59. Reward
59. Reward
"Calamity... Star..."
The Demon's death throes.
Before any more could spill out—crunch.
I crushed the bastard's skull with everything I had.
"Ugh, shit. This fucker almost said something catastrophic."
With that, the Demon died.
The Demon's body, already unstable, crumbled to ash and vanished, and the Labyrinth Core, drained of every last drop of Demonic Energy, was slowly breaking apart as well.
Because of that, the Labyrinth's Barrier separating inside from outside began to disappear too.
And.
"Nngh..."
It seemed my chance to swing a weapon had now completely vanished, this time for good.
The higher my Tier climbed, the more Mana I used.
I'd been aware that the time I could handle a weapon was gradually shrinking.
Even so, I'd expected I'd be able to manage it once in a while up until Tier 6.
But just now, as I drove in that last dagger, I felt it.
That I could no longer swing a weapon.
Well, I could probably still swing one in the simple sense, but not while channeling Mana.
So I might as well consider it completely unusable.
I wriggled the hand that had been using a weapon for nearly an hour.
I'd sworn to put weapons down, and then I'd swung one anyway.
Of course, I'd had no choice.
I lacked the strength to kill it bare-handed.
This body had a despairingly hopeless talent for handling weapons, but at the end of the day, that was only talent.
Ronan's experience and instincts still remained.
So as long as I could swing a weapon, I could slaughter half-baked Demons like that even if they swarmed me in droves.
Though now that I couldn't use weapons anymore, that was no longer possible.
"Hah."
I let out a sigh and turned my back.
This wasn't the time to be wistful about that.
Now was the time to minimize the troublesome problems to come, somehow.
Rubbing my bleary eyes, I looked around at the people still collapsed on the ground.
No one was conscious.
The academy students were sprawled out just the same.
But they weren't dead. They were just unconscious.
If I'd been any later, it would've been dangerous, but everyone was alive.
And in front of them.
...were Fabiana, Silina, and Eurasia, wearing utterly stunned expressions.
It looked like they hadn't heard what the Demon said.
"...Eliarnes."
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"You're asking me that now?"
"Yes. I didn't take a single hit, after all. Didn't you see?"
"Hah."
Fabiana let out a scoff as if dumbfounded and shook her head.
"I... have a great many things I want to ask you."
Then she straightened up from where she sat and extended her hand to me.
"But I won't ask. Since you seem to want that, too."
"...Rather than misunderstand and jump to conclusions on your own, I think it'd be better if you just asked."
"Haha... no. I won't misunderstand, and I won't jump to conclusions. I... I will only believe what I saw with my own eyes today."
At those words, which made Fabiana's straightforward personality unmistakably clear, I smiled bitterly and took her hand.
"Thank you."
"No. I'm the one who's grateful. Eliarnes Eustetia. As Fabiana de Hermann, First Princess of the Empire, I offer you my heartfelt thanks."
"Then, regarding all the weapons I broke today—you'll handle that, right, um... Princess Fabiana?"
"I'll take care of it so that no harm comes to you. You needn't worry."
I nodded and looked at Silina.
"Princess Silina, are you all right?"
Silina, who had been lost in thought for a moment at my words, staggered to her feet.
Then she stared at me with wide eyes.
"Eliarnes. And Eurasia."
"Yes."
"Y-yes...?"
"Thank you."
"Huk..."
"Ah... yes. I'm glad you seem to be all right."
At such a simple and direct expression of gratitude, Eurasia and I were momentarily dumbfounded. I'd expected Silina to be a bit more, how should I put it... a bit more roundabout.
Apparently, she wasn't such a twisted little brat after all.
"I heard from Fabiana. That you asked us to keep quiet about what happened today."
"My beloved little sister. It wounds me deeply that you'd so carelessly address your older sister, two whole years your senior, by name like that."
Silina continued without paying Fabiana's words any mind.
"I'll do that. I can even swear an oath."
"You don't need to go that far. Just... yes. A verbal promise is enough."
Silina nodded readily, then briefly met Fabiana's eyes.
The two, who seemed both alike and unalike, exchanged glances, then looked at me at the same time.
The first to speak was Fabiana.
"I will open the Imperial Palace Treasury."
"Oh..."
"Does it not please you?"
"No, it's not that. But are you allowed to decide the reward for this so casually?"
"What could be off-limits for a hero who saved the lives of two princesses, saved the Empire's citizens behind us, and ultimately slew a true Demon to save the Imperial Capital?"
Hmm, I suppose I did do... quite a lot.
But isn't the Treasury just full of weapons?
"Hmm... then, instead of me, I'd like to request a weapon for Eurasia."
"What in the world are you talking about?"
Fabiana carefully helped Eurasia to her feet.
"Eurasia will enter the Treasury as well."
Eurasia's eyes went wide as lanterns.
"M-me too?!"
"Eurasia. You saved Silina's life. You cut down a traitor to the Imperial Palace and saved all those people. My beloved little sister. Silina. What do you think? Without Eurasia, could you have survived this Labyrinth?"
Silina shook her head.
"Without Eurasia, Untra would have killed me."
"There you have it. Eurasia Espirot. You are a hero who saved the Empire's Second Princess. To such a hero as you, the Imperial Palace promises to give the greatest thing it can. There will be no objections. There will be no repercussions. So both of you, don't worry, and trust me."
