Chapter 7Chapter 7

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MaruMA:Volume15:Chapter 7Chapter 7

After that, almost everything goes according to my plan.

The place we’re supposed to lure Yels.h.i.+ to is the facility where Jason and Freddy are, at the northern-most end of the continent. If Sizemore and Dacascos, who were sent out scouting, couldn’t meet up with the special forces team nearby, then they were to head for the north of the continent directly, based on the situation—because I ordered them to head for the facility first.

Luckily, they followed my instruction and reached the facility first, even rendezvousing with the nearby teams, and were waiting for us there.

And then Saralegui, who had escaped with a member of the equestrian tribe, fulfilled his promise as well. At first I thought there was only a fifty-fifty… No, a thirty-seventy chance that he would do as I asked him, but the results are surprising.

Saralegui escaped to the facility I mentioned, and told the s.h.i.+nzoku guards he met, in Seisakoku language,

“I’m being chased by the dead.”

As well as,

“On the way back from my family tombs, I was attacked by an army of the dead, and only a few of my guards managed to survive. Thankfully I met this equestrian person, his riding skills are the only reason we could throw off the dead. But those things would surely come after me here.”

When someone who has the same face and voice of the boy emperor says that, even soldiers stationed in the middle of nowhere would fall over themselves to protect their monarch. Saralegui, posing as Yels.h.i.+, continues,

“Those members of the dead used a strange houjutsu to make us lose consciousness, and then they controlled us when everyone is dazed. The surviving guards were tragically taken down as well, and now they’ve become puppets controlled by the enemy. If I’m struck by those guys’ houjutsu again, there’s a high chance I’ll be taken away. Listen up, everyone, even if I’m standing with those things, that just means I’ve been controlled, don’t treat me as the enemy! Just aim for the dead, you just have to deal with the dead!”

All that may sound confusing normally, but to the excited guard captain, that’s perfect news. After all, to soldiers whose usual job is watching over the slaves, this is an important event that comes once in a lifetime. Faced with an emergency situation coming in like a tsunami, very few people can maintain their cool.

At a time like this, Saralegui used a reverse-manipulation method to impersonate the Seisakoku emperor, as expected of the self-proclaimed subst.i.tute. But the equestrian person who followed him probably only thought, “Goodness~ The subst.i.tute is up to his usual tricks again.”

Afterwards he said, “I hate owing people debts!” But the truth is he had no other choice, and had to cooperate obediently even if it’s a plan by a rookie like me. In life, there are times when enemies end up on the same boat.

Anyway, that’s how the theatre major Shou s.h.i.+maron king, Saralegui pulls in the Seisakoku guards who were guarding their borders dutifully into becoming our allies. Just as the agitated guards are raising their swords and yelling, “Defeat the dead, protect His Majesty!”, Sizemore, Dacascos and about ten members of our special forces team have already slipped through the loose defenses and released the slaves in the facility. We don’t let them escape immediately, though, instead we’re looking for a suitable opportunity to hand them over to Venera.

By the time Yels.h.i.+’s army, carrying the Box and me, reach the northern end of the continent with Wolf and Venera, who had successfully fulfilled their roles as guideposts, the facility where they kept those who returned from overseas had already had a ‘WELCOME, dead people’ party poised and ready.

Even if the ones who rush in there are a part of the boy emperor’s actual army, since his men are all members of the resurrection group who look terrifying and rather unlucky, they are treated as the enemy instead.

Although I say soldiers, in truth there are only about twenty guards at the facility. By sheer numbers alone, Yels.h.i.+ has an overwhelming advantage.

Although the men fight the resurrection group bravely, the difference of almost five times in manpower will decide the outcome of this battle.

Just then, Hazel Graves makes a signal as Venera.

She tells her many comrades in the facility, to fight for Yels.h.i.+.

They’re mostly rather powerless slaves, and their time in the facility has also weakened their bodies, but Venera still says,

“Even so, there isn’t a citizen in this world who wouldn’t protect the leader of their country. Even if he’s a king who tortured us for so long, and wouldn’t listen to our voices, there still isn’t a citizen who would hand their leader over to the dead!”

Surprisingly, all her comrades obey her, sitting on horseback with her right hand clenched into a fist and raised high. I really admire someone like her, a true leader, and my admiration is so much that I can’t help but pat the mummy’s shoulder.

