by Dojyomaru
“Carla?! What are you doing?” I asked.
“Don’t be ridiculous! I could never listen to that request!” Carla flew into a rage, as if the constricting collar meant nothing to her.
“No, I’m just saying that if the worst should happen...” I said.
“Agh! Enough! Don’t talk back to me! Just give me the order to ‘kill him’!” Carla shouted, pointing in the direction the enemy knight was coming from. “Because of this slave collar, I can’t leave your side without permission! Just give me permission already! I’ll deal with him!”
“...You’re willing to fight for me?” I asked.
I couldn’t believe it, but Carla gave an indignant “Hmph!”
“I’m not doing it for you,” she said. “I’m only doing it because I don’t want Liscia to see you with that face.”
What face? What sort of face was I making right now?
Was it a scary face? Was it full of grief? Was it pitiful?
As I touched my own face, trying to figure it out, Carla stomped her feet indignantly and demanded it again.
“I told you, give me the order! For Liscia’s sake, tell me to ‘kill him’!”
“...I’ll allow it,” I said at last. If she said it was for Liscia, I could probably trust her. “Please, Carla. Kill that knight and end this war.”
“Understood!”
With those words, Carla bowed her head and then took one long sword from each of the two nearby guards. Then she spread her wings and took flight.
She floated in midair for a little while as she searched for her target, then she dove like a falcon that had found its prey and flew to the south.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Carla... I’ll transfer my ownership of you as a slave to Liscia.”
That was what Souma had suddenly said to Carla.
Certainly, it was possible for a slave collar to transfer its ownership to another if its master willed it. However, if he did that, Carla would be able to harm Souma. So why was it that he had suddenly said that?
When Carla had asked him, Souma had pointed towards the incoming suicide squad.
“That suicide squad is targeting me. Even in the worst scenario, they’ll burn out after they’ve taken my head. It should be easy to wipe them out at that point. So, I have a request. If I fall in this battle, tell Liscia, ‘I give the throne to you.’ Well... It’s my last will.”
“Your last will? Are you joking?”
When she’d asked him that, Souma’s face had taken on a serious expression, and he’d said:
“I’m dead serious. I’m the king, so I have to consider the worst case scenario. I’d feel bad for pushing things off on her with the job only half-done, but, well, if we can just take down Gaius, Van will fall easily enough. If she does what Hakuya tells her from there, everything will be fine.”
After saying that, Souma had smiled.
When she saw him smile... Carla realized she had misunderstood something.
The king was the most powerful person in the country, so she’d thought he could control everything. Looking at things as a warrior who served the king, that was what she had come to see a king as.
That was why Carla had thought Souma had usurped the throne.
She’d thought he had been seduced by that tremendous power, deceiving the kindhearted king Albert into giving it to him, and that he had forced Liscia into an unwanted engagement, trying to use her to cement his power. While she had later found out from Liscia’s letters that she was wrong, she had still harbored those doubts in some corner of her heart. That was why she followed Castor to the bitter end when he chose to die for his friendship with Georg.
Had Souma truly not been seduced by that power and authority? Even as she stood as a prisoner at his side, Carla had been pondering that question.
However... with his words earlier, it had become clear to her.
“Carla, I may be a ‘fake.’”
“After all... If I can’t get into the role of king, I can’t send soldiers off to the battlefield.”
He had to get into the role. That was proof that he was aware he wasn’t a king.
Souma never wanted to be king...
If he’d had a carefree attitude and had been able to ignore the responsibility that came with that power, he might have become king without worrying too much about it. However, for one who understood that responsibility, power was nothing but a burden. Souma was managing to bear that burden by playing a role.
The things she thought he had stolen had in fact been forced onto him by others.
By Sir Albert, the former king, by Liscia, by his vassals, by the people of this country, he’s been forced to bear every kind of burden, Carla thought. When I heard Souma speaking so easily about his own death, I thought he might be feeling sick, but... I was wrong. If there’s something wrong with him, it’s not his body, it’s his mind.
Souma’s mind was slowly being eaten away at by the pressure.
Liscia sensed that. That’s why she’s been trying so earnestly, so gallantly, to support Souma.
Carla realized it now, but it was too late.
It’s too late... Yes, far too late...
She was already a criminal awaiting judgment. Even if she fought for Souma now, nothing would come of it.
Even so, when she saw Souma trying to leave the throne and his last will to Liscia when his own life was in peril, Carla couldn’t simply leave him be. If Souma died here, Liscia would be sad.
My blind stubbornness has already brought Liscia enough grief. I won’t let Liscia be sad anymore!
Carla readied her two swords.
“That is why I will slay you!” she shouted at the general on horseback who was rushing towards the main camp alone.
“What?!” the man screamed.
Carla glided down, throwing her full momentum into a downward swing with the swords in both her hands. She planned to end it in an instant with that surprise attack.
However, the enemy general blocked with two swords of his own. She thought she had caught him off guard, but he must have been a very capable warrior.
Carla bent her body into an V-shape, using her remaining momentum to land a kick on his open torso.
“Urgh...”
