Combatants Will Be Dispatched

Translated by JayTranslation

Edited by Ulti, Xenthur

We were inside the city, with the castle looming above us.

The general loudly addressed the knights that made camp there to protect the area.

「Friends! You"ve probably already heard that Hero-dono is missing. There are many that may have fallen into the bottoms of disappointment, or the depths of despair. However, Hero-dono has not fallen. We will protect the kingdom and protect the people, if we keep fighting the fight, our final hope, Hero-dono will surely return! Protect this gate, this kingdom, and protect your families! Protect your pride! It"s now all up to you! Let"s show the Demon King"s Army that it"s not just Hero-dono they should fear!!」

The knights and soldiers were roaring as a result of the general"s speech that was embellished with a little bit of false promises.

「…No. 6-sama. How do you think the enemy will move…?」

Tirris asked me a question while I…

「It"s true! I saw it, the unicorn used its horn to lift a little girl"s skirt! That kid, the knights were looking after, was a victim! There"s something wrong with that unicorn, there definitely has to be an old man inside it!」

「Alright, alright, I"ll hear about that story later. I"m writing a letter to send to the other side right now, explaining the situation and asking if they can make some accommodations. Don"t bother me.」

I was busy explaining the shocking scene that I just saw at the stables.

「E-excuse me, No. 6-sama…」

「Either way, those cold-blooded generals won"t make an exception for this case. More importantly, hear me out. This is pretty important, you know!? If there are unicorns around then that means this kingdom must have horses as well. Then it should be fine with just horses! There"s no need to use perverted unicorns with troublesome natures!」

「Even if you tell me that, there"s no way for me to know. Although I"m investigating various ecological aspects, considering that I can"t see the process of evolution, there"s a mountain"s worth of incomprehensible examples. There is an endless amount of questions such as why there are so many beings here that existed only in our myths or legends. From the start, that was also the case with extremely irrational phenomenons such as magic and curses…」

I wanted to tell her that from my point of view, her existence is also pretty irrational.

「…It seems like both of you are interested in magic. If it"s something simple, even I can use it, you know?」

「Really? Show me, show me!」

「Oh, I"d like it for you to show me as well.」

As if she was a little lonely because we were ignoring her, Tirris tried to draw our attention.

The knights of this kingdom were standing still, waiting for the Demon King"s Army to approach.

「—-Now, you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, let me hear your battle cries as we march! The time to dominate that country is now! The Hero is gone! Furthermore, the ones that can stop us…」

Heine of the Flame, while in the middle of making a statement to the demons, hesitated for just a moment.

That was because a certain man came up in her head.

However, she shook her head and brushed off the face that was on her mind.

「There"s n.o.body that can stop us! Let"s go, you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! Show the humans the terror of the Demon King"s Army!!」

From those words, the gathered members of the Demon King"s Army, that was nearly twice the military strength of the kingdom"s army, bulged their chests and started stomping their legs. While making the ground tremble, they shouted with great vigour.

「Oi, Heine. If you have this many demons, then is there really a need for my tiger golems? The Hero isn"t even there. You all should be enough to take that kingdom of puny humans… Even if you can"t use your normal strength since you only have that catalyst with a tiny amount of magic power.」

The one that was belittling Heine of the Flame was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King"s Army, Gadalkand of the Earth.

Since the Hero, the hope of humanity was gone… The demons currently thought that the humans were drowning in terror and that this battle was going to be easy.

He determined that a weakened Heine and the scores of courageous and fearless demons should be enough to take care of the kingdom"s army that consisted of practically dead men walking because of the low morale.

「Don"t get careless, Gadalkand. I told you, there"s someone there that has defeated me before. Truth be told, I think he"s even more troublesome than the Hero. Unlike the Hero who"s only strong, he"s very unpredictable in what he does. I"m saying it"s better to be safe than sorry, since it seemed pretty difficult for him to beat even one golem. If we have ten of those, even he won"t have a way to deal with them.」

「…Is he the one that completely smashed my golem? Oi Heine, let me get rid of him. Just like what he did to my golem, I"ll leave him in bits and pieces.」

Hearing Gadalkand"s words, Heine let out a small sigh.

To think that I have to rely on this meathead.

…As she was thinking that, an unexpected event happened.

The golem that was walking in the lead suddenly exploded and pieces of it were scattered around.

「「What!?」」

Heine and Gadalkand were shocked from the unexpected turn of events.

「Wh-what just… What just happened here!? Oi Heine, is it him!? Did that guy you told me about… The one who destroyed a golem, did he come out!? This is still the territory of the Demon King"s Army!」

Gadalkand was always carefree and never batted an eye no matter what happened. But he was showing a rare moment of panic now.

Heine seemed to regain her senses faster after seeing such a scene.

「Don"t stop everyone, you"ll become easy targets! That was a high-cla.s.s magic capable of destroying a golem, there"s no way it can be fired from long-range! In terms of magic, the stronger the spell, the shorter its range is! They took a risk by increasing the spell"s power. If they want to increase their distance, they"ll have no choice but to lower the spell"s firepower! That spell packed quite a punch, the enemy is obviously close. Find them!」

Even the Demon King"s Army that was initially in chaos, immediately regained their senses after Heine quickly gave her orders.

The demons started to spread out in order to search for traces of the enemies, but…

From the continual explosions occurring here and there, this time… Even Heine and Gadalkand became hesitant.

「Oi oi, what is this!? Since when did it become so easy to fire off high-cla.s.s magic? Demons are being sent flying everywhere! Just how many enemies are out there!?」

「Kerberos! Bring out the kerberos hounds! Track down the enemies using their scent!」

While Gadalkand was shouting, Heine was giving out further directions.

「….Heine-sama! We tried getting the kerberos hounds to find the enemies, but after smelling the surroundings, they won"t move!」

「Gadalkand-sama! The golem! Another golem has fallen!」

「Just how is this happening!? d.a.m.n it, you guys, this is a state of emergency! Keep an eye on your surroundings, then advance slowly! The enemies are watching us from who knows where. Don"t be careless of your surroundings! Golems go to the back! At this rate, the valuable golems are only easy targets! 」

When the impatient Gadalkand gave his command, Heine was searching for hidden enemies. She focused her mind in order to sense the enemy"s magic power.

…Nearby, a powerful magic power could be sensed.

It was powerful, but somewhat familiar…

「…This is the wavelength of my magic stone!」

That means the man who took it is there.

Heine understood what was going on, and rushed forward to the magic stone, leaving the other demons behind.

That man should be there, along with the stone.

「…What?」

But, there was no sight of a human, only the magic stone lying around.

While being wary of the surroundings and looking for any signs of a person around, she couldn"t find anything.

Heine was approaching the stone restlessly. She started to look around more and more.

「…You"re there somewhere, aren"t you No. 6? Just what are you thinking?」

The explosions occurring everywhere… The shrieks of all the demons…

Those could be heard from afar, but there was no sound of a person"s voice.

The magic stone was right in front of her eyes.

No matter how many times I look around, I can"t sense anyone"s presence.

Could this be No.6"s way of making it up to me?

Since the Hero went missing, is he finally thinking of joining the Demon King"s Army now?

「…My… My… My, precious magic stone…!」

Heine happily picked up the precious item that she spent a long time pouring mana into……!

「Then, I"ll start! Please watch carefully, because I can only do this once with my strength! I command you in the name of the G.o.ddess of Water, come out, Aquanz!」

「…Oh?」

「What is it, No. 6? Did something happen?」

Alice asked me that after I tilted my head from hearing the sudden narration.

「Uh, it"s just that my atrocity points have increased, all of a sudden. I wonder if it"s because the parents of that brat who always called me Zipper-Man discovered the p.o.r.no mags that I placed in easy-to-find places in their house?」

「…You actually did that to a little kid…」

At that moment, a "pop" sound of water could be heard.

「Did you see it? I just used magic that called forth a water spirit to…!」

As I looked her way, the heavily panting Tirris was standing in front of a puddle with a satisfied smile.

「Sorry, I didn"t see it.」

「I didn"t see it either. I apologize, but can you do it again?」

「Eh…?」

Somehow, Tirris" dark expression became even darker as she stood there dumbfounded.

While looking outside from atop the balcony, there was still no sight of the enemy.

It was already way past the expected time for the Demon King"s Army"s a.s.sault. It was already almost 3PM.

「They"re a little late. Are they not coming today?」

「No, they"re probably tied up because of the landmine field.」

Oh yeah, that was prepared.

…Anyway, them taking longer is a good thing for us.

Since I"m only employed till midnight, once it pa.s.ses, I have no more reasons to listen to anyone saying something even if I just leave.

