It was a bird that flew across.

There was no pollution in the morning air as I yawned as large as I could. When I opened the window to breathe in the fresh air, there were sapphire birds with long orange tail feathers, flying right by the balcony. They were beautiful, but squawked, "Engiwaru!"[1] in a horrid voice.

For breakfast it seemed everyone ate on their own. I packed away the bread and cheese that was brought to my room without much thought. Meals were the only time jocks would take quant.i.ty over quality. Rather than the top cla.s.s malt bread,[2] they"d go for the all-you-can-eat one-hundred yen sweet bread. So the rare steak I had last night didn"t really help fuel me.

After I ate enough for three people, Gunter looked like he was pale and worn-out. His hair and clothes were proper, but it"s he had bloodshot eyes with dark circles under them. While pouring milk in a fourth cup of black tea, I raised my right hand in greeting.

"Good morning, Your Majesty. Most importantly, you seem to be in high spirits."

"You don"t seem very well. You look like you didn"t get enough sleep."

"Yes. I was thinking over today"s... duel until sunrise. However, I wasn"t able to come up with a good idea..."

"I thought about it for awhile, too."

After I thought over it as hard as I could, there was nothing better than the strategy I finally came up with. If I"m still defeated, then there"s no way I could win; you could say it"s my ultimate weapon.

"Is Conrad up? I want to borrow something."

"He got up early this morning to go out of town for supplies. He should be back about noon. But what do you plan on doing, Your Majesty? Wolfram is more slender than his older brothers, but he is good with a sword. He inherited fire magic from mother"s side of the family, and he"s this country"s most prominent fire magic user. If you challenge him carelessly..."

Gunter sounded more sorrowful than the actual person involved as he choked on his words.

"You say that so seriously. But yesterday you told me people rarely die."

"I said that, I certainly said that but..."

"I don"t plan on using swords or magic. I can"t win with them. It"s tactics, tactics."

"Then what sort of weaponry will you use..."

Just that instant the sun came directly overhead, and a horn signaled that it was noon. I took this opportunity to fiddle with the dial on my G-shock to match it to the time. After I played with it for a while Gunter hurried me out of the room. I had borrowed what I needed from Conrad, who had returned from town.

When we went out to the courtyard the number of guards had been reduced to a minimum, and the windows facing the centered were closed to keep it a private match. Madam Cheri waved at me with a smile from a VIP seat on the balcony. Gwendal was leaning against the wall with his arms folded and my opponent, Wolfram, reclined smugly on a chair.

He"s a thin-skinned guy, so he must be irritated his that his opponent hadn"t shown up. My first strategy was to make him lose concentration from being irritated. You could call it the "We"ve been waiting for you, Musas.h.i.+"[3] strategy. It was pretty cheap.

"I"ve been imagining you begging for forgiveness while I pound you into the ground. I entertained myself thinking of that while I was waiting."

He wasn"t very irritated. Operation Miyamoto Musas.h.i.+ was a grand failure.

"You think you can just decide that I"d lose? Maybe my grappling skills will finally wake up after fifteen years."

How is getting irritated going to help? Calm down, calm down.

I drew a circle in wax around the stone pavement, and I started preparing. Wolfram"s expression changed.

"Why are you taking off your clothes?!"

"What are you talking about? You have to strip, too."

"Me?!"

"That"s right. Because the uniform sumo wrestlers wear is their bare skin."

I had borrowed some new underwear from Conrad for that.

The common people wear trunks, while the rich people or n.o.bles generally wear panties with ties on the side. As a gung-ho n.o.ble, Wolfram would almost positively be wearing the panties. I don"t want to see him in his underwear, but he has a figure that looks like it"d come off easily during the match. If that happens then the match is mine. You"re immediately defeated if it falls off. There is a rule for that.

"Sumo wrestling is a super heavy-weight sport, where man versus man in loin clothes, each trying to knock their opponent down. If they take a step outside of the arena, or anything other than the bottom of their feet touch the ground then they lose. It"s a traditional and honorable sport!"

"Loin clothes? Arena?"

In my group, Gunter looked bewildered. Only Conrad understood, "Ah, j.a.panese sumo wrestling?". It"s likely he knows a little from America.

