Proofreader: Chaddude
The inn was noisy.
Regardless of whether they were drinkers or not, customers chatted about the preliminaries that took place today.
Some about the swift maneuvers of the Elf.
Some about the Knight’s fantastic swordsmanship.
And some talked about the Martial Artist’s beautiful figure.
I was sipping honey wine alone in the corner of such an inn. The reason I was alone was simple.
As soon as we returned to the inn, Katarina rushed up to her room, saying that she had no appetite.
Probably because of the bloody scenes she saw in the preliminaries today. Even if I didn’t kill anyone, there was no law stating others couldn’t.
Shedia bounded along with Katarina.
I wondered of doing the same and comfort Katarina, before deciding to give them their girls time.
And we had rented only one room; I couldn’t rent more because the other rooms were full.
That was why I seemed like a post-recovery widower.
Scrutinizing at my empty glass, I was about to order another serving of mead, when someone put a hand on my shoulder.
“Drinking alone? Come and drink with us.”
It was the Knight.
The Elf and Martial Artist were sitting in the direction the knight pointed. These were the contestants who had advanced to the finals like me and the Knight.
“Drink with people I’m going to best tomorrow?”
“Umm… you don’t wanna?”
The Knight scratched the nape of his neck with an awkward expression. I smiled and stood up.
“Why not.”
“Haha! That’s a man, of course you should!”
I shrugged and approached the table as the Knight followed me. As I sat down at the table, the Elf frowned in displeasure. The Martial Artist snapped her fingers and sent me an extra bottle of honey wine, which deftly landed right in front of me.
“Thank you for the hospitality.”
The Martial Artist shrugged her shoulders.
Then she turned around and threw an empty glass flying. The glass hit a middle-aged man in the head.
He was the one who commented on her figure a little earlier.
After seeing him collapse, losing conscious, she relaxed and lounged in her chair.
“By the way, this is the meeting of finalists, yeah? Then I think a few people are missing.”
“I don’t even want to see those pathetic bastards who are only filling the leftover seats.”
The one who answered my question was the Elf with a disgusted expression.
“What about our six-armed friend? That dude, he stands the chance, doesn’t he?”
“You’re not serious, are you?”
“Why? Just because he didn’t fight today, doesn’t tell anything. I don’t think I have to tell you the type of advantage he holds with those two pairs of extra arms, do I?”
“Ha, whatever, I wouldn’t want to talk to a monster like that.”
“You’re the one fighting that monster tomorrow.”
The Elf laughed.
“He is a monster, yes. But only because of how he looks: gross. You really think I’m going to lose to that guy? I, the heir to the Elendos family, Aneraf Elendos?”
“Never heard the name.”
“It would be better if you memorize it now. It will be the name of the First King of the Elven kingdom that will first appear on the Continent.”
“An Elven kingdom, huh?”
Now what kind of fresh bullshit is this?
Or it’s the alcohol talking?
The Knight and the Martial Artist were also tilting their heads.
These guys feel the same way as me.
“All the guys in the woods are old-fashioned bastards. They do not think of venturing outside, saying that only the forest is our home. Because of that, this whole vast continent is being occupied by the likes of you humans, gawd.”
The elf gulped down the honey wine and continued.
“I can’t stand that. I will definitely establish an Elven kingdom and revive the clan. This job will be the foundation for that cause.”
After that, the Elf began talking at length about the plans he had made.
Ah, fuck. I’m not even curious. This guy is a gone cause.
* * *
“What were you doing out there so late?”
“I didn’t know that bean pole could talk so much either.”
Who would have expected him to blabber till dawn?
Instances were there where I wanted to cut it short, but good quality wine kept us — the Knight, Martial Artist and me — seated.
“It’s okay. None of the other participants slept either.”
“Yeah…? Ugh… Come on.”
Katarina pulled me by my head and made me lay on her thighs.
She was warmer than a pillow.
“I’ll wake you up when it’s your turn, so sleep until then.”
Katarina said as she stroked my hair.
“Alright, alright. But at least let me watch the first match.”
“Oh, an interesting one?”
“The Elf and six arms.”
As I was talking with Katarina, the doors on both sides of the arena opened and the contestants entered.
Six arms on the left.
The Elf on the right.
The two stood facing each other with some distance between them.
Because of the distance, I couldn’t see his face, but the Elf seemed full of confidence that he could tear his opponent apart at any time.
Moments later, Leslie raised her hand and started the match.
At the same time as the given motion, the Elf moved.
With a swift yet graceful lurch, he circled around the six arms.
The movement was so fast that afterimages were left behind as the Elf thrusted his rapier.
Six arms couldn’t keep up with the Elf’s speed.
Because of that, he covered his vitals with his pairs of arms.
The number of holes drilled in his arms and thighs increased. Blood flowed through the punctured holes. He was bleeding profusely, but he stood firm as a rock.
The circle drawn by the afterimage disappeared.
The Elf was in front of six arms. The elf’s rapier, which had begun to tinge with jade, fired at the speed of an arrow.
Piiik!
It pierced through the back of his hand that covered his head and holed through the forehead of the monster.
That marked the finish.
Perhaps thinking so, the elf pulled out his rapier and turned around as he waited for the applause to pour over him. But the crowd was quiet and it was time for the Elf to panic.
“Turn back, you asshole!” Someone shouted. A desperate gambler probably.
The six arms that had been stationary all along moved.
Only then did the Elf, who noticed his living presence, veered quickly, trying to lengthen the distance.
But it was too late.
Four of his arms, like cleavers with unmeasured intensity, blurred and when they reappeared, the Elf’s body was cut into four pieces and rolled across the floor.
Silence fell over the arena.
I looked at the six arms as I thought.
‘He played it.’
The speed at which he cut the Elf into four pieces.
If he had been at that speed from the beginning, the Elf would have struggled.
He would just keep getting pushed around and eventually die.
I turned my eyes toward the Elf.
‘And an Elven Kingdom sank like that’
If so, wasn’t the time I spent yesterday listening to his oh-so-glorious plan a waste of time? I was about to let out a deep sigh, but a slender palm tapped my head.
Turning my head, Katarina was staring at the four-pieced Elf with a blanched face.
“Abstain… Let’s abstain! No, abstain right now!”
With it rose the complexity.