Ch.297Chapter 297 – Residual Thoughts

My consciousness returned after being cut off.

I realized my memory had been severed after fighting Idea and hearing Beatrice’s voice, so I looked around.

“You’re back again.”

I noticed I had returned to my mental world.

It felt so familiar now, almost like my own living room.

Perhaps sensing my thoughts, Pia, who had been reclining comfortably in a chair at a distance, raised her hand and spoke.

“Welcome back. Did you bring any gifts?”

“Unfortunately, my pockets are rather empty.”

“Make sure to bring something next time.”

After exchanging light jokes, I stood up.

Pia also rose from her chair, and I noticed Yuto standing not far from her.

Seeing that Yuto seemed to have something to say, I nodded at him before turning to Pia.

“When can we get rid of that thing?”

“The parasite? I don’t know.”

“Just wait, you damned bastard.”

Yuto immediately flared up in anger.

After sighing once, he spoke again.

“Impressive that you faced that bastard and survived.”

“It was thanks to my companions.”

Yuto snorted at my words.

And Pia smiled as she said:

“Good companions indeed.”

“They’re better than I deserve.”

“…I wonder if things would have been different if I had such companions.”

Pia responded to my words with a hint of bitterness.

Looking at her, Yuto said:

“We’re already dead. Our wills barely survive in this one’s mental world, Pia.”

“Still, I can’t help but wonder if things could have been different.”

“I don’t wonder about such things.”

Yuto said, crossing his arms.

“I don’t regret dying while fighting like a warrior.”

“Warrior this, warrior that, but haven’t you never beaten me even once?”

“……”

Yuto was rendered speechless.

The casual fact Pia had thrown out was assaulting him.

“Besides, a true warrior should prioritize completing the mission. Not dying.”

Pia said this and looked at me.

“As a warrior, I failed to complete the mission Lord entrusted to me. It’s shameful.”

After saying this, Pia sighed once.

Then she looked at me and said:

“Is there anything you’re curious about?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

I immediately asked in response to Pia’s voice.

“Just before, right before that guy’s sword touched me, I heard something like a warning. Was that you two?”

I asked the two dragons.

After thinking for a moment, Pia quietly nodded.

“It probably was.”

“Probably?”

“As I’ve explained before, let’s review. You know our true identities, right?”

I nodded at Pia’s words.

Pia was the will remaining in my heart, and Yuto was the will he had breathed into me when he transported me elsewhere during the Black Dragon subjugation.

“Our wills remained in your mental world because we wanted you to fulfill our mission, to meet the Dragon Lord.”

“And when our wills remained in your mental world, our thought remnants would have taken root in you.”

Yuto told me.

Pia continued:

“Residual thought remnants would be more accurate. Remnants we weren’t aware of, that we didn’t recognize.”

“And considering the situation you faced and the circumstances of our deaths, those remnants were likely simple yet powerful.”

“Something like survival instinct.”

Pia said.

“The desire to live, the fear of death… a mixture of such things.”

“I see.”

I nodded at Pia’s words.

“So the memories of your moments before death dwelled within me and warned me. Is that how I should understand it?”

“That seems like the right way to understand it.”

Pia said, looking at me.

“Enough explanation… that sword and that swordsman were the cause of our deaths. The residual thoughts probably awakened because you were one step away from death.”

“And thanks to that, you avoided the worst-case scenario.”

Pia nodded at Yuto’s words.

“Avoided the worst-case scenario, huh.”

“If you had tried to deploy the dragon armor to deflect his attack at that moment…”

Pia spoke with a calm voice tinged with slight anger.

The emphasis she placed on the word “his” suggested she harbored resentment toward Idea for killing her.

Pia continued:

“A portion of the armor would have been completely annihilated, taking your magic power with it.”

“That would have caused a tremendous backlash on your body, which already struggles just to summon the armor.”

“How severe would it have been?”

In response to my question, Yuto smiled wickedly and said:

“You would have died instantly.”

