“I hereby abolish the friendship pact between the Elven Forest Republic and the Kingdom of Aryaka!”
During the (vegetarian) dinner party, Chancellor Mickaël of the Elven Forest Republic went up on a platform and made that very proclamation. Gulping down my vegetable stew, I exchanged glances with Crown Prince Richie. To think the Elven Forest Republic, a nation that had long been on good terms with the Kingdom of Aryaka, would abolish their pact of friendship with us on the last day of our goodwill visit to their country...
It reminded me of that day two years ago. No longer was I that same weak Floortje, however. I stood up—now a yokozuna, holder of the top rank in Aryakan Sumo.
“Explain yourself, Chancellor Mickaël. Did the fairy king approve of this outrage?!”
The chancellor walked towards us, grinning as he stepped down from his platform.
“The fairy king is bedridden with a terrible illness. In his absence, I have the final say in all decisions pertaining to the Elven Forest Republic! Is that clear to you, Crown Princess Candidate Floortje, Crown Prince Richie?!”
Oh, it very much is. This fop of an elf had placed the fairy king under house arrest and seized power in the Elven Forest Republic. A coup was underway.
“The pact between Aryaka and the Elven Forest Republic was made by my father, King Arvi, and the Fairy King Ulupano to celebrate the long friendship between our nations! What gives you, a deputy, the right to abolish it?” spoke Prince Richie, dignity in his voice.
He had grown much since the events of two years ago. Yet he still occasionally acted spoiled with me, which was so cute of him. It never failed to excite me. Dosukoi dosukoi! Not that this was the time for excitement.
“We are going to put you two in custody and hand you over to our new allies. Don’t worry. You’ll live so long as we have use for you. After all, you are the future king and queen of Aryaka.”
“And who would be these ‘new allies’ of yours, chancellor?!” continued the prince.
“Heh heh... Why, it’s the Demon Lord’s army. In exchange for our support, they will be assisting us in our military endeavors. We shall seize the caves of those accursed dwarves, and I’m thinking of taking Aryaka for ourselves too.”
“Are you out of your mind?! You intend to become the Demon Lord’s puppet?! How foolish of you, chancellor!”
“Say what you want, pitiful prince. Your lives are in our hands.”
Chancellor Mickaël flashed a vulgar smile and raised his hand. A moment later, the door leading out of the main hall we were in opened and elven soldiers came in.
“Your Highness!”
“Got it, Floortje!”
I stood in front of the prince and lowered my center of mass.
“Hah hah hah! I know, Crown Princess Candidate Floortje—I know you’re the champion of some ‘sumo’ wrestling that’s all the rage in Aryaka these days. If you think that puny martial art of yours will do anything against my elite troops, you’re welcome to try.”
The chancellor’s ridicule made me smile.
“You don’t know a thing about sumo, do you?”
“Agh! Teach this silly woman a lesson! But do not kill her!”
As the soldiers descended upon me and the prince, I analyzed the situation. It would be easy to summon a dohyō and bring down Chancellor Mickaël here and now through sumo. But I didn’t know where the fairy king was being held, or how many forces the demons had planted in the state guest house. It seemed wiser to run.
I used a Tornado Beltless Arm Throw on an approaching soldier and threw him at a group of his friends. The ensuing tornado swept up the soldiers and sent them crashing onto a table full of vegetable dishes.
“Wh-What?! What was that skill?!”
“These elven weaklings don’t even serve as an appetizer! Treat me to someone stronger, would you?!”
“They really were too weak, Floortje,” added the prince.
Prince Richie had reached the rank of maegashira 5 in the last tournament after scoring more wins than losses. Young as he was, he was more than skilled enough to deal with elven soldiers. He took them down without any trouble using harite and his favorite pulling underarm throw.
Apart from me and the prince, our retinue was present too, with over half of them being sumo wrestlers. They took down one elven soldier after another.
“What in the—?! There’s no way a martial art could be this ridiculous! Casters! Concentrated Sleep Cloud, now!”
“Yes, sir!” replied the spellcasters as one.
When it came to warfare, the two things elves were good at were archery and magic. In particular, elven spirit magic was more powerful and dangerous than the kind of magic humans could wield. Glowing fairies rapidly orbited the elven spellcasters before us, while countless magic circles appeared at the elves’ feet.
“Your Highness!”
“Let’s do it, Floortje!”
The prince and I both raised a foot high in the air. Not a pose a lady and a crown prince should assume in the state guest house of a friendly nation, but we were past that. For we were a pair of sumo wrestlers!
