There was a strange party of people heading towards s.h.i.+maron.

“I’d say we look more suspicious than strange.”

“Mm…. I never thought that I, who’ve been given nicknames such as ‘The hero of the seas’, ‘warrior of naval wars’, and even the terrible name of ‘monster of the ocean’ would have to perform such unimportant tasks on foreign soil. My G.o.d ~ “

“What are you talking about? Captain Saismoya, this isn’t an unimportant thing, it counts as sneaking into the enemy territory! This is actually a very important a.s.signment! In the past, I’ve even been the subject of the red devil’s experiments! If only the Mazoku could give up their self-pride, they would be able to do anything they wanted to.”

The silver-haired female at the very front of the group turned around and told Dakaskos and Saismoya, “Ss.h.!.+ It’s the patrol. Are you ready? We’re about to take action.”

Then she faced the patrolling soldiers who were looking furious.

“How are you – we’re selling beverages…! We’re delivering cold drinks to the audience in the VIP room…!”

They were heading towards the shrine in the city of Lambel in Dai s.h.i.+maron while carrying a box covered by a light green cloth. The final round of the World’s Best Fighter Tournament was being held in the grand arena next to it, this would be the very last stage of the compet.i.tion. They could hear the enthusiastic cheers of the audience even though they were inside the solid stone building.

“….this is great, they don’t suspect us at all. It’s probably because the size of this box is almost the same as a cooler, yeah, that’s probably it.” The box was about as large as a small coffin and two men would be perfectly capable of carrying it. To avoid getting busted if it was checked, we had placed real wine bottles inside it. They ranged from high-quality wines to those common wines for ordinary citizens, this was really a plan that paid no heed to expenses.

“Let’s not even discuss myself or Dakaskos, even Lady Flynn is disguised as a beverage seller. I’m really sorry that the leader of Caloria has to demean herself like this.”

“It’s alright, the colonel told me to stay on board the s.h.i.+p, but I insisted on coming. Anyway I’m not the daughter of a n.o.ble family, I’m just a simple girl from the flatlands. I prefer this simple getup compared to a gown that’s so long it would trip me up.”

They had succeeded in sneaking into the shrine so easily because of Flynn Gilbert and her experience in training the army – she was truly the daughter of the flatlands. Most of the soldiers stationed around the city were from the flatlands. Even the soldier guarding this building was the same – a middle-aged soldier with an out of date haircut.

He had let them pa.s.s through after seeing Flynn disguised as a beverage seller, maybe he had been feeling a nostalgia for a certain dessert at that moment.

“However the Great Sage really does give us orders that are difficult to follow. Telling us to steal that box and subst.i.tute it with this counterfeit – I never expected that Jozak had been working on this counterfeit all the time we were on the boat.”

Placing the box on the polished floor, Saismoya stretched himself lazily. Dakaskos removed the cloth he had bound round his head and was wiping away the sweat on his forehead.

“You’re right! The Great Sage has predicted that Heika wouldn’t win. Actually Heika is quite reliable, that’s why I bet all my money that Caloria would win. If I win (the bet), I can claim an infinite amount of reward money, and anyway there’s still Jozak amongst the three of them, it’s highly probable that they will win all three rounds.”

“Mm – and Gurrier is one of those that returned from Artellino, he’s among the best from the Ruttenberg troop.”

“That’s right, maybe they won’t even need Heika or His Excellency to go out there, Jozak alone would be able to beat all three compet.i.tors!”

Flynn felt rather confused after hearing so many strange names and places. She was debating whether to ask any further questions or not, she wanted confirmation of her suspicions yet she hesitated to do so. In the end she succ.u.mbed to temptation and interrupted the conversation between the two men.

“Wait a minute, before the two of you continue with your conversation, I need to tell you that I’ve heard a lot about Yuu…ehm, Colonel Kelujin’s and Robinson’s real ident.i.ties. Have you two obtained their permission before talking so freely about them in front of me?”

However the look she got from them was one that was one of ‘Haven’t you discovered their ident.i.ties before this?!’ Actually she had more or less sensed the truth, but had felt that she should pretend not to know anything out of common courtesy, since the people involved hadn’t actually confirmed her suspicions. And anyway…. A lock of hair worked free from the knot she had tied her hair up in and she toyed with that lock with her index finger.

These people still aren’t aware of the terrible things I did in the past, they don’t know that Flynn Gilbert is actually a cold and ruthless woman who doesn’t care what other people think of her.

