217

At this point, all I could do was pray.

While hoping I would not lose my reason, I silently waited for them to come.

“It has been a while.”

“Indeed.”

It was a short exchange, but there was a lot I could read from her expression.

She was probably smiling because she had anticipated encountering me.

But that was not the issue I needed to prioritize right now.

Since I had allowed them to approach, my gaze inevitably turned toward the greatsword carried on the back of the large man who seemed to be her guard.

The large man gave a fearless smile at my gaze.

“…A spirit sword, huh.”

“I’d prefer you call it a holy sword. I don’t like those long-eared bastards.”

The large man looked up at me slightly and snorted, but it seemed there was something about me that also caught his attention.

The elves who had caused the Empire’s destruction were apparently hated after all, and judging from this reaction to just one term, I should avoid saying anything careless.

I had my own thoughts as well, but in the end, no one close to me had been among those killed by the elves, and I also knew that the Empire had ended its history by its own hand.

Though it still did not feel real, more than two hundred years had already passed, and unlike me, who needed to swallow that down while thinking of the future, the Council-State was in a position where it was only natural for them to make use of that resentment.

“To think we would meet like this again. Should I say the world is small?”

“More importantly, when did you become able to speak? Personally, I’m more curious about that.”

When I answered that I had grasped the trick a while after our previous meeting, she placed a hand on her chin and seemed to think about something.

“Let us settle the matter at hand quickly.”

When I urged them on, the large man stepped forward and said, “Well, hold on.”

“Lieutenant Colonel, I would prefer you not act on your own.”

“No matter how I look at it, that’s the presence of a holy sword. If I don’t move here, that’d be dereliction of duty.”

Rachel sighed and covered her face, while the large man looked at me with a grin as if he had received permission.

“We haven’t introduced ourselves yet. I’m Kavasa Urd Bangley. My rank is one above hers, lieutenant colonel. As you can see, I am the Council-State’s strongest man chosen by a holy sword, and I call myself the strongest human. Nice to meet you, Argos.”

After glancing once at Rachel behind him, Lieutenant Colonel Kavasa tapped the spirit sword on his back with a finger and introduced himself.

He seemed like the painful sort of person who called himself the strongest human… but his ability was probably the real thing.

Otherwise, there was no way he would be permitted to bear “Urd,” a name signifying a noteworthy military achievement, and it would be dangerous to set his threat level at the same as a half-baked user like Alberto.

Equal to that old Sword Saint, though not at his prime—this would probably be where I should begin observing him.

Since my policy from the start was to avoid combat with the Council-State, I pointed to the pack on my back and affirmed his certainty.

“Indeed. Inside this is the one held by the Kingdom of Canaan’s holy sword wielder.”

I smiled fearlessly, implicitly saying, “I killed the user and took it. What of it?” but my facial muscles were on strike again today and refused to work.

“…Could you return that to humanity?”

I had expected it, but Kavasa mentioned returning it.

Still, “to humanity” was quite a convenient way of putting it.

Naturally, my answer was already decided.

“I refuse. This is one of the few weapons capable of injuring me. Even if I cannot use it, I have no reason to let it go.”

“Well, I figured that’s how it’d go… But that ain’t a monster’s way of thinking. Who put you up to it?”

At that unexpected line, I was impressed, thinking, “Oh, so that’s how he’s coming at this?” He had suspected there was someone behind me.

So that was the sort of thing military men, especially field officers, considered. I reflected on the fact that this concern had completely slipped my mind.

Of course, there was no such thing, so I denied it outright… but he probably was not foolish enough to believe me.

After all, I was a monster.

It would be stranger if there were humans who listened to my side of the story.

So I added this.

“I am putting into practice something depicted in Imperial books corresponding to manga.”

At my words, Kavasa covered his face with an “Acha…” expression and leaned back.

“Incidentally, the title of the work… uh, the manga?”

“If I recall correctly, it was Guardian Bullet.”

“Seriously?” This time, he crossed his arms and looked troubled.

He was quite an expressive man.

Incidentally, Guardian Bullet was a spy manga set in the Empire, and if my memory was correct, the content I was putting into practice came from Chapter 113, where a robot soldier secretly developed behind the scenes started moving on its own and had its emergency stop device stolen.

However, from Kavasa’s reaction, I, as one reader, started to hope a little that it might still be continuing. Apparently, though, a reprint edition had come out, and thanks to its deeply rooted popularity even after the nation became the Council-State, there was a possibility that Part Three might begin.

“Tell me more about Part Two.”

“You read all of it?”

