Tears of Blood
"That idiot...!"
The first thing I saw upon arriving at Ariente Castle was Silvia charging alone into an army of ants. Was this brat staging a protest for me to see? "If you keep docking my pay like this, I'll die," or something along those lines?
My blood pressure spiked. I must have unconsciously released killing intent, because Count Ariente hiccuped and started hiccuping uncontrollably.
"A-Ah! Where do you think you're going! Your knight is buying us time, so there's no need for you to—"
"Move aside. I'm going to save her."
"Kuhk!"
I shoved the obstructive Count Ariente aside and plunged into the stream of refugees, running against the flow. Did she really think she could hold her own life hostage to protest against me? That kind of stunt wouldn't work on me. I use useful people however I can. I don't let them die. That had been my survival strategy ever since possessing this body.
'She said they were ant monsters.'
They had mutated and grown enormous due to mana, but they were still ants. At their core, they were just insects. In that case, the skill Touch of Death should work on them.
...It had to work.
'Damn it. I should have tested it at least once.'
Of course, that was assuming the skill description could be trusted at face value. What if there were other variables? What if there were exceptions? Once doubt started creeping in, there was no end to it. Silvia was about to die right now, so I had no choice but to jump in.
If Silvia died, who would run Belmont Security? Who would handle those burly employees? Who would guard the mansion? Without Silvia, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Belmont would collapse by tomorrow.
'Damn it. Mana exhaustion?'
The chill emanating from Silvia's fingertips had stopped. I could see her staggering, unable to maintain her balance. Had she completely depleted her mana? She should have frozen them moderately and escaped with what mana she had left. Why was she foolishly burning through every last drop?
Still, the fact that the cold had stopped radiating meant I could finally approach.
'What an incredibly foolish girl.'
I was starting to understand what had driven her to that suicidal act. With countless lives on the line, the option of "testing the waters while leaving room to escape" simply hadn't existed for Silvia. She had poured everything into ensuring the refugees' survival. Nothing else had been in her head. The survival of complete strangers took priority over any concern for her own safety. Watching her made me so frustrated I felt angry. It was a miracle she had survived the battlefield with that kind of mentality. But if she kept acting like this, she would die soon enough.
'I have to watch her back.'
I was the only one who could stop this girl and protect her from behind. I clenched my teeth and threw myself toward Silvia as she began to fall backward.
"What's with that face like you've accepted death? It's annoying, so fix your expression."
"L-Lord?! Why are you here...!"
"You still have a lot of work to do. I absolutely won't allow you to escape your duties and pay cuts like this. So put any thoughts of dying on hold for now."
"No, it's dangerous here! Leave me and run away immediately! Please, hurry! Once those things thaw, we'll both die!"
"Don't worry. I'm not as reckless as you."
"...?"
Silvia looked up at me with a bewildered expression. Her eyes seemed to ask, "You didn't jump in to die with me?" Not everyone in the world was as kind and foolish as you. Unlike you, I'm a coward and a materialist, so I prioritize my own safety above all else. To prove it, I extended my hand forward and quietly chanted the skill whose effect I wasn't even sure would work.
"Skill, Touch of Death."
Shhh. In an instant, the surrounding air grew cold, and my hand trembled violently.
Work! Please, work!
Standing firm against the ant monsters charging toward me with enough force to tear my body in half, I raised my hand and remained completely still. The ants' mandibles opened wide as they lunged for my hand.
"Ke? Kieek!?"
"Kuek?"
Rumble. They collapsed all at once, slumping limply before me. The monsters formed a wall of corpses at my feet, like marionettes with their strings cut. Silvia's eyes widened like saucers.
"Don't ever think about dying in front of me again."
"Ah..."
"You said you'd watch over me from my side. To do that, you need to stay alive, don't you?"
"Augh..."
"Why are you crying like a dog that needs to take a shit?"
Silvia kept squirming and making pained noises, as if something was uncomfortable. If she had mana exhaustion, she should just quietly let her body go limp. Why was she acting like this? Now that I looked closer, her face was flushed bright red like a tomato.
"Th-That's... You're touching me... Your hand, Lord... is on my... my chest..."
"You're too heavy, and there's nowhere else to hold you up. Forgive me."
"...You're being far too rude to a lady."
"Saying 'lady' doesn't suit you."
Someone who carried a sword at her waist and used techniques Charlotte wouldn't even use, like "Kwaang." I let out a dry laugh and tried to carry Silvia in my arms before immediately giving up. She was too heavy. It wasn't that my strength was lacking—Silvia was simply heavy. After straining with all my might, I finally managed to hoist her onto my back.
