Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

Volume 3 Chapter 12

“Yo, you brats. How have you been doing?”

Arriving at the waiting room, Leyla greeted Kyle’s group whom she hadn’t seen since their departure from Rimarze. The waiting rooms were split into various ranks, this being the greatest of them all. It was like a personal room, with servants, resembling a stay at a high-class inn. This normally should have been Darius’ room, but he wouldn’t be using it anymore, so Leyla quite literally snatched it from him.

“There are many things I’d like to ask, but…Why are you here?” Seran’s expression was still more than sour, as he greeted his foster mother.

However, Leyla didn’t bother much with him, and instead turned towards the girls.

“Lieze-chan, great work keeping those idiots under control. Also, two new faces in your group, huh.”

“Haha, I’m used to it, so it’s fine. Those two are Urza and Shildonia, and we’re traveling together.” Lieze showed a wry smile, and introduced the other two.

Leyla looked at the two, especially Urza, which clearly made her feel a bit uncomfortable.

“…Make sure not to lose, alright.”

Leyla glanced at Kyle, whispering towards Lieze like some neighborhood old lady. Lieze understood those words and their intentions and started blushing.

“Listen to me, alright.” Seran was a bit annoyed at being ignored, forcing Leyla to look at her son.

“Yeah, normally the arena’s side prepared an aspiring gladiator to participate, but he suffered an injury this morning at a practice match. Since the recovery will take at least half a month, I was forced to participate.”

“I bet you were the one who tortured that poor guy…”

It seemed like Leyla not only aggressively stole this room, but also her spot in the festival itself. The Empire loved using aggressive means and strength as their absolute creed, and Leyla’s name itself most likely sold her more than anything.

“Also, I wasn’t asking how you got a spot, but rather why you even bothered to.”

“I decided yesterday. I found out that my stupid disciple and my useless disciple were participating, so it sounded fun to mix in.” Leyla said, basically stating that she had no particular reason.

“Well, don’t worry about me, and just continue as you would have.”

“Don’t make it sound so simple…” Seran sighed.

“Um, I actually wanted to talk about that.”

Kyle went ahead and explained why he himself and Seran had to participate, and why he needed to win no matter what.

“I see, I get what’s going on…So, you expect me to retire, or hold back against you?”

“No, not in the slightest.”

Kyle never would expect that from Leyla of all people, but he still informed her despite that. He knew that she wouldn’t be this considerate. And, that she was having too much fun to explicitly state it.

“It’s not like you are forced to take responsibility, yeah? No problem then.”

“Well, it would be a lot more convenient for me…”

Kyle immediately gave up on discussing anything with Leyla. Just as she said, even if he didn’t manage to win the festival, he would have no responsibility. However, that would most likely cost him faith and trust from Zilgus, in particular from Milena. That would drive a nail in his plans and actions so far.

“Ahh, about you wanting to become a hero? But, if you’re gonna falter because I’m getting in your way, then you won’t be able to become a hero either way. This is another of your trails, so do your best.”

“I feel like an impregnable wall suddenly appeared in front of my eyes…” Hearing Leyla speak like this was not even her own problem, Kyle now also let out a sigh.

“Ah, Seran. You’re thinking of quitting, right? I won’t accept that, you better fight with all your might. Same goes for Kyle.”

The two tried to speak out against that ridiculous order, but Lieze got ahead of them.

“Leyla-san, that’s!” Lieze screamed, her face pale.

That almost desperate reaction left Urza and Shildonia both bewildered. However, before Leyla could say anything, another visitor arrived.

“Oh, there she is.”

The person to enter was the most important individual in the entire Empire after the Emperor and the imperial family—Beadola.

“What, Old Beadola? You still alive?” Leyla nonchalantly greeted her.

“You know her?” Her son asked, to which Leyla nodded.

“She’s Seraia’s teacher, so both I and Roel know her.”

“Only the imperial family, you, and maybe Seraia call me that way, you know.” Beadola glanced at Kyle.