"...Ah, understood. Th-thank you..."
Fabiana watched Eurasia bow in a daze, then nudged her toward me and nodded.
"Silina and I need to check on the people behind us, so you two had best rest here."
"...Why me?"
"Surely my beloved little sister isn't thinking of foisting even that onto Eurasia and Eliarnes?"
With Fabiana's smirk right in front of her, Silina frowned and nodded.
"Let's go."
"Good choice. Keuheu."
I watched the two sisters start walking, then hurriedly called out to Fabiana.
"Princess Fabiana."
"Hm?"
"Would it be possible... um, for me to enter the Forbidden Archive instead of the Treasury?"
Fabiana paused mid-step and looked at me.
"The Forbidden Archive?"
"Yes."
"What's in there that you'd ask for the mere Forbidden Archive as your reward?"
"I'm quite fond of reading books."
Silina narrowed her eyes as if trying to read my intentions, then nodded in under two seconds.
"Both the Treasury and the Forbidden Archive. I'll see about opening them all. But I can't guarantee how the Forbidden Archive will turn out."
"Yes. Thank you."
"...Eliarnes. You really are... an unfathomable person."
"I am rather mysterious."
"And remarkably brazen, and irritating."
"Geniuses are naturally irritating."
"...Haha. I can't argue with that."
Fabiana smiled wryly, nodded, and gazed at the fading Barrier.
"As for what happened today, I'll invite you to the Imperial Palace in the near future. How about we continue our conversation then?"
Going into the Imperial Palace wasn't exactly appealing... but if I could get into the Forbidden Archive, it would be worth it.
"Sounds good."
"Very well. I'll handle today's affairs as quietly as possible."
Fabiana smiled with satisfaction and resumed walking.
Then Eurasia, left standing there alone with me, asked in a voice on the verge of tears.
"M-my lady... are you... are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
I waved my arm around—not a single wound on it, not a drop of blood splattered on it.
At that gesture, Eurasia hesitantly approached me.
"How about you?"
"Y-yes...? I'm... I'm all right now."
"Come closer."
"Uh, uhh...? Wh-why?"
"Stop yapping and hurry up."
"H-here...? I, I smell like sweat... huk..."
I didn't know why she was so flustered.
Eurasia glanced around with her blue eyes darting this way and that.
"O-okay... okay..."
She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and pressed close to me.
I grabbed both of Eurasia's arms firmly.
"Hut..."
At the same time, she flinched—I thought she might still be in pain, but that... wasn't it.
She just seemed startled.
Even for Eurasia, who'd served in a knight order, she'd nearly died, so it was only natural for her to be startled by something like this.
I let out a bitter sigh for no reason and began examining Eurasia's body.
The bones that had been broken here and there seemed to have mended to some degree. The torn muscles and split skin were all clean now, and her breathing was steady.
There wouldn't be any aftereffects, and if she just rested for a week, her condition would be back to normal.
Then, what about her insides?
I placed my hand on Eurasia's lower abdomen.
"H-hiik!"
"Wh-what? Why are you so startled?"
"Ah... aaaah... it's, it's nothing..."
"I'm not doing anything weird. I'm just checking your Mana Veins. If you jump to Tier 5 too abruptly, your Mana Veins could get twisted or burst."
"Ah...?"
"What do you mean, 'Ah'? What, did you think I was going to do something bad to you?"
"N-no...? That's... not it..."
"Then?"
"Uh..."
Eurasia's earthquake-shaken blue eyes darted around and around. She worked her lips, then let out a sigh.
"...I was really scared, my lady... You were the first thing I thought of. Thank you... for coming... for saving me..."
I chuckled, pulled Eurasia into a hug, and patted her back.
"Sorry I was late. You did well."
A short while later, the Barrier that had isolated the museum vanished.
The Special-class Labyrinth had been subjugated.
*****
When we came outside, all manner of priests, academy professors, and Royal Guards and Imperial Palace Knight Order members with anxious expressions had formed up.
The moment I stepped out, I was sickened by the crowd of people, but Fabiana once again went full madwoman and dispersed everyone except the essential personnel.
As if that weren't enough, she even declared that anyone who touched Eurasia or me would have their wrist cut off, and anyone who tried to speak to us would have their tongue ripped out, so we were able to head to the cathedral very, very comfortably.
After that, following three hours of treatment, we were told it would be best to stay in bed for a week, but Eurasia adamantly declined and decided to return right away.
Even if she skipped class the next day to rest, she apparently wanted to recover in the academy Dormitory.
So we returned to the academy, I brought her to her room, and stayed by her side until she fell sound asleep.
She must have been exhausted, because Eurasia was out cold within a minute of washing up and lying down.
I kept watch over Eurasia for a while.
Then, suddenly, I remembered something I'd forgotten.
"...Stella and Pina."
I'd tied them up so tightly they couldn't move at all.
They didn't piss the bed, did they...?
I immediately got up and slipped quietly out of the Dormitory so as not to wake Eurasia.
The moment I got outside, I dashed swiftly to my room and opened the door.
And at the same time.
[Uwaaaaaaah! Ronan!]
A dazzling mass of light lunged at me.
"What the fuck."