Arc 9, Chapter 17 – “Please, Don’t Forgive Me”

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――A white table and a parasol were placed atop a small hill of lush, verdant grass.

A clear blue sky, black hair swaying in a gentle breeze. Without knowing how, they found themself sitting in a chair, and across the white table, a young woman of black and white, was enjoying a cup of tea.

Warm vapor rose from a teacup, yet no fragrance could be sensed. ――Just as if it had perfectly mimicked just the exterior of the element known as tea, in the manner of papier-mâché.

Such was the dishonest impression evoked by this individual.

???: [What… happened to me?]

A query.

One that sought an answer regarding the chaos induced up until a moment prior.

???: [Is that not something you should know yourself?]

A response.

One that could not be declared an answer regarding the chaos induced up until a moment prior.

With vexation towards the feeling that their question had been sidestepped, they endeavored with all their heart to come to rationality, to suppress the urge to vent the dissatisfaction in regards to the events that had just transpired to the young woman before their eyes.

And likewise contained within, was a pinch of “their” perspective as an onlooker.

???: [Echidna! Let me out of here now!]

Impatience and impulse were deliberately mistaken for courage, used as a provocation to propel the conversation forward.

Atop the hill of green, standing opposite a young woman proclaiming herself a Witch, once again were they assailed by an enigmatic sensation. ――Indeed, once again, they were.

Again, and again and again and again, that had been the case.

Always, without fail, no matter the situation, each and every event had been a sequence of the inexplicable and the absurd. Faced with all that, they clenched their teeth, earnestly they raised their visage, and continued to struggle onward.

――They had continued to struggle on, giving of themself.

???: [Why not try it and see?]

――Please, stop.

――Please, I’m begging you, stop. Don’t let them say what comes next. Don’t let them say it.

???: [Taking action to procure the results one desires, is deserving of my respect. I am not going to veer from that opinion. In fact, I believe it is precisely such actions that make life worth living.]

――Please, stop. Please, stop. I’m begging you, please, stop.

――Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.

――Stop.

???: [Echidna. I can Return by―― Death.]

――Ahh, ahh, ahh, please.

――Please, don’t suffer.

――Please, don’t cry.

――Please, don’t get hurt. 

――Please, don’t be afraid.

――Please, don’t laugh.

――Please, don’t forgive.

???: [For your inquiry of “why”, you are qualified, and the doors of this tea party are open to you. And, by drinking the tea offered by a Witch, you are accepted as an honored guest. As the host of this tea party, I am obliged to welcome you. ――Now, you may ask away.]

――Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, I’m begging you.

――I’m begging you, please, stop.

???: [After all, to agonize the mind in search of an answer is the greatest of bliss to me.]

――I’m begging you, so please, you must not save this person.

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――The troublesome thing about mental exhaustion was that unlike physical fatigue, it was not visible to the eye.

Of course, there were clear indicators such as an inability to think straight, unavoidably heightened irritability, and circles darker than a bottomless swamp appearing underneath the eyes.

However, those indicators were physical changes, so ultimately, there was not that great of a difference from physical fatigue; at least that was what Aldebaran had concluded.

Mental exhaustion, in its truest sense, could not be soothed by touch, nor could it be healed by magic; that was the sort of thing it was.

And, what was required in order to recover that worn out mind was neither words nor relationships. ――To put it bluntly, what was needed was time.

Only time would grant kindness enough to iron out a mind whittled down to a rugged state.

That was why――,

Aldebaran: [――Territory re-expansion, Matrix redefinition.]

In a whisper, after finally settling down, Aldebaran updated his Matrix.

It was his first time updating the Matrix in roughly six hours―― the ability to prolong his own bodily experience of time as much as he desired, without the consequence of real time progressing, was the greatest merit of Aldebaran’s Authority.

