Ep.5 - I'm Winning?
Ep.5 - I'm Winning?
***
"Aah, Eva!"
Seven people who didn't belong together at all had become one beneath the moonlight. The campfire site buzzed with noisy life.
"All three of you... truly, truly, thank you. Truly."
Had they already forgotten the long and bitter grudges of the past? Or were they simply too busy living in the present to do anything but set those grudges aside for now?
Neva couldn't hide her joy. She embraced her younger sister, tears streaming down her face. Because of Philmark's goddamn nonsense, the girl's eyes had rolled back and she was foaming at the mouth, but now that she was fully back in her sister's arms, it wasn't worth making a goddamn fuss over.
"Eva... your sister will protect you from now on. Definitely... ah, anyway. I won't forget this kindness, so..."
"Forget it. It's not like I did it for your sake."
"...Tch—"
Chichi and Philmark didn't waste much goddamn energy on one little girl. The only thing on their minds was the reward they would receive in exchange for a job completed.
"Both of you, thank you so much. We brought her back thanks to you two. If we hadn't taken Neva-ssi's sister with us, I definitely would've regretted it later. The Queen might have stormed into Raftel and taken her hostage or something..."
Delin.
The small, frail man smiled with great effort as he expressed his thanks to the witch and the thief.
There was one very important reason he couldn't show an honest smile.
"...Th-the wishes, later, once we get somewhere safe..."
The reason was what he himself had promised before the [Eva Rescue Operation], meaning Delin was now in the position of having to grant one wish each to those two women!
But there was an even bigger problem.
First of all, despite Delin's intention to postpone the payment date and flee further from the Queen,
The one-eyed thief stomped right up to Delin, swiftly picked him up, and slung him over her shoulder like a piece of luggage!
"What do you mean, later? Stop making excuses and dodging—we're doing this right now."
"Eh? Eeeh?"
Not only Delin, but even those around him flinched in surprise at her words. How could they not be surprised? The thief, whose mind was usually pretty damn sharp, was trying to waste time without giving a single goddamn thought to the consequences.
"W-wait! Philmark. Calm down first and let's get ready to leave. If we stay like this, pursuers will catch up soon."
The knight, carrying her younger sister on her back, tried to stop the thief.
"You shut up, yeah?"
But from the position of the knight, who was already deeply in debt, she had no justification to dare oppose the thief's legitimate demand.
In the end, the knight could only watch anxiously and uneasily as Delin, seized by Philmark, was dragged off somewhere, her sister still on her back.
She was happy to have found her sister, but in exchange, she had to stand by and watch the body of the one she loved be entangled with another woman.
What kind of tragedy was this?
"Wait!"
But there was one person who wasn't bound by debts.
"Put Seobang-nim down. Before my anger grows."
A lone wolf, superior to everyone else in the party in terms of pure physical strength and stamina!
An S-rank adventurer who had lived in solitude until she met her mate and had even planned a future of bearing a dozen children with him!
Kaede!
She slowly grasped the hilt of the greatsword strapped to her back and once again issued a threat to Philmark.
"Stop this and put him down. The very thought of what you're scheming with that vulgar body of yours makes me want to vomit, but I will tell you one last time, with courtesy. Put Seobang-nim down right now..."
"What if I don't want to?"
The thief spat out a sharp refusal before Kaede had even finished speaking, then gathered her spit and *ptoo*— let it fly as if disgusted.
"Whoops. A mistake."
As it happened, the spit landed *splat*— right on top of Kaede's goddamn foot.
"It wasn't on purpose, so don't get mad. Anyway, good work..."
*Kwakwak—!*
This time, Philmark's words couldn't finish and were cut off midway.
"...Ha! Look at this bastard."
She barely dodged the greatsword Kaede had swung with serious intent and put a healthy distance between them.
"Yeah. Gotta sort out the hierarchy first, then we start. Sons of bitches need to get beat up a bit to come to their goddamn senses."
"That filthy mouth of yours—I'll make sure you can't ever open it agaiiin! Grrr..."
Even as Philmark continued to provoke Kaede, she tossed Delin toward a safe spot. She trusted that Chichi, Neva, and Helen would somehow protect Delin from the aftermath of the fight.
"..."
