I Became a Dark Knight the Empress Is Obsessed With

206 – Side Story: Afternoon in Freesia – (14)

Kookookookookookook.

A feeling of floating as if one’s whole body is floating.

No, actually, Millia flew high and crashed down to the ground.

Although she was able to avoid falling headfirst because she had landed quickly, the wind pressure that followed was beyond her imagination.

“Ugh.”

He rolled around a few times and crashed into a pile of rocks.

A feeling as if a gust of wind had passed by my head. A pain as if someone had hit my back hard with a hammer.

My mind was hazy and painful at the same time. My head was ringing. A ringing sound was constantly ringing in my ears, and all I could see was darkness.

How much time had passed? Milia, who had caught her breath, slowly opened her eyes.

The reddish night sky came into view.

“……shelling.”

Merta said so.

The artillery fire came. And it was clear that Millia and her party were hit directly by it.

I didn’t have the energy to react. I just bent over reflexively.

Millia felt around her body, checking for any injuries, but there were none. It was strange.

‘Was I just lucky?’

While she was thinking that, someone roughly grabbed Milia’s arm and dragged her away.

It was the bloody knight, Fred Iscobal.

“Milia, we have to leave first.”

“Coolook. What, what happened?”

“It’s a demon. It’s a mutant demon. It attacked us.”

Thanks to Fried’s support, Milia was able to get up and only then realize what was going on around her.

A deep canyon was dug from the horizon to the back of Milia, like a long snake passing by. A terrain that had never existed before.

In other words, what Fried was talking about was that the demon had fired a magic-level artillery attack at us from a distance that could not be seen with the naked eye.

I have never heard of such a thing.

Fried answered that question for me.

“For now, let’s retreat. That snow elf created a monster. It must have been a demonic beast modified through the full moon.”

“……yes.”

Milia quickly grasped the situation and nodded.

Likewise, as she picked up the bloody Merta, Milia felt doubtful.

Despite being hit by such a force, we didn’t die. We didn’t even get a single scratch on ourselves. It was clearly strange.

At that moment, Milia realized someone was absent.

“Sir Fried, where is Sepia?”

“… … .”

Fried nodded over his shoulder at Millia’s urgent question.

The moment she saw that place, Milia wanted to turn away.

“… … .”

A girl whose limbs are torn off and black energy leaks out from the gaps.

More than half of the head was burned by the explosion, leaving only the rippling magical core in its place.

“Sepia, you… … threw your body to block it?”

Millia asked with a trembling voice, but Sepia did not answer.

No, it would be more correct to say that the organ that can produce sound has disappeared.

“Professor Millia! The next attack… is coming soon!”

Merta, who was in my arms, shouted with her eyes tightly shut.

“We have to run away quickly!”

“… … No. We can’t go on like this.”

Milia shook her head.

Although we were enemies, we had not made any promises.

I didn’t intend to throw it out like this.

“If you’re going to go, go first. I’ll take this kid with me.”

“… … .”

I spoke to Fried as if I was swearing at him, but he just walked out without any change in expression.

She took a stance to respond, thinking that he might subdue her, but unexpectedly, he passed by Milia and lifted Sepia’s body into his arms.

“……What are you doing?”

Fried said to Milia, who was dumbfounded, with a smirk.

“You said you were saving me. Shouldn’t you be saving me?”

“… … That, that’s right.”

Milia came to her senses and nodded.

Fried’s face, which was smiling triumphantly, was difficult to look at.

*

It was not known how long the range of the demon that fired that bombardment was.

That’s why the only thing Millia and her group can do is get as far away as possible.

In the meantime, Sepia’s body was rapidly collapsing. From the body held in Fried’s arms, fine black powder poured out like grains of sand slipping through a hand.

“Sir Fried. We need to stop for a moment and check the situation. If we continue like this, Sepia will die!”

“We can’t afford that. He’s still watching us.”

Fried bit his lip as he looked behind him through his vision enhanced by blood magic.

“Coming.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a bright light appeared on the other side of his vision.

Before I could react, the light grew bigger and bigger until it soon engulfed everything around me.

I kept my eyes tightly shut, but the shock I was afraid of did not come.

Instead, I just felt something wrapping around my ankle.

At the same time that she felt the ground cave in, Milia found herself in a hole.

“… … .”

“Haa… … So, Fried. How many times have I saved you?”

The one who pulled Millia and her party under the small ledge on the side of the road was a brown-skinned woman named Thistle Hilda.

“Hilda. When did you get here?”

“I ran here because it looked dangerous at first glance. It looks like the demon from the foreign news… … has been dealt with to some extent.”

Hilda glanced at Sepia absentmindedly. Sepia, who was still breathing in small breaths, seemed as if she would die at any moment.

“So, what the heck is that?”

At Hilda’s question, Fried glanced his head over the pit.

He immediately frowns and starts rowing the whale.

“A dolphin? Or maybe a bat? Whatever it is, it looks like shit.”

“Hiccup.”

“Fried said, patting Merta on the back.

“It was a mistake. I didn’t know that Manwolhwa’s abilities were that great. It’s closer to a weapon than a demon.”