Because of waiting idly longer than expected, even the knights stationed outside were starting to become relaxed.

Far away, on the other side of the highway.

When it was getting darker from the sun setting, a pack of demons with blood red eyes could be seen approaching.

「–No. 6-sama, please look! The captain of the 6th group is bravely entering the enemy"s territory!」

The ebb and flow of the battle continued.

Many demons were pushing forward, but even though the knights were outnumbered, they displayed great skills by fighting close together and were crushing the scattered demons.

Saying that this was a huge crisis… They"re more than a match against the Demon King"s Army.

「Hey, if they"re only this much, isn"t it alright to just stay put and not run away? But Tirris, even if this crisis safely pa.s.ses by, you can"t change your mind and say that a spy deserves the death penalty.」

「I would never do something so shameful! Although I admit putting the two of you in one room to save costs, I would never go back on my words!」

「Oi wait a second, you"re saying that the only reason Alice and I were put into the same room was to save you money!?」

「Either way for No. 6-sama, once it"s tomorrow, you won"t even be staying at the castle anymore. So didn"t it turn out well?」

「Turned out well, my a.s.s! You have a cute face, but that"s just for show!」

While Tirris and I were talking, Alice was watching the battlefield and mumbled.

「…The front line of soldiers collapsed.」

「Ah! Just what happened…!?」

Tirris pushed me aside while I was leaning on the balcony. She glued herself there while watching the progress of the battle.

Soldiers were wearing solemn expressions while fighting with great determination.  

I left Tirris alone while she was praying for them. Since we had plenty of free time….

「Oi Alice, let"s play Five in a Row.」

「What"s Five in a Row?」

Seeing us spread out a piece of paper on the rug, Tirris looked like she wanted to say something. The corners of her mouth were wavering.

「Weren"t you supposed to know everything? We take turns putting O"s and X"s in each square. The first to have five in a row is the winner. You want to play? What do you think about wagering one gold coin?」

TN: This is also called gomoku. Basically, tic-tac-toe played on a larger grid, and it being 5 in a row. For more information:

「Are you serious? You really think that someone with a human brain can beat me?」

Alice talked in a tone indicating that she was tired of this.

「Since you"re high-performance, as a handicap, let"s add another rule. When it"s back to my turn, instead of just putting down one O, I get to put down another O if it"s my fifth turn.」

「Hey, don"t be ridiculous.」

—I wonder just how much time has pa.s.sed since.

「Ah, ah…! What should we do, even the fourth group…!」

「Alright, it"s my win.」

On the paper spread out in front of me, Alice drew an X mark.

「Oi oi, "the first to five wins" is a rule of O X that everyone knows. You only won once.」

「Don"t be ridiculous.」

—The surroundings gradually became darker. Since it was the middle of battle, there were fires starting here and there.

Night was advantageous for demons.

At the very least, they have better vision.

「—No. 6-sama. Please get ready to escape. In the end, the demons made it all the way to the front gate.」

Hearing Tirris" voice full of resolve, for a moment, I raised my head.

「Is it that time already… I got it, we"ll go get ready.」

「Hey No. 6, it"s your turn. I even took on your unfavorable handicap, so hurry it up.」

Tirris looked at me after I stood up from my spot. She seemed hopeless, nevertheless, she was smiling while crying.  

「Really, you… didn"t even try to watch them fight.」

Tirris" face looked as if she couldn"t believe it. I said to her,

「It"s because I have faith. There"s still Snow, Rose, and Grimm on standby. They"re not weak. Besides…」

I put on a smirk.

「They"re my underlings.」

I firmly said those words that were full of confidence.

「Hey No. 6, it doesn"t matter where you go now since it"s occupied everywhere. Just give it up and hand over the gold coin.」

「Rose, Grimm! The enemy"s still far away, but don"t get distracted! I"m counting on you two to take care of the strong enemies!」

There were screams as well as the sound of fighting breaking out here and there.

「It"s alright, leave it to me!」

「I"m a little sleepy… But I"ll give it my best…! Once this is over, Snow"s going to buy me a lot of alcohol… So I"ll do my best… I"ll do my best… Soon… Soon, the sun will completely set, so I"ll do my best…」

Rose"s answer sounded very reliable while Grimm"s was anything but.

Once this is over, I"ll buy them all they can eat or drink.

One soldier came running from the frontline all the way towards the last line of defense at the main gate, which was us.

「Snow-dono! Snow-dono!!」

The soldier"s face was pale while he talked because of rushing all the way here to find me.

「Golems! Just when we were suffering heavy losses from fighting all this time, seven golems forcefully broke through the middle of our forces. They"ll soon make their way here!!」

Seven golems!?

「Oi Grimm! Can you do anything about them with your curses!?」

The wheelchair made rattling sounds while Grimm made her way to my side. She looked at the slowly approaching golems.

「It"s time for Zenalith-sama to shine. Although destroying them is out of the question, it"s possible to tie their legs up! Also, by saying that they"re needed for defending this area, I collected all of the couple rings from every couple, so they could be used as offerings for Zenalith-sama.」

The usually useless Grimm was looking the most dependable today.

Let"s just ignore the the part about collecting…

「Alright, everyone get in formation to protect Grimm! The ones wielding either a hammer or mace, strike the golems when they can"t move!!」

It happened while I was giving orders to my subordinates.

「I won"t let that happen! You guys stay out of this!!」

The seven golems breached the front gate.

On top of one of the golem"s shoulders stood one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King"s Army, Heine of the Flame.

「Yo, so we meet again. But I have no business with you guys. Hand over No. 6! I have some business to take care of with him.」

Heine"s body had scars all around. She looked really weak, but her face showed no signs of pain. Instead, she looked like she was fuming with anger.

「No. 6 isn"t here! And your opponent will be me!!」

Towards the yelling me, Heine sent a look of pure anger.

「You"re not enough! That man! That man that made a fool of me! There"s no way I"ll let him live! How dare he use my precious magic stone as a bait!!」

I wonder what happened. That idiot definitely did something.

I"m getting a little annoyed.

「It doesn"t matter if I"m not enough, there"s no way I can let you get to No. 6. It seems like Tirris-sama entrusted him with a very important mission. Grimm! Do it!」

「Great Zenalith-sama, bring forth disaster to the puppet made of rock! Suffer from being unable to take your feet off the ground!」

Before I could even finish what I was going to say, Grimm shouted her curse.

The couple rings that Grimm were holding became wrapped in light and disappeared as offerings for the G.o.d of Disaster.

The golem that received the curse became unable to take its feet off the ground, so it fell flat on its face.

The nearby soldiers who witnessed this took their respective weapons and started to attack the fallen golem from all sides.

「Great Zenalith-sama, bring forth…」

「You think I"ll let you do that again!? My best magic stone might"ve been destroyed, but today I brought my backup! It"s more than enough for the likes of you!」

Heine starting gathering flame in her hand. While aiming for Grimm, she threw it.

Right before it hit, a small shadow blocked it from the front.

「Great Zenalith-sama, bring forth disaster to this woman! Suffer from having your fire magic sealed forever!」

While the flame was blocked by Rose, Grimm gathered a huge bundle of rings on her lap, and pointed her finger at Heine.  

The fortune that was to be offered to the G.o.d of Disaster, the large number of couple rings vanished with a flash of light.

As Heine heard that, while startled, she had a shocked expression. She unconsciously closed her eyes, and as if protecting her body, she crossed her arms in front of her.

「…W-was that a dud…? d.a.m.n it, that took me by surprise!」

While starting a fire at her fingertip, Heine went "whew" and had a look of relief as she shouted.

「I hate hookers like you that draw in all the eyes of men! If only I was a little braver, I"d have risked the rebound to give you the curse of having your b.o.o.bs fall out!」

「I-I don"t even know what you"re saying! Don"t call me a hooker!」

But it seemed like the previous attempted curse was a concern for her. Heine came down from the golem"s shoulders and while being wary of Grimm, she moved towards the back.

There were no demerits for Grimm after receiving the curse"s rebound of not being able to use fire magic.

It seems like Grimm planned to use the great amount of precious valuables she has, until there"s none left, in order to try and seal Heine"s flames.

As if realizing that, Heine"s face turned a little pale. And then…

「What"s going on? Why are you playing around, Heine!? Hurry up and kill that girl!」

Gadalkand suddenly appeared from the flank.

「…Huh? You look a lot like that girl I beat to death last time?…. Well it doesn"t matter, since I can just kill you again.」

Talking as if he was bored, he raised his metal club.

