A Surprise for Everyone
"Serena. I'm here."
"What brings you here?"
"Grandfather summoned me."
"I'm... sorry, what?"
"Just kidding."
It wasn't actually a joke, but hiding it seemed like more fun that way. A surprise for both sides, you could say. I figured I had to pull these little pranks now and then, or my boredom would never ease up.
Hearing that it was a joke, Serena heaved a sigh of relief, as if a great weight had lifted from her chest. Was my grandfather really that frightening to look at? To me he had always been a doting grandfather who tidied up after my messes. True, he once grounded me when I caused trouble on a truly catastrophic scale, but even that I could live with.
And so I calmly shot arrows with Serena while we waited for Grandfather, and before long the sound of the door opening reached us.
"Who could that...? No, it can't be...?"
"What can't be?"
"Please tell me it isn't...!"
The moment Serena heard Grandfather coming in, she set down her bow and shot me a pleading, begging look. But begging wasn't going to make a grandfather who had already arrived turn around and leave. Soon enough he stood before us, his face brimming with anticipation — it was written all over him that he wanted to be shooting arrows with me this very second. That expression dimmed ever so slightly when he noticed Serena standing beside me; a stranger occupying a place that belonged to him and his granddaughter seemed to displease him a touch.
"Granddaughter of mine. Who might this be?"
"She's my archery instructor, my friend — and she's going to be your archery buddy, Grandfather."
"Your friend, and my archery buddy, hm? How old is she?"
"She's a half-elf, but she says she's eighty-nine."
"Oh ho. Two years my junior, then."
Grandfather's face, which had shown precious little interest, lit up the instant he heard her age. He seemed to have realized on the spot that this woman would suit him well. Half-blood or not, she was still an elf, a child of nature, so she had never taken magitech implants; she loved the bow; and born in roughly the same era, the two of them would never run out of things to talk about.
"What a devoted granddaughter I have."
"Oh, it's nothing. Shall we shoot, then?"
"Let's. It's been far too long since we shot together. What did you say your name was?"
"S-Serena, sir!"
"Very good, Serena. Feel free to call me Victor."
"Excuse me, what?!"
Whether Serena was quietly falling apart or not, Grandfather simply chuckled and began loosing arrows. Serena trembled at first, but one look at his shooting form and she steeled herself, firing alongside him in earnest.
I shot between the two of them, keeping a careful eye on Grandfather's face. Every now and then his gaze would settle on me, and it brimmed with pure, uncomplicated affection. It was the kind of expectant look I'd only ever received as a very small child — and now that I'd come to my senses as a girl, here it was again. What nagged at me, just slightly, was that threaded through that grandfatherly gaze I could also glimpse a megacorp chairman scouting for a successor. But if there was no one but me to carry the line, then carry it I would. Grandfather was nearing retirement age regardless. For now, let's just shoot. After so long away from the bow, I'd remembered what a genuinely fun hobby this was.
Time passed, and soon the day of the main tournament — the round in which Serena would compete as a registered athlete — arrived. Serena, who had been living in the lap of luxury in the archery grounds' lodgings all this while, now stood on the field wearing a face full of pressure. And no wonder: right beside me sat none other than Grandfather, attending in an official capacity as Chairman Victor Salazar to watch the matches. Apparently she'd kept shooting with him even in my absence, and the two had grown quite close — close enough that he told me, with his own mouth, how thankful he was that I'd introduced him to such a good friend. Serena, for her part, could feel every eye in the venue gathering on her at this official event. She had come far too along this road to be rattled by Grandfather's gaze alone.
"Didn't you say Serena was competing unaffiliated?"
"She's competing under our banner, as it happens."
"I'm sorry?"
"See for yourself."
With that, Grandfather pointed at the big scoreboard. There, beneath Serena's name and photograph, was emblazoned the emblem of our very own Salazar Industries. She had most definitely told me she was entering as an independent. What on earth had possessed her to sign with us? Had she really grown that close with Grandfather?
"You seem curious about the reason."
"I am. She told me she'd compete unaffiliated."
"Then you may look forward to what comes after she wins."
"Understood."
Seriously, why? Well — if he said to look forward to after the win, then I'd wait. The main rounds would be over in a single day, after all. There was clearly some reason that involved me, but I hadn't the faintest clue what it was.
