Chapter 610 — Arc 9, Chapter 22 – “How to End a Battle”

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――When first hearing Rom-jii’s plans, she’d had some reservations.

Rom: [Got that, Felt? If ya fall into the enemy’s hands, we’re sure ta lose… ‘course, our enemies’re gonna try ‘n take advantage of that, seein’ how that’s their easiest victory condition.]

Felt: [I’m the one in charge over here. I’m not gonna make a fuss and argue that I don’t understand your logic, but if you expect me to just sit in a corner and watch you all like a fool, I’m not just gonna go along with that, y’know?]

Rom: [In a large battle, it’s commonplace for a general ta sit back all dignified-like and wait ‘til the fightin’s settled… Hey, c’mon, don’t groan at me like that!]

Having just proposed a position that caused an explosion of displeasure from the one who had been listening, Rom-jii patted his bald head as he made a face of defeat towards Felt, who had groaned in frustration.

Felt was used to seeing that troubled expression on Rom-jii’s face, and she knew very well that when he made that expression, he was not actually as troubled as he appeared. ――When Rom-jii patted his own head with a troubled look on his face, he did so in order to steer the conversation in the direction he desired.

What Rom-jii wanted to convey was――,

Rom: [Aight, aight, aight I said. Then I won’t ask ya ta sit back ‘n watch or huddle up on the sidelines. ――I’mma have ya follow that helmet bastard’s footsteps one move at a time.]

Felt: […You’re saying you want me to follow that helmet bastard around? What’s the point of that?]

Rom: [I wanna be able ta pinpoint the location of the helmet bastard in the forest as best I can, ‘n after the squads that engage ’em are broken through, I’m thinkin’ we can retrieve the survivors ‘n ambush ’em from the rear.]

She understood that the strategy proposed by Rom-jii was one to corner the helmet bastard, blocking off his escape route and crushing him. To achieve this, their fighting force of five-hundred would be divided into a number of squads, and there was a possibility that the first squad to attack may have to be sacrificed.

And Felt would be in a position in which she would know of it, and yet be unable to do anything.

Felt: [――――]

Rom: [Felt, since this is a battle…]

Felt: [I know. I’m not like that damn Reinhard. I’m not so naive as to think no one will die no matter what. I just don’t like it. Acting on the assumption that you’re going to die, I mean.]

Although she often had been treated as a child due to her appearance, Felt did not believe that she actually embodied such childish dreams, to the extent that she was unfortunately scorned due to her looks.

Having grown up in the slums of the Royal Capital, where life was not considered to be of high value, one philosophy had been firmly rooted in her core.

Human life was fragile, that was why they said it. ――Live strong.

Rom: [――That’s right. I also dislike squanderin’ lives in futility.]

Felt: [It’s already crazy how the criminal underworld can risk their lives like that and still have an aesthetic sense about it. Otherwise, I don’t think they could’ve gotten so many people together when they asked for help, so I’ve got mixed feelings.]

The reason behind the ruffians’ pledge to strictly adhere to Rom-jii’s plans lay in a philosophy that was embedded deeply into the criminal underworld, and one very different from the blood code of the slums at that.

The key to getting along well with them lay in respecting their differences rather than overly shying away from them.

However, since Felt was at the head of this group, it was necessary to have everyone follow Felt’s philosophy instead.

Therefore――,

Felt: [――Let’s do this. I’m gonna go win this bout my own way.]

Even if her victory conditions differed from the ones anyone else had set, Felt had resolved herself so.

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During those final moments, as Rom-jii closed the lid of the Conversation Mirror that connected them together, Felt’s unpleasant intuition was confirmed, and she began to hasten her pace.

???: [The old man said, there’s one more thing left to do…]

These were the words of Camberley, as blood poured forth from every orifice of his face.

There was something she wished to comment concerning his body’s battered state, but Felt snatched the Meteor from his hands, leaving him in the care of her comrades who had freed him from the restraints of the helmet bastard’s gang, and ran.

And, after running the fastest she ever had in her entire life, the moment she emerged from the forest, she came across it.

――The scene of the Divine Dragon being made by Rom-jii to target himself along with the helmet bastard.

Felt: [――Cut it with the crap!!]

Without even realizing it, she raised the Meteor―― the Star Staff, taking aim at the incoming Dragon.

She was quite knowledgeable about the Dragon’s sturdiness, having borne witness to its clash with Reinhard when Ezzo and the others had gone to Pleiades Watchtower. ――Of course, the reason for which she aimed the Star Staff at the Dragon, was concerned not with its robustness.

Even when interjecting to tell them to stop screwing around, Felt did not have the option to punch Rom-jii.

