Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy
Iris
Before my eyes, countless white flowers in full bloom all scattered their petals and started fading away into the wind.
The effect of “Garden of Ailene” was going to expire, and soon the flower field would revert back to the original wasteland.
At the same time, the warm feeling that embraced my entire being had also left, and my wings returned to their original golden color.
The sound of combat could no longer be heard.
And… I took great care to purify all the crystals from the enemy troll’s body after his defeat. There was no sign that he would ever move again.
Now, the entire battlefield was enveloped in a strange silence.
Did we actually… win?
As soon as my mind started to comprehend that fact, the tension that had been building up until then was released all at once, and my legs gave out.
“Whoops, don’t go collapsing on me so suddenly… did the fatigue finally get to you?”
“I think so, ahahaha…”
Actually I was feeling numb below my waist again, but it’s embarrassing to say that out loud.
“Did we… do it?”
“Yeah, we sure did.”
The soldiers around me must have finally realized that the enemy was no more, as voices began to rise.
“What about our casualties…?”
“Uh, Saul is checking on that at the moment…”
“I’m back. I haven’t got to everyone yet, but it’s very likely that the death toll on our side is… zero.”
Said Nii-sama, who had just returned after apparently flying down there to confirm the situation.
Zero. Casualty. Everyone survived this battle.
I let out a long, long sigh of relief.
“…Thank goodness… I was really worried about that…”
I leaned my back on Reiji-san to get some much-needed rest.
A while later, someone else suddenly ran up the stairs.
“Is everyone alright…?!”
If I recalled correctly, she was sharing a ride with the Count earlier… Titilia, I believed her name was.
She’s a bit taller than me, I think. She is a cute girl with a very well-proportioned face and bright blonde hair that reaches her shoulders.
She wore a crimson robe resembling a blazer from my old world’s school uniform, and a white skirt. On top of it all was a symmetrical cloak with the right side covering the front… That outfit belonged to the secondary class “Sage” of the Enchanter grouping, I think.
“Um, you’re…?”
I tried to call out to her, but by then she was already gone.
“Milord, over here! They’re all safe!”
A man came up the stair where she called out to.
He had sharp, almond-shaped eyes and a perpetual frown on his face, with rarely any other emotion.
Combined with his full-black armor, it’s not inappropriate to call him a true black knight.
But he was considered one of the most handsome NPCs back in the game, with a nice personality to boot… I giggled while thinking about it.
Never let him know that.
“Pardon my late introduction. Your humble servant, Leonhardt Rolandia, has arrived along with my troops to provide assistance… It’s my biggest relief that I can see both of you safe and sound again, Your Highnesses.”
Even as he gave me a sharp salute, I saw his expression softening ever so slightly. Could he be smiling?
“Um… We’re…”
“If it is about the memory loss issue, I have heard reports. I also understand that there are still things we need to investigate. But let’s discuss them later… This is neither the time nor place to do such a thing.”
He then knelt before me, who was sitting down, and Nii-sama, who was supporting me with Reiji-san.
“Once again… your safety is of utmost importance to me. Allow me to protect it for as long as I live.”
“Leonhardt-sama… Thank you very much.”
“Well then, there’s something I need you to do, Your Highness Irisria.”
“Me?”
Leonhardt-sama promptly turned away and walked briskly to the edge of the wall, where he glanced at all the soldiers below.
“It was thanks to your presence that everyone was able to muster up their courage and fight, survive and achieve total triumph… The honor of giving the victory speech should be yours.”
“…Eeeeeh?!”
That completely came out of left field.
His face was still stern as ever when he turned to face me, though he seemed to be holding back a smile.
“I’m sure they’re just as worried about you as I am. It would do well if you at least let them know you’re doing well up here.”
“C-Can you give me a moment? I need to prepare myself…”
As the Count urged me on, I turned to those two for support…
“Just do it.”
“Don’t worry, we’re with you.”
Reiji-san and Nii-sama each took my hand and quickly got me up. With their help, I made my way to the wall’s edge.
“Ah…”
Countless gazes were focused on me.
Even though they all looked exhausted, most of them seemed to have a proud, “We did it!” expression on their face.
I must not bring down everyone’s mood… yes, I should be happy, because everyone survived this battle!
