199 – Duty-2
A chilly sense of tension lingered.
I could feel it instinctively. We need to keep this confrontation going on for as long as possible.
“…Do you intend to fight?”
“I’m thinking of sending you back.”
Reluctantly, I drew my sword. When she suddenly attacked, I didn’t have the confidence to block it.
nope, that’s weird
You shouldn’t have the confidence to block it.
No matter how determined I was, no matter how much I got the power of the murder sword, I was several levels above the objective body specs.
should not lose Whether it’s strength or speed, you shouldn’t be pushed by her.
However, I was also not confident.
“Wasn’t it okay if I died?”
“Unicorn’s power is absolutely restored. In extreme cases, even if an arm or leg is cut off, it will be restored during the return process.”
It was spooky. Eleanor was sincere. By all means, they were trying to get me back.
“Wasn’t there a lot of work to do? You said you would become emperor. Focusing on that…”
“It was just a process. As long as you could make the Empire unsympathetic, you could do anything.”
Seeing his changed attitude as if flipping his palm, I thought about it.
But, I really didn’t expect her to be like this. She was the one who prioritized the empire above anyone else.
It was because she was Eleanor, who could accept any connection with me, whom she hated so much, as long as it was for the sake of ‘his majesty’s orders’ and ‘national interest of the empire’.
Even if her purpose was me, I thought that if I brought up the empire, I would be a little shaken.
I had to admit it. Right now, to her, I am more important than the empire.
Duty to me takes precedence over duty to that empire.
“Returning… no matter how important it is, isn’t there another way to find it? With God’s help…”
“I have already sought advice from the clergy of the empire.”
Eleanor shook her head sadly.
“God can act only within the scope of his jurisdiction.”
“As expected, was that so…”
“The god that is activated right now is the goddess of vengeance, Erinis. If it’s about vengeance, maybe… if it’s the return of the hero, there’s no way she can help.”
Seeing that there had been no contact until now, I had noticed it to some extent. Considering the attitude Erinis showed at the end, it seemed like he would have helped me somehow.
The excuses were gone, but I couldn’t stop talking here.
“They say you can stop. I’m fine, so I’m going to do something else-“
“Are you trying to trick me with sweet words again?”
Seeing Eleanor’s expression of pain, I couldn’t say anything. Her eyes contained a small rebuke of me and a huge and cruel self-loathing that was incomparable to him.
“When you said, ‘It’s okay,’ I was glad. I never thought that such a weak person could have such a strong resolve.”
With the sword in her hand, Eleanor seemed to remember that time.
“I leaned on that. When you said you would become a knight, it was like flying. I felt like I had someone to share this weight, this responsibility, this duty. But…”
sick. How immature I was back then, thinking about it now makes me laugh.
However, that wasn’t a bad move.
“That was an illusion. Enerel, you tricked me with sweet words. ‘It’s okay.’, ‘I can handle it.’ It was the same thing that seduced me with words I was comfortable hearing.”
“Okay, then let’s make it a mutual responsibility. So…”
“no.”
Eleanor shook her head slowly.
She didn’t want to listen to me any more than I didn’t want to listen to Eleanor.
Her unwavering eyes said it all. Inside of Eleanor, there was already enough determination and determination.
“I should have thought of it. There’s no reason for you to bear my burden. There’s no reason for you to be a knight, or a porter, or even… a champion.”
“I couldn’t help it. Knight, it was my fault, and porter, well, it was a situation where each member of the team couldn’t go back if they didn’t do their job, and to defeat the demon king, a hero-“
“That’s necessary. There’s no reason you should do that.”
“…”
“It’s not your fault. I was weak. I gave in to the urge to abdicate the responsibility, so I accepted without question your offer to take it for me.”
not. She shouldn’t say things like that.
“Of course it can’t be okay. You’re a civilian who lived in an era without war, and you don’t even have the ability to handle mana as long as you gave me all the strength of a warrior.”
It’s true. But, that’s not what I want to hear.
“I didn’t know about it even after your anger erupted. When His Majesty the Emperor interrogated me, I compared your training with mine and expressed regret.”
Eleanor’s emotions run high. I was silent, listening to her speak.
“And yet you are sweet as sugar, floating high as a cloud, and broad as the sea.”
The first time I saw me, there was Eleanor who sincerely thanked me for my decision.
“No matter what I said, they responded with ‘It’s okay’, and no matter what I did, they responded with ‘I can handle it’.”
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Just when the adventure was in full swing, there was Eleanor who questioned me over and over again with an apologetic heart.
“When I first saw you, I admired your nobility, but gradually crossed the line.”
There was Eleanor, who was tired of the arduous march of the hero’s journey and the constant battle.
“If you expect this much, you should be able to do it. I secretly raised my expectations, but at some point, I got angry when I couldn’t keep up.”
The training, which was friendly at first, gradually became rough and harsh. Her holy sword struck me to the brink of death, and I desperately avoided it.
“That’s true, until now, if I ever get mad at you, you… you’ve pushed the limits! Of course, of course I knew it would…”
There was Eleanor who was worried. Schedules getting tighter and falling materials. And seeing me struggling among the powerful monsters near the Demon Castle, there was Eleanor who was in anxiety.
“Even so, they insult you for having a hard time, and belittle you for not having talent and not trying…”
Like everyone else, there was Eleanor, who was using me to relieve her rising emotions. Impatience, anger, distrust and dissatisfaction. Eleanor, who poured it all into me.
“Forgetting that you were carrying my burden, I climbed on top of you and whipped you.”
In the end, the person I hate the most in the world. Eleanor was there.
“I just realized this.”
Eleanor took a step forward.
“Are you still saying that it’s okay?”
“What’s happened to my credit…”
I laughed out loud. Since it was self-employed, there was no excuse whatsoever.
“Giving up on returning… Really, don’t you think that’s too sweet for me?”
The emperor’s daughter took a step. Without any hesitation, without any regrets.
“There’s no need to kill a close friend, and there’s no need to go through hardships to find materials you can’t find.”
The knight among knights took a step forward. A knight who ended his wanderings and found his own path.
“Just turn around and go through the day as if nothing happened…”
The prosecutor took a step. Soon, within her gap.
“Isn’t it funny? Nothing has been solved. Our atonement, your liberation. Nothing has been finished, but someone’s sweetness covers it all up.”
The daughter born of the empress who was married to a nameless knight took a step forward. The moonlight clearly illuminates her expression.
“I’d rather take the right path than the easier one. To do what I have to do, not avert my eyes from my duty.”
The hero took a step forward.
Now, there was only a distance that could be reached by swinging the sword. Eleanor and I were facing each other in sad tension.
“Ennelel, I won’t let you live in the pain of this world. I won’t let you live among Eleanor and the people who made the same mistakes as me.”
“I will not let you be burdened by the burdens the goddess has placed on you, I have placed on you, and the Empire has placed on you.”
“I will not let the goodness and compassion you have stand in your way.”
“I will carry out what the Empire promised you, and the oath made by His Majesty the Emperor. I will deliver the reward for defeating the demon king on his behalf.”
Duty, a value that Eleanor has served her entire life, moves her body.
The castle that had been piled up one by one with responsibility and duty became stronger with regret and remorse.
Know. Eleanor with those eyes.
The unshakable figure of her who will not be defeated by anyone.
“Enerel… No. A human from another world whose name I still don’t know.”
Eleanor held out her sword.
“I will send you back.”