Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 7 - Chapter 5

The Fire Dragon Emperor and the Silver Princess

Sunday, January 10th

“Let’s go, Yurika.”

The strong lighting on the stage made the blade of Koutarou’s sword shine a bright white. It was the treasured sword Saguratin that Theia had lent Koutarou along with the armor he was wearing. She had told the other actors in the play that it was a special order replica, but the truth was that it was a real blade. That said, thanks to the barrier the armor created around the blade, there was no fear of cutting anyone.

“No way!”

But even so, Koutarou’s opponent—Yurika—was afraid of it. Despite repeated attempts to assure her that the blade wouldn’t actually hurt her thanks to the technology in the armor, Yurika just couldn’t believe it when she saw the blade gleaming in the light like that.

I’ll get cut! Satomi-san is definitely going to cut me up!

Tears streamed down Yurika’s face as she cowered in her bulky costume. She was currently dressed as the dragon that would fight Koutarou on stage. The Fire Dragon Emperor, Alunaya, was the strongest enemy that the Blue Knight fought. Not coincidentally, it was a highlight of the play.

When the casting staff was discussing who to play the part, Yurika’s name came up as someone who had a good track record of animal roles. She’d done such an amazing job as the horse’s rear in the last play that no one was able to keep up with her. It was no contest this time around. And while Yurika was overjoyed when she thought her time to shine had finally come, that joy only lasted until they began practicing the play.

“Don’t be selfish, Yurika! There are people waiting to use the stage!”

“I don’t care!”

Not only did the sword look sharp, but Koutarou looked just like a strong knight when he brandished it. Koutarou’s training with Theia over winter vacation clearly hadn’t just been for show.

“I’m going to get cut in half!”

Yurika, tears still streaming down her cheeks, imagined herself being cut in half right along with her costume. Only serving to further her fear was the Forthorthian movie she’d watched with Theia and Koutarou in order to prepare for the play. The knight that appeared in the film cut an enemy right in half, and that scarred poor Yurika. The image was burned into her mind.

“Yurika, what kind of dragon emperor acts like that? Keep it together!”

“Uwaaaah, that’s impossible! At least do something about that sword!”

“That’s not happening!

“Nooooo!”

Theia furiously shouted at Yurika from the floor beneath the stage, but it wasn’t enough to motivate Yurika. The Fire Dragon Emperor shook its head and retreated off the stage.

If she was playing a scared dragon, she would be perfect...

Watching her go, Theia went past being frustrated and instead felt somewhat impressed.

“Yurika-chan, you can’t be like that. If anything, you should be trying to go all out to beat Satomi-kun!”

“Beat Satomi-san?!”

What changed Yurika’s mind was what the drama club president working as stage director said.

That’s right. I only need to beat him before he beats me! I just have to defeat him before he cuts me!

Thanks to the stage director’s encouragement, Yurika was able to take heart and overcome her fear of being sliced in half. She would just defeat Koutarou before he cut her. That way she’d have nothing to be afraid of.

“Heh heh heh! Arrraaghh! Grrroaaar!”

The Fire Dragon Emperor’s giant figure advanced. Her movements were completely different from before. And quite fitting of a name like Fire Dragon Emperor Alunaya, it was almost as if each step caused a tremor on stage.

“Ah, Koutarou, it looks like Yurika’s found some motivation.”

“That’ll help.”

“Yeah. But it seems like it might be the wrong kind of motivation...”

“I’ll beat him! I’ll beat Satomi-san! Then I won’t have to be scared!”

Yurika’s eyes were bloodshot and she was muttering to herself. Clinging on to what tiny hope she had, Yurika pointed Alunaya’s head upwards and roared.

“Yurika, fight! Yurika, fight!”

But it was all a delusion. The hope she was feeling was really just desperation.

This was the first day of stage practice after winter vacation. While there had been some complications between Christmas and New Year’s, Koutarou and the others had all managed to gather for the day.

The goal for the day’s practice was to run through the play from start to finish. But that was less to confirm the abilities of each individual actor and more for the staff to get a feel for the flow of the play. There were countless things to check other than just the acting. There were the sets, the costumes, the special effects, the lighting, and much, much more.

“Roar, roar!”

“Nijino-san, you can do it!”

“Leave it to me, Sakuraba-senpa— Kyaaaaah!”

“Hey, don’t run, Yurika!”