“Uh, did you remember me? Since we all returned alive as promised… could you let my earlier disrespect slide?”
One of the knights spoke.
If I recalled correctly, he’s Weber-san. In fact, he was one of the first that I recognized because he was the same person who got smacked during my first encounter with the knights for speaking to me too casually… To be honest, I hardly considered that a disrespect, but he really took it to heart, didn’t he?
He looked battered in many places from the fierce battle, but when he saw me, he still gave a weak salute and winked.
“Yes… Everyone did a wonderful job today…!”
I took a deep breath to calm my throat, which was about to tremble with emotion.
“We’ve valiantly defended this town… without a single life lost! I… I couldn’t thank all of you enough for this victory!”
“Ooooooooooh!!”
Even though they should have been exhausted to the limit, everyone raised their weapons and shouted a battle cry that shook the air.
I couldn’t say anything more.
So, even though tears of joy were streaming down my cheeks, I tried to put on a smile.
And that was when I hit my own limit. I threw myself into Nii-sama’s chest, and I was quickly wrapped in his cloak, feeling my gaze blocked.
“…This time, you really saved everyone…”
Nii-sama spoke quietly so that only the two of us could hear it.
I just nodded my head wordlessly at his words.
“Like she said, all of you did an exceptional job today. Me and my men will take care of the cleanup work, so I want you to rest up and recover…”
Leonhardt-sama took over and began giving instructions.
Right, there’s still something I need to “clean up”.
I gently let go of Nii-sama, wiped my tears and stood up.
“Feeling better?”
“Yes. We should get going, too. Our job here isn’t done until the Wound within the mine is purified.”
Walter
Good grief, they really went and did it.
The abomination that I could do nothing but desperately hold back his advance was brought down by just the young lady and the other youngsters.
Not to mention every single one of us survived. I’d never heard of such a thing in a battle of this scale.
But just because things went well this time… doesn’t mean next time we’d be so lucky.
That young lady was too kind for this gritty battlefield. I was starting to get really concerned about her.
Because she could heal any injury in an instant, she reacted extremely badly to the death of others that she couldn’t save.
As I thought about such things, I walked a little away from the high-spirited scene of soldiers celebrating, and found the person I was looking for.
“Oh, it’s you. You know, for as long as I’ve lived, this is the first time I’ve seen such a scene.”
The person in question, my mentor, was gazing at the illusionary sight of pale, glowing petals floating up and dissolving into the air.
“…Master.”
“Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me Master?”
“You’ll always be my Master… but in any case, why did you hold back in the battle?”
To be more accurate, it wasn’t that he was holding back, but rather that he was staying out of the way and focusing on providing support from the rear and being the last line of defense. Moreover, this time, he only used the knight’s standard sword, and he did not draw his own main weapon, the magic sword that he wore at his waist.
Even so, he perfectly fulfilled his own duties and also took care of others. He did not hold back in a way that would put others’ lives in danger.
“If you had drawn your magic sword and gone to the front lines, wouldn’t this battle have been a little easier?”
There was no answer.
My mentor kept on staring at the scene in front of him for a while longer before finally opening his mouth.
“I don’t expect such wishful thinking coming from you. There’re limits to what one person can do.”
“I know that, but…”
There’s a possibility stuck in my head, but I didn’t want to think about it… that even a superhuman like him could fight the way he used to.
“…Fool. Your thoughts are written all over your face. But your guess isn’t wrong… These old bones aren’t what they once were.”
“I… understand.”
I simply couldn’t accept that even the person who taught me all of his techniques would start to show signs of decline.
For this reason, I had to get to the bottom of what my mentor’s up to.
“So why the Shadow Regiment? Even in this peaceful time, isn’t it the unit with the highest rate of casualties?”
Why, did someone like my mentor, who once stood at the top of this country’s military, join what’s essentially the black ops squadron? In addition, according to what I heard, it was per his own request.
“…I want to serve this country while this body still moves. Especially when there’s an air of unrest in the horizon. For the past month, sightings of the ‘Drifters’ have been reported throughout the world.”
“…Drifters?”
“It’s a provisional name. They’re extremely powerful individuals appearing out of nowhere, but they don’t have the mindset for combat at all… or should I say they’ve never seen combat once in their life? In addition, most of them have unknown identities and pasts.”
