TL/Editor: Butter Cat

    Status: 4/week mon-thurs

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    〈 Chapter 59 〉 Chapter 59. The Definition(?) of Justice(??).

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    **

    "...Wh-who are you?"

    What was the problem?

    Was I that wrong?

    I thought I could finally see your face in reality, not just in my dreams.

    I was so relieved, feeling the warmth from your arm telling me that this wasn''t a dream.

    "..Aris? My, name?"

    My blood ran cold. My heart stopped.

    The fruit borne after a long struggle was sweet, but

    It contained a deadly poison that stopped my heart.

    "But, my name is Alice."

    **

    Alice''s hands were trembling, soaked in the blood flowing from her wound.

    The clear handprints and the blue, swollen bruises.

    I couldn''t even begin to imagine what kind of violence could cause such marks.

    Seeing her pitiful state, I carefully took Alice''s arm, as if handling a delicate flower petal, afraid that I might accidentally touch her wounds, and pulled her towards me.

    And to the child who was being pulled along listlessly, I forced myself to stay calm and spoke to her.

    "...S-Sis Sia…"

    "Are you okay, Alice? Is there anywhere else that hurts besides your arm and hand?"

    "…Nn… No."

    Alice was crying.

    Alice, who always smiled, who always tried not to worry others, was crying like a child.

    That simple fact made me, who knew better than anyone that this shouldn''t be happening, point a real sword at a living person.

    They say that a sword reflects the heart of the person wielding it.

    And true to those words, there was not a single tremor in the sword I raised.

    "I said move."

    "And I said I can''t." Sear?h the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    *After what you''ve done to her.*

    *Knowing what you might do, how could I step aside.*

    I muttered those sharp words. In my heart I had already forgotten about her status, her rank, or the punishment and repercussions I might face because of this incident, they all had long flown away from my mind.

    I simply stood there, blocking her path with my entire body, to defy her words, to prevent Alice''s image from being reflected in those amber eyes.

    The child''s frail body was completely hidden behind me.

    Her eyes, which had been solely focused on Alice, now finally shifted their target, Remi Akaia''s menacing gaze was now fixated on me.

    "....Ha, haha… Is that so...?"

    "........"

    Roll. Her body didn''t move, and yet, I heard a sound like something rolling.

    And then, when I met her empty, strangely wide-open eyes, I realized what the sound was.

    The way she stared at me, moving only her eyes without turning her head, made her look like a doll clumsily imitating a human.

    Her voice, dry and cracked like a parched rice paddy.

    Her pronunciation, slurred and barely understandable.

    The person standing before me was no longer the brilliant and promising Remi Akaia that everyone once knew.

    There was only a beast, a wild animal that had lost its mind, unable to think rationally.

    Her eyes, which had once been praised for holding stars within them, were now no different from those of a beast, and her soft hair was a tangled mess.

    Feeling a small wave of disgust and pity at her appearance, I once gain tightened the grip on my sword.

    "I see…"

    A chill ran down my spine.

    If a demon crawled out from hell and existed in the real world, would its voice sound like this?

    Her voice, echoing through the vast, glass-enclosed space, was truly chilling.

    —SRRRK.

    "So be it....."

    "........."

    The creaking doll drew its sword.

    That ominous weapon drawn from its scabbard seemed sharp enough to kill a person with a single swing.

    And that weapon was now aimed at me, at my chest.

    Where my heart, pounding so hard I could feel it through my clothes, was located.

    Overwhelmed by the tension, I swallowed the saliva that had gathered in my mouth, making sure no one could hear the sound.

    What was about to happen was completely different from the spars and fights I had experienced so far.

    A real battle, where a single mistake would bring me pain, where a moment of carelessness could cost me my life.

    That''s the weight that was contained within the sword I held.

    "—Because I have a mountain of questions to ask you too."

    If this were the past, I would have already raised my hands in surrender and begged for my life before it even began.

    She was superior to me in both skill and experience.

    I wasn’t strong enough to bravely face the pain and fear that was coming.

    But, I held my sword.

    "That''s good to hear."

    I could feel it.

    The presence of Alice behind me.

    The worry for me contained in the small hand that was weakly gripping my clothes.

    With just that, just that alone.

    I.

    Even someone like me.

    Didn''t feel like I would lose at all.

    "—Because I was thinking the same thing."

    In the greenhouse, without a breath of wind, there was no need for a signal to start the fight.

    She and I both charged at each other with all our might, as if we had made a silent agreement.

