Ep.2 - Knight Commander Neva (1)
Ep.2 - Knight Commander Neva (1)
The sensation of handcuffs, something I had never felt before in my life, was bitingly cold and rough.
The plush bed I was lying in and those brutal handcuffs clashed so horribly that my mind simply went blank.
"Eha hitt?"
First I tried calling out to Neva-ssi, but
"Ebeub..."
Naturally, my tongue was still frozen stiff.
In the end I got down from the bed to go find her myself, but...
"Aheeeek!!"
Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuuuck!!
The moment my feet touched the floor, a horrific and vivid pain surged through every nerve from my ankles to my brain via my spinal cord, blazing as if on fire.
All kinds of pain at once. As if a lion were biting down. As if fire were searing it. As if something were ripping it apart...
"Uuuuuuuuuuu!! Ahyak! Euuuuung!!"
I clutched my ankle and rolled around. My head went pure white from the terrible pain. A merciless agony that made it impossible to even hold onto reason...
I forgot that my ankle was completely fucked! Fuuuck!
Right around the time I was filling that antique room with moans and creaking sounds, a familiar noise reached my ears.
Tapadadak-
The sound of a woman's footsteps. The sound of someone running in a hurry.
"Delin-ssi...!"
Neva-ssi threw open the door and rushed to me, then embraced me as I thrashed about from the pain.
"Ahaaak!!"
"It's alright. You're alright. It's okay now... I'm here."
What do you mean, "it's alright"!
I feel like I'm dying!
"Uuuuuueup...!!"
It wasn't as if all the pain melted away like snow just because she held me tight, but once wrapped in that soft flesh, I couldn't move my body anymore.
Purely by her strength, my body's convulsions subsided. Judging by the agony my brain was registering, I should have been foaming at the mouth and thrashing about wildly like a madman right this instant, but in her arms, nothing beyond twitching was permitted.
"It's alright. It will subside soon..."
She whispered into my ear in a deeply sorrowful voice, calming me down.
Just as she said, my body gradually began to settle.
The intense pain subsided, and only its lingering echo remained to torment me.
The pain could no longer be felt. The trembling and convulsions in my body grew quiet.
"Huu..."
Only then did Neva-ssi let me go, and she moved my exhausted body, drained of energy from the sudden seizure, back onto the grand bed.
"You used your leg. You must not move. The poison Philmark carved into you is dangerous... Cough..."
As she pulled the blanket back over me, she too hacked out a series of coughs, as if the poison's influence still lingered in her.
"Huu, huu... I'm fine. It seems my body has overcome it to some extent now. It appears I've grown stronger than before. I thought I had already grown accustomed to that rogue's poison..."
Neva soon sat on the edge of the bed and looked at me. In her eyes were both sorrow and sympathy.
"Delin-ssi. Don't worry. I will take responsibility and protect you. Philmark will definitely come back."
"Heueon heueu... eu, euuuu..."
That aside, what's with these handcuffs...?
I lifted the handcuffs that were cinched tight around my wrists, conveying that meaning. As I shook the cuffs in front of Neva's eyes, she gently pressed my arm down again and spoke in a calm voice.
"It couldn't be helped. I did my utmost to defend you, but in the eyes of others, Delin-ssi helped Philmark escape... They insisted that Delin-ssi be deemed a dangerous individual and executed immediately."
Executed...?
Crazy...
I mean, I did cause some trouble, but that's too harsh...!
"Uuuung..."
I looked at her while shaking my head side to side. I prayed my desperation would get through.
"Don't worry. The conclusion was reached to use you as a hostage to lure Philmark out..."
Ah. A hostage.
I guess I won't die then...
"However, most of them wanted to torture Delin-ssi to lure Philmark out as quickly as possible. Before that... as you already suffered..."
Neva clenched her fist tight and made it tremble.
Was she getting that furious for my sake again?
To think such a kind and righteous person exists. This world apparently isn't such a rotten place after all.
"Uung..."
But I didn't want her to get too angry, so I gently placed my hand on top of hers.
She would know what I was trying to say.
"...Delin-ssi."
Even though I couldn't produce speech, communication is not an act accomplished through words alone.
Eyes, expressions, atmosphere...
With all those things, you can convey your heart to another.
"Delin-ssi. Ahh..."
