Chapter 61
“…Stop it.”
“There was a nuke at the Marquis' estate! If you had gone, you could’ve saved more people!”
“I told you, I couldn’t have made it. Blocking the magic at the Grand Plaza was a five-second job.”
“But you never know!”
“…So, are you saying it was wrong to dispel the magic at the Grand Plaza?”
“No, no! That’s not what I mean! But! You could’ve chosen a better way!”
“The Vistavern Marquis' mansion was realistically too far. Stop it already.”
“Couldn’t your partner have done it?!”
“Sebastian wasn’t there. Are you saying this knowing that?”
“Then you should’ve run there!”
“It was impossible, so why? Are you saying I should’ve let people I could’ve saved die for something uncertain?”
“No! Even so! Without even trying! You never know!”
This guy… has he lost it?
“…Ah, yes. I see.”
I sneered at him openly. Gilbert’s expression was quite a sight. Ah, yes. Was this the kind of expression others saw when they looked at me? Ah, steeped in failure, drenched in despair. Pathetic.
…Gilbert was a deceiver. With all that ability, why was he whining to someone as insignificant as me?
“Yes, of course. You’re just so perfect, capable of anything, so you can say that. Right.”
He seemed to think I was a protagonist like him.
He seemed to think he was perfect.
Recola created such a perfect protagonist! Someone who excels at everything! Kind! Righteous! That kind of protagonist!
The complete opposite of me, who only burned with inferiority and hopelessness!
At my mockery, Gilbert wore a sad expression.
“Are you being sarcastic? How could you… You’re a Peacemaker.”
“Shut up.”
That damned Peacemaker. Peacemaker! Peacemaker! The Princess was like that, Nerjin was like that—why did they all misunderstand me like that?!
“You’re a Peacemaker!”
“Shut up! Shut up, I said! Do you even have the right to say that?!”
“What?”
I grabbed Gilbert by the collar. I pulled him close, forcing him to look straight into my eyes.
“A fallen Crown Prince who couldn’t save anyone. What gives you the right to grab someone else’s collar?”
Gilbert’s eyes widened in shock.
“What did you do?”
“What…?”
“While every single one of your country’s people was slaughtered, what was your family doing? When the people of the Cosmos Empire were crying out, ‘Please save us! Your Highness, help us!’ Why didn’t you do anything? Why are you here spouting nonsense at me?!”
His grip on my collar loosened, as if the shock had drained his strength.
Gilbert tried to step back.
But that was his problem. I still had things to say.
I held his collar tightly, refusing to let go.
“Oh, yes. His Highness Gilbert Offer Cosmos, the Crown Prince, must’ve been so great that he saved everyone! That’s why you’re here betting on impossible odds, right?! Telling me not to save those I could’ve saved! Yes! How splendid of you!”
“Stop it.”
I clung to him fiercely, snarling as he tried to shake off my hands.
“What did you do?! While your great-grandfather, playing Emperor, ruined the Empire with his dimensional research, what were you doing?! Oh, right! You weren’t even born yet! My words were too harsh, weren’t they?!”
“Stop it, I said.”
The righteous protagonist’s expression visibly hardened.
“Does it bother you that much, what your great-grandfather messed up?! Is that why you’re acting so pathetic now?! Then why are you taking it out on me, someone who’s not even distantly related to you?!”
“Stop it!”
Gilbert shoved me with all his strength. My body flew, and I crashed onto the ground.
“…Ha, he’s hitting people now.”
“I told you to stop.”
“When I told you to stop, you didn’t. Is ignoring the pleas of your people something that runs in your family from your ancestors?”
Finally, anger flickered across Gilbert’s face.
“You… trash bastard!”
Gilbert drew his sword. The tip pointed, unsurprisingly, at me.
Apocalypse or whatever, I didn’t care anymore.
I loaded a bullet into the chamber.
***
The terrorist attack by the Vistavern Marquis destroyed and burned various parts of the capital. You prevented the terrorist attack at the Grand Plaza, where the greatest damage was expected.
You and the protagonist Gilbert faced each other with weapons drawn. Regardless of the outcome, the fact that your relationship has soured is undeniable. However, unlike you, the protagonist is a protagonist. He will grow further, using this argument and duel as a stepping stone.
The protagonist’s party will vividly remember and engrave this day.
You have acquired 4,000 points.
“Ouch, it stings.”
“Aah, I’m sorry, Master!”
I opened my eyes, feeling a sharp pain at the corner of my mouth. Looking up with sleepy eyes, I saw Lilac holding a potion-soaked cotton ball with tweezers, fidgeting nervously.
“D-Did it hurt a lot…?”
“…No. Keep going.”
The cotton dabbed potion onto the wound again. It stung. It hurt.
‘I guess I lost, after all.’
To call it a fierce battle would be generous—I was clearly at an overwhelming disadvantage. Gilbert, driven by rage, was strong at his peak.
If Lina, the escort knight, hadn’t intervened to stop us, it wouldn’t have been surprising if things had ended right there.
I had passed out on my way home, my head ringing from a direct hit.
My last memory was the summer downpour, pouring like a deluge. I had been utterly defeated.
‘I want to be alone.’
Still… how could I turn away Lilac, who was tending to my wounds despite being exhausted from the early morning?
“Master, Lilac is upset.”
“…Huh?”
Lilac, with her furrowed brows, looked adorable.
“What’s wrong?”
“How can you keep coming back injured like this?”
“I don’t get injured every time.”
I answered reflexively, but then I thought about it. Had I been injured every time?
It kind of felt like I had…
The potion-soaked cotton rubbed against the wound.
