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Carve a Path to the Confederacy – Part 03

Jillarte’s proposal to abandon the fortress city of Leather-elka was swiftly accepted. The demi-humans had no desire to occupy the city for an extended period of time, and they were only doing it so they could bargain for Jillarte’s release.

Lawrence was apparently taken aback by how quickly they abandoned the city. Nonetheless, they successfully managed to retreat under the cover of darkness, and no lives were lost.

The Dragonfolk’s rebel army crossed the border and entered the Confederacy of Einbiest. The region was barren, with no inn town capable of accommodating 900 people, so they had to camp.

Hikaru was inside a particularly large tent.

“First of all, thank you, Utekko, Garan, Lukrek, Chi,” Jill began. “For taking action when I was abducted.”

The leaders of the Half Dragons, the Ogrekin, the Sinners, and Ratmen all nodded.

“But please don’t do anything dangerous again,” she added. “I heard many warriors lost their lives in the battle against the knights.”

“They fought fully prepared to die,” said Utekko, leader of the Dragonfolk. “Lord Kouga was our beacon of hope. And so are you, his only daughter.”

Garan of the Ogrekin nodded. He was huge, with red skin and exposed, sharp canine teeth. “He’s right,” he said. “When we heard that you were arrested by the stupid king of Ponsonia, we couldn’t stand by and do nothing. We had to act. Our lives during Kouga’s time were so wonderful.”

“…”

Lukrek of the Sinners nodded. Before coming here, Hikaru had asked why they were called that.

A special genetic trait caused blue marks resembling bruises to appear all over their bodies, which looked similar to the tattoos used to brand people as criminals in the past. Despite the terrible name, they still held onto hope. During Kouga’s time as leader of the confederacy, the Sinners were not openly discriminated against.

“What do we do now?” Chi of the Ratmen cut in with a shrill voice. “It’s nice that we’ve joined forces, but we live in different places.”

He was a rodent Beastman, no taller than one meter. His distinguishing features were his pointed whiskers and long front teeth.

Hikaru had wondered why Ratmen were not considered Beastmen. As it turned out, Beastmen valued strength immensely, so the short, dexterous, but powerless Ratmen were deemed unworthy of inclusion. So they identified as a separate race—only because they had no other choice.

These four races were not originally acquainted with each other. When they heard via the Adventurers’ Guild that Jillarte had been arrested by the king of Ponsonia—and without any justifiable reason—they mustered up the courage to act. Upon contacting the Dragonfolk, they learned that they were also planning to take action, so they gathered a thousand warriors to take down the nearest fortress city.

Incredible initiative, Hikaru had thought. But also reckless.

Yet the fact that they successfully executed their plan showed how strong they actually were.

Must be all that pent-up rage.

Looking at it from a different perspective, it could mean that life in Einbiest became harder after Gerhardt replaced Kouga as leader of the confederacy. Once you had experienced the good times, you wouldn’t be able to go back to the old days—you wouldn’t want to. These past twelve years must have been rough for them.

“Before I go any further, let me introduce you,” Jillarte said. “This is Silver Face, the man who rescued me from prison.”

The leaders and warriors of the four races studied Hikaru with suspicion.

“A human?”

“Where is he from?”

“Is he not taking off the mask?”

“Can we trust him?”

The leaders expressed their distrust clearly. Hikaru understood how they felt. Jillarte was kidnapped by humans and rescued by (presumably) a human. It sounded rigged.

However, Hikaru did not do all of this to earn their trust.

“My job is to escort Jillarte,” he said. “Now that she’s safe, my job is do—”

Before he could finish, Jillarte interrupted. “As Chi said earlier, what do we do next? I’ve been thinking the same thing… thinking about it for the past twelve years.” Her firm voice silenced the tent. “I will join this year’s Ruler’s Rumble to become the next leader.”

The eyes of all four leaders, including Utekko of the Dragonfolk, brightened.

Jillarte was their hope. If she stood up, even those from other races who liked the previous leader would follow suit. It was a signal to start a new era. But that wasn’t her point.

