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Chapter 5: The Great Martial Arts Tournament
It was a clear autumn day, and the Zemish Great Martial Arts Tournament was about to begin. The Colosseum was bustling with excitement. It was a massive structure, larger than the domed stadiums in the world I came from. In the center was a square arena, fifty meters on each side, waiting for fights to take place on top of it. (In a certain famous Budokai of the Tenkaichi variety, this arena was called the Bubudai, but I wonder if it had an official name here?)
Up in the stands, King Gimbal of Zem stood up.
“My people, gathered here!”
Gimbal called out to the crowd using a Jewel Voice Broadcast jewel in place of a megaphone.
“You will see! The well-trained bodies of these brave warriors, and their polished technique, as they fight with well-used weapons, and rise to the highest summit! The one and only victor will have their wish granted, so long as it is possible! And, should they desire, they may even sit in the special seat, reserved for the king alone—which is behind me now! I won’t let them have it for free, of course! If it comes to that, they will have to defeat me, and take my royal title along with it!”
Gimbal raised his thick arms around as he spoke.
“This country has been protected and cultivated by the strong! Ever since I first took the throne, I have waited for the day when one stronger than I would defeat me! If you wish it, fight through this battle, and face me! In my name! Gimbal, King of Zem!”
Then he thrust his raised arms towards the ring in the center.
“I declare the finals of the Zemish Great Martial Arts Tournament have now begun!”
“““Woooooo!”””
The crowd packed into the Colosseum’s stands rose as one, and clapped in praise of Gimbal. This passion wasn’t just because they were excited for the tournament. Because this country treated the tournament winner like a hero, being a former winner himself, Gimbal received the fervent support of the people.
“...They’re pretty fired up, huh?” Naden, who was wearing a black dress, said, sounding a little weirded out by it.
We were watching the Colosseum from the stands along with the King of Zem. There were two opulent chairs in the middle of the stands, where the king and I sat side by side while there was another seat to the side of me occupied by Naden. There were actually two seats prepared for my queens, but Aisha firmly refused, wanting to focus on her role as my bodyguard, so Naden was sitting with us as the representative of all my queens. Both Aisha and Owen stood guard behind us, keeping a watchful eye on the area.
“Th-This is kind of tense. I don’t get looked at as your queen like this that often,” Naden said in a small voice as she froze stiff.
Now that she mentioned it, as a secondary queen, she wasn’t in a position that garnered much attention at ceremonies, huh? That had suited her just fine, though, because she wasn’t good at acting dignified, or formal.
“It’s just hitting me now that I’m the wife of a king.”
“Just now?”
“Hmph. It’s your fault for not being regal.” Naden looked away peevishly.
The gesture didn’t have even a hint of queenliness, but I appreciated how much of a normal girl Naden was. As her hand laid on the armrest, I put mine on top of hers. She glanced at me, seeming not at all unhappy about the situation.
Then the crowd began to rustle. I looked at the stage, wondering what it could be, and a massive cage was being carried in. Inside the cage was the earth dragon we had seen in town yesterday.
“What’s that for?” I muttered.
“It’s a sideshow before the final tournament. In order to demonstrate the martial prowess of my country’s mercenaries, six chosen warriors will fight it,” Gimbal explained, because we were clearly dumbfounded.
Come to think of it, when she was explaining the Colosseum, Mio had said, “The battles between people and animals are popular, and spectators come from across the continent to see them. The most popular is the battle between the mercenaries and the dragon that walks on land.” Was that what we were going to see now?
“Sir Souma, have you heard of Zem’s ‘riding-beast hunters’?”
Since Gimbal was asking me, I nodded. “Yes. I’ve heard Zem’s mercenaries are unrivaled at fighting cavalry.”
“Even if you were being charitable, you couldn’t say my country is prosperous. We don’t have the resources to raise and support a large number of horses or wyverns, so we trained assuming that other countries would deploy far more cavalry than we could. That meant training foot soldiers to defeat cavalry. So...” Gimbal pointed at the earth dragon. “...The cavalry they need to defeat includes wyvern cavalry.”
