# Chapter 96
“Today we start with a guerrilla battle! Introducing warrior Neon with his splendid record of 4 wins and 3 losses in 7 battles!”
An enormous roar thundered in their ears. Rite frowned and shook Mari once more. Arden also looked at Mari with confused eyes.
“This is different from the match schedule.”
“What’s going on?”
Mari swept back her long hair. She seemed irritated, as if this was unexpected for her too.
“Contestants in precarious condition are sometimes put into guerrilla battles like this. I don’t know why Neon, who was fine, suddenly got scheduled though.”
“What do you mean by precarious?”
“It means once this match ends, they’ll salvage only the expensive parts and discard everything else.”
“Then what should we do? Should we sneak into the warehouse today?”
“That’s impossible. If it’s scheduled for disposal, there won’t just be one or two people there—engineers, guards, and more. Besides, there’s no guarantee the magical device will remain intact.”
Rite let go of Mari’s shoulder and looked up at the stage. He could clearly see where the magical device was located. He sensed faint waves of magical energy. Now he understood how Aigle had immediately noticed he was a magician.
“We’re accepting brave challengers at the reception! Please speak to our mascot Ret. First come, first served!”
A spotlight dropped to the area below the stage. A ridiculous-looking robot with drooping long ears, large round red eyes, and a tiny body disproportionate to its face hopped and waved its hands under the light. It somewhat resembled a rabbit.
“I’ll go check it out.”
Mari stood up. Rite, having finished his calculations, rose from his seat and pressed down on Mari’s shoulder to make her sit again. Both green and black eyes followed Rite.
“What are you going to do?”
“This seems like the best approach. Mari, keep a firm hold on Arden.”
Leaving those words behind, Rite quickly descended the stairs. He heard “Rite!” called from behind but didn’t look back. The reception area was already crowded with people. Rite pushed through the crowd heading forward. He needed to hurry so Arden couldn’t follow him.
“No, the robot may look rough around the edges, but its skills are top-notch! Don’t you trust me, Ret?”
“That robot’s condition is really… Ouch!”
Slam. Rite’s large palm struck the reception desk. Ret backed away, covering his ears with his blunt hands. Rite flashed his yellow eyes at the man standing nearby. Under that gaze, the man holding a small robot in his arms retreated a step.
“I’m here to register.”
“You’re entering yourself?”
“Ret! Are you disrespecting my robot?”
At a whistle from somewhere, Rite glanced around and met numerous stares. The gathered crowd was watching their conversation with interest. “Fight, fight!” someone shouted excitedly.
“Neon isn’t an easy opponent, so even though we said first come, first served, we can’t just register anyone who has courage…”
Rite rolled up the sleeve of his right arm. As he revealed his arm covered in pitch-black scales and raised an eyebrow, Ret’s ears perked up straight. His red eyes sparkled.
“A modified arm! You should have said so from the beginning. I’ll register you right away.”
“Ret! I was here first!”
“Your name?”
“Rite.”
Despite the man’s protest, Ret moved busily. He wrote something on a piece of paper with his fingerless arm, then came out from behind the reception desk and walked briskly away.
“Mr. Rite, follow me!”
Ret stopped and beckoned to Rite. As Rite started to follow, Ret once again led the way.
Rite looked back at his seat but couldn’t see Arden. As he scanned the area, he easily spotted Arden coming down the stairs with Mari tied around his waist. Mari was practically lying on the ground, being dragged along. She was diligently fulfilling Rite’s request.
Feeling urgent, Rite stepped forward and grabbed Ret’s ears, lifting him up. Suddenly suspended in the air, Ret screamed.
“Ouch!”
“Where are we going?”
“There, over there.”
The place Ret pointed to was a tent below the stage. Holding the rabbit-shaped robot, Rite quickly entered the tent. The robot didn’t struggle, hanging limply and behaving well.
Inside the tent was a flurry of activity. Robots bound as if tied with ropes were lined up, and various people were bustling about between them.
“Doctor. This person is a challenger.”
Still suspended in air, Ret tapped someone’s back. A large, round person turned around and looked between Ret and Rite.
“What? He looks ordinary.”
It was the owner of the voice that had been coming through the speakers.
“He has a modified arm!”
Ret tapped the arm that was holding him while speaking. Rite put the robot down on the floor and briefly rolled up his sleeve to show.
The person called Doctor scrutinized Rite with slightly suspicious eyes.
“I’ve never seen an arm like this before. If you don’t mind me asking, what do you do?”
“Hunt monsters in the Winter Forest.”
“The Winter Forest?”
The Doctor’s eyes widened. Just as he was about to ask something more, a woman wearing round glasses approached.
