Chapter 47: The Night Before the King’s Battle

“Your Majesty, regarding the next ‘King’s Battle,’ are these terms truly acceptable?”

“Yeah. I doubt they’d wait any longer than this, and we managed to buy ourselves enough time. We even got concessions and compensation out of the Kingdom of Yaranri, so thank you for that.”

“No, it’s simply my duty. Still… I cannot understand why we’re once again wagering territory just to recover Lady Shion and her mother.”

I listened to Minister Depron’s report in my office while signing documents. He had spent several days negotiating with the Kingdom of Yaranri. Apparently, they were desperate enough to throw away all restraint if it meant reclaiming the two of them—or more specifically, Shion.

If they lost the “King’s Battle,” they would formally recognize part of the buffer zone bordering Swordria as our territory.

I had no idea what could actually be done with that land, but our country was full of capable people. I was sure they’d find some way to turn it into profit. Since I was an amateur when it came to that sort of thing, I decided not to interfere beyond confirming the final decisions.

“Still, a three-versus-three team battle… Why change it to something like that?”

“Probably because Shion lost to me. If the Spear King himself were participating, they could handle things however they wanted, but since he isn’t… apparently Shion was their strongest fighter.”

“So they figured they’d have a chance if they ganged up three-on-one, huh? Man… you can really feel how cornered they are.”

After Minister Depron left the room, Hikari—who had brought tea—offered her thoughts on the upcoming battle.

And honestly, she was right. They really were desperate.

According to Ciel, the Spear King had already gone insane. Apparently he’d come within a single step of completely taking over Shion’s body before she escaped into another country. Anyone in his position would lose their mind over that.

I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I could guess what he wanted.

He wanted Shion back so he could use her as a new body. Nothing else mattered to him.

And someone willing to steal another person’s body obviously wouldn’t care about those around him. From everyone else’s perspective, there was no telling what kind of disaster he might cause. Naturally, they wanted to hand Shion over no matter what if it meant securing their own safety.

“I can’t really blame them for that.”

“Yeah. Once they start thinking, ‘I might be next,’ of course they’ll do anything they can. Pretty human, honestly.”

Their relationships had apparently always been the sort where they dragged each other down to survive, so there was probably no sense of camaraderie to begin with. Even Shion—now that she’d come to Swordria and finally relaxed enough for her natural friendliness to show—had once been constantly on edge, just like she’d been during the King’s Battle.

And when someone lives like that, they don’t have the spare energy to care about others.

I understood why they’d become that way.

But I couldn’t save all of them.

The only solution I could think of to truly save everyone would be killing the Spear King himself… but that would only create another set of problems. To begin with, simply forcing him onto the battlefield and having the strength to defeat him would already be nearly impossible.

So all I could do right now was protect Shion and Ciel.

That was enough.

I’d focus solely on that fight. Everything after could be dealt with later. Instead of arrogantly believing I could save everyone, I’d simply do everything within my power.

“So then, who’re our three fighters gonna be? You and Commander Richard are obvious picks.”

“I’m thinking me, Hikari, and Shion.”

“PFFFT—!!!”

Hikari sprayed tea everywhere.

My reaction came a second too late, and the full blast hit me square in the face. It was hot enough that, if I hadn’t once survived being burned by Carol before, I probably would’ve rolled around screaming.

“W-W-Wait, sorry!! But that came completely outta nowhere, Toma! That’s partly your fault too!!! I mean, okay, it’s mostly my fault!!!”

“It’s fine, I’m not mad. But since there aren’t any towels in here, could you maybe not strip off your clothes to wipe me down!? No matter what, I don’t think a girl should be doing that!!”

Panicking, Hikari searched for a towel, but there obviously wasn’t one in the office. Since the whole thing happened so suddenly, she completely lost her composure and started taking off her maid uniform to use it instead.

Honestly, if someone asked whether I wanted to see her in her underwear, the answer would be an overwhelming yes.

But it felt wrong to look at her that way right now, so I desperately suppressed the urge.

Hikari usually stayed calm—almost detached, like she was always observing things objectively—but she had a weakness when it came to sudden unexpected situations. You rarely got to see this side of her, but there was no way I was the only one who thought it was adorable.

“So why me and Shion? Couldn’t Commander Richard do it?”

“The commander’s already fought as a substitute in previous King’s Battles, so they’ve definitely prepared counters for him. He’d still be strong regardless, but honestly… even he admitted that greatsword of his has way too much destructive power.”

The King’s Battle was fundamentally meant to avoid killing.

