The Price of Suspicion
As the murmuring grew louder, Lia's face flushed even redder. With every passing second, her shoulders slumped further inward. Jing frowned, clearly displeased by the sight of a crowd ganging up on a single person.
"Have you participated in Rucha before?" Ratel asked bluntly. Lacking even a shred of tact, he didn't hesitate to ask. Lia bit her lip and nodded.
"Yes, just once, three years ago. Though I was eliminated in the preliminaries."
"That makes it even stranger. Isn't that the stage where half the participants get cut? Why would they remember you just for participating in a single match?" he asked, scowling in confusion.
"Well... I was disqualified for cheating back then," Lia whispered, lowering her bright red face. She clearly didn't want to talk about it, but she must have decided it was better to confess it herself.
"Disqualified for cheating?" Jing raised an eyebrow at the dishonorable term, something that probably had never existed in his own life. Intimidated by his reaction, Lia hesitated before slowly opening her mouth.
"...I entered with a piece of iron... I-I didn't do it on purpose. But it fell out during the match... and so..."
There was no time to listen to her rambling explanation any further. The whistle blew to signal the start of the match, and a chaotic brawl erupted instantly.
It didn't take long to reveal just what a ragtag bunch Group 34 was. Unlike the opposing team, which split into four directions with practiced ease, we just stood there, frozen in place.
Well, to be precise, not all of us were useless. The moment the opponents moved, Jing threw himself to the left, saving our group's pride.
It was just as Lia had said. The preliminary match didn't take long to finish. None of those who moved were faster than Jing.
In the blink of an eye, a man caught by the throat by Jing was rolling on the ground, his pressure points seized. The whistle blew, and the referee declared our victory.
The crowd fell into a brief silence, unable to process a victory that had been decided so absurdly fast. But soon, gasps and cheers erupted from all directions. Someone who remembered Jing's name started shouting it, and the crowd, infected by the fever of excitement, began chanting along.
We had passed the preliminaries. But it wasn't as simple as it seemed. Normally, Jing shouldn't have been the only name they were chanting. I turned around and glared at the person whose name should have been called.
Ratel, who hadn't taken a single step since the match began. Unlike Lia and me, he had voluntarily chosen to be dead weight, and now he was looking at me as if to ask what the problem was. So that's how he wanted to play it?
"This is supposed to be a martial arts tournament. Why don't you show a little sincerity?"
"I didn't lie down on the floor, so isn't this sincere enough?" Ratel said nonchalantly. His attitude made it clear that he intended to show exactly that much "sincerity" in the upcoming matches as well.
From the preliminaries onward, it would be one-on-one matches. If he just stood there and forfeited, either Lia or I would have to win to advance. If luck wasn't on my side and I was called up first, we wouldn't make it to the finals. No, failing to reach the finals wasn't the real problem. The problem was...
"No weapons, no groin attacks, no eye attacks." I glared at him as he expressionlessly muttered the tournament rules. The stiffer my expression became, the higher the corners of his mouth curled.
"As long as we follow these, any method is allowed, right? As long as we don't kill the opponent." Having kindly recited even the very last rule, he finally took a step—something he hadn't done during the entire match—and approached me.
"Go ahead, try to hide it until the very end. I'll be watching to see your secret exposed." I had no choice but to realize once again: the protagonist of Dark Header really had a terrible personality.
The unexpected appearance of a powerhouse sent the crowd into a frenzy of excitement and curiosity. Since Ethan's shop had closed its doors, we went into a large tavern in the center of the village, where people instantly surrounded us. The only problem was that not a single one of the four of us welcomed the attention.
"Where are you guys from?"
"Old man, are you employed by that black-haired guy over there? How much is he paying you?"
"Do you plan on stopping by this village next year too?"
"We are merely travelers. We will leave as soon as the tournament is over."
Jing responded to the relentless barrage of questions with a weary expression. Of course, I had no desire to get caught up in their curiosity, so I took a seat at a table far away from him. He shot me a look filled with betrayal, but I simply turned my head and pretended not to notice.
Despite his obvious discomfort and exhaustion, the crowd didn't care. The appearance of such a strong outsider was rare, and everyone was curious about Jing.
"That sly girl Lia is now dragging in outsiders just to win."
Of course, not everyone was friendly toward us. The arrival of a powerhouse also meant the appearance of a formidable rival. I turned my gaze toward the men sipping beer at the table to our left.
I couldn't remember exactly which team they were, but they were definitely among those who had passed the preliminaries. Their eyes eagerly scanned Jing, highly wary of this unexpected powerhouse. When Jing silently looked back at them, the spite on the speaker's face only intensified.
