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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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Protagonist.
Adrian quietly opened his mouth towards Charlotte, who was silently muttering those three words.
“You’ve studied hard.”
A nonchalant voice.
There was no hint of resentment towards the incompetent Charlotte in that voice.
Rather, it only contained a warmth that she hadn’t felt before.
“I could easily tell by the way you were running. You’ve mastered even the difficult parts well. Impressive.”
Charlotte bit her lower lip.
How should she explain it?
She didn’t know how to accept this warm yet painful situation.
“…I’m nothing.”
Adrian continued, looking at Charlotte.
“There were moments when you almost became nothing. But you didn’t give up until the end. Look, even at this moment…”
Adrian tapped Charlotte’s toe with his index finger.
“…You haven’t left this arena. Just like that.”
Those words, like burning daggers, pierced through her frozen heart.
Was it from pain or excitement?
Either way, her heart began to beat wildly.
Her face flushed, and her back was soaked with cold sweat—this wasn’t just a simple emotion towards Adrian.
It was the emotion of a girl facing herself.
The emotion of seeing her own image, looking back at the past, looking back at this match, looking back at her thoughts about the demons…
Adrian’s voice continued.
“Certainly, I didn’t tell you the most important thing.”
After saying that, he chuckled as if he was dumbfounded.
“No, that was too presumptuous of me. I couldn’t tell you that one thing. Because it’s something I can’t teach.”
Their eyes met again in the air.
The girl’s wavering eyes regained their composure as they met his golden eyes.
She quietly waited for his next words.
“I couldn’t teach you how to win.”
“How to win…”
“Because you have a battle with yourself, and only you know how to win that battle.”
Adrian’s hand gently rested on Charlotte’s head. It was an unusually warm palm.
“…Because that’s a method only the protagonist can figure out, and only you can do it.”
The girl finally faced herself.
She lightly flexed her calves.
Her legs still had strength.
It was only her arm that was broken, so it was natural in a way.
‘It hurts.’
It hurt terribly, but the fact that she could still move was so important to the girl.
She could run with this much.
‘Can I do it?’
‘I can do it.’
‘…I definitely can do it.’
Adrian, seeing the fighting spirit slowly burning in her red eyes, parted his lips.
“If you think the match is over, you can stop now.”
“……”
She thought for a moment, but still, the girl shook her head.
“No. It’s not over yet…”
“So, you’re thinking of continuing?”
“Yes.”
Even if she continued from now, nothing might change in the end.
Valerie might still win first place, and Charlotte might still cross the finish line far behind.
But.
There was definitely something that would change.
“If I give up here… I feel like I’ll truly be defeated. I suddenly feel that way now.”
“Defeated, huh.”
Adrian gave a faint smile.
It was a smile that Charlotte could notice.
“Then you must know how to win. That’s good. It’s good that the protagonist has realized they’re the protagonist.”
Adrian patted Charlotte’s back as if telling her to go.
Charlotte gritted her teeth and looked at the path ahead of the arena.
‘I can still run.’
Yes, as the professor said, she had her own battle.
There was something she had to prove to herself.
At the very least, she had to do her best so that she could laugh and accept defeat later.
If she gave up like this, she would live with the fear of this memory for the rest of her life.
Just like she lived with the nightmares of the past.
“Hoo…”
Throb!
As she tried to take another step, pain cried out from her ankle.
Was it telling her not to run any further?
Or had something already gone terribly wrong with her body?
She had to burn her concentration.
Burn it all.
To the point where she could forget even the pain of her injuries.
But…
Was there really any meaning to it?
As soon as the pain surged, she weakened again.
This time, her heart began to beat rapidly with tension.
No matter how hard she tried not to care, weren’t other people’s gazes scary after all?
Wasn’t the world going to remember Charlotte as a loser?
‘Stop it. Stop thinking like that…’
Suddenly, the path ahead felt too long.
It felt like she would never reach the end no matter how much she ran.
In the first place, there was a gap between ideals and reality.
With such a heavy body, what could she possibly prove…
Slap—!
“Ugh!”
