Chapter 45

In the distance, a grinning man with a large, well-built face appeared, accompanied by the Duchy's secret police.

"How could you-?"

Alina's expression grew even paler at the sight of the man she had killed with her own hands that day standing there, alive.

"Hoo-hoo, did you really think I was dead, Miss Alina? Nein! Nein! Nein!"

The man exaggeratedly threw his arms up in the air.

"Because Mr. Hydra has seven heads!"

'One I... No, the Swordswoman cut it off.'

As I listened, I thought to myself, "It's no one else's business. I can only assume that the other one was probably cut off by Führer Wheatley for taking responsibility for the situation."

"And this Mr. Hydra, he'll go after Miss Alina to the ends of the earth!"

I can only guess that the nature of the fear on Alina's face in front of this man is something close to trauma.

Not only did the man she should have decapitated with her own hands survive, but now he's obsessed with her with the entire Duchy on his back.

"Don't be ridiculous, you monster!"

"Nein! Nein! Nein! Monster, you're being harsh, didn't we all see the 'real monster' that day?"

The man approached, as if he had this situation in the palm of his hand.

"A monster, he's the real monster, we're like cute little deers in front of him. Hahaha!"

Colonel Hydra Waltz of the Duchy's National Security Service, Fourth Division, aka the 'Corpse Falcons', said.

"We should all be thankful that the monster of the day is not here-."

As if even thinking about it gave him goosebumps.

"Should be...."

He spread his arms wide, a gesture that should have been exaggerated, like a conductor on a stage, but instead, he stood rigid in place.

" What?"

Along with the Duchy's secret police and the Knights of Death he commanded. It was like watching a ridiculous slapstick comedy.

"No need to thank me."

I said.

"I'm here, too."

"...ah."

It was literal. I was here, so there was no reason to be grateful.

Nevertheless.

"Uh, how did you-."

"Don't worry."

I said, unconcerned as he stiffened coldly.

"I have nothing against you or her."

"!"

I am here, and only here, to hear an 'answer' from the Holy Maiden. I was not obligated to do more than that.

"Not when you repeat the same nonsense before me, as you did then."

"Well, well, well, whether there be!"

With those words, Colonel Hydra snapped his head up. Turning to the dazed and confused Secret Service officers, Colonel Hydra shouted again.

"Get your heads down now! Get down, you idiots! How dare you not know who he is?"

"Nu, who is he?"

"I don't care, just get down! Get your fucking heads down now!"

"Yes, sir, Colonel!"

At that, the Secret Service officers bowed their heads in unison. At least Colonel Hydra seemed to have gotten the idea of who I was, in more ways than one, down to the bone.

I turned away, unconcerned.

To finish what needed to be finished, as the third party who had so abruptly interrupted our conversation ducked his head again.

"...What are you going to do?"

"Nothing."

Immortal Swordswoman asked with her trembling voice and I replied.

It's not like then, when she, alone, had slaughtered Colonel Hydra and his men in a surprise attack as soon as she was free. This time, he's prepared, and he's got the best of the best.

Moreover, it's the Commander's specialty to subdue someone who has been reborn from the dead.

If I do nothing her fate is sealed.

It was then.

"!"

Another soft touch swept across Alina's cheek.

It was the warmth of a living person, the compassionate touch of a holy maiden who had no qualms about touching decaying, rotting flesh.

No matter how defiled and depraved, no matter how stained with grime and ugliness, no matter how devoid of integrity.

Without her help, it would have been impossible to repair this decaying body alone.

"My appearance, it's quite ugly, isn't it?"

"...Not ugly."

"It's beautiful."

"I told you, Miss Alina."

And with that, the hand of the Immortal Swordswoman, the black light, curled around the nape of Alina's pale neck.

As it swirled, Holy Maiden Jeanne whispered.

Her dark, dark eyes, devoid of the virtue or light that befits her name.

"There is no place for us in this world."

"But that doesn't mean-"

"What do you believe, Miss Alina, or what did you believe?"

The Holy Maiden repeated. There was only one thing she believed.