I started remembering what happened last time, the sight of Grimm"s head flying off.

「U-Uryahh!」

With a faint cry, Rose sent a flying kick to Gadalkand"s head.

「…Oi, you brat. What did you just do to me?」

After receiving the attack, Gadalkand started scratching the spot where he was kicked.

Then, at a speed unfit for something so large, he flew towards Rose and landed a hard strike with his bare hands on Rose"s head.

He didn"t even look at her after knocking her out. He set his sights on me while I stood in front of Grimm.

「…Move.」

Just one word. He said it without any emotions.

This demon.

This Heavenly King of the Demon King"s Army didn"t even see me as an enemy.

It was then when the sound of a fire roaring through could be heard. Gadalkand"s body was enshrouded in flames.

「Ack! You brat! Now that I think about it, you could do something like this!! Oi, small fry! The fact that you can"t beat me, you probably already realized that from your demon instincts. For a hybrid like you, weren"t you treated poorly here anyways? Once this is over, it"s fine for you to join me as a comrade. If you get it, then stop interrupting me!」

After flapping his wings and dispersing the flames, Gadalkand turned around.

Rose stood there with her fists raised. She washed away the soot covering her mouth while blood was dripping from her head.

「Eh, eheheh… I already know I can"t win. And I know it"s true that I"m a hybrid, but… since I"m an apprentice combatant, even if I"m scared, I can"t run away from this fight. Also…」

While looking a little scared,

「It was said in my grandpa"s will, "If you happen to find comrades, then never abandon them"…!」

While saying that, Rose looked ready to attack again.

「Is that so. Fine then. Hurry up and die!」

With a roar, the metal club struck the ground where Rose was.

Rather than keeping her distance, Rose intentionally took the fight up close and started punching with all her strength.

While the sound of getting hit by something hard could be heard, Gadalkand grimaced.

Since it takes some time to gather the flames for a fire breath, there"s no way for her to use it in this situation.

While dodging Gadalkand"s strike that could kill her instantly by a hairsbreadth, Rose started punching endlessly.

The battle between beings far beyond human limits… The soldiers and knights could only stand around them and watch the fight.

—It was the same for me, as well.

She was younger than me, and her body was smaller than mine… A girl that was treated very unreasonably.

Such a person was clenching her teeth while fighting to protect Grimm.

Even if I were to engage Gadalkand… In the end, I would only be getting in Rose"s way.

I probably can"t even wound him with my sword.

Then that means…

Even though I"m called an elite, the youngest knight ever, I can"t do anything right now.

This feeling of helplessness makes me feel so pathetic.

The other Heavenly King, Heine, was being cautious of Grimm"s curse while looking around the area for No. 6.

Even when the soldiers were continually firing arrows at her, she blocked them with her scorching flames.

「Great Zenalith-sama, bring misfortune upon that woman!」

As soon as Grimm said that and pointed a finger at her, Heine quickly hid behind a golem"s back.

「Don"t point at me, you… worshipper of a G.o.d of Disaster! Golem, become my shield!」

「D-don"t call Zenalith-sama a G.o.d of Disaster! I"ll cast a curse that will make orcs go crazy in love for you!」

…Let"s resolve myself.

Even if my body is burnt from the heat, I should be able to cut her at least once.

I, who only had thoughts for success and money… It"s pretty ironic to think that I"d end up on a completely different path and die like a true knight.

My grip on my sword"s handle was trembling, but I told myself that this was because I was thrilled.

It was then…

「I don"t know what you"re thinking, but don"t do it. This is an advice coming from an immortal archbishop. Dying is really painful.」

While Grimm was keeping Heine in check, she said those words in a serious tone to me, just after I found my resolve.

Right after that… While confronting Gadalkand, Rose called out to me from somewhere behind my back.

「At this rate, they"ll break through! Snow-san, please head towards where Tirris-sama is, and tell her to evacuate!!」

At the sound of her urgent voice, I remembered what I had to do.

The original mission of the royal guard is to protect the royal family.

With that said, since I"m a royal guard, evacuating Tirris-sama should be my priority.

But there"s no need for me, just because I"m the captain, to go tell her that.  

In other words…

「It"ll be alright with just us, so hurry up and go! Even if he takes Tirris-sama and finds refuge in some foreign nation, won"t you be a little nervous if just the Commander was with her? Snow, you should go as well to watch over him!」

In other words, these two are telling me to run away.

How did this happen?

Just how helpless am I?

Originally, I was the same as everyone else and looked down on those two as nothing but a troublesome bunch. Now, it seems like the roles have been reversed. I"m being told by them to run away.

…There"s one way out of this.

There"s one person that can somehow pull through at a time like this.

But, how can I face him and ask him to help us when it was me who chased him off?

I remembered what he told me before…

"If you need the help of my ridiculous strength, then say "I"m sowwy for the way I treated you until now" and act a little cutesy while you beg for my help!"

If he can help these two, of course I can do something like apologizing to him.

If he wants, I can act cute as well.

But would he even help us in this dangerous situation?

Should we even involve people from another country in our fight?

In the fight in front of me, Rose was on all fours. Her tail was raised and she threatened Gadalkand.

While looking at the back of a small girl trying to protect me, I decided on what to do, and changed my course.

「Sink in the sea of flames residing in my body…!」

While hearing that voice somewhere behind me,

「Sleep for all eternity! Crimson Breath!」

I ran towards the castle.

「— I, don"t want to. I"m not going to move from this spot! If we die, we"re all going to die together!」

In Tirris" room at the top floor of the castle.

「That"s enough, follow me! More importantly, I"ll tell you why I"m still here. I"ll tell you the real reason! You told me to tell them that this kingdom existed here. And to tell other nations to form an alliance, right? Do that yourself! Even if this nation falls to ruin, if there"s even a trace of a royal bloodline alive, then it"s your victory! If it"s for continuing the bloodline, I"ll cooperate anytime!」

「Just now, the last part of what you said was ridiculous! I"m your employer, stop saying such stupid things and let me down! anyone! Is anyone there!?」

Tirris was shouting around while being carried like a piece of luggage on my shoulder, but n.o.body came to help from the lower floors.

There"s a reason for that. Actually, the King of this castle asked me to make sure Tirris makes it out safely.

They should have heard Tirris shouting, but it was for that reason that no one came to help.

By the way, what"s going on? I didn"t think they"d be having this much of a hard time.

I even had a proud face on when I was telling people they were my underlings.

There"s no way to win this. Nothing can be done now.

「Ok, let"s go Alice!」

「Alright!!」

「Please, just go! Please, let me down, No. 6-sama! Anyway, is this fine with you!? If the castle falls… The people that you talked and laughed with, just yesterday, are all going to die!」

Tirris was pleading with me while causing a fuss on my shoulder.

「You idiot! At a time like this, you should be saying something like…  It"ll be alright… They will definitely still be alive… Yeah, within our hearts…」

「Then, it"s settled with this! Alright, that"s enough! This is really dangerous. No. 6, let"s quicken our pace!」

「Is there something really wrong with the both of you!?」

I was carrying the crying Tirris with one arm. I made my way to the hallway to escape.

Then it happened just when I was about to go down the staircase.

「Combatant No. 6!!」

The one who ran up was an out of breath Snow with her hair disheveled.

After she called my name out, she stopped right in front of the stairs.

「What is it, I"m in a hurry! If you have something to say, spit it out!」

「Snow, stop him! Please tell him to let me down!」

After hearing both of us, Snow drew a huge breath and started talking with her head down.

「N-No. 6. There are six golems, Heine of the Flame, and Gadalkand of the Earth currently outside.」

「I already know that, I was watching from the balcony! It"s actually getting pretty bad! If we run away right now, we can blend in with the crowd so that the demons" target will be spread out thereby increasing our chances for survival.」

「Hearing you talk that way, you"re revealing your true self right now.」

While I was in a rush, Snow was the exact opposite, and was slowly mumbling something.

「They can"t be defeated by our hands. Rose is buying time for Grimm, but she probably won"t be able to last for long.」

As soon as I heard the familiar names, I unintentionally stopped my movements.

「 Someone like me can"t do anything for them. The enemy didn"t even consider me a threat.」

While still hunching, she barely let out her shaky voice.

「…I was always swinging a sword. My birthplace, the place that I grew up in, the barrier separating men and women… Even with all these obstacles, and also so that I would never lose to anyone, I kept giving it my all and made it all the way to where I am today.」

Since I couldn"t do anything, I kept listening to Snow"s little monologue.

「I"ll apologize all you want for everything that"s happened. I"ll keep doing it until you"re in a better mood. So…」

Snow looked up. Then with clinging eyes, bowed her head.

