Chapter 95 :

Episode 95 — Bug

Once again, tournament day dawned without fail.

This meant that Lia, who had been avoiding me ever since last night, had no choice but to stay in the same space as me.

Thanks to that, an awkward silence lingered between Lia and me as we sat apart inside the large tent where the participants waited.

The only thing filling the space between us was the noisy chatter of the other participants and the audience.

Jing, who had at least softened the awkward air over the past few days, had left his seat to check the bracket.

As for Ratel, he was practically no different from someone who was not there, since he did not even have the concept that awkward air needed ventilation.

Well, we could not go on like this forever.

My eyes landed on the gloves Lia was fiddling with as she stared straight ahead to an unnatural degree.

“Those are new.”

When I suddenly spoke to her, Lia flinched in surprise and finally turned her head to meet my eyes.

“…Yes. Edan gave them to me. He said the ones I used before were torn.”

So she must have received them that day when she said she had gone to talk with Edan.

Seeing her hold them so preciously, I was reminded once again of just how much she cherished Edan in the novel.

The gap between the Lia in the original work and the current Lia was probably proportional to how desperately she wanted to meet Edan.

I swallowed a sigh inwardly and opened my mouth.

“I am sorry about last time.”

At my sudden apology, Lia hurriedly shook her head.

“…No, I am more sorry. You only said it because you were worried.”

She continued while fiddling with the gloves on her hands.

“But Edan really is a good brother. So Ran, you do not need to worry. Once the tournament ends and you talk with Edan, you will understand too.”

I would probably never come to like Edan in my entire life, but I did not bother saying that out loud.

Even in the original work, Lia was someone who found the courage to go on an adventure because of Edan alone.

There was no need to scratch at something and make trouble right now.

Besides, I was also aware that I had interfered in a way unlike myself this time.

Booooo—

Fortunately, before the awkward air could linger between Lia and me again, the whistle sounded, announcing that there were thirty minutes left before the match began.

It was about time to start getting ready.

I put my hand into my pocket to take out my gloves.

But the thing that should obviously have been there was not caught in my hand.

“What?”

When I muttered without realizing it, Lia approached me with a worried expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“My gloves are missing. They were there until this morning.”

“What?!”

Lia, who was even more startled than me, the person who had actually lost the gloves, hurriedly looked around.

“There should be someone nearby selling gloves. The temple also lends gloves out. There is still time before the match, so hurry and go, Ran.”

At Lia’s urging, I got up from my seat and obediently moved outside the tent.

Even without checking the bracket, there was no doubt that my opponent today would be Edan.

I did not want to face him barehanded either.

However, even as I moved, the strange sense of déjà vu did not disappear.

Because it felt somewhat suspicious to simply say that the gloves had fallen out of my pocket.

As the match start time drew closer, I pushed my way through the people gathering toward the audience seats and the waiting room, and finally, a small temporary tent set up in one corner came into view.

Located a little away from the audience seats, it was a space made to handle the miscellaneous matters Lia had mentioned before.

Since the time left until the match started was tight, I quickened my steps.

And it was the moment I reached my hand toward the entrance.

“Mmph!”

A rough hand grabbed my mouth and neck and pulled me in.

I twisted my body reflexively, but there was not just one opponent.

As I was helplessly dragged away, one realization flashed through my mind.

It seemed Edan had no intention of granting Lia’s request.

* * *

After Ran disappeared and she was left alone with Ratel, Lia could not take her eyes off the entrance of the tent with a worried expression.

“Are you that worried?”

Ratel, who had been quietly watching Lia, suddenly threw out a question.

After being briefly surprised that Ratel had spoken first, Lia calmly nodded.

“Of course. If he does not return in time, he will be disqualified. He worked hard all this time.”

For a moment, Ratel wondered if that man had ever made an effort worthy of being described as “hard”, but since nitpicking over that seemed meaningless, he did not bother pointing it out.

Perhaps being disqualified like this would be better for that man.

However, Lia’s thoughts seemed completely different, because she got up from her seat.

“This won’t do. I’ll go check whether Ran found the right place properly.”

“It would be better if he was simply disqualified.”

Lia, who had been about to rush out of the tent at any moment, stopped dead.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean exactly what I said. For that man, being disqualified like this would be better than facing Edan today.”

At Ratel’s explanation, Lia’s face softened a little.

“So Ratel is worried about Ran too.”

“Do not jump to conclusions. If I were worried about that man, I would have stopped him from entering this match in the first place.”

Even at his sharp reply, Lia still thought that Ratel was worried about Ran.

“Do not worry too much. I already told Edan not to torment Ran too much. My brother does not enjoy bullying weak people.”

“It is useless. Your brother has no intention of leaving that man alone anyway.”

Ratel spoke decisively as he listened to Lia’s assessment of Edan.

“Edan is not such a cruel person. He does not originally like hitting people either.”

Lia emphasized it again to clear up the misunderstanding about Edan, but what came back was a sneer.

“It seems you do not know much about family.”

This time, Lia flared up at Ratel’s sneer.

“Edan is my family. I know him better than you do.”

Ratel’s golden eyes stared at Lia as if piercing through her.

“Do you really think Edan said those words because he was angry at that man?”