Divine Dragon: [――OUCH!!]

The blow that bore the light of a star struck the side of the Dragon’s maw, yielding a cry of pain that utterly lacked the dignity befitting the Divine Dragon, redirecting its breath towards a different direction.

That breath forcefully leveled the empty, deserted plain, but that mattered not.

Perhaps she had foiled Rom-jii’s best-laid plans, but that was fine.

Felt: [I had a bad feeling and this is what I find. Being prepared to die and wanting to die right away are two totally different things, you know! Big stupid Rom-jii!!]

Roaring, overcome with a rising passion, Felt clenched her teeth.

For a moment, Rom-jii and the helmet bastard were difficult to make out, and the two of them, engaged in a battle of wits on a level that Felt could not even imagine, beheld her in astonishment.

Felt’s composure did not falter, even though tears shamefully welled in her eyes.

Felt: [That idiot Reinhard, he’s gonna worry about this for a long time.]

So long as they were not particular as to how victory was attained, Felt and her comrades had the power to best anyone.

For that reason, even if it meant being criticized for this prideful way of thinking, she would still choose how she would win. Otherwise, she would not be able to win in a worthwhile manner.

To that end, Felt clung to her convictions.

That was to say――,

Felt: [Live strong, Rom-jii. If you can’t stick to that, then even if we win, it’s still a loss.]

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???: [――Just now, I lost.]

Vocalizing a hard truth, Aldebaran was overwhelmed by a sense of defeat.

Valga Cromwell’s stratagem from a moment ago had hit the bullseye on the Authority-wielding Aldebaran, a flawless artifice that accounted for even the time limit of the Divine Dragon’s return.

“Aldebaran’s” breath, a show of intimidation to end the battle.

When that had been transformed into an inescapable trap, Aldebaran’s matrix would repeat forevermore, forcing him straight towards an unending Death, until his soul was finally worn down to naught.

Harrowing was the ingenious plot of Valga Cromwell, who had delivered the Demi-Human War into a hellish state of civil warfare―― no, this checkmate had not been begotten by that origin alone.

Aldebaran: [Using five-hundred people, all my choices were whittled away.]

Unmistakably, therein laid Aldebaran’s cause of defeat.

The incessant onslaught of attacks in waves from five-hundred people, each and every one of them squeezing out every ounce of their lives in a desperate effort to challenge him, caused Aldebaran’s mental strength to be gradually chipped away, impairing his judgment. Upon many junctures, he had needed to redo due to a simple error in judgment, and he overcame them by forcing his way through with a great number of attempts―― in the end, he had made a critical mistake as he closed in to secure victory.

Losing his temper due to his exchange with Valga, Aldebaran had misjudged the matrix update site.

Likely, even that had been part of the trap Valga had set. Falling right into it, nearly all possibilities were about to have been sealed off.

――No matter the trap, no matter the enemy, in the end he would conquer them, no matter what.

That arrogance of Aldebaran had been mercilessly prodded by the cunning Great Strategist.

He ought to have known. That even if his Authority was invincible, Aldebaran himself, who exercised it, was banal.

That since he had not emerged victorious from a scenario in which he truly had no other choice but to win, Aldebaran had betrayed the many who had held expectations of him, and had washed up here.

Aldebaran, had utterly wasted the treasure in his possession beyond his own station――,

Aldebaran: [――Priscilla, I…]

Couldn’t save her, it happened at the moment his husky sigh was about to vocalize the height of his self-punishment.

???: [Nobody move!!]

A shrill voice resounded, breaking through the stagnant atmosphere enveloping the plain of the battlefield.

With the Divine Dragon summoned, and the stratagem of the Great Strategist who wielded his fury in the Demi-Human War failing, the central figures of this battle had gathered in this place, and taking initiative was the red-haired maid―― Yae.

Hindered by Grassis’s ambush, Yae had been delayed in providing Aldebaran cover, but now, with steel threads, she had bound Grassis at the entrance to the forest, as well as Manfred at a corner of the plain, turning both of them over.

Furthermore――,

Felt: [――Hk, are these the threads that tied up Rachins and the rest?]

The Star Staff having dropped to her feet, Felt clicked her tongue in loathing.

All of Felt’s limbs were bound by steel threads, the movements of her body having been completely sealed.

That was to say, the tables had been turned.

Yae: [For such remarkable rudeness towards your noble station, I humbly proffer my dearest apologies, Felt-sama.]

Felt: [I ain’t nothing like a noble… Why the hell are you following that helmet bastard?]

Yae: [Isn’t yielding to the most terrifying opponent the most natural of things~?]

