Chapter 53
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: First Coin and Timely Rescue
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Just as those tentacles were about to coil around Charlotte's body, the center of the massive sphere gaped open, revealing rows of translucent, jagged teeth that sprouted up in an instant.
"Eek!"
'Cancel that thought about it being pretty. Monsters are monsters, after all.'
She quickly erased any lingering thrill of encountering the unknown from her mind and steeled herself.
If she let her guard down like this, she wouldn't just fail to win the tournament—she'd end up humiliated in the preliminaries.
Charlotte wrapped qi around her feet in a flash and kicked off the ground using only the power of her legs. Soaring high enough to look down on the slime, which towered far above her height, she gripped her sword with both hands and swung it downward.
A crimson sword aura, far longer than the blade itself, shot out in the shape of a crescent moon.
A thick plum blossom fragrance enveloped her.
Kieeeek-!
A bizarre scream that vibrated the air erupted from the spherical body. From the point where Charlotte's sword aura struck, the outer shell cracked open with a sharp splitch, and the two hemispherical halves tumbled across the ground.
Before long, the bisected slime corpse shriveled up like a fruit husk drying out at rapid speed, spewing out masses of mucus onto the floor before melting entirely into water.
Clink!
Charlotte calmly picked up the silver coin that had fallen from the air.
The first person in Group 3 to acquire a coin was Charlotte Setia.
It was a fact no one in the tournament venue had anticipated.
The spectator stands, which had erupted in cheers and applause each time the promising youths from various houses displayed their martial prowess against the slimes in Groups 1 and 2, now fell into utter silence.
Even for an unprecedented event, there were limits.
Those who had been betting on whether Charlotte Setia would pass the preliminaries had figured that even submitting a coin as the very last participant would be a monumental upset.
Yet here she was—first.
And faster than the other seasoned kids around her age who had already competed.
A strange silence hung over the front row of the spectator stands, reserved exclusively for the imperial family and high nobles.
For a fleeting moment, Empress Selen shot a glare at Camilla, but the duchess—who would normally react sharply to such a look—stared blankly at the arena, uncharacteristically lost in thought.
Those who passed the preliminaries simply needed to submit their coins to one of the supervisors stationed around the arena.
Charlotte flicked the coin in her hand as she crossed the tournament grounds.
The slimes leisurely passed right by her side, utterly focused on scouting and attacking the other children.
Find it so fascinating, Charlotte paused for a moment and glanced back.
'That's intriguing.'
She wasn't sure if each slime was already paired with a target or if they were programmed not to attack those holding coins... but either way, it seemed magical engineering was a far more impressive field than she'd imagined.
Her curiosity was piqued.
She'd always had some interest in things like magical engineering and magic, but she'd never delved deeply into them.
'Maybe I should learn a bit about that side of things.'
It was just as Charlotte entertained such leisurely thoughts.
"H-how?!"
"Kate!"
"Forfeit quickly! Forfeit!"
Sharp screams from familiar children's voices reached her ears.
Charlotte, who had already turned around, instantly spotted the girl hoisted high into the sky by a tentacle wrapped around her leg.
Blue hair braided neatly, an eagle-emblazoned handkerchief tied around her neck.
'Kate Tantinus.'
Charlotte knew her well.
The girl had lost her shield but still gripped her spear in her right hand, which was free. And as far as Charlotte knew, Kate could wield aura.
That must be why the knights stationed around the venue to handle emergencies were merely watching her without intervening.
But deep terror dwelled in Kate's eyes. Even from this distance, Charlotte could tell the girl couldn't swing that spear—no matter what.
She probably couldn't even utter the word "forfeit."
It was instinctual.
And in that instant, realization dawned.
'...The Tantinus Marquis House appears several times in the story, but there's only a mention of a girl in the family with a prosthetic leg.'
She'd never given it much thought before, but now that it hit her, a chill ran down her spine.
The fact that this was the girl who had joined in tormenting her didn't even cross her mind right now.
Without a second thought, Charlotte unleashed her Shadow Phantom Step at maximum speed.
Few could track her body as it blurred into afterimages, accelerating from a standstill.
The moment she arrived in front of the slime coiling around Kate, Charlotte poured qi into her feet on top of her momentum and kicked the slime squarely.
Kieee- Kieeek!
The slime, poised to swallow Kate's small body whole, burst open like a popped balloon from the impact point, a massive hole tearing through it.
Splat. Splatter.
Mucus rained down from the air, and Kate, losing her support, plummeted toward the ground.
"Kyaaah!"
Freed from the tentacle at last, Kate belatedly screamed as if regaining her senses.
With no choice, Charlotte reached out and caught the girl just before she hit the ground.
Thud.
"Kyaaah... Huh?"
Enveloped in a warm, small embrace, Kate cautiously opened her tightly shut eyes.
Once the fear struck, that was it.
She'd known theoretically that she had the skill to handle a monster like this up close... but her body had frozen solid, rendering her helpless.
'I really thought I was done for... Who saved me like this?'
The face she saw holding her was Charlotte's.
Beanpole. Invisible girl. The one no one would notice if she vanished. Loser.
The very child she and the others had shunned, mocked, and bullied.
She never imagined Charlotte—of all people—would rescue her.
For one, no one close enough to reach her had been nearby. Even the knights had only approached a few steps while watching, keeping a fair distance.
And she'd had no idea Charlotte possessed such prowess.
"...Huh? Wha... How in the world...?"
Kate stammered, looking up at Charlotte.
As Lancelot had said, she'd always seen Charlotte as laughable. Sure, recent events—especially the spar with Lancelot—had made her wonder if there was more to her than meets the eye...
But shaking off a deeply ingrained image wasn't easy.
She'd unwittingly looked down on Charlotte without realizing it.
Now, gazing up at her—pink hair casting stylish shadows under the sunlight pouring down from above—Charlotte looked so cool that Kate's heart raced.
She'd honestly thought "Charlotte's nothing special" before, but being saved by her now didn't feel embarrassing.
If anything, she realized that if she'd been in Charlotte's position, she wouldn't have saved her...
"You're okay now. Get down."
At the casual words, Kate's face flushed bright red.
"Tha... "
"What?"
"Tha... Tha... Thank you! Thank you! I thought I was dead. No, I really would've died. And I'm sorry!"
"...Is this the time for that? Get up."
"Yeah. But really, thank you... I've been awful to you."
Charlotte looked at Kate in mild bewilderment as the girl pressed on with her apologies.
But considering that every conversation in the arena could be relayed to the spectator stands, the impulsive apology without context didn't feel all that resentful.
It was just pure sincerity.
Kids could be led to good or evil. That was the scariest part, but sometimes they changed for the better so easily.
Seeing Kate's cute face gazing up at her with tears welling, Charlotte shook her head and let go.
"Kyaa... Ah?"
Since Charlotte and Kate were nearly the same height despite the embrace, she didn't fall far.
Startled halfway, Kate planted her feet firmly on the ground.
Charlotte lightly patted her back.
"Save the apologies for the finals."
Kate's eyes widened round.
The finals.
Right—the finals.
Watching Charlotte, who was about the same size as her, dispatch a slime so effortlessly right before her eyes, Kate felt like she could do it too.
Of course, she'd just realized the massive gap in their skills.
"Yeah. I definitely will."
Kate nodded and scanned the ground for her spear, discarded somewhere nearby.