「Please! Lend me your strength! If it"s something I can do, I"ll do anything! If it"s money you want, I"ll pay you any amount! I know this is rich coming from me, since I always talk about money, but I"ll give you everything I have! Including my sword collection, it should be a sizeable amount!」

「Hey No. 6, don"t listen to her! Let"s go now! The remaining points should be used for our escape. For things like stun grenades or a bike. There"s no need to lend them your strength!」

I was listening very carefully to what Snow had to say, but I came back to my senses from Alice"s words.

「I don"t need money in this situation. Do you even know the meaning of what you just said about doing anything!? This isn"t my job anymore, I"m just an ordinary person now! And that"s also because of you! From the start, it was too late to come crying and begging for help! Just how bullheaded can you be, you stubborn girl!?」

「Snow"s going so far to ask for your help! I really misjudged you!」

Tirris, while still being carried by me, cried out after hearing my response.

I ignored Tirris" cries, and pa.s.sed by Snow. Just when I was about to go down the stairs…

Snow grabbed onto my arm.

「It"s so frustrating… It"s so frustrating to suffer at the hands of them…」

Feeling frustrated is something I know all too well.

I don"t know just how many times I"ve been chased by powerful heroes.

Not only did I not possess the ridiculous strength of monsters, the reconstruction surgery that I was given was also outdated with an uncertain outcome.

I was going to tell her to stop talking so much on her own, and just when I made eye contact with Snow.

—- Until now, this girl pretty much never showed weakness on her face.

Her eyes were filled with tears.

「……Please…… Commander.」

She called me Commander for the first time.

And just like how a kid is scared of being scolded by her parents. She said in a small, shaky voice,

「……Commander…… Please save Rose and Grim…!」

「You"re really a half-hearted fool that could never accomplish anything evil at the last of the very last moment. You"ve been with the organization for almost as long as the top generals, but it"s because you"re like this, that you"re still a lowly employee.」

「S-shut it! I already know that. I know very well that I"m a naive idiot! Whatever, just have a anti-materiel rifle sent here right away!」

The balcony of Tirris" room.

After I returned here, while the surroundings were finally becoming darker, I kicked off the balcony"s handrails.

「C-commander! Weren"t you going to go to the gate? Just what are you trying to do here?」

I looked towards Snow that was following me like a little duckling. With a desperate look, I raised my voice.

「There"s no time to run all the way to the gate! I"m going to attack from here right now! …How long are you going to hold onto my arm? I"m not going to run away, so let go!」

「Ah…!」

After I said that, Snow quickly let go and started to watch me wreck the area.

「No. 6-sama! I don"t know what you"re trying to do, but please do whatever you want! You look really cool right now!」

While watching me sabotage the place, for some reason, Tirris sounded very happy.

While I was destroying the cover to make it easier to snipe, Alice called out to me.

「…Hey, what"s going on, there"s not enough points! I made sure to leave around two hundred points. There"s not enough to order a rifle. Just where did you spend the points!?」

Ah…

「So, uh, it was… You know… how this place doesn"t have many places to have fun? So yesterday, at night… well… you know…?」

「Did you ask for it!? Did you actually spend important points on a p.o.r.no magazine!? Did you really ask for that kind of thing during an important time like the night before a battle!?」

My ears!

「I-I couldn"t help it. During the middle of night…! It"s because there"s no such things as convenience stores in this area!」

「What is it!? Is there some kind of problem?」

Hearing Snow"s question, Alice sighed just like a human.

「It means that this idiot did something stupid in the end… There"s no helping it, it"s an emergency situation. Hey No. 6.」

「Yes.」

Alice pointed at the ground floor.

「Go to the lower floor, and give a good smack to the king that only boasts even though he"s useless.」

「I"ll be right back.」

「Don"t go!」

「Stop it! Just what did my father do!? Snow, stop these two!」

I said to those two that were trying to stop me by clinging onto me,

「Oi, let go! I need to do this! I"m not playing around!」

After hearing that, Snow let go of her hand.

「…Is it fine for you to hit anyone then?」

While saying that, she looked straight at my face.

「Huh? Well, instead of just hitting a person, it"s more like I have to do something that the person will hate…」

「…I understand.」

After she said that, Snow closed her eyes.

「Hit me.」

「……Eh!?」

Just what is she saying right now?

「Hit me! …I don"t really get it, but don"t you need to do this!? So hit me! If… you need to do something I"ll hate, then you can touch my chest or do anything you want!」

From the words that the blushing Snow spat out, everyone at the spot became silent.

「Ah, no uh… If you suddenly say that…」

While I was hesitating, Alice whispered to me.

「Do it No. 6, there"s no time! If you have any qualms about hitting her, then do something to her chest or lips!」

「Uh, no but, you, what you…」

Because Alice was pushing my back, I ended up right in front of Snow.

While Snow was blushing furiously, she was squeezing her eyes shut and not moving one step.

When I put my hands on her shoulders, Snow, while still having her eyes shut, trembled a little.

While blushing, Tirris held her breath and stared at what was happening.

「…Are you going to do it!? By chance, are you going to kiss!?」

As if she couldn"t watch any longer, Tirris covered her face with both her hands. Even though she was doing that, she was still looking at us through the gaps between her fingers.   

How did this happen? It"s just like during a crisis when my life"s on the line. How did this sudden development occur?

「Do it, No. 6! Grab her! Really, just quickly give her a smooch or do anything, just get it over with! Hurry up, you coward! Quickly!」

Alice was being noisy behind me, the sound of my heartbeat was also noisy, aah what should I do, how should I do this, and why is Tirris staring so hard, you"re a princess you perverted brat, Snow you should move a little as well, and just how did it end up this way no wait I have to do this fast I"m not even a middle schooler so a kiss should be nothing no wait will this even earn me any points since we both agreed to do this aaah I don"t know what"s going on anymore no wait even if I kiss her and points aren"t added and if I touch her chest and she lets out a small moan what do I do then aaaah what am I supposed to do aaaaahh!

「Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah–!!」

As if something was let loose inside of me, I lowered them in one motion.

Snow"s panties, that is.

I put my hands under Snow"s skirt, and lowered her panties all the way to her feet.  

The people around us-

Not only the humans… Even Alice, who didn"t have a need to change her facial expression, was standing there looking dumbfounded with her mouth wide open.

At that moment, I"ll probably never be able to forget everyone"s facial expressions.

Part 7

「That"s enough, get off me now, you brat! d.a.m.n it, so annoying! Oi Heine, get her off me! She"s stuck on my arm and won"t come off!」

Gadalkand  was shouting in an agitated voice while swinging Rose around and ramming her into the ground. Rose was using both her arms and legs to hold onto the arm for dear life, she was clinging tenaciously and would not let go.

「Just bear with it for a little longer! I"m going to finish up here soon. Oi, Disaster G.o.d worshipper! Your curses come at a cost, right? Everytime you fired off a curse, the amount of rings you had decreased! You don"t have a lot left. You guys are no match for us, so hurry up and hand over No. 6…」

While Heine was about to say something, at the same time she directed her palm at me…

The upper body of the golem was destroyed. Heine, who was riding on the golem"s shoulder was sent tumbling to the ground.

While everyone was clueless as to what just happened, just a beat later, a sound could be heard from afar away.

「Wh …What what what what….」

While Heine was still dazed from falling on her b.u.t.t, once again, another golem"s upper body was destroyed.

「What"s going on!? Heine, what just happened!? …Oi, get off me!」

While detaching Rose from his arm, Gadalkand asked Heine.

「I don"t know, I don"t know, this… This…」

Another golem broke down, and a sound could be immediately heard.

It was definitely heard from a far location.

This means that they were attacking from a place far enough that the sound couldn"t be heard until later.

「Anyways, it"s dangerous here! Everyone, take to the skies! Also, fly as far away from each other as possible!」

After Gadalkand gave his orders and flew up, Heine called for the griffin that was circling the sky and quickly got on its back.

At the same time, another golem was destroyed, and the sound could be heard, once again a beat later.

「It"s from the castle, Gadalkand! The attacks are coming from the upper part of the castle!」

「…What!? Just what can be done from such a faraway place!?」

At the same time that Gadalkand shouted, the fifth golem was destroyed.

Gadalkand was at a loss for words after seeing that.

「…Gadalkand, your underlings can fly and are pretty skilled. Gather up a few strong ones! There"s a strong enemy at the castle. Let"s force our way there!!」

「…Oi you lot, follow me! We"re going to rush to the castle, let"s go crazy!!」

At that moment, the sixth golem was destroyed. Only one golem remained now.