Flatly sticking out her tongue, Yae responded to the immobilized Felt with her usual demeanor.

Witnessing that exchange in the corner of his eye, Aldebaran took a step back to distance himself from Valga. But then again, with his stratagem having failed, Valga was down on his knees, unmoving.

His stratagem, upon which his life had been staked, had been a swing and a miss. That exhaustion could be called natural, but below Aldebaran, present in the eyes of that exceedingly clever old giant, was a hue more poignant than a simple sense of defeat.

Valga: […I don’t care what happens ta me. Just don’t lay a hand on Felt.]

Aldebaran: [Those are the words I’d wanted to hear. Though, I hadn’t wanted to see that face.]

Faced with Valga’s expression as he wrung out his appeal with difficulty, Aldebaran answered with his true feelings.

Being the ones to have picked this fight, asking him to not lay a hand on her was far too convenient a request. But, if the table could thus be set to put an end to this battle, his sense of relief surpassed his irritation.

Naturally, with the revisions to the plan that had been thrown into disarray, Aldebaran’s seven days had become something far more difficult.

Even so, finishing a battle against the first opponent to ever defeat him aside from the Witch, his deep sentiments towards that fact currently exceeded everything else――,

???: [――Yo, me, looks like that went pretty damn rough, didn’t it?]

With a beat of its wings as it perched down on the ground, “Aldebaran” called out to Aldebaran.

Frankly, he felt that it was far too lacking in guilt for having almost ruined everything with its erroneous shooting, but he had made it abandon its duty of drawing as much of the Kingdom’s attention away as it could in half a day, recalling it to him. So in regards to disappointment, he would close his eyes here and call it mutual.

“Aldebaran”: [So? Seems like you unexpectedly came to clash with Lil’ Miss Felt and her gang, but what on earth was that just now?]

Aldebaran: [A trap to make the other me accidentally shoot at me. It felt like I’d been completely checkmated on a Shatranj board… In truth, that was about to be the case.]

“Aldebaran”: [That sorta thing, it brings back unpleasant memories of being thoroughly beaten by Teacher.]

Sharing the same Memories from the Book of the Dead, “Aldebaran’s” words caused Aldebaran to remember being childishly obliterated on the Shatranj board by the Witch who had bestowed him with all sorts of knowledge, putting him in a foul mood.

Nonetheless, games atop a board were fundamentally different to the battlefield upon which Aldebaran commanded his Authority. Valga had been a truly dreadful enemy.

Aldebaran: [Nah, perhaps the real frightening thing’s the virtue of Lil’ Miss Felt, who you bow to.]

Valga: […It ain’t as tho’ we’re bowin’ down ta Felt.]

Aldebaran: [――. I guess that’d be so.]

Whilst being fellow Royal Candidates, Felt and Priscilla each shone in their own ways.

If the dazzling nature of the sun one looked up to was different, the way in which it scorched their eyes would also vary. Therein laid not a matter of which was correct, but merely a difference of which light one chose to revere above their head.

And, those who had decided to revere Felt, were Valga and――,

Aldebaran: [――So, that’s how it is for all of you?]

Within Aldebaran’s vision were the ruffians who had come crawling out from the forest―― wounded from the battle, whilst lending their shoulders to one another, were five-hundred people who had yet to lose their fighting spirit.

Aldebaran: [――――]

As Valga had threatened, as long as their lives were not taken, they would force their wounded bodies up over and again, struggling onward to attempt to defeat Aldebaran.

Faced with their resolute expressions, Aldebaran was once again made keenly aware. ――To go down a path that would no longer receive affirmation from anybody in the world, he was made keenly aware of the effects of having decided so.

Aldebaran: [But, the situation’s changed from earlier. You guys’ve no longer got any shot at victory. Same old story as the Sword Saint and the Witch of Envy. ――The Divine Dragon completely breaks the game.]

The outrageousness of the Divine Dragon was something akin to ignoring one’s pieces and directly throwing a punch at the opponent during a match atop a Shatranj board. In this world, there were a fixed number of beings who existed outside that “framework”.

Of those beings, one he had sealed, one he had subdued, one he had utilized, and one he had enlisted as an ally. ――Aldebaran would not hesitate to use every ounce of its advantages.

Hence――,

Aldebaran: [Sorry, but I’m forcing a game-set here. We’ll be making it so you guys won’t be able to chase us from here on out――]

Yae: [――Felt-sama, could you stay still?]

Aldebaran: [――?]

Abruptly, Yae’s quiet voice interrupted Aldebaran’s counsel to yield.

When he glanced in her direction to see, Yae was standing on Felt’s back, the latter restrained by steel wires, and as Yae directed a sharp gaze towards her, she uttered a warning.