Within the bounds of his established Territory, he could swallow poison to repeat a fixed period of time as often as he wanted, generating the time needed to smoothen out his mind. For his battle against Reinhard, too, he had taken full advantage of this merit to fine tune the plans he had prepared in advance in order to draw him into them.

Aldebaran: [Though, he did circumvent practically all of them…]

Ultimately, it had ended with him playing a card he had not wished to play, so Aldebaran found it difficult to say he had been victorious; at best it was a draw due to injury. To put it bluntly, it was a loss for both parties.

Anyhow, both his inability to think straight and his heightened irritability had gotten a little better.

Unfortunately, he did not know what had become of the bags under his eyes, but since he did not have the time to cover it with makeup, he would make do donning the black gnarled helmet that perfectly matched his worn-out body and mind.

Though his body and mind had been described as worn-out, his body was actually in excellent condition.

As the strongest, supreme life-form, the Dragon’s inexhaustible supply of―― would be an overstatement, but the vast supply of Mana could be used to his heart’s content. Welling up with healing from Water Magic and buffs from Yang Magic, this was the strongest Aldebaran had been since he had been born into this world, and none could object to that claim.

Aldebaran: [Be that as it may, it’s something like an ant getting its power multiplied by a hundred; no matter how many buffs it stacks up, it can never beat a human.]

Not to mention, when comparing his opponents to that standard, they were not humans, but rather elephants or lions.

Alas, since the specs of his receptacle were inferior from the start, even if Aldebaran was now the strongest Aldebaran in history, he would still only serve as fodder in a direct confrontation.

Setting aside that miserable self-evaluation――,

Aldebaran: [――Seven days.]

A single knee raised, leaning against a wall of dirtied wooden planks, Aldebaran counted his time limit.

This location, which they had selected to take a rest in, was a small hunting shed that Yae had found in the woods. Fortunately, the owner seemed to be absent given the time of year, so they had entered and were using it of their own accord.

It could not be expected to have amenities such as a fluffy bed or open air bath, but in the regard that it would not attract attention, it was just as favorable as a suite to Aldebaran at the current moment.

Whenever possible from here on out, they would need to avoid the battles they could avoid and proceed through events smoothly.

The little show they had put on at Mirula, the town closest to the Augria Sand Dunes, had been an exception.

It was the meetup point for him and his allies, and he also truly just could not help but want to drink milk. Furthermore, it had been necessary to inform the townsfolk about how transcendent the events transpiring were, and that there would be nobody present to save them from it.

After all, just ten-odd kilometers away, a battle between the strongest beings in the world was playing out.

Aldebaran’s stratagem had brought forth the Witch of Envy, and Reinhard would likely put his life on the line in order to stop her. However, there was no reason to believe that its aftershocks would not reach beyond the sand sea. It was not likely for the constant flashing in the sky to settle down, so seeking refuge was essential.

And, Aldebaran’s decided time frame of seven days was not unrelated to that battle. ――Rather, it was actually quite closely connected.

As far as Aldebaran knew, the Sword Saint and the Witch of Envy were evenly matched. That battle would continue repeating the same moves for a thousand days, and no terminus would be reached in that back and forth combat.

But, that was only when the matter was constrained to being between the Sword Saint and the Witch of Envy.

Now that a battle between the two had been realized through Aldebaran’s scheming, it would not actually continue on for a thousand days.

That was because――,

Aldebaran: [The world will come crumbling down before their battle can reach a conclusion. If it ever comes to that, it’s over.]

Ere the world’s ruination could transpire, it would be necessary to put an end to that battle.

In that sense, though he had been the one to make the matchup, that ultimate battle had also become a cause bringing about the world’s end, and thus one of the things Aldebaran had proclaimed he would remove.

Aldebaran: [So many things… there are so many things I have to do…]

Placing a hand on the forehead of his helmet, Aldebaran took a long, deep breath.

He had quelled his mental exhaustion thanks to his Authority, forcibly recovered his physical fatigue through Water and Yang Magic, and yet it still seemed like he would go over capacity from the sheer size of the things on his mind and the things he was burdened with.

