His faint hope of resolving the matter through dialogue vanished then and there.
Given Aradahl’s position, there was no longer any prospect of him responding to Kojou’s attempts to negotiate. If he abandoned his duel with Kojou, he would be scorned for his timidness by the enormous gallery that had assembled.
If he wanted to rescue Glenda, emerging victorious from the duel looked to be his only option. If Vattler’s desire was to ensure that Kojou and Aradahl fought, he had succeeded in his objective with flying colors.
“Fourth Primogenitor darling…”
As if to further fan the flames of Kojou’s anger toward Vattler, someone called out to him out of the blue. The speaker was standing on the gangway of the Oceanus Grave II. With a wave, she called “Over here!” to Kojou and Yukina.
The girl was wearing a red outfit that resembled a swimsuit. She opened a large parasol that looked looked like it was meant for a ring girl as she rushed over to Kojou’s side. She was one of the five Oceanus Girls, the blond beauty named Vika.
“It has been quite some time, Fourth Primogenitor. Please, come with me. All the guests are waiting.”
She took one of Kojou’s arms in both of her own and led him aboard the Oceanus Grave II.
“Guests?” he asked, confused. “Who are you talking about?”
Vika pressed her ample bust against Kojou’s upper arm. Watching this, Yukina’s eyes immediately went cold.
“Wait a sec; what are the Oceanus Girls doing here anyway? And uh, what’s with that outfit?”
“Well, I’m a ring girl, you see!” she said with a bright smile.
“Ring girl?”
“For duels and any combat, you need to have beautiful, exquisite women nearby, don’t you? I mean, this is like a worldwide-wrestling-title match. Does this outfit please you…?”
“Er, pleased or not, it’s not like I came for a wrestling match, you know…”
“It is practically the same thing. The whole world is watching.”
Craaap, thought Kojou, shoulders sinking. No matter how hard he tried, he didn’t feel like she was registering anything he said. Giving up on further attempts to resist, he politely let the girl lead him along.
The beautiful blond woman led Kojou and Yukina to a lounge bar inside the ship. It was a spacious room furnished with lavish seats, with a player piano providing pleasant, relaxing music in the background.
“Kojou Akatsuki!”
Without warning, someone called out his name, intruding upon the elegance of the room.
Violently kicking a table aside as she approached was a highly stylish girl with a ponytail—Sayaka Kirasaka, who they had parted ways with back at the Lion King Agency branch office. There was no give in the eyes with which she glared at Kojou. They made him feel well and truly backed into a corner.
“Er, Kirasaka? I thought you were on a mission for the Lion King Agen…?”
“I am!! I’m here as Princess La Folia’s bodyguard!”
“La Folia…? Wait, even she’s here…?”
Kojou subconsciously brought his palm to his face. The scheming princess of the kingdom of Aldegia was a difficult person for Kojou to deal with. She was probably one of Vattler’s cordially invited guests.
It seemed that Sayaka had been given the mission of guarding that very same princess. Since the princess coming to Itogami Island had not been publicly divulged, it was doubtlessly a top secret mission. Although, Sayaka had likely never imagined that the princess was coming to spectate Kojou’s duel.
“More importantly, you met Prince Iblisveil, right?!” Sayaka nervously prodded.
“Y-yeah,” he said with a nod.
Well, kind of.
He certainly had met the prince of the Fallen Dynasty and had even been treated to noodles in the process.
“Victory—you actually have a chance at victory, right?!”
“Er, that’s… I don’t have a clue what to make of what he told me.”
“Whaaaat?!”
Blowing up into a rage all on her own, Sayaka began forcefully wringing Kojou’s neck. Kojou gasped for breath.
“What are you all ticked off for?!”
“Shut up; I’m not ticked off, idiot! Because of you, the princess… The princess’s chastity…”
“Huh? Her chastity…?”
Kojou was thrown into even further chaos. As far as he knew, he hadn’t done a single thing to La Folia. In the first place, he hadn’t known until that very moment in time that she had come to the island to begin with.
