Everyone was silent. No one was moving or even opening their mouths. It felt like time suddenly froze.A moment later, a strong breeze came, forcing the people to close their eyes.
...
...
Opening their eyes, the scene in their view changed.
Shiro is still standing in the middle of the stage, but Arthur, on the other hand, is being carried on the back of Caiden, and the hero and his companions were now standing in front of Shiro with their magic and weapons ready. Their eyes are staring at Shiro with fear, but with deadly intent.
[ Isn"t the battle supposed to be 1 v 1? Don"t interrupt. ] Shiro muttered in a very intimidating voice.
To Shiro, even if the situation was totally different from the game he played, even if his enemy can"t even compare to his level, he still has the soul of a gamer who fights a battle to the end. The action of the hero and her companions had forced Shiro to show an angry expression on his face.
[ Wha... What did you do to him...!? ] steeling herself, the hero, in the middle of the group, asked.
Arthur has the look of death on his face. His eyes were white and rolled back, and his mouth is forming bubbles, looking at his figure, Hana was only able to feel fear and worry.
[ ... ]
[ Do I really need to say? ] with a pause, Shiro calmly uttered.
[ Tell me. ]
[ Haah... It"s a spell. ]
[ A spell...? What kind? ]
[ A paralyzing spell. Still, I only tested it, which means I don"t exactly know how will it affect him. ]
[ You tested a spell on him...? CCan you cure him? ] she asked with a stuttering voice.
[ Cure him? But we"re still in the middle of a battle. There"s no way I will heal an enemy I"m still in a fight with. ]
[ Can"t you see that he"s already dying!? ] the mage girl, holding the large stuff, shouted at Shiro.
But Shiro remained unmoved and only voiced -
[ Earlier, he had attacked me with the intent of killing me. Isn"t it only natural for me to also do the same? ]
[ Bu-But! ] the mage girl uttered.
[ No, your battle"s already over. Vlad... no, Vlad-san, I ask you if you can cure him. I know that he had offended you earlier, but he"s still one of our important companions. ] Hana interrupted.
Hearing this, Shiro turned his eyes to the healer of the group, the priest girl.
[ Eiihh! ] the priest girl shrieked in fear.
[ You have your own healer, right? Ask her to cure him. ]
[ She already tried, but she said she wasn"t able to do anything about his current condition... ]
[ Is that so...? I guess my level is just too high, huh...? ] Shiro whispered to himself.
Hana was able to hear those words but she decided to ignore it and continued to ask Shiro to treat his companion.
[ Please, he"s an important figure of the kingdom. We can"t let him die on us now. ]
As if Shiro was uninterested, he jerked his chin and looked away from Hana.
[ Treat him... huh? Tell me, what will I gain from treating him? ] he murmured as he returned his eyes on Hana.
[ Gain...? ]
[ That"s right. A reward. What can you give me in exchange for treating him? ]
Work needs to be paid, that what Shiro thought.
Shiro then waited for an answer but Hana wasn"t able to give one immediately. Hana cracked her brain, thinking of things that might be able to please the man in front of her.
[ The-Then! How about we ask the king to give you a high position at the kingdom? ] the one who shouted those words was not Hana, but Caiden, with sweat flowing down his forehead.
His att.i.tude completely turned around. Both his arrogance and confidence disappeared and he was only now left with the expression of fear.
[ A high position at the kingdom? That doesn"t interest me at all. ] Shiro calmly muttered.
[ I-Is that so? Then, what would it be that you want? ]
[ Well, I actually can"t think of one right now... That was why I asked you guys to think for me. ]
...
...
[ Then, how about women? ] the person who voiced the thought was the hero, Hana.
[ [ ... ] ] everyone, again, turned silent.
The truth was, all of her companions were thinking the same. They thought that a beautiful man such as Shiro would want the affection of women. But they refrain from voicing that idea as they were afraid that he might ask for either them or the princesses.
Yet, Hana, the last person they weren"t expecting to say those words was the one who voiced it.
[ Women, huh...? I don"t know about that... How about we just forget about it... If you can"t think of anything that will please me, then I won"t treat your companion. ] Shiro brushed off the idea almost instantly and said.
[ ThThat"s! ] the mage girl shouted again at Shiro.
Everyone was surprised by the fact that he refused their offer, but they"re even more surprised that he flatly said that he won"t treat their dying companion without a single hesitation.
And so, the mage girl, Alicia, continued to gaze at him with deadly eyes.
