A royal exhibition match was held to wish for Magyan Khan’s good health, with seven fighters on each side. The results saw Arcana walking away with seven wins—quite an appalling performance for the Magyan Kingdom. The contents of the match were completely one-sided, with the other side being beaten to a pulp. Of course, there were some rules in place that worked in Arcana’s favor, such as it being forbidden to inquire about Arcana’s fighters before the match and Royal Presence users being forbidden from wielding weapons, even though those without were permitted to do so. Those rules had been crudely written but strictly enforced. Thus, due to those two conditions, Arcana had secured their victories. Although both sides had agreed to the terms, it was in no way a fair fight.
However, Magyan Sukreen had then received aid from the Shrine Maidens. That was a violation of the rules, even though no one was in a position to complain about the regulations. The royal families representing the other nations had lost all of their matches at the royal exhibition match, and the futures of those women were as good as finished. But even so, some felt pity for them. This is a story about how they regained their honor.
Deyiaoe Utto, Magyan Toris, and Baigao Shiyoki were each royals who had lost in the battle the previous day, and they had all been summoned to the royal palace in Magyan by Magyan Heki. Heki was Magyan Khan’s heir, next in line to the throne. The three that had been summoned were fully prepared for death. After all, they had deceived Tahlan and plotted a rebellion. Although they had never actually acted on their plan, as they were found out too quickly, they couldn’t complain if they were put to death. If not death, then they could expect exile or imprisonment.
However, Heki, who had summoned the three women, didn’t have that on his mind at all. “I will start by saying that...I have no intention to punish you,” he said. “Putting aside the fact that I’ve fought you all and won...it would be strange if I were the one to punish you after you lost to Sunae’s subordinates and her husband.” If the women had actively rebelled, then they would have been put to death without any questions. However, since they had been unable to act on their desires, it wasn’t a problem leaving it unaddressed. Moreover, it would be difficult to make it public that the queen consort had led the rebellion, as it would have a negative effect on the honor of her children, Tahlan and Sunae. And as Heki said, it was Sunae who had defeated them. Since she and the others weren’t looking to punish them either, it would make no sense if Heki were to do it himself.
“The reason I called you all here...is because I want to give you all a job to do. I’ll say it once again; this isn’t a punishment. Think of it as a way to get your honor back.” The three women, upon hearing that, doubted what had been said. They were grateful for being given the opportunity to restore their honor, but they never expected that it would be the heir to Magyan who gave the opportunity, nor this soon.
“You probably are all thinking it sounds too good to be true, right? Keep this between us, but...I, as well as the kings of other countries, don’t think badly of you three.” Since they had been offered a chance to restore their honor, that probably also meant that they would be given grueling work. However, they had expected as much. What they hadn’t expected was even receiving the opportunity.
“Your targets were those three. The Marked...I mean, the Silver Demon Style user Ran, Saiga Mizu, and Sansui Shirokuro. They’re all strong opponents that not even my father or I could beat. However, you stood your ground against them. My father said the same thing, right?”
Since they had lost seven consecutive fights, Spirit Summoning had surrendered some of its authority. However, at the very least, they had been able to protect their pride. If the three women had run, the people of the nation would have been disappointed.
“While we can’t just act like that overwhelming defeat never happened, it’s a good chance for you to regain your honor. We’ve already given the same opportunity to the warriors who fought in the first four matches.”
“Thank you,” said Magyan Toris in response to Heki’s kindness. She had to make sure that he wasn’t lying. “However...regarding Lady Sukreen...” Magyan Sukreen had been the mastermind behind the plot. She was a relative of Toris, and it was through that connection that Sukreen had reached out to Toris. What Heki wanted to say was that while they had been forgiven for betraying the country, Sukreen would not be receiving that same mercy. Even so, Toris had a shred of hope for her.
“That one’s no good,” Heki declared, clear and professional. “I won’t be allowing her to restore her honor. She’ll have to carry on as she is.” He had outright rejected it without even suggesting that he’d consider it depending on their performance. “That one’s no longer a royal.” He was being extremely impolite towards the queen consort by referring to her as “that one.” No one would correct him on it, though.
“Sukreen threw away the dignity of the nation in front of everyone...!”
No matter what you thought, there were some words you should never say.
“If a foreign country far away was to be attacked, would this country and the surrounding countries invade?!”
“How many years will that be? Ten years after? One hundred years after?”
“Why do we have to worry about such things?!”
The three of them had all heard Sukreen’s improper remarks—or, rather, her abusive words.
“A royal family who doesn’t worry about what things will be like one hundred years after the fact doesn’t deserve to live...!”
It was often said that the royal families planned a hundred years ahead, signifying how important it was that they always plan while keeping the bigger picture in mind. That didn’t mean it was all right to ignore more imminent problems. Even so, at that time, Sukreen wasn’t thinking about anyone but herself. Rather, it had been that way with her from the beginning.
“Besides, there’s nothing we can do if we’re told an unknown force will attack us next year.” Heki himself didn’t believe that Sunae’s warning would actually come to pass. It could still be ten years yet, like Sukreen had said. However, if they didn’t have that much time, they wouldn’t be able to reform the army. Forcing improvements in just a few years could cause the situation to get worse. The situation would take decades to improve, taking trial and error into account. If so, that would mean that Sunae wasn’t too hasty in raising the alarm.
“So...that is what I want to ask you three to do.” Since they would have several decades to do it, there were plenty of ways to approach the problem. Heki had asked the women to find a way.
“Sunae already mentioned it, and it was proven at the secret rematch, but...just changing how you fight can open up more opportunities to react. So it’s probably best to have more new abilities or bloodlines that use different abilities.”
The Rare Art of Spirit Summoning was by no means weak. If anything, it was one of the strongest. The reason the four people before them had lost was due to them lacking information and having weak tactics. If they had been able to gather information and change how they fought, then they may have been able to win easily, like in the secret rematch. They should even be able to handle a skilled Rare Arts user. There were rumors that there were numerous martial arts practiced in Tempera Village. It wasn’t reasonable to assume that was enough. More information and preparation were needed.
“I guess the Shrine Maidens have already left, right? They weren’t treated well from the start, which is regrettable. Next time, we can’t make any mistakes.” The three of them had managed to work out what kind of job they would be doing.
“So, you want us three to go to Tempera Village and lay the groundwork for diplomatic relations, right?” Toris asked.