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Translator: Nonon
Proofreader: Silavin
I felt like some weird misunderstanding had been made, but I was able to safely survive the battle royale of the first round.
I had thought that maybe he would pull some strings and make my first-round opponents target me and beat me to a pulp to embarrass me, but it seems that I was worried for nothing.
If I remember right, Ash tried his best to avoid foul play, so it’s possible that he simply did not have the power to do anything.
“So you have became ‘Boudica’… as expected of Mr. Clo…H-here. This is the w-water that’s given to the winners to restore their mana…”
“… Yeah, thank you. I’ve barely spent any mana so you should drink it instead, Apricot.”
“N-no, that would be Not Equal… fuu…”
As I was walking down the corridor to the winners’ waiting area, Apricot, with a tired look on her face, handed me a bottle of water distributed to the winners that restored a certain amount of mana.
I’m grateful that she gave it to me, but I think Apricot clearly needs it more than I do.
Before the start, other participants mocked her by asking her if she was ‘participating just for the experience’, and the spectators said stuff like ‘You look cool at least!’ to her.
So she used big moves one after another to show off and refute them. It’s not surprising that she would run out of mana and needed more time to recover.
That being said, I’m sure she’ll recover soon. She’s probably just tired because she lacks stamina.
“Still, you’d better be careful. Chartreuse might have taken notice of you during this Crusade.”
“… Well, I’ll just fight him properly when the time comes.”
“I’m sure the next match will be—“
Apricot’s words made me a little uneasy, but just as I thought that I would be able to kill time by talking with her until it was my turn again, I suddenly felt the arena erupt in cheers.
As I was wondering what was going on, I could sense that the cheers were getting livelier. It was probably either His Highness or Ms. Mary who entered the arena.
“By the way, why are you here instead of being in the waiting room, Apricot?”
I was curious, but it wasn’t worth going out of my way to find out.
I took a sip from the mana recovery water Apricot gave me, and asked about something that had been bothering me, hoping to change the topic. If all she wanted was to give me water, she could do it in the waiting room too. There was no need to wait for me in the corridor… No, Apricot does feel like somebody who would wait for the winner in the corridor to say something thoughtful to them and then leave.
Anyway, the winners usually move to the winners’ waiting room, where they watch the next match and make necessary adjustments. There are also other places and items that can restore mana, like the water I was given earlier, so there shouldn’t be any significance to being in the corridor.
“… The waiting room was a whole nother world.”
Apricot answered my question a little hesitantly, looking off into the distance.
Still, another world? What do you mean?
Surely the world I came from isn’t expanding? I had some questions, but Apricot silently pointed her cane towards the door, as if implying that looking would be faster. So, I headed towards the door.
The fact that she’s telling me to open it means that there’s no danger, but what did she mean by ‘another world’? For someone like me, who’s actually experienced being in another world, this statement had a profound meaning-
“It’s Mary! Mary is fighting!”
“What in the world? She’s not showing any signs of fatigue even though she should be exhausted from her battle with His Highness Vermillion!”
“And she’s still so beautiful despite everything. She’s perfect!”
“You idiot! Being perfect means that she won’t grow any more! How can you not believe that she’ll go beyond all limits?!”
“You’re right! But will we be able to withstand her power if she matures more?!”
“What’s the point of not being able to withstand it? Won’t it be disrespectful to Ms. Mary if we don’t grow too?!”
“I see. Then I’ll work hard to be able to stand up to her!”
“ma\yq@！tkd@9s6ud@juv@7w@rb@rmksdw38yw@eb4d@7uet!”
“Yeah, you’re right!”
“/3lーxyf@yx@ーe!”
“Long live!”
I gently closed the door.
There’s something I’ve come to understand after being the lord of Shiki for nearly 4 years. That’s a world that you shouldn’t touch.
When I looked at Apricot, she had an expression as if saying ‘Didn’t I tell you?’, so I silently nodded in agreement. After a moment of silence, I made a suggestion while looking down the corridor at a place that was not the waiting room.
“Should we go somewhere else for the drinks?”
“Yeah. Let’s just say something to the staff.”
We decided to pretend that we saw nothing and went away to get drinks.
Let’s hope that the situation would have calmed down by the time we return.
◆
(“Welp, now that he also won, I thought I would be able to meet him again in the waiting room, but… why is he not here?… Is he avoiding me? Fufu, how interesting. He’s very good at making me anxious. If this is also a part of his plan, I will have to rethink how I deal with him…!)
———
Author’s note:
Kriemhild at that time:
“Ahaha… you have it wrong, sir. I just used alchemy magic because I had an idea for a tool that used mana recovery water. And I only made a little mistake. I definitely did not explode a bomb. Please believe me. I’m sorry, I’ll be careful next time.”
Translation for the cryptic sentences that turned up halfway through the dialogue:
ma\yq@！tkd@9s6ud@juv@7w@rb@rmksdw38yw@eb4d@7uet！
↓
Of course! We shall walk along with her as people attending the same school!
/3lーxyf@yx@ーe！
↓
Long live Ms. Mary!
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