Chapter 39 - Seollang (1)
9 min read ·
Balam, an A-rank gladiator.
Among gladiators ranked from F to A, he stood near the top in terms of fighting strength. With no duel scheduled, he was enjoying an ordinary day, leisurely sipping a drink at his usual pub.
Until a certain noble caught his eye.
Perhaps it was his first visit to the city. The noble walked down the street without even concealing his wealthy attire, and sure enough, Adigo’s gang caught him.
Adigo was an A-rank gladiator whose grade was one level higher than Balam’s.
Up to that point, it felt like just another ordinary day. He had seen Adigo extort money and goods from merchants and nobles visiting Coloni, rather than fellow gladiators, any number of times.
“Look at those fancy clothes. He’s hit the jackpot.”
“He’ll make a tidy sum.”
The gladiators beside him made idle remarks as they watched the noble surrounded by Adigo’s gang.
Not one of the gladiators in the pub or the surrounding shops considered helping the noble. Even with another A-rank gladiator present, they merely watched Adigo extort the noble’s belongings with leisurely gazes, doing nothing.
It was only natural. They had nothing to gain by helping him in the first place. Even if the noble realized that and offered to pay them on the spot, not a single person here would step forward.
No gladiator was foolish enough to antagonize Adigo’s gang just for money—or, more precisely, to antagonize the Baba Yaga backing them.
The gladiators knew Adigo was throwing his weight around because he trusted his patron, the Baba Yaga known as the Grotesque Beast, Maliam. Not one of them intervened; they simply sipped their beer, enjoying the spectacle before them.
Then, the moment Adigo gave the noble’s head a light tap—
BOOM!
Something extraordinary happened.
“Go on. Explain.”
One of the mere four Baba Yagas currently in Coloni had suddenly appeared.
“Hey.”
Seollang, the Golden Flash.
CRACKLE!
Her signature electrical current sparked across her body.
“Which fucking bastard...?”
Despite having been smashed into a wall, Adigo was getting to his feet with plenty of fight left in him. Then he noticed Seollang’s sudden appearance and looked bewildered.
“S-Seollang?”
His mutter suggested he could not understand the situation at all, even though he clearly recognized the person before him.
But then—
“I asked what you did to my mentor.”
At those words, the confusion in Adigo’s eyes began to turn to terror.
“Gagh!?”
Seollang was beside him before anyone knew it, slamming his skull straight into the ground.
CRUNCH!
The horrifying sound rang in the gladiators’ ears.
But she was not finished. With an indifferent expression, Seollang grabbed Adigo by the leg and hurled him away.
He crashed into the pub amid the shattering of glass, hastily pushed himself up, and tried to speak.
“W-wait, I didn’t know! I didn’t—”
CRUNCH!
Seollang seized his skull and rammed it into the counter.
“I swear—!”
Again.
“Aaaaargh!”
And again.
“I-if you do this to me, the boss won’t—”
And again.
“P-please, spare—”
And again.
DRIP. DRIP.
Every gladiator fell silent, staring into the wrecked pub. Even the owner, who should have been furious at the destruction, merely trembled in terror and held his breath.
A patron still sitting where his table had been shattered remained motionless, clutching a heavy beer mug.
Then—
THUD.
Seollang released Adigo’s now blood-drenched head without the slightest interest, sending a fresh shudder through every gladiator present.
The sight of her swinging an A-rank gladiator around like a common grunt, moving too quickly for their eyes to follow, was more than enough to inspire awe.
Seollang glanced at the lackeys still standing around Alon, barely able to breathe.
BANG! CRASH!
In the span of a single blink from Alon, she sent every last member of the gang flying.
Lodged in walls and windows, they shuddered before going limp.
The gladiators shuddered once more at the Golden Flash, who had become a Baba Yaga by mercilessly crushing every opponent in the colosseum without showing any emotion.
“Mentor! You’re here!? You should’ve told me you were here!”
“...?”
Then all their thoughts abruptly stopped at the sight of Seollang hugging Alon’s arm, beaming as her golden tail swished gently.
“I heard you were coming, so I’ve been waiting for aaages! I’ve got all sorts of things ready, so let’s go!”
Oblivious to the gladiators’ stunned silence, Seollang kept smiling, her tail swaying, as she took Alon by the hand and began leading him away.
The gladiators watched the noble disappear into the distance with Seollang for a while, a single bewildering question rising in their minds.
‘Who the hell is that man...? Who could he be, for that Mad Dog to...?’
Just who was the noble Seollang called her mentor?
But Alon himself, being dragged along by Seollang’s blood-soaked hand, was thinking:
‘Isn’t he dead...?’
Though he felt grateful and strangely proud, he was every bit as bewildered as the gladiators.
####
It had already been late in the afternoon when Alon arrived in Coloni, so by the time Seollang brought him to the building, the sun was sinking toward the horizon.
“This is it!”
Following her inside as her ears perked up, Alon formed a quiet impression.
‘It’s big.’
As he stared blankly at the building, which, unlike its neighbors, rose nine stories or more, Evan’s admiring voice came from beside him.
“Wow. It’s huge.”
Of course, the building itself did not feel as sprawling as Deus’s mansion, but tall buildings were a rare sight in this city. That made the contrast all the more striking.
Still admiring it with Evan, Alon entered and began making his way to the top floor.
“Ah, welcome back, boss.”
“Boss!”
