70 - Episode 14: Fortitude Does Not Give Up ⑫ ~Furious Marie-chan and the Settlement Results~
"How was it, Viscount Lard? A bit of an upset can be quite elegant, wouldn't you say?"
Bicks, who had watched the race results from the VIP seats of the main stand, was about to leave his seat when a voice called out from behind. Turning around, he saw Geoglyph standing there with a bright, cheerful expression.
However, the atmosphere around him was oppressive, contrary to his expression. Soldiers armed to an excessive degree for mere guards had surrounded Bicks. Seeing the Triad emblems engraved on the armor of the Governor Bethlehem and the soldiers standing behind Geoglyph, Bicks understood that this was a group under the Governor's command.
"What on earth is the meaning of this?"
While questioning them, Bicks raced his thoughts. He scrutinized which of his schemes had been exposed, thinking that that one should have been fine, but... unfortunately, it was all of them.
"Wouldn't it be faster to ask your own heart?"
"I am an Administrative Supervisor! To do this..."
"Bethlehem."
"Yes, sir. Now, look at this."
Following Geoglyph's instruction, Bethlehem stepped forward and spread a piece of paper for Bicks to see. However, his manner of speaking was not that of someone addressing a noble, and Bicks manifested his anger.
"You, a mere Governor, speaking to a noble like me in such a way... guboh!?"
But Bethlehem let out a deep sigh at him and delivered an iron fist. Once, twice, three times... perhaps he had accumulated a great deal of stress, for he continued to pummel Bicks until he became quiet and was knocked flat, then showed him the paper in his hand. Geoglyph thought that combined with his villainous face, he had a strong sense of "Outrage."
"Look at this before you spout nonsense. Then you will understand the meaning of my attitude."
"This... is..."
On the spread paper were Bicks's crimes and the grounds for his detention, as well as the stripping of his nobility, stamped with the Emperor's signature and seal. In the Leonesta Empire, this was the most powerful official document.
"In other words, as of this moment, you are stripped of your nobility and are a mere commoner. Before Geoglyph-sama... your head is too high, commoner! Kneel!!"
Geoglyph watched with a cool face as Bethlehem grabbed Bicks's hair and slammed him onto the floor, but internally he was commenting, "Well, I'm a third son, so I'm not much different from a commoner." Well, he decided to keep quiet and read the room.
"T-this is some kind of mistake! H-His Majesty would never do such a thing...!"
"Then it would be best to make your excuses before His Majesty. Conveniently, the Imperial Guard who delivered this warrant is right there. Judgment will be passed without delay. 'Time for a little punishment,' as they say."
Geoglyph told this to Bicks, who was making excuses that sounded like explanations while his face was battered and blood flowed from his nose and mouth. The evidence had already been submitted. According to the Imperial Guard who delivered the warrant, Official Spies had been moving and gathering information for some time. The evidence compiled by Bethlehem served as corroboration, which was why things had moved so quickly.
"No... that's impossible..."
Geoglyph casually patted the shoulder of Bicks, who had turned pale and lost his words.
"Didn't I tell you? There are no absolutes in horse racing or in life. Did you carve that into your heart?"
Told this with an extremely radiant smile, Bicks's shoulders slumped in despair.
●
"What exactly do you intend to do?"
Meanwhile, at the same time, Marianne and Lilitia were surrounded by Nid's gang.
Of course, Marianne understood without having to ask. This was a table-flip. An unacceptable off-board tactic attempting to overturn the dice that had already been cast.
"Well, you can tell without me saying it, right?"
"You guys! Big Sister won!?"
"Shut up, idiot. A bet is a bet, sure, but there's such a thing as overtime, right? The kind called a real fight."
Lilitia, sensing this, protested, but Nid took a knife from his coat with a smirk on his face. As if that were the signal, the guards surrounding them... no, Nid's henchmen, each gripped their weapons.
"It is not beautiful. Do you have no aesthetic as a gambler?"
She hadn't expected much to begin with.
"The act of gambling exposes a person's true nature. Masks patched up with common sense, propriety, and vanity are all melted away by the heat of the gambling den."
It had been like that from the moment she was first called to this VIP room. Nid had rigged the bets he proposed. That was fine. Since he was a gambler, or even if he wasn't, it was perfectly natural to prepare in advance and set up a way to win. However, he didn't even try to hide it.
"That is why I believe people who hate gambling like snakes and scorpions are cowards who have never faced their own true nature, or have no intention of doing so. After all, life is ultimately a matter of winning or losing... no matter how you look at it, it is a series of gambles."
The thrill of gambling lies in deceiving and being deceived. A big win is only a big win because it can be missed. Therefore, deceiving each other is fine. However, the moment she felt no spirit to deceive completely, Marianne stopped seeing Nid as a fellow gambler. She judged him to be a mere fake.
"I believe gambling is such a double-edged sword, and the act of sharpening it. That is why genuine gamblers, who have no choice but to face gambling sincerely, are such beautiful and passionate people. Compared to them, you people are..."
He did not love gambling. He loved winning.