Apparently there had been a few accidental deaths over the centuries, but only a handful despite the tradition lasting five hundred years. That made it dangerous for us to be the side that broke that unspoken rule.

“Besides, Commander Richard himself said that in team battles like this, cooperation matters more than individual combat ability. And if we’re talking about the person who works best with me and is strong enough, then Hikari’s the obvious choice.”

“H-Hmph. Well, if that’s your reasoning, I guess I can accept it. I didn’t wanna just abandon Shion or stand around helpless either.”

She was clearly trying to hide her embarrassment, but even though she turned away, I could still see her ears turning red.

Wasn’t my childhood friend just way too cute?

Thinking that men everywhere would probably envy me to death, I watched Hikari quietly—until she turned back and looked straight into my eyes.

The embarrassment from earlier had vanished.

Her expression was completely serious.

“So… are you gonna tell Shion about Ciel?”

“…I’m still thinking about it. I honestly don’t know what the right answer is.”

The relationship between Shion and Ciel was incredibly fragile.

They genuinely cared about each other, but Shion’s feelings rested heavily on one thing:

She believed Ciel was truly her mother.

If she learned the truth, that relationship would unquestionably collapse.

And I couldn’t stop wondering whether I even had the right to be the one to destroy it.

If I could just steel myself once, I knew I’d be able to tell her immediately—but I couldn’t bring myself to make that decision.

If we didn’t tell her, though, the enemy would definitely use it against her during the battle as a psychological attack.

And if they backed it up with proof…

Shion would break.

“Honestly, maybe we just shouldn’t let Shion fight.”

“But wouldn’t it feel awful to have your future decided for you without your consent, even though you’re fully capable of fighting? I know I’d hate it.”

“Ah… yeah. True. I’d hate that too.”

And even setting that aside, the only people stronger than Shion in direct combat were me, Hikari, and maybe Commander Richard. Since we absolutely couldn’t afford to lose, we needed people who understood each other’s fighting styles and could coordinate properly.

That was why I’d chosen this team.

Which meant everything ultimately came back to one question:

Whether or not to tell Shion about Ciel.

“Ugh… I wish someone would just tell me what I’m supposed to do in situations like this…”

“There’s still time, so just keep agonizing over it for now. Though speaking of that… was it really okay not telling Alicia about all this?”

“No, I told her while we were out together the other day. After we finished shopping, I explained everything and asked her for help. She’s probably researching in the Sword King Church archives even now.”

Probably not the kind of conversation people usually had during dates.

But when it came to magic, the most knowledgeable people close to me were Alicia and Carol. Carol was already overloaded helping with magical tools, so I couldn’t ask any more of her. She already lost sleep constantly whenever she got absorbed in her hobbies—I couldn’t dump even more on her shoulders.

Apparently she was already researching countermeasures for the Holy Sword’s memory erosion too. I was sure she’d help if I asked… but relying on her so much that she collapsed from exhaustion was something I absolutely never wanted.

“Researching what exactly?”

“Methods of interfering with souls through magic. In case the worst happens and the Spear King takes over Shion’s body… we’re trying to see if there’s any way to stop it.”

“Something like that even exists?”

“Maybe. Or maybe it doesn’t. That’s why we have to investigate… though honestly, Alicia’s probably pushing herself too hard too…”

She felt deeply frustrated that she couldn’t participate directly in battle.

That was why, whenever someone relied on her like this, she’d gladly throw herself into it with everything she had.

The problem was… she always gave too much.

As the Saintess, her healing magic was unquestionably the best in the country.

But souls were outside her field of expertise entirely.

Still, she’d pumped her fist and declared, “I’ll figure something out somehow!!”

“Alicia’s way too serious. She’s definitely cutting into her sleep to keep researching late into the night.”

“If she collapses from exhaustion, that defeats the whole point… but since I’m the one who asked for help, it feels wrong for me to stop her…”

“Haaah. Fine, fine. I’ll drag her off to the bath or something when I get the chance. So quit giving me those pleading looks already.”

As expected of Hikari.

She understood what I wanted to say just from a glance.

That kind of unspoken understanding between us really helped.

No matter what happened, everyone was giving it their all right now, doing whatever they could.

And remembering that gave me strength too.

If I wanted to stand proudly beside these girls who were trying so hard, then I didn’t have the luxury of freezing in fear.

Swish. Swish. Swish.

The spear cut through the air.

Up, down, left, right, diagonally—she wielded it from every conceivable angle in every conceivable way. Since obtaining the goal of becoming the Spear King, she had repeated these movements every single day, and even after coming to this country, her skill hadn’t dulled in the slightest.

