239 - A Certain Elf Does Not Forget

In a room where everyone else had been cleared out, I finished listening to Argos, who had told me to become his “accomplice,” and organized the contents of his story.

Sacrificing his own life to kill his target—in a word, it was “taking him down with him.”

“Are you truly fine with that?”

He said he had not given up on living, but his chance of survival was extremely low. It was not even a plan, but a suicide attack based on the premise that he would expend his own life.

Moreover, this proposal, which ended in the form of “entrusting what comes after to us,” could certainly be called the best possible ending for the elves.

I could not help thinking, “What on earth did the Empire create?”

However, because of that, it could also be said that he had chosen to seal this fact away so it would not spread.

(Was it all to prevent his homeland’s ill fame from spreading? Or was there some other reason?)

What he told me was his own origins and the enemy’s true identity.

Along with that, he told me the procedure for killing the black Argos.

At my final words of confirmation, he nodded.

He never spoke aloud the true reason he was eliminating his compatriot, who had become our enemy.

However, when I considered the possibility that he would one day become a true monster, I could understand the feelings behind his choice to use his own life here and perish together with his compatriot.

Even if he hid everything and turned his eyes away from the tragedy that would someday occur, if the truth came to light, the hatred born from those scars would be directed toward his homeland.

Or was it that he abhorred the tragedy itself?

In the end, he said nothing.

Therefore, he and I would become accomplices.

For the conclusion he desired, and for us to eliminate the threat before us, I made my choice.

“Very well. I accept your proposal.”

If he had been a monster, my wish might have come true.

No matter how intelligent he was, I might have been able to prove before those mad people that “humans and monsters could never coexist.”

But he was human.

The new species of monster we called Argos had been human.

In that case, there was no longer any reason for me to remain fixated on it.

“Yunos.”

When I spoke the name he had taught me, his large face turned toward me.

“Is there anything you need?”

Even so, I had come to feel enough fondness for the way he lived that I wanted to do something for him.

Not as an offering to one going to his death, but to give him a means to struggle to live.

“Then a weapon.”

Was there even any weapon that those large hands could use?

Yunos’s request left me slightly troubled, but the men somehow took care of that.

After that, all that remained was to witness this conclusion, but… Yunos showed reluctance.

Apparently, his detection ability was higher than we had imagined, and he did not want us to do anything dangerous.

However, I had no intention of yielding on this point.

I was able to get him to accept it by keeping our distance and using concealment magic, but since we could not predict the range of the battle, danger would accompany it.

Also, their conversation would be in the Imperial language, so even if I could pick up their voices, I could not understand them.

Fortunately, there was conveniently someone whom I was usually reluctant to assign work to who understood the language of the Council-State, which had inherited the Empire’s lineage.

I had heard she had become a little better lately, but I would have her work properly here.

Yunos probably intended to die while carrying everything alone.

But there should be at least one person who knew that.

We hid in the chilly forest as dawn drew near.

I silenced Ashiru, who was complaining behind me, “It’s cold, it’s cold,” with a single glare, and looked at Azure, who was standing watch beside me.

When Azure noticed my gaze, he nodded.

Apparently, at this distance, we would not be detected by him.

“So, when does my turn come?”

A young man with a slightly rough appearance—the new spirit sword user, said to be the living image of the Sword Saint from two generations ago in his younger days—asked in a bored tone.

He was the young genius who had taken up another spirit sword as if succeeding Sword Saint Shuvard after his death.

It seemed they had interacted, but I did not know the details. I only knew that after he took the spirit sword in hand, he wanted to fight the black Argos.

“When the time comes, I will tell you. Until then, do not move under any circumstances.”

His short reply of “Sure” made me uneasy.

“Relax. I was refused a joint fight because he had a prior engagement. I won’t make a move until his side is done.”

“That’s what manners are,” he said, folding his arms in boredom.

“I am counting on you, Forgas Corner, one recognized by the spirit sword.”

He snorted in response to my words. Ashiru looked at him curiously, then timidly raised her hand.

“Um, what are we going to do?”

Had she not listened, or had she simply let it pass through her ears?

I should have explained this beforehand, yet this girl had already forgotten.

With no other choice, I summarized it: “Argos will fight in order to defeat a monster of the same kind, but his chances of victory are low, so we will wait for the result of the battle and intervene. For that purpose, we will keep enough distance, hide in the forest, and monitor the battle.” At this, Ashiru showed an openly reluctant face.

“No, no, no, I can’t do combat or anything.”

“What you must do is write down and record the sounds I pick up.”

Had she not listened to the explanation? I moved my gaze to the memo and pen I had handed her.

I no longer had much time to deal with this girl.

Because of the distance, even if I used magic, I could not visually confirm them. I had to entrust Azure with roughly identifying their positions, while I did my utmost just to pick up sound.

Whether I could catch the entire conversation would depend on luck.

On top of that, I was entrusting it to the unreliable Ashiru, so of course a sigh escaped me.

The fact that there was no one else I could move was my current reality.

I truly realized that I had only been using my own circumstances.

But those sentimental thoughts were immediately blown away.

The “sound gathering” I had set over a wide area had caught what seemed to be a conversation.

I immediately narrowed the range, adjusted it so everyone present could hear the conversation, and glared at Ashiru, telling her to move her hand.

Since she immediately began running her pen across the memo, I judged that she understood the contents of the conversation, which I could not understand.

