MaruMA:Volume07:Chapter 11

Chapter 11

There was a strange party of people heading towards Shimaron.

“I’d say we look more suspicious than strange.”

“Mm…. I never thought that I, who’ve been given nicknames such as ‘Hero of the Sea’, ‘Brave Leader of Naval Battles’, and even 'The Incredible Sea Monster' would have to perform the deeds of a petty thief on solid ground in a foreign country. Boohoo.“

“What are you talking about, Captain Sizemore? This isn’t petty thievery, this is infiltration. This is a legitimate and important assignment! In the past, I’ve even been the subject of The Red Devil’s experiments! Even demons will usually end up fine when they hit rock bottom.”

The silver-haired woman at the front of the group turned around to face Dacascos and Sizemore.

“Shh! It’s the patrol. Are you ready? Follow my lead.”

She passes by the angry-looking soldiers on patrol.

“Welcome! We're drink vendors! We’re delivering cold drinks to the audience in the VIP room…!”

They were walking through the shrine in Big Shimaron's royal capital of Lambert while carrying a box covered by a light green cloth. The last event of 'Use your knowledge, speed and skill to win! The World’s Best Fighter Tournament!' was being held in the giant arena next to it - in other words, the finals. They could hear the enthusiastic cheers of the audience even though they were inside the solid stone building.

“… This is great, they didn’t suspect us at all. It’s probably because the size of this box is almost the same as a cooler.”

The box was about as large as a small coffin and two men would be perfectly capable of carrying it. To avoid getting busted if it was checked, there really were wine bottles inside it. They ranged from high-quality wines to those common wines for ordinary citizens. This was really a plan that paid no heed to expenses.

“But in any case, myself or Dacascos is one thing, but even Lady Flynn is disguised as a beverage seller. I’m deeply sorry that the leader of Caloria has to take part in a plan like this.”

“It’s alright, I'm the one that insisted on coming along even though I was told to stay on the ship. Anyway I’m not some princess from a noble family. I'm just some wild sheep girl from The Steppe Brotherhood so I'm much more used to walking around in clothes like these rather than fancy dresses that I might trip over.”

They had succeeded in sneaking into the shrine so easily because Flynn Gilbit was the young mistress of the soldier training organization, The Steppe Brotherhood. Most of the soldiers stationed around the continent were trained by them. Even the soldier guarding this building was the same – a middle-aged soldier raised amongst the afros.

He had let them pass without question after seeing Flynn disguised as a beverage seller. He might have remembered the taste of his tears from eating mudball soup.

“However His Highness gives us difficult orders as well. Telling us to steal that box and substitute it with this counterfeit... so this was what Josak had been working on while we were on the boat.”

After placing the box on the polished floor, Sizemore stretched himself lazily. Dacascos removed the cloth he had wound around his head and wiped away the sweat on his forehead.

“You’re right! But His Highness predicted that His Majesty wouldn’t win. That might be the safer choice, but I still bought a bet on Caloria. If I win, I'll get an incredible prize and since Josak is in the group it's not impossible.”

“Hm, Gurrier is one of the few that returned from Arnold and he’s among the best even in the Luttenberg Division.”

“Right? It's like Josak might plow through all three of the opposition and His Majesty and His Excellency won't need to be bothered, right?”

Flynn was the only one troubled after the succession of titles and place names. She wanted to know, but she didn't. She wanted to confirm her suspicions, but she also wanted to keep them vague. In the end she couldn't hold back and interrupted the conversation between the two men.

“Wait. If you keep going, Yuu-... um, Captain Crusoe and Robinson's backgrounds will all be overheard by me. Are those two alright with that?”

What she got was an astonished look from the both of them that said 'you still don't know!?' She had vague suspicions. However, as long as they hadn't told her directly, she had felt that she should pretend not to know anything out of common courtesy. And anyway…. A lock of hair worked free from its knot and she toyed with it with her index finger.

These people still aren’t aware of the terrible things I did in the past. They don’t know that Flynn Gilbit is a selfish and cold woman.

