Blood Shall Flow (4)
My breath came ragged, and a crushing wave of exhaustion slammed into me. I had slept deeply in preparation for today, yet my entire body felt as though I had hauled a cart overloaded with rebar up and down a mountain. Well, that was only natural. I had just regenerated a stomach that had been ripped open by a blade as grotesque as a butcher’s cleaver. The fatigue ran deeper than when I had shattered and severed my own arm before.
So when my balance faltered without warning, a soft shoulder slipped beneath my arm.
“Whoa, Senior… I knew you were full of surprises, but when exactly did you acquire an ability like that?”
Hilken, ever the striking woman, wedged herself under my armpit and steadied me.
“I stole it from a disgusting bastard. The seed I planted grew far more viciously than I expected.”
“Forgive me, but I don’t understand a word of that.”
“I’ll explain later…”
Even so, I couldn’t afford to keep leaning on her shoulder. I gently pushed Hilken’s kindness aside and forced myself upright. She watched me with quiet concern, clearly expecting me to collapse again as I moved toward the other two who still lay unconscious.
“Senior. That technique just now looked like it consumes a great deal of stamina… If you heal the remaining two, your body may not hold up.”
“…I know. It won’t be easy. That’s why I saved the priestess first.”
I had my reasons for prioritizing the female cleric. I rose, approached the woman still clutching her head, crouched, and spoke softly.
“It must have hurt. The sensation is one you’ll never want to feel again. Even though your body has healed, your mind will not recover so easily.”
“It’s over now… I want to go home. Please, send me home—”
I gripped the priestess’s trembling shoulders firmly. Time was short. Part of me wanted to slap her awake and snarl that if she didn’t pull herself together, all her friends would die. But ever since I helped Eclipse enroll, Lady Karalin had asked me to treat the girls with kindness whenever possible. …So this would be the one exception.
“It must have been terrifying,” I murmured, patting her shoulder in what I hoped was a reassuring manner. “You can relax now. We came here specifically to pull you out. Trust me, and I swear I will send you home.”
“…Hic… Th-thank you for saving me…!”
She clutched my wrist with desperate strength. A wave of pure relief flowed through her fingertips, passing even through my cold armor.
“But even in that chaotic state of mind, I have one request, Priestess.”
Her eyes were unfocused when she looked up, yet she seemed to grasp what I was asking.
“My healing ability can mend the torn stomachs you saw, but it demands enormous energy. So please, lend me your power—pour cure into me from the side.”
I patted her shoulder again, gentle as before. “Those two who followed Vankite beside you—they were your friends, weren’t they? We can’t simply let them die here.”
“—I… I understand…”
That gave her shattered mind something solid to cling to. Though her spirit was clearly broken, she promised with genuine resolve to fulfill my earnest request.
She has a strong core.
I praised her inwardly. It had been her first taste of true agony, yet a few soothing words were enough to help her stand. Had she refused, I would have had no choice but to put the other two to eternal sleep in order to cut off the supply route. This was a will worth commending.
Seeing my expression, Hilken gave a meaningful little smile from the side.
“Senior…”
“What.”
“Now that you know love, you’ve grown strangely gentle. I never imagined such a thing when you were in the North.”
“…That’s the second time.”
I mentally filed away every teasing remark she made. When this was all over, she would pay the appropriate price.
At that moment, the priestess grabbed my hand—still distracted by Hilken—and spoke as if something had been bothering her.
“Um… excuse me.”
“…Speak.”
“Are you… a huntsman?”
The question required no deliberation. Yohan was dead, and it was not yet time to reveal that truth openly. So I simply nodded. For now, it was better for everyone if they believed that.
“Yes. The huntsmen were all killed by Vankite, but we alone survived. We sensed something suspicious and came here, only to find you in that horrific state. That’s why we saved you.”
“No… that’s not it…”
Yet the priestess had already made up her mind. She ignored my words and began muttering to herself. In that instant, I realized the truth. The way her eyes had widened upon seeing me wasn’t from shock at my unexpected help. She had been looking at me and remembering someone all along.
“Yohan… sir…?”
“……!”
“No, it can’t be. But no matter how I look at you, you’re definitely Yohan, sir. How are you here? Yohan, sir, is supposed to be dead…?”
She pinched her own cheek. After suffering pain dozens of times worse only moments ago, the gesture wouldn’t wake her from any dream, but it seemed to be a habitual reaction. Meanwhile, my brain simply froze from the shock.
What? How? How had she noticed?
This girl was nothing more than an extra. I remembered her being mentioned in the original game, but this was our first face-to-face meeting. We weren’t close, and we had never even spoken.
“When I heard Yohan, sir had died… I went to offer flowers. I couldn’t give any because of the rules, but…”
“……You knew Yohan?”
“We never spoke, but I attended the entrance ceremony. Among all the Sigmund students who were there, is there anyone who doesn’t know Yohan, sir…?”
She lowered her head. I hadn’t been conscious of it, but it seemed these students knew far more about me than I realized. I had thought that standing beside the radiant lady would make me invisible due to the halo effect, yet apparently that wasn’t the case. Why were they all trying to memorize every detail about me?
