Chapter 132 - Episode 20: (Interlude: At the Clarino Estate)
Chris Bay Clarino gazed at the 'Notice of Revolutionary Army Recruitment' paper placed carelessly on the desk.
...The date and time noted on the paper was tomorrow night.
The location was said to be a mountain on the way to Elsemarin, but the exact position was unknown.
However, even if he had to search for the destination in the mountains for a bit, it would be a matter of a few hours at most. The target mountain was not that large. It was expected that searching for it wouldn't be much trouble.
Allowing a few hours from the Royal Capital to the mountain would be more than enough. If he left six hours before the execution time, he would make it in plenty of time.
...Yes, repeating the confirmation he had already done countless times, Chris let out a deep sigh.
The pressure weighing on him was far too great. The expectations from the King, the expectations from his father, the current head of the family, and the expectations from the various nobles and the citizens.
He could not afford to betray them.
This time, he could not afford to lose.
The defeat at the Martial Arts Tournament had become the greatest stain in Chris's life thus far.
For Chris, who had never suffered a defeat worthy of the name until now, it was almost his first defeat... and at the same time, it was an far too significant one.
That night, when the shadow of something werewolf-like was seen, he had asked Lital, who had returned to the estate, if he had gone to meet someone. Lital, who was poor at lying, leaked crucial information: 'I was meeting with the Holy Knight who was today's opponent.'
Reasoning from there, it was easy to derive the answer that the opponent Chris would face in the semifinals was indeed the werewolf.
At the same time, looking at the sufficiently robust physique under the moonlight, even setting aside the fact that it was a werewolf, it wasn't so difficult to remember that eccentric Holy Knight who wore armor made larger than a normal Holy Knight's.
...That was precisely why Chris had so easily jumped at the information that had suddenly appeared before him.
He had thought it was an unbelievable stroke of luck. That he should not let this luck escape.
...He wanted a future where he would 'certainly' win. For that purpose, Chris had chosen the means he should have least chosen.
He figured that if he denounced the fact that his opponent was a werewolf, he could win without fighting.
But... under public scrutiny, the werewolf did not hesitate to cast off his armor and reveal his abominable monster body.
The beast ears and the tail extending from the buttocks were things impossible for a human... they were symbols of fear. In fact, the audience, seeing the werewolf's form, was terrified and bewildered.
...Until the werewolf opened his mouth.
The werewolf was quite eloquent. The way he spoke resonantly was as if he were an orator from somewhere.
The werewolf's words confused the audience... and to Chris's disbelief, some even raised their voices saying that the werewolf should be overlooked, just as the werewolf had said.
This was Chris's first defeat.
Chris panicked.
The audience's reaction was not the reaction Chris had envisioned. The audience was supposed to fear and loathe the werewolf and denounce him along with Chris.
Namely, to say 'Kill him.'
...In hindsight, Chris thought that the setup to move the audience had been insufficient.
He should have fanned the flames of fear, unified the will of the masses, and raised his voice to 'Kill the enemy.' However, the preparations for that were far too lacking. The luck that had suddenly appeared did not give Chris time to prepare or time to be calm.
As a result... Chris made a mistake in judgment.
He brought soldiers onto the stage and tried to kill the werewolf without the audience's consent.
...There, Chris suffered his second defeat.
The soldiers were miserably kicked aside. The werewolf's fighting style was truly that of a non-human.
While the soldiers, who were kicked aside in an instant, lay prostrate, the werewolf... demanded that Chris fight him.
Yes. The 'fight' that Chris had wanted to avoid most.
By denouncing the werewolf and using soldiers, the fight with the werewolf that he had wanted to avoid even then was thrust before his eyes.
...He could not remain calm. No other breakthrough strategy came to mind. Even if he regretted that he shouldn't have denounced the werewolf, it was already too late.
And so, Chris ended up fighting the werewolf against his will.
That was Chris's third defeat.
As soon as the fight began, Chris felt fear.
Each and every blow was far too fast and heavy. The attacks of the non-human entity brilliantly toyed with Chris.
