Ch.134Chapter 134

The giant of the snowy mountains remained completely motionless, maintaining the exact same posture.

The unbearable cold, impossible for a human body to withstand, eventually froze all the knights except for the Knight Commander and the Warrior Priest.

The Knight Commander felt her throat tighten with a sense of injustice she hadn’t experienced in recent memory.

There was nothing she could do.

Was the giant of the snowy mountains much stronger than an Outer God?

Not exactly, if one were to put it that way.

But she could understand why they couldn’t win against this Outer God.

The giant of the snowy mountains was fundamentally different from other Outer Gods.

In contrast, an Outer God that existed as a concept itself was easier to sever.

Those who were complete in themselves didn’t desire anything from the outside.

But the giant of the snowy mountains didn’t just absorb warmth.

The strengths of its targets.

It first absorbed such things, bestowing an absurd power over all living beings.

But life force was never included in that.

The reason was unknown.

This made the Knight Commander feel even more miserable.

To be forced to spend an eternity worse than death.

As the Knight Commander was thinking this, she realized she had become the giant’s next target.

The cold energy shot toward the Knight Commander.

No, rather than being shot at, it felt more like something was being taken from the Knight Commander herself.

An unfamiliar sensation enveloped her entire body.

Pain.

The feeling of each cell in her body twisting.

For some reason, her body didn’t freeze.

Starting from her toes, her body began to twist grotesquely.

It was as if she was having an adverse reaction to the giant’s power.

The Knight Commander squeezed her eyes shut.

If only the Warrior Priest had frozen too.

Then she wouldn’t have had to show him her shame.

It was so humiliating that she had such terrible thoughts.

The Warrior Priest looked down at the Knight Commander with an uncharacteristically serious expression.

“…Commander, so that’s how it was.”

His tone was infinitely solemn, unlike his usual cheerful one.

Shame, guilt, and depression overlapped, making the pain she was experiencing unbearable.

The voice of the unsightly one filled the surroundings.

But the Warrior Priest didn’t contort his face at the sight.

As if he was contemplating something.

No, that was the expression the Warrior Priest made when calculating before undertaking something.

Finally, the Warrior Priest finished his thought, approached the Knight Commander, and roughly grabbed her arm.

Somehow, the Knight Commander could feel her body becoming more comfortable.

At this moment, the comfort of her body suggested only one thing.

“…No! Stop! Your body could collapse because of me!”

She shouted, but the Knight Commander couldn’t stop the Warrior Priest’s actions.

Her powerless body couldn’t even move a finger.

The Knight Commander felt something leaving her body.

The Warrior Priest’s arm changed to a color somewhere between black and teal.

His skin began to be covered with scales.

The Warrior Priest frowned in pain.

He looked so agonized that cold sweat ran down his face, but he didn’t stop.

“Hey, Commander. Do you think I’d abandon you for something like that? Was our relationship that shallow, huh?!”

The Warrior Priest said this and continued to absorb whatever it was until the Knight Commander’s body calmed down.

But perhaps as a reaction to this.

The Knight Commander felt her consciousness sinking deeper and deeper inside her body.

The Warrior Priest finally released the Knight Commander’s body.

By then, the Warrior Priest’s expression looked very pained.

“Keuugh, huaaaagh!”

With the Warrior Priest’s agonized voice as the last thing she heard.

The Knight Commander’s consciousness drifted far away, into the realm of unconsciousness.

#

“…It felt like I was watching my actions from a distance. Control returned when the Warrior Priest was glaring at me as if he wanted to kill me. It seems the energy he took woke me up.”

The Knight Commander spoke calmly, then gently closed her eyes.

She was probably giving us time to organize our thoughts.

But I couldn’t help but question the Knight Commander’s story, which seemed to have more than a few omitted parts.

“…But, Commander. There’s something strange.”

“Hmm?”

“What exactly happened to you, and how did the Warrior Priest absorb it? The explanation is too vague.”

The Knight Commander gave a bitter smile at my words.

“…You’re sharp, Tanthyn. I tried to gloss over it, but it seems that won’t work.”

As I thought.

I felt there was too much compression in the content about what she experienced.

The Knight Commander exhaled softly, then spoke to us.

“To put it simply, I once tore off and swallowed someone’s flesh.”

That statement made my thought process freeze momentarily.

Even the Vice Commander, who had been quietly lost in thought, widened his eyes at the Knight Commander’s words.

Had even the Vice Commander, who had spent a long time with her, not known about the Knight Commander’s past?

“Did I… hear that correctly?”

“No, you heard right. It’s an old story now. When I was still a knight apprentice, there was someone who killed all my comrades. In the process of desperately resisting him, I bit into his body part to deliver one last blow… and that’s how my body became like this. Even in excruciating pain, I didn’t stop pursuing and killing him. Looking back, it was madness.”

Immortality.

A body that never dies, no matter what attack it receives, even from an Outer God.

“Was that being an Outer God?”

“Hmm. Yes, that being was an Outer God… was it? No, it definitely had a human form.”

The Knight Commander began to search her memories.