However, Felt prefaced “I ain’t gonna move” to Yae, and,

Felt: [――Look at me.]

Indeed, she quietly wove those words.

Aldebaran: [――――]

Hearing Felt’s utterance, Aldebaran, Yae, and even Valga, all knit their eyebrows.

Her intent was unclear; Aldebaran suspected that there might have been some stratagem that would activate once she came into vision, but Felt herself was apprehended by Yae, and she was literally incapable of doing a thing.

In that state, there was not a single thing she could do. ――In the girl’s red eyes dwelled a strength of will that betrayed any such notions.

And then――,

“Aldebaran”: [Ah, a bit of a problem’s come up, me.]

So said “Aldebaran”, who had been rubbing the cheek that had basked in the Star Staff’s blast with its forefoot.

The brunt of that puzzling voice was directed towards Aldebaran, who shared the same Memories and personality―― but, “Aldebaran” did not look at him as it spoke.

It was not a matter of a poor attitude. The eyes of the Dragon were trained upon Felt.

――It was as if to say that taking its eyes off of Felt would be difficult, immensely so.

Before Aldebaran could investigate what that meant, rather than rubbing its cheek, “Aldebaran” was trying to fiddle with the metal fixtures of the helmet it was not wearing out of habit,

“Aldebaran”: [Try as I might, I don’t wanna refuse Farsale’s… Lil’ Miss Felt’s request.]

And so, the occurrence of a definite problem was thus disclosed.

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???: [――Farsale, thy recklessness hath exhausted mineself, and everyone else akin.]

When the Divine Dragon had spoken thus to her, Felt had been traversing the Augria Sand Dunes, aiming for the Pleiades Watchtower with Meili Portroute in tow as to prove the latter’s utility.

It seemed to have been intimidated by Reinhard’s presence, so the Divine Dragon Volcanica, meant to be protecting the Tower, had hastily attacked Felt and her group.

The fierce battle seemed like it would scatter half of the Sand Dunes’ entirety away, and there was no doubt that it was the flashiest battle Felt had witnessed in all her life.

Ultimately, no conclusion was drawn in the battle between Reinhard and Volcanica. After all, Volcanica’s combativeness had withdrawn upon seeing Felt, leaving it an unfinished battle.

The battle having thus ended in an incomprehensible manner, that had been the first thing the Dragon had said.

Felt: [Who the hell’re you calling Farsale, stop screwing around.]

As the Divine Dragon impolitely mistook her for another, Felt had taken offense.

On the other hand, regarding the name “Farsale” that Volcanica had spoken, even Felt was not so ignorant as to not have a clue.

In this Kingdom of Lugunica, if the name Farsale came from the Divine Dragon Volcanica’s mouth, that referred to the being known as the last Lion King, the one who had spearheaded the formation of the Covenant between the Kingdom and the Dragon―― none other than Farsale Lugunica.

That was to say, Volcanica had mistaken Felt for the last Lion King.

Farsale Lugunica unmistakably ought to have been a male King, so to be mistaken for him really made her angry. In the year and a half since the Royal Selection had begun, perhaps thanks to her dramatic improvement in nourishment from her days in the slums, Felt’s body had grown considerably.

Her figure ought to have become somewhat more visible from her malnourished state, with its unclarity as to whether she was male or female.

That confidence of hers had been wounded, and thus her contact with the Divine Dragon, who most people in the Dragon Kingdom had never been able to meet, had been no enjoyable affair for Felt.

Nonetheless, it had not ended with just that experience of an unenjoyable meeting.

Perhaps because it had been extremely close with Farsale, Volcanica was incredibly friendly towards Felt―― frankly, it was unreasonably attached to her.

Despite its head being as empty as a senile old man, it was still quick to obey Felt’s words without hesitation.

Felt: [The promise between the Lugunican Royal Family, and Volcanica, huh…]

Since no material records existed, the relationship between the Lion King and Divine Dragon, what words they exchanged, and in what manner they made their promise, such minute details were unknown.

Only, Felt fully understood that there existed something between the two, something that was neither a one-sided employment, nor was it simply fellowship and a deep bond.

Moreover, mistaking Felt for Farsale, Volcanica was laudably trying to maintain their Covenant formed long ago; Felt was not so heartless as to not feel anything regarding that.

Not to mention, it did not seem that Volcanica was mixing her up with Farsale just because of her hair and eye color.

As for what exactly that signified, Felt had come up with somewhat of a conclusion within herself, but at the current point in time, without Reinhard by her side, she had no intention of putting it into words.

