Riot Grasper V3C18

Volume 3 Chapter 18 – Awakening

A forced loss of consciousness is a bit scary.

It’s not pleasant like sleep, but rather you feel as though you are being swallowed up by the darkness and your body is melting away. There is no way to know where you are or what state you are in.

（What is that? It’s warm…）

–A soft warmth, almost like grains of light, wrapped around my body.

It was particularly strong around my left arm. Almost hot.

It was so comfortable that I would have believed it if I was told that it was the Goddess who was pulling my body up out of the darkness.

….. I should be able to get up soon.

I’m not sure what to do. It feels similar to trying to force a dream to end the moment you realize that it’s a dream. I’m struggling to open my eyes.

After several failed attempts, however, I finally manage to get them open.

「–Oh…. What about here?」

Could the first figure in my hazy vision be the Goddess?

With a faint outline in my mind, I took their hands to thank them.

「….. Oh. You’re awake. I’m a little embarrassed.」

I can tell by the wrinkled voice and face that they’re not young. His voice, which has turned white with age, looks familiar, but he is far from a Goddess. Though, their appearance with a wand fits the image of a wizard perfectly.

……

「Gyaaaaaaaa!!」

「Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!」

There were two raspy screams.

「Whoa, old Worm! Why are you here? I mean, why are you blushing?」

「What’s with the sudden shouting, Seibo? How long are you going to hold my hand? I have no taste for that kind of thing.」

Seibo is the nickname old Worm gave me.

While I was teaching him my Optical Camouflage magic, he was trying to call me, a younger man, “Sensei” and “Master.” I had to shut that down, so I told him to call me Seibo.

However, I don’t think that we’ve become close enough to hold hands as men. I immediately let go of my left hand and looked around, switching my uselessly awakened consciousness back into gear.

Apparently, this is the first aid room of the arena.

Oh…. that’s right. I must have fainted at the end of my fight with Belga.

「Good. You seem to have realized that you are safe. From the looks of it, your arm doesn’t look too bad.」

I heard such a voice from behind me as I was sitting up on a bed separated by a white curtain in the first aid room.

Oh…. Oh, by the way, my left arm is in place. It works fine!

Hmm? This crystal clear voice sounds familiar too….

When I forced my head to turn around, I saw a beautiful elf in a grass colored robe. The word “bliss” is probably the right word to use in this case.

「Hey, Illi-san. What are you doing here?」

「In a nutshell, it’s for your treatment.」

「Me, too.」

They said it in unison. To be honest, I’m kind of glad. I guess Illi-san used spirit magic to heal my wounds, and old Worm used his speciality, light magic. It must have been hard to heal my torn left arm.

「But really, why are you here?」

「We’ll talk about that later.」

Illi-san didn’t answer my question immediately, but spoke softly behind the curtain.

「It’s alright now. Both of you.」

The two silhouettes I could see through the curtains moved, and the thin white cloth was pushed open.

There was Stella-san, who was half crying, and Uran-san, with a look of relief on his face. I can easily imagine that these two were worried about me.

But–

「I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I never thought this would happen…」

It was rare to see her so flustered that her language had broken down like this.

「No, don’t worry about it. I was just doing what I was asked to do. But I think I might have been the one who got beat up…. Hahaha.」

I said it jokingly, but I think I was probably injured worse than Belga.

「Thank you so much. I’m so relieved that you’re okay, Seiji-san.」

Uran, being the gentleman that he is, politely thanked me.

「This Stella girl. She was so excited before the match, but from the middle of it, she seemed to be on the verge of crying.」

….. Excited?

Could it be that it was Stella who was shouting, “Please beat him up,” when I interrupted Belga’s fight?

「Hey, Uran! You don’t have to say that!」

For some reason, I felt like I was going to vomit blood uncontrollably when I saw her hitting Uran-san. She was hitting him with a vigor that seemed to fit the “poka-poka” onomatopoeia rather perfectly.

「By the way, what happened with Garib. Did he back off quietly?」

Let’s get back to the point. Anyway, we won the game. There are a few points that could be difficult to deal with, but I sincerely hope that they can be resolved peacefully.

「Yeah, that’s….」

Stella’s face is cloudy. Don’t tell me he hasn’t given up yet?

「He hasn’t been seen since the match ended.」

….. What?

