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n

n

nLivia sat down where she was.

nBefore her, both Brad and Greg had collapsed in face of the sky pirate leader’s armor.

n“D, damn it.”

n“Why is it so big, yet so effective?”

nBoth were still alive. However, they could hardly get up.

nThe leader of the sky pirates shouldered a large hatchet while reaching towards Livia with his left hand.

n“That took a while. Lady, you’re our hostage.”

nLivia realized that she would be used as hostage against Leon, and attempted to run away. Thereupon, the sky pirates’ leader thrust his large hatchet into Brad’s armor.

n“──Gah!”

nBrad raised his voice in pain.

n“Brad!”

nA muffled voice came out from within the leader’s armor.

n“If you run away, I’ll kill them. Now then, come here at once.”

nWith quivering feet, Livia walked towards the leader’s armor, whose hand was reaching towards her. She couldn’t bear to see Brad.

nShe felt ashamed of herself for having that happen.

n(I’m…a burden. I’ve only been causing trouble for everyone.)

nWhen she shed tears in frustration, the sky pirates’ leader, who was there just a moment ago, was blown away.

nA gust of wind blew through Livia’s hair and clothes. The cause of that gust was a grey armor.

n“Leon!”

nLivia made a delightful cheer, but her expression soon muddied.

n“──Huh?”

nLeon’s Arroganz, holding large hatchets in each hand, severed the arms of the opponent.

nArroganz had its own silly charm when it used a shovel during the duel with Julian and the others, but the armor in front of her now looked sinister.

nArroganz was built for fighting, and when seeing the armor fulfilling that purpose, Livia’s smile changed into shock.

n“Don’t. Leon, don’t!”

nLeon swung both of his arms alternately, toying with the sky pirates’ leader. His armor gradually being shaved away, the leader made a scream of horror.

n“H, help! I surrender. I said I surrender!”

nLeon smiled.

n“Surrender? Hey hey, don’t you think that’s boring for an infamous sky pirate? You should show more resistance until the very end. C’mon, show me some spirit!”

nHe trampled down on the armor. He trampled down on it numerous times, causing the leader to cry and beg for his life.

n“Help me, please! I beg you. Help!”

n“Don’t you think you’re asking for too much after going on an utter rampage? You’re supposed to tell your subordinates to surrender first, right? C’mon, do it quick or else you just might up and die!”

nLeon treated the leader of the sky pirates, who had just before fought Brad and Greg with ease, like a small fry.

nAt the command of the leader, the sky pirates proclaimed their surrender. However, Leon destroyed the leader’s armor. Arroganz tore away the opponent’s armor and ripped away its important skeletal frame.

nSeeing that, Livia thought of it as frightening.

nArroganz then stuffed its hand into the abdomen of its opponent’s armor, and pulled something out.

nLeon grinned when seeing what he took out.

n“I~found~it.”

nThe leader of the sky pirates spoke in a sorrowful tone.

n“G, give that back! That’s the precious──”

n“Don’t you get it? It’s not yours. It’s mine starting today! If you’ve got a complaint, then come at me!”

nArroganz kicked the armor as if no longer interested in it, and sent it rolling across the deck.

nThe leader made a groan, but seemed to be alive.

nThere was black smoke coming from the airships of the sky pirates, perhaps from Leon’s doing. They were somehow keeping afloat, and some of the sky pirates attempted to escape by hopping onto small boats.

nMost of the armor had fallen and were floating on the sea. In case of a fall, armor had lifebuoy-like objects attached to them. They decompressed and floated on top of the sea.

nSky pirates got out of their armor, and looked up into the sky with looks of despair.

nLivia, remembering that Brad had been hurt, rushed over towards his armor in order to check his injuries.

n“I, I’ll get you medically treated right away.”

nBrad, appearing from within the armor, had a cold sweat and seemed to be in pain.

nHowever, he made a forced smile in front of Livia.

n“Th, thank you.”

n“No, it’s my fault that you got inj──”

n“That’s not it.”

n“Huh?”

n“Greg and I both knew what we were getting into. We fought to protect you. After all, we’re aiming to become knights. If a knight isn’t kind towards woman──ah, that hurts!”

nWhile healing Brad’s injured arm, Livia felt relieved to hear that he didn’t bear a grudge against her. At the same time, she also felt terribly pathetic.

nWhen she put her hand over Brad’s wounds, a magical light came out and healed them. Brad was impressed when he saw the injuries neatly disappearing.

n“It seems that you’re good at healing magic, like Marie. You’ve been a great help.”

nLivia asked a question in response to that.

n“Marie also works with healing magic?”

nSince there were few people who could use healing magic, Marie seemed to be a valuable person.

nBrad smiled while boasting.

n“Yep, she’s our goddess. Any wound is a cinch as long as Marie──」

nAs he was speaking, Brad lost consciousness from being in relief.

nLeon came out from Arroganz while looking at Livia applying a handkerchief over Brad’s wounds.

n“Leon. U, um!”

nBefore Livia could say anything, Leon smiled.

nHowever, it seemed sad to Livia.

