Chapter 38: Volume 3 - CH 1

There was a narrow passage surrounded by two stone-paved walls on either side. As there were no windows whatsoever, it was dimly lit, hard to breathe, and even so, Kyle kept on walking. He looked ahead with a serious and almost deadpan expression, but he couldn’t help letting out a sigh inside his mind.

For crying out loud, this sure turned troublesome quickly. Then again, it may have been unexpected, but there’s no way I can cut corners…Guess I should prepare myself for the worst.

And then, he stopped in front of a thick and imposing double door. Opening that caused a loud and creaking noise, finally bringing some light into this dark passage behind him. At the same time as the scenery opened up, loud cheers and joyful noises pierced his ears that had been met with nothing but silence up to that point. This was the continent’s greatest arena, located in the ever-growing Galgan Empire’s capital Luos. Kyle entered this arena as a fighter, surrounded by around 70,000 visitors waiting for him to fight.

When he directed his gaze up ahead to the opposite entrance of the arena, a large man stepped outside. Almost as if he attempted to show off his muscles, his upper body was completely naked. His arms were even thicker than a woman’s torso, and he probably weighed three times the amount of Kyle. His face was riddled with wounds, and the mustache he had gave him an evil look.

‘Everyone, thank you very much for waiting! The first match of the Galgan Empire Foundation Anniversary Martial Arts Festival will now begin!’

A clear and energetic woman’s voice, belonging to the announcer, was conveyed throughout the entire arena, most likely with the ability of magic.

‘And as it turns out, our first match is one to look out for! From the West gate, we have Fighter Kyle, who has come from the far Kingdom of Zilgus! According to the material in front of me, he has bested a large Hydra all by himself in order to protect Princess Milena from her peril, and has arrived here under the recommendation of Zilgus itself!’

The moment Kyle’s place of birth, Zilgus, was revealed, a loud booing came from the audience that even reached him directly. As Zilgus and Galgan were potentially hostile countries, no citizen has forgotten that they almost ended up in a war a few years ago.

‘Facing him will be a popular fighter making his earnings here at the arena—Violent Rockert! He is a skilled and active gladiator who made it to the semi-finals of last year’s Martial Arts Festival, a prime candidate for this year’s victory amassing popularity as well as raw strength and talent!’

This time, cheers all around the arena rang out, the exact opposite from the treatment Kyle received. Rockert responded to these cheers, raising his arms into the sky, roaring. A sword fight generally was the most basic of gifts to entertain the audience, but it’s not like everybody here would be fighting with a sword. All participants had their own preferred type of fighting, and there were a lot of fighters who chose to go bare-handed like Rockert.

‘Bets are 8 to 2 in Fighter Rockert’s favor! It seems like Fighter Kyle’s lack of name in the Galgan Empire really is showing!’

With that announcement, Kyle’s eye twitched, as his hand moved to the sword at his back.

‘Now, let the match begin!’

With the signal to begin the match, Kyle looked at his foe with a bit of sympathy in his gaze and moved his hand away from the hilt of his sword.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Rockert showed a dubious gaze in response to that.

“I mean, you’re a fighter, right? I was thinking of joining you as well.” Kyle said, taking a stance as he winked Rockert over.

‘Oh my! Fighter Kyle is not going to draw his sword? He seems even to be provoking Fighter Rockert!’

The moment this voice came from the announcer, Rockert let out a roar of anger and started running at Kyle. As Rockert’s fist, imbued with all his strength, approached him, Kyle simply did a backstep to avoid it. He did the same with the follow-up attacks, calmly evading the incoming fists. It was by the breadth of a hair he did it, and he even added further provocation to injure Rockert’s pride.

“What’s wrong? All I’m feeling is a faint breeze here.”

“Shut yer trap!”

Together with a wrathful voice, Rockert kept on firing off an endless barrage of fists, simply hoping to connect at least one of them, but Kyle continued to evade.

‘Fighter Rockert does not let up! Fighter Kyle is managing to somewhat dodge, but it’s a one-sided battle!’

In a way, this stalemate continued for a long time, until Kyle eventually reached the wall with his back.

“Now I’ve got you…!”

This time, Rockert put all his might into a kick, firing it off at Kyle. However, as he had been fighting at full strength this entire time, he was gasping for air.

“You’ve gotten tired!”

