"Everyone is soooooo off the tangent! They're all just putting one misunderstanding over another! Don't you think so, Dol!?" "......Well, everyone else may truly be off the tangent in your eyes, Allen. If you look from their perspective, that means you alone are the one that's outside of that circle..." "I’m talking about the theory of relativity, dammit! Listen here, Dol! A tourist just wanted to watch the tournament with ease, eating the hotdog while whistling for his side, but suddenly he was told millions of lives now rested in his hands! And then, just because he accidentally praised an acquaintance, it conceived them an era-ending giga-mega misunderstanding! What else can it be if not space and time itself is warping!" "......S-Space and time warping? .........Alright, calm down, I got it. That's certainly one hell of misunderstanding. Everyone's off the tangent. See, I get it? So now can you sleep?" "I know you understood me! S-Sleep you say?! Dumbass! You traitor! Don't you just jump on our future alone! To begin with, as the the coach, I ought to—" And in this way, a comedy skit, but without any audience, opened up in Allen's room. However this was suddenly interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Purim's urgent voice echoed across the door. "Are you still awake, Coach? We have a situation! Martin-senpai is—" Allen and Dol rushed out in fluster, and saw Purim standing there with tears pooling into his eyes. "G-Girai-sama! It's about the attack on Martin Gabanantis!" Kunai, Girai's subordinate, suddenly barged inside the room, and brought up the unfamiliar topic. Not understanding what all that was about, Girai exhaled a sigh, and continued to sip on his black tea with relaxed gestures. "......Have you stopped to look at the watch? So much noise at such a late hour. And what're you even talking about? I have said it many times, organise the key points first whenever there is a report to make. You exhaust me." "P-Pardon me. The news is about your subordinte—Fren Platoon's assault on Martin Gabanantis, a second year representative from Yuglia who has been currently staying in guest house..." But, even with a concise report about the situation, Girai had a confused expression, unable to immediately comprehend what had been told. "Hmm, Fren did what against Yuglia...? What are you even talking about?" Kuna glanced at Girai with a doubtful gaze. "Huh? ......Are you not aware of the situation? The victim had been heading for the 4th Magic Training Ground under the escort of Fren and a woman wearing the ID of management staff, however they're assaulted by Fren's platoon who lied there in ambush, apparently delivering grave injury to them. The victim had managed to break through the encirclement with his own power, and was saved by coincident passing of another nation's convoy. Fren deserted the scene afterward." The cup in Girai's hand dropped to the ground. "W-What's all this about... I know nothing. This is news to me! Are you sure there's no misunderstanding?!" Kuna's expression changed as she shook her head. "Multiple eyewitnesses have stated that they saw Fren escorting them, so there's no mistaking the fact. And above all, tens of Fren's soldiers had been killed in retaliation at the 4th training ground, while some alive were captured—this is nearly half of Fren's platoon, and confessed that they're only executing orders under their superior's order. The main culprit, Fren, has been missing ever since, and it's to be presumed that he has fled from Marilard Palace. But...there has been plenty of evidence like the knife he uses among other things on the place of assault... I fear denying any accountability of the incident may not fly this time...Girai-sama." Girai nervously swallowed his saliva as Kunai gave a detailed report, and after falling into a moment of silence, he hollered at the top of his lungs. "..........Damn you, Fren! So he decided to betray me even after all the attention I gave him?! I just don't know anything I have no part of! I bet this must be a ploy of Arichi or another contender! No, never mind, who did it doesn't matter right now! Hurry up and set up the scene, so that the doubt can shift to Arichi—" As he seethed in fury, the door to his room opened with a faint creaking sound as someone pushed from outside by a snake-like sharp-eyed man. "......Even if you aren't the main preparator—" Girai swallowed his words when he saw that man entering. Affirming that, the sharp-eyed man quietly continued. "—A contender of another nation has still come out injured under their stay, and the responsibility of it falls solely on the Security In-charge, and that is you, Prince Girai." The man was wearing a red armband—it was made of snakeskin, patterned with the design of a circle with a hole at the centre—a signature of the Rosemieur Empire's regular army on his arm. The regular army acted under the Empire's order, so it also symbolises the imperial edict. Saving the Emperor himself, their right of authority extended over to everyone else, and needless to say, even imperial lineage wasn' spared. It was one of the privileges of an Emperor, a foundation of his political strength, and as many loathed that authority, they feared it just as much. "Y-you're... Mamushi!" The man locked his gaze with Girai, glaring at him from below. "...And the cherry on the cake is, of course, this is the same person who had devised a scheme to assassinate the knight of another nation, and your subordinate of many years. ...I would like you to accompany me, Prince Girai." "T-This is obviously a ploy from Arichi or another contender... Wait, it's also possible Yuglia self-inflicted the situation on themselves to frame me. Surely, there's no need for leader of Imperial Army to take action over such trivial matter, Mamushi. It doesn't bode well with the prestige of Emperor, after all. And you know, we had not bad quite bad dealing ourselves. Come on, you know right?" Girai feigned calmness as beads of sweat covered his forehead, however the man didn't play along. "... A trivial matter, you say? We're talking about a 'participant of Rising Dragon Cup' being assaulted inside the premise of a guest house by none other than our army personnel. A cowardly tactic by someone of the warrior class. The severity of the situation is no less than laying a hand on a diplomat. This is a sin among sin. And King Patrick has shown extreme anger, threatening to leave at any moment. Every other participant nation has shown their sympathy to Yuglia. This is beyond trivial." The man rebutted in a low voice, slowly closing up to Girai. Girai couldn't even take a step under the fear, as if he was a rat stared by a hungry snake, beads of sweat dripping from all over his face. "W-wait a minute! I really have no idea about this! Right, how about we make a