We Live in Dragon’s Peak - Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Can’t win . Can’t win . Can’t win .
No matter what I do, I can’t win .

Regardless of the type of advice Gild-san gives me or the instruction I receive, nothing works .

I keep losing and I continue losing each day . I’m at my wits end .

There are already only a few days left until the end of the year, yet I still can’t win . I can’t even get a feeling that I’ll win .

What can I do? Is there even anything I can do?

I don’t notice my growing anxiety, distress, and exhaustion, but my parents are getting worried . However, I’m so worried and frustrated, I couldn’t care less about how my parents feel .

If nothing changes, I’m seriously going to lose Mistral .

It’s already been a long time since I last saw Mistral . Am I going to lose her like this without seeing her again?

No, I absolutely don’t want that .

A future where Mistral isn’t beside me, I don’t want something like that .

At any cost, I have to land a strike on Gild-san and get his treasure . It’s just, I can’t come up with a way to do that .

I’m so worried, it’s been days since I last had a proper night’s sleep . Gild-san keeps telling me to make sure I rest my body, but I’m too afraid the year will be over by the time I wake up if I go to sleep .

My thoughts, which haven’t been getting any proper rest, are getting stuck . I can’t focus on the few school lessons remaining for this year . Even my matches with Gild-san, which I’ve been miserably losing from the start, are getting worse . I realize I’m in a vicious circle, but I can’t do anything about it . As I am now, no matter what I try, nothing works .

As such, I totter about in a haze during my early morning walk to school and end up bumping into someone .

“Hey, you brat . Pay attention to where you’re going . ”
A man with a nasty face grabs my collar .

“Sorry, I’ve been feeling a bit lightheaded . ”

Ah, I messed up . I was walking without paying attention to where I was going and ended up bumping into this person .

“You think you can settle this with just a sorry?”

The man shouts and flings me aside . Even though I instantly land with ukemi[1], I was thrown onto pavement . The pain running throughout my whole body isn’t just a small sting .

“You don’t want me to throw you, right? Then you should apologize properly . ”

Nothing has been going right these past few days and my frustration has been piling up . As such, instead of giving an earnest apology like usual, blood rushes to my head .

“Aah? What? You planning to snap at me even though you’re the one in the wrong?”
“Which is why I apologized . That had nothing to do with flinging me aside . ”

I glare at the man as I stand up .

“Damned cheeky brat . ”
The man intimidates me by jutting up his chin and glaring back at me .

Why do I have to get mixed up with such a bothersome guy so early in the morning?

“I’ll teach a rotten brat like you just how harsh this world is . ”
 

With those words, the man swings a punch . Upon getting upset, he immediately resorts to violence . He’s absolute scum .

I respond without hesitation . His fist, compared to the sharp thrusts I’ve been receiving from Gild-san, looks as though it isn’t moving . I easily avoid him and return the favor by grabbing the nap of his neck and flinging him aside . I combine it with a heavy strike and flashily send him tumbling over .

“Baaaastard!”
The man seethes with anger as he glares at me .

But for me, his glare isn’t all that scary . I’m looking down on him as he crawls on the ground after having been flung aside .

“You still want to keep going?”
To me, this man isn’t an opponent .

The man’s face is bright red at my foolish attitude . His lips quiver as he gets back up . He’s tightly clenching his fist .

So, he still wants to continue? I wish he’d forgive me . I need to get to school .

“Damned brat, I’ll make you regret this!”
The man swings out his clenched fist .

It’s way too far to reach me .
I was negligent .

His fist was too far away to reach me, but from it flies dirt and dust . He probably grabbed it when he was on ground .

Dirt gets into my eyes and my sight is snatched away .

Damn .
The second I thought that, a heavy blow runs through my stomach .

“Don’t look down on me . This is what you get for getting carried away . ”

The man strikes my face . With my sight stolen, I can’t avoid any of his attack and collapse in pain . I’m then kicked in the stomach and legs .

I wrap my arms around my head and curl into a ball . It’s all I can do to defend myself . Again and again, he kicks me and jeers . I scream out as my whole body is wracked with pain .

Damn, why do I have to go through something like this?

It hurts . It hurts .

What happened? I was in complete control just earlier .

“What are you people doing over there?!!”
A woman screams .

“Ernea-kun!”

I recognize this voice . But, with the dirt in my eyes and the violent assault I’ve received, I can’t place it right away .

“Che, shine maidens?”
The man clicks his tongue . He then kicks me one more time with all his strength before running away .

The sound of his heavy footsteps grows distant . Afterwards, several other footsteps rush towards me

“Che, shine maidens?”
The man clicks his tongue . He then kicks me one more time with all his strength before running away .

The sound of his heavy footsteps grows distant . Afterwards, several other footsteps rush towards me .

“Ernea-kun, are you alright?”

Once I hear the worried voice from close up, I finally recognize it as being Ruiseine’s .

“Ye-Yeah, I’m fine . ”
I rub my eye while somehow or another getting up .