STOMP! Our shiko literally shook the state guest house. The sacred sound of it sent holy ripples coursing through the ground. The ripples resonated with each other before purging the spells prepared by the casters.
“What, how?! Th-That’s impossible, I’ve never heard of such an antimagic skill!”
“It’s called ‘shiko.’”
“That’s right,” added the prince.
“Shit! Shit! Archers, archers!!!”
Behind the chancellor, a group of archers came running. Not a moment later, the door behind him burst open, and in rushed General Maurilio with his troops.
“Your Highness! Lady Floortje! The town is on fire! It appears numerous soldiers have joined the rebellion! You’d best get out of here for the moment and leave this to me!”
“Very well, General, I’m counting on you!” replied the prince.
“I won’t let you down!”
“Y-You think I’ll just let you get away?! Archers! Shoot to kill! Don’t let those two leave this room! Fire!!!”
As a low sound resembling that of a string instrument reverberated through the room, countless arrows came flying our way. I performed a beltless arm throw without a target. Whoosh! Prince Richie did the same. Whooosh! Two tornadoes spawned and raged in the central hall, forcing the arrows off target and scattering them across the floor. I controlled my tornado with my mind and jumped aboard together with the prince.
“Time to go, Your Highness!”
“Okay!”
We rode the tornado to the stained glass on the side of the building, smashing right through. As the colorful glass shattered and its shards rained down upon the ground, the burning Town of Yggdrasil came into view.
“Look what they’ve done to this historic town!”
“And the Demon Lord’s army is here!”
Stern-looking monsters clad in black armor were running amok around town.
“Milady! Your Highness!”
Hearing an exhausted voice from below, I looked down to see my ditzy maid Adela in the driver’s seat of a coach, speeding through town. I moved our tornado towards her, then brought it downwards so the prince and I could step off.
“It’s terrible, it’s terrible! The town is under attack by the Demon Lord’s army! Its defenses aren’t functioning, so someone on the inside must have sabotaged them. I was sure you two would need a coach, so I made my way to the state guest house! Let’s run, let’s run, dépêchez-vous!”
This ditz was as talkative as ever.
“Let’s get out of town for now,” suggested the prince.
“I think that’s the best course of action, Your Highness,” approved Adela.
“You know, this is just like...” Something about all this made me smile.
“Is this really a good time to be reminiscing, milady?!”
“I was just amused by how similar all this is to that day two years ago.”
“And pray tell, milady, why that puts the ferocious smile of an unmatched warrior on your face?!”
“I am but a robust sumo wrestler.”
“Jeez, milady!”
Complain as she might, Adela drove the coach to the town gates. I was certain we wouldn’t be able to leave so easily. But it was all right, for my sumo would bring down anyone and anything in my way, just like it had two years ago.
Adela skillfully weaved her way around the soldiers and evacuating elves on the road, heading straight for the western town gate as fast as she could. The town was in a terrible state. Various places were on fire, and elven commoners were running every which way, trying to escape. Chasing them about were elven soldiers, as well as monsters. Orcs and ogres in black armor were on a total rampage.
I could hardly believe it. No enemies had managed to set foot in the Town of Yggdrasil for the past five thousand years. The walls around it were imbued with special protective magic, preventing anyone bearing ill will from entering. Curse you, Chancellor Mickaël! This town is an important cultural asset. How could you let demons and monsters in?
We had entered an area without buildings. There stood a massive tree which seemed to reach high into the sky. This was the world tree, Yggdrasil, the symbol of this town. Were it to burn down, this town—and probably the whole Elven Forest Republic—would surely be history. The numerous elven tribes were held together by the just rule of the Fairy King Ulupano and by the spiritual support of this tree. I wanted to do something to avert such a negative outcome, but with pursuers on my tail, I couldn’t think of how to help.
“What a terrible fate has befallen this town, Floortje,” spoke the prince.
“Yes. If only there were something I could do...”
“What you can and should do, milady, is get to Aryaka as quickly and safely as possible, together with the prince! That is your win condition here! Don’t let your sympathy for this town and its people cost you time!”
I knew Adela was correct. Half of our retinue here were rikishi. I could see us saving this town if we fought our hardest. But this wasn’t our fatherland of Aryaka. And even were we to win today, it surely wouldn’t last. After all, we had no supply routes. How could we keep a hold on another nation’s town without food and other supplies coming in?
Still, I had to wonder whether I could just leave things like this. Was I not meant to save at least those few I could with the power of sumo dwelling in these hands of mine? As I pondered the subject, Prince Richie held my hand.
“Now isn’t a good time, Floortje. We should escape.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”