「I thought for sure you were going to say something else.」

「I tried to find him, but it’s a little strange. It’s almost like he just disappeared.」

Uran-san is twisting his neck. Hmm… I’m sure he’s worried about finding out. It would be troublesome if he were to be accused of many things later on. Would it be too much to assume that he honestly and quietly stepped down because he lost?

「Well, the match is over, and I don’t think they’ll take any devious action.」

「That’s right. If anything else happens, I think I’ll go on rant next time.」

I’m wondering what the content of Stella’s rant will be, but I guess the matter is settled for now.

「Well then, Seiji-san. I’ll be ready to serve you a huge feast tonight, so please come by Bellyful Flavors.」

Uran-san smiled brightly. I guess the best way to thank someone is to have them eat a full meal of your food.

I’ve regained consciousness and the wounds on my body have healed, but the blood I shed has not returned. I definitely feel like stuffing my stomach with meat the size of my head.

「I’ll take care of it.」

Uran smiled confidently. I think I’m going to fall in love with him…

— After seeing them off, I got up from the bed, feeling satisfied that my work was done.

「So I guess I’ll be leaving soon. I have to fix my armor.」

My eaten left arm is back to normal, but my armor is not so good. I have to go to a store to get it repaired or it will look super awkard.

「Why don’t you go ask again why I was here?」

Illi-san asked us.

「Thank you so much for treating my injuries. I was wondering if it would bother you if I asked you an in-depth question.」

「No, no, I was just doing what was natural. But I see. So you’re saying that Seiji-san isn’t interested in me.」

What…?

「What are you talking about, Illi-chan! I’m very interested in you! I want to know everything about you, your hobbies, your eating habits, your physical data, your schedule, even the number of spirits you have contracted. No, I already know about half of it.」

「Shut up, please. Or rather, Worm, you and I need to have a talk later.」

….. Why did you say that, old Worm…

「No, it’s not that I’m not interested either… Well, what are you doing here old Worm?」

「I’m just kidding when I say that I’ll go to… wherever she is… I just saw that a familiar face was participating in a match, and he ended up being badly injured. The first-aid staff in the arena couldn’t help him, so I rushed over.」

It’s hard to tell if he’s serious or not, but I’m glad he was here.

「I was the one who started the healing process first, but without Worm-san’s magic, I would have had a hard time rejoining your arm.」

That being said, old Worm’s Light Magic skill has reached Lv. 3.

「Seiji-san. If you don’t mind, would you follow me?」

Illi walked away quietly. Was the reason she was in the arena something that she doesn’t want people to hear about.

As I hesitated to decide what to do, I saw old Worm follow without hesitation.

「Old Worm… What are you doing?」

Illi-san seemed to ask in a really cold tone, but the person in question seems rather happy about it.

「Hmm? I thought you said you wanted to talk to me later.」

That was incredible, old Worm. Seriously, I respect you.

As expected though, Illi-san began to show signs of fatigue. She let out a small sign at the same time.

「Seiji. I’m sorry to have to go around. There is actually someone who wants to talk to you. Would you please come with me?」

She was being quite direct. Old Worm must have seriously disrupted her pace. There are only a few people that Illi-san would be afraid of. I was tempted to go straight home, but I was also indebted to her for her treatment.

I can at least listen to what she has to say.

「Can I come too?」

「….. do whatever you want.」

We left the first aid room and walked down the gently curving corridors of the outer edge of the arena.

We stepped into the area where soldiers were stationed and it was off-limits. After a white, Illi stopped in front of the gorgeous doors of the structure.

「Here we are.」

When the door was slowly pushed open, a man was standing in the room. His upside-down auburn hair covered his face as it connected with his beard. He has a great mane with stern parts in the center like a lion.

I’ll never forget his appearance.

「Oh, King!」

「It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Seiji.」

The one looking at us is Hardin Tuo Belad. He is the current King of the Kingdom of Rishayil.

He remembered my name and face from the rescue of Marita, his niece, in Merveille.

「If you are in the capital, why didn’t you come to the palace to show your face? And is that old Worm over there? You look good as always.」

Hey…. does the king know old Worm?

「Hardin-sama sometimes goes to inspect the magic laboratory by himself. I heard that he has long been acquainted with Worm-san, who is an excellent technician for making magicla tools.」

Illi-san read face and answered my question.