“You can’t talk about your homeland and about important people in front of a woman like me. Who knows what might happen. I might sell your secrets.”

She would do anything to regain Caloria. As long as she could get back the ocean, the harbor, the land, the people, and the small world that she and her husband had loved so much, she would betray even god. She had been doing that all along. She couldn’t go back to being a good person. Even if that was what she wanted.

Even if she had so much regret she wanted to die.

“Why are you playing the evil lady, Miss Flynn? Captain Sizemore is different, but I'm just a menial soldier. No important information that would be dangerous if overheard ever reaches my ears.”

“A menial soldier?”

“Ah, well there isn't an actual rank called that, but I'm a low-ranked soldier who only does menial tasks so...”

“But you're still that close to Captain Crusoe?”

Dacascos was rubbing his head, unconsciously adhering to an old habit of his. Of course, there was no hair there at all. He was just rubbing his bald and shiny scalp.

“Ah, His Majesty is- oh, is he calling himself Captain Crusoe now? The Captain is actually very special. He doesn’t care whether you're an officer or a low-ranking soldier. He… he can talk plainly with anyone and gets along with everyone easily. He doesn’t care about status or ranking. He sees everyone as equal. He's a strange person, a really strange person.”

Sizemore was nodding with all his might, not minding that this would draw notice to his nearly bald head.

“There are people like him even amongst those with high social status, huh? I thought all the nobles and royalty were domineering, but His Majesty really is something else. He really is special.”

“Really?”

“Since His Maj-... oh yeah, the Captain. Since the Captain is treating you so nicely, there's no way that you're a bad person, Miss Flynn.”

Dacascos had smiled shyly. There was a blush spreading all the way across the area around his receding hairline. Sizemore was gazing at his bald and shiny head and sighed in envy.

“That hairstyle seems to be very convenient.”

“This? This really is very light and convenient! Does the Captain want to give it a try? You don’t have to worry about the volume of your hair left and it looks unexpectedly manly! Also, you can rinse your head while you’re washing your face so it’s both convenient and economical. The best part is that the only thing bad my wife ever yells at me now is ‘you baldy!’”

Affected by Dacascos’ laughter, Flynn’s expression lightened up.

“Saying that I’m not someone bad…”

She never thought that her retribution would be like this. She should have been hated, mocked, and looked down upon. Knowing that that would happen, she had tried to sell a demon noble to an enemy country.

“… You said something really painful.”

“What's wrong, Lady Flynn?”

The muscular man of the sea Sizemore had bent down to look at her. Flynn Gilbit shut her eyes tightly for a short while, then raised her head.

“No, it’s fine. It’s really nothing. Let's hurry up and find that room and switch the real thing out with this. If we succeed in getting ‘The End of the Wind’ the Captain will definitely be surprised. Let's have fun imagining what sort of face he'll make, shall we?”

She had purposely lightened her tone to spur herself on. The two men lifted the box and crossed the stone floor. If the box was really hidden in some part of the shrine, then that part would be the one most heavily guarded. Even if the three of them could find that room, it was still uncertain whether they could successfully enter. However, no one dared to voice this out loud.

After ascending their third flight of stairs, they entered a space which was rather different from the ones before. The polished stone floors were now covered with an earth-yellow carpet. It felt so comfortable when their feet sank into it, giving them the urge to rest their tired feet then and there. Two out of the five luxurious looking doors leading out were open and one of the walls of the room was made entirely of glass. The arena was clearly visible.

“This is great!”

“It seems that we really are in the VIP room. This proves that the credibility of beverage sellers surpasses that of others.”

Flynn approached the window and touched the glass window with her trembling fingers. She was afraid to look down.

What if a tragedy she couldn’t accept happened?

“Ah, Captain, Miss Flynn! It’s His Excellency! His Excellency! I think the first round just ended. Oh no, he can’t stand up! He might have injured his leg. It's times like these that the Sergeant would come in handy.”

“I don’t see the Captain.”

“I can see him in that dugout. That’s probably the waiting area for the competitors, huh?”

“That’s g-”

“I never expected that vermin would enter a place like this!”

