Chapter 23: the Darkside of Kazimierz

I've just arrived in Kazimierz and finally managed to enter the bar where Maria, or Blemishine as her operator name, and her aunt Zofia, known as Whislash, are.

This bar is quite nice; they even serve me milk, as expected of Marcin, a former knight. Since he was kind to me, I want to help him rebuild his hand, but that can wait until after the Kazimierz Major ends. Thinking about it, I already sent Orga back.

My reasoning is that if things play out like the original storyline, Maria will be in danger later on in the co-op matches. If the worst comes to worst, I can order Orga to bring Nearl here to rescue her younger sister.

I thought the discrimination against the Infected in Kazimierz was bad just from reading the story, but seeing it firsthand is shocking. It makes me wonder if I can enter the Major solo.

"If you're thinking of entering the Major solo without any backup, I think you should give up," Marcin said.

"Well, sure, if the opponent is on Margaret Nearl's level, but as long as they aren't, I can handle it, old man."

"Hoo, Margaret? The Radiant Knight? It's been so long since I've heard that name."

"Umu, I had a practice match with her once, and we ended up in a draw. But it was just practice, so I don't know how it would go in a serious match. Besides, I want to test my swordsmanship, so I was planning to enter."

"Well, if you say so, kid, but without joining a club, you'll be at a major disadvantage."

"Umu, but I'm an all-rounder, so I'm fine with a slight disadvantage. Besides, I'm curious why the preliminaries have other activities like racing. Why is that?"

"Well, from what I remember, it's because knights need to arrive at their destinations posthaste. It was left in the Major as one of the competitive activities, but since the duels are more important, it never gets outside of the preliminaries, just like other competitive activities."

"Umu, well, I'm fine either way since I'm rather confident in my speed, and if I use my Arts, no one can catch me, umu."

"Good for you then, kid, but be careful."

After saying goodbye to old man Marcin, I head toward the Infected area to see the Pinus Sylvestris club. I kind of like their leader, Sona, or Flametail as her operator name, because of her story and her appearance; she's a Zalak, or rather, a Rodent.

Funnily enough, in her club, the only Zalak are her and Greynuty, known as Ashlock. Iwona is a Kuranta, Justyna is a Liberi, and their final member, a Raythean Exister-S1044, is a robot picked up by Iwona.

After the Major ends and they join Rhodes Island, I was planning to help them a bit with the Infected in Kazimierz. Though, that's still after the Victoria situation is under control since we need to go to Victoria afterward.

For now, I was planning to watch them from afar and help them against the Armorless Union, an assassin group under the order of K.G.C.C. As they heavily discriminate against the Infected, they are even planning to manipulate Maria. I know not everyone in that group is the same since they are not a united body, but still, the act itself already paints them in a negative light to me.

Call it biased if you want, but I don't care, since most of them are evil anyway. I was planning to leave those annoying tasks to the Doctor and Kal'tsit when they arrive, as I need to focus on the tournament. Though, after seeing how lively everyone is, I'm glad.

I then decided to find a place to hide and rest. Seriously, this place is like a slum, which I guess is normal here. I'm kind of rooting for Sona, though I wonder if she'll let me hold her tail, since I'm a tail enthusiast. That's why I let Projekt Red do whatever she wanted with my tail when I was in my Vulpo form.

Still, as I was about to rest, some random knight decided to harass an Infected. Annoyed, I sniped him with a fake bullet, but it still packed a punch. I saw him thrown back so hard that he broke a nearby wall.

Well, at least that problem's fixed.

I had been facing opponents without the knight class for a while, and since I decided to role-play as Nero, I chose to dance while fighting, using rose petals for added effect. I won rather easily, but many knights were joining this mayoral race. This wasn't surprising, considering the 24th mayor had allowed infected individuals to participate, meaning previous knights who couldn't join due to infection were now entering the battle.

Though most of them were easy to defeat, I still enjoyed the fights. Their desperation somehow fueled my desire to win this mayoral race for real.

Then, my next match was against a known figure, Szewczyk, widely known as the "plastic knight." I was surprised to see him, but this was just the preliminaries, where you could still fight even if you lost, though it meant losing points towards entering the main tournament.

Still, it was a surprise. Honestly, fighting against crossbows wasn't as difficult for me as fighting a Sankta wielding a gun. I even managed to make a spectacle of it, using Nero's favorite finishing move, Laus St. Claudius. Thankfully, I held back, since the preliminaries stage was rather small; if I hadn't, the audience might have been hit, which would have disqualified me from the tournament.

Now that I noticed, I had started to attract attention. While much of it was positive, I also saw some negative gazes, so I figured it was only a matter of time before I was attacked.

Later, I was in a bar, and surprisingly, Maria and Zofia were there as well, staring at me. Now that I think about it, I haven't dueled with Maria and the Pinus group yet, but I think it's only a matter of time.

"Good match out there, Nero," Marcin said.