At Ratel’s question, Lia frowned as if she could not understand.

“What on earth are you talking about? If not that, then why…”

“To shock you.”

Ratel’s firm voice cut off Lia’s words.

“What does that…”

“To show you, right in front of your eyes, the person you chose suffering a miserable injury.”

As if saying this morning had been terrible, Ratel gave a simple answer.

“Do not say something that makes no sense. What does Edan gain from doing something like that?”

Unlike Lia, whose voice trembled with agitation, Ratel merely looked at her with calm eyes, without any change in emotion.

“Who knows? He may simply want to display his strength…”

Ratel dragged out the end of his words, then turned the gaze he had fixed on Lia toward the entrance of the tent.

Following his gaze, Lia met eyes with Edan, who was returning after checking the bracket.

“Or make it so that you never again dare to enter a match.”

Ratel’s low voice rang in her ears.

Even though she thought it was nonsense, the reason she could not immediately deny it was because Edan’s two eyes, which she met, felt unfamiliar today.

His dark brown eyes, tinged with some kind of impatience, could not seem to leave her.

No, to be precise, he was not looking at Lia.

He was looking at Lia’s hands.

At the two hands wearing the gloves Edan had given her.

As if entranced, Lia tried to take off the gloves.

The cloth parts added to protect the knuckles stood out.

Since all the other participants also added equipment to their gloves to protect their knuckles, there was nothing strange about it.

That should definitely have been the case, but before she knew it, Lia moved her hand and applied force to the part where the guard had been attached.

Rrip.

Even though she had not applied much strength, the guard tore off weakly.

And from the space between the guard and the glove, something fell to the floor along with Lia’s heart.

Clang.

What fell with a heavy sound was a piece of metal.

Though its end was blunt, it was definitely a blade.

A prohibited item that left no room for excuses.

Lia’s face turned white.

As if the nightmare from three years ago had returned, Lia’s body trembled.

Suddenly coming back to her senses, she looked at us.

“I-It really wasn’t me! Just in case, I did not put anything like a blade in this time. I checked everything….but…”

As she muttered blankly, she slowly turned her head.

The head that turned with a creak was directed toward the place where the members of Group 12 and Edan were gathered.

Among the participants, there was someone with brown hair whose head rose a little higher than the rest.

Feeling Lia’s gaze, Edan’s head also slowly turned toward Lia.

For a moment, that instant felt like eternity.

Lia watched blankly as Edan’s mouth opened.

“Lia!”

Until his flustered voice called her.

There was no one inside the tent who did not know Lia’s name.

The gazes that had briefly gathered on Edan soon turned toward Lia.

The time it took for that sequence of events to happen may have felt like eternity to Lia, but in reality, it probably had not been long.

At most, it was only a few seconds.

The one who prevented the past from repeating itself was someone who was not bound by any of it.

Ratel’s hand moved faster than Edan and faster than the people’s gazes.

His palm hid the blade and covered the floor.

For an instant, only a very brief instant, Lia thought that a light had flashed.

The light that faded in an instant did not even leave behind an afterimage.

But it was enough for her to come back to her senses.

“What? What happened?”

The participants who sensed something strange surrounded Lia and Ratel.

“Hey, what are you hiding?”

“Make that guy move his hand! He’s hiding something!”

“Did she hide a weapon again this time?”

Lia struggled to stay conscious and not fall into the illusion that she had returned to three years ago.

Because Ratel could not be suspected because of her.

“N-No. This is…”

“There was a bug.”

The one who stopped her urgent attempt at an excuse was none other than Ratel.

“A bug? Then why did Edan call Lia?”

“Who knows? Maybe he had something to say to his younger sister one last time.”

Ratel answered calmly, rising to his feet and removing the palm that had been pressed against the floor.

Unlike Lia’s worry, which nearly made her scream from shock, there was nothing underneath it.

No, it was not that there was nothing.

To be precise, black powder remained.

But there was no time for anyone to look closely and check it.

Because a wind that blew in from somewhere scattered it away.

The somewhat unnatural flow of air quickly dispersed, and no one noticed it.

Lia blankly followed it with her eyes as it floated through the air and disappeared.

“What is going on here?”

Lia turned her gaze toward the owner of the stiff voice.

It was Jing, whose face looked somehow angry.

“Was there not a bug?”

Ran, who entered behind him, answered.

His eyes slowly turned toward Edan.

“It seems Ratel missed a large bug.”

A sneer slowly spread across his face.

Booooo—

At the signal announcing the start of the match, the waiting participants, unable to find any evidence they could immediately question, dispersed.

Amid them, I did not miss Edan anxiously observing Lia.

It was the moment suspicion turned into certainty.

It was also the moment the true culprit of the incident three years ago was revealed.

But there was nothing I could do right now.

Because I could not blame Edan without evidence.

I tore my gaze away from Edan and looked at Lia.

Lia still did not seem to have fully recovered from the shock.

“Lia, nothing changes. There is only one thing we have to do.”

“…Yes, I know.”

Lia answered.

Good. At least she had not lost her mind. But I soon realized that was my mistake.

“There is only one thing we can do. Win.”

Her voice was boiling with rage. Rather than coming back to her senses, it seemed she had snapped.