“I know about Mum and Teacher, but who’s Roel?” Kyle whispered towards Seran. “You know him?”

“Aren’t you a bit too cruel?”

Seran saw Kyle completely without any memories of his own father, and sighed in disbelief. Kyle kept tilting his head, but he realized that both Lieze and Leyla were giving him a cold stare, so he asked Beadola.

“Anyway…My mother was your pupil?”

“Indeed. To think you were young Seraia and brat Roel’s child. Has your mother not told you about me?” Beadola spoke with a nostalgic tone.

“My mother rarely talks about her own past, see…However, she sometimes told me about the person who was her teacher…”

“Oh, and what did she say?”

“Uuuum…Something along the lines of ‘As expected, being single all my life is impossible for me’, I think.”

“She’s the only pupil who would speak of me that way…For crying out loud, even though she was the best fit to be my successor…” Beadola sighed, and shook her head.

“Was my mother that amazing?”

The image Kyle had of his own mother did not equal the potential successor of humanfolk’s greatest magic user.

“Indeed, she held genius greatly surpassing my own…However, her fatal flaw was that she could never muster up any motivation. Her talent was utterly wasted on her.”

“Personally speaking, I think my mother was only interested in magic and nothing else. When it came to aiming higher or obtaining status, she just couldn’t be bothered. It’d force her to get involved with the government and other obligations.”

When it comes to users of Ancient Language magic, especially reaching [Magic King] class or higher, the more you work the more attention you’ll get. No country would ever let her rest easily. In order to avoid that, she moved to a small isolated village called Rimarze.

“That’s what I expected from her son, you really know your mother…And, it pains me even more now that Aluzard, someone who truly strived to aim higher, has left us. Without Seraia, he was the only one to carry my legacy…” Beadola showed a somewhat defeated expression, and then remembered her original goal of coming here. “Oh, the conversation has gone off the rails. Leyla, regarding the fact that you defeated Darius and spoiled the ambitions of the Empire, I can hardly blame you. Darius will receive the blame for being defeated. However…why did you come back at such a time? What is your goal? You haven’t even approached the Empire for the past ten years since that happened.” Beadola questioned Leyla with a harsh gaze.

“Um, did something happen ten years ago?”

“It’s not that big of a deal. I just got into a fight with the Emperor.” Leyla nonchalantly answered Lieze’s question.

“Isn’t that a pretty big deal…”

The Emperor is the absolute ruler of the Empire, and most likely the most important person in the entire humanfolk. It seems like Leyla’s been hiding one hell of a reason as to why she suddenly went into hiding.

“For crying out loud, only a small number of people may know, but to think you would embarrass His Majesty to such levels…Even with someone of your fame and honor, you might have been convicted on the charges of treason.”

“I knew I was at fault, which is why I pulled back. It’s been ten years, I figured things would have cooled down by now.” Leyla scratched her head. “Well, I came here to check out the growth of my own son and pupil, so once the festival is over, I’ll be gone again.”

“To think you would do such a thing…Well, I’ll leave it at that. When you’re here, standing out for good as well as bad, something will happen. Once the festival is over, you leave. This is also for your sake,” Beadola pushed.

“I know that.

“That’s fine then…Now, Kyle, I’d like to talk with you under four eyes.”

“Eh? I mean, I don’t mind…”

Kyle was surprised to suddenly become the center of attention, giving a half-baked response. Beadola then took him to the corner of an isolated passage.

“Who are you?”

“…Prince Maizar asked me the exact same before.”

“That’s not what I meant. What I want to know is your entire being…the constellation of your existence.”

There, Beadola narrowed her eyes even further.

“Before, my attention was stolen by that Shildonia girl with you, but…you’re one person, while also being two…So vague…and yet so strong…but unstable…” Beadola kept muttering, sounding like she herself wasn’t quite sure of what she was saying.

“I don’t think I can follow…?” Kyle simply tilted his head, acting dumb in this context, but he had a faint idea as to what Beadola was talking about.