The important thing was that to Volcanica, Felt filled the place of Farsale.

That was to say――,

Felt: [――Look at me.]

As soon as she had pronounced so, the reactions of the helmet bastard and the shinobi maid, who looked at her suspiciously, and Volcanica―― no, the Divine Dragon, who had flicked its head to look at her, were evidently quite different.

Without a doubt, the Divine Dragon’s reaction to Felt’s words was compelled by a force that the others had not felt, evidence that it had experienced a sensation difficult to ignore.

And, to counter the time limit on this battle that Rom-jii had defined in advance―― the wildcard of the helmet bastard summoning the Divine Dragon to the battlefield, this was the one and only measure.

The moment she became convinced of it having worked, Felt shouted.

Felt: [Everyone, lend a shoulder to the wounded and withdraw! This fight is over!]

Helmet Bastard: [Wha…]

Felt: [The Divine Dragon can’t ignore me! This is our moment to call it quits!]

The helmet bastard was left speechless at the declaration that had flown right over his head. Feeling good about the helmet bastard’s dumbfounded reaction, Felt looked past him over to Rom-jii.

His face stiffening, as Rom-jii’s wrinkles grew even deeper,

Rom: [Felt… I’m…]

Felt: [I told you, Rom-jii. If the Divine Dragon returned, this is what I’d do. You silently plotted on your own, Rom-jii. I properly consulted with you, and my action here makes logical sense.]

Rom: [Nghh…!]

To Felt’s direct words, Rom-jii fell silent with no reply.

Both Felt and Rom-jii had considered the case in which the Divine Dragon was to return. Only, the countermeasures they had intended for when that situation arrived differed between the two of them.

As she had said, Felt’s properly consulted plan ought to have been of far more sound reasoning.

Helmet Bastard: [Oi, were you being serious just now?]

Beside the exchange between Felt and Rom-jii, the helmet bastard, who had stood back up from the impact, posed that question to the Divine Dragon high above himself.

In response, as the Divine Dragon gave a deep exhale from its nostrils,

Divine Dragon: [As super seriously serious as serious can be. Having come to this point, my level of self-restraint is such that I’d like you to praise me for not changing sides over to Lil’ Miss Felt. If you weren’t me, I’d have betrayed you without a second thought.]

Helmet Bastard: [That joke’s crossing a line, oi…]

Fidgeting with the metal fixtures on his helmet, the helmet bastard’s shoulders drooped at the Divine Dragon’s answer.

Hearing the two converse, Felt harbored a sense of unease―― she was concerned about the evident discrepancy in the Divine Dragon’s demeanor from before, but she did not have the time to point it out at that moment.

Here and now, Felt had to press on by using herself as fortunate countermeasure against the Divine Dragon, allowing the defeated Rom-jii and the others to evacuate to safety――,

???: [――You don’t know when to quit, Felt-sama.]

Felt: [――――]

Directly after that seemed to be whispered into her ear, a fine pressure tightened around her neck. With a closer look, digging into Felt’s neck was a thread so thin that it would go unnoticed to the unstrained eye, causing blood to run down.

Of course, the perpetrator of that act was the shinobi maid who had tied Felt up with threads.

Helmet Bastard: [Yae, stop it! Follow my orders…]

Shinobi Maid: [I’m prepared to be punished as I counsel you this, Al-sama. We’d better finish off Felt-sama here. After all, even I could tell that your consultation with the Divine Dragon-sama just now didn’t progress in a desirable direction.]

Helmet Bastard: [That’s…]

Divine Dragon: [――That’s a no-go, Yae. I won’t allow it if you do it.]

In place of the faltering helmet bastard, the one to threaten the shinobi maid―― Yae, was the Divine Dragon, having slightly lowered its head.

The Divine Dragon’s ire, the brunt of its overpowering glare was enough to make one feel pain as if their skin was charring. However, basking in that ire, Yae calmly glared back at the Dragon,

Yae: [Unfortunately, Al-sama is the one I’m afraid of, no~t the Divine Dragon-sama. There’s nothing scary whatsoever about your glare.]

Divine Dragon: [YAEEE…!]

Helmet Bastard: [Stop it, both of you! Don’t recklessly quarrel, they’ll take advantage of it!]

Butting into the confrontation between Yae and the Divine Dragon, the helmet bastard was cautious of Felt and Rom-jii.

In truth, Felt could not do anything in her bound state, but even now, Rom-jii’s eyes had not ceased in their attempt to find an opening to pull something off.

At that fact, both Yae and the Divine Dragon withdrew their confrontational atmosphere for the time being, vigilant of Rom-jii.

