Night. In a room inside the lakeside manor, a returned spy was giving his report. "The match venue has been changed."
Obsidian Eyes seventh-formation rear guard Wieze the Variation had a body that had been deformed from birth. He could only walk by crawling around on all fours, but his abilities of surveillance, lurking in gaps and high places, was exceptional.
"The sixth match will be delayed by two days, and it will be held in the old town plaza. The official announcement will likely come tomorrow morning."
"…I see."
Meanwhile, in the case of the young well-to-do woman receiving the report, everything about her outward appearance was put together perfectly. Vivacious and pale skin, together with a slender yet smoothly curvaceous body. She was the girl commanding Obsidian Eyes, named Linaris.
"We should think about how to act from here. Will you assist me while I get my thoughts in order?"
"Of course."
Considering Kaete the Round Table's temperament, she had predicted that there'd be some sort of interference in Enu's survey plans. It wasn't difficult to imagine that the smooth approval of the survey plan had happened with the intent of the leading faction to fan opposition like this to begin with.
Nevertheless, the enemy's moves were far more forceful and destructive than she had expected. Never would she have imagined they would kick up an explosion themselves and make it impossible to use the castle garden theater as a whole.
"Will Aureatia be able to identify the criminal behind the explosive?"
"No. I stole the investigation data, but it seems impossible for simple gunpowder or oil to have caused it. Similarly, the method used to set up the explosive is unknown. Given it was such a large-scale explosion, I can only assume they used an extremely high-powered explosive that we have no
knowledge of."
"As long as the substance can't be explained with our current sciences, then they can't investigate the crime under the premise that such a thing exists. I see what they were doing."
"At the very least, I don't believe we will be able to grab any evidence on Kaete the Round Table before the start of the match. Changing the match venue is one thing, but…we didn't anticipate we'd be unable to use the garden theater like this."
While they needed to work out some sort of strategy, there weren't many moves Linaris could make. The soldiers of Obsidian Eyes were powerful, but their group comprised barely ten people in total, and it would be premature to systematically mobilize the corpses they had lurking in various organizations.
Linaris placed a slender finger on her lips.
"…Could we show that the castle garden is safe? Control one of Master Kaete's soldiers and make them surrender themselves as the criminal behind the explosion. So long as the perpetrator's arrested and the goal behind the attack is brought to light, I'm sure it'll make the people's confusion subside faster."
"I see. Just as our enemy created their own example of foul play, we can create our own criminal to be responsible for it. Indeed, I couldn't think of a better way to get our revenge."
"Tee-hee. Not that revenge was my intention, mind you." Linaris smiled stiltedly.
"At the very least, it will be necessary to fight Master Mestelexil in a match before the eyes of the public. My concern is that if another camp besides Master Kaete's…such as Master Rosclay's or Master Zigita Zogi's camp were to bring Master Kaete's faction down before the sixth match starts, we will end up losing our big chance."
"…A two-day postponement. Hopefully, there won't be any problematic developments until then."
"First, we'll get in touch with Miss Zeljirga and prepare to interfere with the other factions. More than anyone else, it will be Miss Zeljirga who will be the one putting her body on the line."
Zeljirga the Abyss Web was sent out to do her street performances day and night, and it seemed as if she had absolutely no connection to the organization whatsoever. Even using drones, a technology they were totally ignorant of, proved unable to catch any suspicious movements on Zeljirga's part.
Nevertheless, as long as she was among the land's greatest spy guild,
Obsidian Eyes, there was always a method to communicate with Linaris and the others.
The combination of the tricks she put on display. The order of colors to the balloons she brought out. The subtle differences in the shapes of her confetti. Zeljirga was constantly sending signals using her street performance—openly, in front of the public's eyes. The techniques that could freely control the perceptions of others, making things visible but never revealing their truths, was Zeljirga the Abyss Web's true power as a clown.
While maintaining her link to Obsidian Eyes, she moved out in the open as a hero candidate. It was something only she could do.
"Do you think Zeljirga…can win against this Mestelexil?"
"She doesn't necessarily need to win. Just as long as she can survive." Linaris smiled.
The reason she made Zeljirga enter the Sixways Exhibition was definitely not to have her advance through the tournament. If Obsidian Eyes was only concerned with victory, the best method would be to assassinate the sponsors one by one and induce victories by default.
"Thank you very much, Master Wieze. You may return to your mission. "Understood. If you'll excuse me, my lady."
Wieze departed the parlor. "..."
This latest incident was an unexpected turn of events, but still tolerable. Obsidian Eyes would speedily carry out the young woman's will without any changes. The sixth match was going to be held.