The enemy general was thrown from his horse, tumbling across the ground. However, he immediately rose to his feet, readying his sword and glaring towards Carla.
“You... You’re a dragonewt, aren’t you?” he demanded.
“I suppose you must be a well-known general,” she responded. “I am Carla, daughter of Castor Vargas.”
“Castor? Didn’t he rebel against the king?”
“...Yeah. That would be why I’m in this pitiful state,” Carla said, pointing to the slave collar around her neck.
When the enemy general saw it, he roared, “Then step aside! My only target here is to take Souma’s head!”
“Sadly, I can’t let you do that anymore,” she said.
“Isn’t Souma supposed to be your enemy, too?!”
“He was, but he’s also the man my best friend loves. I can’t let you kill him.”
“You make no sense! Very well, then you can die with him!” The enemy general swung at Carla.
Carla crossed her swords to block, but that powerful blow forced her to take a knee.
“What?! Was that really a human’s power?!” she gasped.
To make a dragonewt, far more powerful than a human, take a knee... It was hard to believe that this general was human.
“While you in the kingdom have sat on your laurels, we have polished our magic and martial prowess!” the man shouted.
“...I see. Earth magic, huh.”
As mentioned when reinforcements came from the Dark Elf village, Earth magic manipulated gravity. He must have increased the power of his slash by making the tip of his blade heavier at the moment of impact.
The enemy shouted as he tried to crush Carla. “Our royal family’s long-held wish is to take revenge on El
frieden! For that, we have polished our fangs and sharpened our claws! I will accomplish the wish of three generations of our royal family here and now!”
“I see... So you’re Gaius, are you?” she asked.
Having discerned the enemy general’s true identity, Carla turned his heavy blade aside with a smooth motion of her right-hand sword, then used her left-hand sword for a diagonal upwards slash. Just when she almost had him, Gaius leapt backwards.
Carla pointed her blade towards Gaius. “If you’re the sovereign prince... shouldn’t you worry about your people before your revenge?”
“Hmph!” Gaius spat. “I would be in a sad state if I let myself think like the weaklings of Elfrieden’s royal family. In the Principality of Amidonia, a king is one who can use his strength of will and arms to keep the people in check!”
“...Right,” said Carla. “When I look at you, Albert starts to look like a great ruler by comparison.”
He may not have been especially good or bad, but Albert’s reign had at least been peaceful. Gaius had started a war because he cared more about his own desire for revenge than how his people lived. She could never accept a man like that as a king.
“I wouldn’t want Souma to become a king like you...” she muttered.
“Hmph, I don’t need my enemies to love me... Hah!” Gaius suddenly shoved his hand to the ground.
In an instant, spikes began to rise out of the ground around Carla. The thorns growing out of the ground rushed towards her.
Carla avoided a direct hit, but because the ground around her had as many spikes growing out of it as a hedgehog, her wings were caught and she was unable to move. In a strange coincidence, Carla found herself captured by the same tactic Liscia had used to catch Castor.
“Dammit!” she shouted, trying hastily to get free.
“Now you will pay for blocking my path,” said Gaius. He thrust his sword out towards her.
Carla shut her eyes tight despite herself. Thud... She heard the sound of something being stabbed.
...However, there was no pain. When Carla hesitantly opened her eyes, there was a roly-poly something or other right in front of her. It was round, big, and white. When she looked closer, it was a doll big enough for a person to get inside. That roly-poly doll had gotten between Carla and Gaius, blocking Gaius’s sword with its body.
““Wha...?!””
Both Carla and Gaius’s eyes went wide at the doll’s sudden appearance.
Then...
“Get away, Carla!”
Carla snapped back to her senses when she heard the voice that called out to her. She cut herself free from the ground that was binding her and escaped. When she regained her balance and looked to the source of the voice, Carla’s eyes went wide once again.
“You... are you Souma Kazuya?!” Gaius shouted.
It seemed Gaius had figured it out, too.
By the time they noticed him, Souma Kazuya was standing around twenty meters away from them. There were four dolls of the same design as the one that had protected Carla floating around him in midair. It was a large-sized Little Musashibo doll that had protected Carla, while the ones deployed around Souma were medium-sized.
“You idiot! What are you doing out here?!” Carla landed next to Souma and scolded him.
Souma shrugged and said, “This guy’s the only one left. Our allies will gather here soon enough. So I decided, rather than wait back in camp, I’d kill time out here fighting alongside you.”
“If you die, Liscia will be sad, and you know that!” she screamed.
“Yeah. That’s why I came here,” he said. “To live. It’s better if we concentrate our power. Rather than both of us fighting him alone, the odds of us surviving are better if we cooperate from the beginning.”
With that said, Souma swung his arm out in front of him. When he did, two of the medium-sized Little Musashibo dolls that were carrying crossbows fired at Gaius.
The bolts shot straight at Gaius, but Gaius kicked the large Little Musashibo doll that had been in his way to the ground and cut the two bolts out of the air.
This time, it was Souma’s turn to be dumbstruck. “You can defend against that?”