Under the moonlight and the castle lamps, she practiced alone in the royal courtyard.

It had started as a way to grow stronger and earn a better life.

But now, she couldn’t even sleep properly unless she went through these motions first.

Several weeks had passed since arriving in Swordria, and she’d come to realize this was a peaceful, gentle country filled with kind people.

She understood that such kindness only existed because people had the luxury to afford it.

And after coming here, she learned that the people working inside the royal castle fought desperately every day to preserve that luxury.

Yaranri was different.

The Spear King—whose body remained youthful even though his mind had already collapsed beyond repair—took no part in politics. Instead, a handful of corrupt elites continued feasting on the nation’s wealth.

With the ruler effectively absent, they did whatever they pleased.

And when she thought about how that reality had created the environment she’d grown up in, it was only natural to want to change it.

She had dreamed of creating a country where people didn’t starve unless they stole bread.

A country where women had choices other than selling their bodies.

A country where people could smile and believe in tomorrow.

That dream was why she honed her spearsmanship.

But now she finally understood:

Skill with a spear alone could never change a nation.

To change a country, you needed knowledge, allies, and money.

And she lacked all of them.

Even if she became the Spear King, she would never have been able to build the ideal nation she envisioned. It would eventually collapse—that much was obvious.

And to avoid that collapse, she likely would’ve resorted to launching King’s Battles to steal from other countries.

Eventually she would lose.

And the burden of all those accumulated debts would fall upon the people.

Compared to that, even the current corrupt leadership seemed preferable.

Now she understood.

The men from foreign countries she’d met during negotiations for past King’s Battles—the calculating looks they’d given her weren’t truly directed at her.

They’d been weighing what would happen if she won.

Or if she lost.

From the perspective of national interests, that was only natural.

The fool had been herself, for mistaking those looks as simple contempt.

Well… granted, there definitely were some creeps who’d looked at her with disgusting intentions. One of them had even tried hitting on her mother, so she didn’t need to completely reevaluate her opinions there.

“Next is a team battle, huh? Julia and Layla will probably participate… and the third might be Lyra.”

Julia hated men even more than Shion did, while Layla and Lyra were twin sisters.

Shion could confidently claim her spear techniques surpassed theirs, but once magic entered the equation, that difference in skill could be overturned easily. Honestly, luck had probably played a huge role in allowing her to stand above them as the ace fighter.

Lord Toma had grown stronger too.

But even so, there was still a real possibility that those girls could catch him off guard.

And if that happened, it would be Shion’s role to cover the opening.

She owed Toma a debt she could never repay.

The only reason she and her mother could stand here smiling now was because of him.

She could even think that losing that King’s Battle had been a good thing because she’d heard his words—because his cry had been utterly sincere.

That sincerity made it easy to trust him.

Easy to believe her mother could truly find happiness here.

And that was exactly why she would make herself useful.

She would make him acknowledge her worth.

She would become one of his retainers and preserve this life she’d finally gained.

“…In the end, I really do only think about myself.”

She had never been fit to be a ruler.

Just a foolish girl who happened to be good at swinging a spear.

Someone who pretended to understand everything while caring about nothing beyond her mother.

Someone chasing a dream that could never come true.

Even so, there was still something she could do.

She could help him.

And if she did, maybe this spear she’d devoted her life to wouldn’t have been meaningless after all.

She could stay with her mother.

“——Working hard this late at night, huh?”

“…!”

A voice came from behind her.

When she turned around, she found the young king of this nation standing there.

Maybe he’d just gotten out of the bath—his usually neat black hair was sticking up in places, showing a side of him she’d never seen before.

Unlike her, this boy had never been educated to become a king. He’d only become the Sword King because he’d drawn the Holy Sword.

Despite being younger than even her, an adult, he was undoubtedly still immature as a ruler.

But the fact that he’d managed to remain merely immature was itself worthy of praise.

And as for whether he possessed the qualities of a king—

She believed, without question, that he did.

Even after gaining royal authority, he never used it selfishly. He handled as much work as he could himself, entrusted the rest to capable subordinates, and accepted responsibility for the results.

To her, that alone made him exceptional.

More than anything, despite once having nothing to do with battle, his courage and fierce fighting spirit had stunned her.

This boy—who was unquestionably more worthy of being king than the Spear King himself—had come to see her with a conflicted expression.

That alone gave her a bad feeling.

“Sorry, Shion. I know you’ve been working hard, but there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Something… you need to tell me?”

“Yeah. Something you absolutely deserve to know.”

That night, she learned the truth.

A hopeless, unavoidable truth.

And in response—

She made a decision.