“I see...”
Wyvern cavalry? They intended to face the air force with foot soldiers, too?
“They can do that?”
“Naturally, there’s nothing they can do against a flying opponent. However, if they can bring them down to earth, there are things that can be done. We gathered people who can use long-range magic, or draw powerful bows, and loaded the anti-air repeating bolt throwers onto war carts, focusing on knocking the wyvern cavalry out of the sky. Even if they survive the fall, they’ll quickly find themselves surrounded by infantry.”
“Make the air force fight on land... is that it?”
“Yes. That earth dragon is a stand-in for a fallen wyvern.”
From what I could tell, the earth dragon was smaller than a red dragon like Ruby, but still much larger than a wyvern. It was vicious, too. If they could beat that thing, that meant they could win against a grounded wyvern and its rider, too, huh?
“Though, earth dragons don’t spit fire. If they could, the audience would be in danger. But the trade-off is that they’re stronger and more agile than a wyvern on land, so it works as practice.”
“Right...”
They opened the cage, letting the earth dragon loose. At the same time, six mercenaries came and surrounded it. They were all carrying pole arms. Then...
Gyaohhhhahhhh! The earth dragon let out an ear-splitting roar, and attacked the mercenaries.
The first to be targeted raised a shield, and dodged at the last minute to avoid the attack. The remaining mercenaries used that opening to strike from outside where the earth dragon was, focusing with spears and the like, dealing cutting blows to its body. Because it was so massive, the amount of damage a single blow could do was only slight.
When it turned its anger towards another mercenary, that merc took over as the decoy, and the others looked for openings to attack. Even if they were minor wounds, the more of them there were, the more blood it lost. By repeating that process, they made the earth dragon bleed out, sapping it of its stamina. I thought it was a bit like a bullfight, but it looked like something out of that famous game about hunting monsters. I mean, they were taking on a powerful earth dragon with a group of companions, after all. Though it wasn’t completely one-sided.
“Gwah!” Snap!
One mercenary was sent flying with a powerful tail slap and slammed into the wall beneath the stands. He slumped to the ground and stopped moving... Was he okay? Even that scene made the crowd go wild.
“...This is in poor taste,” Naden whispered to me. I liked how Naden didn’t go along with those around her, and could keep her normal sensibilities.
“Yeah... But it’s necessary for this country,” I responded quietly. “It’s to impress on the mercenaries and the people the fact that wyverns can be beaten. If they do that, they won’t be so intimidated when they see them on the battlefield.”
“Is that how it works?”
“That’s got to be it.”
There was more than one set of values in the world. When we think about the customs of a country, we have to look at them from a multifaceted perspective, considering their history, culture, situation, and environment before making any judgment.
“But I agree with you, it’s in poor taste. I wouldn’t want to do it in our country.”
“You’ve got that right. I’m so glad we didn’t bring Tomoe.”
Ahh, yeah, she has a point there. If you know how the earth dragon feels, this is probably pretty depressing. While we were talking about that, one of the mercenaries took advantage of an opening when the earth dragon fell over to climb up on top of it. He stood on the dragon’s shoulders and slammed his spear into its spine.
Gyaohhhhahhhh! The earth dragon let out one last dying cry, then fell to the earth with a great thud. It thrashed for a while after that, but with another thrust of the spear, it stopped moving entirely. Quest clear... I guess. The mercenary who struck the final blow received a standing ovation.
When Gimbal finished clapping, he looked at me. “What do you think? Of our mercenaries.”
“...They’re strong.”
Even as I felt there was something irreconcilable between us, I decided to leave it at that.
Once the arena was put back in order, it was finally time for the final tournament to begin. The rough-and-tumble mercenaries competed using their combat abilities. This was an elimination tournament, and each match was decided quickly. Mio was fighting now.
“Hahhh!” Swinging her two longswords down with a battle cry, she sent a burly mercenary flying.