So everyone holds up their household weapons… in other words, pickaxes and shovels, yelling, “Return our home, return to ashes!” as they fight, making the whole scene into an extremely rare crusade battle. I really don’t want to think back on that scene.

I jump down from the cart carrying the Box and ready to escape, since I have to find Murata, as well as the lead bait, Wolfram. But I barely get a few steps away before I hear Yels.h.i.+’s voice, full of authority, and a few members of the resurrection group block my path. d.a.m.n, he shouldn’t have noticed me.

One zombie seems to be suspecting what my object of subjugation[1]… in other words, what this wooden baseball bat can do, but the problem is I already showed I was unarmed during the hostage exchange, so I don’t have any weapon on my hands at all. I don’t have a wooden rod or a stick or a pan or a mace. In that case, I might as well use Alazon’s bones…

The three zombies standing in front of me suddenly vanish, and my field of vision turns wide. One of them has been beheaded, and the other two are destroyed as well, their bones scattered across the ground with what looks like no hopes of recovery. That’s not something a blunt sword can do, but a blow from the back by a bigger, heavier blade.

“Josak…”

He’s standing with his back to the moon. I can’t see his eyes, face, or mouth, only his shadow extending to my feet.

But with only that I can’t tell if Josak Gurrier is a friend or enemy. If I don’t go closer, I really won’t know if he’s returned to normal or still under someone’s control.

In front of me, Josak twirls the heavy broadsword that can cut a person in half with the power from his wrist alone.

“Josak, I’m asking you.”

My words end there, but we don’t move or speak, like two wax statues frozen on the spot.

Someone seems to be calling my name from a distance. It’s a comrade’s voice. Although I want to say, “Forget about me, go look for Murata”, I keep feeling as though if I make a careless move now, the balance in front of me will collapse, and so I’m too scared to make a sound.

The person who broke through the stalemate isn’t me, and neither is it Josak.

“Conrad!?”

I couldn’t stop him in time. Body tilting forward, footsteps flying, even if he tripped on the sand and lost his balance, Conrad still used his unsheathed blade to block the broadsword in Josak’s hands.

“I said it before, I will kill you with my own two hands!”

For a split second, he smiles that gentle smile I know so well,

“Kill you with my own two hands.”

He draws his sword and deflects the broadsword with the notch before even finis.h.i.+ng his sentence, but Josak doesn’t relax his grip, instead using the momentum to bring the blade that had been lifted over his head down hard. The two metal weapons clash with a dull sound, the blades drawing out a line of silver and lighting sparks between the two men.

I try to stop them, yelling, “You two are good friends, don’t do this!” But if I barrel in at a time like this, I’ll definitely get hurt. Not only that, one of them may lose their balance trying to avoid me, and might even get fatally wounded, so I can only stay where I am helplessly.

Conrad takes one step back.

“Move aside and take it easy, you couple of good friends!”

Suddenly Adalbert comes in from Josak’s side, though Josak already reacted to his voice. It looks like Adalbert jumped down from a height, and so just manages to step in between the two. He uses his back and muscular shoulders to forcefully push Conrad back.

“Adalbert!”

“Don’t tell me you two were actually fighting seriously!? I said I’d do it! And besides didn’t we say over and over again that you mustn’t approach the Box… Whoa whoa whoa!”

Adalbert steps back to avoid the tip of the blade closing in on him, even laughing approvingly. I watch him bounce around happily, switching his sword to the other hand so he can wave his right hand,

“That was too close, too close, looks like I really can’t afford to underestimate a survivor of Arnold.”

Of course Josak doesn’t stop attacking while he’s talking. When his sword is blocked, he changes his stance by holding it with both hands and stabbing at Adalbert. That way, it’s easier for him to get closer to Adalbert, whose moves tend to open and close widely.

Adalbert should be used to these kinds of attacks too, though, dodging with ease every time it seems his skin is about to be sliced open. And when Josak dashes straight at him, he easily avoids him at a hair’s breadth as well.

But Josak doesn’t fall over, using the tips of his toes to force his body to a stop. Even so, his upper half is now completely unprotected. If his opponent were to get a hit in now, he would surely sink into the sand. However, Adalbert also loses his balance, only taking one big step with his right leg.

“Tsk!”

I hear someone tut their tongue. The tip of Josak’s sword presses in, cutting open the clothes on Adalbert’s chest, and a jet black liquid spurts out.

“Grantz?”

