Chapter 111: The Little Lion and the Crimson Monster (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 111: The Little Lion and the Crimson Monster (3)
It was a dark space.
The sky was not visible, and so neither sunlight nor moonlight shone.
The only light came from faintly glowing moss and fireflies frolicking in the air.
Between the lights, a small throne and a woman asleep upon it revealed themselves.
The woman held a massive greatsword in her hand.
The woman wore crimson armor.
The shapes of a bear and a tiger were emblazoned on her armor.
The woman had hair of the deepest red.
At a certain moment…
The woman’s eyes quietly opened.
Her brilliantly shining violet eyes looked more like a monster's than a human's.
With a dazed expression, as if dreaming, the woman murmured.
“…Geisel.”
It was joy.
It was delight.
It was hatred, it was resentment, and therefore, it was a twisted love.
With burning ecstasy, with boiling hatred, the woman repeated the name.
Again, and again, and again.
As if by doing so, the name would wear away and vanish from the world.
*
The incident that occurred during the individual match finals became a massive topic of conversation.
“Why on earth did Kalidah do something like that?”
“Who knows? Maybe she got carried away because that noble girl, Adelaide, was fighting so well?”
“Hah, what a shame. For the champion, who was like a symbol of this city, to go out so futilely.”
“Lady Kalidah… She was a good person. I should at least offer some flowers.”
“By the way, wasn't that final fight incredible? I've seen all of Kalidah's matches, but that was the most intense battle I've ever witnessed!”
“It was. Kalidah was terrifying, but what about that knight who defeated her head-on? I never knew a magic doll could be that amazing.”
In truth, the reason people could chatter so easily was thanks to the mysterious barrier.
If the barrier hadn't existed, the spectators, terrified by Kalidah’s sudden rampage, would have started to flee. Seeing others run would have caused a panic, and immense chaos would have erupted.
But thanks to the barrier, the audience, though somewhat shaken, was able to watch the fight from a literally safe zone, allowing them to witness the two warriors’ overwhelming power firsthand.
Since the only fatalities were Kalidah and the referee, there were those who offered personal condolences, but no widespread mood of mourning emerged.
With such a shocking incident occurring at an already high-profile event, and with so many witnesses, telling people not to talk about it was an unreasonable demand.
And these chats usually converged on a single question.
“So, what happens to the tournament now?”
For a start, the winner was unclear.
The Tin Knight had defeated Kalidah, but he wasn't a participant in the individual matches to begin with.
The official match was between Kalidah and Adelaide, and arguments raged over who had claimed victory.
Some argued that Kalidah had won the moment Adelaide was pushed out of the ring, while others claimed it was a disqualification for killing the referee.
Some said that since Kalidah herself was dead, Adelaide should just be declared the winner, and there was even an opinion to leave the champion’s seat vacant.
The organizers’ position, however, was clear.
Right now, what's important isn't who won the individual match, but burying the individual match itself with another topic.
Strictly speaking, Kalidah could not be considered part of the same faction as the Thracus organizers.
It was true she operated out of Thracus, but if you asked whether she was the lord’s subordinate, the answer was no.
The problem was that outsiders didn't see it that way at all.
Because Kalidah was so famous and had held the champion title for so long, public perception treated them as a single entity.
This meant the Lord of Thracus and his men were in a position where they had to clean up the entire mess Kalidah had made.
Even if they spouted claims like, “Champion Kalidah is merely an individual and has no official relationship with us in Thracus,” the chances of people accepting it with a simple, “Oh, I see. The two are unrelated,” were extremely slim.
For now, everyone was distracted by the spectacular fight, but once time passed and people calmed down, some would surely start raising issues of liability and compensation, arguing that the audience could have been in danger.
The fact that no one was hurt because of the barrier was not particularly important.
As long as the lord’s side had no idea how the barrier had appeared or who had created it, they couldn't escape the criticism that they had just gotten lucky.
Therefore, the Lord of Thracus and his subordinates were determined to blow the team matches out of proportion.