“You can’t talk about national secrets in front of me! I don’t want to be responsible for any consequences from your actions! I might end up selling your secrets to others.”

This was because she would do anything to obtain freedom for Caloria. As long as she could get back the ocean, harbor, land, people, her husband and the world she loved so much, she wouldn’t even hesitate at betraying the G.o.ds. She had been doing this all along, she couldn’t suddenly stop and reform at this moment, it was too late even though she regretted all this now.

Even though she was feeling so much regret within it would be of no consequence to matters now.

“Why would you describe yourself as someone so scary, Lady Flynn? Don’t let’s talk about Dakaskos, but I’m just an ordinary task-performing soldier. All the important information that would be dangerous if they were known to outsiders would never reach my ears.”

“Task-performing soldier?”

“Ah, there’s actually no rank in the army with that t.i.tle, but I reached the status of a soldier who performs tasks only after much perseverance.”

“Aren’t you very close to Colonel Kelujin?”

Dakaskos was rubbing his head, unconsciously adhering to an old habit of his. Of course, there was no hair there at all. He was rubbing his bald and s.h.i.+ny scalp while saying, “Ah – ! Does Heika call himself Colonel Kelujin now? The Colonel is actually very special, you know.he doesn’t care whether you are a colonel or just an ordinary soldier, he… he can talk with simply anyone and can get along with anyone easily. He doesn’t care about status or ranking, he gets along with every single one of us, and is willing to treat us all equally and even demean himself to our status. He’s a very unique person, to be honest, he’s really very remarkable.”

Saismoya was nodding with all his might, not minding that this would draw notice to his nearly bald head.

“Of course there are others like him amongst those with high status. However, most n.o.bles and royals will give people the impression of being so high up. There really aren’t too many people in the world who are like Heika, he’s really very unique.”

“Really?”

“Since Lady Flynn and Hei….and the Colonel are quite close, then you shouldn’t be someone bad.”

Dakaskos had smiled shyly, there was a blush spreading across the area around his receding hairline. Saismoya was gazing at his bald and s.h.i.+ny pate while saying enviously, “Your hairstyle seems to be very convenient.”

“This? This really is very light and convenient! Does the Captain want to give it a try? You don’t have to worry about the volume of hair left, and it looks so manly! Also, you can rinse your head while you’re was.h.i.+ng your face, it’s both convenient and economical. However, the drawback of it is that when your wife calls you ‘You bald donkey!’ you’ll feel the urge to cry.”

Affected by Dakaskos’ laughter, Flynn’s expression lightened up as she said, “You said that I’m not someone bad….”

She never thought that she would get this kind of retribution. Logically she should have been hated, mocked and looked down upon, because she had been prepared to betray the Mazoku n.o.bles to their enemies although she had been fully aware of the consequences.

“…..you said something that hurts me a lot.” (Flynn)

“Why, what is it, Lady Flynn?”

The muscular man of the sea Saismoya had bent down to look at her. Flynn Gilbert shut her eyes tightly for a short while, then raised her head and said, “No, it’s nothing, it’s really nothing. We should try to find the room where the box is stored within the shortest time possible, then subst.i.tute the real one with the one we have. If we succeed in getting ‘The Ends of the Wind’, I think the Colonel will be greatly surprised. I really wonder what expression he would have then, don’t you?”

She had purposely lightened her tone to spur herself on. The two men lifted the box and crossed the stone floor. If the box was really hidden in some part of the shrine, then that part would be the one most heavily guarded. Even if the three of them could find that room, it was still uncertain whether they could successfully enter that room. However, no one dared to voice this out loud.

After ascending their third flight of stairs, they entered a s.p.a.ce which was rather different from the ones before. The polished stone floors were now covered with an earth-yellow carpet, it felt so comfortable when their feet sank into it, giving them the urge to rest their tired feet then and there. Out of the five luxurious looking doors leading out from it, two were open, and one of the walls of that room was made entirely of gla.s.s. The arena was clearly visible from the room.

“This is great!”

“It seems that we’re in the VIP room, this proves that the credibility of beverage sellers surpa.s.ses hat of others.”

Flynn approached the window and touched the gla.s.s window with her trembling fingers. She didn’t dare to look down.

What if a tragedy that she couldn’t accept happened?

“Ah! Captain, Lady Flynn! It’s Heika! It’s Heika! I think the first round just ended. Oh no, he can’t stand up! Don’t tell me he’s injured his foot? Ah ~ if only the Sergeant were here ~ ”

“I don’t see the Colonel.”