She hadn’t even finished expressing her relief before she heard a familiar voice coming from behind.

Sizemore, the Hero of the Sea, had reacted before the other two at the window.

He rushed at the enemy by covering the shortest distance possible and thrust the tip of his sword against the enemy’s chest.

However, his opponent was even faster. He stood unmoving at the entrance while a ripple of silver could be seen cutting through the air. The shiny wire extending from his fingertips had firmly trapped his target far away.

“Ugh…”

Flynn was struggling to breathe, her fingers clutching at her pale throat. She was trying with all her might to dig out the wire, but she couldn't grab it because it had sunk deep into her skin. Finally turning around, Dacascos tries to help Flynn as she was about to collapse onto the floor.

“Don't move! If anyone moves, her head comes off!”

Standing with his blade at waist level, Sizemore makes no careless movements.

“Sheathe your sword and then place it at your feet. If you don’t, this woman will suffer. You don’t want to see that do you? A woman dying pitifully. Pitifully and dirtily.”

“… Ma… xine… why are you… here…?”

Flynn had spat out the name of this cold-blooded man with much difficulty. Nigel Wise Maxine approached the center of the room carefully, gradually reducing the distance between himself and Flynn.

“Why? I should ask you that question. I was wondering why I saw familiar silver hair and then it turned out to be the famous Lady of Caloria. Although her own people are struggling to survive in that completely destroyed land, the wife of the feudal lord came here to sell beverages for small change and she even snuck in here to watch a tournament. I think the people of your land would be really disappointed by your actions.”

Flynn’s mouth was opened wide as she tried to get oxygen into her lungs. Maxine pulled a bit harder at the wire and a red mark appeared on her neck. The man raised her chin with his thumb and pushed at her back from behind, causing her to fall down backwards.

“Why… do you... look... like that...?”

Although it was forced out, there was still a hint of mockery in it. Even though her life was in the hands of her opponent, Flynn stayed firm.

Maxine looked exhausted, the complete opposite of what he usually looked like. His hair had come loose from his ponytail typical of the Small Shimaron army and was stuck to his thin face that was covered with injuries. His ragged army uniform was spattered with blood. His fearsome impression had lessened because of his agitation and exhaustion. Even his voice had lost its intimidation and it sounded more like the hoarse voice of an old man.

“You're asking me why? Don’t pretend! Lady- no, Flynn Gilbit, this is all thanks to your partner, that detestable demon! He looks just like some ordinary brat from somewhere, but he completely fooled me!”

“Hey! Be careful of what you say. Neither the stars, the moon, the sun, nor I will forgive contemptuous words against His Majesty! I have no qualms against killing someone like you. Although normally I am a gentle and strong man!”

“Captain, when you say that about yourself it loses meaning…”

Maxine had twisted Flynn’s arm with his left hand and pressed her face against the glass window. Maybe because his fury had surpassed the limit, there was no trace of his usually calm attitude.

“How in the world did you get your hands on a demon like that!? Tell me! Did you lure him in with that beauty you're so proud of?! That bastard! He instigated those divines I managed to get a hold of and then they even made off with my carriage. Damn, just thinking about it makes me angry!”

“…Let go…”

“And then after finally arriving at the arena I see puny little Caloria competing against Big Shimaron!? Don’t make me laugh! You’re just a tiny country in the south with a rotten harbor! Like I'm just going to let you win? Hey, baldy!”

“What, beardy!”

Nigel Weiss Maxine gestured towards the cloth-covered box with his head.

• .*.*.*.*

There had been an unexpected development in the arena.

Of course I hadn’t doubted Lord von Bielefelt’s abilities. I mean, he had very easily dodged the double blades and had had his sword tip pointed against the opponent’s throat within five minutes. My legs hadn't given out and I hadn't fallen down onto the bench. Definitely not. Right, definitely not. I was just a little, no, a tiny bit shocked though. All the sweat from my tightly clenched fists had dried out though.

