In the belly of the giant—in the grand garden of Viaisia Castle, I faced Aid.
Before a single word was spoken, Aid waved one hand.
Then, one of the old trees behind him bent, swinging a branch. Its movement was sharp and fast, and given its thickness, it possessed enough power to shatter a bone or two if it hit.
After displaying his magnificent control over the plant, Aid spoke in a low voice.
No longer communicating through plants, but with his own voice now.
“This is how I will fight. To duel Shiso Uzunami, I have no choice but to rely on the power of trees; otherwise, it won’t even be a contest. …Will you call me cowardly?”
He seemed slightly ashamed of designating the duel’s location and forcibly bringing me into the castle garden. However, I shook my head in response.
“No, not at all. If that is your power, I will overcome it head-on.”
I had no complaints if the match could be decided in a fair duel. After all, I had already conceded the location at “Second Labyrinth City Daril.” I don’t think Aid is cowardly at all now.
If there was anything on my mind, it was only about the other guardian.
Nosfy, who had been transported here with me, was squirming and laughing in a corner of the garden.
“Hee, hee, huah—Ah, Lord Uzunami, I want to just go at you! But, I’ll endure—I am a guardian who can endure…”
“So, you intend to involve Nosfy over there as well?”
Before fighting, I checked on Nosfy’s status. However, she answered my question immediately.
“No, no, Lord Uzunami. Of course, I will not fight. This is a duel, after all. Interfering would be unrefined. So please, do not attack me. Look at this. A white flag, a white flag.”
She raised the brightness of her light-flag to the limit, turning it into a pure white flag before waving it.
Ignoring her declaration of surrender, which I couldn’t believe even a little bit, I turned my gaze to Aid. This duel opponent, the man, wore a similar expression.
“We have a ‘Contract’ to that effect. I vow that this duel will be one-on-one. If Lady Nosfy interferes, then I will also cooperate in eliminating her.”
He then declared his stance toward Nosfy, which was the same as mine.
“As per the ‘Contract,’ I will never interfere. …I cannot. I came here solely to conduct an experiment with this ‘Curse Mark,’ not to fight. From what I can see, my ‘Curse Mark’ perfectly nullifies Lord Uzunami’s magic power, so I am already satisfied. I want to take back these experimental results quickly and proceed with the next research.”
Nosfy used the word ‘Curse Mark’ while looking at her body covered in inscriptions and the surrounding plants.
It was probably because of these inscribed ‘Curse Marks’ that I couldn’t see parts of Nosfy with my Dimension. Judging from her demeanor, I suspected similar things existed around her and tried to deploy my Dimension to grasp the castle’s structure.
However, the magic I tried to expand dissipated midway. It was a phenomenon as if ‘Magic Nullification’ had occurred.
“What, my magic disappeared…?”
“Yes, Lord Uzunami. I’ve inscribed them not only on this body but also on the trees in key locations throughout the castle. They will not accept Lord Uzunami’s dimensional magic—perhaps they are ‘Cursed Trees’? It’s an application of the ‘Cursed Cloth’ that maintained Arti’s body. With this, all of Lord Uzunami’s widespread magic deployed within the castle will be canceled.”
It was fine that I couldn’t grasp the castle’s structure. However, it was painful not knowing the situation of Titty and the others fighting outside.
One of my strengths was completely nullified, and I naturally clenched my teeth.
“Aha! Hahaha, how is it!? Heehee, you thought everything was going well just a moment ago, didn’t you!? You were absolutely certain, weren’t you!? Using that kind of magic, weren’t you!? The ‘magic that can do anything’ you always use!! But, no! Heehee, how does it feel to have your certainty of victory overturned—!? I want to comfort my beloved Lord Uzunami, so I really, really want to know! I want to comfort you with all my might, so tell me, tell me! Heehee!”
Nosfy, with a wide smile, tried to peer up at me from below as I looked down.
Seeing her behavior that grated on my nerves, I felt a sensation of boiling oil welling up from the pit of my stomach—and immediately sealed it away.
*Calm down.*
Don’t let your emotions get the better of you.
This was Nosfy’s way of fighting. Not everything she says is from her heart. The girl named Nosfy is simply giving her all against a superior enemy. It’s not something to get particularly angry about.
Even while I was concentrating, Nosfy continued to provoke me without taking a breath.
“I wanted to see Lord Uzunami suffer so much, so much that I couldn’t sleep! Ever since I came here, I’ve been waiting, inscribing rituals on the castle trees! How is it!? My dimensional magic isn’t getting through at all, is it!? Please, by all means, you may praise me, Lord Uzunami!”
I was surprised when we fought in the labyrinth, but now I understood clearly.
This wasn’t the first time I’d fought against this type of opponent.
Nosfy was just like Palinkron. She deeply understood her own lack of skill and compensated for the difference in ability with preparation and words.
“Huu… haa…”
Without replying, I simply took a deep breath.
It would be best to just beat this kind of opponent into silence without listening to a word. However, from the way Nosfy was talking now, it felt like her goal was provocation. She was probably just harassing me to distract Aid even slightly before the duel.
“What, are you ignoring me? I’ve been thinking only of Lord Kanami day after day… How cruel…!”
Leaving Nosfy, who was pretending to cry, I turned back to Aid.
“Ugh, you’re really mean. …Then, how about this? —Ah, I’m so bored, so incredibly bored, I’m starting to feel like messing with that Lord and Snow-chan over there. It seems they’re having a ‘Duel’ over there too. Since I can’t interfere with the ‘Duel’ here… I’ll just have to interfere with the ‘Duel’ over there!”
“Guh, you…!”
Seeing me ignore her, Nosfy immediately turned her attention to her companions. Her precise provocation made me curse involuntarily.
