MN-5 Słoma Food Co.

And this is your glass.

Thank you. Thank you.

The Roar Guards Company offers a wealth of beverages to its members. I truly envy them. They possess the luxury of standing here and observing each knight's magnificent display.

Tell me. You are a good person, correct?

Er...

Have you broken the law before?

...No.

Have you ever committed a wrongdoing?

No, of course not, never...

So in other words, you are a diligent worker who earns his pay for himself and his family. Doesn't that make you a good person?

Y-Yes, if you put it that way, I'd definitely be a good person, a good person like so many others in Kazimierz...

Indeed, so many others. Here. Let us toast to the good people.

Ah. Cheers.

Tell me. If there were some who sought to deprive good people of their work, to deprive good people of their way of life, could those possibly be good people, now?

What do you...?

Even the countryside farmers, done tending their fields for the day, will look forward to that competition knight broadcast from the city.

For hundreds of thousands... possibly millions of Kazimierz's industrial people, the Major is a part of life. And they are all good people, by and large, my friend.

So, you mean...

Suppose, one day, the Major was gone... that overnight, the business had vanished.

Who would now support our campaign knights' expenditures, which grow annum by annum? Who would vie for Kazimierz's economic standing, and so stave off foreign incursions?

My friend, tell me. Are those who would see that happen—bad people?

......

You are a good person, and they would deprive you of your own living to crown their ancient sense of 'honor.'

We all rely on others to pave the way. We've given the vast majority—even the Infected—the chance to live...

And so those 'bad people' would ignore that, their country and all its citizens, for their own inconsequential, self-centered consolation.

My friend. You are a good person, correct?

This place is Nearl's regular bar, right? Whoo-wee, now this is what I call Kazimierzey!

Hey, Boss! Think Maria Nearl might come here today?

That's down to your own square luck.

Business been good lately?

Thanks to Maria.

When's the last time we got so many in here? Back with Zofia?

Knight's the magic word. Most people're here just for that. Don't even ask me which of the media monkeys said it...

Not happy even for the money?

Wasn't the idea to give the two of them somewhere nice and quiet to relax?

Hey, Marcin. Think about carving it into this seat here, 'Kowal ONLY.' Don't wanna wait for a spot next time I come by.

Cough up a naming fee and I'll agree.

Tch.

Whoa, whoa, Nearl's really here! It's literally her!

Quick! Don't let the chance slide, go get a picture!

Er, thanks, thanks... picture? You mean me? Sorry, I'm a little...

Alright, alright, make way, you lot—

Hold on... you're Zofia! The 'Whislash' Zofia!

Hey, the rumors were true! 'Whislash' Zofia is the actual coach of the new Nearl!

Miss Zofia! I've watched your matches before! They really shook me!

(Oh, well, we're done for.)

(A-Auntie! Think of something, quick!)

Maria, I love you!

What did you just say?!

Hey, take your fights outside.

You've gotta be at least this old to brawl in here.

—Mister Kowal! Mister Vogelweide!

All customers, listen up! To celebrate our two old regulars and their outstanding performance, prices today are all 20% off!

Everybody sit down and get your orders ready! All drinks and snacks are limited supplies only! Once we're out, we're out!

Discounts? Could it get any better?

Hold on... hold on... the bald guy there, you think he's...

Just old Marcin, nothing more. Go on. What's your business?

Marcin...? You're the real 'Tremoriron' Marcin... *sobbing*... Today's just too blessed... Give me a 'Marcin Special'...

F... finally... I've never seen this place so lively before...

Bless your heart, Marcin. I'll help you recoup the costs later.

Hah hah hah. If you think 20% off'll sink my bar, you'd be selling old Marcin short.

...Crafty hand, you.

W-What? Can I keep drinking or not?!

Place's empty, old boy. Who're you even drinking with?

I—*geurgh*—

Don't throw up here—do it outsi—God! Your old damned bones!

Let's get down to business, then. Closing hours and all.

Closing hours are where we're booked in, hm?

Hah hah hah, they're when this little bar's really open for service.

Maria... you've gotten enough points already.

You've been winning fight after fight. It's incredible.

Th... there's been an element of luck to it...

As long as you can maintain the score, dig your heels in on it until the end of the season, that'll be the best plan... But I'm worried about something else.

Auntie?

...Maria, the next match is a race. Races don't make for great changes in points, so it should be a safe bet.

And then after that, don't participate in any more matches.

Wha?

B... but, just staying...

You've done plenty enough. Victory's at hand now.

Surely you've noticed it too... Maria, a lot of people are paying attention to you right now.

We just need to keep the pace. Wait until the points are finalized, and you'll win a knight's title, and we'll have achieved our goal.

Okay? Just listen to your sister. This will all be for the best—

......

But this... this isn't going to change anything at all... If I don't keep going, the Nearl family's still going to be stuck in this position...

Uncle Młynar wouldn't approve of doing things this way, either...

Młynar? He's like talking to a brick wall! He wouldn't approve no matter what you decided to do. You know that better than anyone, don't you?

Just don't think about it too much, okay? Maria... this is all for the best. It's this or nothing.

Auntie... what happened?

......

You don't know how deep the Major really goes... You don't know what it is you'll be up against at all...

Auntie!

...In the arena, victory will never belong to a knight. Victory will only ever belong to Kazimierz, belong to... to the corporations.

If you truly don't want to work with them, you shouldn't have joined the Major in the first place. If we keep doing things your way... Maria, we need to know where to stop.

Zofia. What did you find out?

...That Słoma employee I know told me about some rumblings. Maria's popularity has thrown her into the Knights Association's executive sights far sooner than anyone else...

If Maria doesn't stop where she should, they'll start making moves! No matter what it is they're planning for us, we don't have to grin and bear any of it!

So, Maria, listen to your sister, okay?

I... I don't get it... If we don't want to be controlled by them, we have to bow to them? Where's the difference?

Maria! This is no joking matter—!

I know—

You could die in the arena!

...'Flametail' said so too. I haven't seen what the significance of the Major really is...

I know I might genuinely have no idea what cruelties she was referring to... but I didn't enter the tournament for fun, either!

I don't care about injuries, I don't care about accidents, I don't even care if I have to sacrifice—

That's enough!

Ah... I'm really sorry, Auntie, I didn't mean...

That's not a 'sacrifice' at all. And I don't want to watch you suffer for any of this, either...

I see how you're thinking. You really need to learn when enough is enough!

...I don't think I should stop here.

Even if I don't pass the qualifiers, even if I fall short of my goal, I should be fighting for my own cause... I should be striving to win until I can't win anymore!

...Alright, I get it.

Auntie...!

I'm convinced you should stop. You don't understand the Major. You can't understand... the sheer outrage Margaret's actions caused back then.

If Kazimierz really was a fair country, everything you've said could be true. But that's not how it goes. Any idiot can see how flimsy all our rules are, and how trivial it is to leave them in pieces.

You're still an untitled, unaffiliated, independent knight, Maria. I can apply to the Knights Association for a suspension on your tournament campaign.

So there.

...Auntie!

Cool down, Maria. And let Zofia cool down a little too.

She means you well.

...I know.

But Zofia's right. A knight doesn't win the Major by will alone.

The corps were only interested in giving 'the new Nearl knight' the chance to take root and start growing. When they decide to reap you, they'll come out with their sickles, no second thoughts.

Knights get one right, and it's to apply to the events... beyond the Major, corps have every rank and result in vice grips. Knights don't get a choice any way or how.

If Zofia's heard the truth, and the company insiders are making noise...

......

Maybe we should be picking up on the signals. Paying attention, at least.

Weugh... whassappenin'? Swear I saw Zofia storming out just now...

What's the long face for, girl? Didn'tcha win? What's to argue after winning?

You two, stop making it worse...

...I-I'm going home.

I have a race coming up, and I still need to do my equipment maintenance...

......

...*Sigh*.

...*Sigh*.

Hm...?

......

......

(She's beautiful, but she carries the scent of blood... is she a knight?)

(Maria Nearl. Young... even younger than she looked in the material.)

(Shame.)

What exactly is a knight competition?

Mr. Szewczyk, what do you think?

...Forget the song and dance, Czarny, I'm busy.

Out with it. What are you up to?

I'm very sorry to say... the Roar Knightclub has decided to switch you out of pole position in their starting lineup for the Major. Their new safeguard knight ranks highly just as you do, and his Arts should be useful to the team.

......

This... is nothing like what we agreed...

Of course, your down payment will still clear. But the rates for a knightclub's reserve are an invariably different question. You understand this, correct?

Now, now... don't make any hasty moves. Your child is celebrating a tenth birthday soon, I hear. You needn't lose your job now over assaulting someone as insignificant as myself...

Roar Knightclub will still be paying you plenty. You needn't make any efforts for at least the rest of the year.

I need the lineup corrected, for God's sakes! I...

That'll be up to your own performance, Szewczyk. There's always a way to live on, is there not?

......

...You're not wrong.

You could've just sent out any old envoy to tell me this. Why'd you need to meet me personally? Are all spokespeople this bored for something to do?

Ah... don't misunderstand me. I didn't come out here specifically for you. I was only here to make sure of some event arrangements.

It seems we've been a little lax in parts. Our divisions have each encountered very minor bumps in the road, which some offenders are seeing fit to take advantage of.

...Are you threatening me? Threatening 'Plastic' Knight Szewczyk to take on your dirty work?

Nothing of the sort.

Then what are you trying to do here?

Right now, I have two particular knights who are currently working to enter the arena... but, unfortunately, they clearly do not have the points to do so.

Pfah... If you want a knight to make it in, you have your ways...

Don't put it like that. There are times one must respect the rules, and keep some conduct undisclosed—

—Making use of the law versus violating it is a night and day affair, after all. The fundamental difference lies in whether the parties involved possess the capacity to do so.

Just give it one nod of assent, and we'll add an event for the transfer of points, along with all its formalities. Of course, in much the same manner, I can settle of some of your complications with the Roar Knightclub...

How would you feel about that?

—OUT! The Strider Knight's sole-mount accelerator devices are non-functional! That sudden brake knocks him off right before the finish—!

ACROSS THE LINE—! The winner, from Gloryfall Knightclub, is the Wisteria Knight! And right behind, Maria Nearl—hounding that medal!

With his accelerators out, the Strider Knight has fallen all the way from second place to seventh—! It's not a good day to be the Strider!

It just goes to show how crucial a knight's equipment is!

And Ellen Select Technologies, who provide intimate maintenance, repair and upgrades to your equipment with their comprehensive member plans, have provided a no-expense-spared package for our knights!

Phew... runner-up, huh?

(This way... I'm another step closer to the Major...)

(Auntie Zofia...)

Oh, there's an unexpected customer.

Please, sit wherever you'd like.

Marcin... it's really you? That tremendous knight of days gone by runs this little bar now?

They stripped old Marcin of his knighthood long ago. Now all he does is eat up his savings.

How'd 'Plastic' Szewczyk find his way to this little place? Tell you the truth, this bar doesn't see all that many active knights in it.

If you're tremendous past, Maria's tremendous present. They carried a story about your bar on the entertainment news last night.

Hmph... tremendous all around. I'll have a 'Red Edelweiss.'

This one's on me.

My pleasure.

Roar Guards' training camp's a long way away. I won't let you waste the trip.

So, you've come to enemy headquarters to spy on us, then? Right that old newspaper-worthy wrong for the Majors?

...I'm not going to be in the Majors.

Huh... Roar Guards' decision? Thought you and your sponsors were on pretty good personal terms?

Ha. Personal terms. Managing a relationship with a corp is like dating a Catastrophe.

As always, the decision came from the next floor up...

Knights Association?

Worse than that... try the General Chamber of Commerce.

Hum.

I know what you want to say, Marcin. Up there, you're thinking, 'how's a tiny little Plastic Knight get into such a big mess?'

I still know my limits, and nobody goes this overkill on a knight who knows how to follow plans, so their problem is elsewhere.

A rumor's spreading door-to-door. People saying the Radiant Knight was never even Infected, that her exile from Kazimierz was more complicated than that...

Like hell I know.

Put your guard down... I'm not probing you here, Marcin.

I just want Czarny to learn there's a price to pay for pissing about with nobles... and I'm assuming he's got one eye on Maria Nearl too, doesn't he?

...The knights are joining hands and protesting the Association? This sort of thing won't ever end well.

I'm just trying not to be ridden roughshod.

Thanks for the drink... Marcin, one last word... when I was young, it was watching your matches that made me finally decide to become a knight.

Went the wrong way back then, looks like.

No. I'm ready to go my own way now, aren't I?

See you next time, old Marcin.

Szewczyk, my own last word... stay safe.

...Hmph. No knight ever needed to bow to the peddlers. Roar Knightclub'll see things my way.

Hey, you've been tailing us for ages now. Time you showed your face, right?

Oh, the overbearing type... No, I do NOT like fans like you...

'Wait—that bow—are you—?!'

