigorously, and we entered an inn. It was dinnertime, so the place was teeming with people. The moment we walked in, the noisy atmosphere fell silent.
All eyes turned to us.
Ignoring their stares, Katarina and I found a suitable table. At that, they seemed to lose interest and the inn once again filled with boisterous chatter.
“…What was that? They all suddenly stared, it freaked me out.”
“They’re probably just wary of outsiders. Anyway, what do you want to eat?”
“Definitely something warm… Huh?”
Katarina suddenly frowned, sighed, and walked out of the inn. When she returned, Shedia was with her. She gave Shedia a displeased look, but Shedia pointedly ignored her.
We ordered stew and ate the meal that was served a short while later.
I had just finished my bowl of stew when a commotion erupted in one corner of the inn.
—Is it true?
—I’m telling you, it is. What do you think, tempting, isn’t it? It’s a tournament hosted by the princess. The grand prize is supposed to be incredible!
—Hah, are you telling me to become a spectacle for that witch?
—No, no, my friend. Who said anything about becoming a spectacle? Just…
Two men were talking loudly enough for me to hear. One was of average build, while the other was a burly man, half again as large as a normal person.
I stood up.
Something about their story sounded familiar, and I wanted to hear more.
“Where are you going?”
“Just going to have a little chat with those guys over there.”
“Really? Then I’ll come with you.”
Katarina shoveled the rest of her stew into her mouth and stood up to follow me.
Does she have to? I thought, but there was no need to stop her if she wanted to come. We walked over to the two men.
“Hey, you two. Could you tell me a bit more about that story?”
The two men’s gazes turned to me.
They looked a bit sullen. I suppose that’s a normal reaction when a stranger approaches.
But what if the power of money was added to the equation?
Just as I reached for my coin purse to perform a golden miracle, the large man looked at me and scowled fiercely.
“What’s with this pretty boy bastard?”
I hadn’t gotten a good look at him before, but now I could see he was quite ugly.
Was he mad just from seeing my face?
“I’m already in a shitty mood because of this idiot’s bullshit. Get the hell out of my sight before I…”
His deeply furrowed brow suddenly smoothed out.
His gaze had shifted to Katarina, who was standing beside me.
“Just like a pretty boy, bringing a fitting woman along with him. Miss, how is this guy in bed? He looks so scrawny, must be pretty useless, right?”
“I’m more than satisfied. To be honest, he’s a bit much sometimes.”
Katarina shot me a glare.
What happened to clinging to me for dear life? And now she says this?
As I stood there, speechless and dumbfounded, the man burst out laughing.
“Khahaha! It seems the young lady doesn’t know what a real man is. I’ll teach you what a real man is tonight.”
The man started to reach for Katarina.
I kicked him in the stomach.
Unable to withstand my strength, he flew back and slammed into the inn’s wall. After groaning for a while and clutching his stomach, he pushed himself up and glared at me as if he wanted to kill me.
“Huh, so you’re not just a pretty boy, are you? Interesting. Very interesting.”
For someone who found it interesting, his expression was quite menacing.
“But you picked the wrong opponent. I am Gallid the Slaughterer, the man who killed Marcus the Giant.”
Gallid grabbed his shirt and ripped it apart.
His menacing muscles were revealed.
Biceps as thick as a woman's waist, a chest so thick it looked like it could stop an arrow, and abs like a washboard.
He picked up the two axes hanging from his belt.
“You crazy bastard! Gallid, are you really going to kill him?!” the man who had been talking with him shouted.
“He’s the one who pissed me off first.”
“You’re the one who started it… No, forget that, we’re in a town! What are you going to do when the vigilantes show up?”
“Then I’ll just kill them all and leave. You said the princess was holding a tournament, right? Let’s win that and get out of this duchy. This place was too small to contain me anyway.”
Gallid’s words made his friend’s face light up. In contrast, the expressions of the other patrons soured.
But no one made a move to intervene.
Is this guy famous around here?
“Then finish it quickly. It’ll be a pain in the ass if the vigilantes show up.”
“Right. It won’t take long anyway.”
Gallid stomped toward me. Katarina tensed, her hand moving to draw her curved sword. I reached out to stop her, then looked around for a suitable object.
Ah, that should do.
I grabbed the central pillar of a round table, lifted it, and infused it with mana.
“Die!”
Gallid charged at me, axes in both hands.
For all his grand talk of killing a giant and being a slaughterer, it wasn't just a bluff; the man was incredibly fast. He was in front of me in an instant. I swung the table.
He grinned.