At the same time, Kyle showed only the slightest movement so far, so he was perfectly fine. The leg, thick as a log, approached Kyle, as he took a step forward, closing the distance between the two instantly. This sudden sharp movement turned into somewhat of a feint, delaying Rockert’s reaction.

“I don’t have anything against you, but consider yourself unlucky to end up this way.”

Together with that statement, Kyle swung for a punch. It slammed into Rockert’s jaw, strong enough to make his brain shake. Out cold, Rockert fell backward like a large tree cut in half and stopped moving.

“Yep, this angle really works.”

This was one of Lieze’s special talents alongside the liver jab, and Kyle learned that from her. It’s an effective strike to completely knock the lights out of someone. Shortly after Rockert fell down, roars of cheers resounded, and Kyle responded by raising one hand. Without looking at Rockert once again, he slowly walked over towards the West gate.

‘Fighter Rockert is staying down! This declared Fighter Kyle’s absolute victory! A one-hit kill! Instantaneous K.O!’

I actually didn’t kill him though, Kyle added in his mind, and disappeared from the arena.

“Great work out there!”

Having returned to the waiting room for participants, Lieze, Urza, and Shildonia all greeted him. As per Kyle’s wish to be alone so he could focus, they had left him alone and watched him as part of the audience, but now that he had seized victory, there was no need to hold back.

“You managed to knock out a finalist candidate in a single strike, that’s admirable.”

“Yeah, now you should be able to win the whole tournament easily, right.”

Both Urza and Lieze praised Kyle. They looked happy like it happened to them. Shildonia seemed like she wanted to say something, but her mouth was full with all the food she bought at the stalls, so she just nodded arrogantly.

“Don’t say it so easily. I barely won that, you know.”

As the girls got excited, Kyle could only let out a sigh, feeling mentally exhausted. In fact, Rockert was more than strong enough to be a candidate for the overall win. It looked like an easy win for Kyle, but that’s only because he previously looked into Rockert’s fighting style and personality. He felt proud at his strong hits, especially after blocking off his foe’s attacks to go for a counterattack. Basically, he’s simple but flashy. The wounds on his body originated from that, acting as trophies, which heightened his popularity as a gladiator.

As he fought to please the audience, even if he knew that Kyle was plotting something, he had to listen to the provocation. That’s why Kyle continued with his technique. That being said, Rockert’s fists were sharp and packed a good punch, so they’d surely inflict great damage if he managed to connect them, which cost Kyle a lot of mental stamina for every single dodge. However, as Kyle learned that most of Rockert’s victories ended in a short time, Kyle continued to deplete his stamina and anger him. Finally, he finished him off with a clean, vital hit.

In order to gain influence and a voice among the countries so that he could prepare against the Great Invasion, Kyle had to raise his fame and spread his name. For that, he wanted to win in the most flashy way, taking this risky strategy over a safe knockout. Even if he wouldn’t have lost, it could have been dragged out. It looked like a simple and easy one-hit finish, but beneath the surface, it was awfully close. However, without knowing about Kyle’s thoughts, the girls got even more excited.

“How many more matches do you need to win for the overall victory?”

“Um…the second round, the third round, the semifinals, and then the finale…So four more matches!”

“Nom nom…What, that’s a lot easier than expected. I personally would wish for a bit of danger to appear to make things more exciting.”

All three of the girls had no doubts whatsoever that Kyle would win.

“I just hope everything works out that way.”

Since he showed an overwhelming victory against the favorite Rockert, he can’t expect his future opponents to let down their guard against him. And once a match becomes dangerous, forcing Kyle to become serious, his next opponent will have studied him. Realizing that Kyle found himself in a truly bothersome situation, he reflected on how things even ended up this way.

***

The Arinilla Road was one of the major roads that reached from the East to the West of the humanfolk’s territory that existed in the continent of Loindars, regularly used by travelers and traveling merchants. To defend against thieves and demons, it’s common sense that you move in as big of a group as possible, but the large group traveling towards the East on that day especially caught a lot of attention.

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In the center of it was a large horse carriage carrying the emblem of the Kingdom of Zilgus. Around them were several horseback knight corps, as well as smaller horse carriages that transported court ladies and subordinates, this entire group of diplomatic emissaries consisting of around 200 people in total. Let alone the luxurious horse carriages and the knights, even the horses wore luxurious garments. As emissaries of a country, representing it in the world, they had to immediately show off their status and wealth of the country, even more so considering the country they were visiting now—their potential enemy the Galgan Empire.