The Fire Dragon Emperor costume that Yurika was wearing was among the most important things that needed to be checked. There were still plenty of things to touch up regarding its appearance, but they also needed to confirm that the contraptions inside were functional. Because the performance was scheduled for the end of the month, they had to hurry up and finish everything mechanical.

“S-Satomi-san, you were just about to cut me in half, weren’t you?!”

“Of course. That’s what I’m supposed to do in this scene.”

“You’re the villain, so just accept your fate and get sliced in two.”

“Satomi, cut the tail off next.”

“Understood.”

“Noooooooo!”

Inside the Alunaya costume were rigs that let the costume’s tail pop off when cut or let the dragon spew fire from its mouth. Through the use of wires, it could even fly through the air. The prop team had fully outfitted the costume with all kinds of special effects through their combined skills and hard work. That was just how excited they had gotten for the play.

“Hmm, aside from Yurika’s courage, the costume seems to be functioning properly.”

“Good. That Alunaya costume is an exceptionally well made piece for a high school play.”

“I heard the prop team spent several all-nighters working on it.”

At that moment, Koutarou’s sword cut off the costume’s tail. Seeing the device working flawlessly, Theia gave a satisfied nod from below the stage.

“You have all done a great job! Be proud of your work! You have my praise!”

“All riiight, it’s a success!”

The prop team cheered as they watched on with Theia. This was the moment they had been waiting for, and all their blood, sweat, and tears had paid off. Seeing their giddy expressions, Theia nodded once more in satisfaction.

“It looks like preparations are proceeding according to plan, Your Highness,” Ruth called out from nearby.

“Yes. All we can do now is pin our hopes on the actors.”

The Alunaya costume included, progress on the play was going well. As this was their second time putting a play together, the costumes and sets were all prepared, and the lighting check was going smoothly. As Theia had said, all that was left now was the actors.

“Th-That was... really scaryyy!”

“Good work, Nijino-san.”

After her part was over, Yurika was huddled into a ball, trembling and holding her knees. Harumi was gently consoling her. From a distance, it looked like a giant dragon was crying to a princess, but with Harumi’s smile, it was quite a charming scene.

“Lately it’s been hard to say no to Sakuraba-senpai.”

Shizuka took a picture of Harumi and Yurika like that as she talked to Koutarou. Since the scenes were leading up to the climax of the second half, Shizuka’s part as a maid was still a ways off, leaving her plenty of time to take pictures for an activity report.

“You think so?”

“I guess you could say she’s getting the princess role down pat. She seems to be getting used to acting in front of people too.”

“Well, I can agree that it looks like she’s gotten used to it.”

Koutarou was always practicing with Harumi, so he didn’t really have a handle on how much she’d changed. He’d gotten to see the whole process unfold slowly, so he had a different perspective on it from Shizuka, who hadn’t seen her acting for months since the last play.

But looking back on how she was that spring, Harumi had certainly gotten much better at dealing with people. She wasn’t as nervous now when speaking to people she didn’t know, and she would smile from time to time even with strangers. It was clear that Harumi had grown a lot since she first set foot on stage.

“Hey, Theia.”

“What?”

“Since Sakuraba-senpai has gotten more used to things, shouldn’t we switch the Blue Knight role back to Mackenzie?”

Originally Koutarou was only acting as the Blue Knight because Harumi got stage fright with anyone else as the leading man. But after she’d grown so much, Koutarou felt like there was no longer any need to worry about that. That’s why he’d suggested switching the roles back to their original casting, meaning having Kenji as the Blue Knight.

“A-Absolutely not! You’re good as the Blue Knight!”

However, Theia looked awfully surprised and shook her head forcefully.

“Why not? He looks better.”

“W-Well...”

Theia couldn’t respond right away, but it wasn’t because she didn’t have an answer.

My only knights are you and Ruth...

Theia could no longer imagine training a knight other than Koutarou. Only Koutarou and Ruth could hold the title of “Theia’s knight.” That was the firm belief she held in the bottom of her heart.

However, Theia couldn’t say that out loud. She was far too scared of what Koutarou would say if she did. That’s why her glance naturally shifted to Harumi, who was behind Koutarou.

“That might but true, but it’s too late for that now, Satomi-sama.”

Seeing her master troubled, Ruth answered in her stead.

“We’ve already begun advertising. And besides, if we suddenly changed the parts, I don’t think Mackenzie-sama could pick up the Blue Knight’s role in the short amount time we have left.”