Yae: [Butbut, this problem isn’t resolved. It’s a fact that Felt-sama is dangerous.]

Helmet Bastard: [I know… Me, is there really nothing you can do?]

Divine Dragon: [Yeah, my bad. It ain’t a matter of being bound by a compelling force, constraints, or an Oath, or anything like that. Only, I’m seriously against it, no matter what. My sense of self feels like it’s gonna split apart.]

With Yae’s comment, the views of the helmet bastard and the Divine Dragon formed parallel lines.

The helmet bastard had a course he wished to progress, and Yae and the Divine Dragon were in the position of following that, but it seemed like their intentions were not completely unified at their roots.

As it currently stood, the circumstances had the potential to fall either way.

In that case――,

Felt: [Let’s call it a draw here. You let my allies go, and in exchange, we’ll also let you guys go.]

Helmet Bastard: […Ain’t that a little too convenient. It may have been the result of having an advantage of coincidence on our side, but we demolished all of your plans, Lil’ Miss Felt. And yet, why would we call it a tie?]

Felt: [Do you really need me to spell it out for you? Our little squabble here had a mutual time limit of the Divine Dragon returning. But, if the Divine Dragon won’t lend a hand to either side, that disappears. And if that disappears, you’ll just have to fight around five-hundred people all over again.]

Helmet Bastard: [――――]

As she spoke, Felt carefully examined the helmet bastard, though his complexion remained hidden.

For what she could not see of his face, Felt gathered up all the information she could, such as what the helmet bastard was feeling within, his breathing, and minute gestures, and did her absolute best to see through him.

Within Felt’s current argument, there was a decisive hole that she herself was aware of. ――The entirety of the situation until now had materialized due to the helmet bastard making the unexpected decision to not kill anybody.

Were the helmet bastard to tear through that premise on a whim, it would all be over for Felt and her crew.

Even if restricted by the Divine Dragon’s movements, Yae’s threads could wrap around the necks of Felt’s five-hundred allies and strangle them to death, wiping them all out.

Of that, it was impossible that the helmet bastard himself was unaware. Hence, with all her might, all her body and spirit, to dissuade the helmet bastard from that idea, Felt would choose her words, refine them, and let them resound from her soul.

――She must convince him that continuing this battle would not be worth it.

Felt: [I’ll say this now, but this isn’t the sorta plan that my Rom-jii uses. If the battle continues, it’ll just be another case of his malicious knowledge getting put out on display.]

Helmet Bastard: […That’s frightening. But, that’d be just the same as letting you go here, yeah? Even if we call it a draw for the time being, you guys will challenge us again from square one and we’ll go in circles forever.]

Felt: [Right. That’s why, let’s do it this way. ――I’ll go with you as your hostage.]

Helmet Bastard: [――Hk.]

His breath slightly caught, and Felt could tell that the helmet bastard’s eyes had widened through his gestures. Feeling his reaction, Felt gently, not greedily, reeled that shining ray of hope in towards herself.

Felt: [If I’m with you, my guys won’t be able to get in your way. This was the victory condition you’d originally aimed for in order to win this battle, yeah?]

Yae: [Nothing will come of this. To think we’d deliberately bring along a disrupting element. And such a proposal, there would be no sense in it if Felt-sama manages to escape――]

Felt: [In that case, you can just keep this thread attached to me. You too, Divine Dragon, if I break my promise and die trying to escape, that’d be my own responsibility. You don’t need to get angry.]

Divine Dragon: [Oi oi oi, there’s no chance of that, Farsale.]

Felt: [I ain’t Farsale.]

Yae, who had interjected, and the Divine Dragon, who had tried to deny her, both pondered Felt’s words.

All the while, Felt stared right at the helmet bastard, who like herself, had the right to decide things in this location, and then,

Felt: [What will you do? Whether this continues or not, is up to you.]

Helmet Bastard: […I don’t wanna have to carry needless baggage.]

Felt: [――――]

Helmet Bastard: [But, it’s also true that this is no time for me to be having a dispute with myself. It should be fine to go along with Lil’ Miss Felt’s hostage plan. However――]

In deep, quiet deliberation, the helmet bastard carefully weaved his words. At the end of those words, he paused the terminus of his words as if to put on airs―― it happened then.

Rom: [RAHHHHHHH――!!]

As if to intrude on the tempo of the conversation, Rom-jii raised a battle cry and reached out his arms, seizing the helmet bastard from behind.

His brawny arms constricted the neck and waist of the helmet bastard, akin to how Yae had bound Felt, achieving a situation in which the leaders of both parties were mutually apprehended――,

Helmet Bastard: [――Dona.]