A big match pitting “the team of the Tin Knight who defeated Kalidah, the strongest individual fighter” against “the team led by the protégé of the Witch of the South, the Empire's strongest mage.”
If it was a box-office success, they could minimize the fallout from the Kalidah incident.
Beyond that, they might even be able to create a new star to fill the void left by Kalidah’s death.
Thus, the lord’s attitude toward Dorothea’s party was extremely favorable.
To put it more bluntly, he looked as if he would give her anything and everything.
“Punishment for storming the arena? Haha, of course not. The match was already over, and you were all just trying to save your comrade, weren't you? No need for such worries. And we’ll hand over Kalidah’s belt as you requested. It was more of Kalidah’s personal belonging than a prize from our tournament anyway, so it’s no big problem. Just, uh, for the team match, please make it as flashy as possible, really spectacular. You understand, right?”
…This is convenient, but something feels off.
For Dorothea, who had expected to be interrogated or to face a difficult negotiation over the belt’s ownership, the result was rather anticlimactic.
The lord seemed to want them to participate not only in this tournament but in the next one as well, though he didn't press the issue. The immediate request to “run wild and be flashy in the team finals” was something she would have done even without being asked.
No, even if Dorothea had no intention of being flashy, considering her opponent’s skill and the Tin Knight’s enthusiasm, that’s how it would have unfolded anyway.
However, to state the conclusion first, all these negotiations were meaningless.
“Our team will forfeit the final match.”
This was because none other than their final opponent, Algind Goodwitch, had dropped the bombshell.
*
“The martial prowess Sir Tin Knight displayed in the previous battle was truly like that of a hero from legend. Perhaps if my teacher were to step forward herself, but with my lacking skills, I fear it would result in a shabby, pathetic fight that would only sully the eyes of the audience. After everyone has witnessed the greatest of matches and is filled with such high expectations, how sad would it be if the following match were dull? To prevent such a tragedy, I will pay my respects to Sir Tin Knight and his master, Dorothea Aschengard, and withdraw.”
A simple summary of Algind’s long speech was as follows:
‘You’re all too strong, so there’s no way I can win. Rather than make a fool of myself, I’ll just withdraw gracefully. That is all.’
The lord and his subordinates clutched their heads.
Unable to accept the sudden turn of events, they grew frantic, but they couldn't direct their aggression toward Algind. It wasn't for the common-sense reason of “what can you do if she wants to forfeit,” but simply because they were scared of her backing.
The audience seemed quite disappointed, but many also expressed their understanding for Algind.
After seeing that monstrous battle that had literally torn up the ground, they thought it was wise to give up early.
And as for Dorothea’s party?
[The ‘Tin Knight’ is outraged, screaming that this is absurd!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ protests, asking why this world skips the boss fight so often!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ insists it’s not too late to just storm Algind’s place, fight her, and, as a bonus, plunder the kingdom’s secret treasure!]
“That can't be the ‘bonus,’ you lunatic.”
The Tin Knight wailed.
He chattered on and on about wanting to fight, so much so that Dorothea had to break a sweat trying to stop him.
Of course, Dorothea wasn't in a pleasant mood either.
“Isn’t she totally making fun of us?”
The spectators, who didn't know the full story, thought it was understandable for Algind to forfeit after seeing the Tin Knight’s power, but Dorothea saw it differently.
While his power might have been intimidating, it couldn't possibly be enough to make her give up without even trying to fight.
“But if they’re the ones backing down, isn’t it also true that we have no reason to fight?”
“Hmm.”
Dorothea couldn't immediately answer Sophia’s words.
Logically speaking, she was right.
They had already decided to retrieve Algind’s sacred treasure later, and they had also obtained their main objective for entering the Thracus tournament, the Belt of Amaryllis.
Since they couldn't just steal the treasure even if they beat Algind here, it was better to save their energy and start preparing for their expedition to the Witch of the West.
Logically, that was true, but…
“Then why in the world did I stay up for days and nights making this?!”
Thump, thump. Dorothea shrieked, striking the ground with the staff in her hand.
Making the staff had been part of the plan, but the reason she had rushed to finish it under such pressure was none other than to face Algind.