The dedicated cheerleading group for Shimaron (in other words, the entire audience) had been furious at the overly short match. Paper cups, waste paper, junk food wrappings, even the cushioning for the seats, all the rubbish they could lay their hands on were thrown onto the snowy ground. In other words, it had been Big Shimaron and not us who had let the people down.

“That's really bad manners.”

It seems that cheering for the underdog is unheard of in Shimaron.

Lord von Bielefelt, who had obtained a complete victory despite the disadvantage of having a smaller physique, was carrying his unsheathed sword, breathing heavily, and returning in high spirits back to the dug-

“Whoa, Wolf!”

He had fallen in a flashy and conspicuous way on the way back. Walking on the packed-down, hardened snow had caused him to slip and fall, banging his waist and right leg hard.

“How come you fell?! Are you alright?”

Josak and I hurriedly ran out and lifted Wolfram up from both sides. Sadly, it seems like he couldn't walk on his own. He was just gazing blankly into the sky.

“… This… this is so embarrassing…”

“Relax, don’t worry, don’t worry! We’ll pretend that we didn’t see that last scene. Right now all the girls are totally in love with you.”

“Being loved by human females is nothing to be happy about!”

“Don’t worry, Your Excellency. Women are prohibited from entering the arena so the ones falling in love are manly men.”

“There he goes again, dealing the killing blow.”

The loud cheers from the audience were surprisingly dark. They're not the type I would want as my fans. Even while sitting, the pretty boy's face was scrunched in pain and he was continually rubbing his waist. It looked like every movement hurt.

“Should I try out my so-called healing powers?”

“Not before the match. Don’t waste your energy. Who knows what sudden situation could be waiting for us.”

I got yelled at. But maybe because I was feeling relieved because we scored first, it didn’t feel too bad.

However, the progression of unexpected events continued.

Ken Murata, who was looking at the opponents’ resting area with his hands needlessly positioned like binoculars around his eyes, suddenly let out a crazy yell.

“Aryaaan?”

“What is it, Murata? Making a weird noise like that.”

“... It seems like the representative for the second match is a man we know.”

“A man we know? Maxine? That’s ridiculous? He's disqualified isn't he? No, wait! He might have a twin brother.”

Our opponent’s second representative was supporting himself using a ‘modern salmon weapon’ that I hadn't seen in a while like a cane. His high-quality army boots stepped firmly on the white snow.

He had a head of golden hair that was illuminated by the firelight, a pronounced and splendid aquiline nose despite being slightly hooked to the left, an attractive white man's chin that would be split even in an x-ray, and shoulders and chest that were a world-class width. Mr. Denver Broncos. Just when I was distracted, he called out to me.

“Hi! What's wrong, Your Wimpy Majesty? Why do you look like a sheep that’s eaten raw meat?”

What a polite greeting.

“Why is American Football Macho here?! And also, what does a sheep eating raw meat look like?”

Wolfram, who was sitting down, craned his neck to try and see what was going on, but had to give up because of his injured waist. Adalbert von Grantz was standing in the middle of the arena in a daunting pose. His sword, which resembled a fresh salmon, was embedded into the snowy ground and he was leaning with his right elbow on the handle. When I had first arrived in this world, he had toyed around with my soul and extracted the memories of the past languages I had known. He never attempted to conceal his anti-demon beliefs and is a man who calmly betrayed his comrades.

After finally verifying the enemy's identity, Wolfram called out in a voice filled with shock and anger.

“Adalbert! Why is he in Big Shimaron!?”

Suddenly, I heard a dry chuckle. Josak, gripping a long-axe in his hands, was laughing so hard that his orange hair was getting disheveled.

“Nice work, Young General Grantz! To think that a pure blooded demon from a well-known, ancient and honorable family ended up in the Big Shimaron army!”

“Why? Why did you ally with Shimaron…”

That man hates the demons. I know that. But I didn't think that he trusted humans enough to join up with Shimaron.

Maybe because he had sensed my bafflement, Josak explained to me in a tone still tinged with humor, “I think he found out from someone or other that Your Majesty would be participating in the competition. Mr. Grantz could have overpowered the original representative with one hand and then took his place in the competition. It seems like he wants to do something to Your Majesty if he's willing to go through all that trouble. You ended up being targeted by a dangerous person, you know. That guy's outrageously obsessive.”