"Come on, hurry and strip."

"Man versus man, trying to knock each other down almost na, na, naked?!"

"Right. With bouncing bodies, and sweat scattering."

"Stop s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around! You expect to challenge me to such a savage and lewd match?!"

"Lewd?! How can you say something so rude about j.a.pan"s national sport? It"s much better than killing someone."

Madam Cheri waved largely at me from the balcony.

"I love this game~!"

She threw a pa.s.sionate kiss.

"...I guess it can"t be helped, then, you can keep your clothes on. Hurry and get in the circle."

Did Wolfram think this was the same as the standard boxing ring? He came in looking all important like a procession of sumo wrestlers. Except it would be like only the grand champion was announced, and I tossed my jacket out of the ring. "I explained it the best I could, although you probably don"t get it... Well, that horn awhile ago was the signal to begin, wasn"t it? Ok, we just have one shot, like on Gac.h.i.n.ko,[4] Sir... Wolfram."

I was completely hesitant. I can"t just call him by his last name.

Hastily, directions are sent to the watchtower and a loud "Begin" is announced.

From the start I take a low position, and with a quick forward movement I struck Wolfram"s waist while he was unprepared for a lunge. Instead of a loin cloth I took hold of his belt. It was an instant victory. There wasn"t even a battle.

"Uryah!"

"...Che."

Although I didn"t plan on taking out his legs, my opponent tumbled over facing up.

"...Huh?"

Not understanding what just happened, the pretty boy tumbled back stupidly with his mouth half open, staring up at the sky above. Just yesterday that"s how I felt. How pitiful. Completely forgetting his hatred and hostility while in his daze, Wolfram looked more like an angel deceived by a demon than a n.o.ble of a Mazoku family. But nothing would get solved while I was sympathizing. I slowly started to feel excited. Could it really be true that I won? According to the sumo wrestling rules, nothing but the soles of the feet are supposed to touch the ground... To say nothing of his entire body touching the ground.

"That"s it! So I won?! I won!"

If I asked a sumo referee fan, "You win!"

"I won I won I won I won! Yay!"

"Your Majesty! It was a splendid battle."

Gunter was already moved to tears and, losing his composure, he clung onto me.

"I told you I had a winning strategy! You just have to use your head, and think smart!"

"This duel that was born out of Your Majesty"s profound benevolence, without a drop of blood shed on either side, will be a moving tale for ages to come among the Mazoku."

"People will talk about it more because it"s a funny story than a moving tale."

"I hope this settles everything."

The only person who seemed calm was Conrad, who murmured something while offering a hand to his fallen brother. In a flash his white skin flushed red, and the loser of the match swiped away his brother"s hand.

"What kind of idiotic victory is that!"

"Wolfram."

"How can victory be decided with a game from another world!"

I feel stupid that I ever felt sorry for him. He really didn"t learn his lesson. The humiliation fueled his anger, and seemed to burn up the fact that he"d been defeated.

"Listen, you! You plan on becoming this country"s king?! Then win using this country"s methods! If you"re the Maoh, you should have a Mazoku duel!"

"Wait a minute. You said before that I could use whatever method I liked. You"re just mad because you lost. Don"t be such a poor loser. That"s not very manly, is it?"

"Shut up! Someone, bring my sword."

A soldier ran up. In a flurry I retorted in a high voice.

"Hey hey hey, wait, wait a minute! Seriously, wait. If we use real swords won"t we die?! Don"t start taking this seriously after you lost!"

"Then you weren"t serious in that c.r.a.ppy match we just had?"

"Don"t call it c.r.a.ppy!"

Bit by bit it started to sound like the stand-up comedy act of a married couple. Gunter tried to mediate.

"Wolfram, isn"t this a condition of your own suggestion? I can"t ignore such selfish demands."

"Then what are you going to do? Are you going to fight in his stead? Is the man who calls himself the new Maoh going to use his subordinate to fight a one-on-one match?"

While I was thinking how this b.a.s.t.a.r.d had a comeback for everything, the logical part of my brain was having a strange premonition that I didn"t have before. I have no idea where such wisdom was coming from; the right or left side of my brain. Without even noticing... the way I was looking at my surroundings had gradually changed; my senses weren"t clear. Without taking my eyes off my opponent, I asked Conrad next to me.

