episode_0045

Far away, a man with a genial smile appeared, accompanied by the Duchy’s secret police.

“How… you—”

Before that sight, Alina, the Immortal Sword Princess, grew even paler. The man she had believed without a doubt that she had killed with her own hands was alive there.

“Huhu, surely you didn’t think I was dead, Miss Alina? Nein! Nein! Nein!”

The man continued, raising his arms exaggeratedly.

“Because Uncle Hydra has seven heads!”

‘One was… no, the Sword Princess must have cut it.’

Hearing that, I thought of it as someone else’s problem. I merely guessed that the other one was likely severed by Commander-in-Chief Whitley, who was holding him accountable for the situation.

And yet, he still had seven left. He truly had necks to spare.

“And this Uncle Hydra will chase Miss Alina even to the ends of hell!”

“…!”

What was the true nature of the fear etched on Alina’s face before that man? I could only guess it was something akin to a trauma.

Not only had the opponent whose neck she should have severed with her own hands returned perfectly alive, but now he was also revealing an obsession, backed by the entire Duchy.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you monster!”

“Nein! Nein! Nein! Monster, you say? That’s harsh. Didn’t we all see the ‘real monster’ that day?”

The man approached with an expression as if he held the entire situation in the palm of his hand.

“Monster, you say? That fellow is the real monster. Compared to him, we’re just like cute pink deer, perhaps? Hahaha!”

Colonel Hydra Waltz of the Duchy Guard National Security Department, Fourth Bureau, also known as ‘Carrion Vulture’, said.

“We should all be grateful that the monster from that day isn’t here—”

As if even remembering it sent shivers down his spine.

“Should be grateful…”

That movement, which should have been an exaggerated display with arms wide open, like a conductor on a stage, froze abruptly on the spot.

“Should be grateful?”

Along with the Duchy’s secret police and the ‘Knights of Death’ he commanded as a necromancer. It was as if watching a ridiculous slapstick comedy.

“There’s no need to be grateful.”

I said.

“Because I’m here too.”

“…Ah.”

It was literal. I was here. So there was no particular reason to be grateful.

Nevertheless.

“H-how could you—”

“Don’t worry.”

I said, unconcerned, to him who was freezing in place.

“Because I have no business with you or her.”

“!”

I was here only to hear ‘the answer’ from the Holy Maiden. I had no further obligation to fulfill.

“It’s a different matter when you repeat the same foolish acts in front of me, like last time.”

“N-no, no, how could I!”

With those words, Colonel Hydra bowed his head deeply. Colonel Hydra shouted again at the bewildered secret police, who hadn’t grasped the situation.

“Bow your heads immediately! Bow, you idiots! Do you not dare to know who that person is!!”

“Wh-who is he?”

“You don’t need to know, just bow your heads! Get your damned heads down right now!”

“Understood, Colonel!”

At his words, the secret police also bowed their heads in unison. At the very least, Colonel Hydra seemed to have deeply engraved who I was, in multiple painful ways.

I turned my head, unconcerned.

While the third party who had abruptly interrupted our conversation bowed his head again, I turned to finish the conversation that needed to be concluded.

“M-me… what are you going to do with me?”

“I will do nothing.”

The Immortal Sword Princess asked with a trembling voice. I replied.

This time was different. It wasn’t like last time, when she alone, upon gaining her freedom, had ambushed and slaughtered Colonel Hydra and his subordinates. Now, the opponent was accompanied by a considerable number of top-tier ‘Knights of Death’ and other strong individuals, and they were ready.

Above all, in a situation like this, subduing her, who had been reborn as an undead, was a ‘necromancer’s’ specialty.

And I would do nothing. There was no need to speak of the fate that awaited her if I did nothing and left her.

It was at that very moment.

“!”

A gentle touch once again wrapped around Alina’s cheek.

It was the Holy Maiden’s benevolent touch, extending a hand without a hint of distaste even before a decaying and rotting body, with the warmth of a living person.

No matter how defiled and corrupted, how stained by ugliness and loss of nobility, it made no difference.

Without her help, it would have been impossible to manage this decaying body alone.

「My appearance, it’s very hideous, isn’t it?」

「…It’s not hideous.」

「You are so beautiful.」

“I told you, Miss Alina.”

That very touch wrapped around the Immortal Sword Princess Alina’s pale, glowing nape.

Jeanne, the Holy Maiden, whispered as she embraced her.

With dark, black eyes that showed no nobility or light befitting a Holy Maiden’s name.

“That there is no place for us in this world.”

“Even so—”

“Miss Alina, what do you believe in? Or what did you believe in?”

The Holy Maiden asked again. What she believed in. There was only one thing.

