Chapter 107: The Little Lion and the Crimson Monster
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 107: The Little Lion and the Crimson Monster
The night before the final match.
Dorothea’s party was having a banquet.
It hadn’t been planned.
The Halder Company had offered to treat them to dinner, renting out an entire restaurant for the occasion. The Tin Knight, declaring that it was too empty for just the four of them, had invited others to join. And Dorothea, who had been sleeping like the dead until just before dinnertime, had been unable to stop it.
The chaotic scene, which now included the Iron Stake Mercenary Group, the Halder Company’s employees, Kumara’s party, and even Peter, made Dorothea’s head spin. But no matter how many times she whacked the Tin Knight on the head with her staff, there was no undoing a party already in full swing.
“Haaah, honestly. Anyone would think the match was already over. Celebrating the night before the finals? There’s a limit to being presumptuous.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that for all your complaining, your hands are being quite honest as they reach for more bread!]
“Shut up.”
Despite her grumbling, Dorothea was stuffing food into her mouth nonstop.
It was an unusual sight for her, as she normally ate very little.
Then again, after days of subsisting on nothing but quick, simple meals and having slept through the entire day without a single bite, it wasn’t so strange that her appetite was roaring.
“Hahaha.”
Watching Dorothea and the Tin Knight bicker, Adel laughed with delight.
She knew Dorothea was right—it could look like they were getting ahead of themselves—but Adel was enjoying this moment.
The tension that had been coiled in her shoulders ahead of the fight with a powerful foe was finally starting to loosen.
Adel glanced around.
“Honestly, we’ve really done our part, you know?”
“I get it, so stop whining. You’re surprisingly persistent, you know that?”
Peter, back to his usual way of speaking, was dealing with a red-faced, drunken Kumara.
Seeing as he’d had several chances to speak with Sophia but hadn’t, it seemed he was content to let the whole vampire business be a thing of the past.
“And so, you see, our Iron Stake Mercenary Group, utterly captivated by your tremendous charisma, Big Sis, is prepared to become your hands and feet, to move heaven and earth for you and your party across this city—”
“Hmm, it’s true that we need new personnel, having cleared out a large portion of the old branch members—”
Hindley and the mercenary captain were also visible, fervently explaining a suitably distorted and exaggerated version of their recent adventures with Dorothea’s party to Lorentz Halder.
They were likely trying to secure new employment, but they didn’t seem to realize that Lorentz had already seen through them and was planning to use it as a bargaining chip.
The sound of boisterous chatter.
A continuous series of toasts.
Even cheerful, heartwarming music.
Though she hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, Adel felt strangely intoxicated.
This kind of banquet… it’s been a long time.
Long ago.
Back when the Friedel domain was still standing, and her father was still alive.
After subjugating a monster nest, winning a domain war, or when Adel’s older brother, Wilfried von Lennart, was officially knighted.
Whenever there was cause for a domain-wide celebration, the lord’s family, their vassals, and the entire order of knights would gather for a banquet.
Adel’s father, the lord of Friedel, was a man of few words and great solemnity. Wilfried, though he trained as a knight under his father, was a gentle soul who disliked conflict and preferred his studies.
Therefore, it was always up to the cute youngest daughter, Adelaide, to liven up the party.
It was never a particularly difficult task.
People cheered for her simple dances and roared with laughter at her trivial stories.
…Thinking back on it now, I get the feeling their reactions were a bit exaggerated.
When the lord’s treasured daughter was putting on a cute act to make people laugh, there weren’t many brave enough to show a lukewarm response and call it boring.
So the enthusiastic reactions back then were not purely due to Adel’s talent, but also thanks to her status.
Adel smiled bitterly.
She felt like she was realizing anew why no one in the Friedel domain had ever truly relied on her.
This was probably just the tip of the iceberg; there were likely many more reasons.
It wasn’t that Adel was particularly disliked in the domain. In fact, more people were fond of her than not.
It was just that no one saw her as the person who could save the domain in a time of crisis.
I wonder how I seem now.
Adel knew there was an immense gap between the person she was when she had just left the Friedel domain and the person she was now.
The girl who had been captured by mere bandits and helplessly sold into slavery now possessed the strength to defeat such thugs with ease.
She had obtained tokens from two of the five dojos, earned the grand title of representative instructor, and was now aiming to win a prestigious tournament known throughout the continent.
If I’m this strong.
If I have this much skill.
If I have these accomplishments.
Wouldn’t the people of the Friedel domain finally acknowledge her?
Wouldn’t they see her not as the cute and lovable, but unreliable, youngest lady, but as the new heir who could revive the domain?
Wouldn’t Ronnie’s eyes widen at the sight of her changed lady, and wouldn’t her mother, waking from her long slumber, find hope in Adel’s new image and finally overcome the sorrow of losing her husband and son?
Of course, it might not be enough.
She had sought strength and fame because they were the only things she could prove right away, but the qualities of a lord were not limited to those alone.
Still, it could serve as one benchmark for earning their recognition.
If I win this time.
And if she gathered all the remaining tokens in the time she had left.
And not only that, but if she accumulated other achievements along her journey.
In that moment, for the first time since entering this tournament, Adel craved victory from the bottom of her heart.
Instead of a vague goal of one day becoming stronger, instead of dazedly following the Tin Knight’s lead, she demanded victory—the victory right before her eyes—with her own clear will.
“Miss Adel? You’ve been staring into space for a while. If you’re tired, you should get some rest.”
“That’s right. Don’t worry about this guy. If you want to rest, just go. There’s nothing more foolish than ruining your condition by trying to keep up with everyone else.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ protests, saying not to treat him like a boss forcing everyone to a second round of drinks!]