n“This suits you well. After all, anything is supposed return to how it should be.”

nShe wondered what he was talking about.

nWhen Livia tried to get up, Leon turned towards Greg. Once he got out of his armor, he didn’t have any injuries

nLeon spoke to Greg with a smile.

n“I appreciate your efforts. Say, aren’t you pretty strong?”

n“Was that supposed to be sarcastic? Leaving that aside──sorry, I broke the armor I borrowed from you.”

n“It’s fine. I have more. Anyways, can you help carry Brad?”

n“Is he okay?”

nLeon spoke towards Greg, who was worried about Brad.

n“Don’t worry. His injuries were healed by ‘Olivia.’”

nLivia tightly grasped her chest with her hand.

n──Her heart felt like it was in terrible pain.

nIt hurt to the point that she felt like clutching her heart.

nShe got up and tried to shout something, but her voice couldn’t come out. As Leon passed by Livia in such a state, he didn’t even make eye contact with her.

nOnce he and Greg got Brad fully out of his armor, robots came carrying a stretcher which they put Brad onto.

nWhen the three returned to the airship’s interior, Livia began crying.

n“Why? ──Call me Livia.”

nShe collapsed down and continued crying.

n◇

nThe sky pirates’ treasure was in front of me, but I had no interest in it.

nI tossed the treasure I took from the sky pirates into one of the warehouses in Partner.

nEven though I found some nostalgic items from the game in addition to gold and silver treasure, I soon parted with them.

n“I’ve stashed a lot.”

nLuxon responded while floating beside me.

nI don’t foresee getting that remuneration from the Wein household, but you can get rewards from the destruction of a sky pirate group and the capturing of their leader. Going by the standards for the kingdom, it will be quite the fortune.

nI wasn’t interested at this point.

nWhat could I even do with such a large amount of money?

nIt was all pointless.

n“I suppose I could buy a new tea set. I’ve got no clue on what to do with the rest.”

nWhat was on my mind was that image of Greg and Brad protecting Livia──Olivia. That was how it ideally should be, but there was a strange discord in my heart.

nI turned towards Luxon.

n“Hey, did you find evidence that links the earl household with the sky pirates?”

nIndeed. I’ve found several documents with interactions between them.

n“Should we tell the royal palace? There’s also the matter of the Redgrave duke family. It would make a good scandal for their opposing faction.”

nA scandal, or perhaps a blatant weak point. It’s possible that the earl household may come to get back the sky pirates.

n“──Was it fine to only rough them up?”

nI wondered what in the world I had been doing up until now.

nWasn’t I an idiot for having this kind of power, yet not use it?

nRight. An idiot.

nI was an idiot.

n“If make trash like them disappear, perhaps the kingdom would become a bit more decent. No, that wouldn’t work. The kingdom itself is trash, or better yet, the otome game itself is trash, right?”

nLuxon, watching me as I thoughtlessly smiled, didn’t speak with its usual abusive language.

nAre you sure about this? I would have no hesitation in destroying the kingdom, nor this world. If you give me the orders, I can carry them out soon. After that, it would also be possible for you to create a world as you see fit, Master.

nA world as I see fit?

nThat would be the best!

n“How nice. What about making a harem with women? Maybe gather some elves or cat-eared beastkin. How about this time, make the kind of world where women are the ones treated like garbage?!”

nThat’s when I realized what I was saying.

nThis was just the same situation, but with the positions of men and women reversed.

n“──What the, am I the same as those girls in the academy?”

nYou likely know the answer to that inside yourself. Have you cleared up your thoughts after venting your anger on the sky pirates?

nNot at all.

nPent-up feelings were squirming around within my core.

nI wanted to expel them immediately, but I didn’t know how to do so.

nLuxon comforted me.

nThis about her, isn’t it? I don’t think that Olivia hates you, Master. However, emotional instability──

n“I know. Did you think I was angry at her? Did you think that I viewed her as some kind of ungrateful freeloader?”

nIndeed.

n“Just who do you think I am?”

nWhen she went outside, I did think “What was that fool doing?!” to myself. However, on the flip side, I was able to see Brad’s and Greg’s chivalrous spirit thanks to that.

nWhat happened there was what the relationship between the protagonist and capture targets should have been. The ideal situation.

nI should think of it as a major development. Right, this was good. No more acting on behalf of their role. It was time for me to return to being a mob.

nI took out the “Holy Necklace” from my pocket.

n“In that case, how should I pass this onto her?”

nRather than giving it to her as a present, I wondered who would be easier to knock sense into and have them get along with Olivia. Brad or Greg?

nIt would be most optimal if it was one of them.

nI wanted the two to keep at it by all means.

nSo, I decided to have them return to the position they should have been in.

n“I’ve decided what to do with the treasure.”

nI made my own conclusion and stuffed the necklace into my pocket.

nLuxon informed me of something.

nMaster, it seems that a fleet from the earl household is getting closer. At the same time──it seems that an airship of the Redgrave duke household is heading here as well.

nToday really turned out to be a turbulent day.

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