[ Stop it, Alicia! Vlad-san, I"ll accept that condition, we will look ourselves for anything that might cure Arthur... But first, please tell me... Why did you fight? Is it because you wanted to join us in our subjugation...? Or perhaps, because you only wanted to show-off...? ]
[ To show-off? I don"t do that. Of course, at first, I wanted to join you in your subjugation, I also wanted to try something out, but of course, what I wanted the most was to see your abilities without hurting any of you. You guys are one of the strongest guys in this country, right? Of course, I will get curious to see how really strong you guys are. ]
[ Then, why did you do this...? ] Hana asked with a perplexed and angered look on her face.
Hana was referring to the state of her companion, Arthur.
[ Well, I honestly don"t know myself... I didn"t have any intention of hurting that Caiden guy when we were about to fight. But that Arthur guy interrupted and has p.i.s.sed me off. Maybe my emotions were the reason for it. ]
[ Is that so...? Vlad Alucard... I never heard of your name before... One last thing I want to ask... Are you willing to serve and become a weapon of this country? ]
To Hana and his companions, that was the question they wanted to ask the most. Such a strong individual helping them to fight the demon country, their victory was might as well certain. But just as they expected, Shiro refused and answered -
[ No. ]
A flat no.
That was the only word that escaped Shiro"s mouth as he looked at the group of people in front of him.
Everyone went silent again from his answer.
[ If that"s all you want to say, then I guess it"s my turn. How about the deal I and that guy Arthur made? I won, right? That means I get the chance to fight with you, Hero. ]
[ W-We can"t accept that! ] the mage girl shouted at Shiro again. Her face is written with fear, but it still showed courage on it.
[ We can"t let the hero fight with such a dangerous guy! ] holding her large staff tight, she shouted.
[ Is that so...? You guys don"t keep promises, huh? ] Shiro said in a mocking way.
[ ThThat"s! ]
[ Well, it"s okay. I"ll settle with a talk. How about that hero? I request you to spend some time with me. ] Shiro shrugged.
[ ThThat"s... That"s a pretty bold request... But... I guess I have no other choice but to accept it. ] she answered in defeat with her head down.
[ [ Hana! ] ] the two other females at her party shouted.
[ I trust you won"t do anything stupid? ] Hana asked Shiro.
[ Don"t worry, I will just ask you a few things... ]
[ Then... I guess... Everything"s now settled... We will postpone our plan to subjugate the vampire. It a shame, but I guess we"re still able to find someone more interesting. ] she muttered, looking at Shiro.
Shiro understood what she meant, but he decided to brush it off and finish the conversation.
[ Hana, I"m supposed to ask you this later, but... Are you a j.a.panese? ] Shiro asked.
[ What"s that...? ] Hana only answered with a tilted head.
[ No, don"t worry about it. ]
***
( Wha... What happened to me... )
During the fight, Shiro lost control over his emotion and he ended up almost killing his enemy, Arthur. If the hero and her companions did not stop him, he could"ve killed Arthur.
In the middle of the fight, he was able to feel the despairing and agonizing emotions of Arthur, and it left him with the feeling of satisfaction and joy. It was safe to say that he enjoyed mentally torturing Arthur.
This was not something he would be able to do or feel in his previous world, or rather, with his previous body.
Shiro Kagayami would not prey on the weak. He did not enjoy hurting people.
( That time with the heroes too... That was not how I talk with people... Is Vlad"s body is slowly affecting the way I act...? )
In his fight with Arthur, Shiro was unconsciously enjoying every moment of it, and when he was about to kill him, he got interrupted by the hero and the others, his mood instantly dropped and he said cruel and unnecessary words at them.
That time, Shiro acted with logic, not with morals.
If he acted with his morals, he would"ve treated Arthur, but he deemed that he will gain no benefit from it. When the hero also asked him to treat him, he asked for payment. In his previous world, Shiro did many tasks that were supposed to be taken by his co-workers just because they had asked him and without any payment, but then, he was asked to heal a person, a human, who was supposed to be a priority, but he did not treat him because he will gain nothing from it.
It was like his morals are slowly disappearing.
[ It"s okay to kill people. ] he muttered.
Saying this sentence will normally leave Shiro with an unsettling feeling.
Yet -
It felt normal.
It felt nothing.
Shiro could now kill someone and feel nothing about it.
Just like how he decided to try and kill Arthur on their fight.
[ It"s okay, right? ] he asked himself again.
And his answer was -
[ Yes... ] it was an answer that came from the back of his mind.