「It’s been a long time. I’m glad to see you’re doing well, King.」

「Hahaha! Locking yourself up in a lab isn’t good for your old body.」

「That’s right. Sometimes I stretch my wings like this. I’m surprised to learn that Seibo was acquainted with the King. I think I’d better leave at this point.」

As expected, when dealing with a king, even old Worm seems to have some common sense.

「I don’t mind. But I didn’t know that… old Worm was also acquainted with Seiji. Seibo hmm?」

The king rubbed his goatee as if he was thinking about something.

「Did Illi know about this?」

「Yes.」

Ah… Apparently Illi hadn’t really reported to the king that I was coming to the capital.

「Well, that’s alright. It’s probably because I recruited Seibo a little too aggressively.」

Oh, a humble response. I mean, the king called me Seibo, too. Let’s not talk about that.

The person that Illi-san mentioned that she wanted me to meet would definitely be the King.

「Uh, did the King want to talk to me?」

「No need to be so formal. You can speak normally.」

「You mean, like…」

「You seem to be doing alright. That was a great fight you just had. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a fight as heated as that one. I suppose it would be…. foolish to ask what you did at the end.」

The end? What is he talking about? I wonder if he’s trying to solicit me to join his subordinates again.

「Don’t be so alarmed. I just wanted to pay my compliments. I told you that if you wanted to serve me, you could always knock on the gate of the palace. I’m not going to tell you the same thing twice.」

….. I guess this attitude was a bit rude after I was treated by Illi.

「Um, thank you very much. But why is the King here?」

I’d guess that the king has actual work to do.

「This is a spectator room reserved for Hardin-sama. I’ve heard that you need to visit places like this to find talented people. I think he’s just here to have fun though.」

「Don’t say that, Illi.」

It will be a mixed bag, but there will definitely be skilled people.

But I’m not going to be naïve enough to believe in the coincidence that you just happened to be at my match.

「Would you believe me if I told you I came in from the royal palace to watch the match?」

「If you tell such lies in front of Illi-san, she’ll see right through you.」

「Haha. It’s the usual. It’s true that I didn’t come here to watch the match in the first place. In fact, I received a somewhat interesting document the other day.」

The king took out a document, which was a rolled up tube of paper.

「The content is this」

『Lich Xiao, Lord of Toggle, who wishes to befriend the King of Rayshil』

「I’ve seen some very simple love letters. There was nothing specific in it. At first, I thought it was a bad joke, but it seems the signature is genuine.」

Lich Xiao is… possibly the brother of those two. What are they thinking, sending a letter to the king of neighboring country out of the blue.

「I was a little curious. I had a few questions I wanted to ask the prisoners who were transferred to this arena, and that’s why I came.」

That’s Rei and Ren. I guess it’s know that those two are related to the Lord of Toggle..

「We’re a little behind schedule, but we should be able to bring them here shortly.」

As soon as the king said that, there was a knock on the door. The two people were brought in – the younger brother was looking around the room carefree, while the older sister was still scowling.

The king began to question them with a look full of intimidation. The air was so heavy I was worried I’d crack open in a few seconds.

What kind of person is the current lord, Lich Xiao?

What is the treu meaning of this letter?

If there is any lies, he will be able to detect it, because Illi-san is standing next to him, watching the two. So this is why they’re here.

–After a while, the interrogation finally seemed to end.

「You didn’t have me much useful information. And I don’t even feel like you’re lying to me.」

As for Lich Xiao’s character, he was a prodigal son, and I they don’t know the true meaning of the letter.

If that’s how Illi-san felt, then i guess they really don’t know anything. They were separated from their homeland at an early age, so it’s not surprising.

「Then there’s no need for us to force you to move.」

I guess he didn’t expect much to begin with. The King didn’t seem to be disappointed.

「But it’s a little curious isn’t it?」

「Do you care about….?」

Oh, that’s…. gone.

「Not really, I have no intention of going to the Suven Empire at the moment.」

「You have never said anything of the sort. But if you are going to the Togolese region on your journey, as an acquaintance I will be glad to help you with some money. I look forward to hearing your tales.」

The King has made a move. Is this what he wanted all along?

「No, I’m not even familiar with the geography of the other side.」

「You mean you need a companion who knows the place? If that’s the case–」

「I’ll go!」

What? Who?

The one who raised her voice – Rei.

「Lich nii-san… that guy….. Please let me come with you.」

I think this is the first time Rei has asked me for anything. Then I know how I will respond.

「Yeah… I don’t think that’s possible…」

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