“I made a wager with Chairman Aradahl. A wager on whether he or Kojou would be triumphant—”
Gazing with amusement at how Kojou was lost at sea, La Folia herself replied. Surprised, Kojou looked at the princess, reunited with her after quite some time.
“Wager…? La Folia, what did you do…?”
“Chairman Aradahl forced me into a corner, so I…offered my chastity. It took all of my efforts to make him agree to the terms should he lose to Kojou. And if Kojou should lose, Chairman Aradahl may do with my body as he pleases.”
Sullenly casting her eyes downward as she told the tale, La Folia immediately lifted her face, a fleeting smile coming over it as if trying to say Don’t worry about me. Anyone not familiar with La Folia’s true nature would surely have their hearts stolen by her heroism, a hundred times out of a hundred.
However, in contrast, Kojou’s wariness was plain to see as he drew his face close to Sayaka, still right beside him.
“…How much of what she’s saying is true?”
“Aside from the part at the end, she’s not telling the whole truth. The princess is the one who made the bet to begin with.”
“…Wait, then the betting part is for real? By offering her own chastity, she means—”
“This problem doesn’t only concern you, Princess. A small nation like the kingdom of Aldegia on the front lines of international conflict is able to resist the Warlord’s Empire because the priestess power in the royal family is so strong…”
“Yeah… The spiritual engines and the pseudo–Holy Swords…”
Kojou had witnessed the knights of Aldegia, including La Folia herself, using swords shrouded in divine essence several times over. The pseudo–Holy Swords were able to inflict fatal damage on demons, making them powerful weapons rivaling the divine armaments of the Lion King Agency.
“But if Chairman Aradahl obtains the Royal Family of Aldegia’s Blood Memory, it will become possible for the Warlord’s Empire to manufacture spiritual engines, too. Right now, things are calm without territorial conflicts, but the next time a war starts up, worst case, the entire kingdom might be destroyed—”
“I wagered,” La Folia interrupted, “because I believe in Kojou’s victory. If you win, there is no problem whatsoever.” Her declaration was firm.
The sheer weight of her baseless faith in him overwhelmed Kojou.
“Wait, isn’t this weird?! Why’d you go raising the stakes behind my back anyway?!”
“Please, be at ease. Now that my body has become the potential spoils of the victor, obtaining victory is the same as obtaining the rights to it.”
“But even if you say that to me, there’s no guarantee I’m going to win against—”
“In the name of La Folia Rihavein, I command thee— Win, Kojou.”
As her blue eyes stared straight into Kojou’s own, La Folia spoke with a tone that permitted no argument. The majestic solemnity she was giving off left Kojou at a complete loss for words.
La Folia proceeded to undo her own necktie and unbutton her shirt. Her slender neck and ample cleavage gradually became exposed.
Then, she provocatively gazed at Kojou with upturned eyes.
“Do this, and my body shall be yours. Or are you unsatisfied with me?”
“Like I was saying, that’s not… Wait, why are you stripping?!”
“Princess, please, exercise prudence! Princess!! We’re leaving now!!”
Quickly we
dging herself into the conversation, Sayaka desperately worked to put La Folia’s clothes back in order. If anyone was to see them like this, an international incident would be unavoidable, something Sayaka was desperately working to avert.
For her part, a deeply suggestive smile came over La Folia as she narrowed her eyes.
“It will be all right. The blessing of the Valkyries is with you.”
“Y-yeah…” Kojou nodded without really understanding why. La Folia saw this for herself as Sayaka ended up dragging her out of the lounge. She didn’t neglect to blow a kiss his way at the very end. The sense of tension from just earlier had been thoroughly and utterly shattered.
When the girls were no longer in view, Kojou put both hands on the nearest table and limply exhaled. He felt like his endurance had been heavily depleted before the duel had even begun. He even felt doubtful as to whether La Folia had been trying to ensure his victory. And then…
“—To be ogling girls at a time like this, you must be very confident in your chances, Kojou Akatsuki.”
Right before that frail Kojou’s eyes, two small-statured figures appeared as the air rippled without warning.