“I think I have an idea of who you’re talking about.”
The first person that came to mind was Reiji… and even though their identities were known, His Highness Saul and Her Highness Iris also fit the description.
When I first met them, they struggled to even fight goblins despite their power because of some mental hesitation.
A whole lot of them appearing? That’s certainly abnormal.
“Mm. Leaving the matter of the Drifters aside for now… I heard that a similar ‘Wound’ occurred in a settlement to the west of here not long ago, according to some rumors.”
“I also heard about it.”
So in less than a month, two Wounds had occurred in this small area.
Considering that the frequency of the Wounds occurring had been at a stable one or two every few years across all four continents combined, it’s too early to be a coincidence.
In the past, there was only one time this happened, and I could never forget it… This, too, must have been “his” doing.
“The fact that you are asking me such a question means that you have something on your mind about this battle, right?”
I shuddered.
I remembered that troll that the youngsters defeated. That was quite a challenge. It had been a long time since I had a battle that made my back tingle like that.
But more than anything…
“Yes, this situation smells too fishy… and too nostalgic. Only that loathsome bastard would give off such a disgusting smell.”
I couldn’t put into words exactly what it was, but… something else, something beyond logic, like intuition or instinct, was telling me. That the accursed Serpent was behind this.
“…The Death Serpent, huh. To you, he was the one who took away your comrades, wasn’t he?”
“That’s right. If we meet again, this time I’ll surely…”
I clenched my fists so tightly that they bled. Yes, until I avenged them all…
“Cap~ tain!”
“?!”
I jumped back in surprise at the voice that suddenly came behind me.
There, a small figure looked up at me with eyes slightly wet with tears.
…It’s just Philias.
“Captain, did you send my idiot brother away to support the other flank? I had a reaaaaally hard time because of that, you know!”
“Oh, sorry about that…”
Now that I think about it, I could have focused on command while leaving the fighting to Zeltis when those two were still together. But I sent him away, so no wonder Philias felt overwhelmed. That was a mistake.
“I asked too much of you because I thought you could handle it. I’ll keep that in mind next time.”
As I stroked her head, which was at a convenient height, the eyes that had been glaring at me with a fierce expression opened wide in surprise.
“…Eh? Did you really think that?”
What? I don’t really follow…
“I meant it, no? If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have made you my vice-captain. At the very least, I don’t think there’s anyone better than you who can be entrusted with my subordinates.”
She wasn’t as good as Zeltis in terms of fighting sense or ability, but if anything, Zeltis was more of a charge-in without thinking type like me.
If I needed someone to stay back and strategize, she would be a better choice.
“I seeeee… It can’t be helped, then…”
“What are you being so smug for? Start packing up already. The young lady and the others will probably travel to the mines after a short rest, so I’ll leave them to you and Zeltis.”
“Affirmative, sir! Sorry for intruding, Grandpa, talk to you later!”
“We shall.”
Philias cheerfully saluted my mentor, then turned on her heel and ran off to where the young lady was.
I thought she was in a bad mood, but she perked up all of a sudden… I didn’t get it at all. Guess I, too, had gotten old.
For some reason, my subordinates were looking at me with a smirk.
“She’s totally into you, Captain.”
“You’re still single, right, Captain? Settling down with a young wife isn’t a bad idea at all.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Captain’s old enough to be her father.”
There’s no way we’d be a match.
Objectively speaking, she’s a good-looking and talented young woman, and I would certainly miss her if she retires from the company, but if she’s going to be with someone, she should marry someone who’s not involved in this bloody business and live a peaceful life.
“…Oh dear, your men are severely lacking in the good old-fashioned discipline. I think you’ve been careless in training them.”
My mentor shrugged his shoulders at the commotion and sighed.
…What the hell’s going on?
“Stop talking nonsense and begin the cleanup work, effective immediately! Rest time’s over!”
“What, right now?!”
“No, we won’t stand for this tyranny!”
Immediately after, the booing started, but I ignored it.
I see victory had made them too relaxed. I’ll have to make the training a little tougher starting tomorrow… I thought to myself as I returned to work.
APM - Translation 