Jillarte pointed her thumb at Hikaru. “I want to compete with Silver Face.”

After Kouga’s death, a new leader of the Beastmen emerged. Since then, Jillarte had been living in hiding. She became an adventurer and left Einbiest for that reason. There was information that Gerhardt’s men were searching for her.

If the Stone Golem that attacked them on the way to Leather-elka was created by a Sorcerer from Einbiest, then their obvious objective must be eliminating the former leader’s daughter, whom they saw as a hindrance. They wanted to make sure that the assassin was unidentifiable to avoid trouble with the previous leader’s faction. Jillarte believed that the Stone Golem was sent by Gerhardt.

“The venue for the tournament is in Hopestadt, the largest city in Einbiest. You could say it’s in the middle of hostile territory, but there’s a lot of people there. If they try to assassinate me, Gerhardt’s reputation will plummet, so it’s actually safer. Besides, I’m done hiding.”

She was optimistic, her gaze fixed solely on the future.

“I’ve gained experience and become stronger. I think I can give Utekko a good fight now. If I participate in the tournament, many will remember my father. Another six years and their memories will have faded.”

Her heartfelt words would’ve struck a chord in anyone listening—if it weren’t for the current situation.

As a matter of fact, the atmosphere couldn’t be any worse, and no one was listening to her. The four leaders and the warriors in the tent were glaring at Hikaru sharply, like they would pounce at him at any moment.

“I understand what you’re trying to say, Jillarte. But still…”

“What’s the deal with him?”

“Is he not taking off his mask?”

“You’ve got to be out of your mind to compete with this kid!”

The leaders’ hostile glares made cooperation impossible for Hikaru.

“Jillarte,” Hikaru said. “My job should be do—”

“Please, Silver Face. You’re probably stronger than anyone here. I need your help.”

The air froze.

“Wh-Why would you say that?” Hikaru said.

“Don’t worry. If you win, you can transfer the position of leader to someone you believe in.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“I’ve never seen such splendid skills when you broke me out of prison. Your fearlessness, your technique in exploiting an opponent’s blind spot. Star Face is quite the Mage, but since she idolizes you, you must be even more incredible than her.”

“Of course. Silver Face is the best,” Lavia chimed in proudly.

“I knew it.”

Hikaru wished Lavia didn’t add fuel to the fire. Jillarte was not familiar with Hikaru’s Stealth ability. So when she saw Hikaru moving around without being noticed by the enemy, she thought he was fearless.

Of course, Hikaru would never lose to the average fighter. However, his fighting style was too unique, so he chose his fights carefully. For a Stealth user like him, fighting in front of many people was the worst case scenario, as was the case in the tournament.

“If you insist, let’s have a match. If that masked fellow… Silver Face can beat us, we will give up our slot,” Utekko said with a smile.

A smile that couldn’t hide his rage.

---

The slots for the tournament were allocated by race, with the largest faction, the Beastmen, having five slots, while the Half Dragons and the other three minority races only had one slot for two races. With four races here, there were only two slots available.

That was why the leaders were upset that Jillarte would so easily declare to participate with Silver Face. Some things they just couldn’t agree with even from the daughter of the previous leader.

The sun had set, and people were gathered in the clearing between the tents. In the middle stood Hikaru and the leaders of the four races. A bonfire was crackling nearby.

“Silver Face, choose anyone from the four of us. If you win, we’ll acknowledge your strength.”

A chorus of groans rose from all directions. Warriors who had heard the story had gathered to watch, and they, too, couldn’t agree with Jillarte’s decision. Their feelings were understandable. They literally risked their lives to save her, but she was rescued by a masked human and fled from Leather-elka to this place. Now Jillarte, their beacon of hope, said she wanted to fight in the tournament with Silver Face.

It could be interpreted as her saying, “You guys are too weak, so I’m teaming up with Silver Face.”

Jillarte was staring at them by the bonfire. Her eyes said Silver Face would never lose.