"If I become the Maoh, ah, by some chance, I mean. By chance. If that happens, will that guy be my ally?"

"Of course."

Conrad nodded deeply. He wasn"t just saying it because he was his little brother.

"And what kind of person is he? Would he betray me because he hated or resented me?"

"No."

"Then, for larger causes, he"s the type who would even cooperate with someone he hated?"

"If we"re talking about Wolfram, then no matter how much he hated someone, I think he would compromise for the sake of Mazoku in the end. He has pride as a Mazoku. And he wants to keep Mazoku at the top of this world. So even if it was someone he hated, if he believed in the cause, he would probably follow them."

"I see."

"And may I add one more thing? About Gwen. He loves this country more than anyone. He"s more serious than I am. But he has nothing but love and devotion towards Mazoku and s.h.i.+n Makoku."

He seems to be suppressing a throbbing wound.

"...That"s the problem."

If I"m to believe what he said, Wolfram is an ally. Even if we"re on opposing sides in this match, somehow we"ll be on the same team. My calculations and emotions were in union.

"I get it. Give me a practice sword. If I have to do this to make him feel better, then I have no choice but to settle this quickly."

The only way to fix his wounded pride was to fight with real swords.

"Honestly, I"m an amateur with swords so I can"t win. But even if I lose this time, it"ll still be a draw. I didn"t have good odds to begin with, so even if we draw I still did good, didn"t I?"

If we can call a truce with a draw, there shouldn"t be any quarrels in my team.

"I thought this would happen."

Conrad took a sword and buckler he had set against the wall, and after he handed them over to me he called for Gunter. At that time the elder replaced the weapons on the other side with ones used for practice, with some wise words.

"Your Majesty, don"t worry. You can see it"s incredibly strong because of its large size, but there isn"t a blade. If it hits you in the head it"ll crush it a bit, but it can"t pierce your heart."

"But if my skull caves in I think I"ll be on my way to Heaven..."

Conrad unfastened two of his b.u.t.tons and pulled out a strap hanging around his neck.

It was about the size of a 500 yen coin, with a silver border around a circular gem "Your Majesty, take this."

It was a dark blue; darker than the sky.

"It"s Lions blue."

"My... friend gave it to me. I hear it"s a charm for protection, but this morning I was searching around town. This is a demon gem, so it shouldn"t work for anyone but someone who has Maryoku. Whether it"s fortune or defense or offence, it should be useful for something."

"You"re giving it to me?"

"Yes."

The tutor cleared his throat forcefully and interrupted.

"Be careful when you accept things. The act of receiving a gift is to accept that person"s loyalty, even if Your Majesty doesn"t want it. I don"t mind for myself and Conrart, but you shouldn"t try to increase the number of your loyal servants without knowing it."

"So you"re saying not to accept things carelessly? What"s with that? It sounds like elections."

The stone part of it was a little warm when I put it on my chest. Rather than something miraculous, it"s more like when the toilet seat is still warm from the previous person who sat on it. I stood up on the hard, gray earth, with the sword in my right hand and buckler in my left that I"d held for the first time last night.

Wolfram didn"t have a buckler, but was hoisting his sword with both hands, aiming for me like Ichiro[5] in the batter"s box.

"I wonder if that"s really a practice sword..."

It was more like a giant��frozen swordfish[6] than a sword. That or a frozen salted-salmon. Swinging around that sort of thing alone would knock a ball out of the stadium. I feel like I"m chickening out before we"ve even started.

"I, I planned on giving up as soon as possible, but if I can"t talk after taking a hit from that, please throw in the towel quickly."

"Give up? The towel?"

Conrad answered suddenly like an American.

"Ok, Yuuri."

"Are you ready, foreigner!"

They sent me there without my permission, and now they"re calling me a "foreigner"?

"My name is s.h.i.+buya Yuuri. If you want you can use "Lord", I don"t mind."

"Don"t screw with me!"

The match suddenly started. Wolfram came at me with a huge swing, aiming to strike me down with that salted salmon. In an instant I move myself under it and hold up the buckler overhead at the center of my body in order to reflect it. The impact felt like it had been hit by a metal ball, and the pounding pa.s.sed through my whole body. The outfielders are shouting at me frantically.