In just a few days…Miss Zeljirga will have to fight. Against Master Mestelexil, with her life on the line.
Every time she became cognizant of this reality, she felt fear coldly shiver down her back.
The fear that Zeljirga might die.
The fact that it was Linaris and Linaris alone who was leading this operation. She had been forced to come to a decision. Gamble with Zeljirga's life and take on the Sixways Exhibition? Or do nothing while they all eventually died off
as ghosts of the times?
…It's okay. I can do things like Father. When he levelheadedly treated everyone and everything like pawns…he always understood what the best possible options were… Always.
She pressed her hand up to her mouth. No one was watching. Wieze had left,
and Linaris was alone in the large parlor.
An age of chaotic war that Father sought to realize…without anyone being sacrificed or anyone's identities behind exposed. I… A daughter like me, at the very least, has to achieve that much.
Linaris had a brilliant talent for intrigue, but because of it, she knew how precarious it was.
Just as she had been unable to anticipate the castle garden theater explosion, Linaris knew there were bound to be unforeseeable circumstances. She was risking Zeljirga's life, someone she loved like family, while based on this uncertain footing.
Everyone has done this. My father. And the leader before him… I must be able to do it, too.
The sixth match underwent major changes out of necessity, right before it began. The match between Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge and Zeljirga the Abyss Web would occur not in the castle garden theater, where there had
been a bombing, but in the old town plaza, where the first match took place.
Compensating the stores that served as brokers for the spectator seats had required an enormous sum, but Aureatia's Third Minister Jel the Swift Ink had issued orders and directions to various places with incredible finesse—proving to all that even these circumstances were nothing more than one of the many possibilities that had been predicted ahead of time.
Mestelexil's sponsor, Kaete the Round Table, glared at the venue from his sponsor-exclusive seat. Kiyazuna the Axle was there as well in the seat beside him.
"…Can't say the conditions are great."
Richly colored balloons floated in the blue sky, with a flurry of confetti waving in the air. A scene of festive citizenry.
"I had estimated with the sudden venue change that there'd be a bit of a smaller audience… With this, Mestelexil won't be able to put his true value on display. Any gas or rocket bombs'll get the rabble caught in the attack."
As long as one was a hero candidate, a major premise to the title was that one needed to constantly demonstrate that they were an ally to the minian races.
Kaete was personally unconcerned if ten or a thousand of Aureatia's citizens got caught up in the blast, but he wanted to avoid having Mestelexil get
recognized as a self-proclaimed demon king and become targeted by the rest of the hero candidates as a threat to be culled.
"You stupid or what? Wasn't any need for that sorta stuff to begin with. Against an opponent like Zeljirga, a little poke to the head, and it'll be over. Her brains are gonna splatter everywhere! Hee-hee-hee-hee!"
"I don't want to give Zeljirga any more time to set something up. It would be ideal to snuff her out with the opening punch right as the match begins."
"Hell, that's easy enough."
Kiyazuna bit down on the sweet rice cake she'd purchased from one of the stalls. She was enjoying her life in Aureatia a little too much.
"Soujirou the Willow-Sword apparently used just a single sword to hold out against Ozonezma's Gatling gun–like throwing-knife barrage. There's the incident with Kuuro the Careful as well. Shooting her dead right from the start isn't a guarantee, Grams."
"Bah, enough! I'm sayin' it'll be easy-peasy! You think I haven't anticipated that much?"
Mestelexil stood in the ring. Both of his shoulders were fitted with thin mailbox-shaped equipment, two lined together on each side.
"The LRAD 2000X. It's a directional acoustic weapon that selectively suppresses targets in front of it. Sound doesn't need any line of sight; there ain't no way to preemptively fight against it, and you can't block it with a shield, neither. The thing'll blow out your ears if you get hit by it, sure, but the ones Mestelexil's got have a lot more functionality than that. They'll knock ya unconscious in an instant. Let 'em rip right as the match starts, and that's it. The end."
"…Seriously? They really can do everything, can't they? Over in the Beyond."
Kiyazuna the Axle seemed sloppy in every possible way, but at the same time, she was careful.
Spending a majority of her many years in the maelstrom of battle, the self- proclaimed demon king had inevitably grown into an unrivaled master of war.
"Time to see. Gonna be a hoot if that Zeljirga got scared and ran away."
Right as Kiyazuna muttered this, a zmeu appeared on the opposite side of the arena. Zeljirga the Abyss Web.
She carried the fifty-centimeter-long bird puppet she had used for her street performance, Morf.
