CH 72

I went back to the ride carrier to get Arleo and when Nanami saw me getting in she called out to me.

“Yuta, where are you going with Arleo?”

“I’m going to defend someone.”

“Defend?”

“Yes, innocent people are about to be killed, and we’re going to help them.”

“Nanami’s coming with you.”

“But it’s a proper, official fight, so you’ll just have to watch.”

“I want to help innocent people, too. ……”

In the end, Nanami invited Farma to come and observe my defense. Neither of them seemed to have the slightest thought that I was going to lose, and they happily mingled with the crowd and looked at me.

The defense was to take place in a large open space near the square, and as I waited there, the magicraft of the executioner who was to be my opponent arrived with Mushym and his group…….

“Wait a minute! Why are there twelve of them?”

The executioner’s magicrafts are lined up in front of me. In front of the magicrafts, the riders who piloted them were also neatly lined up – an intimidating sight, and I protested impatiently

“What are you talking about? You said you would defend all the criminals. There are 12 criminals, so there will be 12 executioners.”

Yes, the logic is right, but why do I have to fight them at the same time?……This didn’t seem to sit well with Linnecarlo and she protested.

“Brother Mushym, your logic is atrocious at best, then we’ll have more attorneys.”

“Linnecarlo, do you really think that’s acceptable, he already agreed to defend all the guilty. You know the rule of one defense attorney for one criminal, and you can’t withdraw your defense once you’ve accepted it, so what are you going to do?”

“Come on……you can’t reason with…….”

Apparently, the rules don’t allow me to overrule this situation, and I prepare to fight those twelve magicrafts.

“Linnecarlo, that’s enough, I’ll just take out all twelve of them.”

“Yuta……those twelve enforcers are no ordinary riders, they are the elite……of the Kingdom SS, all of them are above half-radar, and those three in the middle are Highlanders.”

“Can Linnecarlo fight all those guys and win?”

“That’s right, you’re good enough to draw with me, it’s true that I can fight all of them and win, then you can do it too, I won’t say anything else, go kick the shit out of all those enforcers!”

“Yes! Let’s do it then!”

As I was about to get motivated and board the Arleo, I was approached by the executioner in the center.

“Yuta-kun, aren’t you Yuta-kun?”

“Mikage……Mikage Mamoru!”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. I was worried about you because you were bought by some unknown merchant.”

I didn’t recognize him right away because his hair had gotten longer and he seemed very different from his old self, but it was my classmate, Mikage Mamoru…….I’m not very close with Mikage, but I was a little happy to see him again after a long time.

“You were bought by Meltaria?”

“Yes, I’m a member of the Meltaria Kingdom’s SS now, but more importantly……are you by any chance the one I’m about to fight?”

“Yeah, I’m the lawyer.”

“It’s reckless, there are twelve elite members of the Kingdom SS, and with all due respect, you’re no match for them. It’s not too late for you to surrender and beg Prince Mushym’s forgiveness, and maybe he’ll spare your life, I’ll even help you with that…….”

“Sorry Mikage, I’m not going to abandon someone who’s about to be killed for a few bad words, and I’m not going to lose.”

“But your Ludia value is……”

“Mikage, what’s the point of having a low Ludia value? Why can’t I try to do the right thing? Besides, I’m stronger than you think.”

“……Okay, I won’t stop you now that you’ve said that, I’ll do my best to fight you.”

“Yeah, I won’t cut corners either, so don’t make excuses later if you lose.”

Mikage walked towards his own magicraft without looking back – the second time I’ve had to fight a classmate…….I still don’t feel very good about it…….