「…They left.」

「…So they did. But well, if it"s the Commander, he"ll probably do something about it.」

While smiling at Rose loosening up and talking,

「…Really? You really think that the Commander won"t run away and actually do something about it?」

「…Uh, probably.」

Finally, the remaining golem was destroyed and a roar erupted from the soldiers nearby.

「Amazing… The commander probably did this, right? This might be weird coming from a chimera, but just what exactly is the Commander?」

「He"s really an interesting person… Well, more importantly right now…」

I looked at the large number of demons surrounding us.

Even without the golem or Heavenly Kings around, the enemy still had the overwhelming advantage in numbers.

The distance between the demons and the soldiers that were protecting me was slowly decreasing.

After seeing that, Rose made a threatening sound.

「Kishyaaaah!」

Even though the demons were slightly taken aback, they were still closing the distance.

「Heheheheh…」

I was laughing sinisterly, and while the wheelchair made rattling sounds from it moving forward, I stood up in front of the demons.

「Ahahahahaha! All living beings of this world will eventually return to the void… However, I transcend death and ruin. I am a believer and archbishop of the great Zenalith-sama. My name is Grimm Grimoire. Now, it"ll be best if only those that don"t fear death would step forward. I will carve into your eyes the essence of my curses!」

Rose, who was besides me, became startled hearing my sudden lines.

「What"s with you all of a sudden!? More importantly, what was with those lines!?」

「When it"s night, since I"m bored by myself, I think up these lines for times like these.」

「Wow, that"s not fair! I-I can also…! At times like this, instead of grandpa"s pitiful will, a much cooler line…! Uh, this one"s name is Rose! …So… That"s… 」

While next to Rose when she was hesitating with her lines, I showed the demons what was left of the wealth that was to be offered to my G.o.d.

「Now, make sure you thoroughly enjoy the power of the G.o.d presiding over the undying and disasters!」

「Wuahhh!」

「Fuhahahaha! I"m unrivaled! I"m completely invincible! The Demon King"s Army is too easy!」

At the same time the sound of gunfire roared, a golem, far away, was destroyed.

Err, well, it"s not like I could see if it was properly destroyed since it was pretty dark.

「Hey, stop laughing so much and relax a little. Your aim is going to be off. 」

When I relaxed after hearing Alice"s words, she moved the barrel of the gun slightly.

「Alright, fire it.」

The sound of gunfire roared.

At the same time, a golem was annihilated.

I don"t have the skills to snipe at the golems when they"re so far away and on top of it being so dark.

Since the high-performance Alice had a built-in aim a.s.sist function, I left the aiming to her so I just had to pull the trigger.

「…amazing… So why weren"t you using this until now? If we had this, then we would likely have had an easier time winning this battle.」

In response to Tirris,

「When I play a game where you collect medals to exchange for good items, I"m the type that never exchanges them for premium items like this; instead I just let my precious pile stack up.」

「That"s why you can"t take advantage of any opportunities, and can"t find even a little bit of success. Alright, fire.」

The sound of gunfire roared.

The heavy recoil from the anti-materiel rifle left a lingering sensation on my body.

「…Everytime I fire, it"s starting to hurt, like as if I was getting hit.」

As I was mumbling,

「Shut up, die.」

From another spot, Snow was sitting and clutching her knees while spitefully saying those words.

「…You"re the one that said I could do whatever I want.」

「Shut up, die.」

「…Alright, fire.」

With the sound of the gunfire, the final golem was demolished.

「Alright, with that done, I wonder if it"s going to be easier?」

「Shut up, die.」

「Although the Heavenly Kings should still be around, I don"t see… Wait, is that them in the sky? There might be a chance if I was the one who fired it. But even if you fired all our rounds at them while they"re flying around in the air, you wouldn"t be able to hit them.」

「Even if that"s the case, if your weak body was the one firing this anti-materiel rifle, some part of you will be sent flying. 」

「Shut up, die.」

While Alice was watching the Heavenly Kings from the balcony, she suddenly raised her voice.

「…Hey… Hey! They"re coming this way, they"re aiming straight this way! Everyone, hurry up and get back into the room!」

Heine, while riding the griffin, as well as Gadalkand and other demons were gliding this way as if they were riding the wind.

I put the rifle on my shoulder and grabbed Snow"s hand while she was still frozen, sitting and grabbing her knees. Then I ran inside the room.

「Hey, that"s enough. It"s not like I saw you naked! Just because I lowered your panties a little!」

「Shut up, die.」

Along with the noisy sound of gla.s.s breaking, the griffin and demons made their way inside.

「— You did pretty well for yourself, No. 6! I"ll be the one to kill you even if it"s the last thing I do! You"re the first one to ever ridicule me and take me for a fool! You were also responsible for blowing away all those demons before we got here, right!? And you destroyed my magic stone right in front of my eyes!」

While around ten demons that rushed in were making some strange sounds, a furious Heine shouted out.

「I thought you were a familiar face. You were the one crying around and embracing that girl"s corpse! Were you able to properly bury her body? Or were you still too attached to it and f.u.c.ked it? So, were you the one that destroyed my golems? Killing yourself by stabbing yourself in the neck will be far better than what"s going to happen to you now. This merciful one will not stop you if you kill yourself. If you"re going to do it, I"ll wait two minutes for you to die! Starting now! 1! 2! 2…」

Right when Gadalkand started counting after declaring that all on his own, I grabbed the rifle from my shoulder, took aim, and fired.

As if he felt danger from just the sight of the muzzle being aimed at him, Gadalkand jumped out of the way. The demon behind him was obliterated into pieces.

The bullet that pierced the demon made a huge hole in the wall of the room.

After seeing that, the demons making strange sounds became silent.

Pacing around behind me to the right was Alice with her shotgun, and behind me to the left was Snow wielding her sword.

Behind us was Tirris. She resolved herself to watch instead of running away.

「What"s going on!?」

They probably heard from the hallway the sound of demons forcing their way inside. Snow, without taking her sights off the demons, shouted to the soldiers outside the room.

「Demons have arrived! Go protect his majesty!!」

While listening to the conversation, Gadalakand whistled in a mocking tone.

「… Oi, oi, you"ve got quite a loud weapon on you? As soon as you pointed that at me, I felt a chill. Just what is that?」  

Without taking my eyes off Gadalkand, I reloaded the single-round rifle and,

「….This is called an anti-materiel rifle. It"s an awesome weapon that"s capable of killing something as st.u.r.dy looking like you from way far back… And for your information you idiot, the girl you were talking about is still alive and well. You just saw her, you birdbrain! Are you acting so confident just because you thought you"ve killed her? This guy just sounds like a small fry!」

From my provocation, Gadalkand stopped snickering.

「…Do you really want to die that badly? Fine. As you-」

「"As you wish, I"ll kill you!" That"s probably what you were going to say, but I"m so sick of hearing that overused line. If you don"t want your head sent flying like you did to Grimm, then take the demons swarming around outside and go back where you came from!」

While I said that and waved the gunbarrel around, Gadalkand ducked his body.

「…Oi you lot, that weapon probably can"t be fired continuously. There will definitely be a gap right after he attacks with it. If that wasn"t the case, then he"d already have made mincemeat out of us. Close the distance by going in together. Don"t stop even if someone falls and take his life.」

This b.a.s.t.a.r.d. In contrast to his looks and frame, he"s actually pretty smart!

「No. 6, I"ll take care of the small fries. You take care of the Heavenly Kings somehow.」

「Did you already stop calling me Commander? Just how long are you going to keep a grudge over the panties? More importantly, get back. Starting now, I"m going to show you this commander"s cool side. Oi Alice! Have the R-b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sword sent here!」

「…What? What are you saying? Do you even know that you"ve already-」

When Alice was about to say something, the demons began to move.

「No. 6, even I can take care of those demons! It should still be of some help to you!」

Snow stubbornly stood by my side.

I thought she became a little more docile, but she was still a stubborn girl in a time like this.

While the demons surrounding Snow and me were closing the distance, Heine formed a fireball in her hand.

Because the griffin was too big, it didn"t come inside the room and was on standby on the balcony.

「Alice, hurry! Please hurry!」

Hearing my desperate cry, Alice laid her shotgun down and started writing something on a memo.

「Don"t come to me if something happens because of this!!」

As if Alice"s voice signaled an opportunity, the demons came flying all at once.

Although I aimed the barrel at Gadalkand, he just jumped to the side because he wasn"t rushing this way like the other demons.

Instead, I fired a shot at the closest demon and took care of it.