“I think I saw him in that shaded area, that’s probably the place where compet.i.tors prepare themselves before entering the arena?”

“That’s great….” (Flynn)

“I never expected that troublemakers would worm themselves into a place like this!”

She hadn’t even finished expressing her relief before she heard a familiar voice coming from behind.

Saiamoya, the hero of the seas, had reacted before the other two people standing at the window. He rushed at the enemy by covering the shortest distance possible and thrust the tip of his sword against the enemy’s chest.

However the opponent had reacted even sooner. He stood unmoving at the entrance while a ripple of silver could be seen cutting through the air. The s.h.i.+ny wire extending from his fingertips had firmly trapped his target faraway.

“Uh…”

Flynn was struggling to breathe, her fingers clutching at her pale throat. She was trying with all her might to grip at the wire entrapping herself, but was failing since the wire had sunk deep into her skin. Dakaskos whirled around and helped up Flynn, who had collapsed onto the floor.

“Stop moving! Else her head comes off!”

Saismoya raised his sword to about the height of his waist, but took no further action. “Sheath your sword then place it at your feet. If you don’t do as I say, this lady will suffer all the consequences. You don’t want to see her die in such an ugly way, do you? It’ll be both ugly and filthy.”

“….Ma….xine…..why’re......you….here…”

Flynn had spat out the name of this cold-blooded man with much difficulty. Nigel Weiss Maxine approached the center of the room carefully, reducing the distance between himself and Flynn.

“Why? I should ask you that question. I was wondering why I could see that familiar silver hair, then it turned out that it really is the famous leader of Caloria. Although her own people are struggling to survive on that completely destroyed land, the wife of the regent came here to sell beverages and make small profits, she even sneaked here to watch World’s Best Fighter Tournament, I think the people of your land would be really disappointed by your actions.”

Flynn’s mouth was opened wide as she tried to get oxygen into her lungs. Every time Maxine pulled a bit harder at the wire, a red mark would be left on her neck. The man raised her chin with his thumb and pushed at her back from behind, causing her to fall down backwards.

“Why….did this happen..?” (Flynn)

Although it was forced out, there was still a hint of mockery in it. Even though her life was in the hands of her opponent, Flynn was still unwilling to surrender.

Maxine looked exhausted, the complete opposite of what he usually looked like. His ponytail, typical of those from the Shou s.h.i.+maron army, had come loose, and his thin face was covered with injuries. His ragged army uniform was spattered with blood, and the fearsome impression he gave others had lessened because of his agitated and exhausted expression. His voice didn’t sound threatening any longer, it sounded more like the hoa.r.s.e voice of an old man.

“You asked me why I look like this? Don’t pretend any more, Lady! No, Melind Gilbert, this is all thanks to your partner, that detestable Mazoku! He looks just like an ordinary brat, but he completely fooled me!”

“Hey! Be careful of what you say. The stars, the moon, the sun, even I won’t tolerate something so disrespectful of Heika! I won’t hesitate at killing you, although I’m usually a gentle strong man!”

“Captain, coming from you, this doesn’t mean anything….” Maxine had twisted Flynn’s arm with his left hand and pressed her face against the gla.s.s window. Maybe because he was overly furious, there was no trace of his usually calm att.i.tude.

“How in the world did you get to know these Mazoku? Tell me! Did you lure him with your beauty?! That b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I only got the cooperation of those s.h.i.+nzoku after much difficulty, and I even managed to find a carriage. d.a.m.n, just thinking of it all makes me so angry!”

“…let go…”

“And after arriving at the arena after much difficulty, I see puny little Caloria competing against Dai s.h.i.+maron in the finals?! Don’t make me laugh! You’re just a tiny country in the south with a rotten harbor! You think you can compete against others in the finals? Hey, you baldy!”

“What, moustache man!”

Nigel Weiss Maxine gestured towards the cloth-covered box with his head.

There had been an unexpected development in the arena.

Of course I hadn’t doubted von Bielefeld-kyo’s abilities, because he had very easily dodged the attack of the double blades and had had his sword tip pointed against the opponent’s throat within five minutes. I hadn’t been so paralyzed by shock at his performance that I was unable to get up from my chair, definitely not. Right, definitely not, I had just been a little bit shocked. All the sweat from my tightly clenched fists had dried earlier on.

The dedicated cheerleading group for s.h.i.+maron (almost all of the audience) had been furious at the overly short match, paper cups, waste paper, junk food wrappings, even the cus.h.i.+oning for the seats, all the rubbish they could lay their hands on were thrown onto the snowy ground. In other words, it had been Dai s.h.i.+maron and not us who had let the people down.

