13. The others’ stories (4)

#8 Their story: A certain (former) student council president’s story.

[We will find you. And we will kill you.

-Aris ril Letia]

“Hm? What letter was that?”

When Ari asked, I folded up the letter and put it in my pocket.

There is no need for me to show the pure girl a letter like this.

“Mm. it’s a letter from Yugrasia. The school year’s about to start after all.”

“Ah, that’s right…… you said that Yugrasia’s teaching style was a hard one. Are they doing well?”

“Yeah, they’re the same as always.”

Meaning that they were currently in a living h.e.l.l but there was no need for me to tell her that.

“Ha… really? Then it looks like Arucia’ll have a hard time this year as well.”

As Ari sighed and worried about her school’s future prospects, I wanted to tell her that the imperial festival was basically just a very slightly harder version of what we did at school every day, but I decided against it.

Life at Yugrasia was difficult to explain by calling it difficult, after all.

“They’ll be alright.”

“Really, you’re quite mean as well…… even if you were Yugrasia’s former student council president, Renya and Tinya are in Arucia this year as well. Aren’t you worried?”

“Hahaha……”

When my other girlfriends’ names were brought up I laughed awkwardly.

Expecially in Tinya’s case, despite her being the youngest, she was still part of a marquisate family, one that protected the borders of the empire.

Just how much did I try to convince her again and again against her idea of enrolling at Yugrasia to get stronger!

Even knowing that if Tinya wanted something, she would do her absolute hardest to make it happen, I worked just as hard to convince her otherwise, and just barely managed to get to change her mind and enroll in Arucia.

I had to do some work afterwards to cheer up a sulking Tinya, but it was a bit sad that no one would appreciate my efforts.

“Ehew…… Really, Nerkia, you never want to talk about Yugrasia whenever we bring it up.”

“It’s not a place that can be explained with words, after all.”

“That’s what you said in the imperial festival and got mad at everyone…… and single-handedly smashed our entire school.”

The way Ari pouted with her lower lip sticking out was cute.

Just who the heck called this adorable woman the Iron Flower? It had to be that all of Arucia’s students had something wrong with their eyes.

Smooch.

“Ah, wa, wait a second! Wha, what are you doing!”

“Hm? Weren’t you asking for a kiss with you pushing your lips out like that?”

“N, no!”

As she blushed all a-fl.u.s.ter, I gave her another peck on the lips.

This life of spending time leisurely at my family’s lands were slowly coming to an end as well.

The original plan was to help Father out with the family work and learn the ins and outs of it that way, but everything changed with the arrival of a single letter.

“I don’t have much time left here after all.”

“That’s true……”

Drooping Ari was so cute in couldn’t help but give her a hug.

And not seeming to dislike it, she too, leaned into me and sighed.

“The imperial palace immediately after graduation. And on a direct summons from Her Imperial Highness. My boyfriend got promoted way too quickly……”

“Well, thank to that your father acknowledged us after all.”

“Rather than acknowledgement… I think there was something else behind that……”

With a ma.s.sive scowl on his face and seeming like he had other things he wanted to say, in the end Ari’s father eventually acknowledged and allowed our relationship.

And amazingly enough, I got similar announcements from the other families at around the same time.

“Was it because of the imperial festival?”

“I’m not sure… at least with me and… Iiana unni it’s basically an official announcement, but……”

“Well, a good thing is a good thing.”

Right now, they’d gone as far as sending messengers to my family to acknowledge our relationships.

Now all I had to do was hone myself so I wouldn’t embarra.s.s them as their man!

“Unni’s in the capital so go to her if you need any help.”

“Bis sis Iiana’s more than trustworthy.”

“Me too… I’m definitely… going to go to the capital as well… so you have to wait for me?”

“Mm. Don’t worry.”

“If you cheat… we’ll punish you?”

“Hahaha, I’m telling you that’s never going to happen?”

When I kissed her on her pouting forehead her face loosened up into smiles.

