CHAPTER 5
O Glory, the Most Noble Power in the World
1
In the oldest and most deserted tower within the Imperial capital…
Lord’s office, third tower.
As she moved, blood splattered along the corridors. The throbbing pain in her shoulder and thigh where she had been shot had almost knocked her unconscious countless times.
“Why…?”
Shanorotte, a former commander of the Imperial forces, continued to drag her leg as she walked.
She had no idea where in the tower she was.
After infiltrating the place with the resolve to kill the Lord, this was how she had ended up.
“Mismis is the only one…with good subordinates and superiors… Why do I…always end up alone?!”
“Noro!”
She heard footsteps behind her.
She felt disgust when she heard the sweet voice. It was the most detestable voice in the world.
“What is it, Mis?”
She staggered as she turned around.
As she expected, the commander with an astral crest stood there. Behind her was her silver-haired subordinate, who held a gun.
“Oh? Looks like I already lost this round of tag. Well, it was bound to happen.”
The bright droplets of her blood had made a trail along the floor.
Even a child could have followed after her. She had known that, of course. Even her strengthened astral powers that she had been using as her secret weapon were nullified by Mismis’s astral power.
This was checkmate for her.
“Noro…”
“I don’t want you calling me that!”
She couldn’t move her right arm which had been shot.
She used her left to grab the knife on her belt behind her back.
“Don’t,” the young man with the silver hair said as he readied his gun. “The moment you lift that knife, I’ll shoot your shoulder. I’ll shoot your leg if you take even a step forward.”
“…”
“A knife can’t change things.”
“Change things…? Ah… Ha-ha! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
Shanorotte bared her teeth and laughed. As she did, her wounds started to open. But the pain felt comforting to her.
“It won’t change anything. But I’m ending things. Like this.”
She flipped the knife around toward herself.
In that moment, Mismis and her subordinate likely realized what she was doing.
“No!”
“Hey, wait—”
Shanorotte did not stop.
She aimed for her own neck and thrust…
“Congrats.”
That was when she heard a carefree voice.
From behind her came the sound of footsteps that didn’t seem human.
“You did well coming here. Though, I can’t be bothered to clean. I would appreciate it if you avoided getting my home dirty with your blood.”
“……Huh?”
“Oh? Is it your first time seeing me?”
It was a silver-furred beastperson.
The monster looked like it had come straight from a fairy tale. It walked on two legs but had a swaying tail.
“I thought you were after my neck? One would think you’d have done your research beforehand.”
“Huh?!”
Shanorotte instinctively realized that this fox-like beast was the Nebulis Sovereignty’s sworn enemy.
“You!”
She turned and threw her knife.
The blade was aimed directly at the Lord’s forehead, but it bounced away with a dull clatter. Whether that had happened because of the Lord’s thick fur or some invisible barrier, it made no difference to her.
“You’re the Lord?!”
Now empty-handed, Shanorotte picked the beastperson up by the neck.
The Lord was light.
She could pick them up by their neck easily, but the beastperson seemed unbothered even as she tried to crush their throat.
Mismis and her subordinate hadn’t budged probably because the Lord seemed so unconcerned.
“Ah, sorry. That might have hurt when I was human.”
“……Guh! Then I’ll—”
“You’ll…?”
The beastperson looked down at her as she still held their throat.
“You came here intending to kill me, didn’t you? But we’re in the Empire. You think you can escape after that?”
“I never intended to return back home!”
To her, the Empire had been an enemy since birth.
She had lived for this very moment.
“There would be no greater death than to bring Lord Yunmelngen down with me into the grave!”
“Even if I’d like to offer you a place where you would belong?”
“…Hunh? Are you trying to win me over?”
“Just look.”
The Lord swung their arms out.
Though they should have been on the verge of death from Shanorotte strangling them, they simply looked down at her, seemingly in no pain at all.
“You destroyed the base’s power supply, so the Imperial forces are in disarray. You did catch the Empire by surprise, so you’ve accomplished your goal in that case.”
“…”
“And one more thing. You’re proud of being an astral mage, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Then didn’t you feel it instinctively? That I have the same powers as you?”
The Lord slipped right out of Shanorotte’s hands and landed on the floor without a sound.
“Just look at me. I’m something very close to astral power. Aren’t we comrades, then?”
“You can’t— Agh!”
Though she tried to bring her down with all the strength she could muster, her shoulder and thigh rang with pain in that moment.
She heard something dribble down…
As her vision began to fade, she saw her own blood dripping beneath her. She might’ve reached her limit after losing too much blood, she felt dizzy.
Shanorotte bit her lip as her knees buckled.
“…”
This was enough.
She hadn’t even been able to bring the Lord down with her in the end.
As she realized this, the obsession within her seemed to snap. She no longer had the strength to even move, and her entire body started to ache.
“You…”
“Are you talking to me?”
“If you’re my comrade… If you’re something close to astral power…why are you the Lord? Why aren’t you on the Sovereignty’s side…?”
“Because there is something only we can do.”
…?
Had the Lord just used the royal “We”? She felt there was something odd about the way that the beastperson addressed themself, but…
But she didn’t pay it any mind.
“Ha! What can you do?”
“Yes, right.”
Lord Yunmelngen raised their head.
Then they looked at Mismis and her subordinate, who had been watching the events transpire from behind. The Lord gave them a wink. Strangely, it seemed the beastperson was used to making such gestures.
“I can make a ceasefire happen through peace talks. Oh, I believe there was someone else who wished for something similar?”
In that moment, Shanorotte heard Mismis exclaim out loud, and her subordinate said, “Of course,” under his breath.
Peace talks?