“Doctor. The purchase voucher distribution is done.”
“Oh, I see. Ret, prepare this person and send him up!”
The Doctor snatched the paper from Ret’s hand and hurriedly disappeared somewhere.
“Follow me.”
Ret said, patting Rite’s knee. Rite followed Ret while looking around. The appearances of the robots they passed were all quite unusual.
Pini would feel intimidated if it saw these. Rite thought nonchalantly.
A robot with thick springs wound around its limbs, a robot so tall it had to be laid down, a robot shaped like a four-legged beast—the varieties were diverse. With limited mobility, they only rolled their glowing eyes to look at Rite.
“Do you have any weapons?”
“No.”
“Please step up here.”
Ret pointed to a platform. As Rite stood on it, a waiting staff member began turning a lever. The floor beneath him vibrated slightly and slowly started moving upward.
“Good luck then, challenger!”
Ret waved his arms in farewell. As bright lights began to appear overhead, the Doctor’s voice echoed throughout the arena.
“Introducing Neon’s opponent. The monster hunter from the Winter Forest, Rite!”
The dazzling lights made it difficult to see ahead. Rite couldn’t tell if the heat he felt was from the lights or the gathered crowd. He frowned, waiting for his eyes to gradually adjust to the brightness.
“Please welcome contestant Rite, who’s challenging Neon, with a big round of applause!”
The tremendous cheering made his ears ring. Rite’s heart started beating rapidly. The hot lights and excited voices made Rite’s instincts boil. His eyes scanned the audience. Arden was nowhere to be seen.
“Betting begins now!”
Having fully ascended to the stage, Rite examined his target. Being a household robot, its size wasn’t particularly threatening. It was slightly larger than Pini but shorter than Rite.
Neon was also staring intently at Rite. A large shield made a heavy sound as it stamped the floor. Rite moved his right hand, recalling the monsters he had hunted until now. He could pierce thick leather, but it would be difficult to penetrate such metal plates.
One option was to quickly retrieve just the magical device and then forfeit, but that might reveal the device’s disappearance. It seemed cleaner to completely destroy it if possible.
“You said your name was Rite.”
Having only ever seen Pini as a robot, Rite was secretly surprised by Neon’s natural intonation. It was suspicious enough to make him wonder if there was a human inside.
“Why are you fighting?”
Rite quietly scanned the audience again. Everything started because of Arden. He wanted to stand proudly by Arden’s side, to ensure Arden no longer had to bow his head because of him, to lighten even a little of the burden that had been weighing on Arden for so long. That’s why Rite had left the forest and come all this way to extract an unplanned magical device.
For Arden, who was pathetically and foolishly sinking in a past Rite didn’t know, unable to even think of escaping. And also…
“For myself.”
Rite’s eyes finally found Arden. He was talking with Ret below the stage. Rite could see him shouting something with veins bulging in his neck.
“Should I understand that you’re doing this for money?”
“Think whatever you want.”
There was only one concept that could explain why his chest felt so full and tingling at the sight.
Rite intended to protect his only season.
“I’m greedy.”
“…”
“So greedy that even I think I’m monstrous.”
When Rite thought about Arden considering someone else special, sharing a large part of his life with them, and remembering them for a long time, ugly emotions would surge inside him.
He knew it all. Rite himself understood. Whatever past Arden had, it was inevitable, and he had no intention of judging Arden’s past. But it was also true that he felt this rising irritation and vague displeasure.
After realizing that strangers whose faces and names he didn’t know, who might be alive or dead, remembered Arden and thought of him as special—and that Arden would never forget them either—Rite felt an unresolvable frustration. Eventually, he found himself thinking childish thoughts he’d only read about in books.
I wish nobody remembered Arden. I wish I was the only one in Arden’s memories.
“That’s why I’m going to win this.”
Rite still hadn’t taken his eyes off Arden. Mari was still hanging from Arden’s waist, and Arden looked like he was about to destroy Ret.
“Do you feel pain too?”
Rite tore his gaze away and looked at Neon.
“I certainly can’t feel such things. Even if an arm gets torn off, or a sharp spear pierces my body, I don’t feel the sensation of ‘pain.'”
Rite somehow felt that Neon was tired. If he told Arden, he would say that’s impossible, but Rite thought differently.
“This is already the eighth time I’ve come up here.”
“…”
“To avoid making it a ninth time, I tore open my own body. I cut the wires with my own hands and mangled the parts.”
It was truly a strange era. There were too many beings who had to struggle to be recognized for basic things just because they weren’t human.
“The sensation I felt then was real.”
“Betting is closed!” Another voice overlapped the end of Neon’s words. At the same time, Neon’s eyes flashed.
“Match start!”
