Volume 5, Chapter 2 – The Tournament. The Bottom
I trained all night. People walked by, stared at me, then ran off to place bets against me — and some just for fun, on me.
I trained with an ordinary rapier — lunges, rolls, trying to imagine Pex attacking me like before. I worked my whole body, spinning kicks with my legs like Lelik does, trying to figure out how to beat the Officers and the Yellows if they're all equipped with rapiers that cut through absolutely everything. My weapon against them is a matchstick, and plain fencing won't help. I need to outplay what I know about the Democracy of Silence — everything — and what I know about what they command.
But the problem might come from CUB. They can tailor each fighter to my style — and even if some insider info of mine could affect them, CUB would just issue a new tactic and that's it. It could also backfire badly — because it's one thing to share secret information as the Commander, but revealing the location of C-1-FF as some nobody — that already smells like theft and a one-way trip out to sea on a destroyer.
(What do I do...)
I dropped to my knees, completely exhausted in the middle of the night. Two moons lit me and the tents, where campfires burned everywhere and participants slowly settled in to sleep. And I have nowhere to sleep and I'm hungry. How far I've fallen...
I stared at the cold stone under my feet, out of breath.
(I'll manage. I came — I saw — I'll conquer. I went on operations in the front ranks — and now, as I wanted, as I asked the Officers, I'm carrying out this operation myself. No one will protect me — only me.)
(And why isn't Asa here? Though... She probably attacked this Lady. And if everyone's alive, then she handled it. I didn't — I failed the family.)
"Not the time to dig myself a grave!" I started pulling myself together.
(Alright... I need to sleep. I'm still far from the Officers — I need to get through B and A to reach at least the first S.)
I lay down on the green blocks of the pyramid, hiding the rapier first — I don't want to get robbed before my fights.
"Still warm..." I smiled, trying to get comfortable on the hard block.
(I'll manage... I have to. I'll look at everyone at the tournament one last time and just leave to live in Rekhilon — it's nice there, and the Monarch is kind. We'll see each other, talk, and part ways — me with the memory of everything, them with the memory of fighting a strange oddball. Heh... Lelik.)
—
—
Sleep was impossible. The blocks had cooled and burned my body with cold, and my sides ached with pain, not even trying to recover. And my stomach roared so loudly it felt like a dragon with an Abrams engine had flown in.
I got up, staggering, and walked between the tents, trying to gather at least a little warmth from the campfires — until participants started paying attention to me.
"Hey, since when do homeless people compete in tournaments?" a guy snickered, nudging his friend and pointing at me.
"I..." — I turned away, walking off. — "(Under my breath) Not homeless..."
(Not homeless... Even if it looks that way, the main thing is — I'm alive, and the officers are alive. And how I live right now doesn't matter. Even if I spend time at the bottom — everyone will be alive. And I got another chance at life from God, who became my Guardian Angel. He revived me so many times and saved the officers — He's the real God.)
"Thank you, God..." I whispered into the sky. "You're good..."
"[I] Whoa... You talk to the sky? What does 'God' mean?" Guya ran up thoughtfully.
(Her again?..)
I looked at the sky. (Maybe it means something?)
"[I] I-I-I no know Empire," I said clumsily, my stomach interrupting me.
Guya poked my side with her finger and smiled.
"[I] Yeah, I see, I see. I'm clever enough!" — she poked her forehead with her finger.
(Why is she talking to me? Does IBR-A need that? She already checked me and probably knows everything...)
(I'm glad to see her — but I really want to eat and sleep...)
"Thank you. I have to go," I smiled and wandered between the tents, gathering warmth from the fires and displeased looks from the participants.
Guya watched me go in surprise — and a moment later, deftly pulled dinner, a cup, and a spoon from her voluminous skirt.
"Hey kid!" she caught up to me.
"Huh?" I stopped in surprise.
"Want to eat?" she made a childish "airplane spoon" gesture.
I looked at her with sadness — how she poked the spoon into my face, leaving bits of food on my cheeks, waiting for me to finally open my mouth. (Why is she doing this?)
"Why..." I started to say — and the spoon flew into my mouth, almost to the back of my throat. "— Cough Ugh!.. Why are you doing this?"
Guya was already scooping another spoonful, giggling, her fringe shining in the moonlight.
"What's wrong with me? I'm a twenty-year-old girl and I want to help a guy with obvious problems!" she answered playfully, tapping the spoon against my teeth. "The airplane is waiting for the doors to open. Prepare your keys, boy!"
(Yeah... A twenty-year-old girl. A fifty-three-year-old IBR-A agent, thirty-three of those years in the special services. A "simple" girl who sinks syndicate ships and personally takes down contraband headquarters. And just a girl who carries a three-hundred-kilogram hammer.)
"Well? Can't I help? Or do you think Imperial people are bad?" she looked displeased, resting her head on her shoulder — and her fringe finally revealed fully her big, pulsing eyes, filled with blood.
(And why are these very eyes helping me right now? But I don't need help. I chose this life myself. I could've become stronger and not let the Officers die, and could've defended myself from Asa — but it turned out how it turned out. And my choice is — not to become dependent on a new person, but to become someone who can live independently, depend on no one, and fail no one. Not make them jump under bullets and weave intrigues.)
"You can... cough... I'm grateful to you for this, honestly. But I don't need help — I hit the bottom myself..." — I pushed her spoon away. "— And I'll climb out myself..."
Guya stepped back, doing a curtsy, her eyes hidden under her fringe, leaving only a one-sided smile.
"Good luck then, wolf. I'll bet on you. Hey kid! What's your name, by the way?" she decided to play the girl.
(But you know everything about me perfectly well...)
"Seraphim..." I decided to play along, with heaviness in my legs and goosebumps from the cold all over my body.
"I'm Guya!" she introduced herself, extending her hand.
"Yeah... Thank you again. Guya," I smiled through force and shook her hand, heading on — trying to warm up and find a spot where I could sleep.
(I'm grateful to her — she stuffed at least a little food into me, and I can make it to tomorrow morning somehow.)