The elf standing before me was slightly taller than me and much more muscular. He had short, neatly combed blond hair, and his orange eyes radiated arrogance, seriousness, and, above all, defiance.
"What a disgrace. Neither Nisba's students nor the other students from my own dojo were able to stop the advance of a filthy country rat who can only attack after being attacked…" he said, glaring at everyone in the dojo except Nisba, Casr, and Samufa.
Then he turned his gaze toward me.
"But I have to admit, you possess talent, little girl. That's precisely why I have no intention of underestimating you," the elf continued.
At that moment, his arrogance vanished, leaving only pure concentration.
I didn't know what to say to him; I couldn't bring myself to say anything. The weight I'd been carrying around felt as if the entire dojo—with my family and all the students we'd ever had inside it—were resting on my shoulders. It kept me from uttering even a single word.
Deep down, I felt almost everything that defined me at that point depended on whether I won this match.
My brother's life.
My father's dojo.
My father's love.
My pride as his daughter…
It was practically a miracle that I could still move, let alone remain standing without fainting from the pressure.
"Are you ready?" Samufa asked.
He was also serving as the tournament referee.
"Of course, Master Samufa," the elf replied immediately.
I, on the other hand, could only nod.
Even that felt difficult in that moment.
Samufa raised one arm.
"Very well, then. Let the final match of this tournament begin!"
Then he quickly lowered it. And with that single gesture, the match began.
It lasted little more than a moment.
A thunderous roar exploded through the dojo.
"Lion's Roar!!" the elf shouted.
An unbelievably fast and powerful punch shot from his fist.
Far too fast.
The Lion's Roar was a famous technique of the Lion's Fangs style. It consisted of a punch delivered with a precise rotational movement through the air. If it struck properly, it could inflict tremendous external and internal damage.
The technique was called the Lion's Roar because the sound produced by that unique rotation, as the fist tore through the air, closely resembled the roar of an actual lion.
I saw the punch.
I saw it clearly.
I saw that fist flying directly toward me.
And my eyes filled with despair.
Precisely because I could see it clearly, I knew I couldn't counter it using the Falling Leaf. My arms simply weren't fast enough to intercept it.
Before the punch even reached me, I realized I had failed.
'If I'd listened to Father and trained more often like everyone else, I definitely would've been able to use the Falling Leaf…!'
That was the only thought in my mind before the strike that would defeat me connected.
And at the same time, I realized what I believed myself to be. Nothing more than a worthless, lazy little girl.
Blood burst from my mouth.
The punch struck me squarely in the chest with tremendous force, breaking practically every rib in my ribcage and causing me to lose consciousness almost immediately.
But during that tiny fraction of a second before darkness took me, while my body was falling toward the floor of the dojo, I saw my father's face.
That expression is something I will never forget.
His face was filled with despair. But above all else, I saw something that seemed painfully obvious to me at the time.
Disappointment.
Undeniable disappointment in me.
Then, the instant my body struck the floor, that enormous invisible weight finally crushed me completely. Tears streamed from my eyes. And the world went black.
The next time I opened my eyes was two days later.
I was lying in my own bed.
The first thing I noticed was Mario sitting beside me, asleep at that exact moment. I only learned afterward that, during those two days, he had been practically the only person constantly taking care of me.
I slowly looked around the room. Then I immediately noticed that something was missing. My brother was no longer lying in his bed.
The moment I realized that, everything that had happened two days earlier came flooding back into my mind. Tears immediately began streaming down my cheeks, and all the fear and despair I had felt just before losing consciousness returned with even greater force.
"I failed! It's my fault my brother…"
Those were the first words that escaped my mouth.
At first, they were all I could think.
Apparently, the noise I was making was enough to wake Mario.
He stared at me for several seconds with his eyes wide open. Then, without warning, he threw his arms around me in a tight, affectionate embrace.
"Aurola! Thanks to Elfidora, you finally woke up! If you hadn't woken up either, I wouldn't have known what to do!" he shouted as tears poured down his face like waterfalls.
Unfortunately, most of the fractures in my chest still hadn't healed. The moment he squeezed me, a sharp burst of pain shot through my entire torso.
"Mario… you're hurting me…" I managed to say to the Beastkin.
Hearing that, Mario immediately pulled away.
He looked embarrassed, though tears still streamed down his cheeks. He awkwardly placed one hand behind his neck.
"I'm sorry, Aurola. You were unconscious for two whole days, so I was really worried."
I took a slow breath.
"Don't worry, Mario. Your reaction actually helped me calm down," I told him, forcing myself to smile as best I could.
Because Mario's reaction had really helped settle my thoughts, I focused on the first question I needed answered.
"Where's my brother?" I asked.
Mario's expression immediately darkened.