Beastfolk came into view as they climbed. Befitting their use of the title “boss,” they bowed with rigid discipline. Like Seollang, they all had golden hair.
“Welcome back, boss.”
Upon reaching the top floor, Alon saw another beastfolk bowing before the door as though waiting for her.
This one also had golden hair, with a long blade scar running down one side of the face.
“Thanks. Everything all right?”
“Yes.”
Seollang spoke with a lively smile, then opened the door and went inside. Alon and Evan followed her in.
“...?”
Alon sensed the beastfolk at the door watching him and was about to turn toward them when Evan spoke.
“She really is a little different from the rumors.”
“Rumors?”
He could only look puzzled.
Evan spoke as he watched her walking ahead of them.
“Yes. From what I understand, Seollang’s reputation isn’t particularly good.”
“In what way?”
“There are rumors that she’s incredibly cruel. They call her the Mad Dog, I think? Though apparently she’s somewhat friendlier toward her own people.”
“... Seollang?”
Alon looked at her.
“Mentor! Sit here!”
For some reason, she seemed immensely excited. Her tail swaying, she sat cross-legged on a raised wooden platform inexplicably set up in the office and enthusiastically patted the place of honor.
‘... She was a little frightening earlier.’
Alon briefly recalled what she had done. But then he looked at her radiant smile, shrugged, and took his seat.
With that, they finally settled down for a proper conversation.
####
In truth, Alon had worried about how to approach his conversation with Seollang. Things had ultimately gone well with Deus, but he had no idea how this discussion would unfold.
Yet, contrary to his concerns—
“Sure!”
“... Hmm?”
“Sure!”
—in a sense, talking to Seollang proved even easier than talking to Deus, leaving Alon bewildered.
“Er, are you sure you understood what I said?”
“I did! And you don’t need to be so formal with me, Mentor!”
Seollang answered brightly. Apparently incapable of sitting still even at the best of times, she casually planted her hands on the floor from her cross-legged position and began doing a handstand.
Watching her with a blank expression, Alon said,
“... But don’t you have various things to consider? From what you’ve said, you’re running a guild as well.”
During their brief conversation, he had learned that besides becoming a Baba Yaga in Coloni, Seollang had gathered her fellow tribespeople and founded a guild. That was why he asked.
“Hmm...”
She considered it in her peculiar handstand position, but soon replied,
“It’s fine!”
“... Is it?”
“Yep! Even if you’re not family, you’re the Gr—no, you’re my mentor!”
At her lively answer, Alon nodded somewhat awkwardly, yet felt the same deep pride he experienced when looking at Deus.
After all, he knew he had never properly kept in touch or sent her even a single letter. He had not expected her to be so eager to help him.
‘Honestly, I didn’t think she’d do this much for me.’
As the one in need of help, he certainly had no reason to object. Feeling an almost fatherly affection well up inside him, he continued chatting with her.
Most of their conversation was nothing particularly remarkable. Alon told Seollang about Deus and asked how she had been doing, while she told him about her life in Coloni.
Partway through, Seollang gave a soft exclamation and spoke as though something had just occurred to her.
“Thanks to you, Mentor, I’ve been able to gather our scattered tribespeople!”
“... Thanks to me?”
“Yep! This!”
With a radiant smile, Seollang showed him the glove on her right hand. Alon readily recognized it as the Essence of the Golden Mane Tribe.
“I see.”
‘... It said its true power would be unlocked upon encountering the Golden Mane Tribe. I suppose there really was something to it.’
Feeling as though he now understood why she was so favorably disposed toward him, Alon continued the conversation for a while.
“Come to think of it, the desert really is dangerous.”
“Huh? Why?”
Seollang tilted her head at Evan’s remark.
“We were attacked.”
“...? Attacked?”
“Yes.”
At the word “attacked,” her cheerful smile briefly froze. Alon nodded in agreement with Evan.
“The Bloodsand bandits attacked us, even though we traveled during the day, when bandits rarely roam.”
“Really? What nasty people...?”
“Honestly, they aren’t people I’d care to meet again.”
Recalling the incident, Alon shrugged and looked at Seollang. She was already smiling brightly again, as though her expression had never stiffened. They chatted a little longer before she said,
“Oh, you should rest for today! You must’ve had a hard time traveling all the way here.”
With that, she gave Alon and Evan a room each on the floor just below the top.
After showing them to their rooms, Seollang returned to the top floor and spoke with a smile.
“Ralga.”
“Yes.”
The scar-faced beastfolk appeared in an instant at her call.
“Where are the bad guys?”
“... The Bloodsand bandits are based to the northeast, but there is something else I should tell you.”
“What?”
“To my knowledge, Bloodsand has covert ties to Kalman, one of the other three Baba Yagas.”
Ralga’s words carried a note of concern.
“Really? Even so—”
But Seollang merely gave her previously still tail a gentle swish.
“—they don’t get to lay a hand on my mentor.”
Her answer made it clear that Ralga’s information would do nothing to change what she intended to do.
“If that person found out, I’d definitely be in trouble, wouldn’t I?”
She murmured so softly that even Ralga could not hear her, gazing toward the northeast.
“Anyway, wait here.”
Her face had become utterly expressionless, nothing like her earlier cheerful smiles, and her eerie golden eyes gleamed.
“I’m going to kill them all.”
She vanished from the spot, leaving a crackling flash of gold behind.