Chapter 87 : Idan
Idan lifted an apple from a corner of the fruit shop.
Although he wasn't particularly fond of mingling with the villagers, today's outing was purely for his younger sister.
He intended to make a pie with the favorite fruit of the child who seed downcast recently.
She was a kid who beca restless whenever the ti for the competition approached.
Idan knew that since she had a soft heart, if he showed he cared like this, she would try even harder to hide such an appearance in front of him.
For her sake, he was willing to endure a little inconvenience.
“Idan, are you planning to make a pie for Ria again?”
Idan nodded slightly to the fruit shop owner who spoke to him familiarly without permission.
Undeterred by his unapproachable deanor, the fruit shop owner ca closer to him.
Idan decided to quickly pay for the apples and leave the shop before the man annoyed him further.
“I heard Ria was hanging around in front of the temple yesterday. It seems Ria hasn't co to her senses yet?”
If only the man's question, spoken in a lowered voice, hadn't caught Idan's ankle.
***
The morning of the competition dawned.
The emotions revealed on the faces of the people gathered in front of the largest building in the village, that is, the village temple, were all similar.
Anticipation, tension, and a little bit of fear.
Jing, Ratel, and I were roughly similar too.
Although anticipation and fear were hard to find, a slight tension hung in the air.
The difference from other people was that the cause of the tension lay elsewhere, not in the competition.
“All Lucha participants, co get your numbers from here!”
When a person who appeared to be the temple manager called out to the people loudly, the participants flocked together in groups.
But we couldn't join their ranks.
“Lord Ran, it seems Miss Ria is too late.”
Jing muttered while looking in the direction of the lodging we had departed from.
The start of the competition was just around the corner, but Ria had not arrived yet.
She was the one who had left the shop early at dawn to avoid Idan's suspicion.
She should have arrived first if anything; there was no reason to be late.
The distance from the temple to the lodging wasn't that far, nor was the way here complicated enough to confuse a village native like her.
It was one of two things.
Either her mind about helping us had changed, or a circumstance arose that prevented her from coming.
The strong premonition that the circumstance was related to Idan was probably not unfounded.
***
Ria looked up with a frightened face at the opponent blocking her way, who was a head taller than her.
“B-Brother…….”
“You must have sowhere to go in a hurry.”
At the sunken voice, Ria squeezed her eyes shut.
It was clear he had already noticed about the Lucha Competition.
Ria couldn't even think of straightening her shoulders that were shrinking on their own and bowed her head deeply.
She wanted to run away imdiately, but the only exit for her, cornered in the inner part of the cramped bookstore, was the aisle Idan was blocking.
Ria did not have the courage to break through Idan, who seed full of anger.
Jing and Ran said they were quite strong, but Ria knew what being truly strong was like.
Unlike herself, who just had a little more strength than others, Ria knew very well whether soone really had talent.
She had no choice but to know.
Because she knew too well what kind of person Idan, who had been by her side since birth, was.
“I-I just agreed to lend my na. They said they ca all this way to enter the competition, but they were short on people, and the application deadline was yesterday, so…….”
Ria, who was diligently making excuses, gradually trailed off under the heavy gaze looking down at her silently.
“So you're saying you're going to enter the competition? Why? Do you want to be humiliated again?”
At Idan's rciless words, Ria's shoulders shrank a little more.
But this ti, Ria also couldn't back down easily.
She had already made a firm promise to Ran that she would help.
He was a person who almost lost the chance to participate in the competition because he helped her.
And above all, they were people who believed in her.
She didn't want to disappoint them.
“……They said I don't have to do anything. They said I just have to stand there. They said they would take care of the rest…….”
Seeing Ria, who didn't seem to have any intention of giving up as ekly as he thought despite his pressure, Idan felt his patience running out.
He didn't know yet that the cause was anxiety.