She must have felt the circumstance of his soul. Using time-traveling magic, Kyle has jumped back in time in order to stop the Great Invasion from happening. According to Shildonia’s explanation, Kyle’s memories and experience, contained in his soul, as well as the [Heart of the Divine Dragon], came to this time, and his soul fused with the already existing one in this timeline. In order words, Kyle became the holder of two souls, which naturally strengthened his innate mana.

“In my long life, I’ve seen many people, but an irregular person like you is a first for me.”

“Huh…” Although Kyle started to sweat furiously, he tried his best to not show it on his face.

“That being the case, it is true that you hold unbelievable amounts of mana inside of you. Won’t you start studying magic with me? In ten years…no five years, you might be a worthy successor of mine.”

“I’m really happy about that, but being a swordsman fits me better.”

Not to mention that five years won’t be nearly fast enough. Kyle’s goal is to become a hero that could put his own influence on the whole world. Becoming Beadola’s successor might be one way to do it, but he won’t make it in time for the ‘Great Invasion’ then.

“Just like your mother, you’re rejecting me…Well, I simply wanted to tell you. Now that Aluzard is gone, I need to look for a new successor…” Beadola sighed, wondering what she should do.

“I understand how you must feel. If there is anything I can do to help you, please let me know.”

As she was his mother’s teacher, he was simply attempting to show some human kindness—this however he would regret greatly later, but that’s a story for another time.

“Still, that’s quite troublesome…I didn’t think such a factor would disrupt my calculations.”

After they split up with Leyla, Kyle looked up at the sky on their way back from the arena, muttering in exhaustion. Naturally, this factor he was talking about referred to Leyla, and Kyle knew all too well how strong she truly was. He would have to fight her in the finale without a doubt, and he was also ordered to fight Seran in the semi-finals, so naturally, he was a bit of a peril.

“Anything behind the scenes or some drugs she’ll surely sniff out…Buying her off won’t work, and I wouldn’t know how to threaten her…” There was Seran, thinking about ways to make his foster mother retire from the festival.

“Hm…Maybe you could take Seran hostage, threatening to kill him?”

“Then she’ll cut us both down, right?” Seran immediately denied Shildonia’s idea.

“You’re mother and child, right? Don’t you know any of her weaknesses?”

“Weakness…She’s weak in the morning, and is bad with spicy stuff…The greatest damage I ever saw her suffer was the two-day hangover after getting drunk with Seraia-san.”

“Mom might not look like it, but she’s a heavy drinker…” Kyle commented.

“What are your chances of victory in a one-on-one battle anyway?”

Kyle showed a complicated expression towards Urza’s genuine question.

“…I don’t think it’ll be unwinnable, but…the negativity is probably the toughest part of the whole encounter.”

Because of his memories as a child, as soon as he stood in front of Leyla, his mental strength and defense just started collapsing. Attempting to fight her in such a state was the same as losing from the very start.

“Same for you, Seran?”

“I think it’s even worse for me…How do I say this, I got slammed with her iron fists countless times when I was young, so my body just…Can’t help it. Kyle, I’m going to practice!” Seran answered Urza’s question, and made up his mind.

“You say that, but it’s pointless this late. If we both proceed, the finale will be in four days, no? You won’t be able to make that big of a change in such a short time,” Urza said.

“I won’t be practicing to win. It’s to practice so that my old hag doesn’t see through our fixed match.”

“Aren’t you a bit too negative about this?”

“Well, that’s probably the best idea. Fighting against Seran would only leave both of you injured.” Shildonia explained with an exhausted tone, but Kyle agreed that they should focus on the semi-finals.

“…But, what about the finale and Lelya-san then?”

Hearing about them doing a rigged match, Lieze seemed oddly happy, as she asked them.

“That’s…a problem I’ll think about once I reach the final.”

Kyle let out yet another sigh, having lost count on how many times that makes today.