"Your Majesty, avoid it, avoid it! It"ll be dangerous if you receive a direct hit!"

"Stop giving me so much advice, Gunter. If I wasn"t used to it my arm would have been broken in one hit. It may be instinct, but Your Majesty"s judgement is correct."

It wasn"t rational judgement, just years of habit. Anyway, I was told even if you have to take a direct blow, or jump on top of it, absolutely never let the ball pa.s.s. In short, it was my job to get the ball.

Even before I sent it back, another swing came. And again, straight from above. It"s impossible for the buckler to absorb all of it. My left arm and elbow and shoulder are getting numb. Continuing on the right side, from above again. "What"s wrong? What are you holding a sword for?! You"re just leaving your right hand hanging uselessly! Or are you frozen with fear?"

"Shut up."

Calm down, don"t rush, s.h.i.+buya Yuuri.

In front of me a ma.s.sive iron weapon was coming. It was glistening in the afternoon sun, with silver lines etched across it. Stay calm, my arm hurts, keep my balance, bring down my center of gravity, I can"t blink, there"s no time, tilt forward, switch to offense when there"s a chance, if you say kendo it"s about the face, face, body, sweat is getting in my eyes, face, face, body, soaked.

I"m not chicken. But, when something is coming at your face it"s scary. When they"re holding it up, and you already... You"ve already caught a ball thrown by a pro player. Are you still scared of playing on a junior team?

The breeze from that day.

There"s no ceiling above.

I"m not scared anymore.

"Your speed isn"t that scary."

"What did you say?!"

Resolutely, I tossed aside my raised buckler, and my opponent pulled down his stance. With that chance I grabbed the hilt of my sword with both hands, putting it in front of me to protect myself.

"Ah, he threw away his buckler. Ah, I can"t look, Conrart. Hurry and throw in the toaru,[7] or bedpan!"

"Not yet. Your Majesty is reading Wolfram"s rhythm. The foundation of his attack is exemplary, but is always predictable. Look, he just barely stops with his sword. Besides, I didn"t bring a towel."

"Right."

I can read where he"s aiming at next since Conrad pointed it out. But it didn"t have anything to do with his foundation or being exemplary. Rather it was understanding my opponent"s personality.

His meal sequence has been decided. There"s never any change in it. It"s the same rhythm as before. You can read pitches that never change before long, and the pitcher will get eaten, This is the same.

The metal crashed against each other in front of my face. Even though sparks were flying I clenched my teeth. My small finger on the end of the grip became numb from the light vibrations.

"...If I was your coach, you wouldn"t be a starting member because your timing is always the same! Such a dull pitcher is..."

If you get attacked from the side it would take longer to compose oneself than if you got hit from the front. I jerked my right leg and shoulder at the same time, and brought down my sword forty-five degrees for a square position.

The take back, my opponent synchronized, and I stepped forward with my left leg. I put more strength into my thumb as his bat, I mean, blade hit my blade. I never drew back my hips, but I didn"t rush to tilt forward either; my body"s axis is fixed in place.

"...d.a.m.nit!"

A swing through!

It was the high-pitched clang of metal bats that I was used to hearing. The base of my arms hurt intensely. The impact gradually became a s.h.i.+ver, and spread through my ribs and hips like Morse code.

Wolfram"s giant weapon flies through the air, sticking in the ground with a echoing murmur.

"...Hyahou~."

It feels like a homerun has been hit, with bases loaded, to turn the game around, but from a distance it was a second fly ball. Either way, my opponent was unarmed now, and I awkwardly try to find a compromise for a ceasefire.

"...I"m worn out already, so if it"s ok with you, maybe we could call it a draw for today... Uwah!"

I jumped back in shock. Pale-faced, Wolfram had something the shape of a basketball in his right hand, with only his middle finger out a bit, and orange fire ball rested on it.

"Wolfram!"

Gunter cried out.

"His Majesty hasn"t been taught Majutsu yet! Don"t start using fire magic because you were defeated!"

"I"m not defeated!"

"Th, that"s why I said we could call it a draw."

"It"s not a draw, either. We"re continuing until one of us can"t fight."

