A Medal, a Contract, and a Headache

Back on the arena floor, Serena had launched into a solo performance of pure domination. Where moments ago she'd seemed to be testing the waters and holding something in reserve, she now loosed her arrows with the wind completely unbound. Each shot rode a gale so tremendous that the targets were all but pulverized—and yet, in the middle of all that violence, she displayed the sheer finesse to leave the bullseye itself untouched.

The other elves, who had first greeted the sight of Serena standing there unscathed with eyes full of loathing, were now sick to death of it—downright frightened, even.

As for me, the one who had carried Serena up to that stage in the first place, all I felt was bewilderment. She was this good...? I knew she could shoot, but still.

Grandfather, however, seemed to have known all along, and he chuckled heartily as he cheered her on.

"Grandfather."

"What is it?"

"Did you know Serena was this good?"

"Of course I knew. What I can't figure out is where our little windfall keeps finding all these other windfalls."

Trust me, I have no idea either. All I'm doing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is keeping my word to Sky—burning money on anything that catches my eye and sorting out the consequences later. So why does it keep flowing this way? Yurina, Alex, and now Serena too?

Not that any of it is bad for me, exactly. Grandfather's affection climbs higher with every passing day. Our company's stock price and assets are quietly closing the gap on the Number 1 spot. And yet something about it feels off. Things I never intended keep bursting out one after another, so I'd say I feel a little strange about the whole thing.

"I honestly couldn't tell you."

"Then I suppose the day I retire isn't far off after all."

"Ahaha..."

Cornered by an impossible answer, I simply laughed. Because my goal is to become someone who can stand before Sky without an ounce of shame—and only then devote myself to stanning her. I am not doing any of this to inherit the company. So with Grandfather still hale and hearty, he ought to stay Chairman for a good long while yet.

"Looks like it's time for the finals."

"Her opponent is no pushover, either."

Waiting for Serena in the final was the princess of the elves, fielded by the Order—the Number 1 Megacorp. Apparently she was only the fourth princess, hardly first in line for the throne, but that changed nothing about the fact that she was a high elf extraordinarily gifted in archery.

"Come to think of it, this final is a half-elf against a high elf."

"And Salazar against the Order, too. But our friend is going to win."

"I think so, too."

Not merely because she was one of ours—I genuinely could not picture Serena losing. The princess had been putting on a flashy show of her own ever since Serena's solo run began, but honestly, it was rather underwhelming. Decidedly short of Serena's level, you might say. If any elf overheard me, it would spark an absolute riot—but what can you do.

My opinion of elves had been poor to begin with, and their audacity in laying a hand on Serena had only made it worse. I'd wanted to make those things lying collapsed in the break room vanish without a trace, but I restrained myself. Sky's "everyone getting along" had to include them, after all. Naturally, I would be covering their entire medical bill out of my own pocket, so they should consider it an honor.

If only it weren't for Sky, seriously...

While I fumed over the fate of those who had dared touch Serena, the final began. Neither archer hid her strength an ounce from the start, pulverizing targets in an unbroken march of perfect scores. The match was so dead even that moving targets were added before long, but even that couldn't slow their charge—both of them shattered every moving target while leaving only the center intact, so the contest refused to tip either way.

A single mistake was all that would separate first place from second. Neither of them made one. And so it was decided: a short breather, then resume.

"I'm going to go say a word to her."

"Give her my regards, too."

"Of course."

Hoping to offer even one more word of encouragement, I rose from my seat and headed for Serena again. But this time, just as I arrived, the elven princess popped out of the break room. Apparently the two of them had only exchanged words this round, because no raised voices escaped the door.

"Serena. Is something the matter?"

I brushed past the princess without so much as a glance and stepped into the break room where Serena was waiting. She greeted me with a terribly gloomy face—one look and I knew she'd been told something.

"How are you supposed to win like this?"

"I'm... sorry, what?"

Oh my. That slipped out before I could stop it. But I'm right, aren't I?

"The elven princess isn't rattled in the slightest, and you're the only one here in pieces. You realize that?"

"I know..."

"Ugh... what am I going to do with you?"