That instant, the helmet bastard’s incantation manifested him a left arm of rock, striking Rom-jii’s jaw with a heavy blow.

Borne of the stone prosthetic for his missing arm, the helmet bastard’s unexpected blow violently jolted Rom-jii’s brain, his large body producing an enormous sound as it collapsed onto the plain.

She was about to rush over to his side, but recalling the sensation on her neck, Felt refrained. Facing her, the helmet bastard took a deep breath after knocking out Rom-jii,

Helmet Bastard: [However, you’ll need to look past just this one punch to your gramps.]

With that, he appended the condition for ceasing hostilities after the fact, and thus accepted Felt’s proposal.

△▼△▼△▼△

――The unconscious Valga was shouldered by Grassis and Gaston, and was carried away.

As he watched this unbalance of physiques, Aldebaran diligently ascertained the withdrawal of the five-hundred ruffians―― no, of his formidable enemies, through to the very end.

Making sure that those formidable foes definitively passed beyond the horizon, and that nobody was attempting to pursue them covertly, “Aldebaran” also thoroughly verified.

“Aldebaran”: [There aren’t any risking it, everyone withdrew.]

Aldebaran: [Is that true, I wonder? Can I really believe you? You won’t betray me, will you?]

“Aldebaran”: [It’s a cliched development in manga for someone to be betrayed by another version of themselves, but rest assured for now. Currently, my backing towards Lil’ Miss Felt and my backing towards me’s balanced at a solid fifty-fifty.]

Aldebaran: [Sounds like I’m already treading in dangerous enough waters…]

Wondering to what extent that should be taken at its word, “Aldebaran’s” statement inspired a certain sense of dread.

It was something he had known from the start, but “Aldebaran” could only ever be “Aldebaran”; even if they shared Memories and a personality, it could never become Aldebaran himself.

It was an exceedingly reliable supporter for Aldebaran to fulfill his objective, but the truth was that it could never become more than just a supporter.

Yae: [――Al-sama~, I’ve finished inspecting Felt-sama’s belongings~.]

With that, Yae waved her hand as she returned to Aldebaran, the latter submerged in deep thought.

He had ordered her to conduct a thorough search of Felt’s person―― to investigate the possibility that Valga Cromwell had put something in her possession.

But then again, judging from Yae’s demeanor, nothing seemed to have been found on Felt.

Aldebaran: [How’d it go?]

Yae: [Let’s see~, she had a Conversation Mirror, so I shattered it.]

Aldebaran: [So you had one on you!? Oi, Lil’ Miss Felt!]

Felt: [Shut the hell up, I told her voluntarily. It’s not like I was hiding it, so there shouldn’t be a problem.]

As Aldebaran raised his voice, Felt poked her head out from “Aldebaran’s” shadow and talked back in dissatisfaction. There was no cover from trees in this sprawling plain, so Felt’s pat-down had been conducted behind the excessively large body of “Aldebaran”.

In any case, upon hearing Felt’s answer, he glared at Yae who then stuck out her tongue with a “Behhh”,

Yae: [It was just Yae-chan’s playful joke~.]

Aldebaran: [You…]

Yae: [Please don’t take it so seriously~, Al-sama. After all, it’s not like you ever properly listen to what I’ve got to say, now do you?]

Aldebaran: [――. My bad.]

Yae: [I can’t hear you, so you’re not forgiven.]

Aldebaran: [MY BAD!]

He apologized with a loud shout, to which Yae ostentatiously covered her ears.

Yae’s attitude was childish and immature, but her taking on such an attitude was only natural. Aldebaran’s ego was forcing an unreasonable restriction upon Yae that prevented her from displaying even half of her true capabilities.

Nevertheless, since he had disciplined Yae through fear instead of granting her wishes, there was no room for any excuses regarding how much of a complete DV bastard he was.

Felt: [Geez, I get that you had to search me, but you don’t normally strip someone completely naked out in the open.]

As she stepped out from “Aldebaran’s” shadow, Felt muttered her own complaints. He glared at Yae upon hearing that remark, and with her hands still covering her ears, she was intent on evading any questioning about having conducted the harassment of needless stripping.

Aldebaran: […Well, just take that as being a common affair for losers. Lil’ Miss Felt, probably way more than you can imagine, I was really terrified by your gramps.]

Felt: [Heh, is that so now? Well, my Rom-jii’s just incredible… Though, I’ll absolutely never forgive him for trying to outmaneuver me.]

“Aldebaran”: [It seems like it was deep-rooted in him. In reality, things were quite close to a draw.]