She had been waiting for the day she could show off the staff’s new functions in front of Algind and prove how much she’d grown, but her opponent had run off without even fighting?
To put Dorothea’s feelings simply, she was like a graduate student who, after pulling all-nighters fueled by coffee and energy drinks to meet a tight deadline and producing a masterpiece that would make their professor's eyes go wide, receives an official notice the day before it's due saying, “You don't have to submit the assignment; we'll count it as submitted anyway.”
Leaving aside whether the situation was advantageous or not, she couldn't help but feel a sense of injustice, wondering what all her suffering had been for.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ requests that they at least hold an event match between the winners!]
“But Sir Tin, there aren’t really any winners for us to fight… are there?”
Kalidah was dead, Adel was recuperating, and Peter had long since refused the organizers’ offer, saying it would be clownish to participate as a winner in a match he had already lost.
As for Maximilian, the shock of his defeat must have been too great, as he had left Thracus and returned to the imperial capital before the finals even began.
It took quite a long time for the laments of the black-haired witch and the Tin Knight to cease.
*
“—and that’s what happened. Well, Miss Dorothea eventually came to accept it.”
Hearing Sophia say that telling her, “You’ve been saying the same thing as Sir Tin Knight for a while now,” had a spectacular effect, Adelaide could only offer a faint smile.
“So, are we leaving tomorrow?”
“Yes, the carriage we ordered in advance is ready. If we stay here any longer, we’ll just get caught up in the aftermath.”
Snip, snip.
At the eerie sound coming from near the nape of her neck and the occasional cold touch of metal on her skin, Adelaide flinched in spite of herself.
Each time, Sophia gently soothed Adel, helping her relax.
Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Adel asked cautiously.
“Miss Sophia.”
“Yes.”
“What was all of this, in the end?”
The identity of the armor that made Kalidah rampage. The gaze she felt while viewing Kalidah’s past.
Why the crimson monster had been so enraged by ‘something’ of Adel’s, and what the exact origin of the barrier that surrounded the arena was.
There was too much she didn't know, and unsolved mysteries were scattered everywhere.
Sophia’s ability had revealed some things, but it wasn't enough to resolve all her doubts.
Sensing Adel’s subtle anxiety, Sophia spoke in a kind voice.
“Seeking to understand what you don’t know is a good thing. Curiosity is one of the most important qualities a person can have.”
“But,” Sophia added.
“Everything requires steps. Without a foundation, without the basic knowledge, just skipping to the answer makes it difficult to truly understand.”
“Is this incident like that, too?”
“In my judgment, yes. For now, we should hold on to what we’ve learned, keep it in our hearts, and bring it out again when the time is right. Besides, it feels like it will find us on its own, whether we like it or not.”
Adel seemed lost in thought for a moment.
After some time…
“There, all done.”
At Sophia’s words, Adel brought her gaze, which had been staring blankly into space, back to the mirror.
In it, she saw herself with neatly trimmed short hair instead of the familiar long locks.
Kalidah’s attack had cut her hair asymmetrically, and this was the result of trimming the other side to restore the balance.
Seeing Adel’s conflicted expression, Sophia asked.
“You don’t like it?”
“Oh, no! It’s just… I’m not used to it yet.”
Adel checked her reflection in the mirror again and again, then finally shook her head.
In a situation where she could have lost her head, losing only her hair was, in fact, a great stroke of luck.
Still. She couldn't help the bitter feeling that lingered in a corner of her heart.
She had experienced defeat many times before, but this loss had left a particularly visible mark.
—Kalidah.
Adel had not yet forgotten the powerlessness and terror she felt in that final moment.
No, she had a feeling she wouldn't forget it easily for a long time to come.
Worse, the person responsible was already dead, so it might remain a trauma she could never repay for the rest of her life.
But.
She’s alive. Somewhere, still.
It wasn't logic but intuition that made Adel realize this.
And she also knew that the day they met again would be the day she avenged this defeat, symbolized by her hair.
The little lion resolved that she would not lose next time.
The belt fastened to her waist quietly began to burn.