What did that mean? No… Impossible… Not the war between the Empire and the Sovereignty.
“We, Lord Yunmelngen, would be the only one able to accomplish that.”
“Nooo!”
Shanorotte wasn’t thinking logically.
She impulsively and fitfully shook her head.
“I…it won’t change at this point just because of some words! It’s too late! Do you have any idea how long I’ve hated the Empire?”
“Then do you want to be compelled to surrender by force?”
“…………”
“Then you can go ahead and try until you feel satisfied. It’ll be one-on-one.”
“What?”
One-on-one? With the Lord?
Shanorotte looked up to see the beastperson smiling mischievously.
“Hey, Mismis.”
“Y-yes?!”
“Come quick! She’ll lose consciousness from the blood loss at this rate.”
Mismis opened her eyes wide in surprise, and Shanorotte was feeling much the same.
One-on-one? Against Mismis? But why?
“You two go ahead and have your scrap. No guns or astral powers. Listen, Mismis, this is how Shanorotte wants to end things. So accept it.”
The Lord spread both their arms out.
“This is the end. Leave all your grudges and anger behind with this.”
What was the Lord saying?
Shanorotte truly had no idea.
Why did she have to do as they said? And it wasn’t as though Mismis could win against her anyway. Not that small, carefree girl who saw everything through rose-colored glasses.
“Jhin.”
Behind her, Mismis pulled off the ribbon around her neck.
“Hold my ribbon and gun. No interfering.”
“What? What are you—?”
“Noro, you dummy!”
She wasn’t prepared.
She hadn’t planned to listen to the Lord at all, nor had she expected Mismis to challenge her to a fight directly.
And so…
“You blockhead!”
“…Guh?!”
By the time Shanorotte realized what was going on, she was screaming as Mismis walloped her with a punch.
She felt a piercing pain in her skull and her vision went white for a moment.
“Do you know…?!”
She felt another blow.
This time it hit the left side of her face, which whipped her head and vision to the right. As the world wobbled, the commander who should have been the most detestable person in the world to Shanorotte was red-eyed and, for some reason, right in front of her face.
“Do you even know how much I wanted to just talk to you, Noro?!”
“Urgh!”
“I don’t care if you look down on me! You can treat me like an idiot. But at least listen to me. You’re strong, so you can at least do that, can’t you?!”
Mismis brought her fist up again.
“Nor—”
“You’ve got to be kidding me?!”
Shanorotte’s left fist made contact with Mismis’s forehead.
Mismis was thrown back, but she didn’t go down. Just before she fell over onto her back, she grabbed the wall with her hand and kept herself upright.
“You’re the one who’s getting on my nerves…”
Shanorotte couldn’t even wipe the sweat dripping off her as she let out a big breath of air.
“It’s always been like that. I was just a little nice to you, and you started following me like a puppy! It’s so stupid. You didn’t even know I was tricking you!”
“What’s so bad about it if I didn’t know?!”
“Guh.”
“Since I don’t have it in me to hate you even though I know now!”
“I’m saying that’s what makes you stupid!”
Shanorotte brought her fist up.
Mismis did at the same time. They both punched each other in the forehead, shrieked, and retreated back.
They were also both out of breath.
Shanorotte was at her limit, and the pain from her gunshot wounds was still throbbing.
“Imperials and citizens of the Sovereignty will never get along! And what are you, anyway?! You want to try being friends with me? Don’t you have any other friends?!”
“I do!”
“Then just leave me alone!”
Shanorotte couldn’t stand on her injured thigh.
Even forming a fist took everything she had. She felt dizzy from the blood loss and horribly cold.
But still…
“I’d never lose to somebody like you! You’re so weak that your punches don’t even hurt. You runt!”
“Well, your punches hurt, Noro!”
“Wha?!”
“It’s true… You’re amazing…Noro…”
Without putting her fists down, Mismis stood close enough to Shanorotte to punch her at any moment, but she only smiled weakly.
“How can you stay standing when you’re hurt so bad? ……I couldn’t do that. I don’t think I could win…”
“…”
“You’re bigger than me, and put in more effort and you’re more skilled, and sensitive and smarter—”
“…………”
“So isn’t that enough? You could at least listen to me, you blockhead!”
“……Guh?!”
Mismis punched her again.
“You… That was dirty! You can’t punch me while I’m listening to you!”
She punched Mismis back.
Mismis staggered and gritted her teeth, then brought her fist up.
They punched each other over and over, screaming and yelling at each other over and over again.
They just kept going, never stopping, over and over.
It seemed foolish.
Why was she going along with something so foolish? Why was she taking it so seriously?
Especially with the Lord right there. Even though her sworn enemy was standing right there, why was she fighting and punching her former colleague until she was out of strength?
“…”
Eventually, she reached her limit.
“You’re so stupid…”
“Noro?”
“I’m so stupid for going along with an idiot…”
She exhaled all the air left in her lungs and pushed back her bangs that stuck to her skin from her sweat.
Then Shanorotte fell onto the ground, her limbs splayed out around her.
“Ahh… I lost to Mis.”
She couldn’t even lift a finger.
She had genuinely used up all her strength.
“I lost. I’ll do what you say since you won.”
“Noro…”
Shanorotte looked up at Mismis, whose mouth hung open.
Then she closed her eyes.
“You really are an idiot, Mis. You worry about a traitor like me… You’re such a pushover… A real pushover—”
That was probably why people gravitated toward her.
That was why she had such amazing subordinates and why a Saint Disciple like Risya stuck around.
Just as the arrival of spring brought all sorts of life with it, Mismis drew people to her.
“People just can’t help gathering… You’re like the spring breeze, Mis.”
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