Felt’s mood swung at her own expense as she praised Valga, to which “Aldebaran” gave a wry smile. Hearing “Aldebaran’s” words, she looked up at the face of the smiling Dragon,

Felt: [Reminds me, I’d wanted to ask, but you aren’t Volcanica, right?]

It was hard to say just how much of the circumstances she had grasped, but Felt’s suspicions regarding “Aldebaran” were only natural if she had known the Divine Dragon from before the Book of the Dead had installed memories within it. Ignoring that and kicking up a loud fuss would only increase the hardships along the way, but――,

Felt: [The nii-chan from Emilia-neechan’s place, huh… Helmet bastard, it’s similar to the way you speak.]

Aldebaran: […Management decided that it wouldn’t sell like that, so the character is currently veering in a different direction. Also, quit calling me helmet bastard. It’s Aldebaran.]

Felt: [Aldebaran? Wasn’t it shorter?]

Aldebaran: [Since it felt too short for a belt and too long for a sleeve tie, management also decided that that one wouldn’t sell.] [1]

With that perfunctory answer, Aldebaran put off giving Felt a detailed explanation.

In any case, if Felt was accompanying them from here on out, “Aldebaran” would end up telling her even if Aldebaran did not. About how the renowned Divine Dragon of history became a frivolous and unserious clown.

Aldebaran: [Anyway, for now, I gotta modify the plan. We’ve only got around five days left.]

With the battle against Felt and the others cutting into his remaining time, there was no choice but to give his plan major revisions.

Be that as it may, the fact that they had reconvened with “Aldebaran” ahead of schedule, meant that it was possible for them to hold a constructive outlook of its usefulness in dramatically shortening the length of their journey.

Though, there was the concern that the Royal Army, which was originally supposed to assemble in the north, had not fallen for the diversion so well as the plan had intended, but――,

Aldebaran: [By the way, we don’t have the option of tying Lil’ Miss Felt up and leaving her here, do we?]

“Aldebaran”: [If she hadn’t said “Look at me”, then you might’ve.]

Aldebaran: [I thought there’s no compelling force.]

“Aldebaran”: [There isn’t. I just feel like I wanna comply with whatever she requests.]

Met with a considerably deranged response, Aldebaran was completely at his wits’ end.

The Sword Saint, Reinhard; the Great Strategist, Valga Cromwell; and finally the Divine Dragon, Volcanica; for Felt to have made all of them her supporters, just how many stars of destiny shone above her?

Aldebaran: [Can you really stand losing to those stars, Aldebaran-san?]

Even if he could not deny the narrow victory, the stalemate, and the sensation of carrying an unexploded ordnance, it was true that Aldebaran had overcome the situations until now through a desperate struggle with death.

Without forgetting that truth, he would take it as a warning and a guiding light in order to proceed onto what followed from here.

Felt: [So? What are you guys planning on doing from here on out, and where?]

Aldebaran: [――――]

Felt: [So you won’t even tell me that? If you refrain from feeding a fish that you caught too much, you might end up the one with a bad taste in your mouth, Aldebaran.]

Calling out Aldebaran’s name, Felt flashed her high canine in a smile.

Around her neck was steel wire tied by Yae, and she was in a hostage situation as she herself had proposed. Nevertheless, the glint in the girl’s eye showed no signs of her fighting spirit diminishing, so after stifling his hesitation, Aldebaran spoke.

The answer to Felt’s question, that was to say, Aldebaran’s destination――,

Aldebaran: [――We’re headed for the Grand Mogolade Geyser, right in the heart of Kararagi. There lies the one and only hole in this world that connects to a place nobody can reach. I’ve got something that I need to throw away there.]

Felt: […For that purpose alone, you’re kicking up this much of a storm?]

Aldebaran: [Yeah, that’s right. It’s necessary. ――So that I may be myself.]

Felt likely could not imagine the significance of that deed, and Aldebaran made it clear through the strength of his words that he had no intention of helping her imagination draw any closer.

Taking that in, Felt narrowed her red eyes, and gave up on what she was about to say. ――Though, he knew that what she was about to say would have been regarding she who was no longer among them.

???: [――Hk! W-woh!? W-what the hell!? What happened!? Oi! Aldebaran! Maid! How the hell did this… Shit! My back fucking hurts!]

That enigmatic atmosphere between Aldebaran and Felt was noisily and clumsily destroyed by Heinkel as he finally woke up, invoking a sense that the battle was now well and truly over.

Even so, there was no mistaking the awful sense of involuntary gratitude he thus felt towards Heinkel himself.

Translation Notes:

[1] – 帯に短し襷に長し means “Too short for a belt, too long for a sleeve tie” in reference to kimonos. The meaning of this idiom is that something is not good for either purpose.