"Smoke started coming out of his mouth, so we couldn't leave him in the same room as you anymore. My mother had a spare room, so she offered to keep him there."
"I have to go see him!" I said, immediately trying to sit up.
But before I could get any farther, Mario grabbed the blanket I had been using and pulled it over me completely.
"I understand how you feel, Aurola, but you're still far from healed, so you need to stay here for now. I'll go call Dr. Franco and tell the others that you've finally woken up," Mario said firmly.
I couldn't argue with him. Simply trying to sit up had already sent intense pain through my chest. And above all, something else Mario had said frightened me almost as much as my brother's worsening condition.
"Is my father among 'the others'?" I asked, my voice trembling.
Mario's face darkened again.
"Of course I'll tell him too… but I don't know whether he'll come to see you. He doesn't want to leave your brother's side."
Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn't ready to face my father yet.
"I understand. Go ahead, Mario. I promise I won't move from this bed," I said before slowly lying back down.
Mario nodded and left the room.
About ten minutes later, he returned with Dr. Franco.
After examining me, Franco explained that the elf's punch had broken twelve of my ribs. Fortunately, none of the broken bones had punctured either of my lungs. But even with his healing magic, I would need at least a week before walking safely and roughly two weeks to heal completely. So I had to accept that I wouldn't see my brother for at least another week.
After Franco left, all the other remaining students came to visit me. Every one of them was kind enough not to mention the tournament.
And so a week passed. I remained unable to leave my bed, Mario continued taking care of me, and the others frequently stopped by to check on me and keep me company.
But during those seven days, I didn't see or hear from my father even once. At first, that was exactly what I wanted. I felt as though I needed time before I could face the father I had undoubtedly disappointed.
But after an entire week passed without him visiting me even once—not even after I had spent two full days unconscious—I admit that it hurt. Even though, for the most part, I believed then, and a part of me still believes now, that I deserved it.
On the other hand, whenever Dr. Franco asked whether my father had visited me yet and I told him no, I could see more anger and sadness appearing in his eyes each time.
Eventually, a full week had passed, and I was finally able to move around again as long as I remained extremely careful. So I decided it was time to see my brother.
With Mario accompanying me, I went to his house.
Before entering the room, I could feel my heart trembling. It had been a full week since I had last seen my father. More importantly, it was the first time I would face him since losing the tournament.
Mario was the one who opened the door.
"Master Kano, we're coming in," he announced.
The instant the door opened, a thick cloud of smoke poured out of the room, engulfing me and blinding me for several seconds.
The first thing I saw when my vision cleared was my brother lying on the bed.
His face still carried the same pained expression I had seen a week earlier, but now, with every breath he took, a small and eerie wisp of smoke escaped from his mouth.
Then my gaze shifted toward my father.
At first, I could see only his back because he was turned toward Boreo.
The instant I saw him, my heart began pounding violently with fear.
My father slowly turned his head toward us. His gaze first landed on Mario.
The moment I saw his face properly, I realized he hadn't slept for several days and had barely eaten. He looked extremely gaunt and pale, with deep, dark circles beneath his eyes.
"Ah. Hi, Mario… Welcome back," my father said.
His voice showed absolutely no interest, even though he was speaking to his most loyal student.
"Thank you, Master Kano. And look who's finally able to move around on her own," Mario replied with a smile, gently nudging me a little farther into the room.
I swallowed.
"Hi, father… I'm really, really sorry that I lost the tournament…" I said in a pained voice.
At those words, my father's eyes—which until then had remained fixed entirely on Mario—slowly began moving toward me.
And the moment our eyes met…
The young version of myself who had existed until that exact moment died.
When my father looked at me for the first time in a week, I believed I saw only pure, unfiltered disappointment. There wasn't even the slightest trace of anger. Only disappointment toward the daughter who, in my mind, would soon be blamed for allowing her brother to die simply because she hadn't trained enough.
That gaze pierced through my corpse for several endless seconds.
Then my father forced the most unnatural smile I had ever seen onto his face.
"Ah… Aurola. I'm happy… to see that you're okay."
But even though he tried to hide it, the disappointment I saw didn't disappear.
Perhaps because my injuries had not fully healed—or because my mind couldn't endure more—I lost consciousness again.
I didn't learn until later that, after I fainted, Mario ended up getting into a fight with my father and Dr. Franco decided to help Mario when he arrived to make his check-up on Boreo.
The days passed, and eventually my physical wounds completely healed. My mind, however, remained shattered. For several more days, even after I could return to normal life, I stayed locked inside my room.
Then came the day I learned what my father and Dr. Franco had decided.
Since my brother had only a few days left to live, and since the inside of his body would soon catch fire—causing him to die an extremely painful death—they would give him a painless death using a medicine prepared by Franco.