“… … .”

“I don’t think there’s just one guy like that. The plan of the lottery party to conquer the world wasn’t completely absurd.”

“Haha. You really are a dog chasing chickens. We spent more than half of the guild’s annual budget preparing this.”

Hilda burst into laughter without being embarrassed.

“So what do you plan to do?”

“If we retreat like this, they’ll turn Eisenward into rubble. If those weapons are sent out into the plains, the Imperial Army will suffer catastrophic losses.”

“So let’s just defeat them all?”

“That’s what it is.”

Hilda let out a small sigh, as if she had expected this.

“Exclusive contract right.”

“what?”

“If you help me with this, I’ll give you an exclusive contract for the next imperial commission.”

Hilda pouted as Fried frowned.

“Everyone is risking their life?! You have to promise at least that much compensation!”

“No, I didn’t really ask for help.”

“Huh? So you’re going to take down those demons alone? Is that suicidal?”

“… … .”

“Besides, if you die, we will no longer have anyone who can reach the royal family. So, it’s a favor to do.”

As Hilda said this, she took out several daggers from her bosom.

Milia was about to speak up, but Fried put a hand on her shoulder.

“Milia, you stay here for now and check on Merta and that demon.”

“… … .”

“I know you know… … but about this matter… … .”

Milia shook her head.

“I know. I know I’m no help.”

“… … .”

“Then please make one promise.”

Fried tilted his head.

“As long as you don’t die.”

“……haha.”

He just smiled.

“Okay. Okay. Just like usual.”

“yes.”

Hilda spat on the ground as she watched the two clashing fists.

“Anyway, the pickling.”

*

“… … .”

As Hilda and Fried eagerly left the pit, Millia sat down and laid Sepia down neatly.

Any clothing that might be in the way was removed, and the severed limbs were tied up with string.

Her condition was dire when seen with the naked eye. It wouldn’t have been strange at all if her body had collapsed at any moment.

Woohoo.

Millia tried to gather as much mana as possible to heal Sepia, but as she was already in a state of shock, it was impossible for her to even gather mana.

He clenched his fists, unable to do even one person’s share, and blood flowed down between his fingers.

“Why on earth are you… … .”

Was it because he flew so recklessly to block the attack?

I wanted to ask that, but Sepia was currently in a state where she couldn’t even answer.

“A kid who wants to go home, throws himself like that? Are you stupid? Don’t you think?”

In the end, Milia had no choice but to mutter in a loud voice.

Did you ask yourself if you hated yourself or if you detested yourself?

I couldn’t say that it wasn’t like that.

“……ha.”

Feeling emotional for some reason, Milia clutched her head.

In the end, coming here in the first place was a mistake.

Didn’t you fall for your sister’s trick, caught up in the short-sighted idea that you could gain power by obtaining the full moon flower, and end up getting involved in an incident that would shake up the entire continent?

In the process, I also ran into this kid.

He placed one hand on Sepia’s chest, wiping away the blood that had flowed out.

As expected, mana did not come out.

“… … .”

At the moment when she was about to wake Merta with a bitter smile, Sepia’s remaining hand suddenly came up on the back of Milia’s hand.

When he looked up in surprise, Sepia was staring at Milia with her same expressionless face as before.

“Are you conscious again? Can you speak?”

“… … .”

Sepia just looked at Milia without answering.

The blood seeping from under her vocal cords indicated that Sepia would never be able to speak again.

Finally, Sepia pursed her lips.

“Are you asking me to spare you? I’m sorry, but I don’t have the strength to do that.”

But Sepia shook her head slightly and gently interlocked her fingers.

And then.

“… … .”

He smiled faintly.

An awkward laugh that was nothing more than a forced imitation of a human’s. However, as awkward as it was, the emotion itself was conveyed to Milia as it was.

“Are you trying to die?”

He asked in a trembling voice.

There was still no answer from Sepia.

however.

“… … .”

Milia’s face twisted in disgust.

It wasn’t really strange. A life that was being forced to survive. Sepia didn’t seem to have any motivation for it. Her only wish was a pure desire to return home.

However, it is not the greed of a devil from outside, but a simple dream that any being with emotions would have.

That’s why it was unacceptable.

Exactly.

I flicked my finger on Sepia’s forehead, who was asking with her eyes why.

And then he raised his clenched hands and said:

“Who would want to die in front of me?”

Millia has already missed her chances several times.

There were times when I gave up on myself and times when I missed out.

So, if I say that now, I want to do what I want rather than making rational decisions, would that be far-fetched?

“… … Well, if it’s you, my sister, then it’s not unreasonable.”

The existence of Seira Liantur is useful in times like this.

Serving such a comfortable self-consolation, Milia raised Sepia’s body and brought her eyes up to her level.

And then he said it slowly.

“Okay. This time I’ll fall for your trick. Whether intentional or not, you’ve made me angry.”

Milia smiled and said to Sepia, who was tilting her head.

“Well, Sir Fried, I can do it too, since I share blood with the founder of the clan.”

“… … .”

“Let’s make a deal, Sepia.”

At those words, Sepia’s eyes opened wide for the first time.