“……”

“This isn’t a joke. The magic power required to summon the armor and the magic power sustaining your heart could have been completely stolen.”

“Your frail body is barely controlling that tremendous magic power as it is. If a large amount was taken at once, the balance would have collapsed beyond recovery.”

“Even we couldn’t have done anything if that happened.”

I quietly nodded at Pia’s words.

“I was lucky then.”

“Yes. And you were truly fortunate.”

“Someone else controlled your body’s unstable magic power. They even compensated for what was lacking.”

“They seem quite skilled at controlling magic power. That’s why you survived.”

From their explanation and my last memories, I could guess who it was.

“I’ll have to thank them later.”

“You should.”

After saying this, Pia stood up.

“It’s time for you to go now.”

“How much time has passed?”

Time often flows differently when I’m here.

Feeling anxious, I asked, and Pia smiled as she replied:

“Not much time has passed outside. At most about two hours. The emergency treatment was quick, so you’ve recovered smoothly.”

“Tough bastard.”

I ignored Yuto’s comment.

And Pia continued:

“You should avoid that man if possible. He’s the worst match for you.”

“He’s specialized in dragon hunting. You’re no match for him, so tuck your tail and run.”

Perhaps because he had lost himself, Yuto spoke quite frankly.

Is he the type who’s strong against the weak and weak against the strong?

“What are you thinking?”

“Just that you seem arrogant toward those you think are weaker than you, but you’d probably tuck your tail between your legs for those stronger than you.”

“……”

Yuto’s face reddened and he tried to say something, but Pia stood in front of me and glared at him.

Soon Yuto deflated.

“That’s right.”

“Shut up.”

Seeing him cowed by Pia just made him look ridiculous.

“…Stop teasing Yuto. Make sure you prepare countermeasures against that man.”

Pia said with a smile.

Following her words, I turned and walked toward the exit.

Then I paused for a moment.

‘…I’ll surely have to fight him again.’

Idea had three main objectives.

One was my elimination.

Another was securing Sera.

The last was the death of Chris.

I heard the third one for the first time then, but I thought it was probably because Chris had newly become a goddess.

‘…Fighting again, huh.’

I needed to come up with a strategy.

But it was hard to believe that Idea had revealed all his cards in that fight.

I needed more information.

Information about his fighting style.

And from our earlier conversation, I remembered something.

“…Pia. I have one more question.”

“Go ahead.”

I looked at Pia and asked.

And.

Pia smiled as she answered.

“Of course, I’ll do as you wish.”

“Thank you.”

“It will take some time for it to become yours.”

“That’s fine.”

Soon, she placed her hand on my head and infused something into me.

+

“Kei!”

“Mr. Kei!”

When I opened my eyes, the first faces I saw were Eve and Sera.

I couldn’t see anyone else.

They were so close to my face that they blocked my entire field of vision.

I was sure there were more people behind them.

And sure enough, Chris’s voice began to reach me.

“Excuse me, you two! Please move aside!”

With a somewhat cute voice, the two moved away from me.

Then I saw Chris, who seemed to have used all her strength to lift them, and Sia with bandages wrapped around her arm.

“Is this everyone?”

“No, not quite.”

As Sia pointed, I saw Domestica along with Vanilla and Gigas.

The three of them appeared uninjured.

“You managed to escape well.”

“Well…”

Domestica hesitated slightly.

Then Vanilla quietly stepped forward.

“While you and the others were fighting, Gigas and I extracted her.”

“Using invisibility magic. I blocked any attacks that came our way.”

So that’s why Domestica suddenly disappeared.

Still, if she had stayed there, her life would have been in danger too, so it was an appropriate measure.

“I’m a bit disappointed you didn’t fight with us though.”

I deliberately grumbled, and immediately the two began making excuses.

“Look, we’re injured too…”

“Besides, we couldn’t handle that monster. How could he fight on par with Sia?”

Sia laughed at Vanilla’s words.

Then she spoke in a solemn voice:

“Don’t be mistaken. I’ve been injured since the time I met you all until now.”