Of course, from the moment he started this onward, his complaints were not something he could let anybody hear, but――,

???: [――Do~n’t you be so pointlessly stubborn now, why not just lean ri~ght up on someone else and relax for once, since you have one arm and all?]

Aldebaran: […Yae, is that you?]

Yae: [Yes yes yes, Al-sama’s helpful all-purpose shinobi maid, Yae, reporting for duty~!]

WIth nary a sign or footstep, as if having literally appeared by suddenly springing out from a shadow, the young woman―― Yae, cracked a joke with a smile.

As the girl walked towards him with her hands joined behind her back, Aldebaran shrugged,

Aldebaran: [Regardless of the helpful and all-purpose parts, being a shinobi maid is stacking too many character types.]

Yae: [That so? Even though I already had to sadly cut the beautiful, sweet, and lovely parts~. Okay okay, in that case what evaluation would you give of me, Al-sama?]

Aldebaran: […Submissive cat-like shinobi maid?]

Yae: [U~wahhh, that way of thinking doesn’t seem like it’d be popular with the ladies. But then again, you do have a shinobi maid.]

Receiving a rather genuine look of scorn, Aldebaran clicked his tongue with a “Shut up, you”.

He was in the middle of confronting a challenge that required him to earnestly rack his brain. He did not wish to waste his time on the blathering of an ally who he had no need to curry favor with.

Aldebaran: [First and foremost, I told you to keep an eye on the old man, didn’t I? Also, to check the paths that lead out of these woods, maintain vigilance over the vicinity of this hut, and prepare our food.]

Yae: [Don’t you think it’s like that super black~ thing you say? That’s how you say exploitation in Al-sama’s language, right? Right now, this whole thing’s super black~.] [1]

Aldebaran: [You’re a helpful all-purpose shinobi maid, yeah? Put in the work so as to not tarnish that name.]

Yae: [Se~riously, Al-sama you’re like an Oni and a Beast combined into a brute~.]

Sticking out her tongue with a “Behhhh”, Yae talked back without trying to hide her discontent. When he stared her down, Yae raised a single finger with a “Fine, I understand.”

Yae: [The preparations for food are done. Though they are shinobi provisions. Vigilance of the shed’s vicinity has been completed. Even in these woods it seems that there are Witchbeasts~. Speaking of, I’ve discovered a path through the woods with sound footing. It’d do you good to train your legs and loins a bit more. And, about Heinkel-sama…]

Aldebaran: [What about him?]

Yae: [Even if we’re keeping him alive he’s just a carry-on, so maybe we could use him as bait to avoid the Witchbeasts… geez~, please don’t make that face, I was just joking.]

Aldebaran: [You shouldn’t be able to see my face.]

Yae: [I can see the signs you give off. You’re pretty loud, Al-sama.]

Saying something that seemed both understandable and unintelligible, Yae abruptly turned her face away. But, without averting his own gaze, Al continued to glare at her side-profile.

Before long, she seemed to give in, and taking a deep breath,

Yae: [Heinkel-sama is all tied up. I’ll be alerted if he happens to wake up, and if tries too hard to run away, his limbs will be in pieces.]

Aldebaran: [In pieces, eh. Could you really manage that on that old man?]

Yae: [Even if he’s sturdy, he’s not a steelfolk or anything, some parts of him are more frail. My technique is to penetrate those parts. To begin with, even though you’re asking if I can do it, you’d get angry if I actually did do it, right?]

Aldebaran: [Guess so.]

Yae: [Then, I guess I won’t do it~. There’s no merit in me angering you, Al-sama, isn’t that right?]

Raising both her hands in a gesture of non-defiance, Yae showed that she meant no harm, to which Aldebaran relaxed his shoulders.

Her manner of speech was frivolous, and she also liked to jest, but there was no falsehood in Yae’s words. That which Aldebaran had done to Yae was nothing so easy such that she would still be plotting something here.