What is this cute thing.

“Uwaaaa, as I thought I don’t want to leave Ari alone and go the the capital!”

“Kyaa! Ne, Nerkia~”

Even as she screamed she snuggled in deeper into my embrace, and as I felt her body wriggle against mine I wondered whether I should reject the job of serving Her Imperial Highness that everyone in the empire wanted.

And approximately one month later.

I realised that I shouldn’t have wondered and refused it as quickly as I could.

“…Is your objective.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Your objective is what I’ve just been telling you.”

The person who said so to me with a bothersome expression in his face was none other than someone from the empire, no, the continent’s strongest military unit, the captain of the imperial battlemage unit that were the first to use the infamous imperial bombardment.

I was very surprised that such a person came for me on the very first day, but that was nothing compared to what came afterwards.

“So you’re saying… that Professor Nicerwin and the legendary Ast are the same person… and you’re telling me to capture Professor, no, the person named Ast?”

“Yep, that’ right. Well, I’m not even going to hope you can capture him alone. Who the heck could capture someone who defeated twelve swordsmasters all by himself with just the metal bat?”

“Excuse me?”

Beat twelve swordsmasters all by yourself? Was that even possible?

Even if the Sword Disaster and the Sword Star, the two strongest swordsmen in the world joined forces it would probably still be impossible?

“Well, our objective is to strengthen our forces. Considering he’s already evaded Her Highness’s total mobilisations to capture him twice now……”

Her Imperial Highness’s army is the single strongest standing army in the entire continent.

You’re telling me that a single individual managed to evade a full mobilisation of the army that was undefeated the continent-wide brawl that was the Great War?

‘A, as expected of the apostle of the Evil G.o.d…..’

As we thought, Professor Nicerwin wasn’t human after al!

“Ca, can I just turn around and go back home now?”

“Do you think you can?”

Something was wrong.

I realised that, but I already knew too much.

“Here, Her Highness’s letter.”

[The moment you go home, treason.]

A short and brutal note that was at odds with the beautiful handwriting it was written in. And underneath was an addendum even longer than the actual note itself…

[On that note, the one who pressured your lovers’ families was me? You know what happens if you run, correct?]

“…Did Her Highness personally write this note?”

“She did. While there are cases where new hires with false impressions of Her Highness don’t adjust very well… I believe you will. Because.”

He wiped off the bothersome expression on his face with an evil grin and said.

“Her Highness’s personality is the most similar to Professor Nicerwin’s compared with anyone else in the world.”

“N, no way……”

“Too late now.”

“Yep, way way too late.”

Beside my despairing self I heard a pair of very familiar voices that only last year I’d heard on a near-daily basis.

“Risen? Karen!”

The two vice-presidents that had acted as my right and left arms had soulless eyes as they both made uncharacteristic evil smiles, grabbed my arms and said.

“”Welcome to h.e.l.l, president.”

“Noooooooooooooo!”

One year after graduating from Yugrasia.

h.e.l.l arrived for us once again.

#9 Their story: The birth of a hero.

“Gaaahhgh!”

“d.a.m.n it, rearguard, attack while you fall back! Only then can the vanguard retreat!”

Screams and cries broke out everywhere on the battlefield.

We’d only just fended off the orcs, but an ogre appeared all of a sudden!

“Hill, do you think you can heal them?”

“Kghhh… there are so many wounded it will be difficult. And even more so because the people attacked by ogres are all critically wounded!”

As I listened to Hill, a priest treating the injured in the rear lines, I bit my lips as I people around me began falling back.

The only ones who could inflict any decent damage on the ogres right now were three knights from this territory and myself.

The other knights couldn’t even use sword ki so they had their hands full just trying to stay alive.

“Mister Swin, you can’t possibly survive on your own!”

“But you, you can’t use your left arm, can you?”

“Kgh……”

“Help out the other knights.”

At my command, one of the knights that could use sword ki made a bitter expression as he retreated.