That being said, their numbers were still fairly low. Normally, they would prepare at least a thousand people for such an occasion. At the same time, they were moving at quite the speed this time around. This indicated a different reason besides simple diplomatic relationships.

Even so, they’re only about half the traveling speed we could reach…Well, at least it’s more comfortable.

While being shaken inside the horse carriage, Kyle looked outside at the scenery passing him and thought about this. Sitting inside the large main carriage was Kyle, and two other higher-ups involved in this case. Sitting across from Kyle was the leader of the Kingdom of Zilgus’ 5th Imperial Knight Corps and close aide of Princess Milena, Kirlen. She wore a military uniform, but it still emphasized her dignified beauty.

“Kyle-dono, my deepest apologies for this sudden request. Thank you very much for immediately coming with us.” Kirlen lowered her head towards Kyle.

She was born from a renowned family of nobles that had existed since the foundation of Zilgus, and the cousin of future-queen Milena’s mother. At the same time, her great-grandmother was the previous King’s little sister, so she also had royal blood flowing inside of her. In other words, she was proper royalty. Although Kyle had assisted in preventing Princess Milena’s assassination before, Kyle didn’t expect her to show this much gratitude to a commoner like him.

“No, don’t worry about it. I am related to this case myself, so I can’t just leave like that. And, I fully understand how crucial the diplomatic relations going on right now are.”

“I’m glad to hear that. The result of our discussion this time greatly relies on you after all.”

Kyle frantically gave a response, but because of Kirlen’s serious expression, she unknowingly put even more pressure onto him.

Their current visit to the Galgan Empire resulted from the incident at the mining city Callan, the slaughter at the Galgan Embassy caused by demons. They may have averted immediate danger because Kyle and his group defeated the demons, but that incident wasn’t over with just that. The problem, in this case, were the victims on the Empire’s side. Half of the Empire’s employees at the embassy were killed in that massacre, and even their flying dragon knight riders had been decimated. On top of that, the most important individual, court mage Aluzard had been found dead, turning this into an even bigger problem.

Basically, they needed to certify that all of this was caused by demons, and not by the hands of Zilgus as a means of interception. As a representative of Princess Milena, Kirlen has taken up the duty of proceeding with the diplomatic discussions at Galgan. As a result of that, since Kyle’s group was closely related to the demon incident at Callan, they naturally were summoned as well. To Kyle, it felt like he was being used as a servant and less like a hero, but if things went south now, it could put a significant rift between the two countries, and it might even result in war. That is something Kyle wanted to avoid at all costs. At the same time, he could use the fact of him defeating the demons to get a positive evaluation from the empire.

Those two reasons led him to accept this visit. However, he added the condition that he was simply here to testify the existence and involvement of demons, and most definitely not act as a representative of Zilgus again. Naturally, people who disagreed existed, but because Princess Milena used her influence, Kyle and his group were granted the right to join under these conditions. Either way, he was treated as a special guest, which showed as he rode together with Kirlen in this horse carriage.

“Oh my, you don’t have to be so considerate, really. Even if we reach the worst-case scenario, total war, only one country will fall to ruin.” The person who spoke up was a small but somewhat chubby man, sitting right next to Kirlen.

He had an excellent beard and looked about in his 50s, known as the close aide of the late King Remonas—Cabinet Minister Orgis.

“Orgis-dono, can you stop poking fun at important matters like these?” Kirlen said, clearly in a bad mood because of this.

“Oh my, please excuse me. I simply didn’t want things to end up too tense, see. That was supposed to be simple advice from someone with experience. Orgis lowered his head, but his smile remained. “See, Kirlen-sama, you also seemed a bit tense. Not just Kyle-dono.”

Publicly, Kirlen acted as the representative for diplomatic relations in this incident, but the one in control was Orgis. Before Kirlen could say something, Orgis continued.

“I am sure that receiving this much responsibility must be a first for you, but I suggest you don’t act so stiff. Leaving aside me and my experience, you have yet to even visit the Empire, Kirlen-sama, so nobody is expecting you to be perfect.”

Kirlen showed an expression like she got stabbed right where it hurt. She may have a lot of experience in this general field, but she never carried the role and responsibility of representing Zilgus as a whole. She herself didn’t know this, but this was also a result of the cold treatment by King Remonas who tried to ostracize Princess Milena and the people around her.