To the utmost extent of what had been possible, thoroughly and mercilessly, he had shattered her defiant spirit―― no, he had shattered her heart.

The reason why Yae Tenzen was assisting Aldebaran right now was the result of having done so.

――Yae Tenzen was an assassin who had been sent to take the life of Priscilla Barielle.

Through the announcement of her entry into the Royal Selection, the existence of Priscilla Barielle also became known in the Vollachian Empire, so it was only a matter of time before people began to realize that she was Prisca Benedict, who had survived in a foreign nation after escaping the conclusion of the Imperial Selection Ceremony, which concerned the succession of the Imperial throne in the Empire.

Yae was intended to dash water over the live coals known as Priscilla as she produced smoke in the Kingdom; an assassin sent by a Divine General of the Empire, Chisha Gold.

In fact, the infiltration of the female shinobi had been performed magnificently, and put to use as Priscilla’s chamberlain, she flourished as a hardworking maid in the Barielle Domain; Priscilla took a liking to her, and even Schult greatly adored her. Aldebaran, too, had thought of her as a coworker who was easy to get along with.

However, without forgetting her initial objective, Yae had aimed for Priscilla’s life.

Hence――,

Yae: [Al-sama was super scary on that day~. Under the pretext of the village’s training, my body has experienced nearly all the terrible things that you can in this world… but, that was the first time in my life I ever felt so afraid.]

Aldebaran: […That’s a story that makes my chest sting.]

Yae: [You should at least feel my heartache. If you felt the way that I have ever since that day, when I was made the loyal servant of such a scary Al-sama, you should be able to bear it just fine. I kept away from the madam and Schult-chan… subservient to anything you would tell me to do, Al-sama, even letting you do whatever you pleased with my body…]

Aldebaran: [I never laid a finger on you though!?]

Hugging her own slender shoulders, Yae flirted in an attempt to draw sympathy, but Aldebaran rebutted.

That statement had gone too far in damaging his reputation, and of course, having been said in the absence of any other ears, it was probably some form of pestering or discouragement towards Aldebaran.

But, Yae gave a flirtatious glance towards Aldebaran as he harbored that impression,

Yae: […Sooner or later, why don’t you try touching me without mentioning anything about where you’ve laid your fingers? You must be awfully fatigued, so, Al-sama, I don’t mind comforting you in your weakened state, y’know?]

Aldebaran: [――――]

Yae: [Oh? Ohohoho~? Does this silence perhaps suggest that you’re considering it as an option? In that case, I’ll go get the bed ready before you change your mind…]

Aldebaran: [You’ve got it wrong, I was just pondering over what I should say to shut you up. Besides, you…]

Yae: [What is it?]

Aldebaran: [You yourself said that there would be no meaning in having such a relationship with me, yeah?]

Pointing his finger at Yae as she produced a bewitching atmosphere, Aldebaran questioned her true intent.

Unfortunately, no matter how coquettishly she phrased her invitation, Aldebaran would never go along with it. Aldebaran had spent over ten years as a gladiator on Gladiator Island, where societal order was at its worst. He was tired of hearing those kinds of sales pitches.

Besides, this was not the first time that Yae had tried to seduce Aldebaran like this. Hence, neither was it his first time rejecting her, but as Yae caressed her own body in a disappointed manner,

Yae: [This is also a shinobi weapon, so it’s hurtful for it to be dismissed so bluntly.]

Aldebaran: [Don’t cling to weapons that don’t work. Mistaking the means for the end can be a slippery slope.]

Yae: [Well, that’s quite the reasonable advice. ――After all, if I could have gotten you to love me, Al-sama, then my tomorrow would have been secured forever, bu~t that hope fell apart when the madam died.]

Aldebaran: [――――]

Yae: [That angry look on your face, I can see it y’know?]

As she slightly inclined her head, Yae’s words were a sharp blade that wounded Aldebaran’s heart.