She brought my two hands, bound in cuffs, up to her own face, pressed her cheek to them, and began to weep.
Unlike the other women who treated me like a rag, Neva-ssi at least treated me like a human being.
She got angry for my sake, she cried for my sake...
And so, because she was this kind of person, I had finally opened my heart to her.
The sides of her I had seen in front of Philmark were merely fragments.
Neva was an upright, kind, beautiful, and righteous woman.
I was now certain. I could trust her, at least.
"Don't worry... I already took responsibility and dealt with every single one of the bitches who touched Delin-ssi..."
With her help, in this world...
...
Huh...?
"Eu...?"
"I punished them all... all of them. All of those bitches who dared defile Delin-ssi with their filthy, hideous desires..."
Ah...?
Oh, so she scolded them for me...?
Well. It's not like I could just take it and live with it.
If Neva-ssi gave those women a sound beating for my sake, then I feel utterly relieved...
"All of them... I cut off all their heads and crushed their faces so that Delin-ssi will never have to encounter them again..."
"E...?"
"Those disgusting, filthy, vile humans who dared defile Delin-ssi... I punished every last one of them. Don't you worry. I already received permission from Her Majesty the Queen..."
"Eeup??"
"Ah. Are you worrying about me? There is no need for you to worry. Since I have lived up till now as Her Majesty's loyal sword, this level of incident was something she could overlook. So don't worry. Delin-ssi..."
Neva-ssi slowly leaned toward me and embraced me.
It was hard enough to soothe my throbbing head just trying to process what I had just heard,
yet she wrapped me in that cozy body of hers and murmured.
"It's all okay now. As long as you're by my side, no one can torment Delin-ssi any longer. I will protect you. Don't worry. Trust me, and rest here comfortably..."
"Heueup..."
Something soft was undeniably pressing against my chest, but in stark contrast, something terribly frightening and chilling sprouted in my heart.
That thing blossoming amidst her breasts and their faint scent of flesh was triggered by one of humanity's instinctive senses—the urge for survival—
and we usually call that [intuition], and we often express it like this.
[I'm fucked]
I'm fucked. What the hell.
Is this really Neva-ssi? Something's a bit off.
It's scary. Fuck. I'm scared.
"I... I will protect Delin-ssi. Delin-ssi, now you needn't worry about a thing, and you can rest here comfortably. Comfortably."
Her hands and arms that held me gently roamed over my back and the back of my head,
and those soft touches felt as if they were coated in thick, sticky adhesive.
To brush this off as just my imagination...
"I... I have only now realized. This swelling emotion I've felt since the first moment I saw Delin-ssi was love—something I believed would never be fated for someone like me. I will make Delin-ssi happy. With me... let us live here. Delin-ssi."
"Forget all those bitches who dared do disgusting things to Delin-ssi, and now, with me..."
"I will take responsibility for Delin-ssi. From now on. Forever."
"Euuu...!"
That...!
It was fine just a moment ago, but something's a bit...!
"This world is too harsh for Delin-ssi to live in alone. By my side, together with me... I shall protect you, so..."
"Eeu...??"
"As a woman, it is my duty to cherish and love Delin-ssi for a lifetime. I swear it. So please, stay with me."
She slowly released her arms and looked at me face-to-face.
Too close.
We were so close that...
"...Delin-ssi?"
We were so close that I felt sure the emotions I was feeling would be vividly conveyed to her.
"What is with that expression...?"
I could see her expression.
The shyness wrung out from her courage,
and the bewilderment and embarrassment that were gradually encroaching upon its surface.
"Delin-ssi...?"
She called my name.
I wanted to say things like I'm not thinking of that right now, or I'd like a little more time to think about it...
I wanted to bring out those words and first have some time alone to ponder, but
"Delin-ssi."
She called my name again and again, demanding an answer.
"Delin-ssi...!"
Her expression and the emotion in her voice shifted so rapidly that I flinched in shock without realizing it.
The hand she had placed on my shoulder felt impossibly heavy.
"D-did it take you by surprise since it was so sudden? I apologize. I felt I had to say it before it was too late."
Her voice grew urgent.
"Do you need some time to think it over more? Yes? I will wait a little longer, so..."
However, that urgency soon vanished.
She had finally managed to read the emotion in my expression.
An emotion I couldn't possibly hide.
"...Why?"