Chapter 24

You want me to...leave?"

The Immortal Knight asked. The sword princess who, as the dead Colonel Hydra had said, was reborn from the dead, unable to die, even after being eaten by "Black Snake".

"Yeah."

"...Look at me now."

Alina laughed self-deprecatingly.

"I'm an ugly, disgusting monster."

She looked so far away, so distant, that she could barely remember the days when she would have followed the man she loved to justice.

"After seeing this, do you really think I can back down?"

"I am not the one who brought you back to life as a <Death Knight>."

I replied casually, leaving the corpses of the Duchy Commander rolling around, splattering blood everywhere.

"By the looks of it, you've gotten your revenge on those responsible."

"So, you want me to walk away gracefully?"

"As you say."

Alina sneered at my answer. Like she was trying to put on a bravado to hide her weakness.

"You...killed Zerel."

"...."

"Zerel and all my friends in the Knights Order died at your hands."

I didn't exactly deny it. They stood in our way, didn't listen to my warnings and didn't back down, so I killed them.

They knew our names and were warned. We were merciful but it was the Knights Order's decision not to back down until the very end.

So, we killed them.

"Do you regret their deaths?"

"─"

"Didn't you fight to the death so that you wouldn't regret it?"

At my question, she wordlessly bit her lip hard enough to make it bleed but no more blood flowed.

"What the hell does a monster like you...think you know about us?"

"My answer is the same now as it was then."

I continued, unperturbed.

"─Your beliefs are none of my business."

I had said that to the Knights Order in heaven, and I was saying the same thing now on earth.

It was then that Immortal Knight, clad in jet-black heavy armor with not a trace of the white of her past, replied.

"Foolishness is... just that, foolishness."

She echoed the same words I had uttered that day in her own voice.

As if to say that this was the price of that foolishness.

"Okay, I'll back off, like you said."

She said and I swallowed hard at the unexpected words.

"So, can you please just let me go like this?"

"I have never been interested in you...."

"That's a kind and gracious thing to say."

Saying that, the Sword Lady smiled brightly.

I didn't bother to ponder the meaning of a cold sneer on a face that had lost its former vigor, pale and bloodless.

The immortal knight, who had returned from the dead and gained her freedom, turned her back on me and walked away.

I watched her back as she walked away without a word, a back I would never follow.

"You're letting her...go like this."

Aria asks cautiously, finally coming to my side and I nod.

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't?"

"A swordswoman will not forget to avenge her loved ones."

"Perhaps she will."

"Then why would...."

"That is the ghost of the snake I must bear."

I said.

"Even in death, she will not forget the name of the snake, and so she will wander in the shadow of the "Black Snake" for the rest of her life."

"─"

"Wherever she goes, people will see our shadows superimposed, and they will remember the name of the snake."

"Oh, my."

The words made Aria smile as the corners of her mouth were twitching in ecstasy.

"Alas, it sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it."

It was a smile that was uncharacteristically twisted with unconcealed lust and heat.

"Alas, I dare not even imagine what you see."

"...."

I wordlessly took out a cigarette and put it in my mouth without answering.

For the record, that statement above was bullshit.

Still, for an off-the-cuff statement, it sounded like something that could have convinced Aria. I'll file it away for future use when I need to save someone's ass.

Anyway,

Alina, the Immortal Knight, stepped away, gracefully, if you can believe it. I guess that's what they say about seeing is believing.

The <Commander Secret> was safely retrieved from the hands of the head of the Corpse Hawks, and my work was done.

Therefore, I turned my back without a word to her, who had finally realized our identity and was now more terrified than ever.

"You...."

"I kept my promise."

I said in front of her and Hella was trembling.

"Promise?!"

"I hope you didn't forget."

And just in case she had, I kindly reminded her of the contract.

"As promised, the <Commander's Secret> will be kept in the safest, most reliable place in the world."

"The safest, most trustworthy place in the world?"

"Is there a better place?"

That was me.

Hella laughed in disbelief.

"Of course there isn't."

What better way to keep the <Commander Secret> safe than to have Rain Gray, the leader of the Black Snake, carry it himself.

"If you don't believe me, I can give it back to you."

"No need."

Hella laughed.

"I might as well, than to have it fall into the hands of this country's military."

"Why are you trying so hard to stop it?"

I asked.

"No matter how valuable the <Commander Secret> is, it's still too valuable to be coveted by a power the size of a duchy...."

I realized as she spoke.

It could be a passive skill of Rain Gray's that I didn't know about, or it could be that I'd somehow gotten used to living in this world. Either way, it was good.

"As expected, I can't hide in front of the leader of the Black Snake."

Hella shrugged with a bitter smile but I didn't answer, just in case my guess was off.

"That's right, what I really want to hide is not the grimoire itself...but something written in there."

I don't know what kind of scribbles were scrawled on the grimoire.

"Don't worry. I don't really want to know who scrawled what."

It's none of my business. I don't want to know, and even if I did, I have a lot of other things to worry about right now.

"It's enough for me to finish fulfilling our contract."

"Good."

Hella replied.

There's no way to tell if she's really who she says she is, as her body is covered in burns and horribly mutilated scars, while at the same time she has the appearance of a child younger than Alice.

"Like I said, he's already-."

That was good, I suppose. Because it wasn't her I was interested in.

"He, already. Already...."

Hella stuttered, repeating the same words like a parrot. Does that mean he's not of this world? I didn't care and waited for her to finish.

"He is, already...."

"Already, what does that mean?"

I asked, my patience wearing thin.

"Already...."

Hella repeated.

"Already."

She kept repeating the same words over and over again.

"You wouldn't come all this way to break a promise, would you?"

That's why I spoke up in a cold voice.

"Ah, the promise. That's right, he, he's already-"

Only at the sound of my voice did Hella realize she'd forgotten, and she cleared her throat.

"Already, he's... he's... he's... he's..."

She clears her throat and continues.

"He, who?"

She narrows her eyes as if she doesn't understand.

"I...who were you talking about?"

"About him."

"The guy?"

"Yes."

Hella shook her head, as if she didn't understand. As if she was hearing the story for the first time.

"Last I heard, he ran a bakery on the streets of this city."

"A bakery...?"

"At the same time, he was an unsung hero of this country."

"Ah, ah, him!"

Hella exclaimed, suddenly remembering.

"That's right, that man. That man was my-. My...."

No, she tried to shout.

"Who was my...?"

But she couldn't scream.

She could feel the name swirling inside her, the name she desperately wanted to scream, but couldn't.

"Who were we talking about...? That's weird."

Her eyes narrowed, as if she didn't really understand anymore.

"That seemed like a really important story."

It doesn't look like she's lying. But it also didn't seem like an easy explanation, like dementia. In the first place, she doesn't look like an old woman, and neither does she look like a demented person.

Rather, her face shows that she is desperate, more than anyone else in this room, to remember this man and not forget him.

I can't tell what he had meant to her.

A tear slid down Hella's cheek as she realized it and before I knew it, she had forgotten why she had tears running down her cheeks.

"Thank you...for helping me."

At the same time–that was all she forgot.

"Ahaha, I didn't realize that the Black Snake was renting the second floor of my house."

As if she hadn't forgotten anything else. As if everyone was still there.

"Well, it's not like I'm going to be talking about justice and morality in front of you!"