“Let’s survive and meet each other again, Mister Swin.”

“Worry about your own neck first.”

As I made a face to put him at ease, I sent back all the other knights that had run out of mana as well.

“Three ogres……”

To be honest, this was very difficult.

I had already cut down a hundred orcs.

Moreover, I’d defeated three Orc Warriors, which were said to be hand-picked elites by an Orc Hero.

Although they couldn’t use sword ki like an Orc Hero, their combat abilities alone were regarded as the greatest of warriors among the orcs who knew little other than fighting.

Unlike regular orcs which were regarded as simple monsters, the power of an Orc Warrior was incomparable.

“I’d probably have a hard time even if I fought them while I was fresh, wouldn’t I?”

Bodies that even sword ki had difficulties cutting, and monstrous strength that could even cleanly lift an orc with one hand.

It’s impossible.

When you looked at the knight who could no longer use his left arm after using sword ki to block an attack from an ogre in order to rescue his injured comrade, aren’t the ogres perfectly fine?

“Impossible. It’s impossible, but…”

There was a ruckus coming from behind me.

The sounds of the knights and soldier that had not yet managed to flee, and the people who had come out to defend their homes and livelihoods were keeping my feet rooted in place.

-Foolish idiot.

A voice seemed to echo in my ear.

The voice of the instructor who a few years ago, gave me an unforgettable experience, and whose teachings and experiences, no matter how unwanted, had allowed me to stand where I was today.

“I am quite the idiot.”

According to what he taught me, the appropriate thing to do would be to abandon them and run away alone.

But these were people who had given me hot meals and a place to sleep when I had run out of the money I’d earned from mercenary work.

They had actually fed me. The kind people who had fed me… I couldn’t abandon them and run away on my own!

“Haap!”

With a flare of sword ki I cut open the ogre’s hand.

If that had been a regular orc it’d have been cleaved into two, but a cut was all that I could manage against an ogre.

“Kuwoooooohhh!”

The enraged ogre struck down where I stood, but I dodged and swung my sword again.

Clang!

“Why the heck is this thing so tough.”

It was a sword wreathed in sword ki, but after a few strikes at the ogre, the blade snapped into two.

“Does anyone have any swords left… they wouldn’t, would they?”

I dodged another attack and glanced behind me, but everyone was busy fighting orcs with their own weapons.

The orcs, too, were advancing, trying to flee from the ogres.

Right now where both orcs and humans were doing their best to salvage their lives, there was no one who had enough breathing room to throw me a spare sword.

“I might actually die?”

Just when I started thinking whether or not I should start running away now.

“Ugh… Mister Swin! Take this!”

Together with Hill’s shout, what came flying towards my direction was a white sword.

“Oi, Hill! You should have given this to me earlier if you had something like this!”

I gripped the obviously very high-quality sword and unsheathed it.

“This is pretty good, now die!”

“That sword is the holy sword of our faith! I’m sorry, but none aside from the hero can unsheathe that sword. Just use it for your… protection?”

I heard Hill shouting behind me but he got quieter and quieter so I couldn’t hear him very well.

That was something I could ask Hill later once I got out of here alive.

“Die, ogre!”

“Guooooo!”

My sword ki which was shining brighter than normal for some reason cleanly sliced through the ogre’s wrist.

“Gold?”

Was it because of this golden sword ki?

Iya, this is a good sword. It even gives you special effects to your sword ki.

“Now then……”

As long as I had an effective means of attack, fighting the ogres was no longer an impossible feat.

And thirty minutes later.

“Whew… it’s over.”

As I cut off the head of the last ogre and wiped the sweat off my forehead, I pulled my weary body over to Hill and tried to give him back his sword……

“Sir Hero!”

Hill was clinging to me with tears in his eyes.

No, that aside.

“Sir Hero?”

“I finally, finally found you! Sir Hero! Sir Hero!”

“Ohhhhh! Sir Hero! Sir Hero!”

“Sir Hero!”

“It’s the hero!”

