Chapter 97 :

Episode 97 — Shift

While walking along the road from the temple to the village shopping district, Lia looked back dozens of times.

At this rate, she would reach a hundred.

“Lia, they will not be able to keep holding Ratel without clear evidence. If the evidence and witnesses were certain, the temple would have made this matter much bigger. Just like what happened to Lia three years ago.”

Unable to keep watching, I turned Lia back around and said that.

Then a question appeared on Lia’s face, which had not been able to relax for a while.

“What do you mean? Are you saying that what happened three years ago was not something Edan planned alone?”

“There is a high chance the temple is siding with Edan.”

“Lord Ran…!”

At my answer, Jing quietly called my name.

He probably meant that nothing good would come from speaking badly about the temple.

But by this point, I also needed to confirm something.

Whether Lia would make the same choice as in the original work, or a different one.

“Are you saying that the reason I lived as a sinner for the past three years was because of the temple’s will?”

“Are you afraid?”

At my question, Lia looked up at the distant, tall temple building with a slightly pained expression.

“…I do not know. Whether I am afraid, or whether I am angry. But one thing is certain.”

Veins stood out on the back of her clenched hand.

“I do not want to go back to how I was before anymore.”

* * *

“You stupid bastard! You’re nothing but trash with a working mouth!”

The ink bottle thrown by the priest struck Edan’s head, and Edan lowered his head with a groan.

Blood streamed down, perhaps because the part around his brow bone that had been hit had split open.

But before he could even wipe it away, the priest immediately struck him with his hand.

“I am sorry. Please give me one more chance.”

Edan said calmly with his face ruined.

“I can no longer trust your pathetic plans. Just be faithful to the role you originally had. If you cannot defeat that weak man and Lia, you will not get away safely either.”

The priest glared at Edan, who was staring at the floor without answering.

“There must be no going easy on her just because she is your blood relative, Edan. If you want to keep living in this village.”

Blood flowing down Edan’s cheek, as he nodded, wet the floor.

“What are you going to do? If we give up the victory by the finals tomorrow, we will be forced to send an outsider to Limis Temple. You said you would stop it by any means necessary! Is this the result?”

Several more beatings followed, but Edan kept his mouth shut and endured the man’s violence.

In the end, the one who collapsed first from exhaustion was the priest.

Exhausted on his own, he spat at Edan one last time and stepped back.

* * *

Making Edan an exception to the rules had been a major mistake by the temple.

Because they had removed with their own hands the justification to disqualify our group due to a shortage of members.

On top of that, whether by some coincidence or not, two participants from Group 12 also suddenly suffered injuries, so the temple had no choice but to acknowledge both sides filling their vacancies.

“It really is strange that two people were injured by accident.”

“We were lucky.”

At Jing and Lia’s conversation, I silently nodded.

Yes, we really were lucky.

Not one, but two. How fortunate.

That said, finding villagers who would obediently lend their names to troublesome Group 34 in Ratel’s place was not easy.

Leaving behind the temple’s threat that we could not enter the finals if we did not find a substitute before sunset today, we returned to the village and walked slowly through the hopelessness.

Because, ever since the Lucha tournament began, no one suitable came to mind who would lend a hand to us, who had been dragging incidents and accidents around.

“As expected, buying someone with money would be the fastest, right?”

Jing offered the fastest, simplest, and most efficient solution.

“It would be good if this were something that could be solved with money, but we do not even know yet whether they will try to receive money from people hated by the temple.”

“…You are right. Faith in Abiran is not something that can be shaken with money.”

Perhaps remembering how the Feedus family, which possessed enormous wealth, had also been powerless under the name of god, Jing’s face darkened a little.

“I’m sorry. My reputation is bad…”

Lia, who had no way of knowing that, blamed herself, and Jing shook his head.

“No, this is not your fault. It is simply something that cannot be helped.”

“Still. If only I had at least one person I was close to in the village…”

Lia muttered, still unable to shake off her guilt.

It seemed she regretted the past three years she had spent living only between her house and the temple.

No, other than the temple, there was one other place Lia had gone to and from.

“Hey!”

Yes, the small bookstore run by an eccentric owner with exactly that kind of voice.

But since it was not an option I particularly wanted to consider, Jing and I did not bother stopping.

“Hey, Lia!”

But the other party was persistent.

The man who came rushing out of the bookstore blocked our path.

At his persistence, Lia let out a sigh.

“What is it, sir? I have not even gone into your shop these past few days.”

At her somewhat tired voice, the bookstore owner hurriedly shook his head.

“No, no! You can come to the bookstore as much as you like now.”

Facing his sudden change, Lia did not withdraw her suspicious gaze.

“Why are you suddenly acting like this? You always shouted whenever I even went near the bookstore.”

A slightly awkward look crossed the bookstore owner’s face.

“Yes, I did… That was, well…”

After choosing his words several times, he finally seemed to steel himself and looked straight at Lia’s face.

“I watched the matches from the beginning, Lia. Your skill was excellent. Truly…enough that you would have no need for cheating.”

Having begun with a compliment, he glanced at me once and continued speaking.

“I also heard that the frightening-looking young man was taken to the temple. There must be some misunderstanding this time too. Just like three years ago.”

“Sir…”

The man raised his hand and stopped Lia, who was about to say something.

“What I mean is…”

Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, he finally revealed the real reason he had called us to a stop.

“If you are all right with it, how about using my name? Of course, I cannot fight with you, but if what you need is only a name…”

There was no reason for us to refuse his cautious offer, which contained an apology.

Having resolved the hidden variable faster than expected, we were able to return to the lodging with light steps.

Lia, who had walked like a soulless person until we returned, came back to her senses only after we finished eating.

As she stared blankly out the window, she opened her mouth.

