Madan no Ou to Vanadis - Volume 16 - Chapter 4.1

Chapter 4 – Raging Fires

Tigrevurmud Vorn found himself in a wasteland. Poisonous-looking, violet ground expanded as far as he could see. The vegetation was black, as if having been scorched, forming shapes he had never seen before. The wind was lukewarm, and the sky, covered by dark clouds, caused anxiety by just looking at it.

He didn’t know how long he had been here and how he got here, but Tigre didn’t have the slightest urge to question any of that. He simply walked forward in silence. Only the dry scratching of his footsteps could be heard.

Tigre noticed that he held his Black Bow. But, he had no arrows.

In the far distance he could see something similar to the figure of a person. That figure was heading his way at approximately the same pace. But, without stopping, Tigre continued onwards.

Before long, the true identity of the figure became apparent. It was a small, old woman wrapped in a black robe. Her height barely reached Tigre’s waist, and she was dragging a crudely-made broom after her.

The two passed each other, without exchanging any words or looks.

While not knowing how far he might have walked by now, Tigre spotted yet another figure in the distance. Just like the old woman, this figure also walked his way.

The identity of the figure was a huge monster. Its strong body possessed a height and shoulder width that might as well be twice that of Tigre. Lacking any body hair, its skin was so white that it actually looked eerie. Three curved horns grew out of its forehead. Its appearance vividly reminded one of an evil demon as they’d appear in fairy-tales.

And as might be expected, Tigre passed the evil demon without exchanging any words or looks.

Suddenly there was a break in the clouds, allowing the night sky to peek through. A moon as crimson as if having been washed in fresh blood floated up there. For some reason Tigre knew about it being a moon despite its redness.

Even afterwards, the youth continued to aimlessly walk through the wasteland. He passed countless beings such as lovely fairies with wings on their back, dwarves shouldering pickaxes, and many more. Not one of them was human. And, the landscape never changed, no matter how far he went.

The lukewarm wind carried a sound over. The sound of waves breaking on the shore and retreating. Apparently the ocean was nearby.

Suddenly his field of vision completely changed.

Tigre found himself atop a steep cliff. The sea appeared to be beneath the cliff, Tigre could hear how the waves broke after crashing against the cliff.

Once he peeked down, he found a green ocean extending as far as his eyes could see. Not the deep blue world he had seen on another day, but an eerie, surging sea as if endless supplies of murky emeralds had been melted down.

Tigre silently stared at the ocean, but once he felt a presence behind him, he looked back.

A single longsword was embedded in the ground. A big crack ran through its blade, and the blade’s edge was chipped at countless places. The guard – imitating a wing – had been miserably smashed apart. The ruby in its middle was divided right in half, and the hilt was dyed dark red.

Tigre’s eyes widened. His emotions, which hadn’t reacted to anything so far, now shook him violently. Unable to speak up because of the overwhelming shock, his body merely continued to tremble in horror.

The youth knew the name of that longsword. He also knew the user of that longsword. Tigre tried to call her name, but all that escaped his mouth was a strained breath. About to extend a hand for the sword, Tigre suddenly turned his eyes to the ground, several steps ahead of him.

A few weapons, which had decayed in the same way as the longsword, were stabbed into the ground like grave-markers, or were lying around like empty husks. As if telling about the fate of their users.

“──aah!”

Raising a soundless scream, Tigre jumped up with vigor. His sight was engulfed by darkness, and the cold night air pricked his body.

While breathing heavily, unable to come to terms with the situation at once, Tigre jerked up on his bed with a bewildered expression. His clothes, drenched with sweat, clung to his body. His eyes, which gradually got used to the darkness, told him that he was in his own room within the lodging house where the delegation was staying.

“A dream…?” After muttering that, Tigre decided that it had to be so.

A violet ground, a red moon, and a green ocean. There’s no way for such things to exist in reality. Besides, that longsword which was so damaged that it wouldn’t be odd for it to crumble apart on the spot.

──No doubt, that was Arifar.

At that moment Tigre realized that he was grasping the Black Bow in his left hand. He had put it down in a place within the range, but apparently he had seized it during his sleep. Tigre quietly stared at the bow within the darkness. It reminded him of the story he had previously heard from Tir Na Fal.

──Changing the truth of the world itself. Same for the sun, moon, ground, and sea. Maybe the Black Bow has shown me one of the possible futures with that ominous dream just now. Or maybe it was a nightmare combining the anxieties existing deep in my mind, and the story about Ganelon I’ve heard from Valentina.

Will the Vanadis end up like that if this world changes into one for demons?

──I won’t allow that. Ever.

Tigre tightly grasped the Black Bow. For the youth it was a battle he had to definitely win for the sake of those dear to him.

◎

After finishing the secret meeting with Valentina last night, Tigre visited Sofy’s mansion today earlier than planned. Since the five Vanadis and Lim were luckily all together just when he arrived, he told them everything that perspired during his meeting with Valentina, and additionally all that happened with Ruslan, but in response, the youth got harshly scolded.

Elen shouted at him, “Why did you follow her, you idiot!?”, and Mila spat out with a freezing look, “I really want to draw a huge X on your face for your ineptitude.” Lim acted like a very strict teacher, saying, “You trust others too easily. Even if you’re going to listen to them, you should do it in a place of your choice.” Liza cried out, “Did you want to go through the same bitter experience as me!?” with a face full of rage, and Olga lightly knuckled the youth’s head with her fist.