His beautiful face was twisted with anger, and the Mazoku prince thrust out his right hand.

Gunter shouted some sort of incantation, but there was only a small explosion high in the sky. For a normal person like me I couldn"t imagine the process, but it was probably a clash back and forth.

"Gwendal! Why are you intruding?! If we don"t stop Wolf, His Majesty will..."

"You"re the one who is intruding. This is a chance to see if we made an error. If he"s truly the Maoh, he shouldn"t be able to be defeated by someone like Wolfram."

"But His Majesty hasn"t made a pledge with an element yet..."

"Magical power is..."

Gwendal separates himself from the wall, turning around, as he interrupted Gunter. As usual he had a sullen, beautiful face.

"Magical power is the nature of one"s soul. It"s not something that can be obtained by learning or wanting it. If that is the true Maoh, even if he hasn"t undertaken the oath or teachings, shouldn"t all the elements want to follow him? They would kneel before such a n.o.ble soul."

I wasn"t in a position to be listening to the conversation of the outfielders. I should be the true Maoh, I mean, even if there"s some slight possibility that I am, my confidence that I could win a match of flaming dodgeball was...

"Everything made of flames, obey the Mazoku who slaughters the creator!"

I wonder if I"ll be able to use that phrase if I remember it in the future. I don"t have time for that right now. I started running. Run away, get away! Surely there"d be a chance for a counterattack, so for now I need to get somewhere where the fire b.a.l.l.s won"t get me, I need to run as far as possible even if that means just one more step!

"Read my will and obey!"

I accidentally plunged forward and fell down. But the fireball that had gotten even bigger grazed over my head and hit the wall. The unique and horrible odor of burnt hair irritated my sense of smell.

I"m going to be killed. If one of those things. .h.i.t me I"m going to die!

Why? Why me? I decided to go along with them until the END mark, so why must he surprise attack me with unscientific b.a.l.l.s of flame?!

Conrad pulled out his sword, and Gwendal pointed the silver tip of his sword at him.

"Gwen, undo the barrier. If you don"t, I"ll stop Wolfram even if it means cutting you down."

"Cutting me down? I wonder how true that is, Conrart."

"It"s entirely true."

Wolfram seemed to be entirely serious, too. This time it wasn"t a ball of flame. With a small bend of his middle finger, the air began to tremble. This tips of his fingers became red like blood, and that colored swelled and suddenly became a beast the size of a wolf. But it was still fire.

"What is that?"

With a cruel smile Wolfram let loose the ferocious beast.

What is this? If I can"t win with sumo wrestling or swords, what can I win with?! If the last match will decide everything, what were those previous ones for?! The beast went the distance I had so frantically run to in three steps, and I stood, simply watching. I couldn"t move. Even if I could move, where would I go? It could catch up to me with those four legs. I was thinking, "This can"t be happening" even more than being scared, and my mouth was hanging open absent-mindedly.

The moment it was going to attack me with its front claws I ducked my head in a flash. It was so close that it jumped right over me, and with the power of its leap it couldn"t stop. Normally it would hit a wall.

Unfortunately, there was a corridor that way, with a person running across with short steps. I twisted my neck painfully and tried to shout at her to watch out. Seeing her, I"m sure she"s the one who brought my change of clothes yesterday.

"Watch out!"

"...Chi!"

We were all too late. Me, and Gunter, and Conrad.

The blazing beast kept lunging straight ahead, and without a scream the girl was flipped. At the same time the wolf disappeared. It knocked down the wrong target.

"...This is..."

The nearby guards rushed over, confused. A sharp pain in the right side of my chest felt like one of my ribs broke. It became painful to breathe, as my heart beat in a low ba.s.s.

"This is your victory?!"

A hot sensation began spreading from inside my body that wasn"t quite from my hips or stomach. It ran through to the end of my nerves, and triggered an alarm in the back of my head.

"Involving a girl who had nothing to do with this, this is..."

Pure white smoke played in front of me.

I don"t know whether or not it exists.

Someone whispered lowly inside of my ear.

Finally...

Finally, what?

And with that, my conscious...

(Translated by Emeryl, originally posted on Onadoru Euphoria. Re-posted with permission.)