"She's really quite good."
Soon the main event was underway, and the archers began loosing their arrows one by one. There were all manner of archers and elves backed by countless corporate sponsors, but among them Serena stood alone. She was using the wind — the thing she'd only ever shown me in passing — at full power, blasting the targets to pieces. The elves watching her did not look pleased, but what exactly did they think they could do? She had the protection of Salazar Industries' owner and owner-in-waiting. Or so I thought — but apparently the world does not run on reason alone.
"Grandfather, I'll step out to the restroom for a moment."
"Mind you come back quietly."
"Of course."
So Grandfather had noticed it too, then: the pack of elves with distinctly ugly looks in their eyes trailing after Serena as she headed for the break room. I rose quietly from my seat and followed. By the time I reached the break room, voices were sparring through the slightly ajar door.
"Stop it...!"
"How dare the likes of you...!"
"You can't touch the bow, I'm telling you...!"
"Then you shouldn't have shown your face here. How did you even get yourself fixed up, anyway?"
Ugh. This is why purebloods are the worst. Determined to make my entrance with force, I kicked the door open with a bang.
— THUD!!
But what, exactly, was that sound of someone taking the door full in the face and going flying? Curious, I peeked inside to find an elf sprawled on the floor, out cold — someone, it seemed, had been standing right behind the door. He was being punished for his misdeeds anyway, and money could settle the rest, so I simply stepped over him and carried on. At my grand entrance, the elves and Serena froze mid-tug-of-war over the bow and stared at me, dumbfounded.
I glided over to the elf among them who had his hand on Serena's bow.
"Do you know who I am?"
"I'm... sorry? And you are...?"
"You don't know me. And yet you lay hands on what's mine?"
What an insolent brat. Unable to hold back the temper that had resurfaced after so long — the old me, right up until recently — I slapped the elf across the face with everything I had.
— SLAP!
Of course, my now-frail body no longer had the strength to shatter bone the way it once could, so it ended as nothing more than a stinging blow to the cheek — but he would understand exactly what I meant.
"Bill the hospital fees under my name. Maximiliano Salazar."
The moment my name left my lips, sharp intakes of breath came from every direction, and I watched them back away, little by little. Whatever backers these fools had, none of them could afford to lay a hand on the eldest grandchild of Salazar Industries.
Then it happened. One very brave, very stupid elf stepped forward.
"Maximiliano Salazar is a man! Who are you trying to fool?!"
"Typical pointy-ears, still holed up in your forest — no wonder your news travels slow."
"What? Everyone, don't be scared! This is a lie!"
"That's right, that's right! I heard it too! Maximiliano Salazar is a man — a notorious playboy, at that!"
Their news really was slow. The fact that I was now a woman had already been broadcast far and wide. Faced with fools who mistook ignorance for courage and kept closing in, I weighed my options. My guards were always stationed nearby, so if things went south I could simply call them. But somehow, I didn't want to. With even a single implant I could have beaten every last one of these purist purebloods senseless. My vow never to have implants put in again was coming back to bite me.
"Please don't lay a hand on our young lady."
Then Serena, who had been sprawled on the floor clutching her bow, finally rose to her feet. As if that weren't enough, she planted herself in front of me like a shield and trained her bow on the elves. The elves faltered for a heartbeat, but soon they were sneering and pressing closer still. Watching them, Serena agonized over whether or not to release the string. Feeling a touch impatient, I told her:
"Shoot. I'll take full responsibility."
As long as she didn't kill them, we could simply pay to patch them up, couldn't we? It's only money. The profits rolling in from the hair loss cure were astronomical — that well was never going to run dry.
"Yes, ma'am!"
The moment my words landed, Serena let the string fly. The arrow split into a volley of wind-borne shafts that streaked toward the elves and blew a limb clean off each of them. Quite a fiery way to settle things. Amid the aftermath, I checked the time on my device and patted Serena on the shoulder.
"Serena. It's about to start. Go, quickly."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"And make sure you win — you still have something you need to tell me, remember."
"Of course! I will win without fail and raise your name high, my lady!"
"Mm-hm. ...Hm?"
Whether or not I asked her to repeat that, Serena simply whooshed off toward the arena. But what on earth did she mean, raising my name?