76 â P o s s i b l e
[Civit Gartland...!?]
Seras said as she prepared her stance .
It seems that she knows his full name .
[Furthermore, the Black Dragon Warriors too...]
Though she said that, there are only four people over there .
One of them is not here .
[......... . . ]
Civit held the white lance in his hand .
There are leather belts wrapped around his white dragonâs body .
There were several lances stocked up wrapped up in those leather belts .
Itâs as if heâs carrying multiple spare shots .
Moreover, I could see a sword hanging on Civitâs waist .
Itâs currently sheated now, but...
[Iâve sealed his mouth, Oban . ]
Civit said .
Though, his eyes were still fixed towards me .
The blonde man on his left side scratched his head as he rplied .
[Errr... Did you really have to kill him?]
The blonde man seems to be called Oban .
His skin is a healthy tan .
His features were quite well-proportioned .
Though, he have a cunning look on his face .
He also have piercings on his ears .
Civit fainty smiled as he replied .
[Well, itâs also a good idea if he want to make some coins . Perhaps, is he under Ortoraâs instigations?]
But, you canât see any laughter in his red eyes .
Heâs a strange man .
Letâs just say that thereâs no point in mulling about it any further .
Oban had a lukewarm atmostphere around him as he looked down towards Gizunâs corpse .
[I made him into my deputy because I feel like he was pretty easy to handle . Heâs quite faithful to his desire after all...]
[Youâre just talking about your own convenience . That Gizun seemed to be someone whoâd interfere in this little play . Therefore, I felt like killing him . ]
[Well, heâs quite weak when dealing with his desires, thatâs why I was quite worried if heâs suitable for this mission... As I thought, maybe I shouldnât have brought him along?]
[Moreover, it seems that Gizun has already reached his peak . However, if he had dodged my lance, I would have helped him . Even with all of my strength . ]
Drip...
A drop of sweat falls off my chin towards my feet .
[............ . ]
Gizun was paralyzed and was unable to move when he was pierced .
He was in a state where it wasnât possible for him to take evasive actions .
Wellâ I doubt if itâs even possible for him to avoid that .
Anyway, they havenât suspected about any traces of just yet .
It looks like itâs still favourable towards us .
I glanced towards Seras .
She looks a bit upset for some reason .
[King Ortora did that... towards me?]
That perplexed expression on her face .
It can easily be inferred that Ortora is the king of the Holy Kingdom of Neia .
Was the king she had been serving the one whoâs trying to kill Seras?
If thatâs so, I could understand why she feels bewildered .
âThis Gizun is also a bit interested... What kind of face would the former High Elf Princess, who has dedicated her sword for the Holy Kingdom as knight, make when she knows the truth?â
The words that Gizun left before he died .
If itâs the Holy Kingdomâs King that ordered for her death, then the things they said matched .
However, why did the King try to kill Seras?
I have no idea why .
Even Seras herself seems to have no idea why .
[Hey, didnât that old man look like heâs still hiding a lot of fortune ...? Well, he did say that he would spit out all of the fortune he had been hiding if we were to listen to his request . I still some ways to go if I want to fulfill my wish of acquiring the jewels every nation has to offer...]
[It would have been better if we just find out the location of his fortune through our prided torture method . ]
The two dragon knights still seems to be in the middle of conversation . ]
Serasâ question was completely disregarded .
Itâs just that, Civitâs gaze remains fixed towards me .
His gaze has never left my direction .
[Ortora was also oddly prepared for that, isnât he? I doubt any torture would be effective towards a broken man like him . Therefore, if we donât kill Seras Ashrain as he had requested, I think that he absolutely wonât open his mouth . ]
Civit ridiculed in response .
[Deep-rooted delusion and lust, what a terrible man . ]
[Ugeeehhâ! Even Civit saw through that old manâs disgusting passion!? Scaryâ!]
At that time, the dragon knight on Civitâs right side interrupted their conversation .
[Letâs just put aside Obanâs peronal circumstances for the time beingâ How would you like to treat Seras Ashrain, Civit-dono?]
[What did his Majesty say?]
[He said heâll leave it up to us after we caught her . ]
[He knows us quite well . I could say that heâs not that strong of a warrior, but heâs a wise emperor . ]
[Civit-dono, how are we going to handle this? How about we pass her around our subordinates so that we could further enhance the morale of the knights? At any rate, we should still be able to acquire Obanâs âsmall changeâ in the end . ]
[Thatâs quite a problem, Schweiz-chan~]
Oban suddenly interjected his complaint .
[Trouble? What do you mean?]
[The Former Holy King-sama said that we should bring her corpse in a state where he would know that sheâs still pure . He said that he would immediately know if thereâs that scent from other men, he would be really disgusted... Or rather, I think heâs considerably broken if he wants us to bring her corpse instead of just capturing her alive?]
The short middle-aged guy, Schweiz groaned .
[Fumu, is that so?]
It seems that he calmly accepted Obanâs words .
Schweizâs beard kind of reminds me of a bear .
His hair thatâs as black as tea was swept towards his back .
You could say that heâs quite a handsome guy .
Thereâs a black eyepatch over his left eye .
His voice is like that of a baritone that calms people down .
He have quite a large build, but thereâs no impression of him being a vulgar guy .
I could infer that there are some cunningness behind his graceful movement .