It was a mocking smile, as if to say my actions were foolish. He clearly believed his axes would split the table, and he brought them down without hesitation.
His smile didn’t last long.
The axes only embedded themselves in the table; they didn’t split it.
The table smashed into his bewildered face.
CRACK!
Gallid’s body went airborne.
He hit the ceiling hard before crashing to the floor, a pathetic sight. His nose was caved in, and his teeth clattered out of his mouth.
“Guh… Ghaa…”
Gallid was completely dazed.
Even so, he tried to get up, so I hit him a few more times with the table. After that, he stopped trying. I kicked him into a corner of the inn, out of the way.
After pulling the axes out of the table, I set it down in front of the man who seemed to be Gallid’s friend.
The man was staring blankly at the fallen Gallid, unable to believe what had just happened.
Smack!
I slapped him lightly across the cheek.
His head snapped to the side, and he finally came to his senses, turning his gaze to me.
“Excuse me.”
“Ye-yes?”
“Let’s talk.”
“What? Ah, no, but my friend…”
“He’s not dead. Since he’s not dead, let’s have a chat.”
“…Yes.”
*
The Duchy of Policia had a shorter history than other nations.
Originally, the barbarians lived in tribes, much like orcs. They survived by hunting or raiding other tribes.
This was due to the northern climate, which boasted sub-zero temperatures year-round.
Unlike other kingdoms, farming was difficult, which meant food was always scarce.
The one who united these barbarians and secured the title of Grand Duke and food aid from the Empire was the former king, Regner.
After Regner’s death, he was succeeded by Leslie’s father, Osner.
Osner was frail.
And by barbarian standards, his frailty made him unfit to be a ruler.
Normally, he never would have become the Grand Duke. But the Empire, not wanting the newly stabilized duchy to fall back into chaos, intervened directly and placed Osner on the throne.
Osner may have been a pathetic warrior, but he was an outstanding monarch.
The wise Osner negotiated with the Empire, bringing many benefits to the duchy. Thanks to him, the number of people starving to death from food shortages dropped significantly.
The people of the duchy cheered.
No one questioned his right to rule any longer.
Everyone in the duchy respected him.
But even he failed when it came to raising children.
The witch Leslie, as soon as she came of age, led her own faction in a rebellion.
She deposed her father, Osner, drove out all her siblings, and began to rule as a dictator.
That was the gist of the man’s story.
And most of it was new to me.
The game never went into detail about the Duchy of Policia.
All I knew was that Leslie’s father would wipe out the duchy’s capital and become one of the Demon King’s Four Heavenly Kings.
And since that was said to happen during a festival, judging by the timing, it would probably happen at the tournament and festival being held now.
“You here to join the tournament?” a bald, pot-bellied middle-aged man asked with a yawn.
“Yes.”
“Got some nerve, signing up on the day of. Is it just you? Or the young lady behind you, too?”
“Just me.”
Hearing my words, the man carved something onto a wooden tablet with a knife and tossed it to me.
“Take that and wait over there. When the preliminaries start, show them that pass to get in.”
The place the man pointed to was bustling with dozens of people. Contrary to my expectation that it would be boiling with the stench of barbarian sweat, there was a diverse crowd.
A knight in aristocratic armor.
A martial artist in revealing cloth attire.
There was even an elf with a sword at his hip.
What the hell? What’s an elf doing here?
Weren’t elves supposed to never leave the forest?
Did he run away from home or something?
As I stood there puzzled, Katarina tugged on my arm.
“C-Cloud?”
“What is it?”
“Over there…”
Katarina pointed at something.
It wasn’t human.
It stood three meters tall and had six arms. In each of those six arms, it held a massive axe, greatsword, or hammer.
Its skin and features, however, were close to human.
Albeit, it looked like a beggar who hadn’t washed in years.
“I-Isn’t that a little dangerous? It looks incredibly ferocious…”
She was terrified by the monster’s hideous appearance.
I placed a hand on her shoulder and said, “Katarina, close your eyes and think back to what happened with the Fairy King in the forest.”
“Huh? O-okay.”
Though confused, Katarina did as I said.
“Are you picturing it?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, now open your eyes and look at that thing again.”
She opened her eyes and looked at the six-armed monster.
“How do you feel?”
“…He’s a person with character.”
“Exactly.”
She was finally starting to get used to adventuring.
I grinned and patted her on the shoulder. She, however, wore a bitter expression, as if she wasn’t pleased with her own change.
It was then that a woman appeared on a balcony overlooking the massive arena. She swept her long, flowing white hair to the side.
“Welcome to the home of warriors, O warriors,” Princess Leslie shouted.