Nearly four times my age, and why is this woman such a child? Still, it would be a shame for her to come all this way and walk away without the win. Think. What would work? I turned over anything that might pin Serena's wavering heart back in place—and soon, something very good came to mind. In a world where the kingdoms and empires have crumbled and everything has rolled into the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠age of corporations, what matters most of all? Credits. Money. An overwhelming mountain of money solves everything.

"Serena, listen carefully."

"Yes?"

"Win this, and when you come back, I will grant you anything you want—within one hundred billion credits."

One hundred billion credits was enough, even in this world of insane prices, to outright buy a small island. A sum like that ought to unknot anyone's nerves. After all, as the saying goes: if money can't solve something, you probably just don't have enough of it.

Having heard every word, Serena rose from her seat with a warm, blooming smile.

"Thank you. With that, I feel like I can actually win."

"Right? Then go and win it."

"I will. And I will dedicate my victory to you, my lady."

"Why would you dedicate your victory to me?"

"I'll tell you after I win! Please keep cheering me on!"

"Consider it done."

This time, instead of sending Serena off alone, I naturally followed her into the arena. I wasn't standing alongside her, of course—I simply took up a spot by the benches. Ordinarily, no one but staff could set foot in there, but long live the Megacorps. The reserve heir of Salazar Industries was an insider, after all.

I had barely settled onto the bench when the final resumed—this time with faster, smaller targets.

"She really does shoot well."

Shooting first, the elven princess blasted her target apart with effortless ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ease—then fixed Serena with an icy stare, as though telling her to hurry up and fail already. But Serena had my little enchantment working in her favor: a promise of astronomical money. When her turn came, she shredded her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠target with far more destructive force than she had shown all day. Cracks ran across the elven princess's face. Naturally—they had assumed their opponent would crumble, and instead she was outshining them. If anything, the panic was now visibly mounting on the princess's side.

"There it is."

The verdict followed almost immediately, because the very next arrow she loosed buried itself just a hair off center. Our Serena does not make mistakes, so victory was all but sealed. And that wasn't mere delusion on my part—moments later, Serena drove an arrow straight into the bullseye. We had our winner.

With the announcer's declaration, a roar of jubilation rolled through the stands. Seen one way, this was a half-elf toppling a high elf princess—an underdog's uprising. And people are powerless before drama like that; of course they went wild.

Only when the long wave of shouting finally broke did the ceremony proceed, brisk and orderly. Up on the podium, Serena beamed and kept her eyes locked squarely on me. You don't have to keep checking—I wasn't going to skim off your prize. I simply smiled and waved back. Soon, Serena began her victory speech.

"First and foremost, I dedicate the glory of this victory to Lady Maximiliano Salazar, who gave me my place on this stage and the courage to win it all!"

After that, Serena proceeded to recount, before the entire public, everything I had ever done for her. There was nothing in it that truly needed hiding, but it was mortifying all the same, and I wanted to shut it down—except Grandfather had somehow crept up beside me, gripping my hand tight and beaming, so bolting over to stop her was out of the question. And so, having spilled everything down to what had happened in the break room just minutes ago, she gave one final shout as though relieved of a great weight:

With that very, very, very sudden confession, the translucent figure of a woman appeared at Serena's side. I recognized her in a heartbeat as the Spirit King Serena had contracted with. You stage this in front of the whole world, and how am I supposed to refuse? Not that I had any intention of refusing.

I heaved a long sigh and made for the podium. This time even Grandfather didn't hold me back; he simply sent me on my way. He only ever lets go at times like this.

Once on the podium, I naturally accepted the gold medal held out to me and walked over to Serena. And as I lowered it around her neck, I said:

"Permission granted."

"Thank you so much!"

The instant my permission left my lips, a crisp, refreshing breeze fanned out in every direction. Yep. This is absolutely going to hit the news as the cringiest article of the day.

Musing on that, I came down from the podium with Serena—and there stood Grandfather, holding up his device to show me something.

Ugh, my head. Already trending. I never wished for any of this, so why does it keep turning out this way? I'm telling you, inheriting the company sounds exhausting!

Enough. It was time to start pulling some utterly outrageous stunts and dragging my approval rating down where it belonged.