If it was such a painful memory, she shouldn’t be able to forget it.

As if blocked by something, the Knight Commander frowned in frustration and scratched her head.

Was her memory still not intact due to the aftermath of what the giant of the snowy mountains did to her?

Or was it for another reason?

I couldn’t tell, but the Knight Commander seemed unable to recall it.

“Anyway, you could say I’m a mutant with the power of an Outer God. I probably lost my memory because the Outer God’s power instinctively rejected the giant’s power.”

That’s too serious a past story to just dismiss like that.

Yet she acted as if she had become indifferent to it, making it difficult to say anything.

That’s when it happened.

The door to the Vice Commander’s office opened, and someone entered.

With intelligent eyes, now looking somewhat clearer, the Warrior Priest blinked as he looked at the Knight Commander.

And as if trying to recall something, the Warrior Priest nodded repeatedly, then smiled brightly and began to laugh boisterously.

“Kuhahaha! My calculations were exactly right! Commander, look! You’re alive, and I’m alive too!”

As if smoothly connecting to the Knight Commander’s past story, the Warrior Priest said this, laughing triumphantly as he approached and patted the Knight Commander’s shoulder.

Everyone was dumbfounded by the Warrior Priest’s behavior.

The Warrior Priest then looked at the Vice Commander.

“Hey, Vice Commander! So how were we saved… W-what?! Why are you so old?!”

Only after seeing the Warrior Priest’s shocked reaction could we breathe a sigh of relief.

Judging by his reaction as if seeing the Vice Commander for the first time, it seemed the Warrior Priest had also completely returned to his senses.

#

We asked the Warrior Priest to explain the situation as well, but he refused to talk about it.

“Should I tell such a depressing story on a happy day like today?! Let’s have a festival after so long, Commander! Kuhahaha!”

“You’ll have to talk about it eventually, Warrior Priest.”

The Vice Commander grabbed the Warrior Priest’s shoulder with a serious attitude.

“About how you saved the Commander, too.”

“Ah, you still haven’t lost that resolute attitude. Alright, Vice Commander. It’s good to see you after so long.”

The Warrior Priest said this, then widened his eyes as if something had occurred to him.

“Oh my, look at me! This isn’t the time! Commander! I’ll leave the festival preparations to you! My daughter, wait for me! Daddy’s coming!”

The Warrior Priest ran off frantically.

Somehow, I felt all my energy being drained.

I could partly understand why the Outer God hiding in the Warrior Priest’s body had acted so awkwardly.

It wasn’t an act; that was its limit.

Seeing this, the Knight Commander laughed lightly, and the Vice Commander quietly approached her from behind.

“Hmm?”

“…You called it your shame, but I wish you had told me beforehand.”

“…I’m sorry, Vice Commander. I might have been afraid of being different. That’s probably why I hid it from all of you.”

The Knight Commander looked at me with a warm smile.

“But I should learn from that guy’s behavior. His attitude of turning his differences into strengths.”

Huh?

It’s a bit embarrassing to be praised so suddenly.

I scratched the back of my head, feeling awkward.

“…I am prepared to accept any aspect of you, Commander.”

The Vice Commander said, slightly raising the corner of his mouth.

At those words, the Knight Commander looked at the Vice Commander with a slightly dazed expression.

“Turning into strengths, being different. I don’t think there’s a need to categorize it like that. I came to respect you, Commander, for all of those aspects included.”

The Vice Commander carefully knelt and bowed his head.

“…Thank you, Commander. For returning to the side of this dull person.”

With those words, the Vice Commander was about to carefully rise from his position.

But he couldn’t complete his intended action.

Kwadangtang!

“Kugh?”

The Knight Commander suddenly grabbed him forcefully at a speed that even the Vice Commander couldn’t react to.

The Vice Commander’s expression was momentarily filled with confusion, and the Knight Commander, who was almost embracing the Vice Commander’s head, was smiling.

That smile felt…

Full of possessiveness.

“Vice Commander, do you remember what I said before I left on the expedition?”

“That you would definitely return to my side…”

“No, before that.”

“T-that was…”

She spoke so faintly then that even I couldn’t hear it properly.

What on earth did she say?

I watched the scene with growing interest.

“From your reaction, it seems you still remember.”

“W-why bring that up so suddenly…”

“Then can I assume you somewhat agree?”

“…That is.”

The Vice Commander smiled gently and said.

“…It’s too much for someone like me, but…”

“Answer with yes or no.”

“…Then yes, but.”

“Hmm.”

The moment she heard those words, the Knight Commander’s expression changed strangely.

Yes.

It was similar to the expression she made when the Outer Gods suddenly attacked me.

“C-Commander. Your face is close.”

“…Then prove that feeling right here.”

“Commander! We’re outside. And how could I…”

“…I won’t let you go.”

“W-wait…!”

I decided not to watch what happened next.

Although I supported the pure love between the Knight Commander and the Vice Commander, I thought it would be disrespectful to their relationship to watch any more openly.

The way back to the branch felt quite refreshing.

「Dar.ling?」

…No, maybe not so refreshing after all.