“…Jing, I want to train.”

This time, even Jing did not refuse her request.

* * *

.…!

I sat on an empty dining room chair and watched through the first-floor window as Lia and Jing engaged in a scuffle disguised as training.

Both of them were excitedly sweating.

Good thing I said I would not do it.

“Hey, child. Do you have no intention of doing training like that?”

At some point, El, in the form of a squirrel, had approached and sat on the table as he spoke to me.

“So you decided to talk to me now?”

It had been quite a while since he had spoken to me.

It felt like the first time since we had arrived in the village.

“You are the only one who knows my identity. Did you think I would pretend not to know you forever?”

“Fine, so when are you going to reveal that identity?”

“At the moment I think it is most necessary. To begin with, if I had not mistaken you, things would not have gotten this twisted.”

He said that calmly.

I did not bother saying that even if I had not existed, he would not have met the protagonist anyway.

Now that they had already met, it was useless information.

“More importantly, did I not ask you? Do you not need to do training like that? Are you not worried about tomorrow?”

El asked while pointing with his chin at Lia and Jing, who were still sparring hard.

“Even if I train hard for a day or two, I will not suddenly be able to defeat Edan.”

“Oh? Then will you shout your forfeit immediately?”

“I have to do it with everything I have.”

As if he could not understand my words, El made a puzzled expression.

“Does shouting one forfeit require such great resolve? You shouted it just fine today.”

“Today, I was lucky. Edan will come into the finals full of venom, so the same trick as today will not work. He will do whatever it takes to stop me from shouting my forfeit.”

“Why?”

“Because Edan’s goal will be to break me so badly that I can never get back up again.”

“…What?”

Perhaps it was an answer he had never imagined, because El asked blankly.

Was this guy really someone who had lived for a thousand years?

“That way, even if only because Lia feels sorry for me, she will not be able to leave the village with us. If he cannot fully control his younger sister, he will try to touch Lia’s weakest point.”

Guilt.

It was the largest shackle Edan could use to hold Lia down.

El sprang to his feet.

“No, then why are you so calm? If things go wrong tomorrow, you will end up half-dead!”

He squeaked in agitation.

“I said I will do my best to make sure that does not happen. First of all, Ran’s body has fast legs, so as soon as the match begins, I have to run outside the arena and shout my forfeit.”

“What will you do if you get caught before you can even shout your forfeit?”

“Then I have to create an opportunity to shout my forfeit while getting hurt as little as possible. I am good at things like that.”

El stared at me.

“Will you not tell the others?”

“What?”

“That you might die tomorrow if things go wrong!”

“Die? Do not say unlucky things. And even if I tell them, nothing will change.”

Despite being a squirrel, El’s face showed an expression of being fed up.

“Me aside, you are also….quite something, child.”

“If you want to help me, teach me a way to become stronger overnight. Otherwise, just stay still.”

El quietly looked out the window.

* * *

While a fierce battle was unfolding in distant Lucha, a new wind of upheaval was gradually growing in size within the imperial palace.

Its beginning took place at a family meal that was held despite Rasia’s death.

The Third Prince, who had not even doubted that he would be the next candidate for emperor after Rasia’s death, blankly stared at the white haze touching the end of the table, then repeatedly looked at Dito, who had placed his hand on Prasa.

His once-confident face twisted miserably enough to make one pity him.

“How did this happen? How can your power suddenly become stronger?!”

The last words were almost a desperate struggle.

Dito turned his body and showed him his face.

Dito’s face, with a gentle smile hanging on it, had something about it that made a person shudder.

“Rules are rules. Go back to your seat.”

“You must have pulled some trick! Otherwise, this cannot happen! How could a weak bastard who only stuck beside Brother Rasia and flattered him have such power!”

The enraged Third Prince stretched his hand toward Dito.

The wind he created formed a fierce vortex in order to swallow and tear Dito apart.

But the next moment, a small spark that began from his fingers gradually grew larger and swallowed his arm.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

The smell of burning flesh instantly filled the hall.

“From now on, you should distinguish who is above and below. There is not a single reason for me to endure you.”

The Third Prince struggled to somehow put out the fire on his arm, but Dito’s flame neither went out nor shrank as it burned and burned his arm.

Because of the imperial body, whose regeneration did not stop, he floundered in endless pain.

“Please, please stop! I was wrong, so stop!”

The Third Prince crawled to Dito’s feet and begged him.

Dito, who looked down at him silently, quietly lowered his gaze to the Third Prince’s remaining hand, which was pressed against the floor.

Understanding what that gaze meant, the Third Prince’s body leapt up.

“Please stop! I was wrong!”

“Haha, you look like a frog.”

Dito laughed quietly and lowered his hand.

The fire attached to the Third Prince’s arm slowly faded away.

“Hah, hah, haah…”

Dito lifted his head after taking his gaze away from the Third Prince, who lay sprawled on the floor while drooling.

Everyone was looking at them.

“Why are you all looking at me like that? If you have something to say, say as much as you like. It is not as though we were so difficult with each other.”

No one opened their mouth.

No one met Dito’s eyes either.

As if that sight was amusing, Dito burst into laughter.

In the silence, his laughter grew by riding on everyone’s fear.

Dito turned his eyes to the one who had watched all of this without saying a word.

The emperor and Dito’s eyes met.

Smiling with narrowed eyes, he slowly bowed toward the emperor.

“I apologize for causing a disturbance.”

The emperor looked down at him for a moment, then silently turned his head.

It was unclear whether that was silent forgiveness or his usual indifference, but one thing seemed certain.

The one who had now taken Rasia’s place was none other than Dito.

At a seat far away from the seat of honor, Celos clenched his fists tightly and looked at the empty seat across from him.