The little bottle splits in half, falling onto the dry sand, but that liquid isn’t blood. It looks a lot like blood under the moonlight and torchlight, but it’s not anyone’s blood, just the liquid in Adalbert’s bottle.

But my relief lasts only a second, because Josak is crouching on the ground, groaning like a beast. His left hand is covering his eyes, and he even drops his sword to the ground, until finally he just falls to the floor and rolls around in pain.

“Josak’s… eyes…”

“Adalbert, what liquid was that?”

“I don’t know, anyway it’s a potion from the Red Devil. The only thing we can be sure about is that it’s nothing good.”

“Could it be poison!? Josak!”

“Let go of me!”

I want to help Josak up, but Conrad stops me. Since I’m behind him, I can’t see too clearly, but it seems like he did something near Josak’s neck, and sure enough Josak’s limbs stop moving.

“Josak, don’t tell me…”

“It’s okay, he’s not dead. No, more importantly, Your Majesty, he…”

“Yuuri! Found you found you, I finally found you! Eh, what’s up with him? Did he die again?”

As I’m looking at Josak lying on the ground, the words that slip out of Saralegui’s mouth really upset me. But Saralegui did indeed help a lot in the plan this time. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have been able to pull the guards at the facility to our side. Thinking of that, I force myself to keep my emotions in check.

Saralegui wasn’t chased by either friend or foe, and I don’t know when he managed to dart past so many swords and shovels to get to where I am. As for where I am, it’s also really close to his little brother.

“Sara, what are you doing?”

“Hi, Yels.h.i.+. You look really energetic, huh. Don’t tell me you plan on throwing your big brother aside and galloping into the sunset on your own?”

“Are you an idiot? When two people who look exactly the same show up at the same time, they’ll see through it for sure!?”

“Then I’ll hide you… Oh dear!”

He was planning to joke around at first, but shut up as soon as he sees the thing on the cart. In the beginning I thought Saralegui saw Alazon’s remains, and was shocked into silence, yet it seems the thing he’s interested in isn’t his mother’s dried corpse, but the large object next to it instead.

“Ahaha, so it’s in a place like this, how unexpected.”

Saralegui laughs hysterically, his gaze going between me, Yels.h.i.+, and the Forbidden Box.

“Goodness, ignorance sure is scary, Yuuri. Don’t tell me Yels.h.i.+ wanted to use you to test this Box?”

His every move is suspicious to me, but I still nod and reply,

“That’s right.”

“He must have no idea what this is, then. All that about the power to control the dead, don’t tell me he thought this Box is full of stuff like that? It’s obviously not. And after seeing Yuuri’s majutsu yesterday, to think he still thought the Maou is the Key, what an idiot. You saw such a magnificent water dragon, and still didn’t realize that Yuuri’s element is water! You actually thought the current Maou who controls water can release ‘Inferno on the Tundra’!”

“Sara, how did you…”

How did he know that this is ‘Inferno on the Tundra’? Where did the information leak? Or did he know from the start, and was hiding it with his superior acting skills?

“Yuuri, I really want to correct something you said before. Yels.h.i.+ and I aren’t alike at all, not in the slightest! Ah—Really, he’s just too dense, I can’t believe we share the same blood!”

Saralegui doesn’t notice my suspicions, continuously poking fun at his little brother,

“I finally understand why you could only inherit Seisaoku, you big moron.”

“There’s no need to challenge him that much…”

“Shh—Be quiet, Yuuri. Yels.h.i.+ controls all his zombie subordinates, and treats them like pieces on a chess board. Oh, yeah! Lord Weller, aren’t you really good at bad jokes?”

Adalbert’s expression changes drastically as he carries the unconscious Josak onto his shoulder, and he prepares to escape.

“Eh!? What!? Is it okay if it’s related to the presidential election?”

“As long as it has anything to do with race, it’s forbidden--! What could you say… something like a nice fellow in a good mood!”

As soon as he hears my words, Conrad’s mouth turns downwards, and the arms that were blocking off the enemy stop as well,

“What--?”

“D-don’t stop moving your hands, aah--!”

I was rejected by Lord Weller, and hurt beyond words, I had hoped to get a compliment from him, too… Next to me, Saralegui claps his hands together loudly, as though about to bring out his final trick,

“Alright—Now I will announce a meaningless fact—Before Yels.h.i.+ turned three, he was always hiding in Mother’s chest, y’know—”

Yels.h.i.+ stiffens where he stands, his face slowly turning red, as the rest of us harbor suspicions in our hearts,

“Why would he hide inside…”

“How would I know…”

“The fact that I didn’t say that in Seisakoku language is a sign of your big brother’s love for you, Yels.h.i.+. That’s the only reason your men don’t know about it now.”