"You should be ashamed of yourself too. Of all things, why are you helping such a cunning brat?" I was glad Lia wasn't here. She had probably anticipated this and slipped away beforehand.
"In truth, didn't Lia already lose her eligibility once? To think she's lusting after the blessing again after committing the sin of deceiving the temple... How utterly shameless."
The man's sneering didn't stop, and the noisy tavern fell silent as tension took over. Jing stood up. His face was no longer weary from the barrage of questions; it was frozen hard.
Seemingly flustered by the sudden shift in Jing's aura, the man unconsciously set his beer mug down on the table.
"Are you certain Lia cheated?" Jing asked quietly, stepping right up to the man. To avoid showing that he was intimidated by Jing's presence, the man deliberately squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest.
"O-Of course!" His voice cracked, making him look even more ridiculous. He shut his mouth and ground his teeth, clearly realizing how pathetic he sounded.
"The whole village saw her hiding a piece of iron in her glove!"
"And did Lia admit to it?"
"Yes!" the man shrieked louder than necessary.
"She admitted she was the one who hid the blade in her clothes! We let it slide before out of respect for Ethan, but if she's aiming to win, that's a different story! Tell her to forfeit now! It makes no sense for someone like her to win!"
So his final words were his true feelings. Jing looked down at the shouting man with an unreadable expression, then turned around and walked back to the table where Ratel and I were sitting.
Behind Jing, the agitated man continued to yell, but this time, the other villagers in the tavern held him back. I looked away from the shouting man and watched Jing as he pulled up a chair opposite us.
"How does it feel to become a celebrity overnight?" At my question, Jing's face crumpled. "I feel deeply resentful toward a certain someone."
Jing glared at Ratel, who was sitting beside him, stuffing corn bread and candied carrots into his mouth. There was no way Jing hadn't noticed that Ratel had deliberately refused to move during the match.
"This time was fine, but you must move properly from the next match onward." At Jing's gentle scolding, Ratel, who was tearing a piece of bread, briefly shifted his gaze to me. Without taking his eyes off me, he spoke.
"I will move when I deem it necessary."
"Why are you suddenly being so stubborn? We must win this tournament to reach our next destination safely."
"I still don't quite understand why I have to win this tournament."
At Ratel's firm reply, Jing finally seemed to realize that Ratel's immobility today hadn't been a mere whim.
"From the next match, if you don't move, Lord Ran or Miss Lia will have to fight."
"That's exactly what Ratel wants, Jing."
I answered in his stead to save Jing the time of starting a pointless persuasion.
"Why on earth..." While Jing muttered, unable to comprehend the situation, Ratel stuffed the last of the food into his mouth and stood up.
"I'm tired, so I'll head in first."
"What did you even do to be tired?!" Despite Jing's dumbfounded shout, Ratel walked straight out of the tavern.
In truth, even if he had stayed, there was nothing Jing could have done. He couldn't break Ratel's stubbornness, nor did he have any way to force him to move during a match.
Jing stared blankly at Ratel's retreating back before turning his gaze to me. His face was filled with anxiety, as if asking what we should do now. But it wasn't like I had a brilliant solution either.
"There's no other way. Either I have to win a match, or Lia does." At my mundane answer, Jing let out a deep sigh. "So one of you two must win..."
Muttering to himself, Jing clenched his fists and stood up as if he had made a decision. He seemed to have finished calculating which of us had a better chance of winning. He turned toward the exit. "Where do you think Miss Lia is?"
Fortunately, Jing and I were of the same mind this time.
Having fled from the eyes of the crowd, Lia walked aimlessly along the outskirts of the village. She had no choice. In this tiny village, the only place where she could escape people's gazes was the bookstore run by the eccentric owner. And as she had experienced just this morning, even that place wasn't safe from Ethan's eyes.
With her home and the bookstore gone—every potential hiding spot vanished—Lia had no choice but to wander aimlessly. She had no money to fill her empty stomach, nor did she have a place to lay her head. Yet, returning to the tavern was out of the question; she was far too terrified of Ethan.
Just as Lia was about to sink to the ground, feeling utterly pathetic for being unable to do anything without Ethan—
"Lia!" Startled by the voice calling her name, Lia spun around. Upon seeing the person marching toward her with a terrifying intensity, her entire body froze. It was Ethan, whom she had assumed would still be at the shop. Forgetting that she had legs to run with, Lia stood rooted to the spot, watching Ethan approach.