“The people of Dai s.h.i.+maron really have no cla.s.s ~”

It seems that the general theory of sympathizing with the weak was non-existent in s.h.i.+maron.

Von Bielefeld-kyo, who had obtained a complete victory despite the disadvantage of having a smaller physique, was carrying his yet unsheathed sword and heading tiredly yet victoriously towards the resting room….

“Wa….! Wolf!”

He had slipped and fallen face down while heading towards us. Walking on the hardened snowy ground had caused him to slip and fall, banging his waist and right leg hard.

“How come you fell down?! Are you alright?”

Jozak and I hurriedly ran out and helped Wolfram up. Poor Wolfram seemed unable to walk on his own and was even gazing blankly into the sky while muttering, “….This…this is so embarra.s.sing…”

“Relax, don’t worry, there’s really nothing to be ashamed of! We’ll pretend that we didn’t see that last scene. Your handsome and das.h.i.+ng appearance must have fatally charmed so many girls….” (Yuuri)

“Getting noticed by human females is nothing to be happy about!” (Wolfram)

“Don’t worry! Your Excellency, females are prohibited from entering the arena, so it will actually be those disgusting men who get attracted to you!” (Jozak)

“Are you trying to make this worse?!”

Loud cheers from the men were resonating throughout the arena, but this bishounen from the Mazoku tribe was not the type that liked being pursued by fans. Now he was scrunching his face and rubbing his waist because of the pain, it seems that it hurt him to make any small movement.

“Let me challenge my so-called healing powers.” (Yuuri)

“Don’t do this sort of thing before the compet.i.tion, don’t waste your energy. Who knows what sudden situation will be waiting for us!”

I got a scolding. But maybe because I was feeling relieved as we were leading by one point, it didn’t feel too bad.

However an unexpected progression in events occurred.

Murata Ken, who was looking at the opponents’ resting area with his hands positioned like binoculars around his eyes, suddenly let out a crazy yell, “Ah…?”

“What is it? Murata, why that strange cry?”

“……the person preparing to battle against us in the second round is a man we know very well.”

“A man we know very well? Can it be Maxine? That’s impossible isn’t it? That fellow shouldn’t be able to partic.i.p.ate right? No, wait! What if he’s got a twin brother?”

Our opponent’s second representative was supporting himself using a ‘modern salmon weapon’[1], his large high-quality army boots stepping firmly on the white snow.

He had a head of golden hair that was illuminated by the firelight, a slightly crooked to the left but p.r.o.nounced hawk nose, and a split chin, broad shoulders and chest, those would be evident even in an x-ray, and he had the nickname of ‘Denver’s Wild Horse’. Just when I was distracted, he started calling out to me, “Hi! What is it? You wimpy Heika, why do you look like a sheep that’s eaten raw mutton?” What a polite greeting.

“Why is that American football player here?! And thinking about it, what does a sheep eating raw mutton look like?”

Wolfram, who was sitting down, craned his neck to try and see what was going on, but had to give up because of his injured waist. Adalbert von Grantz was standing in the middle of the arena like a Transformer. His sword, which resembled a fresh salmon, was embedded into the snowy ground, and he was leaning with his right elbow on the sword handle. When I had first arrived at this world, he had toyed around with my soul, and even extracted the memories of the past languages I had known. He never attempted to conceal his anti-Mazoku beliefs, and had even betrayed his Mazoku comrades without hesitation.

Wolfram, who had finally identified the enemy after difficulty, was saying in a voice filled with shock and anger, “Adalbert! Why is that fellow in Dai s.h.i.+maron?!”

Suddenly, I heard a dry chuckle. Jozak, gripping a long-axe in his hands while laughing so hard that his orange hair was rippling along with his laughter, said, “Old buddy Grantz, I really have to hand it to you! You’re a pure blooded Mazoku from a well-known family, yet you’re willing to become a dog for Dai s.h.i.+maron!”

“Why? Why did you ally with Dai s.h.i.+maron…”

I knew that man hated the Mazoku, but I didn’t believe that he was cooperating with s.h.i.+maron because he trusted the humans. Maybe because he had sensed my bafflement, Jozak explained to me in a tone still tinged with humor, “I think he found out from someone or other that Heika would be partic.i.p.ating in the compet.i.tion. And anyway, overpowering the original representative for the compet.i.tion and taking his place in the compet.i.tion wouldn’t be something new to Mr Grantz. It seems that he won’t hesitate at any method to force Heika into danger. You’re being targeted by a very dangerous person! That person is really very stubborn.”