It was Natsuki Minamiya, wearing a frilly black dress, and Glenda, wearing a white one. They looked very much like a witch and a princess from some kind of fairy tale.
“Natsuki and…Glenda? What are you doing in those outfits?”
“This girl is the spoils of the duel. Dressing her up to a fair extent is a necessity.”
Natsuki lifted her chin with pride. She must have been the one to put Glenda in that outfit. As for Glenda herself, she seemed unable to calm down in the unfamiliar dress.
Though, it couldn’t have been only the outfit making Glenda better behaved than usual. Yuiri and Shio having been taken hostage was no doubt weighing heavily on her mind.
“From that face, it seems your doubts have not been dispelled.”
Seeing the clouded look on Kojou’s face, Natsuki posed the question as if to tease him.
“Like I was gonna find a way to win with only half a day to prepare.”
“Your words are quite amusing. You are the World’s Mightiest Vampire, are you not?”
“Right now, being called that just sounds like sarcasm.”
Natsuki shook her head, exasperated and disappointed at his throwaway answer.
“Kojou…”
Seeing Kojou look so defeated, Glenda called out to him in a troubled voice. Kojou gently stroked her cheek to comfort her.
“I get it. Don’t worry. I’ll manage somehow.”
“Dah…!”
Finding relief in Kojou’s defiant, smiling face, Glenda nodded as if by reflex.
“We are heading to the deck. The Master of Serpents is waiting, after all—”
Natsuki opened a teleport gate in midair. Taking Glenda with her into the gate, Natsuki glanced back, her black hair fluttering in the moment just before they vanished.
“Do not be led astray, Kojou Akatsuki… You are not alone.”
“…Huh?”
Before he could ask what she meant, Natsuki vanished from sight. The gentle words, so unlike Natsuki, made Kojou even more uneasy than before.
“What are you going to do, senpai?”
Seeing a rather delicate expression come over Kojou, Yukina looked up at him with a questioning air. Thanks to Natsuki and Glenda’s departure, she and Kojou were the only ones left in the lounge. Even the self-styled ring girl who’d led them there had vanished at some point. Perhaps she thought that was a wise thing to do.
“Nah… I’m just… To think the day would come when Natsuki tried to make me feel better…”
When he said that, Kojou’s head seemed to split wide open.
“You are not alone,” she had said. From the subtext, her meaning was surely We are here with you. It was like some trendy line from the lyrics of a song in a commercial.
“I suppose it means the situation is that dire,” Yukina said, dead serious. Kojou was not the only one left uneasy by Natsuki’s demeanor.
“Well, I’ve had you and others always helping me out up to this point, Himeragi. Kind of late to say this, but…thanks for everything.”
Forcing away a blush, Kojou stared straight at Yukina with earnest eyes.
“Wh-what are you…all of a sudden…?!”
“Although, a lot of times, I did think it was depressing to have you glued to me all the time…”
“D…depressing…?!”
“Sorry, but if something happens to me, please take care of Glenda. Also, find something good to say to Nagisa, would ya? Like, I had to travel far away, or I drowned at sea, something appropriate.”
“—You mustn’t!”
With a sharp voice, Yukina interrupted Kojou’s words. They sounded like a last request. The unexpectedly strong rejection made Kojou nervous. He didn’t understand why Yukina was suddenly angry.
“H-Himeragi?”
“Senpai, you have to make it back. Glenda, La Folia, Yuiri, and Shio cannot be saved without you, senpai!”
Yukina’s fingers grabbed hold of Kojou’s collar. Her pupils, so close to him that he felt overwhelmed, reflected his face.
“Uh, I understand that, but…”
“Do you intend to abandon me as well?”
As Kojou attempted to talk his way out the situation, Yukina thrust her left hand right before his eyes. The silver ring on her left ring finger was emitting a faint glow.
“You made me your partner, so please, take responsibility. Senpai, you absolutely must come back. You must come back to me—,” Yukina insisted in a most delicate voice. From the sight of her, Kojou finally realized it. Yukina had been holding her feelings inside all that time.