It could not have been without malice. Yae was brimming with intent to wound Aldebaran, and Aldebaran had resigned himself to receive that blade. Neither of them had declared it, but Aldebaran had been intent on protecting Priscilla’s life, and Yae had also believed that the madam―― that Priscilla’s life would be secure.

Now that the unspoken understanding had been broken, this torment from Yae was a natural punishment.

Yae: [I won’t say that you went back on your word. After all, I never ascertained it through your words. Only, since Al-sama loved the madam, I thought you would’ve naturally protected her til the end.]

Touching her lips, Yae spun words that tore Aldebaran to shreds.

In silence, as he tasted the sharpness of that blade, Aldebaran would listen to her next words. That was definite retribution he ought to receive――,

Yae: [――Please don’t misunderstand. Al-sama, I’m not reproaching you for not having protected the madam, y’know?]

Aldebaran: [Ah?]

Yae: [I quite liked the madam. Though, I did try to kill her because of an order. She was classy, intelligent, beautiful, and surprisingly kind. But, if she ended up dying, then there’s nothing to be done about that. Those who die don’t come back. Though, for some reason it seems like they were brought back in the Empire~.]

Even though he had not shared the details of the events in the Empire until then, Yae brought up the topic of the Great Disaster, which she must have heard about somewhere. But, rather than where she got her hands on that information, Aldebaran’s attention was turned to Yae’s manner of progressing the conversation, leaving her true intentions unreadable.

If Yae had no intent of reproaching Aldebaran, then just what did she intend to accomplish by discussing Priscilla’s death and verbally attacking Aldebaran like this?

Yae: [My words are simply words, y’know~? Al-sama, you’re getting hurt by them of your own accord. All I’m doing is holding you accountable.]

Aldebaran: [Holding me, accountable?]

Yae: [Didn’t you ask about it yourself? About what my objective was in trying to comfort you, Al-sama… well~, perhaps your phrasing was a little more crude?]

Aldebaran: [――――]

Yae: [Before, it was in order to have Al-sama love me and thus protect me. But, I now understand that it’s not an absolute, so my objective has changed from back then.]

As she spoke, Yae slowly walked right up before Aldebaran and folded her knees. Then, on eye-level with Aldebaran, as he sat on the dirty floor,

Yae: [My goal in my proposal to comfort you now, Al-sama, is not a seduction. It’s insurance, so to speak.]

Aldebaran: [Insurance…]

Yae: [Al-sama, it’s already begun, now hasn’t it~? You’ve betrayed those who’ve treated you well, you’ve even unleashed the Witch of Envy to ground the Sword Saint… this can’t be stopped, and it would be a problem to have it stop, so I can’t afford to have you fail. That’s why~…]

Pausing her words there, Yae gently reached out a white finger, and touched Aldebaran’s neck. As the fingertip of a short-nail tickled his neck, Yae brought her lips to his ears so as to whisper,

Yae: [Please, accomplish what you set out to do, Al-sama. If it’s for that purpose, then whether it’s my body, my talents, my techniques, or anything else, please make use of them. I will serve to comfort you, be it to rest your mind or vent your anger.]

Her breathing was feverish, and with no falsehood in the voice that dedicated the entirety of her being, Yae flashed the high canines that could be seen in her mouth, and continued.

That was――,

Yae: [――Then, after you’ve accomplished what you’d set out to do, please die, once and for all. Al-sama, if you don’t die, I don’t think I’ll ever feel safe for the rest of my entire life.]

Saying that in the most horrifyingly coquettish tone until then, Yae smiled.

That was the reason why Yae Tenzen was assisting Aldebaran, even if it meant making an enemy of the world. ――Thus, Aldebaran himself could also assent to that conclusion.

It was something he had known since the beginning.

If Aldebaran ever accomplished his goal, all of his actions up until that point would not be forgiven, nor would they be exonerated. Much less would they be deemed acceptable or be understood.