“Justice…”

“I believed in faith. The faith of the Goddess, the faith of the stars.”

The Holy Maiden whispered.

“And— now, look. See where that faith led me.”

Saying so, she spread her arms, and the magical crest engraved on her body shone.

It was a crest of obedience that bound her, a curse carved to shackle her as an undeniable slave.

“Here I am, destined to be sold as a slave at the Imperial Auction House, and Miss Alina has become a ‘Knight of Death’ destined to live as that man’s puppet for the rest of her life.”

“—”

“This is the destination where the things we believed in have led us.”

The Immortal Sword Princess could not reply.

“Look at our utterly miserable state here. Who led us here? What brought us to this fall? Do you still think it was that man?”

“That’s…!”

“No.”

The Holy Maiden shook her head.

“It’s ourselves.”

She shook her head and continued.

“That man is merely the disaster brought about by our foolish decisions.”

A walking disaster. Yet, at the same time, it was their own foolishness that had brought about that disaster.

“Despite that, he— always gave us a chance.”

Holy Maiden Jeanne continued, unconcerned.

“Just like now.”

Just like that time.

「Retreat. I have no business with you.」

He gave them a chance. Should she really think that? Perhaps. In fact, she had rejected the mercy he offered and chosen ‘justice’, and this was the result.

That man was right. Foolishness was nothing more than foolishness.

“That man saved me, and gave me freedom despite the slave crest carved onto me.”

At that moment, Alina realized it as soon as she saw Jeanne, or more precisely, as soon as she saw her eyes.

That a new faith was blooming within the Holy Maiden’s heart.

It was a dark and black faith offered to the snake.

“Then I realized. Freedom, something like that, was never needed from the start.”

“Lady Jeanne…”

“Please, Miss Alina. Join me.”

The Immortal Sword Princess did not answer. She merely bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. But no blood came. Because blood did not flow in the body of one who was already dead. Yes. She was dead.

That death was a decision brought about by her foolishness, and it wasn’t the man in front of her who had revived her after she had died that way.

As a result—that man did nothing. He tried to do nothing.

Unconsciously, her thoughts leaned that way. But what resonated more urgently than any talk of justice was her current life, fallen into a pit of misery.

She didn’t want to live like this. Moreover, once she fell into Colonel Hydra’s hands, an end more horrific and terrifying than her current life awaited her.

She hated it.

She simply, purely hated it. She didn’t want to utter grand words like ‘justice’. It was Alina’s heart, crying out rawly.

“Help… me.”

As she spoke, the back of her childhood friend unconsciously came to mind.

「There’s someone who needs help, and I happen to have a hand I can extend.」

Memories of chasing justice together behind her childhood friend’s back flashed by like a revolving lantern. In the midst of it, Alina suddenly realized that she couldn’t remember Zeruel’s face, who was beyond that back.

「Because I think it’s very sad to just pass by and do nothing.」

And the fact that the hand extended to her, who was so desperately crying out for help, was not his.

Zeruel was dead. By the man in front of her. Dead, he could only pass by and do nothing.

“Do you wish for help?”

“…Yes.”

“You know what that means, don’t you?”

“…”

Alina bit her lip and bowed her head in silence. No blood flowed. Her face wouldn’t flush with humiliation or shame either.

“Kneel, and swear your loyalty before the name of the Snake.”

A short silence descended. In the stillness, Colonel Hydra, who couldn’t openly hide his dismay, was visible.

I was unconcerned either way.

The Holy Maiden and the Immortal Sword Princess, two female swordswomen, knelt. Their swords were plunged vertically into the ground. Just as a knight kneels and pledges before their liege, with their sword plunged into the ground.

Meanwhile, as they plunged their respective swords, the two swordswomen silently held each other’s hands.

“That’s enough.”

“E-enough, you say—”

I said. Then the Sword Princess blinked and asked again. It seemed she had expected some special ritual to be performed.

“J-just this…?”

“Do you wish for me to specially put chains on your neck?”

“!”

The Sword Princess immediately shouted gruffly.

“Th-that’s impossible!”

“Then it’s enough.”

I replied as if it were someone else’s business.

Those of the Sword Princess’s kind are easy to understand. Whether for good or ill, her uprightness knows no lies or deception.

With that, I turned my head.

Aria, as usual, stood silently by my side. I could not discern the expression hidden within her silence. But I no longer concerned myself with it.

I had a task to accomplish, and for that, I needed their strength. Nor did I expect them to live up to expectations immediately.

This was a decision I made as the .

And that action no longer required anyone’s forgiveness or permission.

“…It’s unfortunate.”

Therefore, I said to Colonel Hydra, who was bowing his head.

“That one more precious head will be lost.”