"Define...."

"I believe in faith, the faith of the goddess, the faith of the stars."

The Holy Maiden whispered.

"And-now, look where that faith has led me."

As she spoke, she opened her arms, shining the magical sigils upon her body.

A crest of submission that binds her, a gilt that was carved to bind her as a slave.

"And just like that, I've become a slave to be sold at the Imperial Auction House, and you, Miss Alina, have become a 'Death Knight' who will live the rest of your life as that man's puppet."

"─"

"This is the end point where our beliefs have led us."

The Immortal Swordswoman couldn't answer.

"Look at our miserable pitiful selves here. Who led us here? What brought us down to this point? Do you still think it was that man?"

"That's...!"

"No."

The Holy Maiden shakes her head.

"It's ourselves."

She shakes her head and continues.

"The result of our foolish decisions."

It is their own foolishness that has brought it upon them.

"And yet he–he always gave us a chance."

The Holy Maiden continues,

"Just like now."

Just like now.

'Go away. I have no business for you.'

She gave them a chance. Should she really feel that way? She didn't know if she should, because in reality, she chose "justice" over the mercy he offered, and this is the result.

The man was right. That foolishness is just that, foolishness.

"That man saved me, and he gave me my freedom, despite the slave's crest carved into me."

Alina realized then, as soon as she looked at Jeanne, or more precisely, her eyes that a new faith had blossomed in the holy maiden's heart, a black, dark faith dedicated to the serpent.

"Then I realized that there was no such thing as freedom, that I never needed it in the first place."

"Jeanne...."

"Please, Miss Alina. Stay with me."

The Immortal Swordswoman didn't answer, just bit her lip until it bled but no blood came out. Blood does not flow in the flesh of the already dead. Yes, she was dead.

That death was the result of her own foolishness, and it was not the man in front of her who brought her back from the dead.

As a result-the man did nothing. He tried to do nothing.

She couldn't help but think. But more than justice, it was her current life in the pit of misery that made her feel the need for justice.

She didn't want to live like this. Even worse, if she fell into Colonel Hydra's hands, there would be a horrible, terrifying ending beyond this one.

She hated it.

She hated it, pure and simple. She didn't want to talk about big words like righteousness. It was the voice of Alina's heart screaming.

"Help...me."

As she said that, her mind wandered to her childhood friend's back.

"There is someone who needs help, and I happen to have a hand to offer."

The memory of their pursuit of justice together flashed through her mind like a lantern. Suddenly, Alina realized she didn't recognize the face behind her.

"I think it would be very sad to pass by without doing anything."

Or that the hand reaching out to her, crying out so desperately for help, was not his.

Zerel is dead, killed by the man in front of her, and she can do nothing.

"You want help."

"...Yes."

"You know what that means."

"...."

Alina bit her lip and bowed her head wordlessly. No blood flowed. No blush of humiliation and shame.

"Kneel, and swear allegiance in the name of the Serpent."

A short silence descends but in the silence, I could see Colonel Hydra, panicking.

Either way, I didn't care.

The Holy Maiden and the Immortal Swordswoman knelt with their swords pierced the floor vertically, just as a knight kneels before his lord to swear an oath.

Then, with their own swords sheathed, the two women clasped their hands together wordlessly.

"That's it."

I said. "That's it," and saw Alina's eyes narrow. I think she was expecting some kind of special ceremony.

"So, this is all we have to do...?"

"Do you want to wear a special chain around your neck?"

"!"

She immediately exclaimed bluntly.

"That's not possible!"

"Okay, then."

I replied like it was nobody's business.

People like her are easy to see through. Like it or not, her uprightness knows no lies or tricks.

With that, I turned my head.

Aria, as usual, stood beside me, silent. I cannot read her expression in her silence but I don't care anymore.

I have a job to do, and I need their strength to do it. And it's not that I want them to live up to expectations right now.

This is a decision I make as their leader and it no longer requires anyone's forgiveness or permission.

"...I'm sorry to hear that."

I said to Colonel Hydra, who shook his head.

"One more head to waste."