CHAPTER 1 - I - A CHANGED MAN
**Lily**
The entire battlefield was silent as the smoke was rising and swirling around us. My partner, Her Holiness Ruro of the Wolf, was on the lookout for our enemy…
“He’s here!” she whispered.
“!!!”
Amidst the smoke came a spearhead and then followed by a charging man. I quickly parried the spear and thrust my sword towards him, yet, much to my surprise, it was all a shadow.
“!!!”
For the real attack came from below!
“Princess!” Her Holiness Ruro of the Wolf cried out as she tried to shield me from the thrusting dagger, “Wind Current!”
“Guaahhh!!!”
Our attacker was hit, fair and square, by the wind that the Beastman Saint unleashed. Not wishing to let him rest, Her Holiness quickly followed up on her counter-attack.
“Guoh!!!” I could hear the terrible screams of the enemy as the Beastman Saint rained punches and chops on his body. And then, for the finishing move, she went for a roundhouse kick…
“Wait, Your Holiness! This is just practice!”
“!!!”
Her foot stopped a few inches from Kuro’s face as he struggled to stand up. The practice spear and dagger that he was using were already broken, and he could barely keep his legs from wobbling. I quickly reached out to catch him.
“Y-You did well, K-Kuro!” I told him in between my breaths. It sure was exhausting to fight continuously for long, “I’ll cast a healing spell on you; but unlike Maddie’s magic, this one requires you to take a rest, okay? When you wake up, you’ll be good as new!”
“Heh, fortunately, the Nerfes Princess was quick to scream that this was only a practice.” Her Holiness said to Kuro, “You still have lots of practice to do before you could actually fight on par with me, Master!”
“Y-Yes!” Kuro suddenly stood up, though it took him a while to straighten his posture. He then went to the rack of practice weapons and grabbed a practice spear, much to our horror, “Th-That’s why l-let’s continue!”
“HAH?” the Beastman Saint and I chorused.
“M-Master! Aren’t you injured enough already? Give it a rest!”
“Yes, Kuro! Please don’t overexert yourself!” We both pleaded.
“Alright…I’ll take a rest for a bit.” he said, taking a seat on a wooden bench nearby, “Then we continue!”
“Master, what’s wrong with you?” Her Holiness Ruro of the Wolf was bewildered by his insistence, “I know you wanted to get stronger as fast as possible, so you could fight properly. But doing these things for that broken sword, this is madness!”
“You wouldn’t understand.” he countered.
“Kuro, please, I beg you…” I tried talking him out of it, “Let yourself rest, for now, okay?” I hugged him so that he could relax. And then I nodded to Her Holiness Ruro of the Wolf.
“!!!”
Everything was quick and painless. The Beastman Saint sure knew how to shut the lights off a human being…
When we finally took our rests, my body was throbbing, and I couldn’t move much from the pain. It’s been a while since I got exhausted like this, and it’s not a good feeling.
“…”
“Lily? What happened to you?” Maddie asked. She was concerned about my dirty maid clothes, as well as the few bruises on my arms. Good thing she could heal and restore my injuries once again. Maddie’s quite afraid that it won’t work, just like what happened to us back in Amaranth, “Did you get yourself involved in an accident or something?”
“Nah, it’s Kuro.”
“Hah?” Maddie’s eyes almost popped from their sockets, “You mean, Kuro beat you?”
“Well, technically…”
“What do you mean? You guys fought to the death?”
“Nope!” I couldn’t help but laugh, “It’s not like that, silly. Try to read my mind.”
She did what I suggested, and Maddie was even more alarmed, “What? He’s training himself excessively, and you and Ruro even consented by beating him thoroughly as well! Why didn’t you guys ask him to stop?”
“Heh, too late, Maddie! Kuro may not cast a spell, nor could swing a sword properly, but his resilience is something.” I told her, “It’s like that guy’s preparing for a big fight, all because of that sword he calls ‘Luisa’.”
“That sword again?”
“Maddie, please do something about Kuro before he self-destructs.” I pleaded, “He’s way too obsessive about his ‘revenge’ for ‘Luisa’s death’. I mean, while I understand he might’ve liked that sword, but to avenge its destruction was something freaky!”
“Don’t worry, Lily. I’ll talk to him about this.”
“Please do, Maddie. You know you’re the only one who can reach his heart. It’s like, ever since we came back from Amaranth, he’s changed drastically. Kuro’s become more serious and grimmer, and there were times I caught him silently staring in the air.” I also added, “I guess, Kuro’s been affected by the battles he was involved in. I mean, before he got here, he’s just someone who’s trying to live back in his old world.”
Maddie fell silent when she heard that. She must be blaming herself once again for what happened to Kuro…
“Hey, Maddie! Please don’t think too much of what I just said.” I was quick to comfort her; it’s not a good thing that she’d be stressed now that her leadership was necessary, “What I meant by that is, he’s not someone who’s used to fighting. So, I guess he needs to slow down and relax.”
“A-Alright, I’ll see what I can do,” Maddie reassured me.
**Kuro**
“Dame Atkins, I thank you for your time set aside to accommodate my wish to train.”
“Yes.”
“But will you spar with me once again?”
“Eh?” the usual indifferent paladin had her face contorted in disbelief and surprise. She didn’t expect that from me, especially when it’s clear that I exceeded the capacity of my body to train. I knew that myself, but with the threat of war looming, there’s no way I could rest easy.
“I’m sorry, but I’d like to get used to the techniques in fighting with a shield.” Desperate, I explained myself, “And you’re the only one who could help me.”
