[RATH!] Chapter 8. I came to end it all. (2)

Chapter 8. I came to end it all. (2)

 

When I passed by Yugrasia with the members of the administration group, I stopped for a second. The person who seemed to be their leader looked at me.

 

“Is there a problem?”

“I have the files necessary to explain the situation back in Yugrasia… may I go get them?”

“Mm… I don’t think you’ll need them. Let’s just go.”

 

I smiled brightly at the leader who told me this.

 

“That’s right, I wouldn’t need them, especially when we’re going to meet the princess. Right, Miss Lia?”

 

Several members of the group froze immediately. Lia, however, simply smiled at me.

 

“You remember me?”

“I did work under her at some point, after all. Why wouldn’t I know of her favorite shadow? By the way, you crossdress really well.”

“Mm… are you making fun of my breasts?”

“Aah, that is not the case. I am simply stating that you have the great ability to embrace the appearance of either a man or a woman when necessary.”

 

We both took out our weapons with smiling faces. Dangerous, dangerous. Really, super dangerous.

 

“Would you mind if I run here?”

“It would be better for you to just walk.”

“Ahh… you know as well as I do that you won’t be able to capture me with just this. The princess must be working hard in the shadows right now.”

 

I thought of my former boss who had sent me a congratulation letter for me losing my job, and shook my head.

That person definitely wouldn’t have just planned this far. Especially seeing that the rest of the group seemed to be confused as to what was going on. This meant that the princess used real members of the committee for legitimacy, which would make it so that there were only five people here to catch me. This can’t be everything.

 

“Well, you’re right. Her majesty seemed to have something else in plan, but… could you just get caught here?”

“You should know as well as me what would happen to me if I got caught?”

“Even so, the princess is… Mm… Mmm…”

 

Lia’s face began to stiffen.

 

“You should just stop if you don’t have anything good to say about her.”

“…I’m sorry. I don’t have anything.”

 

Thankfully, Lia shut her mouth. If she was anyone more unreasonable, she’d say something ridiculous, but thankfully, she wasn’t.

 

“Then could you just let go of me?”

“I’ve spoken too much. Sir Aast. No, is it Sir Nicerwin now?”

“You can call me by whatever.”

“Right. Then, Sir Aast, you must’ve prepared something. Are you ready?”

 

My grin turned wider when I heard the girl say this to me. I lifted my hands.

 

“Ahh… it’s just a simple.”

 

Tick.

 

“Smoke bomb.”

“So simp… cough?”

 

Coughs began to come out of the people around me. Although it looked like a normal smoke bomb, it actually emits chemical gas. This wasn’t a poison gas or anything, but it was very, very spicy.

 

“W-wait… Cough… coughkek?”

 

I ran like hell after putting on a gas mask. The traps that I installed to stop the students from getting out also worked very well for fending off attackers. Of course, the princess might’ve put subordinates in the school, but it was easier to fight them in the school than at a place like this.

 

And after I prepared myself for the upcoming battle in Yugrasia.

 

-There’s no one here.

“You’re right?”

 

It was too silent. But there was nothing around. Strange. Too strange. Strange… The princess would definitely gather enough knights in one room according to the number of desks in the class, and make them go, “Stand! All attack the teacher!” and attempt to capture me. Having things be this silent was just too weird.

 

Plus.

 

Bang bang!

 

“Sir Aast! I’m a woman, you know! Don’t you think this was too much?! Don’t you think it’s too much to make a woman get snot and tears all over her face?!”

 

Lia was being quite scary at the door. I didn’t think the bomb would be that effective.

 

“Open the door! Open the damn door!”

 

She was a prestigious shadow knight of the princess, but unfortunately the dwarven prison didn’t grant her her wish.

Since those bars were made with magic-reinforced steel, she shouldn’t be able to break it easily.

 

-But it’s not like you can stay here forever?

“That is true, but… Mm…”

 

It felt uncomfortable. It felt like my shoes were getting wet in the rain despite having an umbrella. It feels like wearing shoes after a storm has passed, only to find out the shoes were wet.

 

The enemy was the princess. My previous boss. The one who makes me get nightmares every night about having to run away from the Evil Organization I was in as a traitor.

 

-Why don’t you just use the secret escape paths? Aren’t you screwed anyway?

“Yeah, I’m screwed.”

 

I was screwed. I thought that doing things big would allow me to hide better, but that wasn’t the case at all.

 

“I should’ve spent only a fraction of my cash if I knew this would happen…”

 

I thought of spending at least three years here… I still haven’t earned back any of my cash! I only collected a little bit of cash under the guise of donations!

 

I haven’t turned the student body into a group of elites for nothing. I was planning on using the money from the festival to resupply my fund, but my 3-year plan got shattered in just a year.

 

-Why don’t you just go under the princess? She seems to like you a lot. Plus, doesn’t she treat you well?

“Well, you’re not wrong. It’s a job for life as well. I can also earn several times more than the amount I earned in Howling. If I sneak some cash away, I’d be able to earn even more.”

 

But my life would go to shit if I worked for her.

 

“The last time we talked, she said ‘You took my first time, you took the empire’s, my, precious thing… and you run away now?!’ to me. I wouldn’t be able to live safely if I go back.”

-……Uh. What did you do? You just made me really curious?

 

I became a little confused when Arcadia suddenly began to talk in a formal tone. Kind of like switching from comic sans to a Times New Roman all of the sudden? Honestly, it felt like this was the first time she ever spoke to me seriously.

 

I should answer… Mm…

 

“Well… what should I say… Mm… I forcefully took away something that she had been guarding with her life?”

-………….That was before I was born.

“Right.”

-………………………From what I’ve heard, the princess is a very beautiful woman?

“Mm… she was quite famous in the palace even in my time for being so beautiful and intelligent. She’d probably be getting a lot of marriage requests about now?”

-How old is she?

“…Can you just talk as you normally did? Feels weird. And… she’d be twenty four now?”

-…………………………………..Before I was born, so… around ten years. Fourteen, then?

 

After muttering a bit more to herself for a while, Arcadia seemed to realize something, then began to scream.

 

-……………………………………………A lolicon! Mr. Knight! Here! A lolicon is herereeeeee?!

“Wait, hold up, just what are you thinking?”

-You damn lolicon! You took something precious from a fourteen year old? Are you kidding me? My owner was this much of a perv… hahn… he’s a pervert… maybe he’s looking at me that way as well?!

“…Shut up.”

Aah… just what was she thinking about… No, hold on. It actually does seem like I spoke like a pervert just then. That isn’t the case at all, though!

 

-My owner’s a total perv! A perv! Huahahahaha! As expected of him!

“You know what… whatever.”

 

My confused mind just kept getting more and more confused. My head was filled with Arucia screaming [Pervert! Pervert!] and Lia was outside punching the steel bars. Even now, no one attacked. I expected at least a hundred to be hidden, but there was none. But this was the princess we’re dealing with.

 

“Well, there’s really only one option, though.”

 

There was only one exit anyway. I should be able to buy some time here.

 

After thinking this, I quickly moved towards the secret passage. There was no way the princess would know of a passage like this. In the first place, the only ones who knew of its existance was me and the dwarves.

 

Did that let my guard down too much?

 

Crack!

 

A sudden impact. It was actually a relatively light blow, but my body could not move. This familiar feeling… this is…

 

“Wh-why… why is that thing?!”

 

My legs gave out. But the shock that I got prevented me from standing up. Instead, I could only look at the object I used with love and care a few years back.

 

And the person who was holding the object, one of the most influencial people in the empire, smiled at me brightly.

 

“Ah, I took it from him.”

Rein… that bastard…