Chapter 29: The Red Lips at the Battle Fiesta

The brilliant sun shone brightly on the arena which was used for the tournament matches in summer and winter every year.

The dome-like design was fully equipped with heating and cooling system. A defensive shield was set up between the audience seats and the stages[1]. The audiences were paying attention towards the stages in the middle of the arena.

Battle Fiesta was about to begin.

The rules were simple. If you knocked out the opponent or they voluntarily said “I concede”, then you won. The matches were done in tournament style, and the student who won the final match would take the first place.

“Kyaa～～! Adis-sama～!!”

The fangirls were cheering twice louder than usual.

“It’s been a while since I last heard those voices.”

Razé watched the right corner of the stage from the audience seats with an indescribable look on her face. Adis popularity among the girls was due to his personality and he could be considered as a man with high quality second only to Ruben.

I wish I could beat him in the tournament.

The audiences were full of high-ranking aristocrats; some of them might be able to recognize Razé Granoli’s true identity. She needed to stay low-profile and stepped away from the tournament. It was such a pity though.

More importantly, I need to do something about the game event.

In the otome game, the commoner heroine would be injured by her opponent who was cheating. At that time, Prince Ruben would rush onto the stage. This was one of the major events in the game plot.

There was no way that Razé would let her angel Folia to be injured by a cheating player. Carna also helped to make the necessary arrangement while Razé was sternly monitoring the stages.

“Ra- Razé, are you nervous?” Carna was surprised when she saw Razé’s stern expression.

“Yes …I’m quite good at swordsmanship but my specialty was useless for this kind of combat.” If her subordinates were here, they definitely would shake their head and pointed out her lie. But those men were currently doing an expedition in Baruda.

Razé: 「Besides, I’m worried if something might happen to Folia.」

Carna: 「You’re right … I’ll make arrangement on my side too. I hope nothing will happen.」

If Carna was in danger, then Prince Ruben would definitely be the first to rush over. But it would be best that nobody got injured.

Carna shifted her attention to Folia who was watching the match.

Razé: 「Don’t worry. Prince Ruben cares a lot about you. He gave you that hair ornament during the Star Festival, right?」

Carna: 「How did you know?」

Her cheeks turned red. Razé was just making a wild guess but her reaction was very easy to read.

Razé: The flower motif on your hair ornament is called ‘mühle’. Perhaps you should check the flower meaning.

Mühles had the meaning of ‘being possessive, to never let go’. It sounded a bit creepy but Razé already recognized Ruben as a prince who was madly in love with Carna. The flower language suited him well.

The loud cheering voices was heard once again as the match ended. Adis had won against a 3rd Year student.

“It’s almost time for my match. I’ll need to go standby.” Razé informed Carna as she stood up.

“I’ll be cheering for you. Do your best. This is for good luck charm.” Carna tied a purple ribbon with silver embroidery on Razé’s arm. It was a tradition for soldiers to receive such ribbon from their wife or lover before going to war. After they received the ribbon, the soldier would kneel down in front of their partner and swore to come home to them.

Being rewarded by a goddess, Razé felt that she needed to fight well in her match. Razé knelt down and kissed Carna’s hand. “As you wish, I’ll make sure to win for you.”

“Wow, so cool!” Folia looked at them with sparkle in her eyes. From the opposite side, Razé could felt a murderous aura aimed towards her. Ruben’s eyes were saying: “I’ll get you for this!” Razé hurriedly left them behind. She had a hunch that Ruben was going to show PDA again after getting jealous, so it was better to leave as soon as possible.

Razé’s opponent for her first match was Thord Lynn Tennys, a senior from 2nd Year Class B. The longer the match went on, the more attention she would get. She needed to lose fast without being too suspicious. Razé held her sword facing her opponent.

Razé: “Let’s do our best.”

Thord stood silently without showing any reaction. The referee rang the bell and the match began.

Thord: “……$+〆%＊:”

Razé: “Huh?”

There was an inaudible voice that sounded like spell casting coming from him. He was staring at Razé but his eyes seemed out of focus.

What the hell?!

Razé immediately tried to keep a distance from him, but she couldn’t move her body as if she was bound by his spell. She saw black fog coming from behind him, and then a figure appeared from inside the fog. Thord suddenly collapsed to the ground. The figure that appeared like a ghost was actually a woman in a black cloak with hood covering her eyes and nose.

“Pardon me. You do not belong to this world. I’ve been told to remove the meddling mob. Please don’t messed up our plan any further.”

She had bright red lips with bright red nails.

The woman who looked like a witch ran her fingers across Razé’s face. Razé was unable to move as if the time had stopped.

“Goodbye.”

The woman took out a sword from inside her cloak and look at it as if she was admiring it. Then suddenly, she raised her sword and aimed straight towards Razé’s heart.

…

When the time moved again, both Razé and Thord were lying on the stage. The audiences were confused with the sudden event.

“Hey! Stay with me!” The teacher who was acting as referee pulled Razé up. Harlens noticed the commotion and immediately set up an illusion barrier.

Harlens: “Granoli!”

Razé: “Prin..cipal…”

A crimson bloodstain spread on her white shirt.

That was really close …

Right when the sword touched her skin, Razé was able to used her magic again, and she barely managed to shift the location of the wound to her abdomen.

She thought that it would be troublesome if she didn’t hide her old wound that look like a curse, so she casted illusion instead of recovery magic. She hoped that the illusion would maintain for a while even if she fainted.

Forbidden magic …That’s not fair!

Razé had never thought that she would be targeted. This was the second time she had been bound with time-stopping magic. Previously, Magenda baited her with a scapegoat and used time manipulation magic in order to stop the ‘Ghost of the Executioner’. The magic used at that time was imperfect, so Razé managed to break through it with brute-force. But she was not so lucky this time.

Razé had activated her magic stone forcefully in an effort to nullify the woman’s magic. It caused her to suffer a severe headache.

She felt like she had made a blunder and let other saw her pathetic appearance on the stage. She fell unconscious soon after.

[1] There were many stages as they had multiple matches going on simultaneously before the final. ↩