"My, my, my, look at this! I am glad to see all our guests are enjoying
themselves! Don't worry, though, I promise to bring even bigger smiles to your faces! Please, I would love if everyone here watched my ultimate performance!"
The cheers she received were largely made up of children's voices. "Zeljirgaaa!"
"Zeljirga's here!"
"Hello, hello! Morf here is downright ecstatic to see you, too!"
Waving at the crowd, she took out a balloon for all to see and folded it around and around. Was it her pride as a clown that stirred her not to neglect her craft, even right before a true duel of life-and-death?
"…How's it look to you, Grams?" "Hah?"
"I've never heard of someone using a puppet to fight."
"Well, it's gotta be a weapon. No way it's empty inside, that's for sure. Whatever it is, Mestelexil's X-ray sensor will see anything there clear as day. No damn point in trying to disguise it."
The Sixways Exhibition was a one-on-one true duel. Just as it was for Toroa the Awful with his enchanted swords and Mestelexil's acoustic weapons, as long as the combatant could wield their weapon unassisted, there wasn't anything banned from being brought or used in the duel. Be it a firearm or a puppet.
"Z-Zeljirga!" Mestelexil shouted. He practically dashed over to Zeljirga as she entered the stadium. "W-will you, show me, your magic tricks again?"
"Yes! You'll get to see the best of my craft! With that in mind, I do hope you'll go easy on me, Mestelexil…or maybe you'll be nice and lose for me, hmm?"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I am going, to win, for Mama! I'm not, holding back!" "Isn't that wonderful? Having someone to dedicate your victory to."
Zeljirga squinted as she smiled.
Match six. Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge versus Zeljirga the Abyss Web.
"Silence, both of you."
A large-framed woman stepped forward between the two, who were standing opposite each other.
Aureatia's Twenty-Sixth Minister, Meeka the Whispered. A woman with a stern look of iron.
"Candidates are not to put on any sort of show unrelated to the match at hand.
Understand, Zeljirga?"
"…Ahem! Oh, this was, well… Er, my apologies." "And to the other candidate, are you ready?"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I—I am ready!"
"This match will be like all the others. I shall lay out the accords of the true duel. One side is knocked down and doesn't get up. One side willingly admits their defeat with their own words. These two outcomes shall decide the match! In regard to any matters outside these conditions, I, Meeka the Whispered, on my honor, will judge with impartiality. Do you both consent to these rules?!"
"Ah-hya-hya-hya-hyah! But of course! I, Zeljirga, shall fight fair and square!"
"I—I, I am! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! The strongest!"
"Mestelexil, I shall consider that your consent! At the sound of the band's gun, begin!"
Meeka turned her back to the arena and retreated to her judge's chair at the top of the stone steps.
Everything would start with the shot from the band—but right before that moment that all the onlookers would concentrate on…
"Ha-ha—"
…Mestelexil made an unexpected move. He whirled around and fired into the air.
He appeared to move faster than the ringing of the match's starting signal. "What in the—?"
Kaete looked at what Mestelexil had just fired at—a balloon. The balloon, descended down to an abnormally low altitude, was right around Kaete's head.
The gunshot from the band rang. The match had begun. Zeljirga sprang into action.
Crap. Mestelexil…
The shot through the balloon ignited and then exploded.
…will respond to any danger to Grams before anything else!
White smoke poured from inside the balloon over the audience seats. Combined with the smoke screen from the fireworks Zeljirga had scattered at the start of the match, the audiences' sights were completely blocked out.
"Whoa!"
"What's going on?!" "Was that an explosion?!"
Kaete's sense of danger had been correct after all. Zeljirga had gotten the first
move.
"…Dammit! Grams! You all right?!"
Mestelexil's attack prior to the start of the fight fortunately hadn't been seen as breaking the rules.
He had been manipulated into using what was supposed to be an instantaneously lethal opening move to instead shoot down the balloon.
"Nothing but cheap tricks! Mestelexil! Forget about it and shoot 'er dead!"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Gunshots, like a metallic scream, reverberated. The smoke screen, which blocked visible light, was also meaningless when up against Mestelexil's array of sensors. The bullet holes from his Gatling gun bore through the uninhabited ruins of the old town, and they began to partially collapse in.
However, Zeljirga's form wasn't inside the smoke—in her place, the puppet she controlled came flying out alone.
It rushed with speed wholly inconceivable from any ordinary marionette.
Mestelexil blocked it with an arm.
Even after being blocked, the puppet wasn't repelled, continuing to rotate and spit out sparks with a high-pitched noise. It had speed and power that far exceeded any bullet.
"…Morf!"