It"s Our Choice, but… The next morning, Arisa and I were wearing the black military uniform.
“You"re sure about this, right Ed?”
“Yeah, I don"t want unwillingness, and I don"t feel like it, so I"ll kill him with my all.”
“Fufufu, alright then.”
Arisa hugged my arm.
“…isn"t this embarra.s.sing?”
“It"s fine, isn"t it? Things like that are irrelevant.”
She buried her face in my arm lovingly.
As she smiled at me, I strained my face.
The battle is closing in.
“Let"s go, Arisa.”
“Yeah, Ed.”
(I wonder when was the last time—I fought someone with the intention to kill)
As that thought appears on the corner of my mind, I headed up to where Gram is at.
I pa.s.sed through the door to the reception hall that I"ve pa.s.sed through every day for the last week.
Today, I felt the doors are way heavier than it usually is.
“My, my, if it isn"t Arisdono and Edgar-dono.”
In the hall, Lord Gram was sitting by the end of a long table.
He was completely different than the first time I saw him, and I can see a hint of cruelty and craftiness from his grin.
“…Did you make your decision?”
Gram listened closely.
He fixated his gaze towards me, and then towards Arisa.
We were silent as we proceeded in front of Gram.
“Yes, we"ve decided.”
“…Hoo. And? Are you going to leave the mansion as you are? Or do you have something that could fulfill the requirements to take that dire wolf slave with you?”
Gram"s smile is br.i.m.m.i.n.g with composure.
“Of course. We have but one proposal to you…and that is a duel.”
“Hoo…”
Interesting, he nodded.
“I—Arisa Fio Asteria, the Fire Sorceress, challenge you, Duke Gram, to a duel.”
“Kukuku…Very well. Very, very well, Arisdono. The joy of battle is truly the one I wish for.
However, Arisdono, are you going to fight me?”
“Do you not want to?”
“Forgive my rudeness, but I don"t have any interest in fighting you. In the first place, if I end up killing you, my comrades would certainly bash me for it!”
Gram laughed loudly.
“…then what do you want?”
“Isn"t that obvious—Edgar dono, take her place and fight me.”
And then he glanced at me.
Our eyes met.
His eyes looks like it"s saying to me, “You"re not going to run, are you?”
“Fine, I"ll take it.”
“…Ed……Alright.”
Seeing me giving an immediate reply, Arisa sighed as she looked at me.
“Lord Gram, Edgar shall partic.i.p.ate to represent me. Our wish should we come victorious in the outcome of the battle is the owners.h.i.+p of Ellie. What would you wish for?”
Hmm, grumbled Gram, thinking as he stroked his jaw.
“Then if I win, I"ll make you one of us.”
“…comrades? Yours?”
Arisa asked, looking for a more detailed information.
“I mean it as it is. Don"t be worried. I promised you"d be welcomed well.”
“…What kind of people are your friends?”
“That"s something to look forward to checking out, Edgar-dono.”
Gram smiled and stood up from his seat.
He proceeded towards he exit without a word.
But the moment he exited the room, he left just a sentence behind:
“I"m looking towards the fight with you.”
The fight is tonight.
Ludo-san came to tell us that.
Ludo-san and Lunsan thought that we"re only doing another mock battle…or so I felt.
Perhaps they don"t know very much about Gram-san.
“Well then, Arisdono, Edgar-dono, I shall excuse myself.”
Ludo-san bowed slightly and went away, but I stopped him in a fl.u.s.ter.
“One last thing, Ludo-san,”
“What could it be, Edgar-dono?”
With his eyes still slightly narrowed, Ludo-san tilted his head slightly.
“Do you know where Ellie is kept?”
I went down the staircase leading to the bas.e.m.e.nt.
The place was enveloped by darkness.
Only several lamps were glittering, giving a mysterious illumination.
“Ellie,” I called out to the girl"s name. “Ellie, are you here?”
As I said that, I could hear the sound of clothes rustling from deeper in.
And then,
“Who…”
It was from furthest cell.
That"s where Ellie is kept.
Ellie was sitting on the bed, dumbfounded.
Did she notice me from my voice?
