Episode 22.

Everything went to hell; the castle was destroyed, the town was in flames, people were killed and captured, and, to make things worse, the king was dead. There wasn't much to save. I entrusted those two to protect what little value we had left; if they succeeded, maybe some hope would await us in the future…, just maybe.

I was a complete failure as a soldier; I failed in my mission and let our leader fall; I was nothing but a disgrace. Even if I tried to vindicate myself by being able to find the queen and her maids, it would not compensate a thing; the damage was permanent.

Jessica: 『 Y−Your Majesty, are you sure it is this way? 』

Queen Mireya: 『 U-Umm..., p−possibly (?) 』

Sergeant Rask: 『 Your Majesty? 』

Queen Mireya: 『 KYAAAAH! 』

They were all scared when they saw me, especially the queen; they probably thought I was one of Narek's soldiers; they sighed upon recognizing me and alleviated their anguish. It was a stroke of luck to find them so close to me, but there was no doubt how disoriented they were, quite far from the intersection; in fact, they were walking in the opposite direction, heading east instead of north.

Queen Mireya: 『 Luvric, thank goodness it was you! 』

Sgt. Rask: 『 Your Majesty, you are all still very close to the castle's vicinity, so I need you all to come with me. 』

Queen Mireya: 『 B−But, we had to wait for Veronica and the children. 』

Sgt. Rask: 『 Don't worry about them. They're already on their way to the border. 』

Queen Mireia: 『 So, they managed to escape?! 』

Sgt. Rask: 『 That's right, Your Majesty. 』

The queen brought her hand to her chest and exhaled with great relief as if an enormous burden had been lifted from her. She was thankful that the princess was safe.

Queen Mireya: 『 Alright, Luvric. We are in your hands. 』

Sgt. Rask: 『 I thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. It will be a long road, but if we hurry−』

("BUUUM!!!"), a sharp pain penetrated my back and shook me aggressively, leaving my body motionless and unresponsive. I felt all my weight go down, and I fell squarely to the ground, unable to move a single muscle from my neck down.

The damsels were terrified and gasped in a muffled scream. I heard the short steps and irritating voice of a certain arrogant and vain person.

Secretary Ruffus: 『 Well done, Sergeant. Looks like you were able to do something good and redeemable after all. Congrats on that. 』

Sgt. Rask: 『 Ru−ffus! 』

That bastard! I thought he had run away like the coward he is. He caught me off guard and shot me from behind. I couldn't feel a thing, my strength was fading, and my words lost volume. The bastard got lucky and hit a vital point.

The queen had gone into a state of terror and confusion as she watched one of her closest subjects being eliminated by another. She asked indignantly and with her voice trembling:

Queen Mireya: 『 *Trembling* Mr. Ruffus… why…? 』

Secretary Ruffus: 『 Oh, I apologize for my bluntness, your majesty. But it is the punishment that every soldier must receive for failing to fulfill his primary function: defend the king at all costs. 』

Queen Mireya: 『 My husband… Where is he?! W− What happened?! 』

Secretary Ruffus: 『 He, he. Why don't you ask to the pathetic bodyguard who was accompanying him tell you? 』

I wanted to break his mouth so badly, which spoke in such a mellow and cocky way. The bastard took advantage of the fact that my body was paralyzed and pulled my short hair to show the queen my pathetic face of anger and agony.

Queen Mireya: 『 L−Luvric...? 』

Sgt. Rask: 『 … I'm so sorry…, it's my fault. 』

There was no need to give a lengthy explanation. Seeing the queen's reaction of tremendous pain and sadness made me angrier at Ruffus and myself. I did not deserve any forgiveness; I was responsible for the death of his majesty, for leaving a woman widowed and her daughter orphaned by her father.

Ruffus only laughed with pleasure while the queen sank into mourning and deep tears that caused terrible pain in her chest that she could not bear.

I heard more footsteps again, this time much rougher. It was a large group of Tikalt soldiers; they surrounded the unfortunate damsels and blocked any space so they wouldn't escape. I heard a much heavier step behind me, I turned my neck as much as I could to see, and it couldn't have been anyone else's.

Secretary Ruffus: 『 Oh, King Narek, I'm glad to see you well. 』

King Narek: 『 You again. What is it that you want? 』

Secretary Ruffus: 『 Ah, I see. It seems I have not introduced myself properly. You see, I'm the one who sent you that invitation, sire. 』

It was just as the king predicted, there was a spy in the castle, one who shared our information with the neighboring nations. He knew that there was a risk of starting another war, which is why it was essential to mend the rocky relations with Tikalt to have their support and continue with the alliance. But we should have imagined that the traitor was much closer than we thought.

It was Ruffus who purposely sent that blank letter instead of the one handwritten by the king, and surely, he also did his tricks to open the frontier and allow such an army to enter the country as if it were their own home. We were blind not to prevent it.

King Narek: 『 I see, so it was you. 』

Secretary Ruffus: 『 That is right, sire. Wasn't it magnificent to be able to invade this infamous nation without any setback or resistance? I gladly helped you so that you could fulfill your objective and destroy this shitty kingdom once and for all, just as it deserved, along with its disgusting king... Tell me, isn't it −?! 』

("SHUIIIN!!") Ruffus' head slowly rolled off his neck, falling before his decapitated body, scattering blood all over the grass.

King Narek: 『 I hate traitors like you… Queen Mireya, it's a pleasure to see you again. I'm very sorry for my indiscretion and rudeness; I hope I have not frightened you... By the way, I would also like you to accept my condolences for the departure of your king. 』

Narek put away his sword and approached the queen, kneeling in front of her and giving his obeisance and even his condolences for the king, even with the nerve of him being the executioner. He ordered his soldiers to take all the maids back to the palace, threatening that if any of them tried to escape, they had permission to kill them.

The queen was completely gone, with no reaction and no shine in her eyes, as if her mind had completely disconnected. She didn't impose any resistance, and she was escorted away along with her maids.

As for me, I felt like I was getting weaker and weaker; my vision was starting to blur and my heart was beating very slowly. Slower and slower.

King Narek: 『 You were a very noble soldier. You fought with dignity alongside your king. It's a shame you couldn't prevent his death. But don't worry, it's not something you should suffer for in your death; it was inevitable that it would happen... You have the right to accompany his soul. 』

Ha! I wouldn't accompany that old man to hell, even if I were crazy. Although I was his soldier, he always caused me trouble. I no longer had to be attached to him. Now I was free... Finally, I am free.