Waiting for that gap, a fireball was fired at me.

While the claws of demons were grazing my battle suit, flames erupted.

I kicked away one of the demons that were flying at me and used the recoil to dodge the incoming fireball. While that happened, one of the demons grabbed the gun barrel.

Then next to me, two demons were coming fast.

「No. 6, duck!」

After I followed what the voice said on reflex, something above my head was slashed.

As soon as I raised my head, I saw two demons with their faces cut. They were shrieking in pain and lost their spirit.

「Y-you idiot, what were you going to do if I couldn"t react in time!?」

While I was complaining to Snow, Alice shouted to me.

「It"s coming! Get it, No. 6!」

White static started appearing in the s.p.a.ce in front of me.

After it settled down, a familiar weapon appeared in front of my eyes.

I released the rifle that another demon was holding onto. Then I seized the weapon that appeared in midair with both my hands.

I started it right away, then I tried to cut down the demon that was still clutching the rifle.

The demon that had a hand on the rifle was prepared to receive the attack.

Because of the blade vibrating at high-speeds, the sound of hard metal being cut could be heard.

The rifle that the demon tried to block with was cut into two along with the demon.

「…Oi, you… What, just what…That… Where did you just pull that out from…?」

I left Gadalkand alone while he was dumbstruck and mumbling to himself. The demons that surrounded me started to backpedal after seeing their comrade fall.

「So this is a cutting tool with the long name of Anti-Armor Severing-Type Oscillating b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sword Type-R. Dare I say it"s a weapon to take care of small fries like you?」

While answering Gadalkand, I grabbed with both hands the chainsaw that could cut through anything, the R-b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sword.

I don"t really know on what principles, but the blade vibrates at a high-frequency because of its engine. Whether it"s a car or something hard, it"ll cut through it cleanly. Out of the weapons that Kisaragi could be proud of, this amazing weapon is my personal favorite.

I plugged the R-Ba.s.so"s external connector into my battle suit"s terminal.

By doing that, the battle suit"s power source can provide additional power to the R-b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sword.

Although it"ll only last for one minute, with this technique, I laid to rest a countless number of heroes. It was my trump card.

——-With this, I won"t lose.

「Limiter release!」

After hearing that voice, the narration inside my head could be heard.

「Hey No. 6, you used that last time against the golem, didn"t you!? There are so many demons around, there"s also two of the enemy generals left! That"s…」

While Snow was shouting from surprise.

「Approved.」

After I said the word, the narration continued again.

「Alice, you stop No. 6 as well! Wasn"t this kind of thing always your role!?」

While Snow was still shouting.

「Release it.」

Reacting to my voice, the narration began the countdown.

Everyone inside the room didn"t budge an inch.

「Combatant No. 6———————!!」

Just when Heine was about to throw a fireball at me, Alice fired her shotgun at her and shouted.

<6… 5…="">

「Do it!!」

My partner had her thumb up. Although she was just an android, she said those words with a great smile.

「My name is Combatant No. 6, a member of the Secret Society Kisaragi! There"s no need for two evil organizations, so I"ll wipe you out right here!」

「Come at me human! I"ll wreck you and feed you to the ogres!!」

As if impatient from waiting around, Gadalkand ran recklessly towards me while swinging his metal club. I raised my speed to the utmost limit and also went at him!

「Snow, get back! I"m going to kill him with my special move!!」

The swinging metal club and the R-Ba.s.so crossed paths.

The metal club that Gadalkand was wielding was easily cut in half while my slashing b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sword didn"t lose any momentum at all.

「W, oi, wait!」

As if drawing a circle, once again, I slashed at Gadalkand.

While Gadalkand was quickly trying to say something, his right arm went flying.

「O-oi, No. 6!? What"s a special move!? You should check your surroundings when…」

While I heard Snow shouting in anxiety.

「Eh, Gadalkand!? Hey, you guys! Everyone, quickly get away from that man! Run away——-!」

Pivoting around my central axis, I began spinning and mowing down anything that caught my eye.

「Ugh…UAAAAAHH——-AH!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! UWAAAAAAAAH!」

Heine was shrieking at the sight of seeing her comrades turned into mincemeat from the R-b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sword.

Because I was spinning around furiously at a high-velocity, I couldn"t quite make out who was who…

「Wait, No. 6… Stop…! I"m going to die as well…!」

Things that move here and there, and things that are pure black.  

「Heeek!」

I didn"t even know who shouted that, I just shredded anything that entered my field of vision into pieces.

—- The battle suit"s cooldown started, and my movements finally stopped.

There were pieces laying around that were originally Gadalkand and his underlings.

「Ah… Uwaaah… Haaaaah…」

At the corner of the room was Heine. She was sitting down as if she lost all her strength to stand.

「…Sniffle…」

Tirris was flopped onto the floor behind me.

「Good job–」

Alice was a step ahead of everyone and took shelter near the wall. She told me good job while looking like she was in a good mood.

Beside me was Snow. Her forehead was glued to the ground and she was using both hands to cover her head. She looked just like a turtle.

While taking a peek around the room that became silent, she raised her face that was full of fear. With her eyes holding back tears, Snow and I made eye contact.

「…You… You, you… You, you, you! No. 6, just what was…! I thought I was going to die…! I really thought I was going to die! Just look at this horrible scenery! If even a little went wrong, I would also be like them!」

「That"s why I told you since I"m going to use my special move, to get far away.」

「…Next time, I want you to tell me at least ten seconds before you use that…」

After Snow got up with tears in her eyes and a sniffling nose, she looked towards Heine who was still sitting listlessly.

「…So, what are you going to do with her? Are you going to use that technique and make mincemeat of her?」

「Heek!」

Because of Snow"s words that were said without any thought, Heine"s face turned pale and her eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears.

Forget about using that technique, I can"t even move right now.

But it seems like Heine can"t process that in her head right now.

「Well, there"s no particular reason to keep her alive…」

While loading her shotgun without a care, Alice said those words out loud as if to invoke fear.

「Ah… Ah…」

While looking at Heine holding back tears and trembling in the corner of the room, I had an idea.

「Oi, Heine.」

「Yes!」

Heine squeaked hearing my sudden callout.

「I"ll overlook this.」

A breeze whooshed by and the room became quiet.

「…Sniffle… Sniffle… Sob…」

Heine, for some reason, started to cry.

「Oi, oi, why are you crying!?」

「…N-No. 6-sama… Even if she"s a demon, that"s… something very unreasonable…」

「…Well, I do pity her, but there"s no helping it. Heine of the Flame, just think of it as meeting a bad opponent, and give it up….」

「Wait a second, you guys. Let"s talk. I only said I would overlook this.」

I guess your usual behavior is really important.

「Then No. 6, are you just going to let her go?」

「There"s no way.」

Hearing my immediate reply to Alice, Heine had a look of despair.

「It"s not even something that difficult, so stop looking like that! Oi, stop! I didn"t even do anything yet and I"m viewed as some great villain! You can look at me like that only after I"ve actually done something!」

「…Then, then… Just what do I have to do…?」

「Let"s have a ceasefire, for about one month. That"s my condition for overlooking this. If you agree to this, then it"s fine to take your underlings and leave.」

I said with a smile.

「…Is it really alright to only have the ceasefire as a condition?」

Heine rode the griffin and gathered the remaining demons. Snow muttered those words while overlooking Heine leaving the area.

「It"s alright. If there"s one month, I have a sure-fire plan… Anyways, it somehow worked out. Oi you guys, when you call for me, make sure to call me No. 6-san. Be grateful everyday, no really. It was that great of an achievement today. Especially you Snow, you promised you"d do anything. You probably know what"s going to happen. Go into the bathhouse now and make sure you clean yourself up properly.」

「…Right, I have to go down and console all of the soldiers that fought hard!」

「Hey No. 6, once you can move again, I want your advice on something so come downstairs then.」

Hearing what I said, Tirris and Alice responded as such and left.

「…Well, it"s not like I"m particularly lonely. I"m used to this. It doesn"t matter if it"s just me and Snow alone here.」

Left in this room, she said to me while I was talking to myself.

「…So… No. 6, no, I mean C-commander… I know this is a little shameless, but I have a favor to ask…」

Snow said that in an unusually calm tone. She crouched down from where she stood, and picked up something from the ground.

「…So. I"m still a knight, so I really want to be able to ride a unicorn… I understand that I"m asking you something very selfish and shameless…」

She held the thing that she picked up in her hands, and started approaching me while I couldn"t move.

That thing was…

Gadalkand"s head.

