Chapitre 41: Arena Thirty-Nine: Exiled Past III
I smiled wryly at Anastasia, who kept looking down with a hollow expression.
Judging it was time for me to console her, I spoke up.
"Anastasia... it's fine. It wasn't something you'd have to be bothered over..."
"But... You heard about Dimitri, didn't you?"
"Only that he was someone you liked in the past. And even that isn't something you'd need to worry about."
"... You aren't angry?"
Finally, Anastasia looked up. I could see the fears in her eyes.
"Why would I be angry? Dimitri is in the past now. You don't need to worry about it."
I said while kneeling to look at her eyes straight.
Taking a deep breath, she nodded.
"Yes... I understand... Thanks, Arnold."
Finally, she smiled. It was still a bit stiff compared to the ones she had shown me recently, but it was still a genuine smile.
"Ugh..."
Hearing a groan from my behind, I looked over my shoulder. The enemy Regalia had disappeared, leaving behind a slightly wounded woman... Or girl.
She looked mature at first, but now that I looked at her... She wasn't much older than us.
"You son of a bitch..."
She cursed while glaring at me. I stared at her silently, before smiling.
"Your squadmates and friends are lying in that room back there. I made sure to keep their HP above 30%... Probably. You might want to check up on them."
Hearing my gentle yet mocking words, her face turned beet red. She stood up wobbling before hissing at me.
"... I should have killed you."
"If you had done that, you would have died too."
I calmly replied... Though I could feel my anger rising. She dared to kidnap me, then she even insulted Anastasia.
"..."
The girl gritted her teeth, unable to reply.
"... I don't want to fight you, really. It'd be a hassle if you died... But there will be no next time."
I said, still smiling. I could feel my anger rising every second, but I held back. If she died, then the blame would be pinned on the Phoenix squad, not to mention due to the loss of a strong squad, the empire would be low on firepower and might pressure the Phoenix squad more.
However, that didn't mean that I'd take her shit without biting back. I didn't want to reveal my skills unless I absolutely had to, but I would do so without hesitation if doing so meant my or my friends' lives would be saved.
Fear appeared on her face hearing my words. Stopping the Regalia had at least proven that I had some amount of unconventional powers, and she was clearly hesitant to go against them. Yet...
"... You..."
The girl tried to summon her Regalia again... Before stopping abruptly.
"You do that, you're dead, Catherine."
The old spy behind her said in a gentle voice... But the threat was clear. Grey's gun was pointed at her head... When did he even come here?
The girl... Catherine, put down her tablet. I didn't think she would be able to summon her Regalia anyway, not after the damage it took. Grey then lowered his gun and stepped back.
"Good choice."
He holstered the gun before turning towards me.
"You alright?"
"Except a few bruises here and there... Yeah."
Most of my stats recovered just after entering [Alter Ego] mode, though they were still capped at 80%. But that was more than enough to stop two rampaging Regalia who weren't thinking.
I didn't think I would win in an actual battle where they wouldn't be distracted like this though...
"You said something about breaking some bones?"
"... I guess you could say it that way? Those girls are back in the room."
"You are... quite brutal, aren't you?"
Grey smiled wryly while I just shrugged.
"I believe in gender equality."
I retorted while stretching my hands... The aftermath was yet to come.
Just as I thought that, my body was assaulted with intense pain from inside, forcing me to kneel. My bones felt like they would break any moment under the constant pressure of my muscles, and my lungs felt like they were being squashed.
"Ugh..."
I felt my consciousness leaving me. I could hear the voices of Anastasia and Grey, but I couldn't reply.
Finally, I blacked out.
...
I watched in horror as Arnold fell unconscious in front of me. I hurriedly rushed forward, but Grey caught him first.
"It's alright, he's just suffering from the backlash of forced login."
Grey told me and the students who had come forward after seeing the battle end. The stadium staff quickly arranged for a medical stretcher. Unless they took him to a login bay, or he logged out or was forced logged out from the outside, he would have to remain here.
The staff quickly put him on the stretcher before moving towards the login bay inside the stadium.
Grey told me it was due to the forced login, but I knew that it was due to his new skill.
Even so, I kept quiet... Then it dawned on me.
"Wait... Forced login?"
I asked, feeling my heart slowly turn cold. Arnold had said something about Catherine's friends too, didn't he?
What did that mean?
"... Yeah. He was forcibly logged in using an illegal item."
Grey told me with a grim face. I could feel my heart turn colder.
Slowly, I turned towards Catherine, who was standing there while leaning on her squadmate. Seeing my glare, she averted her gaze.
"How... Dare... You..."
I was losing my reason... I wanted to go to her and choke her to death. Seeing my enraged state, Catherine took a step back.
"... Anastasia."
Grey called out to me, but I was too agitated to listen to his words.
"Huh... Why is this generation of Elliots so... Problematic?"
I heard Grey mutter as I approached Catherine. Even while she was in the wrong, she didn't apologize. Instead, she looked at me with mockery and sarcasm.
"What are going to do about this? You can't do anything. There isn't any proof that it was the Medusa squad, and I don't think your biased testimony would work."
She told me while staring at my eyes.
"... I hope you'll watch your back in the next arena fight."
I hissed before walking past her following the staff team.
...
Catherine stood there, silently looking at the ground.
Anastasia's threat... It had startled her. Catherine herself knew that she did an error by involving a civilian, and a commoner nonetheless... Even so, that threat felt extremely.
She didn't know what it was. But when she was talking to Anastasia... She had seen something change in that girl's eyes.
As if... Something had glitched. Something had changed for the worse.
She didn't fear what she knew, but she feared whatever that was.
It was her primal fear.
...
"Ugh..."
I woke up with a groan. Looking around, I found Anastasia sitting by the bed I was on.
I was probably in the logging bay of the stadium, judging by the walls and lights.
I looked at the girl sitting beside me. Her flaxen hair was flowing down, while her beautiful face looked like a sculpture... Except for the slow breathing.
I slowly touched a strand of hair and pulled it behind her right ear... Before calling out to her.
"Anastasia... Wake up."
She muttered something in sleep but didn't wake up.
"Come on, wake up."
I smiled as I gently nudged her shoulder... And she muttered again.
But this time, a bit louder.
I could barely make out the words.
"... Five more minutes... Dimitri..."
With those words, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. Different kinds of emotions swirled inside my heart as I pondered over those words.
I stared at her blankly before chuckling to myself.
"Am I seriously jealous of a dead man?"
I muttered before lying down on the bed again.
Perhaps I needed some more sleep...
Hoping that it would calm my heart, I closed my eyes... But I couldn't forget these uncomfortable feelings.
...
I woke up and saw Arnold sleeping in front of me. Seeing his peaceful sleeping face, I felt strangely calm and content.
I was scared when Arnold heard about Dimitri... But it seemed that he was kinder than I thought him to be.
Besides... As Arnold said, Dimitri was in the past. He was still kept on life-support due to his parent's request, but even they knew that he would never wake up.
Besides... It was just a fluke... A fleeting emotion that just happened due to the suspension bridge effect.
We never went beyond "good friends", we never did anything "lover-like"... We knew we had "some sort of feelings" for each other... But we never acted out on those feelings.
I knew by thinking such things, I was trying to justify my feelings for Dimitri.
But without doing so, I couldn't help but feel guilty. I didn't need to, I knew it was childish... But I still felt bad for hiding it from Arnold.
Perhaps I told him sooner...
Thinking such thoughts, I gently caressed his face.
He was frowning in his dreams for some reason...
I couldn't help but wonder... Did he have a lover or a girl he liked before me?
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone