Episode 15
"W-we need to catch the irregular who intervened in the scenario...!"
"T-the Demon King's subordinate...! Where did you go? Come out right now!"
"...Khek."
Listening to the voices of the Princess and the Saintess echoing from afar, I held Kania tightly, and soon began coughing up blood.
"...O-over there!"
Kania flinched with a surprised expression, and I held her even tighter while using my Information Search skill.
[Name: Kania]
[Abilities: Strength 3 / Mana ??? / Intelligence 7 / Mental Strength 4]
[Special Notes: Frail/Weak/Mana Unstable/Self-Destruction Curse]
[Characteristic: Confidant]
'...This much life force transfer should be enough.'
Seeing that 'Critical Condition' in her special notes had changed to 'Weak,' I tried to draw the sword at my side, but...
"Die..."
"...Ugh!"
Of all times, Isollet twisted the sword embedded in my back, causing me to scream and fumble helplessly.
'At this rate... I'm going to die...'
Thanks to the synergy between the caffeine drink and the Star's Protection, my life force is overflowing right now, but I can't stay perfectly fine forever with a sword stuck in my back.
So, before the synergy effect's duration ends, I need to somehow escape this situation.
With that thought, I struggled to turn my head and used the Information Search skill while looking at Isollet's unfocused eyes.
[Name: Isollet Arham Baiwork]
[Abilities: Strength 8.5 / Mana 5 / Intelligence 7 / Mental Strength 7]
[Special Notes: Right arm injury, Mental Domination (weakening)]
[Disposition: Knight]
'...So it doesn't release immediately but with a time delay.'
As expected of an ability given by the Demon King who favored Yukarius.
The 'Slave's Seal' ability that the Demon King gave to him, who possessed top-tier mental manipulation abilities, was a cheat ability that could unconditionally dominate anyone with lower mental strength regardless of their abilities.
Of course, since Yukarius who received the ability from the Demon King died, the Demon King can never use that ability again, but that much isn't even a scratch to the Demon King.
"...Ugh!!"
".............."
While I was thinking, Isollet twisted the sword again. Thanks to that, I vomited another mouthful of blood and grabbed the sword's hilt with my trembling hand.
"...Kuh."
But for some reason, I can't put strength in my hand. It seems giving too much life force to Kania at once has taken a toll on my body.
Just like that, as my eyes were slowly closing while holding Kania...
"...I-I'll help you."
Kania held my hand that was gripping the sword's hilt and slowly drew her beloved sword from its sheath.
"...Hah!"
".....!"
Then Kania summoned every ounce of strength she had and swung her sword at Isollet, who quickly pulled the sword from my back and retreated to dodge the attack.
"...Keok!"
As Isollet's sword was pulled from my back, blood began soaking my clothes and robes, and a pool of blood started forming on the floor.
"A-are you o..."
"...Give me the sword."
Hearing my words, Kania cautiously handed me the sword but suddenly stopped moving.
"...Why are you doing that?"
".............."
She stood with her mouth shut and her expression hardened for a moment, then handed me the sword and asked.
"...Who are you?"
"Me? I'm a bra..."
I was about to answer 'Hero' to her question, but changed my words midway to account for any possibilities.
"...ve citizen."
Leaving those words behind, I grit my teeth, stood up, and pointed my sword at Isollet who was still staring blankly at us.
'...Just need to hold out for a few minutes.'
I decided to block Isollet until she came to her senses, and then escape the auction house the moment she regained consciousness. I gripped my sword more firmly.
"Hah!"
- Clang!!
And the next moment, my sword and Isollet's clashed.
"...It's empty."
"...Tsk."
As our swords met and I felt the stinging pain in my back during our brief contest of strength, Isollet took advantage of my weakening to thrust her sword at me.
I barely twisted my body to dodge the sword, but lost my balance and started stumbling. Seeing her gathering energy into her sword, I fell into thought.
'...If it were normal times, I would have subdued her quickly.'
In the previous training, I had consumed a fake dark mana badge designed to react to holy power and hid my true skills.
In other words, normally I could sufficiently subdue an Isollet with an injured right arm just by using 'the Hero's power' for a moment.
But right now, even with the doping drink supporting the Star's Protection at maximum, my recovery is slow enough that my body is strained, and I even have a serious wound on my back.
In other words, continuing like this is dangerous. So, this will be a single decisive match...
- Swish!!
Just as I was righting my sword and preparing a strike, suddenly the dark energy around Isollet began enveloping her.
"...Hah!!"
But when Isollet released her sword qi, the dark energy temporarily retreated and began circling around her, waiting for an opportunity. At the same time, a groan erupted from beside me.
"...Ugh."
Seeing Kania staggering from a distance while reaching out her hand to control the dark energy, I urgently shouted at her.
"Don't use magic! I'll handle this!"
".........."
"...Sigh, this is driving me crazy."
But contradicting my words, she pushed herself too far and lost consciousness again.
With anxious feelings, I used the Information Search skill on Kania, and thankfully it was determined to be simple fainting rather than a mana rampage.
'...Then that's actually good. I can go all out.'
- Whoosh...
As I was thinking that while looking at the unconscious Kania, the dark energy circling Isollet disappeared, and she, who had been wildly swinging her sword in all directions, started approaching me with a glare.
"...Shouldn't you have come to your senses by now? Sister?"
"Grrr..."
I tried transmitting my voice laced with Star's mana so only she could hear, but Isollet still hadn't come to her senses.
Realizing that the time for a decisive conclusion had come, I tightly gripped my sword's hilt and continued transmitting my voice to her.
"Sister, remember the day you first had sword training with me?"
"Come... at..."
"The words you said to me back then when I was frustrated after you so easily subdued me."
"....?"
Isollet, who had been gathering her sword qi to its limit, tilted her head with a blank expression.
Looking at her, I quietly returned the advice she gave me that I still remember to this day.
"...The sword is not for cutting people, but for protecting them."
And the moment those words ended, we both charged at each other simultaneously without hesitation.
- Whirrr...!
A single strike.
In that fleeting moment, the legendary bloody battle between the previous Hero and the first Sword Saint was briefly recreated.
The Star's mana, less brilliant than the dazzling sun, shorter in duration than the soft and gentle moonlight, but more beautiful and sparkling than any light,
And the sword qi of the Baiwork family, the first Sword Saint who took the Demon King's left eye in the decisive battle 1000 years ago, a family that maintained its reputation for the longest period among countless swordsmanship households,
Clashed while drawing trajectories, mixed together, and covered the surroundings with light.
"..........."
"..........."
And as the light faded, Isollet and I stood in silence, having passed each other.
- Thud.
And in the continuing silence, Isollet quietly collapsed.
Hearing that sound, I turned around and quietly murmured while looking at her completely unconscious form.
"...Honestly, I thought you were teasing me back then, but now that I'm in the same situation, I finally understand."
And my beloved sword that I had been gripping tightly until then,
Following her example, who always finished matches with the reverse blade for fear of hurting me, was reflecting her with its reverse blade held upright.
"...Good, like I said, knocking them out is the answer in any situation."
Soon after, I used the Information Search skill on her, confirmed that her mental domination had completely disappeared, and turned around with a smile.
"...You."
".....!"
And before me as I turned, Kania had approached and was glaring at me.
"...Who are you?"
"............."
I hesitated at that question, then put strength in my legs...
"...Ah, over there."
"......?"
After pointing behind Kania, the moment she turned around, I started sprinting at full speed toward the exit.
"...W-wait!"
Kania tried to chase after me, but she had also pushed herself too hard and couldn't build up proper speed.
"...What's going on there?"
"Isn't that black magic?"
"No way. Even in a back alley, who would openly use such a large-scale black magic?"
'...Good, there's a crowd.'
Having instantly made it outside, I discovered the crowd buzzing around the auction house and quickly dove into them.
"Right, the cursed item from the auction house must have activated by accident. Those idiots, I knew something like this would happen eventu— oof! W-what!?"
"...Excuse me."
"Hey! You push someone and think one apology makes it okay!?"
Having successfully blended into the crowd, I tried to quickly hide, but a burly man who collided with me as I dove in grabbed my collar and started shouting.
"...I'm a bit busy."
"Ah, yes."
I reluctantly drew my sword slightly from inside my robes, and the man hesitated, then quietly let go of my collar and bowed his head.
Now free, I headed toward the back alley exit, leaving behind Kania who was quietly glaring at the place I had run into from the darkness, and thought to myself.
'...With this, no one should have noticed.'
My voice was altered with Star's mana, and my body was clearly covered with a mask and black robes.
The exposure of my beloved sword is somewhat critical, but that sword is one of the few weapons that can withstand Star's mana, and if I hadn't used it in that situation, I would definitely be dead. So, I had no choice.
And originally, I've never shown that sword to the main heroines even once, so they probably won't be able to deduce my identity from it.
However, it seems I'll need to change weapons.
Having organized my thoughts, I came out into the middle of the market through a gap in the wall and began waiting for the system to announce the main quest completion.
However, for some reason, the completion window didn't appear for a long time, and tilting my head in confusion, I slapped my forehead and muttered.
"...Right, the main main quest hasn't even started yet, has it?"
Just why did my ancestor create such a crazy game?
.
As Frey walked out of the market streets with a dejected expression, clutching his throbbing back in misery,
"............."
Kania quietly glared at the place where he disappeared, then hurriedly turned around at the presence behind her.
"...As expected, it was you."
"...Y-you are!?"
The Princess Clana and the Saintess Peruche looked at Kania with different yet similar reactions.
"...The fact that you're here means you're also a regressor."
"W-w-wait... did Kania also regress!?"
Kania, quietly watching the two, gave a short answer.
"...Yes."
Then Clana asked her with sharp eyes.
"Let me ask one thing. Are you... Frey's enemy or ally?"
"Enemy."
"A straight answer. I like that."
Kania answered with slight tension, and seeing the Princess believe her so easily, she frowned and asked.
"...Don't you have any suspicions?"
Then the Princess snorted and answered with a confident expression.
"I've suffered so much... I've gotten quite good at distinguishing lies."
".....Ah."
Meanwhile, Saintess Peruche, who had been watching their conversation blankly, urgently started asking questions.
"T-then, Princess Clana and Kania both regressed like me!?"
"...Yes, it seems so."
"W-wait a moment... then does that mean Frey also...!"
When Peruche asked with wide eyes, the Princess shook her head and said.
"No, I observed him for several days... there was no sign of that at all. Just the same trashy appearance as at the Academy."
"...That's right. Frey didn't particularly change from before."
When Kania also agreed, Peruche sighed and spoke.
"Phew... that's a relief... if that evil one also returned... it would truly be terrible..."
"...This isn't the time for this kind of talk."
"...Yes?"
Clana, cutting off Peruche's words, began speaking with a serious expression.
"...It seems that because we regressed and caused incidents, variables have started appearing."
Saying that, Clana pointed at Yukarius, who had returned to his hideous demon form with his head severed, and continued.
"...Originally, the 'Stone of Domination' being traded today was supposed to be sold at a bargain price and stolen by the Demon King's forces just before reaching the buyer's hands. You know that too, right?"
"That's... right...?"
"But suddenly, this demon and a mysterious man started bidding, and the Stone of Domination ended up selling for over 50,000 gold."
"T-then... does that mean...?"
"Yes, it means some kind of variable has occurred."
Hearing those words, Peruche's expression froze, and Clana crossed her arms and continued.
"...We need to find out why this demon came to the auction house and who that identity-unknown irregular is. It would have been nice if we caught and interrogated him earlier."
"...I-isn't that swordsman also a subordinate of the Demon King?"
"...Why do you say that?"
When Clana asked, Peruche answered while sweating profusely.
"Umm... only the Demon King knows about the Stone of Domination... anyway, isn't he on the Demon King's side?"
"...If that were true, he wouldn't have opposed the demon."
"...Ah."
Looking at Peruche with a foolish expression for a moment, Clana turned to Kania and asked.
"By the way, did you catch this demon? Or did the eldest daughter of the Baiwork family lying over there catch it?"
"............."
When Kania fell silent at those words, the Princess tilted her head at her attitude, then crouched down next to Yukarius, carefully examined the severed neck area, and spoke.
"Well, looking at the clean cut, it wasn't your handiwork. Were you embarrassed that you couldn't catch a mere demon?"
"............"
"Anyway... Isollet is amazing as expected. I should help her become the next Sword Saint this time."
Having finished her own speculation, the Princess stood up, pointed outside, and proposed to Kania and Peruche.
"Anyway, meeting here must be fate, so would you like to join me for a meal? There's a restaurant I used to frequent during difficult times nearby."
".......?"
"Yes, yes?"
When Kania and Peruche tilted their heads at her words, Clana added with a cold smile.
"...Shall we go there and have a deep discussion about how to deal with Frey?"
"...Ah! Yes!"
When the Saintess heard those words and nodded with a bright smile, Clana, who had been quietly smiling, looked at Kania and spoke.
"...You come too."
"...Me?"
"You hate him too, don't you? And I don't discriminate against black magicians as long as their abilities are good."
"........."
"...We'll control our abilities as much as possible, so don't worry."
Hearing those words, Kania quietly nodded, then stopped and started staring intently at Isollet next to her.
"...Judging by her steady and stable breathing, she'll wake up safely soon. So don't worry too much and follow me."
"...Yes."
Hearing Kania's answer, Clana smiled with satisfaction and began heading toward the exit with Peruche, who was twinkling her eyes beside her.
"...Um, what happened to the Empire after I died?"
"...It was destroyed."
"T-the imperial citizens!?"
"...We're alive right now. We're alive too. So we just need to make sure that future doesn't repeat itself."
"...I see."
Kania quietly watched the two, who despite having been quite awkward in the previous round, were now talking like sisters.
'Judging by the physique and strength, it definitely wasn't the master...'
She muttered to herself with a serious expression.
'But that sword the man was holding just now... looked exactly the same as the sword the master used that day when I was hired by the Starlight family, chasing away the thugs who were harassing me and my younger sibling on the street...'
Soon reaching the entrance, Kania received an awareness-hindering spell from Clana and muttered to herself.
'...Was there an illegitimate child in the Starlight family? I'll have to look into that.'
Making a quite reasonable deduction, Kania stepped outside and tried to quickly follow the Princess and Saintess who were already weaving through the crowd, but...
".......!"
She discovered a familiar object on the floor of the space created as the Princess and Saintess pushed through the crowd, and froze in place.
"...That is?"
An all-too-familiar brooch was sparkling under the sunlight.