In her heart, she didn't want to be apart from Delin even for a moment, but the opponent before her was quite strong, so she couldn't afford to be careless. Contrary to the contemptuous words she had spoken aloud, Philmark knew very well that Kaede's strength was at a considerable level.
No. If anything, it felt like she had gotten even stronger since the last time they fought. Was it just her imagination? The precision of her greatsword seemed to have improved another level...
"...Tch."
She had dodged the greatsword well enough, but perhaps due to the wind pressure, the skin on the thief's shoulder had been completely scraped off.
"Hey. I do want to beat you until you're half-dead... but I'm not great at holding back, you know? If it looks like you're gonna die, dodge on your own, got it?"
A thick, dark purple liquid trickled from her mouth. After dabbing it with her finger and smearing it on the wound, new flesh quickly sprouted.
After that, something trickled from her mouth again. No one could tell what it was, but it was a very ominous-looking liquid...
———————————————
*Flop—!*
"Agh...! Please, both of you, don't fight! I said stop fighting!"
Even after being thrown far away, Delin immediately picked himself up and tried to stop the two women.
"F-first, just wait. If we go the wrong way like this, you'll get hurt. Let's Save first. Quickly!"
"Yeah...! Just stay out of it for now. You can't get hurt."
Neva and Chichi held onto Delin and took him far away from the brawl. They felt it instinctively: the fight between those two right now couldn't be stopped.
"Listen to me and make a Save right away. You need to Save at this point where everyone's gathered so that even if something happens later, we can deal with it."
Neva whispered into Delin's ear, urging him to Save. They had to lock in a Save for the current situation with all members gathered, and it would be extremely troublesome if one of the two died in the middle of the fight...
"...Yeah. Noona agrees with what Neva-ssi said. I think it's best to fix the point right when everyone's together. Even though it took quite a while to get everyone gathered..."
As Chichi muttered, she was conscious of Helen. Should that woman be included in the word 'everyone'?
That archbishop with the suspiciously huge chest and ass, watching Philmark and Kaede's fight with interest while puff puff puffing on a cigar?
"...For now, let's be careful not to let that woman find out about your ability. Got it? You always have to keep your goddamn wits about you, even when you're talking."
Delin, having received advice from the knight and the witch on either side of him, briefly imagined the future. If, by any chance, Philmark-noona or Kaede-ssi were to die...
"...Save."
That would be a problem. It would upset him, and the future ahead would become bleak...
[Save point set!]
A small line of text—it felt like he hadn't seen it in ages!
Looking at that text, Delin felt relief as if he had fastened a seatbelt. Now, even if an accident occurred, he could return to this point in time...
'...Wait.'
...But now that the Save was actually done, another question arose?
'Come to think of it, wasn't the system window constantly blocking me, telling me to do the soul bond or whatever with Kaede-ssi? But now it works?'
Definitely.
When he had been caught by Kaede during her heat cycle and fucked all day, no matter how much he shouted 'Load,' it wouldn't listen. Now, seeing it function properly, he felt a slight sense of puzzlement while also feeling reassured at the same time.
Anyway, since all the problems were resolved, now it would Save and Load properly, right?
Thinking about the bullshit he had gone through trying to escape the Queen because of this fucking error made him shudder with rage... but anyway, if it worked now...
Pwooooong—!
"—!!!"
Not just Archbishop Helen, who had been watching the fight, but even Neva and Chichi hurriedly turned their heads to check the situation upon hearing that violent sound.
"Wh-what...!"
In the face of the unbelievable scene, they couldn't close their mouths.
The heat cycle that maximized physical abilities should still have been about two days away.
"Kuwup... keuheuk..."
Kaede's fist had, for some reason, pierced through Philmark's abdomen far too easily. So easily that even Kaede herself couldn't understand it.
"Oh...??"
A sudden sense of puzzlement bloomed even larger. Nothing had clearly changed, but Kaede had ripped apart the thief's belly as if crushing tofu.
It wasn't that the thief was weak. Of course, she was weaker than usual since she had fought without her beloved daggers or any equipment, but even in that state, she had completely wrecked Kaede during their first encounter...
"Keuheuk..."
The thief tasted a bitter, incomprehensible result and collapsed with a flop.
"Keheung...?"
Kaede looked at her fist, soaked in the thief's blood, and thought. Because of that thought, her eyes turned toward Delin, who was looking at the other women, and her expression betrayed a strange realization...
'I win?'