“Ugh! Ow!”
“Stay still, Master! Lilac is a strict maid right now!”
After enduring rough nursing from a pouting Lilac, I slept for a while longer before getting up.
My body ached. Not just muscle pain—my bones throbbed with lingering pain.
I endured the pain and got out of bed.
Even so, I couldn’t skip Lilac’s breakfast.
When I went to the kitchen, four people were waiting for me.
“Boss, hurry up! It’s getting cold!”
Bianca, with her purple twin-tails.
“Boss Martin, you woke up late.”
Nerjin, the refined white-haired gentleman.
“Oh, Master! Are you feeling okay?”
Lilac, wearing a maid outfit and round glasses.
And then…
“….”
Savo Aturta. A boy with neatly washed and trimmed hair sat at the table.
…It felt like the number of freeloaders was growing one by one.
Lilac began finishing the meal preparations.
“Here, Sebastian, it’s time to eat.”
[Woof!]
Sebastian was served a full-on steak.
“Here, Master, you get porridge.”
“…?”
I looked up at Lilac, dumbfounded.
“Lilac? Why am I…?”
“You’re a patient. You need to eat porridge.”
“I’m fine.”
“Ugh!”
Lilac immediately glared at me with fierce eyes.
“Do you know how worried I was when Sebastian suddenly ran out at dawn and came back carrying you, unconscious, on his back?!”
“O-Okay, I’ll eat the porridge.”
Rather than watch Lilac get upset, I decided to scoop up the porridge with a spoon.
I was jealous watching Nerjin and Bianca eat pasta.
Sebastian even had steak.
Savo was eating gratin, but I couldn’t exactly take food from a kid.
‘Let’s eat.’
Reluctantly, I put the porridge in my mouth. A savory, sweet aroma filled my senses. It was delicious. There was none of the blandness typical of porridge.
“Mmm.”
“Does it suit your taste?”
“It’s good.”
“I’m glad!”
Lilac smiled brightly. It was a precious reward for just a few words.
After the meal, we all went downstairs to prepare for opening. Even as a patient, I could still oversee the preparations.
“Boss Martin, we’ll likely have a lot of customers today.”
“Hm? Why’s that, Manager Nerjin?”
“It seems today is the Imperial City’s Longevity Festival. Many shops will be closed, so people will flock here.”
Longevity Festival? It sounded familiar… What was it again?
Soon, Lilac and Bianca came out in maid outfits.
Nerjin and I were in butler-like tailcoats.
“…Hm?”
I turned my head and saw Savo peeking out from the staircase. When our eyes met, he flinched and hid, like a mole.
‘I brought that kid here… but what should I do with him?’
The fate of the Sword Demon Savo was as tragic as that of Princess Adela. He fought like a dog for the Princess but never once truly connected with her.
‘Is there a need to raise a Sword Demon as a Sword Demon?’
I walked purposefully toward the staircase. Savo flinched.
“Savo.”
“…Yes, Master.”
“I may have bought you, but don’t think of it that way. Think of it as me rescuing you from that place.”
Even if it hadn’t been me, he was destined to be saved.
Right after the Vistavern Marquis' terrorist attack, the Imperial Knights had raided the black market, tearing it apart.
“Forget the ugliness you saw in the black market. I won’t force anything on you.”
Drugs, prostitution, human trafficking… those were the least of it. Assassinations, organ trafficking, cannibalistic parties, slave duels—the Vistavern Marquis had orchestrated all sorts of atrocities.
[Woof?]
“Not you.”
Sebastian had somehow become able to read my thoughts. More precisely, he could sense my intentions, picking up on what I desperately thought or desired. Incidentally, he was also sensitive to the word “dog.”
“So, Savo, if you want, you can leave. If you want, you can work here. If you want, I’ll support you until you’re an adult.”
Even after all this, Savo’s expression didn’t change. Would talking to a corpse feel like this?
“Master. Please give me an order.”
“I’m not your commander.”
There was no light in Savo’s eyes.
Was there a way to describe this boy to the world?
“Master. Please give me an order.”
“….”
Even searching through the dictionary in my mind, I couldn’t find anything beyond the category of “emptiness.”
“Master. An order…”
“Find freedom.”
“…I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you correctly.”
Poor child. To him, I was inevitable. Or perhaps it was the other way around.
“Something you want to do, wish for, desperately seek, earnestly desire… I hope you find what you want to do.”
“I… don’t understand the order.”
Savo, with his unparalleled talent, had lost everything to the harsh storms of the world.
I, with my inferior talent, had thrown everything away despite having food, clothing, and shelter.
We were inevitable to each other. We were kindred, destined to understand one another.
“Right, vague words like that won’t do. To soar, you need to learn to walk first.”
With those vague emotions, I led Savo to the changing room.
“Let’s start by changing your clothes.”
At the auction, slaves were commodities to be sold. Just as effort was put into product packaging, the clothes slaves wore were often decent.
But instead of the flashy symbols of servitude, I dressed him in a barista uniform, capable of creating anything.
“Savo, brew coffee and paint your dreams.”
“I… don’t understand the order.”
“That’s okay. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand. Just try it.”
I entrusted Savo to Nerjin. There was no one better suited. Not even I was an exception.
After explaining, Nerjin nodded deeply, saying he understood. His confident expression wasn’t entirely reassuring.
Still, since I brought him here, I wanted to be there for him, but I was busy.
‘I need to train.’
I had gained a lot of power so far, but I wasn’t skilled at wielding it. I felt that most acutely during my recent clash with… Gilbert Cosmos.