That Which Falls Has No Wings
That Which Falls Has No Wings
It was sky diving from a considerably high altitude, but I was calm enough to surprise even myself. After repeating this shit a few times, I was starting to get the hang of it.
Thanks to seizing a split-second opening to pull out the great needle embedded in that brute Demonfolk member's arm and gripping it, there was no chance of me falling to my death even if I'd be a little tired until I fully landed, so it was only natural. The Demonfolk member, unaware of that fact, spewed all manner of curses while flailing its limbs uselessly as we enjoyed free fall together, but since it didn't seem to have a knack for casting curses, I set it aside for the moment and sank into thought.
Meanwhile, the wyverns of the Demonfolk already receding into distant dots were annoying as fuck, but since the chance was already lost, it couldn't be helped, so I decided to forget about them cleanly. As Esmue said, wasting time on things you can do anytime while ignoring what you can only do now was a waste of time.
But the conclusion to my simple yet ambiguous dilemma didn't come as easily as I'd hoped.
"Should I use this one, or kill it?"
As I stood with my arms crossed, lost in thought while gazing at the ground that still felt incredibly far away, the Demonfolk member even stopped cursing and made an expression that said it had seen every kind of lunatic in the world, but that reaction did nothing to solve my dilemma either.
My deliberation didn't start for some half-assed reason like being deeply moved by its effort to save its subordinates or showing mercy because it was a woman. To be precise, the problem was the creeping annoyance that had been crawling up from the moment these bastards had flown in targeting me.
I still didn't know who the enemy of my village was, and now these fuckers had gone so far as to pinpoint my location and attempt a hijacking? Sure, in the end, they were the ones who got hijacked, but the fact that my information was being siphoned off in a one-way flow still didn't sit right with me.
So I felt like saying at least a word to them... and since something that looked like a commander just happened to be falling right in front of me, the thought suddenly flashed through my mind: seeing as the plan was already fucked, why not use this one instead?
"Well, this isn't something that'll be solved just because I force it."
Since it was something I could only do with the other party's cooperation anyway, I began feeding Magic Power into the needle as I gradually slowed myself down, and while I was at it did the same to the needle embedded in the female warrior's arm. I was holding my own needle, so I felt only moderate resistance, but her unprepared arm rose against its owner's will and put the brakes on her fall.
"Aagh!"
I hadn't been particularly considerate, so I thought the needle suddenly yanked upward might just tear all her flesh off, but the warrior woman, with a short scream, gritted her teeth and put strength into her forearm to prevent that catastrophe.
Indeed, as expected of someone who had clenched her muscles and held on when I tried to forcibly pull the needle out, she was tough.
"Wha, what is this...?"
But unlike the reflexive action she'd taken, she seemed to have trouble grasping the situation. Watching her, I shelved my plan to mention the main subject right from the start and decided to take a slight detour.
"Do you want to fall to your death burning with hostility, or make a deal with me and at least save your life?"
"What?"
"You didn't mishear, so answer me."
Originally, the message I had to deliver was just one thing. That I'd be coming soon to collect the price for the massacre committed in my village, so they should shut the fuck up and wait.
But unlike the other Demonfolk, she didn't even know that such an incident had happened. In that situation, how would she take it if the opponent who'd been trying to kill her suddenly offered to let her live in exchange for delivering a message about that incident?
If it were me, I'd start with questions. What the hell is that about? Why is this story coming up when the Demon King's Army had never even set foot in the west?
And then they'd grow cautious. That was even more likely if they were the type operating in secret, prone to suspicion. If luck was really against me, they might just shut their mouth completely and say nothing even after I went through the trouble of sparing them. Then my insides, already boiling with rage, would properly flip over.
Even though I'd already resolved it was a gamble, I needed to do the groundwork to avoid that kind of bullshit outcome as much as possible.
"What the hell are you talking about..."
"You can't beat me in that state. You couldn't even beat me when you were intact. You know that, right?"
The female warrior flinched but didn't deny it. Their momentary clashes had been roughly even, but that was when her body was intact. One of her arms was already wrecked; if I couldn't beat her even in that state, then I was the one who deserved to fall to my death here.
"I was originally going to kill you, but your change in attitude bought you a little more time. Like I just said, you aren't an immediate threat to me, and there's no chance of you becoming one right now, so if you give up the fight, I'll let you live for the moment. What'll it be? And if you say something trite like, 'And I'm supposed to believe that?' I'll take it as a refusal and immediately pull out my Magic Power, so answer carefully."
Seeing her reflexively open her mouth then shut it, looked like she really had been about to say that. For a moment I almost just dropped her, but her subsequent reaction was a bit unusual, so I decided to hold off.
"...If you're looking to extract information, just kill me."
It was a more rational answer than 'Heh, kill me.' I guess it makes sense that a special forces unit would include someone who could use their head.
"Don't worry about that. You don't have the information I want anyway."
"How can you be sure? You're from Itisel, aren't you?"
"So what?"
"Couldn't I be holding information that might help this war? And yet you're not curious?"
I wondered how she had the nerve to ask such a thing so casually... but since she was the same one who had nitpicked me saying she wasn't small, I decided to just accept it rather than try to understand it. Not that I was going to give her an answer.
"There's no reason for me to explain all that to you. Just answer the question. Are you going to fight?"
Even if my hand being somewhat revealed was unavoidable, having the criteria by which I decided who lived and died become known was a different matter entirely. When I clearly drew the line there, the warrior woman's face grew serious and she began to agonize.
In truth, choosing death here might have been the only way for her to die with any shred of honor in the entire life she'd lead from this point forward.
