156 Article 155 "The Battleground Duel"




 --Let's hear it again. Lugis, you're on my side, aren't you?

 As soon as those words struck my ears, what surged through my heart wasn't frustration, fear, or even rage.

 It was just... It was just pure sadness coming out of the shadows.

 No, I'm not sure if even the word "sadness" is appropriate to describe my current state of mind. I'm not sure if even the word "sadness" is appropriate to describe my current state of mind, but I'm sure it was very close to it. I couldn't help but feel a pain in the tip of my nose.

 He pushed back Kalia's long sword and stepped back. She drew her sword easily, almost without a hint of resistance. Her silver eyes look straight at me, waiting for me to speak. The battlefield, which should still be filled with noise, seemed to have lost its sound with the silence of Kalia.

 The reflection of Kalia's figure in my eyes is incredibly small and frail, as if I were thinking of the past. Once again, I felt an ache in my heart, as if it were engraved. Her clenched back teeth creaked as if they were making a sound of regret. My lips move, dragged by the pain. Her eyes were fixed on Kalia.

"Of course, I wouldn't call you an enemy. But what should I say, Kalia? You're the stuff of heroes.

 I don't think I'll even get my usual snide remark out of her. Oh, no. This is what I mean when I say my heart is broken. Oh, no. This is not the time. This is not the time.

 Slowly, slowly, bitingly roll the words.

"You can't just trip over a pebble like me.

 It was a small voice that Kalia may or may not have heard. It must have been almost my own personal lament.

 Kalia, or rather, Kalia-Bardnick, was an undeniable hero. At least, that's what I knew her to be.

 It is true that she was once a master of tyranny, filled with the arrogance of the strong who would lay waste to the weak and chew them up. It's true that she didn't give a d*mn about the weak.

 But still, Kalia Vadnick was a champion of the battlefield, one of those heroes that were beyond the reach of ordinary people.

 My heart burned with the quest for power. Even though he possessed exceptional power, he still trained himself to the bone, and the sight of his lips smeared with blood gave me heart palpitations.

 Yes, Kalia-Bardnick was undoubtedly one of my ideals. But what about now? What about the girl in my eyes now? Her knees are shaking, and her eyes, which once held the light of a strong will, have become weak and blurred. Her thin, white fingers make me wonder if she will ever be able to wield her beloved sword again.

 Call me arrogant, call me irreverent, but I'll say it. I'm sure it was all my fault. I'm sure it's my fault that I've been behaving like this since I got here, that I've been letting Kalia Vadnick, the great hero, look like that.

 That fact makes my heart leap and tear at my chest. I knew that Kalia was showing an almost obsessive feeling towards me. I had been foolish enough to feel it and be satisfied with that. The hero, the girl I had longed for, calling me a friend. How much it saved me. How much joy it gave me.

 And as a result of that joy, I've tarnished my own longing. Yes, I'm sure I hated her somewhere, I'm sure I hated her as a b*tc*. But I didn't want to see her like this, or Karia-Bardnick like this.

 But it was only for a moment that I was able to indulge in such sentiments. Her two tufts of silver hair swept in the battlefield wind. It reminded him of the woman he had once seen.

"So you're saying that it's not an ally, Rougis?

 I'm not sure what to make of this.

 It's not that I'm not a good person, but I'm not a good person. It wasn't that I was surprised by the coldness of the voice. It was just that the voice I heard now sounded like the one I had heard in the past, the one that had been hurled at me. I stepped back, unconsciously.

 No, no. No, that's not what I meant, he said, and all the words that tried to escape his lips seemed to be excuses that slipped down his throat.

"I understand. I understand you well, Lugis. Very well.

 I can hear the heat in Kalia's voice as it slowly rises. The silver eyes, which had been weak and blurry, now gleamed with the shadow of fire, as if they were lit with will again. It's a great way to make sure you're getting the most out of your money.

"How dare you leap out of my hands? I've never been so insulted. I've never felt anything like this before.

 The words themselves are covered in thorns, but the expression on Kalia's face as she spits them out has a swaying smile on it. If you only look at her expression, you might almost think that she is filled with joy.

 However, her eyes are not smiling. Rather, they are like birds of prey.

 That's not good. Now I understand. I've chosen probably the worst option of all. I could have taken Kalia's hand and told her you're one of us, regardless of the emotions in my heart. Or I could have chosen to brush her hand away. And any of those choices would have led to a much better outcome than this one.



 But I've made a choice to show this woman the door.

"Now that you've been insulted, there's only one thing to do. That is our style, and the law of war.

 Kalia muttered and raised the silver long sword that she had been leisurely lowering to the ground. The sunlight, which had begun to slant slightly, made its silver color shine brightly.

 My heart palpitated. My heart palpitated, because I understood what those words, that action, meant. And I already know what this woman is looking for when she uses the word insult.

 In the back of my eyelids, I could still see the scene of the old tavern.

Lugis, you have trampled on my dignity and stained my honor.

 It was not the light-hearted oath of a tavern duel that it had once been. It is an oath, perhaps even a knight's oath, uttered by a man of high rank. A sacred blessing for those who fight for their lives and their pride.

"So let your life and mine be returned to the heavens once more. And in the hands of the victor, I give you two lives--Rugis, I challenge you to a duel.

 It wasn't the voice from earlier that only came between me and Kalia. It was a loud, clear voice that seemed to echo across the entire battlefield.