Volume 2 Chapter 6 part3
Livia sat down where she was.
Before her, both Brad and Greg had collapsed in face of the sky pirate leader’s armor.
“D, d.a.m.n it.”
“Why is it so big, yet so effective?”
Both were still alive. However, they could hardly get up.
The leader of the sky pirates shouldered a large hatchet while reaching towards Livia with his left hand.
“That took a while. Lady, you’re our hostage.”
Livia realized that she would be used as hostage against Leon, and attempted to run away. Thereupon, the sky pirates’ leader thrust his large hatchet into Brad’s armor.
“──Gah!”
Brad raised his voice in pain.
“Brad!”
A m.u.f.fled voice came out from within the leader’s armor.
“If you run away, I’ll kill them. Now then, come here at once.”
With quivering feet, Livia walked towards the leader’s armor, whose hand was reaching towards her. She couldn’t bear to see Brad.
She felt ashamed of herself for having that happen.
(I’m…a burden. I’ve only been causing trouble for everyone.)
When she shed tears in frustration, the sky pirates’ leader, who was there just a moment ago, was blown away.
A gust of wind blew through Livia’s hair and clothes. The cause of that gust was a grey armor.
“Leon!”
Livia made a delightful cheer, but her expression soon muddied.
“──Huh?”
Leon’s Arroganz, holding large hatchets in each hand, severed the arms of the opponent.
Arroganz had its own silly charm when it used a shovel during the duel with Julian and the others, but the armor in front of her now looked sinister.
Arroganz was built for fighting, and when seeing the armor fulfilling that purpose, Livia’s smile changed into shock.
“Don’t. Leon, don’t!”
Leon swung both of his arms alternately, toying with the sky pirates’ leader. His armor gradually being shaved away, the leader made a scream of horror.
“H, help! I surrender. I said I surrender!”
Leon smiled.
“Surrender? Hey hey, don’t you think that’s boring for an infamous sky pirate? You should show more resistance until the very end. C’mon, show me some spirit!”
He trampled down on the armor. He trampled down on it numerous times, causing the leader to cry and beg for his life.
“Help me, please! I beg you. Help!”
“Don’t you think you’re asking for too much after going on an utter rampage? You’re supposed to tell your subordinates to surrender first, right? C’mon, do it quick or else you just might up and die!”
Leon treated the leader of the sky pirates, who had just before fought Brad and Greg with ease, like a small fry.
At the command of the leader, the sky pirates proclaimed their surrender. However, Leon destroyed the leader’s armor. Arroganz tore away the opponent’s armor and ripped away its important skeletal frame.
Seeing that, Livia thought of it as frightening.
Arroganz then stuffed its hand into the abdomen of its opponent’s armor, and pulled something out.
Leon grinned when seeing what he took out.
“I~found~it.”
The leader of the sky pirates spoke in a sorrowful tone.
“G, give that back! That’s the precious──”
“Don’t you get it? It’s not yours. It’s mine starting today! If you’ve got a complaint, then come at me!”
Arroganz kicked the armor as if no longer interested in it, and sent it rolling across the deck.
The leader made a groan, but seemed to be alive.
There was black smoke coming from the airs.h.i.+ps of the sky pirates, perhaps from Leon’s doing. They were somehow keeping afloat, and some of the sky pirates attempted to escape by hopping onto small boats.
Most of the armor had fallen and were floating on the sea. In case of a fall, armor had lifebuoy-like objects attached to them. They decompressed and floated on top of the sea.
Sky pirates got out of their armor, and looked up into the sky with looks of despair.
Livia, remembering that Brad had been hurt, rushed over towards his armor in order to check his injuries.
“I, I’ll get you medically treated right away.”
Brad, appearing from within the armor, had a cold sweat and seemed to be in pain.
However, he made a forced smile in front of Livia.
“Th, thank you.”
“No, it’s my fault that you got inj──”
“That’s not it.”
“Huh?”
“Greg and I both knew what we were getting into. We fought to protect you. After all, we’re aiming to become knights. If a knight isn’t kind towards woman──ah, that hurts!”
While healing Brad’s injured arm, Livia felt relieved to hear that he didn’t bear a grudge against her. At the same time, she also felt terribly pathetic.
When she put her hand over Brad’s wounds, a magical light came out and healed them. Brad was impressed when he saw the injuries neatly disappearing.
“It seems that you’re good at healing magic, like Marie. You’ve been a great help.”
Livia asked a question in response to that.
“Marie also works with healing magic?”
Since there were few people who could use healing magic, Marie seemed to be a valuable person.
Brad smiled while boasting.
“Yep, she’s our G.o.ddess. Any wound is a cinch as long as Marie──」
As he was speaking, Brad lost consciousness from being in relief.
Leon came out from Arroganz while looking at Livia applying a handkerchief over Brad’s wounds.
“Leon. U, um!”
Before Livia could say anything, Leon smiled.
However, it seemed sad to Livia.