“In that regard, I have gathered experience over the years, and have visited the Empire several times. Just leave all the complicated work to me, and rest assured.”

In other words, don’t do anything unnecessary, and just be a decoration. But, take responsibility in case something goes wrong—that’s how Orgis’ words sounded to Kyle.

“…As expected, there was a reason why King Remonas has continued to take your support. Your success in life after being a low-ranking government official is a tale to behold.”

When Kirlen returned fire with that comment, you could see Orgis cheek twitching, even through that fake smile of his. Orgis was seen as the confidant of the late King Remonas, with rumors floating around about him doing the dirty work to rise to power. Surely he must know about that, but he probably never heard it said to his face. Kirlen caught this inner turbulence of Orgis, and continued.

“However, soon enough, Milena-sama will reign. Although we shall protect the old customs, we need to take new approaches. In that regard, I cannot rely on you forever, and I will participate intensively so that I become more confident.”

I won’t let you do as you please. The generations are going to change, so old dust like you should disappear already. You’re used goods—These intentions were hidden in Kirlen’s words. After that, both of them went silent, occasionally smiling at each other with strained smiles. Clearly, they were forced smiles, which made the mood only tenser.

Just why do I have to stay here…

Kyle was filled with nothing but regret.

“By the way, Kyle-dono.”

“Ha ha ha…Urk…!”

Right as Orgis called out to Kyle, he pressed his arm on his chest, groaning.

“Oh my, is something wrong?”

“Excuse me, the wound I suffered from my battle with the demons has yet to fully heal, so it hurts from time to time…Urk!”

Or so he said, but his injuries had actually fully recovered a long time ago. Orgis was a strong supporter of the late king, an influential presence in the country, and Kirlen is the greatest ally and right-hand aide of Princess Milena. Although he only stayed with these two for a short while, he immediately understood that they were in a rivaling relationship. Participating in the conversation at such timing would most likely result in him being forced into one of those two sides. Surely, as he was seen with great respect and interest by Princess Milena, both sides were keen on having him join their faction.

However, as Kyle prioritized his own freedom, he may be fine with earning favor with the country of Zilgus itself, but joining one faction was out of the question. Right now, he was simply participating under Princess Milena’s wish, assisting the Kingdom of Zilgus, nothing more.

Getting wrapped up in this mess won’t end well either way…

Surely, Princess Milena should know of those two and their relationship. Since she sent the two to go on this trip together, she probably expected this as well, and Kyle cursed her for that.

“Ohh, thank you very much for assisting us despite your condition…I know, there is a wonderful hot spring in my territory, and the military is using it to tend to their wounds. I would love to invite you over.”

“No no no, our Kirlen Family has an excellent priest serving us, so let us help your treatment. While we’re at it, we might even baptize you to become a holy knight…”

“…Oh my, my body suddenly feels much better. I’m sorry to make you worry like that.”

Kyle deeply wished for them to soon arrive at their destination, as he showed a forced smile once again.

At the same time, the rest of Kyle’s group rode on a smaller horse carriage behind the one Kyle was on. The atmosphere inside the carriage was cheerful and comfortable, the exact opposite of what Kyle was experiencing right now, the group eating snacks and playing card games.

“Travelling with a horse carriage sure is relaxing, but it’s also a bit boring…” Seran yawned, as he held onto his cards.

“Kyle said he was traveling with some important higher-ups, but he sure didn’t seem like he was looking forward to it.” Lieze held cards herself, as she remembered Kyle’s last expression before he entered the horse carriage.

“…Keep quiet you two, I can’t focus at all,” Urza complained, staring at the cards in her hands.

She had been losing this entire time, and as she was a very diligent person, she even took the smallest card game quite seriously. That being the case, her every emotion and reaction showed on her face, making her easy to be seen through.

“I’m bad with uptight stuff like that, but his goal requires this kind of stuff…Alright, I’m done.”

“I’m done as well. That makes Urza’s 10th consecutive loss.”

“Urk…O-One more!”

“Well, relaxing like this doesn’t hurt once in a while. It’s honestly a shame that it’ll end in five days.” Shildonia munched on her sweets, speaking about as nonchalantly as the others.

These five days passed all too quickly, and right before a hole opened up in Kyle’s stomach, they reached the largest city of the humanfolk territory, the Imperial Capital of the Galgan Empire, Luos.

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