“Huh? Did you perhaps think I’d be sticking to Lord Uzunami the whole time? No, that’s not how it is. Please be more aware of how much of a foul player I am. I still don’t have enough preparation to fight you. This kind of… situation, as if to say “please overturn it,” I absolutely will not lay a hand on Lord Uzunami— I won’t! Heehee.”
Next to me, Nosfy turned away and laughed.
As always, Nosfy was going all out to bother me.
And seeing my expression change, she began to laugh with an intensity that felt like she was about to stop breathing.
“Hee—hee, heehee! Ahaha, hah, yes! It’s so good! Haha, uhu, aha, haah, haah—Ah! I’m having fuuuun—!!”
I immediately ignored Nosfy and directed my Dimension towards Aid.
What I needed to do now was concentrate on the duel with Aid.
After all, this timid girl would never make a move unless she was absolutely sure she could win. While being mocked, I confirmed how far my Dimension could reach.
It seemed I could grasp the interior of the room without any problems. However, the Dimension’s effect did not reach around specific trees. Those must be the trees Nosfy had desperately inscribed with her rituals.
Naturally, Aid’s body also repelled the Dimension. His light wooden armor and gauntlets were densely inscribed with those rituals. It was highly likely that not only Dimension but other dimensional magics would also not pass through those armaments.
With that, having thoroughly confirmed the enemy and the battlefield, Nosfy suddenly stopped laughing.
“—You’re very calm, Lord Uzunami. You won’t rush at me like before, will you? …What a shame. I had one more experiment I wanted to try, but it seems it will have to wait for next time.”
Like me, Nosfy also became calm and stopped her provocations. She admitted that her every word had been a trap and a provocation, and began to retreat step by step. Then, at a slight distance, she created a Connection.
“As expected, perhaps because we are alike, you see through my intentions, Lord Uzunami. Yes, I do not wish to fight you all yet. Frankly, I want to get away from this dangerous area as soon as possible. My life is not guaranteed outside the magic range of my natural enemies, Lord Uzunami and Lord Hidaki. Yes, until I become much, much stronger—”
Alike—only in those words were there no lies, I thought.
I didn’t want to admit it, but it was because we were alike that I felt a sense of empathy.
This girl only picks fights she is absolutely sure she will win.
Like my past self, she has an extremely rational combat style that only picks guaranteed victories.
She probably believes that fighting here would just be a repeat of our battle in the labyrinth.
Today, at this time—it is not yet her time.
As if saying so, she intended to entrust everything to Aid, the other guardian.
“Well then, Chancellor, the rest is up to you. Please, have a duel without regret. Unlike Lady Sis, I wish for the happiness of everyone except Lord Uzunami.”
“I will have no regrets. You don’t need to tell me…”
I watched her go.
Even if Nosfy started interfering from outside, I intended to prioritize breaking through Aid according to plan.
And with those last words, Nosfy passed through the Connection.
“—Then, we shall meet again, Lord Uzunami.”
She disappeared from this grand garden, leaving only a single word.
Thus, the outsiders to the duel exited the grand garden, leaving only Aid and me.
Finally, the promise made in “Second Labyrinth City Daril” was to be fulfilled, and just the two of us remained.
“Well, the intruders are finally gone. The extraneous noise has disappeared, and it’s just the two of us. As long as we are inside the castle, which has become a giant, no one else can enter.”
Aid looked at where Nosfy had left, sounding relieved. Perhaps he had been more wary of Nosfy than I was.
“That’s right… Are you going to start immediately?”
I readied the “Aris Family’s Treasure Sword Rowen” and focused solely on the enemy before me.
Aid accepted this with a slightly happy expression and nodded.
“Yes, let’s do it… Betting our precious things…”
However, his serene expression didn’t last more than a few seconds before it became one of desperation. It resembled the suffocating face my sister had shown in the labyrinth, close to a child about to cry.
“I will win against Shiso Uzunami… I will win. If I cannot win here, I will not know why I was born. If I cannot prove myself to the ‘Ruling King’ I admire, I will cease to be myself. Therefore… let’s fight.”
“Aid, you—…”
“—I apologize, that was unnecessary. Unlike Lady Nosfy, I have no intention of fighting with words. Let us begin immediately.”
Perhaps thanks to overcoming the battle with Titty, I was able to understand fragments of Aid’s feelings. Even if my imagination was correct, I could not go easy on him.
Right now, I should just focus on winning the ‘Duel.’
He wasn’t my only enemy. I needed to defeat Aid as quickly as possible and get outside.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have time. I’ll end this duel quickly… Aid—”
“No, it is you alone who will end. The rebel ancestor, Aikawa Uzunami—”
The duel began.
The man who called himself ‘Chancellor’ intended to face me, whom he called a rebel, alone.
…Did Aid notice the absurdity of that?
As far as I knew, a ‘Chancellor’ was not a position that would accept a duel. Fefelt, the acting chancellor we met in Fuziaze, had entrusted ambushes and trickery to others and laughed from a safe distance. It was not a position that could speak of fair and one-on-one combat.
I thought as I charged forward.
What must Prime Minister Aid be thinking right now, abandoning the chance for ambushes and trickery to engage in a head-on battle… I was consumed by curiosity.
Aid’s battle.
Aid’s life.
And, Aid’s wish.
What was the truth of it all—
Since it’s a good stopping point, I’ll post this in two parts.
The continuation will be posted on the 10th at 00:00.
The duel will be tomorrow.
This is because Nosfy’s story turned out to be too long. I apologize. However, even with that, I’ve cut her lines by a third, which is terrifying…
*I’ve judged that Chapter 6 is reaching its climax, so I will accelerate the pace slightly. I’ll temporarily return to twice a week, with releases planned for the 12th, 16th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 26th, and 30th.