He did not wish to be understood. Neither did he wish to be forgiven. Please, oh please, don’t forgive me.

Once all was said and done, Aldebaran would assuredly be burned at the stake.

That conclusion of him being burned to death was the hope of Yae Tenzen―― nay, Aldebaran himself also desired it.

Were he to succeed in his objective, he would gladly be burned at the stake. Then, just like the woman who had burned herself to save her motherland, Aldebaran would likewise be reduced to ash.

――When that time came, finally would Aldebaran be able to undo his Territory, destroying the Matrix.

Aldebaran: [――――]

In a mutual silence, Aldebaran and Yae locked eyes at a proximity where they could feel each other’s breaths.

Therein was nothing akin to the desire between man and woman, but rather, a pitiful girl with the chains on her life in the clutches of a monster, and the dried out misery of a foolish clown exerting himself to play the role of monster.

Then, as their gazes continued to remain locked for a while――,

???: [――Gwaahhhhh! Wh-what the hell!? How did I… Gwahhhh!?]

Suddenly, a voice that was neither Aldebaran’s nor Yae’s, but that of a third party, boorishly ripped apart the space between the two.

That which had been heard was a shriek from Heinkel, who had seemingly woken up. Though if Yae’s report a moment prior had been the truth, the manner in which he had been tied up was such that if careless, he would end up in pieces.

Aldebaran: […The old man’s gonna fall apart. Go untie him before that happens.]

Yae: [Are you glossing over me? It’d be fine even if Heinkel-sama were to fall apart.]

Aldebaran: [It’s not fine, I made a promise to the old man. When everything’s finished, I’ll arrange the Dragon’s Blood for him. I keep my promises… Promises are, important.]

Yae: [Promises… alright, would you then make one with me? A promise, that is.]

Aldebaran: [――――]

Yae: [If you make me a promise, and if you keep it, then fine. I’ll do it. Heinkel-sama won’t fall apart. I, Yae, am your faithful servant.]

Briefly poking out her red tongue, whilst concealing the murderous intent within her narrowed eyes, Yae asked of him.

At her words, Aldebaran closed his eyes within his helmet; then, slowly holding up his right hand, he extended his pinky.

As she witnessed that, Yae made a puzzled face befitting a girl her age. ――He recalled when in the past, Priscilla had similarly been caught off guard upon seeing him extend his pinky like this.

And as he recalled it,

Aldebaran: [Entwining our pinkies and making a pinky promise, that’s my ritual for making promises.]

Yae: [Entwining our pinkies… how le~wd~.]

Aldebaran: [It’s not lewd. If you aren’t gonna do it, fine.]

Yae: [I will, I will. Have a look-see, Yae-chan’s pinky and Al-sama’s pinky are entwined.]

Her phrasing had been lascivious, but Aldebaran did not mention anything about it. Then, with their pinkies entwined, they rocked their hands up and down,

Aldebaran: [Pinky promise, if you lie you have to swallow a thousand needles. ――Pinky promise sworn.]

With that, he concluded the pinky promise of his own demise.

Aldebaran, wishing for his own death, had mixed feelings about Yae’s awfully delighted demeanour here, but he did indeed think that she really was a shinobi maid who suited those omitted aspects of beautiful, sweet, and lovely.

Heinkel: [S-somebody, somebody do something! Guh, gah! Gwaahhhhh!!]

Still, the pathetic cries of pain of the neglected Heinkel echoed loudly throughout the woods.

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Heinkel: [Piece of shit, you’ll regret this, maid…]

Yae: [Please don’t use such dirty language~, Heinkel-sama. As you can see, we’re isolated and shorthanded, so we can’t afford to waste personnel to keep watch over you, Heinkel-sama.]

Heinkel: [Then it would’ve been fine to just lay me on my side! The nerve you must have to pointlessly tie me up…]

Yae: [I just thought that seeing a little blood~ might calm you down~. Isn’t it just the cutesy survival tactics of this delicate Yae to ensure that this camp isn’t destroyed?]