Her eyes, glistening dully in the darkness, turned towards me.
“Oh…It"s just you…”, she whispered absentmindedly. “What did you come here for?”
She had an expression that says I really don"t care.
It was the same expression she had when I first met her.
“…Ellie, you look really awful, you know”, I said with a chuckle.
“…” yet Ellie didn"t say anything in return.
I slowly walked forward before finally leaning on the bars that separated me and Ellie.
“Hey, Ellie,”
“…what.”
“I know it was short, but do you think living with Arisa and I was fun?”
“…”
No answer pa.s.sed through the iron bars.
“Was the food Arisa cooked delicious?”
“……”
“The only thing we got going on between us is just fighting, huh. Well, in the end I always lost though…you completely destroyed me.”
“………”
“Ellie,”
“…what.”
“Was it painful?”
“……hrk!”
“I"m sorry, I think I didn"t realize the sorrows you"re going through. If it"s okay with you, we could talk about it later, slowly this time.”
“…”
Silence.
But that means she"s not denying it right away.
That made me happy a little.
I separated myself from the bars and pats away the dust om my clothes. And then, I said,
“…I decided to fight Gram.”
“…Why!?”
She shouted briefly.
“Isn"t it obvious?”
Yeah. There"s no single reason for me to hesitate.
“It"s because Ellie is my…no, you"re our family.”
“…!?”
I couldn"t see her expression. No, I don"t even need to see it.
—This is enough.
I"ve said what I wanted to say.
Forgive me, Ellie.
I was speaking to myself.
“Alright, I"ll be going now. Wait over there just a bit more, okay? You"re a better kid than I am anyways.”
I stretched my hand into the gaps between the bars…and gently stroked Ellie"s head.
Her body twitched in response, but she didn"t separate herself.
After that, I turned my heels and headed to where Gram is at.
I"ll definitely bring him down.
So don"t worry, Ellie, don"t cry.
I"ll save you.
In the jail room that Edgar left behind,
A single girl"s crying voice echoes around it.
“Why…Why would you go that far for me…You"re just a Human, so why……family is…”
Tears won"t stop flowing from the demi-human girl"s eyes.
The girl didn"t realize why she cried.
No, she purposefully feigned ignorance of it.
But this time, she was undoubtedly happy.
That someone unhesitatingly put his life on the line for her.
That someone is accepting her for who she is.
She lost her family once.
Because she did, she noticed their importance and their pricelessness.
Their warmth and their love was the undeniable proof that they"re her family.
The moment she lost that, she despaired.
Because then she couldn"t find a reason to live.
For what reason does she have to keep living, now as a slave on top of that? She lived her life in despair as she continued thinking that way.
And then, she met Edgar.
He was constantly looking out for me.
He was smiling together with me.
He allowed me to carry my burden together.
He said that I"m precious to him.
He didn"t mind putting his life at stake.
And most importantly—he said that I"m his family.
But Edgar didn"t know.
How much that word meant to her.
How big of an importance that single word is to the girl.
But the girl was able to realize that.
That at some point, she was able to be reunited by the single piece of her heart that she lost.
…how long was it since then?
The moment Ellie"s tear dried up,
Step, step…someone"s footfalls echoed around the bas.e.m.e.nt.
Someone had come down to the bas.e.m.e.nt room again.
And that person held the absolute power.
The strongest Human of this world.
“—It"s been a while, Ellie. Is it comfortable in there?”
The gleaming lights illuminate the person"s silver hair, and the blood red eyes s.h.i.+nes dimly in the darkness.
—it was Arisa.
But her usual kind aura is gone.
—She was cold. And on top of that cold att.i.tude of her—
“I"ve got something to talk to you about. Mind if you come with me for a while?”
Ellie couldn"t do anything but to s.h.i.+ver in fear.
Chapter 34 >
TLC:
We don"t know whether Arisa was shanked last night or if she"s going to shank Ellie first before Ed does that to her or Ed gets pulverized by Gram first. But it"s kind of refres.h.i.+ng to see that Ellie"s frozen heart is slowly thawing.
Sorry for the wait again, hope you enjoyed the chapter and have a great day.