"What the hell are you talking about! Enough of you lot! I'll fold this woman—"
That greatly irritated Marianne the Gambler.
"Enough... of... you."
Along with those words, which could almost be called cold-hearted, Shadow Beasts erupted from every shadow in the room.
"Hie...!? Gyaaaaaah!!"
The Shadow Beasts that leaped out attacked Nid's gang in response to their master's fury. Their speed was such that it was over in a flash, like a lightning strike. However, they did not kill. Their master, Marianne, did not wish for it. Therefore, they only crushed weapons and pinned limbs.
"Not beautiful. Ah, not beautiful. Appearance is certainly important, and the heart is even more important, but more than that... the way of life! Truly! Ugly...!!"
"Big... Sister...?"
At this point, Lilitia finally noticed Marianne's anger.
They had stepped on Marianne's landmine. Yes, they had stepped on it. One of the few landmines of the woman known as Marianne Romanette.
"I don't like it. Ah, I really don't like it. You're a gambler, right? Why can't you bet your own aesthetics along with the money? We feel the thrill and enjoy it because someone is tap-dancing in a minefield planted between composure and passion. That's why we throw huge sums of money into 1.1 odds just to feel the tension. That's why we weigh the risk of missing a mid-tier longshot and strategize to overcome it. That's why we can dream of a bottomless booby prize."
Marianne is a person who longs for beauty. From her experience in her previous life, it was a longing so strong it could be called yearning. While the aspect of yuri couplings was the main axis, essentially it was a longing for beauty itself.
She wanted to gaze at beautiful things. She wanted to touch beautiful things. She wanted to line up beautiful things. She wanted to become a beautiful thing.
That longing, which she wished for so fervently her body burned, however, was never fulfilled in her previous life. A beautiful morning never came for her. But even so, it gave her one experience.
That beauty also manifests in the way a person exists.
"It's happy if you win. It's sad if you lose. If you aren't caught, cheating is legal. It's the fault of the one who couldn't see through it. To outsmart the smartest, to exhaust everything one has just to win. Luck is a given, but you all-in the experience you've accumulated to get there. That is a gambler. Therefore, one must never, even if it means death, do something as unsightly as trying to overturn the dice that have already been cast."
People. Life. Beauty exists not only in appearance or personality, but also in the experience and beliefs a person holds. In her previous life, where beauty was out of reach, this was the only lesson and admonition she could believe in.
Therefore, she learned and loved a beautiful way of living... namely, an aesthetic.
And she came to realize that for people with an aesthetic, there is no distinction between high and low birth.
In contrast, what about Nid and his lot? They had no will to deceive completely, relying only on numbers and money, and even tried to overturn the dice. If there were traces of muddy effort there, it would be a different story, but they were doing it simply because they wanted to make a profit. They were using such crude methods simply because they hated losing and wanted to win.
They looked down on the match. They looked down on gambling. They looked down on aesthetics. That was terribly infuriating.
"Those without an aesthetic should not touch gambling...!!"
Therefore, Marianne was furious at those who had directly rebelled against her rooted aesthetic.
But sadly, most of them had fainted after being attacked by the Shadow Beasts and could not hear Marianne's words.
"Now, let's go. To the boss who keeps such brainless fools without an aesthetic."
"Y-you... what on earth do you intend to do...?"
Marianne, who had calmed down and returned to her original tone, thinking it was useless to say anything to such dullards, was asked timidly by Nid, who was restrained by a Shadow Beast. Then, she tilted her head and looked back, saying this.
"I'm going to educate them, obviously."
She had already investigated the location, grasped the number of people stationed there, and had even set up the guards via Governor Bethlehem.
Lilitia wondered internally if "raid" was the more appropriate word, but since her "Boku-girl Big Sister" was also a thing she loved, her excitement meter hit the limit and she had accumulated about three bars of gauge, so she didn't say it aloud.
It is recorded here that on that day, the mafia of Berture was completely annihilated without exception.
●
The morning after the Arima Kinen, Fortitude was perplexed at the gates of Berture.
He had come to see off the boy who had become his partner and his companions as they were leaving Berture, but the boy in question... Leiter, was clinging to him as he rode, burying his face in the mane and refusing to move.
Fortitude wondered if he was perhaps lonely, but it felt strangely creepy.
"Ah... I thought so during the race, but this fluffiness is just so healing... suuuuuuuu."
"U-um, Leiter?"
Fortitude's confusion reached its peak as his partner began to engage in increasingly creepy behavior.
A lot had happened since then. In any case, it was a victory in the anniversary race. Moreover, it was a win from a booby-popularity position. Most of the venue was filled with commotion and screams. A couple of middle-aged men were dancing with joy while crying, and Fortitude felt a little happy, wondering if they had bet on him.
The wound on Leiter's leg was not serious and he was quickly treated by the recovery mages stationed as staff, so everything turned out fine.
After that, there was a retirement ceremony. Since Misora, the owner and trainer, was sobbing uncontrollably and was in no condition for an interview, for some reason Fortitude answered the interview. He remembered well that the reporter pointing the amplification magic tool at him seemed a bit happy.
