Yuna cried her eyes out.
Tear after tear streamed down silently.
It had been so long since I’d last seen her cry like this that the thought crossed my mind.
I couldn’t begin to guess what had been going through her head.
But she had made this choice for my sake.
After struggling with it all on her own, she had finally reached a decision.
“Jeez.”
I pulled Yuna into my arms and gently patted her back.
Just moments ago, the atmosphere between us had been strangely intimate, but like always, it ended up fading away halfway through.
Still, I didn’t feel disappointed or anything.
“You’ve been through a lot, Yuna.”
Right now, I simply found Yuna lovable.
This person was my fiancée.
There was no reason not to feel proud.
***
Late at night, after Yuna had cried herself to sleep.
I stood by the window for a moment, lost in thought.
The Cradle wasn’t dark even at night.
Streetlights lined the roads.
I could see students walking through those illuminated streets.
Some had probably been training or studying until now, while others might have started their day unusually early.
As I absentmindedly watched them, I found myself thinking about Alice.
“……”
Truthfully, I had vaguely sensed it already.
The smile Oracle showed me that day on the street resembled the smile Alice had worn when she left me in the past.
A smile that looked relieved, regretful, and yet determined not to leave behind any lingering attachment.
I knew.
And yet I still asked anyway.
– So that’s it…? Well, I’m glad you look happy.
– Of course. I’m happy right now. I’ve achieved the dream I’ve pursued my entire life.
That wasn’t the smile of someone who was happy.
It was the smile of someone trying to be happy.
A smile with the order reversed, worn in hopes of wishing for a future.
It was an obvious smile.
And a beautiful one.
I couldn’t help but want to believe it.
Because it was the kind of smile that seemed to believe with all its strength that tomorrow would come.
So maybe, even though I knew, I pretended not to.
Or perhaps I wanted to believe things would turn out that way too.
Whatever the case, that smile back then had been a lie.
And I’m such an idiot that I fell for the exact same trick twice.
The day Alice burned away.
That radiant smile she showed me then.
“……”
What was Alice thinking?
Why did she always try to leave my side while wearing nothing but smiles like that?
Did she really hate me that much?
Honestly, at this point, it didn’t matter anymore.
“Yeah.”
I had been wavering.
I didn’t even know what I truly felt myself.
That was the state I was in.
And yet, thanks to Yuna, I finally found certainty.
Because she tearfully confessed everything, I was finally able to understand myself.
I didn’t want to give up on Alice.
Only now did I finally admit that truth to myself.
Yuna must have known.
She must have realized I would definitely regret it otherwise.
And now, I had reached my conclusion.
“Let’s step onto the stage.”
Let’s dance on this burning griddle.
***
The moment I made up my mind, I moved quickly.
I immediately understood what I had to do first.
No matter what I did, the people around me came first.
Emperor Abraham had warned me through the Black Knight.
Do not step onto the stage.
And that warning wasn’t merely words.
The very existence of the Black Knight Lanius was itself a warning directed at me.
If I tried to step onto the stage—
He would slaughter not only the World Tree but even the Misfits group around me as well.
When I had chosen not to interfere, that had been mercy.
But the moment I decided to move, it became handcuffs and chains tightening around me.
Emperor Abraham.
He truly was a terrifying man.
Countless enemies had targeted me up until now.
They all thought someone weak like me would be easy to capture.
And against them, I survived by mobilizing every connection I had.
Not because I myself was impressive, but because the people around me were.
Well, having that many remarkable people around me says something about my character too, doesn’t it?
When you’re a good person, luck tends to follow.
……But that was all in the past.
This situation was deeply troublesome.
Emperor Abraham used methods completely opposite from any enemy I had faced before.
“Not me, but the people around me…”
The difference in approach was enormous.
Once I thought about it, it wasn’t even a matter of my people simply getting caught up in this.
He was threatening the safety of those around me in order to restrain me.