Just then, something completely unexpected happens.

There is an archer with really bad archery skills among the Seisaskoku guards, who are currently out allies. Not only is it dangerous to let loose arrows in the middle of a chaotic battle like this, he even neglects some basic understand that elementary school kids know, shooting flaming arrows from the facility’s tall observation tower. Maybe he thinks that setting the luggage on fire would destroy the undead, but the spectacularly lousy archer doesn’t notice that their king Yels.h.i.+ isn’t that far from the thing he’s aiming at, and shoots with all his might.

The flaming arrow cuts through the night, aiming straight for its target—the Forbidden Box, ‘Inferno on the Tundra’.

“His Eninence said we can’t use fire!”

Although quite a few people noticed it, but no one can keep up with the speed of the arrow, so no one could stop it in time.

They just watch quietly as the burning arrow hits something with a ‘thunk!’ before reaching the wooden box. That was when Alazon, sitting next to the Box, fell over, taking the arrow directly as though protecting the Box, and taking it straight in the heart, too.

The people around her don’t even have the time to register their surprise before the dried-up body burns and explodes rapidly. All we see are burning pieces of the corpse scattering onto the earth of her motherland.

Yels.h.i.+ screams, a sound so tragic it doesn’t seem to belong to this world.

When the sky turns pale white, I finally reunite with Murata on the desert covered with zombie parts.

We’re just like brothers who were nearly separated by death, hugging each other tightly. We touch each other’s arms and backs, rea.s.suring ourselves that the other person is bruised but not broken, and we don’t stop.

“Murata, ah—Really, d.a.m.n…”

Thank goodness you’re still alive.

“Thank goodness you’re still alive.”

“s.h.i.+buya, I’m the one who wants to say that. Have you any idea how worried I was. In order to find you on Earth, even your brother was running around everywhere…”

With that my friend sighs, the shoulders I’m hugging sagging as though the air was let out of them.

“Sigh--”

“What? What happened?”

“I thought I was a goner for sure.”

His eyebrow droop in fear, and his words come haltingly, completely unlike his usual, bright and lively self. I a.s.sume he feels uneasy, so I grab his cheeks with my hands, and touch his forehead with mine rather roughly. I guess it would be more accurate to say I ‘b.u.t.ted’ his head, and I even smile to show I controlled my power.

“Relax, I’m here for you.”

Even if he has memories of the past so long I can’t even imagine, he’s still my friend of the same age.

“It’s alright now, Ken.”

“Please don’t talk like the doctor, okay, Yuu-chan?”

Murata can’t help but laugh too.

“Don’t make yourself sound so mighty. The only reason I tortured myself so badly just to get here, is because you went missing, you know?”

“Please, you’re the paperwork expert, I’d be just as healthy and lively without you.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

His tone grows stronger at the end of the sentence, and I think ‘then what do you mean?’ as I wait for him to continue.

“I wanted to find you myself, I wanted to find you with these hands, and these eyes!”

The words that come out are thanks. But it sounds very comical to my ears, so I just nod in reply.

“I always wanted a true comrade I don’t have to hide and act around, a friend I can share everything with.”

“Mn.”

“I always wanted a friend like you.”

“Mn.”

“So I had to find you myself.”

Wondering why all I can do is to keep nodding my head, I take out the gla.s.ses from my pocket and put them on Murata’s dirty face. I’m not used to it, though, so I just can’t seem to do it right. But Murata still waits patiently for me to put it on him, only raising his head when his vision is restored.

I’m really happy to see you.

　　 Venera and Wolfram walk over to us, wearing tired smiles. Although they look exhausted, their smiles are still full of joy. Wolfram unsheathed sword is covered in sc.r.a.ps of meat and skin. In many ways, this was a nightmarish battle.

Her laugh lines even more obvious now, Venera says happily,

“GENTLEMEN, you guys did well!”

Wolfram finds Saralegui crouching down next to his little brother, and says in a rare, happy tone, as though to take revenge for that arrow back then,

“I heard the s.h.i.+ps your country sent are turning circles like a lost child out there in the ocean, looks like Shou s.h.i.+maron’s navigational skills need some work, huh.”

It’s almost dawn.

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