Heinkel: [Why you little…!]

A red line streaked the back of his neck―― as Heinkel rubbed where the blood had run down, he unconsciously reached down for the sword at his waist, indignant at Yae’s talkative demeanour.

But, when Aldebaran spied a dangerous glint in Yae’s eye at the same time, he had no choice but to intervene in their interaction with a “Wait”.

Aldebaran: [Yae, don’t instigate. Old man, Yae is just like this…]

Heinkel: [I don’t care! By the time I showed up, this woman wasn’t at the mansion anymore!]

Yae: [Yippity yep, Heinkel-sama and I narrowly missed meeting each other at the mansion. To think that the replacement of this beautiful and competent Yae-chan was Heinkel-sama, it must’ve been quite a shock to Schult-chan, ri~ght?]

Aldebaran: […Surprisingly, Schult-chan got along really well with the old man.]

Yae: [Heh~, that’s really surprising. Even though that’s not at all the case with your own son?]

Heinkel: [You little…!]

Aldebaran: [Yae.]

Once again, Yae began to deliberately grate on Heinkel’s nerves, and so Aldebaran directed a stern gaze her way; but, her only response was “Apologies~” and a bow with her hands clasped.

The two had met for the first time when he approached Heinkel with his plans, and had him leave the Fortified City in advance to converge with Yae, but their chemistry was worse than he ever could have imagined. Regardless of Heinkel not liking Yae, it seemed that Yae was also not considerably fond of Heinkel. [2]

To be honest, Yae was unfriendly with Heinkel to an extent uncharacteristic of even herself.

Aldebaran: [Sorry, old man, but from here on out, both you and Yae are gonna have indispensable roles. I won’t tell you to get along, so at least play your part well.]

So, Aldebaran gave up on trying to reform Yae’s attitude, and requested Heinkel to compromise. He was sorry to Heinkel, but so long as he desired the Dragon’s Blood, he could not go against Aldebaran’s plans or views. Obediently, he would be put to use.

And contrary to Aldebaran’s expectation that there would be some natural backlash, Heinkel briefly muttered “Understood”,

Heinkel: [More importantly, were you telling the truth? That in seven days, things will be settled?]

Aldebaran: [――. Yeah, but rather than calling it the truth, I’d say I’m serious about it. I seriously intend on concluding this in seven days.]

Heinkel: [When that time comes, give me the Dragon’s Blood of Volcanica. You absolutely must not break that promise… That and, the Witch of Envy…]

Aldebaran: [I’ve thought of a plan to have that withdraw. Before the battle between your son and the Witch of Envy can amount to anything, yeah? You don’t need to worry.]

Heinkel: [I’m not worried…!]

Aldebaran: [――――]

Heinkel: [I’m not, worried…]

As his expression clouded over with shame, Heinkel did not wring out any further words. After gazing over Heinkel in silence, Aldebaran turned to face forward.

As Yae led the way, Aldebaran’s party was moving to exit the woods in which they had been hiding.

As mentioned previously, now that he had overcome the unavoidable clash with the Sword Saint, Aldebaran and his henchmen would have no choice but to avoid trouble as much as possible as they headed toward their target destination.

For that purpose, with a long way to go, they would have to continue traversing westward through the Kingdom of Lugunica.

Yae: [But~, will it really go so smoothly such that nobody gets in our way? After all, isn’t there a high probability that the Sword Saint-sama’s collaborators already know about your wrongdoings, Al-sama?]

Aldebaran: [Don’t call them wrongdoings… Firstly, my betrayal is undoubtedly known. When lil’ miss Flam contacted her little sister, it’s hard to think that the Sword Saint was the only other person present, and there’s no chance he just flew off without saying anything to anyone. Hence, we’re turning the tables on them.]