“You pushed yourself too hard, and your internal wounds reopened…”

At Chris’s words, Sia made a bitter expression and said:

“Still, I didn’t think I would lose… if it weren’t for these wounds…”

Perhaps she was frustrated about ultimately being pushed back by Idea.

Looking at Sia, who seemed a bit dispirited, I said seriously:

“Just think of it as getting old and forget about it.”

“Hahaha.”

Sia laughed.

And with a smiling face, she looked at me.

“Just wait until I’m fully healed, Kei.”

I could feel Sia’s killing intent.

Creepy.

While Eve seemed to notice something as she looked at Sia, I turned to Sera and asked:

“Where’s Beatrice?”

“Well…”

“Don’t tell me she left?”

“No.”

Sera shook her head at my question.

“She’s right next door, sending communications to the resistance base.”

“She’s contacting Lord Archery about what happened here and telling him to abandon the base.”

At those words, I listened carefully.

Indeed, I could hear what sounded like Beatrice’s voice.

‘That’s a relief.’

I was worried she might have run away saying her business was done.

And as if reading my mind, Eve smiled brightly and said:

“I warned her firmly that she’d better not run away.”

“I explained it to her kindly.”

Sera smiled and clenched and unclenched her hand.

And I saw Vanilla grabbing her hand and trembling.

Apparently, something definitive had happened while I was unconscious.

I missed quite the spectacle.

I decided to hear the details about that later and asked about another concerning matter.

“They’re abandoning the resistance base?”

“Yes. Abandoning it. Beatrice is telling Lord Archery right now that they need to retreat to another base.”

I paused for a moment to think.

And I quickly understood the reason.

“It’s because the forces are split due to Idea, right?”

“Exactly.”

Back on the bridge, Idea had displayed the feat of cutting down all the resistance cavalry.

Except for those who barely escaped alive and us, it would be fair to say no one survived Idea’s onslaught.

The lost troops amounted to half of Lord Archery’s soldiers and all of Count Rizolkobu’s forces, meaning the current resistance stronghold’s forces were less than half of what they were before.

I’m not certain, but I’ve heard that militarily, losing 30% of your forces is considered annihilation.

Of course, various situations are taken into account, but with more than half the forces gone, the decision to abandon the base made perfect sense.

“Plus, with Count Rizolkobu, the person in charge, dead, the decision became easier.”

“You mean since the person in charge is dead, Archery can retreat freely without anyone to hold him accountable?”

Domestica nodded at Sia’s words.

“Of course, those who want to check the faction Count Rizolkobu belonged to and the Princess faction will have something to say.”

Still, Domestica explained that since the responsibility for losing the base could be attributed to Rizolkobu, there was no grounds to accuse them of desertion for retreating.

After all, it was Rizolkobu’s selfish actions to save himself that caused this annihilation, so the responsibility truly lay with him.

‘…Though I doubt the encounter with the Order was purely coincidental.’

While this disaster could be attributed to encountering the Order, I had suspicions that Beatrice had actually induced it.

By attaching her magic power to Count Rizolkobu.

And that had drawn significant attention, bringing Idea here.

‘I should ask about this in more detail.’

Just as I was thinking that, the bushes rustled slightly, and soon a black-haired magician appeared.

“Ah, I finished the communication.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Beatrice.”

It was Beatrice, who had returned after completing her communication.

She looked somewhat tired, but she wasn’t showing it.

“So, everyone seems to be safe…”

Beatrice slowly examined all of us.

And soon, her eyes met mine.

We stared at each other intently for a moment.

Beatrice was the first to speak.

“…It’s been a while, Helmet.”

“I’m glad to see you’re well, Beatrice.”

We exchanged seemingly ordinary greetings.

Then, looking at Beatrice, I quietly said:

“I have so many questions, but you were nowhere to be seen. I was disappointed.”

Perhaps she felt a bit guilty?

Beatrice’s eyes trembled slightly.