“Wh-wh-what do you mean, ou-ou-outrageously?”

Does he want to defeat his sworn enemy in this arena packed with more than fifty thousand spectators? Like when all the starting players in the bottom half of the first inning all make safe hits or when the enemy team gets three homeruns in a row? Ah, I'm remembering things I don't want to.

I don't know how he got over his pain, but Wolf got up from the bench.

“Let me.”

“No, Young Master, I can’t approve of that.” When Josak pressed on Wolfram’s shoulder with one finger, Wolfram frowned and he couldn't move.

“I'll take care of him. You don't come across many opportunities like this.”

He swung his weapon around twice within the cramped dugout. Although his tone sounded merry, there was not a hint of laughter within the depths of his eyes.

“If the Shimaron representative is an elite, pure-blooded demon, then I have to be the demon representative. Let this child of some random human, someone who wandered around the wastelands here until he was twelve, meet him in battle! Because it seems like neither of us have any loyalty, I should take this opportunity to fight with all I've got and take a look at the color of his blood.”

“Wait! Wait, Josak! I don’t doubt you at all!”

“I've known that for a while, but if someone's going to go, it's me. Right, Your Majesty?”

That was the order we had decided on in the beginning. But because this is 'Use your knowledge, speed and skill to win! The World's Best Fighter Tournament’, the rules say that Wolfram would be allowed to fight in the next match since he had won the previous one. However, looking at his waist I can't give him the 'go sign.' His opponent is American Football Macho after all.

“Caloria representative, hurry up!” said two similar-looking referees in the exact same tone. Adalbert was leaning against his heavy duty sword and watching me panic. The third son was sitting silently on the bench with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Maybe because of his soldier's spirit, his face wasn’t revealing any of his pain. Josak was ready to go. He was rolling his shoulders about, unable to control his excitement.

“I’m sorry, Wolf. I know you’re strong, but this time Josak should go.”

“Hmph!”

“Don’t be angry. You can just challenge him again after you recover, right?”

“I don't particularly want to fight him.”

“Huh? I thought you wanted to have some sort of destined battle with him because of something bad he did to you in the past… Then why did you volunteer to go out there? You made me get the wrong idea.”

The whole arena became even noisier all at once and the beginning of the battle between the two large men was announced. Wolfram’s arms remained crossed in front of his chest and he was trying his best to speak in an unemotional tone. Those emerald green eyes that reminded me of the bottom of a lake were trained on his team-mate.

“From a neutral perspective, Gurrier and Adalbert’s abilities are evenly matched. For that reason, I thought it would be wise for me to go out and wear him down first.”

Who had taught him how to 'take one for the team' and when? As he slid his sword back into the scabbard I handed him, the pretty boy who used to be a spoiled prince kept speaking indifferently.

“Even if there's only a slight chance I would win, I would possibly be able to tire him out and irritate him. During that time, if Josak would have been able to calm himself down and fight the enemy with his real strength, we'd have an easy fight... What are you doing, Yuuri? Take your hand off my forehead.”

“Um, well I was just wondering if you had a fever…”

A teenaged boy poked his head in the entrance of the resting area. His reddishbrown hair was cut very short. He obviously was not a Shimaron soldier, but a trainee worker at the arena. Ken Murata, who had remained silent, energetically pushed himself away from the wall. After walking over to the boy and exchanging two or three words, he took the object in his hands.

“That's good team play, Lord von Bielefelt. But, things seem like they're going to get worse.”

He wasn't wearing his glasses and his eyes flashed black from under his contact lenses. He handed the wine bottle he was holding to me. The dark brown bottle had a deep red label attached to it. A short message in large characters had been roughly scrawled in the blank spaces.

“Read it, please. But it's like calligraphy and hard to read, though.”