“Be careful,” Carla cautioned. “That man is very powerful.”
With that word of caution, Souma braced himself for what was to come.
“Souma Kazuya!” Gaius howled, a sharp glint in his eye. “I will defeat you and destroy the kingdom.”
“...I hate to break this to you, but I’m pretty sure the kingdom won’t be destroyed even if you do kill me.” Despite the fact that Gaius scared him, Souma had a big grin on his face. “I’ve gathered talented people. I’ve laid out a transportation network, I’ve reworked the city infrastructure, and I’ve laid all the groundwork for prosperity. Even if I were to die, I’m sure someone could take over and run things just fine.”
“Then I will erase all of that!” Gaius stretched out his arm. In that instant, a stone shot at them from the ground.
““I won’t let you!”” Souma and Carla shouted in unison.
First, two medium-sized Little Musashibo dolls carrying shields moved up to block that attack. At the same time, Carla circled around to the side of Gaius and took a swing at him.
Gaius blocked that attack with his sword, then kicked Carla to get her away from him and covered his body with his cloak to protect himself from two more arrows that Souma fired. In this world where magic could be attached to things, even a cloak was a viable piece of armor.
“Damn. I know he’s a king, but he’s way too strong...” Souma grumbled.
“He’s trained himself very differently from the way you do, I’m sure... Hahh!” Carla spat fire in Gaius’s direction.
“Urkh.” Gaius blocked the flames with another swish of his cloak. Then he launched another stone.
Souma blocked the attack with one of his doll’s shields, but he could tell it was slowly breaking it. At this rate, they weren’t even going to buy him time.
...Then, something occurred to Souma.
“Move!” he shouted.
Souma had the fallen large-size Little Musashibo doll stand up and attack Gaius. Gaius shouted “You pest!” and cut it down, but he’d only cut the top half, so the large-sized Little Musashibo doll wrapped its arms around Gaius.
“What?!” Gaius shouted.
“Now, Carla! Burn the doll!”
“Huh?! Why...”
“Just do it! Hurry!”
“F-Fine!”
With no clue why she was doing it, Carla spat flames towards the large-sized Little Musashibo doll. There was a bright flash when the flames touched the doll, followed by...
Boom!
Gaius was caught in billowing flames and a cloud of black smoke.
It had exploded. Having taken the blast at close range, Gaius was hurled around ten meters through the air.
When Gaius landed on his back, he was burnt all over.
“What was that?” Carla came closer and asked.
Souma answered her question, relieved that it had worked out. “I keep all sorts of tools in that doll’s wicker basket. I remembered I’d put something like a ceramic ball packed with gunpowder in there, too. You ignited it and it exploded. After taking an explosion like that at close range, even Gaius has got to be...”
“...He’s moving,” said Carla.
Even as he heard Carla, Souma could see for himself, and doubted his own eyes.
Even though he had been engulfed in that explosion, Gaius was getting up. He had the serious wounds to his entire body that you would expect, but he stumbled towards the two of them like a zombie.
“I... will destroy... the kingdom... and show them... the spirit of Amidonia...” Gaius murmured, his eyes unfocused.
Truly, he was like a solid lump of tenacity.
“What a guy...” Carla let the words slip without thinking, and Souma agreed with her.
Gaius continued to tread forward, fueled by the sole purpose of destroyin
g the kingdom. Souma felt both fear and reverence towards his tenacity. Then...
Twang, twang, twang, twang!
Gaius’s body was riddled with countless arrows. After reorganizing their unit, the archers had caught up at last and fired a volley towards Gaius.
Gaius stopped in his tracks, his body beginning to shake.
He’s going to fall... The moment Souma thought that, Gaius switched the sword he was carrying to a backhand grip, and, mustering all his remaining strength, he threw it like a spear.
The sword traced an arc as it flew, stabbing into the ground near Souma’s feet.
“...Is this how far your tenacity can reach?” Souma let out those words along with a sigh of admiration. Then he said to Gaius, even though it wasn’t clear he could hear him anymore, “I have seen the spirit of Amidonia! Long will they tell tales of your valor! Prince Gaius VIII of Amidonia. I... King Souma of Elfrieden, will not forget the terror you inspired in me for my entire life!”
When Souma said that, it looked like Gaius smiled a little.
Then Gaius gently tumbled forward, never to rise again.
Souma burned that final vision of him into his memory. Then, he looked down to the sword at his feet.
“Perhaps I could stand to learn from his single-minded tenacity.”
“If you turn out like him, Liscia will cry,” Carla, who was standing at his side, said.
“Yeah, I guess she would...”
With those words, Souma walked up next to Gaius’s unmoving remains, put his hands together, and prayed. Unsure what the gesture meant, Carla tilted her head to the side in confusion.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Everyone becomes a Buddha once they’re dead... a god, in other words. It’s a custom from my old world. That’s why I’m praying so he can find his way to Nirvana.”
“You’re praying for this revenge-obsessed monster?” she asked incredulously.
“That’s all the more reason,” he said. “You wouldn’t want him coming back to curse me as a ghost because he had regrets in this world, would you?”