    And soon, that small space was filled with the cold yet heated sound of clashing swords.

    **

    Even if it was an act done for the happiness of others, not for my own gain, the essence of my actions was still a lie.

    Whether it was a white lie or a malicious lie, the fact that I had deceived her remained unchanged.

    That act of betraying her trust was a betrayal, and no justification could be given for it.

    Likewise, the fact that I had deceived her wouldn''t disappear.

    Therefore, her anger towards me, was justified.

    And therefore, my anger towards her, was also justified.

    "You... that swordsmanship…!! As I thought, as I thought, as I thought!!! Youuuuuuu—!!!!"

    "Ugh… Ughk… What kind of strength…!"

    Clang, clang, clang!

    Ruthless downward swings with her entire weight and gravity behind each blow.

    The impact of those consecutive attacks, as if a hammer was pounding against my sword, was overwhelming.

    My tingling palms screamed for me to let go of the sword, and the liquid wetting the handle, whether it was sweat or blood, I couldn''t tell, but I bit my lip hard, refusing to give in.

    If I let go, I die.

    If I die here, I''ll never see Alice again.

    With that single thought imprinted into my mind, I focused on Remi Akaia''s movements and managed to escape from that hellish barrage of attacks by slipping to the side, taking advantage of a small opening.

    Just for a moment, though.

    Unfortunately, the situation was still one-sided.

    Her hostility and attention was completely focused on me, whether I should be happy or not, her gaze was solely following my movements.

    In other words, she didn''t even give me a chance to catch my breath as she launched her sword attacks towards me, who barely managed to regain my stance after quickly getting up with a roll.

    I was merely prolonging my life by devoting myself solely to defense.

    No, I should be grateful that I could even defend myself.

    The weight behind her sword was different.

    The speed of her swings was different.

    And above all, the mindset, the heart behind her sword, was different.

    I, couldn''t kill her.

    She, wanted to kill me.

    It was completely different from the spar we had in the arena before, where we had agreed not to aim for each other''s vital points.

    The gap created by that difference, was something I couldn''t bridge with just sheer willpower.

    Of course, I did manage to land a few hits by taking advantage of small openings.

    But instead of being discouraged by my counterattacks, she just kept coming at me, like a Yaksha (??), a demon, as if she didn''t even care about her wounds, and it was I instead who was overwhelmed by fear.

    (TL Note: Yaksha is a mythological spirit being from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.)

    With the sound of metal vibrating and the hilt slippery with sweat and blood, finally slipped from my grasp.

    The sword approached with a menacing aura, not stopping its momentum as it aimed for my neck.

    That clear difference in our abilities was inevitable.

    "...UaH?!"

    "—HAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

    A desperate situation.

    To think that I, who had confidently challenged her, would be facing death so pathetically in less than ten minutes after starting.

    Forgetting even the fact that Alice was watching from afar, I couldn''t help but let out a pathetic scream.

    I don''t want to die a miserable death like this.

    That I wanted to remain as a cool older sister to Alice if possible.

    But even though I pleaded with those wishful thoughts, the trajectory of the sword flying towards my neck didn''t change.

    However, in the end, the sword didn''t cut through my neck.

    "—Sis, no!!"

    ".....!!!"

    Because a childish scream blocked its path.

    **

    "Si...Sis Sia...Don''t kill her…"

    "..........."

    "Please....Please…"

    Alice was standing there.

    Standing there with her arms spread wide, her bleeding arm and hand where the wound hadn''t fully healed and the other that looked unnatural because of the missing part, her small body desperately trying to protect me.

    With tears streaming down her cheeks.

    She clung to her small legs.

    And slowly, she knelt.

    I wonder how it must have felt to Remi Akaia. The sight of her younger sister calling a complete stranger "sister" and begging for their life, when her real sister was right there in front of her.

    And then—

    Clang!

    ".......Ah...Aaaah..."

    The answer was her dropping her sword powerlessly and her eyes looking up at the empty ceiling.

    I couldn''t fathom what kind of emotion she was feeling as she lowered her head as if she would cry any moment.

    And I didn''t want to know, either.

    "....Why...Why are you fighting with Sis Sia…"

    "............."

    "Don''t, fight… Okay…?"

    The fight ended in a ridiculously anticlimactic way.

    There was no victor, no one to savor their victory with a bright smile, as it usually went.

    There were only losers bowing their heads, shedding tears mixed with sorrow and resentment.

    **

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