It wasn't exactly easy for them to just accept her returning unscathed after a desperate holding action where she was left alone, without even succeeding in the mission, with a simple 'Ah, I see.' Especially as a soldier conducting special operations. Assuming she might have leaked one or two secrets, the most sensible response would be to meticulously cross-examine her testimony against what her subordinates said.
In a world where things like Crystals of Truth and lie-detection Holy Arts existed, even if suspicion was cleared quickly, it would be hard for her to be free from doubts that she'd subtly betrayed the Demon King's Army in some other form, or from labels like a defeated wretch who'd sold out her subordinates to crawl back alive.
For those with a strong sense of belonging like them, that alone would often be more cruel than death... and who even knew what kind of hell would break loose if she reported my words to her higher-ups? Whatever the reason, the fact they'd annihilated my village seemed to be a secret even within the Demon King's Army. I didn't think someone who massacred an entire village would hesitate to kill a single subordinate to cover his tracks.
While I was having these various thoughts, her deliberation dragged on, so I wiggled the sword I was holding to draw her attention, then gave a slight nod downward. That alone was enough to convey my intent.
There was still a long way to go before reaching the ground. Below our feet, on the vast white plain that welcomed us immediately after leaving the forest zone, traces of those who'd fallen to their deaths remained sporadically, still vividly red.
To me, it was a sight that merely gave me a sense of just how far blood could spread when falling from a great height, but it must have felt different to her. No matter how much she could strengthen her body, if she fell from here, even an Aura Master would die, wouldn't they?
"...I accept the deal. Dying by falling without even being able to fight is nothing but a dog's death."
I didn't know what thought process led her to that conclusion, but eventually, with a thoroughly depressed face, the warrior woman answered. Judging solely by that attitude, she seemed like she'd just given up on everything, but I didn't let my guard down.
She was a warrior who would have kept fighting much longer if she hadn't tried to protect her comrades. If they hadn't fled and kept approaching, I would have chosen to kill the wyvern they were riding and send it plummeting.
Fortunately, even after we spent quite some time descending and finally set both feet on the familiar, solid ground, she made no attempt to attack. On the contrary, she didn't even pay much attention to me, instead staring off toward where the corpses were. Had I not retrieved the needle embedded in her arm, she probably would have stood there like that for a good while longer.
Glaring resentfully at the needles that had pierced through her arm as they flew back to me, she spoke first.
"The terms of the deal?"
This time, I took my time while organizing my needles. For the first time in a while, the thousand and one Eldmias frantically put their heads together to come up with an offer that wasn't absurd, felt reasonably appropriate as the price of her life, would genuinely benefit me, and would still make her feel enough revulsion to believe she'd suffered a major loss.
And then it sparked. Something that could touch on multiple things at once.
"The corpses of your comrades and the wyverns are my spoils of war. Don't touch a single one of them. Just go."
"Wha...!"
Her face crumpled sharply. Deliberately poking at her nerve by using the phrase 'spoils of war' seemed to have successfully drawn a reaction, though it was slightly more intense than I'd predicted, which was a little surprising.
"You can't even carry them away, so why react like that? Don't tell me you were planning to scrounge up every single one of those scraps and haul them off?"
Thanks to that, my own act continued fairly naturally. Part of me ended up asking half-genuinely.
"A-at least let me cremate them..."
A reaction that was practically the textbook example of a self-sacrificing, physical-type individual with a strong sense of belonging, accustomed to maintaining secrecy while carrying out covert missions in enemy territory, was truly satisfying.
"Bullshit. That's the condition of the deal. If you don't like it, lie down with your comrades."
She shut her eyes tight and looked profoundly anguished, but before long, the warrior woman accepted my offer. As she started to walk away, blood dripping from her right arm, I paused briefly, then as if it had just occurred to me as an afterthought, I asked.
"Ah, do you have a potion?"
I asked knowing full well she didn't. She didn't even have a small pouch, so where would she keep a potion? Sure enough, she turned her head to look at me, displeasure swirling in her eyes.
"...Are you mocking me right now?"
She really was a member of the Demonfolk whose emotions were easy to read. Still, her inability to hide even a shred of her disbelief was better than having a sly old fox lurking inside her, so I shrugged and answered lightly.
"It's more like a product pitch. I got to thinking, and the bastard who gave you your orders started to feel a little... fucking irritating to me."
I took a reasonably priced potion from my pouch and held it up over my head so she could see it clearly, then continued.
"This should heal the wound on your arm. At least you won't suddenly drop dead from overusing Magic Power just to stop the bleeding. It's nothing complicated. Just deliver the message. It's easier than abandoning your comrades' corpses, and maybe it can even serve as proof that you completed your mission. The choice is yours."
"...I have no idea what you're thinking. Just moments ago you were trying to kill me, and now you're offering me a chance to heal?"
Her voice held a slight tinge of anger, but she seemed to be working hard to keep it in check. Though from my perspective, even that slight anger was enough to make me feel incredulous.
When did I ever draw a sword and threaten her to come at me? They were the ones who attacked. If I hadn't developed a separate objective, there was a high probability she'd be dead, so why couldn't she be grateful?
"I'm just clearly separating public and private matters. And you should be offering a prayer of thanks to the goddess Epaga, not getting angry at me. Still, don't worry too much. If you come at me again, I'll be happy to kill you anytime."
"...All I have to do is deliver a message?"
"Well, even if you fail to deliver it and get killed halfway there, I won't come demanding answers, so you don't have to worry about that."
"...You fucking lunatic."
She added one more completely unnecessary word at the end, but ultimately, she accepted the deal.