More and more people started surrounding me shouting [Sir Hero!]

“Oi, someone give me an explanation already!”

As my desparate screams fell onto deaf ears, I became a hero.

#10 Their story: A certain villain’s story.

“It’s cold……”

I scrambled through the mountains as rain pelted down on my body.

Rain is a very good environment to run away in.

The falling rain wipes away your footprints and the clouds restrict the vision of any would-be pursuers, even in daytime.

But even during summer, rain makes you cold.

And right now it was autumn, and this place was in the middle of the mountains.

“d.a.m.n, this is cold……”

-This is still another countwy tho so can’t ya take a break? Whabbout tryina find a cave?

“If will be dangerous if I foolishly stick my nose into a monster’s den… but it’s freezing right now so it’s worth the risk.”

Dying of hypothermia on the run is dumber than getting caught.

But……

“Why the h.e.l.l are there no caves?!”

I ran around everywhere in terrain that might house a cave, but I couldn’t find a single one. Would I die here!

-There, theah! Tha’s a cave over theah!

“Ohh!”

There was hope for me yet. I’d like to have some dry firewood right now but since I bought some oil in the nearby village it should be alright.

“Now, it’s your turn, metal bat.”

“Owner’s helpless wifout meh, after all!”

I borrowed the power of the metal bat to pour some mana into a magic lamp.

As a dwarven-made tool, it was an emergency item I carried around regularly, but since it needed magic power to be switched on, I had to give it over to the metal bat every time.

“Now c’mon, show ya gweatfulness f’ the G.o.ddess’s liaaaaaaaghhh! A ghost?!”

“That’s obviously a corpse. Having said that, a G.o.ddess shouldn’t be scared of a ghost.”

The moment the metal bat turned the light on, we could see the figure of a child lying in a heap inside the cave.

It seemed that he or she was unlucky enough to die here.

“Hiing~ poor little thing, dying in a place like this… it isn’t dead?”

“Hm?”

This is the middle of a mountain big enough to be called a mountain range.

Even I, an adult had to walk two days from the nearest village to get here, but a young child in this place was still alive?

“It’s dangerous.”

“The dangerous thing’s ya, lolicon owner! Die, pervert!”

I took the metal bat’s attacks as I stripped away the child’s clothes.

“Pervert! Owner weally was an unsalvagable pervert!”

“Shut up! And stop trying to push a lolicon t.i.tle onto me.”

“Big words comin’ from th’ one stripping a young… little girl!”

Hm…… and this child is a girl.

“Now, there is a little girl here. What would the normal reason for this be?”

“Lost child?”

“Indeed. But never in my life has anything as ordinary as that come to pa.s.s. Which means that this little girl has an extremely high chance of being either a runaway n.o.ble, or a demon!”

“I dunno why but I feel like it’s possible if it’s owner!”

Indeed. I wouldn’t know about other children fallen in a cave, but there was zero chance that a child I would encounter would be ordinary in any shape or form.

I touched the head. No horns.

I touched the b.u.t.tocks. There didn’t seem to be a tail, either.

I checked her belongings. There was no item with a seal, precious-looking items, or even a mysterious sc.r.a.p of paper.

Just in case there were any other hidden secrets I searched the fabric and hems of her clothing but there really was nothing.

“So she actually is just an ordinary little girl!”

“Uwuuuuu……”

At my horrified screams, the child whimpered faintly.

“Hm…… since her body’s burning up I need to start a fire… her clothes aren’t wet so they can be worn again as-is.”

“Whabbout the kid herself? She looks like she’s hurting a lot……”

“Well, what else can we do. We need to treat her.”

“Ya managed to pack medicine on the run, too?”

“Of course. A very effective one, too.”

As she followed my finger to the location of the medicine, the metal bat nodded, approached the child and raised her fists high in the air.

“Aru hands are healing hands☆”

“Kyaaaaaaahhhhhhh!”

The screams of a little girl began to echo around the small cave.