"Umu, it was enjoyable, though most of the matches didn't really spark joy. But I could feel how desperate they were, now that the infected can join."

"Now that I think about it, you're infected as well, Nero, so you should be careful."

"Umu, you're kind as usual, old man, but no need to worry. I'm already used to this kind of thing, and besides, my immunity to poison is strong, so normal underhanded tactics aren't really useful against me."

"Is it because of your art?"

"Umu, while my art does have an effect, it's mostly just my body's constitution."

"Hey, Marcin, who is this young woman?"

"Oh, Zofia, you should get to know her, since her next match is against Maria."

"Yeah, I know, which is why I was curious about a knight I've never seen before. If I recall, people call her the Rose Knight, right?"

"Umu, while I was planning to make that my title... umu, I'm glad people appreciate my art."

"Art?"

"Umu, there is no more beautiful thing than people fighting at their best."

"I see?"

"Ah, you can ignore her, Zofia. When you mention art or beauty in front of Nero, she starts to monologue on her own."

"Interesting."

"Indeed, but her strength is real, since she hasn't lost any of her matches."

"Well, it's still the preliminaries, but I see... looks like Maria still needs more training."

"Umu, Maria is indeed a good knight. While it's fine to look up to someone with admiration, copying everything they do is useless."

"So, you understood her as well."

"Umu, since I was fighting her older sister, after all. Now that I think about it, here's some mail from her older sister to her dear little sister."

I slowly handed an envelope to Zofia, which was given to me by Nearl, or Margaret, for her little sister. I almost forgot about it, but Zofia had a surprised reaction as she grabbed the envelope.

"You know that idiot?"

"Umu. That was rather harsh on your niece, wasn't it? Zofia, the Whislash Knight, besides Margaret, was planning to come here to deal with her leftover matter, though she didn't say more than that."

"So you know me as well."

"Not really, besides the rumors I heard here and there. Though I think you should go back, since that girl over there is already curious enough."

I slowly pointed at Maria, who was making such a curious face that if she didn't do anything soon enough, she would come here instead. Zofia let out a sigh as she walked back, while I slowly grinned at the scene they made. I slowly drank my milk and noticed there was something mixed in it, since the taste had changed.

"Umu, old man, then I will take my leave."

"Take care, girl. Don't forget to be careful."

Well, the enemies should be at least good at it, since old man Marcin didn't notice at all. I slowly headed to an empty alley, and just like I thought, the Armorless Union was in front and back of me, though they think I was poisoned, but I am fine. Though I kinda broke my rule a bit, since I used my art to cure the poison.

"Well, let's see how good the Armorless Union is."

I was serious enough that I even spawned the golden shield Nero used, but it was a bit too much, as I overestimated them, because they are weak. Though maybe because I remember there is Centaurea, who is later joining Rhodes Island as Platinum, and the other two, which is Roy and Monique.

Well, the three of them aren't here, so it was normal that they can't offer that much resistance against me. Though, funnily enough, Platinum in the story was powerful, but in-game she is one of the weaker ones, but the game power scale sometimes doesn't make sense after all.

Though enough of that, now I need to prepare for the next match, since the next one is against Maria, after all. Though, since she is winning, I can see that she will continue her match. Though, surprisingly, since Szewczyk already lost to me and Maria, there is a chance he will be assassinated. Though Justyna and Sona will prevent that, so it is fine, I guess.

But still, this Armorless Union is relentless, as they keep coming even though they are really weak. I wonder if they aim to exhaust me or make me not participate in a match. Well, in the end, I decided to use my hiding technique till the limit of the time, as they start to get annoying.

Maybe I should go help Sona when she plans to attack the Armorless Union. Still, to think the political side of Kazimierz starts to bleed into the mayor just shows that the group doesn't really care about being a 'Knight' besides giving some sponsor to promote their product.

I glanced at the newspaper, my eyes lingering on the announcement of my upcoming match against Maria. They were really trying to hype it up: "Maria Nearl: Will she prevail against Nero, the Rose Knight?"

While I had worked hard to earn that title, seeing it splashed across the newspaper like this was starting to feel embarrassing. I need to be more careful now; the three major groups will undoubtedly have their eyes on me.

First, there's the Kazimierz General Chamber of Commerce, or KGCC, which I despise because they're the ones behind the Armorless Union. They've been focused on expanding their control over the government, which is why they managed to control the Armorless Union in the first place.

Then, there's the Adeptus Sprawiedliwi Kazimierz, representing the old guard knight-nobles who cling to their past glory and ideals of chivalry, seeking to restore things to how they "should be."

And lastly, the Knight Association, which takes a neutral stance, primarily managing the competition and the knights participating in it. I've forgotten the details of their operations, as the event within the game ended long ago.

While I know the KGCC is already aware of me, the question is when they'll deploy the Armorless Union leaders against me, and what rank of leader they'll send. I've forgotten who's at the top.

Well, at least for now, I don't need to worry too much. I believe only the leaders can find me at this point.