Sofy was, in a sense, the harshest of all. She slapped Tigre’s cheek. Elen, Mila, and Liza widened their eyes when they saw this, and swarmed towards the blond Vanadis to soothe her, resulting in the whole place calming down one way or another.

The situation was grave. Sofy immediately called a single servant, and sent him as messenger to the palace. It was for the sake of asking Eugene to make sure whether Valentina and Figneria were still under house arrest.

After she sent forth the servant, Sofy said with a gloomy expression, “I think the two slipped out from the royal palace and mansion after Valentina finished her conversation with Tigre. No, Valentina might have gotten in contact with Tigre since they had planned to sneak away anyway.”

However, Sofy’s servant couldn’t meet with Eugene on that evening. The palace was in chaos from the shock over Ruslan’s collapse. Of course Eugene tried everything possible to appease this uproar, but he had to deal with Ruslan’s share of governmental affairs on top of that, resulting in him simply running short on time. Even if someone else had taken care of the governmental affairs together with him, it likely wouldn’t have changed anything about this situation.

It was around dawn that Eugene received the report about Sofy’s servant having visited the palace.

Because of the situation being like that, Tigre’s group dissolved for the time being. Tigre returning to the lodging house was for the sake of explaining the circumstances to Gaspal and to remain close to the palace.

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Greeting a new morning, Tigre, Elen, Lim, Liza, and Olga had gathered in front of the western gate leading out of the capital. The wind was chilly, but the sky was clear and azure. Liza and Olga were each mounted on horses. The two would head to Lebus – a return for Liza.

There were two reasons for this. First, she had heard that Kazakov, who was ruling over the lands of Polus, still hadn’t obeyed the summons by the crown. Polus was adjacent to Lebus. There were stories about the land having degraded remarkably compared to the previous generation’s Kazakov, but he was still an opponent worthy of caution. Second, a preparation for the case that Figneria escaped the palace. Besides, Liza thought that it’d be best for her personally to explain to her subordinates about the battle between the Vanadis.

“Are your injuries fine already?” Elen looked up to Liza with an anxious expression.

The red-haired Vanadis smiled, “I haven’t expected for you to be such a worrywart. Didn’t you ask me the same yesterday?”

Liza demonstratively rolled her left shoulder around while smiling and proudly looking down on the silver-haired Vanadis. Elen smiled wryly, but immediately returned to a serious expression.

“Take care. ──Liza.” Elen still couldn’t call Liza by her nickname unless she focused on doing so.

Liza’s mouth loosened up, and she responded with, “You too.”

Afterwards Liza held out her right hand, exchanging a handshake with Elen, Lim, and finally Tigre.

“Even if it might be Lebus, I’ll come running if you need me, okay?” Tigre looked up to Liza with a serious look while gently grasping her hand.

“Don’t say things I’d feel like immediately taking you up on.” Liza returned in the form of a joke, but seeing how she didn’t really want to let go of Tigre’s hand, around half of her probably wanted to take him with her.

Next Tigre also bid farewell to Olga. Her accompanying Liza was, probably as should be expected, a precaution against Figneria, but surprisingly it was Olga herself who had announced that she’d do this.

“Is it really okay?” Tigre knew that he shouldn’t hampen her determination, but he couldn’t help but ask anyway.

Brest, the principality ruled by Olga, was located in Zhcted’s east, and Valentina’s Osterode was situated in the northeast. If Valentina were to leave the capital and return to her own principality, it’d be quite possible for Brest to become her target.

“Believe in me, Tigre.” Olga curtly answered while pinning her eyes, reminiscent of black pearls, on Tigre.

The idea she had brought up was based on the assumption that Valentina and Figneria would try to merge their forces at an early stage, if they had really joined hands. In other words, Lebus would be much more of a likely target than Brest. Also, should Valentina attack Brest, it’d open up a distance for her to Figneria. Besides, even if she were to attack Brest, she’d need to split up her soldiers to keep Brest under control. Furthermore, depending on the situation here, Olga could borrow some troops from Liza, and invade the empty Osterode.

Considering all these points made the possibility for Valentina to attack Brest rather low.

Lastly, Olga believed that they should concentrate their powers since they had five people on their side.

Tigre, Lim, and the Vanadis, who had listened to Olga’s explanation, were speechless. They hadn’t expected the youngest of them all to propose such a bold plan. What made it even more terrifying was the fact that she showed absolutely no fear about exposing her own territory to danger.

“I have been believing in you from the moment we met for the first time.” Tigre grasped Olga’s small hand tightly.

At that moment, he realized that her hand was faintly trembling. The youth used his free left hand to wrap up Olga’s hand, and kept it like that until Olga’s trembling stopped.

“──Thanks.” Her expression eased a bit on its usual unsociability.

“Olga,” Tigre called out to her, “I’m sure it’ll go well. Just as you’ve imagined it.”

Olga bobbed her head, “I’ll show you that making a child with you will go smoothly as well, Tigre.”

Tigre couldn’t do much more than return a wry smile at that.

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—————– End of Part 1 —————–