“If you just stand still, what do you think the villagers will say? You'll be the talk of the town again. Ria, who was humiliated 3 years ago, has appeared in the competition again. Ria, who held her brother back, is being greedy again. Do you want to hear things like that? People are just starting to forget, and you're going to repeat that again?”
Ria's face contorted as if she had been hit by Idan's rciless words.
But Idan didn't stop.
“Those people are travelers anyway. Win or lose, once they leave the village, that's it. Only we, who remain, will suffer. Why doesn't a smart kid know that!”
Ria couldn't say anything at Idan's warning, which had eventually turned into shouting.
But, even so, she didn't say she would give up on the competition.
That made Idan's head colder.
And one assumption brushed past his mind.
His eyes beca sharper.
“Or, have you really decided to leave with those people?”
“That's not it!”
Ria answered urgently, but Idan's patience had already hit bottom.
“Don't do anything. If you feel even a little bit sorry for , just live like you have until now. Ria.”
His large hand headed towards Ria.
Ria stared at it blankly, forgetting to breathe like a person drowning in the deep sea.
Until his strong grip pressured her wrist to the point of pain.
Kwang!
Ria ca to her senses at the sound of sothing collapsing.
A dust cloud rose with a roar.
Ria and Idan turned their heads to find the source of the roar.
The bookshelf the bookstore owner had dusted so diligently had fallen over.
The problem was that the collapsed bookshelf knocked over the bookshelf next to it together.
The bookshelves that were lined up narrowly in the cramped space began to collapse like dominoes.
Fortunately, the one who reacted first was Ria.
She didn't miss the opportunity.
After shaking off Idan's hand while he was distracted, Ria pushed his upper body with all her might.
And ran.
Without looking back.
***
She didn't think she ran that fast, but she was out of breath.
Ria couldn't know if her choice now was right or wrong.
It was the first ti she had rebelled so strongly against Idan's words.
What if the preliminaries end right away?
Will Idan kick out? Maybe this ti he really will abandon .
All sorts of worries covered her mind.
But she didn't want to stop her running legs.
Even when Idan pressured her, strangely enough, the words that she would give up didn't co out of her mouth.
The thought that this might be the last chance in her life didn't leave her mind.
***
When Ria, who had run, squeezing out all her strength, arrived at the competition grounds, Jing was diligently stalling for ti while explaining the situation to the competition manager.
“She just went to the restroom for a mont. Physiological phenona can't be helped, right? She will be here soon, so please give us a little more ti.”
“I-I'm here! I'm sorry! My stomach hurt so much……!”
Ria ran urgently and played along with Jing's excuse.
The man checking the participant list looked Ria up and down with an unpleasant face.
“I-I am huff……! Participant Ria, that is correct!”
Ria diligently spat out the breath that had risen to her chin and appealed that she was participant Ria.
“I already know you're Ria.”
The man answered Ria as if she was pathetic and then turned his arrow back to Jing.
“You are still one person short. If even one person is missing, you are disqualified from participation.”
Only then did Ria realize that one person out of the four was still missing.
And she also vaguely realized that the reason was because she was too late.
He must have gone out to look for and we missed each other.
Just as the blood was about to drain from Ria's face at the unfinished despair.
“Participant Ran has arrived.”
At the leisurely voice coming from behind, Ria turned around, holding back the cheer that was about to burst out.
It was a mont where Ran, approaching while pushing through the participants, looked like a savior.
Though it seed it didn't look that way in the list manager's eyes.
“Hey, why are you so confident for a group that arrived at the last minute?”
He waved his pen at Ran and spoke as if he didn't like Ran's leisurely attitude.
Even at the rebuke of the man working at the temple, there was no change in Ran's expression.
“It's fine as long as I'm not late. Victory isn't first-co-first-served anyway.”
“What? This……!”
“You seem free. Seeing as you have ti to waste here.”
The man, who was about to get angry at Ran's informal speech, suddenly ca to his senses at Ratel's words helping from the side and checked the ti.
Looking at the back of the man disappearing while grinding his teeth saying 'just wait and see', Jing and Ria sighed in relief.