He had fought many monsters with human-like forms, but before an opponent stronger than any of them... Chris realized his own defeat.
At this point, Chris's spirit had already been defeated. If one were to count, it would be his fourth defeat.
...And before Chris, who had realized the fact that he 'could not win,' Lital Pia Esclan intruded.
He was from a branch family, but Chris had thought of him almost like a younger brother with a slight age gap... Lital, whom Chris had believed without a doubt was 'inferior' to himself, had jumped in front of Chris.
In order to stop Chris.
...Seeing that, various thoughts swirled within Chris.
The fear of losing. The humiliation being given. The despair toward a defeat that had become even more decisive.
Those turned into hatred toward Lital, and the hatred instantly sketched out a suspicion.
Could it be that this defeat was orchestrated by Lital?
The moment he thought that, his sword was moving.
Toward the person who admired him, and whom he himself had looked after to some extent, the sword was swung down without hesitation.
...And when he realized he had slashed the werewolf who had shielded Lital... Chris tasted his fifth defeat.
The entire venue was condemning Chris.
By now, Chris was the evil one, and the werewolf was the apostle of justice.
Furthermore, to defeat the 'evil' Chris, the 'Revolutionary' Violia Nico Fortesia appeared.
...It was a magnificent entrance. She behaved as if Violia Nico Fortesia herself were justice. The audience was also being swept away by it.
Incredibly, Chris had his original good and evil inverted. Here, Chris tasted his sixth defeat... and then, easily. Utterly.
Violia Nico Fortesia proceeded to beat Chris down.
This was the greatest defeat of Chris's life... and the seventh defeat he felt on that day.
Because he had made a poor move, he had strangled himself.
Not only that, he had dragged the Clarino family's honor through the mud and overwritten even his own past glory with a pathetic defeat.
The country had been greatly shaken by Violia Nico Fortesia. The masses were led astray... and even the peace of the Kingdom of Orchesta had been cracked.
Chris's responsibility was heavy.
The nobles who sneered in the shadows also spoke thin words of consolation to Chris's face, like 'There's no need to worry' or 'The opponent was just too bad,' but he could not forgive them.
Chris could not afford to admit it. He must not admit his own defeat.
Everything that adorned him must be glory. The idea of accepting defeat was completely absent from Chris's mind.
...Fortunately, the materials for Chris's glory existed.
Yes. If the demon of Fortesia died at Chris's hands, Chris's glory would be reclaimed. As a hero who saved the country, Chris would make a name for himself again.
That was the only path left for him.
From that day in the spring a year ago when it was decided to sacrifice the demon of Fortesia for the sake of the country, the path to taming the great evil and the path to coexisting with the great evil had been completely lost.
...On that day, what Chris, the other nobles, and the Royal Family had created was not a pitiful sacrifice... but perhaps the demon itself. Yes. House Fortesia was the egg of a demon. Because they had carelessly poked it, the demon had hatched.
...Of course, Chris no longer thought that way either.
Chris must not admit it.
He must not admit that he had made a wrong choice on that day.
Much less, it must not be permitted for a lowly nouveau riche noble to triumph over a true-born noble.
...Chris let out another sigh and checked the plan.
He confirmed the path to his victory over and over again. As if possessed by something. ...That was in order to avoid seeing anything else.
Just then.
"Chris-sama!"
At the desperation seeping into the voice of the servant who came running in, Chris's taut spirit tightened even further. To the point where it felt like it might snap at any moment.
"...What is it?"
When Chris asked while anticipating the worst possible answer... the servant said:
"Lital-sama is not in his room! Not anywhere in the estate...!"
Lital Pia Esclan, who had betrayed Chris, had not been sent back to House Esclan but had been kept under house arrest in a guest room of the Clarino estate. At least until this operation was over.
But if that Lital had escaped...
"Finally, I must kill him, then..."
Chris made that resolution.
At this point, a relative who was merely from a branch family had no value whatsoever. Much less someone working to bring infamy to House Clarino; they should be disposed of all the more.
And above all... no mercy was necessary for someone who had 'betrayed' him.