It was the semifinals in no time. This came as no surprise, given she had been able to put up a serious fight against Aisha, but Mio had overwhelmed all her opponents up until now without ever seeming threatened.
From beside me, Gimbal spoke, “How do you feel, Sir Souma? Of my country’s warriors.”
“They all seem very strong. I can see why Zem’s mercenaries are renowned for their power.”
It was true that those who remained in the tournament all had incredible martial ability. The place was littered with guys who could take on Kuu or Halbert—assuming he wasn’t riding Ruby. Owen had said that Zem’s mercenaries were strong against cavalry but weak against infantry, but they were just bad at fighting as a group. One on one, they were in no way inferior.
Gimbal gave a satisfied nod. “I’m sure you can. How about it? Would you be willing to enter a mercenary contract with us again?”
“It would be reassuring to have you as allies, but our country is in the process of strengthening our own military. If I were to hire them, it would dampen the spirits of all my subordinates who are trying to get stronger. I’m afraid to say I can’t form a contract.”
“That is truly unfortunate.” Gimbal suddenly had a serious look on his face. “You seem to hate mercenaries, Sir Souma.”
“...Not true.”
“I can read between the lines. You’ve made a firm decision not to use mercenaries.”
Clever man. I guess I can’t dodge the issue, huh?
“It’s not so much me, but my teacher, who didn’t trust mercenaries.”
The man I regarded as my teacher, Machiavelli, the author of The Prince, felt this way. He’d had a difficult experience with them. When Pisa broke away from the Florentine Republic, which Machiavelli served, he raised an army to restore Florentine control over the city. But, because he put a mercenary commander in charge of his troops, they retreated without taking Pisa, despite having broken the walls of the city.
In The Art of War, Machiavelli said (though I’m paraphrasing here), “For as long as those who make war their business try to profit from their talents, they cannot be benevolent actors. That is because, in order to feed themselves in peacetime, they will attempt to make a considerable profit during a war, and they hope that it will not end.”
These “people who make war their business” are mercenaries. Unlike soldiers, who are attached to a state and want to defend their country and family, the people he refers to will serve any faction if the compensation is right. That is why Machiavelli argued for a militia, instead of relying on mercenaries. The reason mercenaries were so willing to engage in heinous acts of plunder was that they needed to support themselves in peacetime, and their uncertainty about their own prospects if peace came led them to wish for the war to go on. All of these factors led Machiavelli to opposing mercenaries.
“When he was discussing those who make their living off of war, my teacher used the saying, ‘War makes thieves and peace hangs them,’” I said. “Because they can only live in times of war, they try to make a profit by outrageous acts in wartime, and try to keep the conflict from ending.”
Gimbal remained pensive.
“I think of countries as if they were big people. Mercenary State Zem is one big mercenary. What do you say about that mercenary? Can she live in a less chaotic time?”
I looked Gimbal straight in the eye as I asked that. He stared right back at me, then eventually shrugged.
“...Ha ha ha, it looks like we can’t come to an understanding.” Gimbal laughed, but his eyes weren’t laughing. “If you won’t form a contract, I hope you’ll at least maintain cordial relations, so we can avoid our countries coming into conflict. I pray my elite warriors will not have cause to turn their arms on the Kingdom of Friedonia.”
“I do agree with that. If you can maintain true permanent neutrality, our nation has no intent on fighting with Zem.”
Though we both kept a calm tone, you could sum up what we said as: “Mess with my country, and you’ll pay.” and “If you start it by giving mercenaries to other countries, you’ll be the one to pay.”
Aisha, Naden, Owen, and the Zemish bodyguards were all looking pretty tense as our conversation transpired.
“In this country, strength is everything,” Gimbal said, crossing his thick arms. “Without strength, you can’t protect your people and country. With strength, you can. Because of my martial prowess, the country recognizes me as king. What do you think, my lady?” Gimbal looked at Naden.
“...Me?”
“I’ve heard the dragons of the Star Dragon Mountain Range prefer strong knights.”