Then they had a victory party, and that morning was now.
"Is the atmosphere somehow different from yesterday?"
"A-ahaha... Leiter-sama is usually mostly like this."
Misora found Leiter, who was clinging to Fortitude and performing "horse-sniffing," strange, but for Kazuha, it was a familiar sight.
"Thank you, Leiter."
"Hmm? I've heard that many times already."
Fortitude gave his thanks to Leiter, who had practically become a vacuum cleaner.
The achievement of winning the Arima Kinen was huge. The prize money was one thing, but the name brand of "Fortitude of the Barclay Stable, who won the Arima" was not to be underestimated.
Furthermore, by defeating the Absolute Emperor Rothringen, he let everyone know he was a horse of true ability. Since he was originally a Hall of Fame Horse, it served to reaffirm that he was a strong horse who had simply been in poor condition. In fact, at the celebration party, there were many inquiries for breeding for Fortitude, who was about to enter stud.
That said, this was the critical moment for the business. There wasn't that much leeway. However, they had bought a few years of time. From here on, it would be another kind of battle, and the protagonist would be neither Leiter nor Fortitude.
Even so.
"I told you, many times. For the first time in a long while, I remembered the meaning of my name... thanks."
"...I see."
Fortitude, the Indomitable, who had remembered the meaning embedded in his name after long forgetting it following the death of Rag Barclay, thanked his final partner once more.
Upon hearing this, Leiter dismounted from Fortitude.
"Well, it's a shame, but my friends are waiting... it's time to go. Take care, Forti, Misora."
"It will probably be tough from here on, but please do your best."
"Yes, you take care too. Truly, thank you."
"Bye-bye, Leiter. ...See you again, partner!"
To the thought-wave received from behind, Leiter simply gave a silent thumbs-up without looking back and departed.
●
Then, accompanied by Kazuha, Leiter reached the carriage stopped near the gate and discovered Marianne sitting in a fetal position on the cargo bed, weeping.
"What's up, Princess? You're still at it?"
She had returned in the middle of the night and had been in this state until now.
"Egu egu... my, my gold coins... my forty thousand coins..."
"How pitiful, Big Sister..."
Lilitia was snuggling up to Marianne, who was weeping while lingeringly muttering "forty thousand coins," but the evaluation from her companions was abysmal.
"Just give it up already. You're lucky you didn't end up in debt after rampaging that much."
"That's right, Marie. I think rampaging enough to destroy three blocks is common sense-defying. If Geo hadn't intervened, it wouldn't have been enough, right?"
Yes. This idiot had gone to beat up the mafia, but she had overdone it.
Everything had gone according to plan up until she dragged Nid and the others to the boss's place for a raid. However, Marianne, who had been furious from her exchange with Nid, had shaken off the city guards and charged ahead. She gave the mafia, including the boss, a lecture accompanied by physical attacks. In the aftermath, she destroyed about three blocks.
Of course, because Lilitia had been inspired, no one died, but since she was thinking "I love Big Sister the God of Destruction too!", there were some slightly unfortunate medical errors for the mafia, which is a secret just between us.
As a result.
"But! But it's too much! To have 39,997 coins taken!"
Due to various compensation payments for those destructive acts, most of the prize money she should have received from the bet with Nid was taken away.
"Considering the amount of damage, isn't it a good thing you have 3 gold coins left in your hand?"
"Ah, that reminds me."
When Kazuha pointed out the three gold coins remaining in her palms, Leiter clapped his hands as if remembering.
"Here. My share. Well, I can't buy betting tickets myself while riding."
"Huh?"
And he took one gold coin from Marianne's hand.
"Ah, and my wages for the negotiation. Well, I bargained the compensation down from 50,000 gold coins to 10,000, so it's okay for me to take this much, right?"
"Eh?"
Geoglyph also took one, as if saying "while I'm at it."
"Then, my share is..."
Only one gold coin remained in her hand. Since she had put out 20,000 gold coins as a stake, she was effectively minus 19,999 coins. In Japanese yen, that was a loss of 1,999,900,000 yen.
"Now, let's depart."
"Aye-aye."
And at the lead of the ruthless leader and driver, Marianne felt dizzy and shouted toward the shadow horse Orobas hitched to the carriage.
"Wait! Orobas, wait! This one gold coin! I'll go and increase this one gold coin again!!"
"Orobas. You don't have to listen. You don't want your master to go broke, right?"
Orobas, the Shadow Beast, pondered for a moment at the words of the driver Leiter, then stared intently at Marianne. Then, as if saying "Your back is covered in soot...", he betrayed his master Marianne and calmly stepped forward.
"Wait! Orobas! You choose that man over me, your master!?"
There were no words, but it was an action full of meaning, as if saying "gamble in moderation."
"I shall ritaaaan!!"
Into the June sky scented with a fragrant breeze, the sorrow of a gambler who was not allowed a single cry of mercy echoed high into the heavens.
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