The impression you would normally associate with nobles .
His mount is a large black dragon of around the same size as Obanâs mount .
[If thatâs the case, it seems that it would be difficult to make use of her in that direction . No no, thatâs quite a foolish idea . Please accept my excuses . ]
[Yâ You people, what nonsense are you talking about!?]
Seras raises her voice .
Her voice seems to be accompanied by the sound of condemnation towards them .
[The gentle King Ortora will never say such strange words! If you continue with your reckless remarks, I will take this as an insult for my King!]
Obanâs lips lifted as he sarcastically laughed .
[As expected, this little Holy Knight-chan is pitiable . Even that imposing righteous indignation would become too laughable in light with the truth . Isnât it that? That type of loyalty thatâs incited by pure innocence? Well, you certainly are a beautiful woman . But, I like my beautiful jewels more . ]
After saying that, Oban sneered .
[But well... For the time being, if you continue to live, wonât that old man would die of anxiety?]
[N- Nonsense...! What in the world do you want!?]
I started thinking .
[............ . ]
No .
Even the person herself should vaguely know of this already .
Seras has the power of the spirits that made her able to sense lies .
Maybe, they arenât lying at all .
Thatâs why she has been increasingly agitated .
Seras looks like sheâs about to burst into tears . n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
[K- King Ortora... would never...]
Seras knelt down as if she lost strength on her knees .
Schweiz looked towards her, unmoved by any emotions .
[What do we do now, Civit-dono?]
[Isnât it obvious? Give Seras Ashrain the right to win her life . ]
[I see, so itâs just as usual?]
Schweiz bowed down just like a businessman would .
[If Seras-jou avoids your shot, she wins and we would overlook her . Are you fine with this, Oban-dono?]
[If Holy Knight-chan beautifully dies as a woman, I donât care either way~⪠as long as we know the results . ]
[I wonder...]
The person who had been silent all this time spoke for the first time .
The guy who was riding on the black dragon on the far left from where Iâm looking at .
I could see bandages rolled around the exposed areas of his armor .
From the voice I heard from him, heâs a man .
Itâs only his left eye that was exposed out of the bandages .
[Holy Kingdom of Neia, Leader of the Holy Knights . The one whoâs famous for her Spiritual Garment . ]
Civit puts his hand over his mouth .
[I have obviously heard about the story about her Spiritual Garment . Thatâs why I went to chase her even to this place . I would have been happy if I just get to fight her in her Spiritual Garment . After that, well Iâll just leave it to you guys what you want to do . ]
Civitâs gaze fixated on me yet again .
[Andâ I thought that would be the case until just some time ago . ]
Schweiz frowned .
[Civit-dono...?]
[For some reason, I am more interested in that boy rather than Seras Ashrain . ]
Schweiz turned to look towards me .
[This Schweiz has also noticed that youâve been gazing at him for a long time but... what in the world made you concerned about him? He just seems to be some luggage carrier that Seras Ashrain employed but...]
[Iâm already old, Schweiz . That person is really interesting person . ]
He faintly smiled .
Civit did, towards me .
[Boy . ]
His red eyes looked towards me, filled with expectations .
[What the hell are you?]
â¡
I couldnât move for a long time .
Skeleton King .
A monster that was weaker than I had expected .
I was too cautious against the monsters in the Mills Ruins .
Iâm afraid Iâm not that good at judging the ability of enemies thatâs too weak .
However, itâs different when it comes to strong enemies .
You could easily notice those who were larger or taller people .
If you just look up, you would easily see them in there, standing high as a tower .
Youâre easier to see when youâre huge .
No matter where youâre standing at...
Even if you change places, you could easily see them .
Thatâs how I come to understand the magnitude of oneâs existence .
Thatâs why, I know .
That currently, itâs as if thereâs a blade thatâs just in front of my throat .
The moment that I would take an aggressive action against them, I will be killed by Civit in just one strike .
The Humanityâs Strongest .
Civit Gartland .
My instincts are warning me .
His title of being the strongest isnât just a decoration .
This guyâ
Heâs more dangerous than that Soul Eater .
Sweat kept on flowing out of my body after we encountered Civit .
My face is covered in sweat .
Depending on my choices, I might die in this place .
Are we going to live? Or are we going to die?
Whether we would live the remainder of our lives or not...
Drip...
Dropâ
My sweat kept dripping towards the ground just like a waterfall .
Perhaps...
It will all depend on meâ
â½
However, I wonder why?
It was the same just like at that time back in the Disposal Ruins .
Even though Iâm in quite a dangerous situation right now .
[You . ]
Civit cheerfully asked .
[Why are you smiling?]
Ah, thatâs right .
Why is that itâs only at times like theseâ
[............]
âthat I could smile?
No, this should be enough .
I returned a distorted smile towards Civit .
[Hey, Civit Gartlandâ]
Alright .
His attack still havenât arrived .
Iâve properly transmitted it towards him .
Whether I have any intention to attack or not .
Iâve properly shown my intention of wanting to converse with him .
Itâs probably impossible for me to just raise my hand .
However, I could talk with him .
That should be enough .
[Would you like to talk to me for some time?]
Civitâs eyes softened .
I see .
In other words, if I donât show any signs of trying to release my skillsâ
[Okay . ]
...Negotiation with The Strongest is possible .