「…I"m sorry, Commander. Of course, I won"t ask for anything unreasonable. This is just a favor…」

「Oi stop it, why are you holding that? Why are you coming closer while holding that?」

As if she really was sorry, while her brows were wrinkled,

「Can you please, about… sharing the bed, can you let it go this time…」

「Stop it! What are you trying to do? Even if he was the enemy, it"s not right to play with a corpse! Stop where you are, you"re too close! Scary, that"s scary! Fine, I don"t care about the debt or promise! Oi, I said it"s too close, I"m about to kiss Gadalkand!」

After hearing that, Snow dropped Gadalkand"s head. Then I unleashed my fury on Snow.

「You b.i.t.c.h! I knew it was going to be like that! Astaroth-sama and you too! Girls always just use me when they need something, when I finally get to reap the benefits, they just cry and freeze up! You r.e.t.a.r.d, dumba.s.s! I didn"t like you from the first time I met you! Hurry up and leave me here! I don"t need anyone!」

While my lips were spewing out curses, something soft gently pressed on them.

Snow used her own lips to take mine.

Her face reddened while I still couldn"t move or talk.

「I"m sorry, I hope you can forgive me… with this for now…」

She said that to me while I was still unable to say anything because of the sudden development.

「I don"t particularly hate the fact that you… that you like me… Even when you said that you wanted to make love to me, if I were to say I wasn"t happy, it"d be a lie… But right now, I still don"t really know whether I like or dislike you. However…」

While Snow"s pale skin became hotter,

「I don"t dislike you as much as when I first met you. I don"t really know right now… But from now on, I"m going to give more thoughts about you…」

She put on a gentle smile.

「What are you going on about? How did it end up with me liking you? That"s pretty scary.」

「…Huh?」

「Don"t "huh?" me, I"m asking how you came to the conclusion that I like you. I don"t remember ever saying that I liked you.」

After hearing that, Snow looked like she couldn"t understand what I was saying.

「…Uh, I mean, you said you wanted to share a bed with me…」

「That"s only because I like your face and body. What I meant was to do it once with no strings attached. Don"t make me say it, it"s embarra.s.sing. More importantly, I would never go out with someone like you that has a temper problem. You"re easily angered and once that happens you start swinging that sword around violently. On top of your greed for success, you"re just as greedy for money. Just what about you would I like? Also, you just tried to get away from this with just a kiss…」

Once I said that much, I suddenly realized what was happening.

「Haaah… Aaaahh… Aaaaahhhhh…」

Snow"s face became bright red and her eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears. She was inhaling slowly.

It was as if she was gathering something.

She looked like a kid that was about to cry a river and release all her pent up emotions.

Snow"s trembling hand started reaching for the sword on her waist.

「…Calm down, let"s talk. So, I can"t move right now, you know? If you try to cut me down, I"ll really die, you know?」

「Haaaah… Aaaaaaahhh… Aaaaahhhhhhh…」

Snow, after hearing what I said, should know what would happen if she released her pent up anger. As if she was trying to contain it, her body was trembling all over.

But slowly, very slowly, her hand came closer and closer to the handle of the sword…

「Please restrain yourself, Snow. I was in the wrong as well. I said too much. But, if you kill me after making me work so hard, it"ll leave a bitter aftertaste in your mouth, you know? Alright, you"re someone with a lot of patience! Someone that can do it if she tries! Exhale slowly, and calmly start counting prime numbers.」

「O-one… Three… F-Five… Se-se-se-seven……」

As I was running away with all I had, Snow chased me while crying.

「Uuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!」

While listening to Snow"s shouting that sounded like she was crying,

For the sake of escaping the berserker that was closing in,

「Limiter release! Limiter release-!!」

I started shouting at the top of my lungs— — —

「— — —Alright, you don"t have any complaints since I did this much, right?」

It was the dead of night, around 12AM right now.

Since the Demon King"s Army retreated, there was no more reason for us to stay here.

「No. 6-sama… Thank you for your hard work. I didn"t even imagine that you"d do so much for us. Really, thank you.」

「If you really think that way, then it"s ok for you to show me a little more sincerity. Write my name down on a page of this kingdom"s history, and let it be told to future generations.」

From my words, Tirris looked a little shy while she gave a slight nod.

I thought she was just a princess with a black heart, so seeing this honest side of her was a little surprising.

…No, it might be from overcoming this crisis that could"ve caused the kingdom"s ruin that caused her to just act her age?

Tirris probably always showed a dignified appearance because she thought that she had to act properly in place of the moron-like King.

That very princess looked like she wanted to ask me something momentarily.

「…Umm, No. 6-sama…. I"ll tell them that I understood to an extent, that you were entrusted with some kind of mission when coming here… So won"t you consider becoming a knight of this kingdom, once again…?」

While being a little hesitant, Tirris was explaining her views. I shook my head at Tirris"s suggestion.

「Hm. Nah, I"m through with being a knight. Honestly, I"m sick of looking after my strange subordinates.」

Tirris looked a little lonely after hearing my answer. Then as if she already knew what I was going to say, she had a bitter smile expressing that there"s no helping it.

The two former underlings that heard what I said,

「Do you mean us when you said strange subordinates!? You"re going too far! Even if you"re the Commander, I"m going to bite you!」

「Commander, are you going to leave even after we shared a special night…? Take responsibility for what you did to me!」

「Oi, oi, stop it, Grimm! Don"t say it in a way that others would easily misunderstand! We only dashed around in your new wheelchair… It hurts! Oi, Rose, you stop too! I was wrong, so don"t bite me! I said don"t bite me!!」

While I pulled Rose off my back as she was biting me, I was getting ready to leave.

Snow was silently standing behind me.

「…? What is it? Say something. You look scary just standing there silently.」

Although I said something that would make her angry, Snow continued to remain silent.

She might"ve still been angry about what happened before.

「…Oi. Are you not going to come back here anymore?」

She finally opened her mouth, but this girl is…!

「What"s with you? Even if you don"t chase me off, I wouldn"t come back unless I was invited back!」

From my usual offensive way of talking, Snow took a gulp and stopped breathing.

「…are you going back to your own country?」

「Well duh, I"m going back. Since there"s someone scary if I stay here. Also, we pretty much finished what we had to do here.」

Snow slightly lowered her head.

「…Is that so.」

「…Why are you acting this way, where did the usual girl with the bad temper go? If you have something you want to say, then hurry up and say it. I have to go when Alice calls for me.」

After I said that, Snow clenched her fists tightly.

「…as of right now, our kingdom suffered great losses from tonight"s fierce battle with the Demon King"s Army. Therefore, we"re looking for people that could lead a squad or those that possess fighting potential.」

「……So?」

After showing a look as if she was hesitant to say what"s next,

「…It doesn"t matter anymore what kind of person you are. I won"t even ask where you came from. If you say you don"t want to be a knight because it takes too much effort to look after your subordinates, then… as a mercenary…」

Snow"s speech suddenly started slurring.

It seems like she was still caught up over the fact that she was the one who chased me out.

「In other words, you want talent that can contribute to the kingdom"s military strength.」

「Th-that"s right. But I"m not saying that anyone who"s only strong can be one…」

Just where did the usual, confident way of talking and impatient personality go?

…G.o.d, just how annoying and troublesome can she be?

This is worthy of being relegated to the group that"s only filled with problematic folks.

As I was thinking that, I suddenly realized it.

It"s not only Snow that was looking at me with puppy eyes, begging me to not abandon her.

As I looked around me, my former underlings and even Tirris were looking at me with antic.i.p.ation.

Really, just how annoying and troublesome can they be.

My job is to fight.

And there are still many battles that await me on this planet.

The people in front me want someone that can fight.

If that"s the case, then I should take advantage of them . There"s only one thing left to say.

I looked at the girls in front of me, and confidently said—- —- —-

「—- —- —- How does a Combatant sound?」

It was around the middle of the night.

I started to knock on a certain man"s room.

「…Who is it?」

「It"s me. It"s me.」

From those words, the man opened the door without a care…

「Is it you, Gia? Or Zakuro? I didn"t call for you today, I"m busy right now…」

「It"s fine! Old man, it"s me, No. 6!」

While I was about to say something, the advisor hurriedly tried to shut the door, but I stuck my boot out.

「Ahhhhhhh! My fooooooot hurts!」

As soon as the advisor opened the door after being surprised from my yelling, I entered the room very casually. Alice followed up behind me as well.

「What…. Wh-whwhat are you two doing!? Don"t just come in!」

While ignoring the advisor that was obviously furious, Alice and I looked around the room.