The advertising for the play had already begun. Flyers had been scattered around the area and put up on bulletin boards. Those flyers, of course, included the cast list. If they changed things up now, they would have to correct all those flyers. And since the play was set for the end of the month, Kenji would only have about two weeks to learn all of the Blue Knight’s scenes. For those two reasons, Ruth was sure a cast change now was unrealistic.

“I see... And here I was thinking I could slack off...”

“Then stop thinking of stupid things and get back on the stage! Next up is your fight with the minister and court magician!”

“Yeah, yeah. As you wish, my princess.”

Koutarou flashed a weak, bitter smile and climbed back up onto the stage.

“‘As you wish, my princess,’ huh?”

“I just wish those words weren’t said jokingly...”

Unlike Koutarou’s light steps as he walked away, the feelings of the two girls left behind were anything but.

The voices of Koutarou and the others filled the gym where they were practicing, and things were getting close to the climax. Koutarou was confronting the minister who was the evil mastermind behind the coup d’etat.

“You bastard! Are you trying to destroy Forthorthe?!”

“Hahaha, that’s what ruining a country means!”

A cleverly concealed, complex sensor was recording them and converting the footage into a hologram before sending it off somewhere.

“Curse you, fake Blue Knight.”

The person looking at the hologram on the other end was none other than Clan, the second princess of Forthorthe who was out to get Theia and Koutarou. She was hiding in the shadows inside the equipment room next to the gym while staring at her bracelet, which was very similar to Theia’s. It was projecting the hologram from the sensor, almost like she was watching a puppet show being played out just for her.

“It’s even more irritating now that his acting is getting better...”

Clan’s dark, sharp glare was fixed on Koutarou. She was plotting revenge on him for getting in the way of her previous attack. Her resentment for him had even exceeded what she felt for Theia. Clan didn’t feel any real need to kill Theia as long as she could just sabotage her trial instead, but she felt like she had to kill Koutarou no matter what.

Clan had a lot of pride, just like Theia, and as a Forthorthian, she also had strong feelings about the Blue Knight. So having a commoner from an underdeveloped planet point a sword at her while dressed up as the Blue Knight—and worse, defeating her like that—was completely unacceptable.

“But I just can’t seem to find an opening. How irritating!”

That was why Clan was constantly watching Koutarou now. She was waiting for the right time to pounce, but a good opportunity hadn’t presented itself yet. That was partially because Koutarou was almost never alone, but also because Clan had a very narrow conception of what that ideal scenario would be.

Clan wanted Koutarou to know who he had lost to when he fell, and to regret ever raising his blade against her. That’s why Clan only wanted to defeat Koutarou after revealing herself to him. If she didn’t do at least that much, her wounded pride would never heal.

Because of that, the only time she could attack was when Koutarou wasn’t with Theia and the others, and while he was in a place where there wouldn’t be other people. Of course, that rarely happened in Koutarou’s case. Because of that, Clan had been waiting all this time.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, Clan spotted Koutarou getting off the stage and heading out back behind the gym with Harumi. Based on the footage she could see of the room, it looked like they were taking a short break before the final scene.

“That’s it! This is the perfect chance to send him my regards!”

There was a fire burning in her eyes behind her glasses. Behind the gym was isolated enough and the only other person there was Harumi. She now had an opportunity to reveal herself in a way that only Koutarou would understand, and possibly even defeat him then and there.

“My chance has finally come!”

Clan swiftly operated her bracelet and shut off the footage before jumping out from the shadows of the equipment room and dashing out of the building in Koutarou’s direction. Her steps were light, almost like a dancer’s. She was excited that her chance for revenge was at last upon her.

“Just you wait, fake Blue Knight! I’ll be right there!”

Clan was like a girl gleefully running to a date with her first boyfriend.

After sprinting for a few meters, Clan gently kicked off the ground. As she did, it was almost as if she’d sprouted wings. She flew up into the sky and showed no sign of surprise as she continued to rise higher and higher. The speed at which she was ascending was much faster than when she had been running, and she soared above the roof of the gym in an instant.

This was the power of a new tool she had invented. The defensive barriers that Clan and Theia used worked by controlling gravity to create repulsion in order to deflect incoming attacks. And since the device had the power to control gravity, with a few delicate adjustments, it could be used to fly instead. That was exactly what Clan had done. She’d altered her own barrier to be able to defy gravity.