If I started moving—
The World Tree would burn.
Helena and Dietrich would die.
My family and territory could be reduced to ashes.
Emperor Abraham was a man who both possessed the means to do all of that and openly declared he would use them.
So how could I recklessly make a move?
All I could do was pray for the storm to pass.
So let’s make one thing clear first.
“Yuna, because of my selfishness, you’re going to end up in danger too.”
“Mhmm, sounds good.”
“What do you mean, sounds good?”
“If you’re saying it as certainty instead of a hypothetical, doesn’t that mean you’ve already made up your mind? And it also means you trust me that much.”
“……”
“Well, it is a little questionable to say you’re going to save another woman right in front of your fiancée though.”
“True.”
Since I had already resolved myself and made my decision, I didn’t bother lying.
Smack!
Yuna hit me.
Well, fair enough.
Even if she was the one who told me, feeling upset about it was unavoidable.
Though if she had actually been angry, it wouldn’t have ended with a sound like that.
In that case, my arm or back would’ve been ripped off or shattered.
This was just a light pout.
Of course, by my standards, it was still hard enough to leave a bruise later.
Anyway, before doing anything else, there was one thing I needed to do first.
Get permission from the people around me.
Warn them in advance that they might end up in danger because of me, then get punched for it or something.
They’re all nice people, so surely they wouldn’t actually hit me…
“Die, Johan Damus.”
Bang!
Well, Cattleya shot me.
The moment my explanation ended, that sharp mind of hers must’ve immediately realized she was now being used as leverage.
Naturally, Yuna blocked the pathetic lead bullet for me.
She was someone capable of catching bullets barehanded.
“Try thinking of it another way. It’s not that you’re becoming endangered because of me. It’s that you’ve benefited from me all this time.”
“……”
Bang!
She fired another shot.
At this point, she wasn’t even trying to argue anymore.
She’d probably concluded that verbally sparring with me was a losing battle.
How wise of her.
“Please prepare some crème brûlée and a few other things. I’ll be bringing them as gifts.”
“……”
Cattleya silently looked into the chamber. Even that absentminded gesture of hers felt unsettling.
“Do you really have to do this?”
“Yes.”
“You understand what you’re trying to do?”
“I do.”
“You crazy bastard.”
With that, Cattleya began wrapping the pastries.
For all her complaints, she wasn’t actually that cold-hearted.
“Make sure Emily never has a reason to cry, brother-in-law.”
“……”
“Answer me, you son of a bitch.”
No, wouldn’t it be deception for me to promise something like that?
Honestly, what am I supposed to do when even I don’t trust myself?
“Please look after Emily’s side of things. I’d appreciate it if you could keep her protected in Andvaranaut until this is over.”
“Wouldn’t it be the other way around?”
“Then let’s help each other.”
With Emily’s abilities, I believed she would be able to protect them well enough.
After all, she was the unofficial successor who inherited the Scriptwriter’s knowledge.
I believed she’d do a better job than a successor like me.
“Let’s go, Yuna.”
“……Johan.”
“Yeah?”
While Cattleya and I traded jokes mixed with bullets, Yuna had been staring tensely toward the door.
Since goods had to be brought in every day, the merchant guild’s entrance was fairly large.
Yet there was someone big enough to completely fill that massive doorway.
The fact that I hadn’t even sensed someone of that size approaching told me just how powerful he was.
No, even that didn’t matter.
His appearance alone was proof enough.
“……Black Knight.”
“So you drop the formalities the moment you quit, huh? Insolent bastard. Back then, you always respectfully called me Commander. Isn’t this a little too cold?”
The Black Knight, Lanius.
The man who delivered the Emperor’s warning to me and lingered around the World Tree.
He himself was both a warning directed at me and a very real threat.
“I’m pretty sure I warned you not to step onto the stage.”
“I just came to buy some pastries.”
“Hah! Well, that’s a relief.”
“And what is the Commander doing here when you should be busy fighting the rebels?”