Well, what I told the Dame Atkins wasn’t lip-service; it’s the truth. Lily and Ruro did some training routines with me earlier—almost beating me to a pulp, but then, they insisted I take a rest. So, I had the Dame teach me in her place.
The paladin was happy to do some sparring rounds with me at first; but now, I guess she’s getting freaked out by my insistence to train even though I’m at my limit.
“Sir Kuro.”
“Yes?”
“Rest.” Her voice put emphasis on that one-word answer, “Or, I’ll crush your limbs.”
“…” Well, I think I really should take a break. The Dame Atkins just spoke a full sentence, and when that happens, it meant that she was serious.
“Sir Kuro.”
“Yes?”
“You’re brave.”
“Thanks…I guess.”
“I admire you.”
I was taken aback by her words. No, it’s not because I think she had any romantic feelings for me. I guess it’s just a feeling of pure admiration…
…which, I don’t deserve.
Feelings of guilt and self-loathing then sprung from my chest. The memories from that time, when the Marquise of Monfort was forced to defend me with her life, came rushing back into my mind. Her body, lifeless at the feet of that saint, Seirna, would always play repeatedly if ever I’m reminded of that event. And that bastard’s triumphant smile…
I’ll kill her. I’ll kill Seirna with my own hands.
“…”
If I didn’t get ahead of myself and stayed behind instead of trying to help, she can still be alive…
I couldn’t help but touch the hilt of her broken weapon—the only memento that she left, which I always carried with me.
The Dame saluted and left.
Now, I was alone. I didn’t have the time to remain sentimental for long. Soon, the exhaustion of my body and the light injuries I received from the sparring sessions hit me like a truck running me over to send me to another world…
“Well, fuck. I really should take a rest now.” I muttered as I dragged my half-beaten body back to my room.
It’s been a while since we escaped Amaranth and returned to the Holy Palatial Gardens. There were a lot of changes that happened.
For one, I found myself become the Captain of the Paladin Corps. While I remembered being assigned the co-captaincy, after the Marquise’s death, I was thrust into its leadership even without the approval of Maddie, Lily, and the others…including me.
And to think, I’m not that confident of my skills in commanding large groups of men and women…
Another weird thing was that, once the Marquise died, it’s as if everyone forgot about her. I became the captain, yes. However, the circumstances of my sudden promotion were ‘it was this way from when Maddie summoned me’.
Isn’t that she summoned me just because she’s bored?
And it’s useless to correct them, for I am the only one who could still remember that a girl named Dusis Luisa Braunhauer-Monfort lived and walked in this world. I tried it before, but Maddie, Lily, and the rest of the paladins thought I was just affected by the stresses of battle.
“…”
Even her sister Eris can’t even recall that she had a sibling once…
Haa…it’s painful to see those people the Marquise of Monfort…no, Luisa had loved and cared for, forgetting her. It’s not like I could blame them; maybe their memories were altered. Just like how that popular blue-haired demon maid got eaten by a ‘flying white whale’ and vanished from the world of that certain edgy anime about having limitless deaths and retries.
And come to think of it, that attack that killed Luisa was meant for me. She only saved me, at the cost of her own life and existence.
That fucker, Seirna, wants to remove every trace of me in this world!
Anyway, so that’s how it was ever since we returned. On our way back, we also warned the other human kings of what transpired in Amaranth, and Maddie requested they hurry to the Holy Palatial Gardens for the Holy Congress. I guess she was still trying to salvage the peace she had worked hard to achieve, and so she also asked for the Emperor to come and explain his men’s actions in the Amaranthine kingdom.
I know only little, but personally, I believe that whatever the Emperor’s words were, it’d only amount to lies and attempts to delay the other human kingdoms to react to their invasion of Amaranth.
And Maddie…if she wanted to implement her peace, she should also be prepared to make war.
But, knowing her, she would avoid conflict at the first opportunity, making her vulnerable to the schemes of others. Human diplomacy doesn’t work that way; if one plans to emerge at the top, honesty was the first thing that they should throw away.
It’s a pretty ‘evil’ concept. Regardless, it’s practical and based on reality. And I learned it the hard way, too.
That’s why I resolved to do this. If Maddie would keep on dreaming about her ideals, I would be the one who would turn those ideals of hers into a reality…even if I became the villain in doing so. I would never allow someone else to die for my foolishness once again.
“Ooh…you’re pretty brooding now, Master! Are you fine now?”
“How long have you been there, Your Fluffy Holiness?”
The Beastman Saint stood by the door of my room, “Well, I just came to tell you that the Imperial convoy just arrived along with the envoys from the other kingdoms of Chersea. It’s what you requested me to do, remember?”
“Ah yeah…thanks.”
“Well, what do you plan to do? I’m intrigued by what goes on in your head, honestly.” Perhaps Her Fluffy Holiness had read my thoughts, that’s why she asked me that. I didn’t plan to hide my actions, anyway. And I’m doing this because it’s for the best…
“I’m going to support my fiancée, as usual.”
“Hmm…are you sure it’s what Maddie wanted?” she asked.
“It’s not.” I admitted, “But, it’s the way to the fulfillment of what she desires.”
“You sure changed a lot after coming back from Amaranth, huh?”
“I did not change. I’m a human, and like most of my kind, I can also adapt to the events that happen around me.”
“Well, it’s not like it’s a bad thing, Master.” the Beastman Saint shrugged, “Just be careful that you don’t lose sight of what’s really important in the pursuit of your goals.