That said, it had its drawbacks. Whenever she flew, the energy use was increased exponentially and the barrier’s defensive power greatly decreased. Her current barrier was less than half as powerful as it had been before. But Clan didn’t mind the sacrifice. Since the barrier couldn’t stop Koutarou’s sword when they fought last time, she believed it was better to improve her mobility instead. Really, her movements in the air were rather impressive as she gracefully changed her posture and flitted about almost like a fairy from a movie. It was on a different level from Yurika’s dragon flight using wires.

“There he is!”

As soon as she spotted Koutarou and Harumi, Clan gently touched her bracelet. When she did, her appearance melded with the blue sky and disappeared. This was yet another countermeasure against Koutarou. By setting up a field that let light pass through her body, she became invisible. Whether she liked it or not, when she was flying through the air, she was bound to stand out, so this was an indispensable part of her strategy.

And what’s more, Clan pulled out a large, strangely mechanical looking gun from a hole in space-time. It was an even further improved version of the cannon she had used before. Since she was expecting to be using it in the sky with no footing, it was smaller, its handling had been improved, and the recoil from firing had been greatly reduced. The compromise was that it could only fire a very limited number of times, but considering its usefulness, it was an appropriate design. In the past, it was simply too big to keep up with Koutarou’s speed.

“Let’s start with a little greeting!”

Clan held the beam rifle with both hands and pointed the muzzle at Koutarou. As she did, the scope that was synchronized with her bracelet automatically aimed for her. Although shooting from the sky was unstable, the scope didn’t waver in the slightest. Clan’s preparations were perfect.

“If there’s anything you can do in this situation, then show me, fake Blue Knight!”

A grim smile appeared on Clan’s lips as she squeezed the trigger. She wasn’t planning on killing Koutarou with her surprise attack. If Koutarou died without knowing who defeated him, she wouldn’t be satisfied. She was aiming for Koutarou’s right arm so he would be unable to use his sword.

There’s no way you could dodge this! Enjoy being blindsided, fake Blue Knight!

Scorching hot particles of heavy metal came flying out of the muzzle of the rifle. The beam consisted of heavy metal that had been heated by electromagnetism inside the barrel, and it approached Koutarou with frightening speed. Since it had been launched from a handheld firearm, it was nothing compared to one fired from a spaceship, but it was far faster than any gun using gunpowder. It was enough that Clan was convinced of her victory.

Koutarou was talking with Harumi and had his back facing Clan. He had completely lowered his guard. Clan, flying and invisible, had fired on him from such close range that there was no conceivable chance of her missing. Moreover, Koutarou wasn’t showing any sign of activating the barrier on his armor.

No matter how she looked at it, Clan was sure she could take out Koutarou’s right arm without a problem. And after that, Koutarou would be practically defenseless without his sword. Then she could do whatever she pleased. A knight that couldn’t use a sword was no match for her.

And yet... something unexpected happened.

The exact moment before the beam hit Koutarou, it crashed into a translucent white wall and scattered. Koutarou was perfectly unharmed.

“Impossible!”

Seeing her shot get blocked, Clan hurriedly confirmed the data on her target via her bracelet.

“It’s not a barrier? Then just what is it?!”

At first, Clan thought that the armor had reacted to the beam and automatically put up a barrier to protect him. However, her bracelet couldn’t detect any gravitational distortions. That meant it had to be a barrier that didn’t use Forthorthian technology.

“And the fake Blue Knight didn’t even notice?! Then just what— Hah?!”

After going through the data, Clan looked back at Koutarou. He hadn’t noticed that he’d been shot at, but there was the girl he was talking to.

“Could it—”

A shiver ran down Clan’s spine.

Harumi, who was facing Koutarou, was staring right at Clan. It was almost like she could see her.

Could it be that the fake Silver Princess did something?!

Clan and Harumi stared at each other. Harumi’s eyes were calm and showed no sign of wavering. Her eyes were shining with a strong will, just like the sword crest on her forehead. Seeing that, Clan’s intuition told her that it was Harumi who had blocked her attack. It wasn’t a logical conclusion, but when Clan looked into Harumi’s eyes, it was the only thing she could think of.

“There’s no mistaking it. That girl, that fake Silver Princess—”

Just as Clan came to that conclusion, Harumi raised her right arm up past Koutarou’s shoulder. Her palm was pointed straight towards Clan.

“Gather, spirits of light. Come closer to the heat daze, and dance, dance...”

