26: reunion with the monkey princess

「Who!? Who suddenly said something stupid!?」

I look around, searching for the owner of that remark

I've found it....

「Who?」

It's indeed a person I don't know

The first impression is that she is a young woman

Her clothes swell up exactly at the place it should swell. A glamorous body that  is not inferior to Forte's

And yet, overall her attire is unfashionable,  it gives off a feeling like "Is she not aware that her clothes sometimes would reveal Solar Plexus and armpits?"

「Jira, right? We have finally met again」

「Heh?」

The girl with a somewhat wild outfit talked to me

I am bewildered

I don't know who she is

A while ago I just acknowledged she's someone I don't know

「Throughout this 5 years, there was no day I didn't think about you. I wanted to have my revenge as soon as possible but you had left for a training trip or something. Therefore I still cannot redeem myself yet」

「Eeh..., ano...?」

「But thanks to that, there is no better stage than this. There is no other worthy place to defeat you than under the presence of his highness the Emperor. I will surely clear away the humiliation from 5 years ago」

「5 years ago!?」

Speaking of 5 years ago, that was exactly when I left for my training trip, so I can understand, but....

I completely don't remember doing something to this beautiful onee-san

What is she talking about!?

If I say 『I don't know who you are』 then it will be extremely rude....

However, there is another person who recognize this wild onee-san

「Isn't that Saraka? You are here too?」

Forte said

「Hah? It's already decided, right? It's the selection meeting to decide the strongest of the empire, so it would be meaningless if I wasn't here. Also, all members of the monarch's guard are qualified in the first place, so if you are here then there is no way I won't, right!?」

「That was impolite of me. However, have you thought of leaving before being ashamed? If you fight me then you can't avoid being ashamed, you know?」

「It's the opposite! This time I will defeat you and Jira and let people know Hanuma tribe is the strongest! My five-year wish would finally come true today!」

At that moment, I suddenly have a deja-vu

I remember the aura of the wild girl who competes with Forte

But it was smaller when I met it before

And the decisive factor is the name 『Saraka』 Forte said previously

That name is…

「Don't tell me, you are...!?」

I point at the girl with trembling hand

「The shitty brat who harassed Forte!?」

「Who is a shitty brat!?」

It was 5 years ago

There were 2 children quarreling at the main street of the imperial capital

It was not a big thing, but because one of the child was accompanied with several adults and the other girl was alone and was surrounded so I helped her

Thinking back, it was the incident that caused me to meet Forte and made me start a trip to acquire more power

At that time, the short brat who intimidated Forte called itself "Saraka"...!?

「You are Saraka?」

「That's right! It has been 5 years! Have you remembered me!?」

「Un, I have remembered, but...!?」

I couldn't say I remembered just now, so....

「Well, I couldn't remember you at first! You are completely different from your old self!」

「I see...I see!」

「Well, unexpectedly, you are a girl. In the past, you was short so I thought you was a boy! That's why at first, I couldn't...!」

「Eh?」

When I tried to nicely gloss over it, Sakara's expression froze

Did I do something wrong!?

「Jira thought I was a boy? Even until today...!?」

「Yes...?」

「That...! I always thought about you without missing a single day, and yet you thought I was a boy? In other words, you thought nothing of me?」

Why are her eyes become teary?

「Remember! In today's selection meeting, I will make you recognize me! I will never let you forget again! Remember thattttttttt!!」

Saying so, she ran away

Leaving an awkward silence behind

「...Saraka is the daughter of the chief of Hanuma tribe. Her family was under the empire's control and she was sent as the hostage just like me」

By the way, Forte's Lobos tribe and Saraka's Hanuma tribe live in the areas near each other, so they seem to be on bad terms

They have been fighting for hundreds of years, but in the end, both were swallowed by the empire which came from the outside

「Perhaps it was fate, but even in the same situation of being hostages, I and that girl competed with each other many times. 5 years ago, when Jira left for the trip, I was able to join the guard corp of the emperor, but that girl was the same. With the honor of the Lobos tribe, I cannot lose to the Hanuma tribe in the race to become successful in the empire」

And today, the selection for the Twelve Apostles, which is above the guard corp, begins

「I'm sure that that girl also aims to enter the Twelve Apostles. I will compete against that girl in this selection meeting and will get a higher rank than her...Jira」

「Yes?」

「Let's do our best together」

Forte offers her hand, so I grasp it

A handshake with your enemy before the battle

That shows she has the magnanimity to pay respect to her opponent

And when I was about to wrap up everything nicely…

「Uoryaaaaa...ッ!!」

Saraka who should have ran away returned

For what?

「There is something I forgot to say! Oi Jira! In today's selection meeting, I will surely clear away the humiliation I received from you!」

No, you already said that before

「Therefore, if I win against you in today's selection meeting!...become mine!」

「Hah?」

What did she say?

「Be my subordinate and spend your whole life working for me! Become a member of the Hanuma tribe under me! Do you understand!」

「Hah? What are you talking about?」

For some reason, Forte reacted to those words

「Why should Jira become subordinate of someone like you? Remember this. Jira will reign with me as the strongest man and woman in the empire. There is no gap for you to take advantage of!」

「Don't get carried away, you dog tribe! Jira's power will shine under me and the Hanuma tribe! Do you even know how long I have been looking forward to seeing him again in the last five years!」

「It was the same for me!!」

Oi oi, so hostile

As expected of the princesses of the opposing tribes, they started quarrelling just as they met each other

When I look at the troublesome pair, Gashi, Seki and Rei approach from behind

「Oh, what's wrong, you three?...Uwaa? Why are you trying to step on my foot? Moreover, three of you at the same time? Uwaa, stop, please stop, don't try to step on my foot! This looks like I'm doing a weird dance by dodging!? Even Selen is in, stop! Aren't you enjoying yourselves!?」

For some reason, everyone tried to step on my foot

I did my best to dodge everything

With that, time passed faster than I thought, and then suddenly the surrounding atmosphere changed completely

There is a terrace far above the plaza, and 3 men appeared from there

The person at the left side is Wartaiga who I met recently

A veteran who already hold the second place of the Twelve Apostle

And, I also know the other two

They match with the image in my memory, which contains the knowledge from the game in my previous life

The young man on the right side is the first rank of the Twelve Apostles, Grey Ryuuga

Standing between them is an old man

Despite being so old as if he's decaying with time, his dignity and aspiration is overflowing, everyone could only start prostrating in silence

One by one, all the warriors gathering in the plaza began to prostrate toward that old man

「Jira! What are you doing, kneel too!」

Rei, who already yielded, talked as if  reproaching me

「You understand too, right? That is our Emperor! The governor of Behemoth Empire! Why did he revealing himself before the selection meeting...!?」

Right, that old man is the emperor of Behemoth Empire

Beast demon emperor Harod

Having contracted with the Beast god Beast, the evil emperor who raised the empire into the strongest invader

The last boss of 『Beast Fantasy 4』

TN: Saraka use "ore" and usually end the sentence with "daze", which is normally used by men

I tried to not use any "he/she" to talk about Sakara (and about the apostles in chapter 4) for this reason

Also, Forte refer to Saraka as ヤツ – that guy/fellow, but I used "that girl" because the other 2 sound as if she's a man