Sometimes, perhaps because there were words she did not understand mixed in, her hand stopped, but each time, I ordered her to keep recording.

I intended to make her forget everything afterward, but it crossed my mind that there might be no need, and that she might not remember it anyway.

Perhaps, in a sense, she was the perfect personnel choice.

I did not understand the contents of the conversation, but from time to time, I glanced at the memo Ashiru held.

With only fragments, I could not keep up, so I gave up on grasping what the two were talking about.

Even so, from the voices and the sounds of combat I could hear, I could predict that it had become a one-sided battle.

I continued watching the progression of events while adjusting the location of the sound gathering for some time, but suddenly, Azure called to me.

“They are getting closer. Let us leave this place.”

“No. If we move carelessly, there is a risk we will be noticed. Please recast the concealment magic here as we are.”

Azure reluctantly obeyed my words.

However, I would come to regret not taking distance here.

When the distance closed, things that had not been visible became visible.

And if that happened, one naturally ended up looking.

I used farsight magic together with it and confirmed the sight of the two fighting.

The voice I heard was no longer that of a person, and the beastlike roar reached my ears even without magic.

In other words, this situation was nearing its end.

I searched for the two figures, and when I finally found them, I reflexively thought, “Too late.”

The black Argos was mounted on Yunos and continued driving its fists into his face.

Seeing his outstretched hand trembling while he could not even resist, I almost looked away.

But in the next instant, Yunos’s hand seemed to flop down, only for him to punch the black Argos’s face with that arm, now dyed black, and kick its huge body away.

He, who had looked covered in wounds, stood up.

His form was the same black as the Argos facing him.

Yunos, who had transformed into a completely black figure, let out a beastlike roar.

“He will eventually lose his reason and become a monster.”

Just as he had said, there were two monsters there.

The sight of them devouring each other was truly that of beasts.

And just as in the natural world, what existed there were the one who ate and the one who was eaten.

The moment I thought he had managed to push back, the two collided. Yunos was blown away, his back slammed into a tree, and a finishing blow left him motionless.

The victor standing calmly before the loser let out a triumphant roar.

But Yunos was still alive.

The black Argos began eating him.

Watching that scene through farsight, I could only watch his struggle, which did not even count as resistance.

Unable to look away, I continued watching him being eaten.

Just before his life was about to end, I felt as if our eyes met.

I did not know what his moving mouth was saying.

I had already stopped picking up sound.

Even so, the movement of his mouth looked like nothing but, “Help me.”

I continued watching in silence the entire time.

Ashiru, whom I had made lower her face and focus on writing, seemed confused because she did not understand the situation.

The two men stayed silent until the black Argos finished its meal.

“It’s over.”

Once the battle had been decided, there was no reason for Forgas not to move.

Even so, I held him back.

This was the important part, I said, and used sound gathering again to pick up the black Argos’s voice.

“What does this mean?” Ashiru’s hand stopped as she turned the words into writing.

The man who had become the black Argos did not seem to be the type to voice his thoughts, and Ashiru wrote down the occasional words that leaked out.

Amid that, the black Argos suddenly dropped to one knee.

He was saying something, but I had no intention of confirming the contents.

It was probably words of shock at the phenomenon occurring within him.

He would now fall asleep.

Around us were Forshna elites specialized in stealth, and preparations had been made so that no matter where he fled, we could share his location information.

Now, as long as we had Forgas with the spirit sword, we could eliminate the Imperial soldier who had crossed two hundred years.

For this, Yunos had made a deal with the sages and made me his accomplice in hiding the truth.

Was it because he was a soldier that he took the optimal action even while confused by the phenomenon occurring in his own body?

Yunos had described him as an “excellent soldier,” so I thought he had used them, who excelled in stealth, expecting this would happen.

When we learned that he had begun moving away at full speed from the elf village—in other words, enemy territory—we also began moving.

His fleeing movements gradually lost their sharpness, and when he first began moving, the possibility that he might shake us off crossed my mind.

However, his movements soon weakened, and when he could no longer even run properly, he began staggering along, then went down on one knee.

He seemed to be shouting something, but there was no longer any need to hear that either.

While looking at the former human crawling along, I faced the sky and sent up a signal.

It was difficult to see in the dawn sky, but anyone who missed it would not be called elite.

The red ball of light vanished, and in another place, a blue light rose into the sky.

“Let us go.”

As I said that, the black Argos, now unmoving, was visible in my field of view. I released the farsight magic, and we hurried toward our destination.

As expected, Ashiru did not seem able to keep up, so I ordered her to stand by. Along the way, we found Yunos’s corpse, which had been brutally eaten to death, but I shook my head, thinking that mourning him would come after everything was over, and hurried onward.

When we reached the target location, several familiar faces were waiting there.

Apparently, he was sleeping deeply and did not react even when approached. The black Argos was there, asleep in the same posture he had taken while trying to move even by crawling.

After confirming the situation, I nodded.

As if satisfied, Forgas drew the spirit sword from its sheath and approached the sleeping black Argos without caution.

“This is for the old man. Don’t take it personally.”

The spirit sword swung down and, with shocking ease, cut off the neck of the sleeping black Argos.

Was this truly the best choice?

No matter what, I could not get the image of Yunos being eaten while asking for help out of my mind.

As long as I could not state with certainty that it had not been so, I would probably never forget that sight.