It was likely out of spite asking why a dragon, who was supposed to prefer a strong partner, formed a contract with a powerless person like me, but... maybe he was just curious. Whichever the case, I was not happy about it.
Naden thought for a moment, then shook her head. “That single standard of judging a person only by their sheer power is a lot like the Star Dragon Mountain Range, and I don’t like it.”
“Oh... You have an unusual set of values for a dragon.”
“I’m not a dragon, I’m a ryuu, after all. Souma liked what made me unique.” Naden looked straight into Gimbal’s eyes as she spoke. “That’s why I wanted to be with him. The only ones who can decide my worth are me, and the people who I love.”
“Oh...” Gimbal smiled. “I can see she loves you dearly.”
“She’s too good for me,” I responded, looking at Gimbal. He was a mountain of muscle, but looking more closely at him, I could see thin scars all over his body. They reminded me of the late Georg Carmine. It was the body of a man who had fought for many long years.
“...Sir Gimbal.”
“What is it?”
“Is it really... because of your strength that the people support you?”
Gimbal furrowed his brow. If he took that as an insult, he’d misunderstood me.
“It’s true that you can’t defend them without strength. As the man carrying the country, it’s absolutely necessary. However, there are times you can’t defend with strength alone. No, there have been times I couldn’t.”
I had encountered a number of situations like that in my time as king. The food crisis, the economic downturn, the natural disaster, and diplomatic issues... There were many times that just gathering strong retainers wouldn’t have gotten me through. If I had been missing any one of the family I had around me now, or the companions and retainers I trusted, I would not be in a better world as a result. Wasn’t it the same here in Mercenary State Zem?
“That thunderous applause after your opening remarks today. I can’t imagine it was only for your strength.”
“.........”
“Assuming the winner today wants the throne, and they defeat you to become the new king, would that same passion be directed at the new king right away? Would they be happy that someone stronger appeared and ended your reign? I think... More than just your strength, the people of this country look at the burdens you’ve shouldered along the way with them.”
“If that’s the case, it would be contrary to the structure of Zem as a country...” Gimbal said that with a strained smile, then sank deep into his chair. “To be defeated by someone stronger and more reliable than me, and to entrust my burden to them—that is a time-honored tradition I’ve inherited from the past kings of Zem. If what you say is true, then my desire to live as a warrior is out of step with the wishes of the people.”
“Sir Gimbal...”
“But I’m surprisingly fond of the way this country is.”
“...I see.”
I didn’t agree, but I couldn’t bring myself to reject the view, because he’d made his peace with it.
While we were talking, the semi-finals had ended. It looked like Mio had moved on to the next round. I was focused on talking to Gimbal, and I’d barely been watching the fight, so I asked Aisha about it, “How is Mio? Can she win?”
“She’s strong. I get the impression she is especially well-suited to fighting one on one. Though she relies on strength over finesse, there is no waste in the way she moves. She must have been receiving daily instruction from a truly impressive warrior.”
“Well, her father and teacher was him, after all...”
“She’s the sort of opponent who Zemish mercenaries have trouble with, so she may be able to take the victory.”
There was a short break, and then the final match began.
“Hahhhh!”
Her two longswords captured her opponent’s halberd. When one sword cut the head off of it, the other was thrust at her opponent’s throat. With nothing but a pole left for a weapon, her opponent surrendered. Mio had won, just as Aisha anticipated. Her opponent hung their head and departed the arena, leaving only Mio on the stage.
“A remarkable victory!” Gimbal spoke from the stands. Mio laid down her sword, and knelt. Gimbal asked her the question. “The wishes of the strong are to be granted! Tell us what it is you desire!”
...It’s finally happening, huh? I braced myself.
Mio stood up, pausing for a breath before she spoke her wish.
“I want the truth! Why did my father raise his sword against the royal family? As his daughter, I want to know! In order to find out, I want the King of Zem to request the Kingdom of Friedonia reinvestigate the matter!”