“She’s counterattacking?! And this is...?!”

A small orb of light appeared in Harumi’s palm. There was no doubt that it was some kind of reaction to Clan’s attack. The orb of light quickly grew to the size of a tennis ball and emitted a powerful glow, just like the sword crest on Harumi’s forehead. But that wasn’t what had surprised Clan.

“The ancient language of Forthorthe?! Just who is this girl?!”

Her bracelet’s automatic translation function interpreted what Harumi was saying. It was a language that hadn’t been used for over a thousand years, now known as the ancient language of Forthorthe. And she was even speaking special words used only by people over a certain status when performing rituals.

Leaving what she’s planning on attacking with aside, facing someone who can use keywords from Forthorthe’s ancient language offensively is just too dangerous!

But Clan didn’t freeze up from her surprise. The moment she realized she was facing an unknown threat, she turned tail and fled. Clan wasn’t foolish enough to try to take on two uncertainties at the same time.

“The fluttering veil’s—”

When she did, Harumi stopped speaking mid-sentence and the orb of light in her palm disappeared. Seeing that, Clan was overcome with relief.

She let me go...?

As Clan was flying away from Koutarou and Harumi at full speed, she looked back several times. She wanted to make sure that Harumi wasn’t going to chase her down. That was how surprised and worried she’d been.

But still... Just what is happening? That barrier, the ancient language... To think that it wasn’t just the Blue Knight... Even that fake Silver Princess is a mystery. I need to come up with more countermeasures right away.

Clan quickly went from feeling relieved to scheming more plans against her new enemy.

When Koutarou finished checking his lines and looked up, he saw Harumi staring up into sky with her hand outstretched for some reason. But when Koutarou looked over his shoulder in the direction she was staring, he saw nothing but the winter sky.

“...What are you doing, Sakuraba-senpai?”

“Huh?”

When Koutarou said something to Harumi, she blinked two or three times before finally returning to her senses.

“H-Honestly, I don’t...”

Not understanding what she was doing herself, Harumi was at a loss. She turned red and hurriedly lowered her hand before thinking back in an attempt to recall what had happened.

Um, we came to the back of the gym to go over our lines for the next scene and to take a break. I was reading the script with Koutarou, and then... and then... Huh?

Harumi tilted her head in confusion. The last thing she remembered was reading her lines. The next moment, Koutarou was asking her what she was doing. She had completely forgotten why she had raised her hand up towards the sky.

“...What was I doing?”

“Why are you asking me that? Ahahaha!”

Koutarou was thoroughly amused at the unexpectedly silly answer from Harumi. Her face then turned several degrees redder as she began coming up with excuses in a flustered manner.

“It’s because of the acting! I-I’ve gotten too into my role lately!”

“Gotten too into it, huh? W-Well, you were muttering something. Pfft...”

Koutarou continued laughing. This was so hilarious to him that tears started forming in the corners of his eyes.

“Satomi-kun, you meanie! I’m being serious here!”

Harumi puffed up her cheeks like a child while holding her hands in front of her chest. She stared at Koutarou with a defiant look. But seeing the supposedly noble and elegant Silver Princess do such a thing only made it impossible for Koutarou to keep silent.

“Wahahahahah! Ahahahaha!”

The script in Koutarou’s hands shook he was laughing so hard. The metallic card he was using as a bookmark shimmered every time the script moved and caught the light.

Ah, not good. Not at all.

However, coming to the realization that he was getting a little too hysterical, Koutarou forcefully shut his eyes and mouth to try and contain himself.

“I’ve just been so busy with my duties! I was just a little tired!”

But that was it. Koutarou lost it again.

“Bwahaha! S-Senpai, your duties...? Y-You sound like a real princess! Wahahaha!”

“Jeez, Satomi-kun!”

Harumi was desperately trying to smooth things over, but her best efforts only served to fan the flames of Koutarou’s laughter.

“Pfft... Ahaha... S-Senpai, y-you’ve got a surprisingly fun side to you, hahahahaha!”

“Please forget everything that just happened!”

Harumi’s mind blanked. She was honestly mortified as she grudgingly stared at Koutarou. She had forgotten about everything else.

“If you laugh any more, I’ll get angry! Even if it is you, Satomi-kun!”

“P-Please, by all means! Get angry!”

“Hey!”

However, Harumi wouldn’t realize until she got into bed that night just how long she’d waited for this moment, and just how blissful of a time it truly was.