“This suits you well. After all, anything is supposed return to how it should be.”
She wondered what he was talking about.
When Livia tried to get up, Leon turned towards Greg. Once he got out of his armor, he didn’t have any injuries
Leon spoke to Greg with a smile.
“I appreciate your efforts. Say, aren’t you pretty strong?”
“Was that supposed to be sarcastic? Leaving that aside──sorry, I broke the armor I borrowed from you.”
“It’s fine. I have more. Anyways, can you help carry Brad?”
“Is he okay?”
Leon spoke towards Greg, who was worried about Brad.
“Don’t worry. His injuries were healed by ‘Olivia.’”
Livia tightly grasped her chest with her hand.
──Her heart felt like it was in terrible pain.
It hurt to the point that she felt like clutching her heart.
She got up and tried to shout something, but her voice couldn’t come out. As Leon pa.s.sed by Livia in such a state, he didn’t even make eye contact with her.
Once he and Greg got Brad fully out of his armor, robots came carrying a stretcher which they put Brad onto.
When the three returned to the airs.h.i.+p’s interior, Livia began crying.
“Why? ──Call me Livia.”
She collapsed down and continued crying.
◇
The sky pirates’ treasure was in front of me, but I had no interest in it.
I tossed the treasure I took from the sky pirates into one of the warehouses in Partner.
Even though I found some nostalgic items from the game in addition to gold and silver treasure, I soon parted with them.
“I’ve stashed a lot.”
Luxon responded while floating beside me.
[I don’t foresee getting that remuneration from the Wein household, but you can get rewards from the destruction of a sky pirate group and the capturing of their leader. Going by the standards for the kingdom, it will be quite the fortune.]
I wasn’t interested at this point.
What could I even do with such a large amount of money?
It was all pointless.
“I suppose I could buy a new tea set. I’ve got no clue on what to do with the rest.”
What was on my mind was that image of Greg and Brad protecting Livia──Olivia. That was how it ideally should be, but there was a strange discord in my heart.
I turned towards Luxon.
“Hey, did you find evidence that links the earl household with the sky pirates?”
[Indeed. I’ve found several doc.u.ments with interactions between them.]
“Should we tell the royal palace? There’s also the matter of the Redgrave duke family. It would make a good scandal for their opposing faction.”
[A scandal, or perhaps a blatant weak point. It’s possible that the earl household may come to get back the sky pirates.]
“──Was it fine to only rough them up?”
I wondered what in the world I had been doing up until now.
Wasn’t I an idiot for having this kind of power, yet not use it?
Right. An idiot.
I was an idiot.
“If make trash like them disappear, perhaps the kingdom would become a bit more decent. No, that wouldn’t work. The kingdom itself is trash, or better yet, the otome game itself is trash, right?”
Luxon, watching me as I thoughtlessly smiled, didn’t speak with its usual abusive language.
[Are you sure about this? I would have no hesitation in destroying the kingdom, nor this world. If you give me the orders, I can carry them out soon. After that, it would also be possible for you to create a world as you see fit, Master.]
A world as I see fit?
That would be the best!
“How nice. What about making a harem with women? Maybe gather some elves or cat-eared beastkin. How about this time, make the kind of world where women are the ones treated like garbage?!”
That’s when I realized what I was saying.
This was just the same situation, but with the positions of men and women reversed.
“──What the, am I the same as those girls in the academy?”
[You likely know the answer to that inside yourself. Have you cleared up your thoughts after venting your anger on the sky pirates?]
Not at all.
Pent-up feelings were squirming around within my core.
I wanted to expel them immediately, but I didn’t know how to do so.
Luxon comforted me.
[This about her, isn’t it? I don’t think that Olivia hates you, Master. However, emotional instability──]
“I know. Did you think I was angry at her? Did you think that I viewed her as some kind of ungrateful freeloader?”
[Indeed.]
“Just who do you think I am?”
When she went outside, I did think “What was that fool doing?!” to myself. However, on the flip side, I was able to see Brad’s and Greg’s chivalrous spirit thanks to that.
What happened there was what the relations.h.i.+p between the protagonist and capture targets should have been. The ideal situation.
I should think of it as a major development. Right, this was good. No more acting on behalf of their role. It was time for me to return to being a mob.
I took out the “Holy Necklace” from my pocket.
“In that case, how should I pa.s.s this onto her?”
Rather than giving it to her as a present, I wondered who would be easier to knock sense into and have them get along with Olivia. Brad or Greg?
It would be most optimal if it was one of them.
I wanted the two to keep at it by all means.
So, I decided to have them return to the position they should have been in.
“I’ve decided what to do with the treasure.”
I made my own conclusion and stuffed the necklace into my pocket.
Luxon informed me of something.
[Master, it seems that a fleet from the earl household is getting closer. At the same time──it seems that an airs.h.i.+p of the Redgrave duke household is heading here as well.]
Today really turned out to be a turbulent day.