"At least you know how to feel embarrassed. I thought you were the kind of person who wouldn't feel ashamed even after coming out with a fork stuck in your poop hair last time..."
"Th-That's impossible! There's no way I'm that kind of tomboy!"
"Press closer to my back. Your posture is so awkward that it's hard to carry you."
"This is as close as I can get..."
"..."
The sensation was completely different from carrying Julia or Charlotte, so something had felt off. The source of that discomfort turned out to be the large, heavy, and soft something wedged between Silvia's body and my back. This wasn't something that could be solved by nagging her to lose weight. An awkward silence hung between us for a long while.
...
"Th-That...!"
Shhh. The monsters that had been surrounding and charging at Count Belmont collapsed one after another in an instant. Watching from atop the castle walls, Yuri was considerably shocked. Was something like that even possible? Killing enemies without even touching them, as if they were simply falling asleep?
It was as if an invisible sphere existed around Count Belmont. Any monster that entered that range died without exception. Eventually, the monsters began moving in a wide circle, deliberately avoiding the area around Count Belmont. It was an unbelievable sight. She had never heard of such magic. Then that must be—no, it was definitely—
"Black magic...!"
It had to be the black magic Aslan Belmont had been researching for so long. If it wasn't black magic, what else could it be? The hypothesis that the insects had died simply because they found Aslan Belmont so repulsive that being near him made them want to die didn't make sense, given that ant monsters were fundamentally bugs. Right. Even if Aslan was extremely repulsive, it couldn't be that. Yuri nodded, completely rejecting a possibility that was infinitely close to the truth.
'I need to get Charlotte and Julia out as soon as possible...!'
Hadn't I caught Aslan Belmont's eye? I thought I had made an impression and that he had taken an interest in me. So why wasn't he employing me yet...! I wanted to rise to a high position in the Belmont household as quickly as possible so I could freely interact with Charlotte and Julia. What I needed for that was achievements. And to achieve those achievements, I needed power. Power. I needed more power. This level wasn't enough. Being held back by just a few ant monsters and struggling wasn't good enough. After all, that wouldn't even compare to black magic that could take down dozens or hundreds with a mere snap of the fingers...!
Yuri clenched her fists and resolved once again to become even stronger.
"This is bad! The monsters are climbing the walls!"
"Damn it! Shoot arrows! Throw rocks, pour boiling water! Use any means necessary to knock them down!!!"
Rumble. Before they knew it, the monsters had reached the walls and begun climbing. They had thought they killed so many, yet the number of monsters clinging to the walls had already grown beyond counting. Could Aslan Belmont stop them? No. That man couldn't do it either. His black magic had too narrow a range to deal with all the monsters surrounding the wide walls.
"Huaaah! We're out of arrows!"
"Rocks! Bring more rocks! Quickly!"
Arrows, rocks, and boiling water were running out, but the monsters' momentum showed no signs of slowing. They kept climbing without rest, and before long, they reached the top of the walls. Mana gathered at Yuri's fingertips. Just as despair began to cloud everyone's faces—
"Charlotte! Julia! It's your turn!"
"...!"
The moment Count Belmont called out those familiar names, the ground began to rumble with an ominous sound. Count Ariente clutched his head and collapsed to the ground, as if his trauma had resurfaced.
"Julia...?"
When Yuri turned her head, she saw Julia standing in the field wearing neat clothes befitting a noble, her face expressionless. A strange, hissing sound like the language of an evil god flowed from Julia's mouth.
[Kyaaaaak!!!]
"...!?"
With a chilling roar, a massive monster appeared. The only things visible in the pitch-black darkness were its two eyes. Its silhouette was so large it towered far above the castle walls. Was that... an evil god?! Had Julia made a contract with an evil god?! Yuri's face immediately crumpled.
"Huaaah! Lord, descend!"
"Charlotte...?"
The next to burst forth was Charlotte, clad in tight-fitting armor. What was that sinister, terrifying black sword in her hand?! And every time she swung it, impure black flashes of light shot out! That was clearly a demonic sword no matter how you looked at it! Charlotte had been corrupted by that demonic sword! That had to be why she was using such strange speech!
"Aah..."
Unable to bear the anguish any longer, Yuri collapsed to her knees. Seeing how drastically her friends had changed, she felt like she might shed tears of blood.