「…Ooooh, that"s the advisor-sama for you. You have so many expensive things…」

「Hey No. 6, even with just a quick glance, I can tell there"s a lot of trinkets that total over a billion yen.」

For real?

「… If he hands over all his trinkets , I think I"m going to just let him off…」

「Hey, you need to hold back that part of you.」

Unable to follow Alice and my conversation, the advisor,

「You people! What business do you have with me at this hour!?」

「Oi, oi, your way of talking is different from your usual, stupidly polite way. Is this your true self?」

「This is just like any small fry. The way he speaks and the way he thinks are different. This guy is a prime example of a villain that"s unable to grasp his character.」

The advisor lowered his head as if he was enduring something.

「……What business do you have here!?」

「…So about that… How should I say this… I heard a lot of different things from Snow such as you not liking us, so Snow had to snoop around trying to learn our ident.i.ties… Something like that.」

「Mhm. Such as you baiting her with a promotion, which led her to No. 6"s room. There, she coincidentally heard us talk. We"ve received many apologies because of what happened.」

From those words, the advisor"s face couldn"t get any more pale.

「…Ah, no, that"s…」

「There"s no waay, right–? Since you told me I was a hero, back at the meeting.」

Because of my lifeline, the advisor happily,

「Yes, that"s right! Indeed, No. 6-dono is the hero of our kingdom! How could I hate such a person!?」

「Right? Surely, Snow misheard or something.」

From Alice"s a.s.sist, the advisor repeatedly nodded his head many times.

「Yes! Yes, indeed! …No, wait? Snow-dono told me that she wanted to cut down No. 6-dono. That girl was originally born in a dirty slum. If it wasn"t wartime right now, that girl would only be an ordinary soldier. She was only promoted by chance. Not knowing her place, her true desire came out. She was definitely after my position. By seducing No. 6 dono, she was scheming to-!」

「Really!? That girl"s gone too far! Now that I think about it, you know Rose, right? About her… She"s looking for some kind of strange rock to follow her grandpa"s will or something. And you guys are exploiting that and working her to the bone, right? Whose idea was that? It"s very hard to come up with such a wonderful idea.」

「If you mention that, then there was also that plan to gather up all the troublesome people into one group, and to efficiently use them as sacrificial p.a.w.ns. It"s really well thought-out. A very great idea.」

From our words, the advisor burst into a smile that nearly covered his whole face.

「Actually, those were my ideas! Tirris-sama is excellent in politics, but since she was raised very sheltered, she"s unable to cast away useless people. And that"s where I lessened her burden. I"m not just an advisor in t.i.tle only. Aah, this is a little embarra.s.sing to say myself, but that plan was very well thought-out…」

「Hey Alice, is this enough? It should be enough. He said it from the very start. There"s no point in scouting him.」

Because of my sudden change in att.i.tude, the advisor was taken aback and he couldn"t help staring.

「Seems so. I only considered it because I never met or talked with this old man. This man isn"t evil. He"s just a very shameless coward… What are you doing No. 6, why are you clutching your chest?」

「Ah, um, I don"t really know, but your words seem to struck a chord…」

As I was pressing down on my chest while saying that,

「…Wh-what is this, all of a sudden!? Your change of att.i.tude… I don"t know what you don"t approve of, but I was wrong. More importantly, from now on…」

The advisor was trying to think up excuses. As soon as Alice threw something on his desk, he flinched and shut his mouth.

The thing that was thrown onto the desk was….

「Wh-what is that?」

It was a lotus root.

「This is the edible part of a lotus. It"s healthy and has a lot of remedial effects.」

「…Th-that?」

With a deadpan expression, Alice shoved the lotus root in front of the advisor.

「Hey, you. Do you want your a.s.shole to be penetrated by this lotus root?」

「Heeek! How can a brat say such words!? Did you not learn that you should never play with your food!?」

Although Alice looked like a little kid… As if he was unable to withstand the pressure exerted by a member of an evil organization, the advisor"s face stiffened while he retreated backwards.

「Can"t you just eat it after it"s over? Since I can"t eat anything, you"d probably have to be the one to eat it.」

「Wh …Whwhat are you saying…?」

While the advisor was slowly walking backwards, I pulled a piece of what I was holding and a tearing sound could be heard.

「…What, what is that…」

It seems like the advisor was concerned about what I was holding since he asked me what it was.

「So about this… This is a weapon used to punish balding men. It"s also known in some parts of the world as duct tape.」

「Heeeeek! S-stop. What are you thinking? Please stop!」

It seems like the advisor was very worried. He was touching his thinning hair while sincerely begging for mercy.

「Don"t worry so much. I"m only going to stick this on your hair and pull it back. It"s that kind of simple weapon.」

「P-please stop! Please don"t do it! Money! If it"s money you want, I"ll give it to you! S-so please forgive me!」

After putting the lotus root in her other hand, Alice ignored the pleading advisor and with a deadpan expression, she pointed it at his face.

「Hey old man. If you want to become a competent villain…」

Continuing where Alice was going with this, I pulled on the duct tape,

「When you"re trying to get rid of someone, at least be prepared for any retribution. …This is for my cute subordinates. Now, the lotus root or the duct tape. Which do you prefer?」

After hearing what I said, the advisor was crying while looking like he was laughing.

— — —After coming out of the advisor"s room, we started walking towards our base in order to get our stuff.

「…Anyway, No. 6. For someone as stupid as you, you came up with a pretty good idea this time.」

「Hm? What"s this about something good? Also, you don"t have to say "stupid".」

Since I didn"t know what she was talking about, I asked a question back.

「…You did that without knowing? About what happened… 」

I really don"t know what she"s talking about.

「You promised Snow. About being employed as a combatant.」

「Ah, it was about that? It"s only till we get back to j.a.pan. Well, since there"s a month long ceasefire with the Demon King"s Army, if nothing goes wrong, there"s a chance to return without fighting even once. So why"s that a good thing?」

Although Alice was just an android, she had a frightened expression.

「…Look at your atrocity points right now.」

…190 points.

「…Huh? My points went up somehow. Why"s that? Why do I have so many points from dropping Snow"s panties and hara.s.sing the advisor?」

「Look closer. There"s something in front of the number of points.」

Let"s look closer.

………Minus 190 points.

「What is this?」

「What do you mean "what is this"? You told me to call for the R-b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sword when you were nowhere close to having the required amount of points.」

Huh!?

「Since your points are in the negative, if you casually return to j.a.pan, you"ll be immediately captured by the Disciplinary Unit, and you"ll face disciplinary action for the amount of negative points you have.」

Within our organization, there"s something called the Disciplinary Unit.

Normally, there would never be a time when atrocity points fall below zero.

However, there were cases when points were reduced from doing many good deeds or something that would tarnish the name of an evil organization.

When atrocity points are in the negative…

「…About the punishment… I heard that you"ll go through something very scary.」

「It seems so. It seems like there were some that returned with different personalities.」

…Oi, oi, what should I do!?

「Alice! I don"t want to go back to j.a.pan!」

While being shaken around by me, Alice was looking at me like I was some kind of rare specimen. With a composed look,

「So, you really did that without knowing… Listen carefully, No. 6. You"ll remain here, even when the s.p.a.ce used for teleportation stabilizes, you"ll continue being employed as a combatant. And you"ll continue to earn points. You"ll return once the points are in the positive.」

「That"s it! Well there"s still one month until the teleportation machine stabilizes, there"s plenty of time to get my points back to positive.」

That"s right, I earned more than that amount in a short amount of time.

「If it"s you, you"ll probably forget about it, Zipper-Man. Remember, your execution is merely postponed right now.」

Ah!

「You understand? I"ll write the report this time. I"ll include things like why you can"t return yet. I"ll make up something appropriate. Also, I"ll stay behind with you until you collect enough points.」

「Alice-sama–!」

While Alice was dangling in my arms, just like how one would calm a child, she patted my head.

「Do you really understand? Think of how you"ll earn the points, even a second faster.」

「Leave it to me, partner! First, I"m going to go where all my squad members are. Then, I"m going to strip everyone!」

When I turned away after saying that,

「Hey, I"m being serious. Also what do you mean "partner"? I"m a support-type android…」

Although Alice stopped when she was about to say something, I"m going to go earn some points…!

「…A partner?」

I heard her softly utter those words and felt like she didn"t really hate the idea.

Why can"t this chapter be two separate chapters!? It"s way too long, but I guess that"s great for the readers ?

Anyways, thanks for sticking around and I hope you enjoyed the climax! But wait, we"re not finished. Don"t forget the epilogue!

Translating at Starbucks during Summer Break! If you want to leave me a tip @ , that"d be awesome but completely optional!