“Uwaa, Ernea-cchi, you’re bleeding!”
Although the pain wracking my body makes it hard to see, Inea seems to be nearby too .

“What the heck happened . ”
The third worried voice, this must be Kiiri .

“Eetto, I was at fault . ”

Yeah, this is my fault .


The pain washing over my body helps me gradually regain my composure . The normal me would have never acted so disgracefully .

I’m impatient from completely being unable to defeat Gild-san . I’m despairing that I might lose Mistral . My irritation at the meager amount of time left until the deadline seems to have caused me to act unlike myself and perpetuate violence .

What just happened is obviously my fault .

I bumped into that man and wasn’t able to give him an acceptable apology . Afterwards, I assumed an attitude that looked down on an elder . All and all, I was at fault .

Ruiseine, worried at seeing me become silent, comes closer .

“Are you truly alright?”

She caresses my cheeks with her cool hands . Afterwards, a warm and gentle feeling washes over me, and the pain disappears .

It’s cure law .

“Thank you . ”

My eyes finally clear up and I smile as I can faintly see Ruiseine .

“I will be treating Ernea-kun, so Kiiri, Inea, please continue going ahead . ”
Ruiseine lends me her shoulder and has me sit on the side of the street before saying such to them .

“Alright—, we leave this to you, Ruiseine . ”
“Very well, we’ll continue on . ”

Kiiri and Inea smile with a “fufufu,” and wave as they then head to school .

“Sorry, I’ve made you worry . ”
“Just what happened here?”
“Ugh, a lot . ”

That incident was my failure . I’m too embarrassed to tell Ruiseine about it .

“My, my, well, well, will you not tell me?”
Ruiseine puffs out her cheeks and her mouth takes the form of a “へ” . Despite that, she doesn’t pursue the matter . Instead, she gently hugs me tight .

My whole body fills with a gentle warmth and the pain fades away . The feeling is so pleasant, I entrust my body to Ruiseine and close my eyes .

I reflect now after all this time about how I didn’t apologize to that man . Anyone who only saw what was happening from the middle onward would assume that man was at fault . I don’t think I’m in any position to be cared for even by a shrine maiden . If I should ever meet that man again somewhere, I’ll properly apologize to him .

Nevertheless, even though I thought I absolutely wouldn’t lose to that man, I somehow lost . As I am always having matches against Gild-san, I am only thinking about fighting . Right now, that brawl is occupying my mind .

I had a perfect grasp of his movements . Even though I had overwhelming physical ability, I lost . The reason, dirt was thrown into my eyes . Out of nowhere, my sight was stolen and I was one-sidedly beatdown .

That’s when I recall what Gild-san said to me before . When you have to win no matter what, you need to be underhanded . That man blinding me was absolutely a dirty hand . Except, there are no such rules in a fight . He was able to turn the situation around by doing such a thing . My being unprepared and being unable to deal with it was my problem .

Do I also need to resort to that sort of foul play? There’s no choice if I want to win .

Thinking, ‘Still,’ I twist the idea around in my head .

Is that really alright? Battles should be fought fair and squarely, shouldn’t they? Are my thoughts naïve? To begin with, what even is fair and square? Is throwing dirt into someone’s eyes no good? But there are also people who steal the sight of others using darkness magic . I don’t think using magic should be called cowardly .

Is attacking with deception bad? What exactly is a sneak attack? If I take my opponent by surprise with a sneak attack, would not taking advantage of that really be possible?

“No,” I groan out .

“My, my, well, well, is there still someplace where you hurt?”
Ruiseine misunderstands my groan and peers at my face in concern .

“No, I’m fine . Although, can I stay like this a bit longer?”
“Fufufu, we can remain like this until you are better . ”

Ruiseine spoils me with a gentle smile and I sink back into thought . What is a dirty play? What is a clean technique? The current me really just can’t figure it out . But when I think about, I realize it .

I personally don’t care about what counts as a dirty play . I just don’t want to use hands that I consider cowardly . I don’t want to behave in a way that would make me feel disgusted with myself, regardless of whether it counts as a clean or dirty .

Except, will I be able to beat Gild-san by saying that? I have to defeat Gild-san no matter what . As I am now, I have no chance of defeating Gild-san by the end of the year . If so, should I really be avoiding plays that are unfair? Should I really do anything for victory, no matter how underhanded it is?

It’s just, I don’t want to act cowardly . If I do, I feel as though I’ll defile the Dragon Sword Dance Old Sleigstar taught me . In that case, I should fight with the Dragon Sword Dance . Or is choosing how to win not an option?

My heart sways from worry .

“You can do it . You can do it . ”

Suddenly, I hear a strange voice near my ear .

“Ruiseine, what did you say just now?”
“No, I did not say anything at all . ”

She tilts her head from curiosity at my question .

“You can do it, Ernea . ”

There it is again . I hear a voice I never heard before . I feel a gentle breeze brush against my cheek, and I look up for no particular reason .

“You can do it . You can do it . ”

Without my realizing, before me stands a lovely girl around the same height as Priscilla-chan .