Chapter 328

Lakia?

Upon seeing her face, I immediately shouted in surprise.

“Lakia! Turn back! You’re no match for that guy!”

“It’s okay. Now is the moment of prognostication.”

“…Moment of prognostication?”

Come to think of it, the reason Lakia came to Astram in the first place.

She clearly said it was because she had seen some kind of prognostication.

“Is that moment now?”

“Yes. To be precise, this situation is just a part of that prognostication.”

“Pink Lizardman…? Who are you?”

“Who I am doesn’t matter. What matters is the proposal I have to make.”

“Why should I listen to your proposal? You can’t even introduce yourself……”

Lakia, standing confidently in front of Shail, opened her mouth to make a proposal without fear. Naturally, Shail scoffed at her attitude and tried to ignore her.

“Someone is trying to open the sky.”

“…!”

“Right?”

But.

The moment those words left Lakia’s mouth.

“How do you know that……”

Shail immediately changed his attitude and glared at her.

It was such an intense aura that even I, who wasn’t directly facing it, felt my pupils might split vertically.

But she faced that aura head-on and continued speaking.

“It’s okay. If you listen to my proposal, you can also get what you want.”

“….”

After staring at Lakia for a while, Shail finally withdrew his aura and spoke in a calmer voice.

“…Alright. Let’s hear it. This proposal of yours.”

“Good. The point is, we don’t want to hand over the necklace, and you want to take it. Then the solution is simple.”

“Oh? You have a way to resolve this issue simply? That’s quite interesting.”

Lakia continued as if it were an obvious answer, and Shail, who had been making a serious expression, gradually began to look interested.

“Yes. If neither side can compromise, we can settle it with a duel.”

“….”

“….”

And naturally, everyone fell silent at her conclusion.

Ah.

Why are there only women like this around me?

Even Shail couldn’t hide his bewilderment at such an absurd conclusion and asked Lakia.

“…That conclusion doesn’t seem any different from before, does it?”

“No. It’s different. We can have a duel where no one gets hurt.”

“Are you suggesting a sparring match?”

“The method doesn’t matter. What’s important is that no one gets hurt.”

“…I see. You want to resolve this as peacefully as possible. You don’t want to give up the artifact, but you also don’t want to shed blood.”

“Then do you agree?”

“But. There are two problems before that.”

“Two problems…?”

“First, if we settle it peacefully and one side doesn’t accept the outcome, what then? If someone loses and then starts making excuses, it’s no different from using force from the start.”

How can we trust your proposal?

Shail looked at us with cold eyes.

In the end, resolving this peacefully was impossible from the start.

Thinking that, I was about to prepare for combat when Arisa, who had been listening to Lakia and Shail’s conversation, stepped forward.

“I’ll… be the hostage!”

“You’re saying that?”

“Yes. If we lose and don’t accept the outcome, you can kill me right away.”

Arisa, usually trembling, now spoke confidently, meeting Shail’s gaze.

“Arisa!”

“I-I’m fine. I’d rather be a hostage than see someone get hurt.”

“B-But……”

“A hostage… Indeed, having a hostage would make it less likely for the losing side to go back on their word. Especially since you all were fighting to protect your companions in the first place… Alright.”

“No. We can’t accept that. We stepped forward to protect Arisa, and if that ends up putting her in danger, it’s just counterproductive.”

“Kurt. I’m fine.”

“No, even so, if only Arisa is sent as a hostage, there’s no guarantee that the other side will keep their promise if they lose.”

“I’ll be the hostage.”

“Albert?”

At my words, Albert stepped forward to refute.

He had been avoiding our gaze with a stern expression since we first entered the Adventurer Guild, but now he spoke up for the first time.

“I may not be as high-ranking as Marquis Shail, but I am also one of the Empire’s knight captains. I have enough value as a hostage. If Marquis Shail doesn’t accept the outcome, you can take my life.”

“Hmm. That’s quite a disappointing thing to say. Do you think I won’t accept the outcome?”

“…No. I don’t think so, but I just want to make the negotiation fair.”

Though he said that, Shail’s eyes gleamed with interest as he looked at Albert.

In the end, we agreed to exchange Arisa and Albert as hostages, and Albert became our hostage.

“…And I apologize for this situation. If Marquis Shail harbors any ill intentions during the match, you may kill me.”

Albert whispered softly as he joined our side.

He must have volunteered as a hostage out of guilt for sending Shail from the Empire.

“The first problem is resolved… Then there’s the second problem.”

“What’s the second problem?”

At my words, Shail smiled slyly and spoke.

“To put it bluntly, what do I gain from accepting this match? You all can guarantee your safety regardless of the outcome. If you win, you keep the artifact without any harm, and even if you lose, you only lose the artifact without getting hurt. But what’s in it for me?”

His tone was confident, as if he believed he could defeat us all without much damage.

At that moment, Lakia stepped forward and countered Shail’s words.

“There is a merit.”

“Interesting. What merit is there for me?”

“If a fight breaks out, I might get seriously hurt or die.”

“…And?”

“That’s all.”

“….”

Ah.

Once again, Lakia’s words broke the tension.

At her words, I felt a headache coming on even before the fight started, but surprisingly, Shail seemed to accept Lakia’s words.

“I see. That’s certainly not good for me either.”

“Right.”

Huh? That worked?

Why…?

As I pondered this unexpected situation, I soon realized why Shail accepted Lakia’s words.

Lakia had caught Shail’s attention with just one sentence earlier.

Though I didn’t know exactly what it meant, it was clearly something that Shail was very concerned about.

At least enough to step back from the brink of combat and listen to Lakia.

It meant that, at least in Shail’s mind, Lakia had gone from being someone who could die without a second thought to someone he was very concerned about.

At least until he found out what Lakia’s prognostication was about.

In that situation, Lakia dying pointlessly would be something he’d be very concerned about.

Thus, Lakia’s life was the only thing that could be part of Shail’s bargaining terms.

Realizing this, I looked at Lakia with new eyes.

I thought she had no plan at all.

Lakia. You had it all planned out.

Having almost convinced Shail, Lakia added one last thing, holding up a finger.

“And one more thing.”

“Is there another benefit for me?”

“You’re a pacifist, aren’t you?”

“Me…? Ahahaha!”

At that, Shail laughed out loud for the first time, as if caught off guard.

“Alright. I like you. I’ll accept your proposal. But on one condition. If I win, you must explain this prognostication of yours to me.”

“Fine.”

With that, Shail accepted our proposal, and we could finally lower our tension a notch.

At least there won’t be any bloodshed for now.

“Alright. Then how shall we decide the match? Shall we spar?”

“That’s fine. You can decide the method. But if it’s a knowledge-based contest, it might be biased towards one side, so a physical contest would be better. Of course, a non-violent one.”

“Hmm. So any physical contest is fine?”

With the decision to settle it in a non-violent manner, the next thing to decide was what kind of contest it would be.

I thought he’d suggest a sparring match, but Shail seemed to have other ideas after talking to Lakia.

After pondering Lakia’s words for a while, Shail smiled slyly, as if he had a good idea.

“By the way, if we do compete, who will participate? Surely you don’t expect me to face all of you alone?”

“No need to worry about that. I’ll be the only one facing you.”

At my words, I stepped forward to reassure Shail, and he smiled like a Basilisk spotting its prey’s weakness.

“Alright. I’ve decided. The contest will be… cooking. A very fair contest where both sides use their bodies.”

With that, Shail smiled like a snake.