“What….what despair? What….what stubbornness?”

The arena was packed with more than five million people, could I beat this sworn enemy in front of them? This reminded me of the defensive stance we had once taken in the latter half of a baseball game, it was a bad memory since we had been so nervous that the opponents might score a home run or that the three pitchers would succeed in making good strikes.

Wolf got up from the bench despite his pain, “Let me.”

“No ~ young sir, I won’t let you do that.” (Jozak)

Jozak pressed on Wolf’s shoulder with one finger, Wolf frowned and stopped moving.

“Let me challenge that fellow, this is actually a chance that’s hard to come by!”

He swung his weapon around twice within that rather cramped resting area. Although his tone sounded merry, there was not a hint of laughter within the depths of his eyes.

“Since s.h.i.+maron will be represented by an excellent pure-blooded Mazoku, then the Mazoku should be represented by me. Let this human child who’s wandered around the wilderness for more than twelve years meet him in battle! Anyway we have no loyalty to speak of, I might as well take this chance to fight with him.”

“Wait a bit! Wait a bit, Jozak! I don’t doubt you at all!”

“Of course I know this, Heika, but the person to fight him should be me and no one else.”

We had already decided on this order of appearance in the first place. Since this was the elimination contest of the ‘World’s Best Fighter Tournament’, it wouldn’t be against the rules to let Wolfram continue fighting in the next round, since he had won the first round. However, I just couldn’t bear to let him continue competing when I saw his injured waist. More so since the opponent was the American footballer.

“Caloria’s representative, please enter the arena!” Two men who looked very much like they were the judges were hustling us along with the exact same tone. Adalbert was still leaning against his heavy duty sword and looking up at my panicked expression. The third son was sitting silently on the bench with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Maybe because of his stamina as a soldier, he wasn’t revealing any expression of pain. Jozak, on the other hand, was full of vigor and was rolling his shoulders about, seemingly unable to control the excitement he felt.

“I’m sorry, Wolf. I know you’re really good, but just let Jozak go out this time.”

“Hmph!”

“Don’t be angry! Won’t it be alright if you request to partic.i.p.ate again after you recover?”

“I didn’t really want to fight that fellow anyway.”

“Huh? I thought you wanted to fight him because he had insulted you once before…… Then why did you volunteer to go out there? Or maybe I misunderstood you?”

The whole arena had become even noisier; this signified that the battle between the two warriors would soon begin. Wolfram’s arms remained crossed in front of his chest, and he was trying his best to speak in an unemotional tone. Those emerald green eyes that reminded me of the depths of a green lake were trained on his team-mate.

“From a neutral perspective, Gurrier and Adalbert’s abilities are evenly matched, so I had just been planning to fight the opponent first to waste away his (Adalbert’s) energy.”

Who had taught him the principle of ‘sacrificing oneself for the benefit of everyone else’? I was sliding his sword into the sheath he had handed to me while listening to this extremely stubborn bishounen speaking calmly.

“Even if there wasn’t any guarantee I would definitely win, at least I could have wasted some of Adalbert’s energy and disrupted his emotions. Then if Gurrier could remain calm and deal with the opponent with his usual capabilities, we could easily get pa.s.s this round…..what are you doing, Yuuri? Take your hand off my forehead!”

“Mm….no, I was wondering if you had a fever….”

A youth who looked like he was in his teens poked his head in from the entrance of the resting area. His reddish-brown hair was cut very short, it was evident that he wasn’t a soldier of s.h.i.+maron, but was one of the workers from the arena. Murata Ken, who had remained silent all the while, left the wall he had been leaning on and headed towards the youth. After a short conversation, he had taken the object in his hands.

“This really sounds like a great battle plan, von Bielefeld kyo! However, events seem to have taken a turn for the worse!”

Although he wasn’t wearing any spectacles, his eyes behind his contact lenses were sparkling with a black light. He handed the wine bottle he was holding to me. The dark brown bottle had a deep red label attached to it, and large characters had been roughly scrawled onto the empty s.p.a.ce of that label.

“Try reading it, but I have to warn you that the writing is so messy that it’s hard to decipher it.”

“I told you before that I’m really no good at reading these characters. What does it say? Ehm…. Going through the words…….If…if…..don’t wish…..woman to die…..lose the compet.i.tion……I’ll kill her if you tell anyone else….is this a threatening letter?! But who’s the woman it means? What on earth does this all mean? I think it was a wrong delivery, we’ve to find that youth just now, he can’t have gone far. Hey…!”