Something flew towards Charlotte’s face and slapped her, making a sound.
Charlotte was startled and looked to see what it was.
[Michelle Meinens]
It was the veil glove again.
Written on it was Michelle’s name.
“Huh…”
Why was this here?
But then, Michelle’s shout reached her ears.
“You idiot!”
There was Michelle with a very angry expression.
But she felt a hint of affection in that anger, was Charlotte finally losing her mind?
“What are you standing around for! Are you even a representative?”
“Michelle, stop it. Charlotte did her best.”
Other kids started to stop Michelle while saying that.
But Michelle, pushing away those kids with telekinesis, stubbornly shouted.
“Who told you to get first place? At least don’t look so dejected! Even if you come in last, stand tall and walk in! That’s what a representative is! That’s what a representative is! Got it or not?!”
Almost all the spectators were looking at Michelle.
Even Adrian was momentarily stunned because he hadn’t expected this.
In that world where everyone was flustered and everyone had a blank expression—
Only one person, Charlotte, finally wore a calm smile.
“That’s right.”
That’s what a representative was.
And that’s what a protagonist was.
No matter what she did, she had to stand tall.
She had to show her best.
“Charlotte! You idiot! Don’t think about anything else! What can you show?! Just think about that!”
“What I can show.”
Michelle, the failing class students, Adrian.
Charlotte’s gaze looked at all of them once.
And then, she quietly muttered.
“…Charlotte. Charlotte, Forte.”
Her own name.
Hwaaaaaaaak—!
A flower bloomed in the cold arena.
The name of that flower was flame.
It wasn’t a magnificent flame that would never go out.
But it was a flame that would eventually bloom again, no matter how many times it went out.
It was at least that much.
How brilliant it was, the tears that had formed in Charlotte’s eyes and the sweat that had formed on her body instantly vaporized and disappeared.
She drew the elemental enhancement formula in an instant.
It didn’t even take two seconds.
Added a curve to the 16th stroke.
The flame wrapped around her entire leg.
Broke the 17th stroke.
The flame began to dance as if it were alive.
Smoothly connected the 18th stroke with the 19th.
The girl’s flame burnt once more like the sun.
Only after seeing that did Michelle finally stop shouting.
“…Yeah, that’s how it should be.”
She just muttered that.
‘I am Charlotte Forte.’
That one fact was enough.
She was already ready to run.
The terrible pain that had been binding her body was no longer felt.
Her body, as light as a feather, floated through the arena.
While maintaining that speed, the girl’s body was maintaining its balance perfectly.
A sprint.
The girl was showing the most fitting image for those two words.
Yes, maybe she really was the protagonist of this arena.
‘Protagonist.’
Charlotte quietly muttered that word.
She had no memory of ever winning in her life.
She had no memory of ever proving anything.
But.
This time, she would.
She would become the protagonist of herself.
And the protagonist of someone else!
“Professor.”
Charlotte took another step.
Even while calling out to Adrian, her gaze was now only focused on the path ahead.
“I’m going now.”
“Go.”
At the same time, something else was added on top of the flame that was covering Charlotte’s body.
It was a violet flame.
Paaaaaang—!
Her body rushed forward at an incredibly fast speed.
It was a speed much faster than the speed Valerie had shown earlier.
Unbelievable.
Everyone’s eyes widened.
A speed that was impossible to see with an average eye.
But Adrian captured that fleeting moment and saw it clearly.
The fact that Charlotte, who was kicking off the ground, was definitely smiling.
‘Maximum output.’
She perfectly assists her body with flame and mana.
She no longer felt the sensation of her body being heavy.
Her body, as light as a feather, floated through the arena.
While maintaining that speed, the girl’s body was maintaining its balance perfectly.
A sprint.
The girl was showing the most fitting image for those two words.
Yes, maybe she really was the protagonist of this arena.
‘Protagonist.’
Charlotte quietly muttered that word.
She had no memory of ever winning in her life.
She had no memory of ever proving anything.
But.
This time, she would.
She would become the protagonist of herself.
And the protagonist of someone else!
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[Imagine getting bitchslapped like that lolol]