Adel blinked.
Then she smiled softly.
“Haha, it’s okay! I’ll rest in a little bit. There’s still a lot I want to eat.”
With that reply, Adel took a bite of a nearby piece of bread.
Seeing her munching away happily, the others shrugged and returned to their own business.
Swallowing the bread, Adel quietly opened her eyes.
Her violet pupils flickered like flames.
*
The next day.
[Ladies and gentlemen! The martial arts tournament that has set this City of Struggle ablaze has, all too soon, reached its final act! It is truly a shame! A truly sorrowful thing! But do not worry, everyone! The grandest, most magnificent flame to set your passions alight is just about to begin!]
Waaaaaaaaaah!
[In the blue corner! A warrior who wears the legendary belt, dons the armor of beasts, and wields an oversized greatsword! Though no one in this city knows her face, there is also no one who does not know of her fame! The warrior of warriors! The fighter of fighters! The ultimate champion! Kalidahs!!]
“Kyaaa! Please win, Lady Kalidahs!!”
“Just blow away that little brat who crawled out of who-knows-where!”
“Win with ease, just like you always do! I bet my entire fortune on you!”
[In the red corner! Her golden hair scatters brilliantly under the sun, her mysterious violet eyes survey her surroundings! There is no one in the Empire who does not know of the Lion's Bloodline! Though she may be small, her two-handed sword is like a wild beast tearing at its foe! The rising star! Adelaide von Lennart!!]
“You can do it, little lady!”
“You only live once! Let’s go, underdog!”
“I’m sick and tired of the unchanging champion! We need a new wind to blow!”
[Amidst the explosive cheers, the challenger and the champion face each other! A long two-handed sword and a heavy greatsword are pointed at one another! Ah, the referee signals the start! The final match begins!!]
*
When the match began, neither of them rushed at the other.
With her ridiculously large greatsword resting on her shoulder, Kalidahs cracked her neck.
《What, not coming? I heard speed was your specialty. If you stay rooted to the spot like that, you won’t get anywhere.》
Adel didn’t answer.
She simply observed Kalidahs’s form in silence.
She’s relaxed.
Kalidahs’s casual tone was a world away from her demeanor in the semifinals, where she had remained silent and focused on the match until the very end.
Adel didn’t see it as arrogance.
Arrogance was a word for when one’s confidence exceeded their skill. Confidence backed by skill was simply pride.
A truly arrogant act was something like demanding the same treatment as Peter without possessing even a fraction of his skill.
A head-on fight is impossible. I have to avoid even clashing blades if I can.
The sword Adel wielded was large compared to a typical one-handed sword, but Kalidahs’s greatsword was in another league entirely.
If she held the flat of the blade sideways, it could cast a shadow large enough to hide Adel’s entire body.
To challenge an opponent who could move such a weapon with a flick of the wrist as if fanning herself—that would be the height of foolishness.
Which is precisely why Adel dashed forward, straight into Kalidahs’s line of sight.
The announcer’s shocked voice echoed through the arena. The gasps and screams from the crowd were audible as well.
Adel thought.
There’s too much unnecessary information.
Her senses were more than twice as sharp as usual, but they weren’t under her control.
All sorts of trivial details from her surroundings were flooding in indiscriminately.
Wincing, Adel pressed her body low to the ground like a snake and surged forward.
It was a dash so low she was practically crawling on the ground. Above her head, the greatsword, imbued with terrifying power, brushed past.
Fear made the back of her neck stiffen, but thanks to that, her rampaging senses found their focus.
Adel slid across the ground and swung her sword with all her might toward Kalidahs’s heel.
Clang!
Using the recoil from the swing, she spun her body half a turn, leaped up, and delivered another strike to the back of her opponent’s neck.
Thwack!
The moment her second attack landed, Kalidahs’s greatsword swept in like a gale.
Dodging the attack once more, Adel thought.
She thought about Kalidahs’s uncanny toughness.
It wasn’t just due to the performance of her armor.
The armor itself was a masterpiece, but more important was her mana manipulation technique.
It’s the same as what the Tin Knight does.
It wasn’t just about reinforcing her body or armor by shrouding them in mana. It was a technique that increased defensive power by concentrating mana at the point of impact the very moment an attack landed.
Kalidahs was using that technique to cover the gaps between attacks, an unavoidable weakness of a weapon like a greatsword.
But.
It’s not as perfect as the Tin Knight’s.
Was it because of the immense physical ability granted by the Belt of Amaryllis?
Whether her sword was imbued with sword energy or not, Kalidahs’s greatsword displayed tremendous power from its mass and the force of her swing alone.
However, perhaps because she relied on it too much, her pure mana manipulation skill wasn’t that exceptional.
If the Tin Knight’s mana distribution was like fine sand, Kalidahs’s was like coarse pebbles.
Fzzt! Scrape! Thud!
Annoyed by Adel’s attacks, which landed as she circled around her, Kalidahs raised her greatsword high.
Then, she swung the sword down and slammed it into the ground.
K-K-K-BOOOOM!
The arena floor shattered, sending countless fragments flying.
The smooth flagstones broke and tilted, forming small valleys, and a cloud of dust rose, obscuring their vision.
And through that dust, Kalidahs swung her greatsword again.
K-K-K-BOOOOM! K-BOOM! K-BOOOOM!
No, it wasn’t just once.
Again and again, like a miner with a pickaxe, Kalidahs slammed her greatsword down, pulverizing the arena.
The smooth ground transformed into a rugged, chaotic mess.
Adel immediately understood her intention.
The space she had to dodge Kalidahs’s attacks was rapidly shrinking.
A cold sweat trickled down Adel’s cheek.