But Ria's heart was still beating fast.
This ti it wasn't because of the intense exercise or fear.
Anticipation, tension, and a little bit of fear.
Feeling the three emotions she hadn't been able to feel because she was frantically belatedly overwhelming her, Ria moved her steps to the participant waiting room following the people.
***
Our group was Group 34 and 146 people gathered in the large participant waiting room made of a single tent.
It ant that most of the young people in the village were participants, and it also ant that humans were swarming.
It's understandable they would cut the number in half in the preliminaries.
I thought while massaging my slightly throbbing shoulder.
Perhaps because we applied for participation last, Group 34 was the number given to us.
Maybe because the preliminaries were just a procedure to weed out the weak numbers, five matches took place at once in the temple yard.
So it ant that 10 teams went out at once and had a dogfight.
It was a simple structure that showed the resolve to reduce the number of people by half as quickly as possible within the space allowed.
It ant there was still a little ti left until we, the last group, went outside.
Wouldn't it be faster if Ratel and Jing just swept away all the participants?
I shook my head at the idea that reminded of a certain cartoon where they fight with pet monsters at the forefront.
Let's stop.
If the guy knew I was thinking this, he might try to snap my neck again.
The gaze glaring at as if to kill every ti was already stinging.
I didn't want to clash with him unnecessarily until I parted ways with him.
“Where have you been?”
Startled by the guy's surprising timing of speaking to as if it was a lie, as soon as I made up my mind, I looked at Ratel.
But I couldn't find any particular emotion on his expressionless face.
“I went around the village for a bit. Looking for Ria.”
At my answer, the guy's eyes narrowed slightly.
“That woman said she was a little late because she spent ti at the bookstore.”
It seed she didn't ntion the incident with Idan.
Well. She wasn't the type to spill every detail of her family affairs to people she had just t.
“I didn't think to go that far.”
“That's a lie.”
At my answer, the guy's sentence fell.
And a confident one at that.
I looked into the guy's silent eyes without a word.
The guy also didn't avoid my gaze.
“You reek of dust and stale ink.”
I didn't do sothing sloppy like hurriedly checking my sll.
Because he was the one lying.
I flapped my wings to death to follow her without catching Ria's eye, so there was no way scent molecules strong enough for him to sll would remain.
“It seems the sll perated while I went there yesterday. Above all, there is no reason for to lie about sothing like this.”
“Exactly. I wonder what you are trying to hide by lying.”
Ratel turned his head and gestured with his eyes toward Ria, who was standing with a face stiff from tension.
“Why do you keep bringing that woman who isn't much help along? I need to know.”
There was no answer I could give.
I couldn't say I was following the flow of the original work, nor could I answer that I actually had abilities but was hiding them.
“Next, Groups 31 to 34! Co outside!”
What saved was the booming voice calling us from the competition grounds.
The guy, who had turned his gaze outside for a mont, looked at again.
“I didn't think you would tell ekly. Then I have no choice but to do it my way.”
Leaving a warning that sounded like a threat, the guy brushed past and stepped out of the tent.
I could realize one thing for sure from the uncomfortable ti just now.
It's nothing new, but the guy really has a foul personality.
***
Ria also moved her steps, following Jing and Ratel who had already gone out to the competition grounds.
“Um, Ran, I'll apologize in advance. I'm sorry.”
Ria, who was following behind , said in a voice as small as an ant's.
Ria's breathing was trembling.
“Sorry for what?”
“It might be a little unpleasant. But it's not directed at you, Ran, so just ignore it. Okay?”
When I asked back at the unexpected apology, Ria spoke in a voice that sounded like she was about to cry.
When Ria and I stepped outside, the sound of Ria's anxious breathing beca louder.
It didn't take long for her anxiety to beco reality.
“What? She really ca out?”
“It's Ria, the Ria who was utterly humiliated back then!”
Because the jeering and ridicule directed at her, who revealed herself at the competition grounds, began.
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