Rachel cut in with an exasperated tone, but Kavasa and the squad leader nodded with satisfied expressions, as if to say, “It’s good stuff.”

I almost sympathized with that world, which any man would understand, but here I needed to get things back on track.

“Well, I understand now that no one put you up to it. Also, after the country became the Council-State, the author wrote about ten more chapters of Part One and completed it. Part Two is written by someone else, but it got popular, and I personally approve of it.”

That was what I thought, but perhaps he had gotten into the mood, because Kavasa continued talking. Rachel sent him a cold look and said, “Lieutenant Colonel, could you please not bring the conversation back to that?”

That attitude even toward someone of higher rank—was it her bloodline, or were there some circumstances?

Unfortunately, it was difficult to infer that at this stage.

“Come on, what’s wrong with that?” Kavasa whined, but he was probably “the type of person who talks unusually fast when discussing a work he likes.”

If I had not been in this form, I would have been talking passionately too, but now was not the time.

I was unbearably curious about the remaining ten chapters, but I would move the conversation forward myself.

“Leaving the continuation aside, the fact that you are here means you had business with me, correct?”

“It helps that you’re quick to understand.”

What she took out as she said that was a single map.

The instant I saw the straight red line drawn on it, I thought, “Seriously?” and questioned the sanity of whoever had drawn it.

That was only natural. The bold line, as if splitting the Old Imperial territory into northern and southern halves, represented the territory the Council-State intended to carve out from now on, and this would guarantee contact with both the Einhel Republic and the Kingdom of Seizeria.

“Do they intend to take the northern side of the continent? I can’t believe the Council-State has that kind of military strength.”

After all, even during the Imperial era, merely maintaining it had been all they could manage.

Even accounting for various things failing to keep pace with their rapid growth, I could not imagine the Council-State being able to do it.

“…I believe I told you to keep it to the granary belt.”

“Yes. The Old Imperial territory’s granary belt, exactly.”

Probably, she was including not only the west side, but the east side as well.

She likely intended to pass it off as a difference in interpretation, but as far as I had confirmed, the eastern granary belt no longer remained.

The elves were one thing, but in the current situation, I could not welcome contact between the Council-State and the kingdom with the reincarnator, so I expressed difficulty, wondering if there was any way to delay it.

Since Seizeria was also expanding its territory westward, a clash with the Council-State was probably certain, but if possible, I wanted to delay it.

There was something I prioritized over the Council-State’s national interest.

However, she was not that.

“The Council-State’s official cause is the restoration of former territory. You should have no reason to refuse that, should you?”

Rachel tilted her head as she said that.

I had known she would object.

But I could not understand what her words meant, and though I asked, “What are you talking about?” I could not hear my own voice.

There was only her, saying something, and me reaching my hand toward her. The arm reflected in my immovable vision was dyed black.

The instant I recognized that, my consciousness was swallowed by darkness and vanished.

My consciousness returned.

Before I knew it, I was standing alone in the forest.

Before thinking about where this was, I remembered what I had done.

“Why…”

My emotional suppression function tried to return me to calm again and again, but this was not an emotion that could disappear like that.

I did not scream, but a splitting headache restrained my actions.

I should have settled things with myself long ago.

Was this the end I reached after clinging to possibility?

Or was it punishment for killing too many?

“Why, of all things!?”

I tried to shout, “Why that timing?” but held it back.

I swung my fist in anger, but just before impact, I understood its meaninglessness and stopped my hand.

Even so, I clenched my teeth, raised both hands, and slammed them into the ground.

I screamed, lamented, and struck the ground with my fists again and again.

“Why did it turn out like this…”

With no tears I could shed, I let out sobs at the situation I myself had brought about.

I should have given up.

After confirming her appearance and becoming certain she was my descendant, I should have been satisfied in secret and died.

“…I’m sorry, Sister.”

Because I had clung to life, I had ruined everything.

I repeated my apologies over and over, and even the thoughts returning to calm began to feel annoying.

I should end my life—thinking that, I tried to take out the spirit sword, only to realize there was nothing on my back.

Letting out a dry laugh, I thought, “Then with these hands,” and looked at my own hands on the ground.

That was when I finally noticed.

The first oddity was my left and right fingers, which seemed uneven.

I confirmed that the little finger of my right hand was missing from around the first joint, and that both hands showed no signs of being stained with blood.

Then I looked at my own body and saw wounds here and there that had not yet finished regenerating.

Tilting my head, I removed a single bullet embedded in my outer skin, organized the information, and spoke the conclusion that could be considered in this situation.

“…Huh? Was I possibly driven off?”