“Like I told you, I'm bad at reading. What is this? Hm, 'look up…. If you don't, want this wo, woman to die... lose... If you tell anyone, I'll kill this wom...' is this a threat!? But who’s this woman? What is this? They gave it to the wrong person. We need to grab that boy. He couldn't have gotten very far. Hey!” I hurriedly poked my head out of the door and looked around, but Murata pulled on the back of my clothes with a serious expression.

“Shibuya, it might not have been a mistake. Captain Sizemore and Dacascos should have arrived by now. If Flynn had followed them here…”

“Huh? Why would Flynn follow them?! Didn’t I tell her to wait on the ship?”

“But is she the kind of person to quietly wait? The honor of Caloria is at stake.”

In just two seconds, everything Flynn Gilbit has done up to this point runs through my mind. Someone else’s life is flashing before my eyes.

My conclusion: She would come.

“Ah, oh no! Oh no, this is really bad! It said look up. Up where?”

We rushed out of the resting area and looked up into the dark sky that was still snowing. The moon, which had hidden itself behind the clouds, was still visible.

“Over there!”

Murata found her first. It was a prominent building resembling a shrine. The windows above the third floor were extremely large and I could see several elelegant millionaires watching the battle behind the glass. I guess that means that those are the VIP seats. In one of the rooms behind those windows, the person who sent us the wine bottle was camped out.

“Ah, Flynn! Didn’t I tell you to stay on the ship!?”

Sure enough, it seemed that she had snuck her way into the group running parallel to us. I couldn’t be sure because of the distance, but it looked like her neck was being wrung and her head was thrown back. She looks like she's in a lot of pain. Standing behind Flynn, who was pressed against the glass, there was a man with a familiar hairstyle and beard. It was Nigel Wise Villianous Maxine.

“Why is he… in a place like that? This is bad, Murata. He said we had to lose if we didn't want her to die, right?”

“That’s right.”

I looked back at the arena. Our representative was knocking back Adalbert’s curved sword with his axe. The blade tip bounced up from the ground and brushed across his opponent’s chin. The way Josak was swinging his axe around was graceful. He was putting his whole body and spirit into this match. It seemed that he was enjoying the fight.

“So Maxine and American Football Macho are in it together? Now that you mention it, those two were together at Flynn's estate. I thought that was suspicious…so they had some kind of inappropriate relationship?”

Wolfram, who had lost his qualifications as a competitor because of his waist injury, was frowning dubiously.

“Adalbert is a man that betrayed us demons, but I don’t think he would resort to such cowardly means.”

“In any case, we need to stop the match. Hey! Hey, referee!”

“Shibuya! You're not going to complain to the referees that we’re being threatened, are you?”

“Eh? We can't tell anyone either, huh... damn it! Then what do we do!? How can we lose without arousing any suspicion…”

All of us were perfectly clear of Josak Gurrier’s capabilities. With his skills and sensibility, it was possible for him to throw the match while fooling both the referees and audience. We had to convince Josak somehow and get him to do that. However, after how he was acting before he left the dugout, it'll be difficult to ask him to lose.

Wolfram grabbed the back of my neck and gazed directly at me.

“Okay Yuuri, listen to me. This is my opinion. There's no reason to lose the match for that woman. We should let Gurrier fight to his heart's content. What do you think?”

“… That sounds like you.”

“It does. And this is also my opinion. Because you're a wimp, you won't do what I say.”

I was apologizing to someone in my mind. Even if only for a moment, please forgive my team for succumbing to a malicious threat. It was probably the god of sportsmanship. I wrapped my own arm around Wolfram’s neck as a sort of comeback and, drawing him closer, I apologized to him too.

“I’m sorry for always being a wimp. I really am sorry, especially since you got hurt getting us ahead by a point. I might cause all of your work to end up for nothing.”

“That's right,” Wolfram said in a dramatic tone after sighing loudly. “This is all because you’re a wimp. But although I’m perfectly aware that you are a wimp, do you know why I stay with you?”

“I don’t.”

Lord von Bielefelt undid a button in his collar. His green eyes are even brighter than usual, lit up by the snow.

“Think about that before I abandon you.”

Feeling bad for Josak, I requested a time out from the referees.

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