Yae: [And by turning the tables, you mean using the Divine Dragon-sama?]

Aldebaran: [That’s right.]

Responding to Yae’s question, Aldebaran pointed to the sky obstructed by the trees of the surrounding woods.

As Aldebaran’s party proceeded through the forest like this, “Aldebaran” did not accompany them. Of course, its large body would have been exceedingly conspicuous, but there was something that Aldebaran had wished for it to do by using its fame and absurdly noticeable body.

Aldebaran: [For now, the Divine Dragon is headed in a different direction from ours… I had it fly north. By having it draw attention there, I expect attention to be diverted away from us.]

He was unsure of the accuracy of Flam’s Divine Protection of Telepathy, but if in addition to Aldebaran’s betrayal, she had conveyed the information regarding the antagonism of the Divine Dragon Volcanica, the sightings of Volcanica would be regarded as a threat to the Kingdom, and it would become the center of their attention.

Without Reinhard, they would need to mobilize personnel on the level of the order of Knights, or else they would be unable to even take seats at the negotiation table with Volcanica; such would be their viewpoint.

Thus――,

Aldebaran: [Naturally, the opponent would assume that I’d be together with the greatest fighting strength.]

Nobody would arrive at the idea that he had parted with the Divine Dragon, which he had gone out of his way to gain as an ally.

But, considering Aldebaran’s objective, there would be no meaning in standing out more than necessary, so it was natural to exclude the inevitably conspicuous “Aldebaran” from acting with the group.

Having read Aldebaran’s Book of the Dead, “Aldebaran” shared his objective, plans, and expectations, and thus would likely fulfill the role levied upon it.

In the meantime, Aldebaran’s party would close the physical distance on their objective with success.

For that purpose, Yae’s skills as a shinobi would also come in handy――,

Yae: [――Al-sama, a problem has arisen.]

As Yae suddenly stopped in her tracks and informed him so, Aldebaran held his breath.

Walking at the rear of the line, Heinkel also stopped, and called out to Yae with an “Oi”. She responded not to his call, and silently directing her gaze beyond the trees―― outside the woods,

Yae: [It’s the “worst” that you get when you combine “most” and “bad”, but we’re being ambushed.]

Aldebaran: [――Hk.]

Heinkel: [Hahh!? An ambush!? So what the hell was all that for!? Your whole Dragon diversion thing!]

Receiving a report of unexpected circumstances, Aldebaran’s cheeks stiffened, and Heinkel raised his voice. Heinkel was more distraught than he was angry, and Aldebaran felt the same way, even if he did not voice it.

There was no way they were being ambushed. The presence of the Divine Dragon Volcanica could not be ignored. That was, if they could not focus on anything else but the Divine Dragon Volcanica’s strength――,

???: [――Oi! You can hear me, can’t you? I know you’re in there, helmet bastard!]

Aldebaran: [――――]

As if having calculated the time he had caught his breath, a voice struck at the precise moment he let it go.

But, that was wrong. That was not so. It was not that the time had been calculated. Unlike the have-nots, the haves would never miss the timing in these situations.

Such had been the case for the Sun Princess, Priscilla Barielle.

Thus, with equal status as Priscilla Barielle, for she who vied for the same seat of the Kingdom’s apex, it was simply that the selfsame marvel resided innately within.

Outside the woods, awaiting Aldebaran and his party, the advent of the Golden Lion――,

???: [Looks like you took care of my garbage Knight. Guess I got no choice but to clean up after him. ――He’s not used to having it wiped by others, but the one who’ll be cleaning up his ass here, is me.]

Translation Note:
[1] – “Black” in Japanese is typically used in the context of “Black Company”, a business that overworks and is exploitative of its workers.

[2] – Here in the original text, Tappei writes that Aldebaran had Heinkel leave the Imperial Capital in advance, but this makes no sense given that they were in Garkla when these events would have transpired, and as such the translation has been altered to reflect the continuity of the series.