I hurriedly poked my head out into the corridor outside, but Murata pulled me back with a serious expression.

“s.h.i.+buya, I think there was no mistake. Captain Saismoya and Dakaskos should have arrived here by now, and if Lady Flynn had followed them here…”

“What? Why would Flynn follow them?! Didn’t I tell her to wait on board the s.h.i.+p?”

“Is she the kind of person to succ.u.mb to orders meekly? This compet.i.tion concerns the honor of Caloria!”

Flynn Gilbert’s past doings flashed through my brain within that short two seconds. Everyone else’s lives were suddenly overshadowed by that.

The conclusion I could make was that she’d probably come.

“Ah…oh no! Oh no, this is really bad! It said that we should look up, where does this up refer to?”

We rushed out of the resting area and looked up into the dark sky which was still snowing, the moon, which had hidden itself behind the clouds, was still visible.

“Over there!”

Murata had discovered their whereabouts. It was a building resembling a shrine; all stories above the third floor had gla.s.s windows, I could see several elegant millionaires watching the battle behind the gla.s.s windows. Those were probably the VIP seats, maybe there were even wine bars and luxurious sofas in there. There was a (person dressed as a) wine deliverer standing behind one of the windows.

“Ah, it’s Flynn! Didn’t I tell her to stay on the s.h.i.+p…?”

It seemed that she had sneaked her way into the party. I couldn’t be sure because of the distance, but her neck seemed to be restrained by a force from behind, she looked as if she were in pain. Standing behind Flynn, who was pressed against the window, was a man with a familiar hairstyle and beard. It was Nigel Weiss Maxine!

“Why is that fellow…. Here? Oh no! Murata, it said that if we didn’t want her to get hurt, we should lose the compet.i.tion on purpose, right?”

“That’s right.”

I looked back at the arena. Our representative was knocking back Adalbert’s curved sword with his axe. The sword tip bounced up from the ground and brushed across his opponent’s chin. Jozak was swinging his axe around with the grace of a baseball player, with his full concentration on the compet.i.tion.

It seemed that he was enjoying himself.

“So Maxine and the American footballer had planned this between them? The two of them had met before at Flynn’s estate. I thought there had been something suspicious at that time…so they have this kind of understanding between each other?”

Wolfram, who had lost his qualifications as a compet.i.tor because of his waist injury, was frowning and saying in surprise, “Although Adalbert betrayed the Mazoku tribe, I don’t think he would resort to such underhanded means.”

“Anyway, I think we should stop the compet.i.tion from going on! Hey…! Hey, judges…!”

“s.h.i.+buya! Don’t tell me you’re going to complain to the judges that we’re being threatened?”

“Huh? Can’t we complain about something like this…darn, then what should we do! How can we lose without arousing any suspicion…”

All of us were perfectly clear of Jozak Gurrier’s capabilities. Based on his abilities and tact, it was possible for him to purposely lose the compet.i.tion and fool both the judges and audience while at it. However, we had to convince Jozak and get him to agree with this right now, I found it really hard to tell him this.

Wolfram linked his arm round my neck and gazed at me, “Yuuri, listen to me carefully! This is just my personal opinion, but I don’t think we should give up the compet.i.tion for this type of woman. Just let Jozak continue to do his best! What do you think?”

“….this is your way of doing things…”

“That’s right, this is what I think we should do. Anyway you’re really very wimpy, you should listen to what I said.”

I was apologizing to someone in my mind, even if it’s just this once, please allow me to succ.u.mb to the evil side who is threatening us. I think I should be apologizing to the G.o.ds who represent the spirit of sportsmans.h.i.+p. I linked my own arm round Wolfram’s neck, and drawing him closer to myself, I apologized to him too, “I’m sorry, I’m always this wimpy, I really am quite embarra.s.sed as well, especially since you managed to gain one point despite the risk of injuries. I’ll probably cause all your efforts to go to waste.”

Wolfram sighed loudly and continued in a dramatic tone, “That’s perfectly correct.”

“This is all because you’re too wimpy. But although I’m perfectly aware of that, I’m still willing to follow you, do you know why that is?”

“I don’t know.”

Von Bielefeld-kyo undid a b.u.t.ton in front of his chest, his emerald green eyes seemed even brighter against the reflection of the white snow.

“Wrack your brains and think about it before I give up and leave you.”

After apologizing to Jozak, I made a ‘stopping temporarily’ request to the judges.