“I came to buy pastries.”
“I see.”
“Well, that’s certainly fortunate.”
I quietly stepped aside and walked past him.
Lanius did not stop me.
“Johan Damus, don’t forget the warning. You must not step onto the stage.”
“…….”
“There’s something His Majesty always tells both me and the people around him.”
“Is this, by any chance, something that’ll help me?”
“Never create someone you love.”
“…….”
“And if such a person does appear, never let anyone find out.”
It was a warning so clear it could not be misunderstood.
The meaning behind those words was obvious.
“Johan Damus, isn’t it ironic? The old you would’ve been relatively free in the face of a dilemma like this.”
That was true.
The me from two years ago, who tried to avoid getting entangled with people as much as possible, had been like that.
Of course, even back then my family still mattered to me, so I was never completely free.
Still, it wasn’t like now.
“You’ve become stronger. But your weaknesses have become just as pronounced. Johan Damus, are you truly prepared for this? Is this matter really worth enduring all of that for?”
“…….”
On one side of the scales stood Alice alone, and on the other stood everyone else.
Lanius was asking whether that balance was truly right.
What a cruel question. Asking me that with my fiancée standing right beside me?
“And if I said yes, what would you do?”
“Only one thing would change.”
“What’s that?”
“Your fiancée’s expression.”
At Lanius’s words, I turned to the side and saw Yuna looking at me with a hurt expression.
“……It was only hypothetical.”
“It’s okay. I know how you feel.”
“No, seriously.”
I just meant I was that prepared. I never meant there was any difference between you.
Right? You all matter more.
“One thing won’t change. Regardless of your resolve, the moment you step onto the stage, my spear will be pointed toward people who may very well be innocent.”
“…….”
“Johan Damus, I’ll say it again. Do not step onto the stage.”
Lanius warned me.
And at the same time, it was also advice.
It was his sincere wish that I wouldn’t make that choice. But why? Honestly, I wasn’t even that close with him. Even when I belonged to the Guillotine Knights, we rarely crossed paths.
And yet, for someone like him to repeatedly give me warnings that bordered on pleas—
“Please understand the heart of the person who gave up everything for your sake.”
“……”
Not for me, but for Alice.
***
After saying that, Lanius really did just buy pastries and leave.
That was probably not the Emperor’s order, but something he chose to do of his own will.
Anyway, Cattleya fainted after that. Well, it certainly had been a rare experience.
For someone as physically weak as her, meeting the Black Knight who was practically synonymous with death within the Empire might have been too overwhelming.
Well, not my problem. I wasn’t in any position to look after her, so Yuna and I simply left her there unconscious.
The guild employees would probably take care of her.
What mattered right now was something else.
“Guys, die for me.”
“Huh? No thanks.”
“Why would I?”
“I knew you were shameless, but not this shameless.”
“Crazy bastard.”
I’d only said it as a joke, but I didn’t expect them to reject me so firmly.
I thought we were at least that close.
Do you know how hard I worked to build the kind of lives you all have now?
“I’m kidding.”
“You better be.”
Helena answered with a smile. Why did that feel slightly threatening?
“So what’s going on?”
I explained the situation to the Misfits group and asked for their cooperation.
“Why should we help a bastard who calls us a Misfits group in the first place?”
As expected, the ill-mannered Melana started complaining first. Ungrateful brat. Do you know how much I did to save you?
And it’s a little late to start objecting to the nickname now.
“Sure, fair enough. But there’s something you all need to understand. This isn’t a request.”
It was a notification.
The moment I decided to move, the Emperor was going to target the Misfits anyway.
Whether they hid or ran wouldn’t matter.
Most likely, Black Knight Lanius would personally come to hunt them down.
“So just be careful.”
Instead of complaining to me, they should be grateful I was warning them before things blew up.
“I’m basically your lifesaver, you know?”
Seriously, there’s no one in this world more generous than me.
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