—Thought I'd say that and keel over, Armorless Union assassin?

Hmm... so this is how you're molded. Way you dodge about everywhere, no-one's actually seen your looks before. Real gloomy line of work you're in...

Don't get the chance everyday—

...Hey.

—to have a real scrap, you and us.

......

......

Ah—auntie—

......

Oh... uncle...

I look away from you for a second, and you somehow dig yourself even deeper.

......

And when are you planning to stop?

The leadership has been asking me time and time again about you. Every day I work in the Publicity Department is spent sorting out the trouble you cause... Half of my hours at work are lost to waiting for direction from the leadership.

Go to the Knights Association this moment and exit the tournament. You don't have the faintest idea what you're doing.

Is that what you wanted to say...

You will not kill yourself over this, Maria.

You are a child of the Nearl family. You ought to know restraint.

These annoyances all lie low in the face of the Major, so this is up to you to do, but you've already earned yourself plenty of attention.

Abandon the idea that you can force your way into the Major. Abandon, also, any idea that you've yet faced the strongest competition knights.

But I don't want to just sit and watch while the Nearl family's nobility gets stripped—

—Vainglory.

*Sigh*...

I've made it clear before that the Nearls do not need the approval of the Knights Association, obscene as it now is.

Have you somehow come to believe that without their recognition, our ancestors' deeds would cease to exist? Nonsense! For all these years, the Nearl family stood alone to defend our name!

What one cannot do, one must abandon. When one does not know how to give up... that blind alley is their end.

Uncle...

Margaret has influenced you too much, Maria. She could never recognize her own ignorance, and you are not to blindly follow her example.

......!

Don't give me that look. Have I said anything wrong? And surmounting the rulesetters within their own rules? Lunatic ravings.

You know Margaret's temper. What she ultimately despised was the commercialization of the competition knights. I thought she had some backbone...

And what happened? Back against the wall, she still chose the path of competition, to flaunt her 'convictions.' Yes, indeed. 'Convictions.'

And could she change anything?

Uncle... don't talk about Margaret like this...

She could not.

The one thing she changed was how the corporations treated the Nearl family! The one thing she accomplished was forcing my father, bedridden as he was, to clean up her mess!

'The Radiant Knight' is a title she should've never been conferred! She has no power to shoulder any glory of the sort!

Uncle!

......

So what about you...?

Aren't you... working for the corporations, even now?

You forbid me from competing while you go play servant boy to the corporations and watch the Nearl family's knighthood slip away? You can stomach that?!

...Hm.

You're still young. For that, I won't blame your ignorance... but you should show respect to your elders.

This again...

The skyscrapers... that the people of Kazimierz built, generation upon generation, cast the shadows that hide you in your hometown, shielded by your elders. What could you see from this safety?

Did you truly believe you had something? As nothing more than a young, fledgling knight?

When the sun dawned over the frontier fortresses, the Ursus skyscrapers drew their line in the clouds on the horizon.

The tower attendants recreated the motions of battle in the arena to please their nobles. The young steam knights donned the armor of old to temper and hone their skills.

Bounty hunters and robbers razed one destitute village after another, while the great cities were absorbed in hopes of building ever more arenas. One could call the harvest of a village versus the tax it pays comical.

But all of that paled to the last sigh my father uttered on his deathbed. Not for Margaret, not for your parents—it was his lament given to all of Kazimierz.

How could you not disappoint me?

......

You're right, Maria, you're right. I am good for nothing, nothing more than a corporate, captive burdenbeast.

So. What about you?

...Director? No, just a quick personal matter to tend to... No, of course work takes priority over personal...

The project meeting? Today? No, I didn't forget... Apologies, my greatest apologies, I'm very sorry, you're right...

I'll be back there momentarily... What? No, he doesn't understand the scope of the project... Yes, I'm sorry...

Then if... If he could present in my stead... Yes, my apologies... The manager's responsibility? I... Yes, this will be the last time. No, there won't be a next time.

You may terminate me if this happens again. Yes, of course, I promise.

I am truly deeply sorry, Director.

...I do not have much time to waste, Maria. Give me an answer, now.

You won't change my mind, Uncle.

......

......

You're just like Margaret... you disgust me.

Your parents would find no pride in you. Take some time to calm down. Start thinking hard about who you really are.

...Please, just stop talking!

Ignorant of the world and its untold ways... Pray for blessings. That is all you have left.