deal? When I become Emperor—" Mamushi's hand slither and promptly grabbed Girai by his arm. An unpleasant sound echoed from Girai's shoulder as he was slammed into the floor. "......There's only one master in my life, and it's the Emperor—Raul La Rosemieur. And have you forgotten, a bribe against an Emperor's soldier is a capital sin?" The man coldly murmured as Girai groaned from being pressed. "......I could've executed you right here, but we had to appeal to every participating faction that the culprit shall be immediately apprehended and conferred just punishment, or else it would've been a huge ruckus. And begin with, I have no expectations from you, so try to be at least useful for the Empire in the end at least, can you?" Then, the man raised his hand, and, as if crawling out of the shadow, soldiers wearing similar armbands suddenly crowded the room, and dragged up Girai, who seemed to have wanted to say more. "Well, this one is cleared up, and now—" The man called Mamushi then creeps up to a trembling Kuna, the only person left behind in the room, and whispers into her eyes at a point-blank distance. "Pass my message to your true master." Kuna's shiver suddenly came to an end. "—No one cares about the method they deploy, or however... but, if they did something that forced His Majesty to lower his head again...... My Lord may ignore them, but I will not. Consider this your only warning." Kuna raised her hand, and nodded quietly. Mamushi stared into her eyes for a brief moment, and then turned on his heels, exiting the room. "Hey, everyone. I really caused quite a scene huh. I am sorry." We were greeted by a cheerful smile from Martin-senpai when he hurriedly entered his room. However the bandage running through his chest to shoulder was anything but a bright sight. Mujikka-sensei had been attending to him, and she gradually explained the known details. Senpai had initially doubted the mana capacity appraisal tool, which was used to measure mana capacity before the match's starting, might be faulty, and expressed for reassessment. Afterward, his request was accepted, and subsequently summoned. He felt something was odd, but since a knight in security had come to escort, laced with proper ID, he couldn't turn them down. He passed through several participants of other nations, and was about to enter the arena for reassessment when the brightly lit mana tools suddenly lost their glimmer, and they're jumped by assailants of around platoon size, each of them wearing Empire's military garb. It was quite a chaotic and confusing moment, but he somehow managed to counterattack, and although he couldn't escape from injury, he was able to break through their encirclement, and in his escape, he came through a group from Faustora Kingdom who just happened to be passing by. The chase ended when he took refuge under their protection. But he could only go that far before losing his consciousness, and the next thing he knew, he was in his room under medicare care. "What about you, Senpai. Are your injuries okay?" I asked in a subdued tone, and Senpai's expression slightly clouded. "Well, they dispatched a holy magic user from Knight Order, and of course, the injuries are better under their expert care. That said...  the bone fracture in my rib was quite bad... and only time can heal it properly, so I have been advised bedrest until then. I'm sorry, Purim-senpai, Dol. It was our chance to be famous, but I wouldn't be able to join the team competition tomorrow." Purim-senpai softly shook his head. "It's not your fault, Martin-kun. A competition at the risk of worsening your injury, or even damage to the mana organ, is a competition no one wants, so make sure to take plenty of rest." "Yeah. We all know how much you were looking forward to it, Senpai. ...That said, I am quite surprised at the extent of injury, since it was an ambush from a platoon." Dol followed with a word of comfort, while murmuring his doubt at the end. A bitter expression overtook Martin-senpai's face. "Well~... about that, two of them were more of an expert in close combat. I think they're on par with the Royal Guards from Yuglia. Frankly, even I am surprised I managed to escape with only that much. On another thought, maybe their intention was only to injure me. If their intent was to throw away all pretense and begin a war, His Majesty or Allen would have been an obvious target." A silence engulfed the room when Senpai narrated his thoughts. He was right. Senpai had talent, but if they're truly out for blood, he definitely couldn't have escaped alive. At a closure analysis, even their strategy was flawed, as if to say 'come on, capture me.' There would surely be an alternate method to assassinate inside their own palace without coming into anyone's eyes. It reeks of conspiracy frankly. "What exactly was their motive......" Purim-senpai murmurs, stringing a chain of thoughtful nodes from everyone else. Though, the silence was broken by a knock on the door. "Hey, Mujikka. It's me, Katalina. The mastermind behind today's incident has been arrested, so I have come to explain the situation, and apologise for it. Would you open the door?" Google seaʀᴄh 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽 Katalina, huh...... Arichi-san did explain she's the second princess, and a contender in the race for the throne. "............No one should move from their seat." Mujikka-sensei plainly commanded, and stood up from her seat. The intensity behind her gesture had caused me to swallow on my breath. Her smoldering rage was evident from her eyes and sharp profile, putting no effort in concealing it. In the time I had come to know her, I honestly never saw her getting mad at any student, no matter what they had done. So, it was quite a sight to see her furious visage. The pressure from her was unlike Mother, or Godorfun-sensei... I wasn't sure if that would be a properly analogy, but she seemed more like the type of person who must never be angered. My back was perspiring profusely just by a glance at her. Meanwhile, Mujikka-sensei opened the door. "It's been a while, Mujikka. I don't know how to say it, but... the incident's mastermind turned out to be eldest brother Girai. He has already been captured, and as for the explanation, can I do it inside the room? I also need to apologise to your injured student......" With that preface, Katalina-san tried to step inside, however Mujikka-sensei gave the two-handed wand a shake, and blocked her path. "......You can state your case here. And you can skip the apology that can be done by the Emperor to His Majesty. ...I no longer have faith in the Empire." Her voice resonated deeply as she refused Katalina's peace talk. I felt like I was staring at the back of Bribar Lion protecting her cubs, an incredible amount of threatening aura exuding from her.