“Why attend the funeral of someone you never even spoke to?”
After a pause, the priestess answered.
“He seemed pitiful…”
“…Hah.”
“At the entrance ceremony he caused a huge incident, but Yohan, sir had excellent grades and impeccable conduct. He was quite popular. To hear that such a person had been killed by thugs was shocking. And since he was a fellow student, I couldn’t possibly stay away…?”
Could it be that these kids considered me a classmate even though I had done nothing for them? How foolish. What had I ever done for them?
“Y-you really are Yohan, sir, aren’t you? That build, that voice…”
But in the moment I became too absorbed in the conversation and let my guard down, the priestess suddenly reached out to pull off my mask. I failed to stop her in time.
“Hey, wait—!”
I caught the mask as it twisted, but it was too late. She had seen my face.
“…………Oh my god! You’re alive! H-how?!”
“…Sigh.”
This was all Hilken’s fault. Saying unnecessary things and stirring people’s hearts. When I glanced at her, she merely gave a tiny shrug.
Well, whatever. I was going to reveal I was alive soon anyway. There’s no point in denying it to a girl whose stomach was just torn open by Vankite.
With that thought, I whispered to the priestess.
“…Don’t ask how I survived. If I hadn’t done what I did, many more versions of you would have been born into this world. I came here to end all of it.”
She understood the implication immediately.
“I will take revenge on the one who did this to you. All you need to do is pour your strength into me and save the friends who were offered as sacrifices. That is the best and greatest thing you can do right now.”
Empowered by those words, the priestess stood and began channeling energy into me. I, in turn, finished healing everyone else who lay there. Together with Hilken, I secured them to the dragon and prepared to carry them all out of the cave.
Yet the priestess who had recognized my identity simply stared at me in a daze before speaking as though she had to say it.
“By the way… one tip, Yohan, sir…”
“Yes?”
“Just by walking, people can tell it’s you. If you don’t want your identity discovered, it might be best to say as little as possible…”
“…Is it that obvious?”
“Anyone who knows you will probably recognize you right away…?”
At dawn, as the sky began to brighten, Vankite gazed at the iron giant the size of a full-grown tree that had been created outside the cave and let out a gasp of admiration.
“Wow. Just a light swing of that club and I’d be dead!”
And he would have been. Though Vankite possessed a cunning and quick-witted nature, his talent for combat was nearly nonexistent. The fact that he had only reached C-rank was proof enough that he lacked any real distinction. If the iron giant exerted even a fraction of its power, Vankite would be crushed like an insect.
Fortunately for him, he had Yagnus.
In exchange for providing a route into the empire and showing him gloom and despair, one of the Demon King’s six supreme swords compensated for Vankite’s pathetic martial prowess and stepped forward whenever needed. What a convenient contract it was.
Honestly, without Yagnus, Vankite could never have slaughtered all his fellow students and claimed the position of crown prince.
At that moment, Yagnus sat perched on the iron giant’s shoulder, seeking permission from Vankite below.
“Your Highness. This Yagnus shall now command the iron giant to turn every corner of Karlandel into a wasteland. Therefore, I humbly ask that Your Highness go and find the Grand Duke’s daughter.”
“No, Butler.”
Vankite cut the idea down at once.
“I might die if you’re not here.”
“…Naturally, I have no intention of attacking Your Highness.”
“No. What if—what if—what if some strange bastard notices something? I will definitely die. Therefore, you must stay by my side and protect me.”
No matter how ruthless and unscrupulous Vankite was, there was one thing he treasured above all else: the obsession that his own safety must always come first. This was that obsession speaking.
The correct decision here clearly lay with Yagnus. If Yagnus rampaged across the area with the iron giant, Vankite could run straight to Karalin, pretending his party had been wiped out, and cling to her. That would be the optimal move.
But what if something went wrong?
Yagnus would be unable to provide immediate help. And Vankite, who hated being cornered more than anything and who always had to win, could never tolerate such a risk. That was precisely why he had kept Yagnus at his side all this time.
Thus, Vankite once again whined out orders to Yagnus.
…How annoying. Trying to bind me like this.
It would be difficult for Yagnus not to think such a thing. This wasn’t the first or second time. Still, what could he do? There weren’t two crown princes who suited his tastes so perfectly, and it was too late to replace him now. He would simply have to obey.
Perhaps sensing Yagnus’s cold gaze, Vankite instead presented the weapons and equipment he had looted from the entire huntsmen warehouse.
“Here. Time to make the steel birds, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Then feel free to use these as materials. They are all carefully selected, high-quality imperial armaments.”
“…Indeed, this is fine iron. Vicious iron beasts will surely be born.”
Yagnus seemed somewhat satisfied at the prospect of creating high-quality minions. He suppressed his anger, began shaping the iron beasts as requested, and chanted his spell.
Whiiiir—
The weapons twisted and warped, then—
Fwoooosh—!!!
An enormous flock of steel hawks burst into the sky. They poured upward like an inverted waterfall. Watching the sight, Vankite laughed.
“It’s hell down there—try to survive, my friends—!!”
Thus, the skies of Karlandel were dyed the color of iron on a single dawn. The world needed a demon to resolve it.