She had to be quietly suffering from her worries about sending Kojou off to a duel all by himself—and her own powerlessness in being unable to give him a plan for victory. Yukina had desperately concealed her anguish during the time Kojou had walked all across the island in search of advice that could help him win. She did this so that her own unease might not infect Kojou as well.
“Freebie…”
As he grasped Yukina’s trembling hand, Kojou gave her a laid-back smile.
“Yes?”
Eyes wide, Yukina blinked. That Yukina could not conceal her own worries was because, having come that far, Kojou’s own apprehension had made her air them out loud. Now it’s my turn, he thought. It was exactly the juncture where he ought to bluff to ease Yukina’s worries a little bit.
“If I come back safe and sound, I at least want one good freebie out of you, Himeragi.”
Kojou brought his lips close to Yukina’s ear, whispering. Her shoulders trembled as if she had been tickled. “Goodness,” she uttered with a sigh. Bathed in the rays of the evening sun through the ship’s windows, her cheeks were dyed thoroughly red.
“Understood. Please do whatever you like.”
Yukina spoke in a somewhat blunt voice. However, she made no move to shake off Kojou’s hand. Her cheeks still red, she snuggled close to Kojou, staring out the window.
The surface of the sunset sea grew darker, like a blot of ink widening over it. Only the water’s horizon glistened red like fire. The sky’s scarlet gradient resembled the color of fresh blood. Night would fall at any moment.
“Sunset, it would seem.”
She was quiet.
Kojou nodded. “Yeah. Guess I’d better go—” His voice lacked fighting spirit. “Just like goin’ out for a stroll.”
Yukina looked up at him and nodded. Then the pair began to walk out together. It was unclear who had started walking first.
It was twilight—the witching hour. The time of demons had come.
7
A sea breeze was passing through. Aradahl was already standing on top of the breakwater. He was alone, upholding his end of the bargain for a one-on-one match.
Seeing this, Kojou stepped down onto the breakwater as well. Even as a worried look came over Yukina, she remaine
d atop the gangway.
“So you’ve come, Kojou Akatsuki.”
With the sleeves of his black coat flapping in the wind, Aradahl murmured in a solemn tone.
Somehow, he looked annoyed, likely due to the spectators gathered on Vattler’s ship. Even he hadn’t anticipated that his proposal for a duel would turn them into an exotic sideshow like this.
“It would seem that you have brought the Dragon of the Swamp as promised.”
Aradahl looked at the topside of the Oceanus Grave II as he spoke.
In her white dress, Glenda was standing in the most visible spot at the center of the deck. Because she was a precious, young dragon, the eyes of the crowd were upon her, but no one approached her. They were fearful of Natsuki, standing right at Glenda’s side.
“The two hostages?”
Kojou asked as he similarly surveyed the topside of the ship. He could not see Yuiri and Shio anywhere on the main deck.
“Surely it is not the girls’ desire to be exposed to prying eyes. I have placed them with the princesses in Vattler’s custody. If you doubt me, I do not mind should you wish to confirm for yourself.”
“Nah,” Kojou said, shaking his head at the black-haired vampire’s reply. He didn’t think Aradahl would lie about that. Either way, unless and until Kojou defeated him, he could not rescue Yuiri or Shio.
“Looks like you’re not much of a fan of this dumb spectator event, either.”
“Things were blown out of proportion thanks to my kinsman’s foolishness. I apologize in that regard.” Aradahl’s brow creased in visible anguish.
“If you’re gonna apologize about that, I’d be grateful if you just gave up on Glenda for good, y’know…,” Kojou offered hopefully.
Aradahl shook his head with a neutral expression. “That I cannot do. Though, if you claim you will dispose of that dragon in my stead, it would be another matter.”
“If I was gonna do that, I wouldn’t be doing something as embarrassing as having a formal duel in the first place.” Kojou sighed. He had resigned himself to the fact that the fight with Aradahl was inevitable. “Come to think of it, where’s Vattler? You didn’t make him your second?”
A War of Primogenitors Page 10