Chapter 41

Pies Roesti, the chestnut-haired imperial guard, clutched his abdomen and groaned.

The pain was severe every time the rainwater flowed into the wound.

He opened his trembling lips.

“…Your Highness, it's me. It's Pies……”

He was my one and only imperial guard and companion.

And the only man I trusted in the Cordis Great Palace.

Such a Pies was bleeding and pleading.

But my blue pupils were only cold.

Even after stabbing my own royal guard in the back, I felt not a shred of regret.

“…Pies, why, how could you……”

“Ah. Don't look at me with those wronged eyes. It makes me feel guilty.”

I waved my hand dismissively.

Pies Roesti pleading in the rain made me feel a sense of pity.

And that made me even more displeased.

For there was no one who hated a lie more than a liar.

“How much of a fool do you take me for, Pies. Please, do something about that face and talk.”

There was the taste of rainwater.

I paid it no mind and ground my teeth.

I felt my face flush slightly.

“So anxious you could die because your grand betrayal isn't going as planned……”

A black blade appeared from my hand.

It was created from Mana Armor Valziart.

I swung it without hesitation.

It would be a lie to say there was no anger.

“…That face, please do something about it!”

A clang sound was heard.

It was because Pies had quickly drawn his sword and blocked the blade.

Even while clutching his abdomen, Pies' sword was not dull.

I snickered.

“Yes, you do have the skill to be a prince's imperial guard, don't you?”

“……”

Pies Roesti looked up at the sky.

“Phew……”

Pitch black.

The rain only grew stronger.

He let out a long sigh.

He gripped his sword even more firmly.

And then he asked.

“…How did you know, Your Highness?”

The chestnut-haired knight's eyes sharpened.

“I told you, it was written all over your face.”

A blatant sneer lingered on my lips.

“You were constantly on edge because I was moving differently from the plan.”

The regressed prince's eyes sharpened.

“Ah, I was supposed to take you across the bridge. I've been leaving marks as I came, but when will he follow? I have to sell this kid, the Fifth Prince Zionis, quickly!”

“……”

Pies was at a loss for words.

With my inner thoughts being so bluntly exposed, there was nothing left for him to say.

The kid prince's smile only grew more bitter.

“And you, why were you so quick to prepare for escape? You should have just said that you were waiting for the moment to sell me out.”

I was a regressor.

I had hurried because I knew when Ferbias would try to kill me.

But Pies Roesti, who was usually dull, had come running as if he had been waiting.

The reason was obvious.

He must have been informed of the assassination plan from Ferbias' side and was just waiting for the moment to hand me over.

“How busy you've been since the start of the Succession War. It was hard to even pretend not to know.”

Pies' betrayal was not a matter of a day or two.

Just as I had thought of running away from the proclamation of the Succession War, Pies had thought of betrayal.

He had not stopped reporting on the Fifth Prince Zionis' day.

It was just that I, Shion, had pretended not to notice.

“The pastry chef who handed you the pumpkin pie was the intermediary, wasn't he?”

“Even that……!”

Pies was dumbfounded.

His stomach still throbbed.

It wasn't that deep a wound, but was it because the rainwater had seeped in?

Or was it because of that thing called guilt?

I looked at the bleeding Pies.

“And above all, you did it before.”

“…Before?”

“Yes, before.”

My eyes took on a sad light.

Before my regression, I hadn't known.

Being a child, I had never even thought that Pies had sold me out.

But after my regression, seeing it with the eyes of a thirty-year-old hero, the evidence of betrayal was so clear.

I kept seeing it, even if I didn't want to.

“I had hoped it would be different from that time……. but it couldn't be.”

I bit my lip.

I had no regrets about stabbing Pies in the back.

However, a complicated feeling remained.

Pies Roesti had truly been my only companion in my childhood.

“You have sold me out again.”

“…Again, you say?. What……”

Pies was puzzled.

It was a natural thing, as I was talking about a future that had not yet come, a world he had not experienced.

However, I had no intention of revealing my secret to solve his puzzle.

The situation did not permit it either.

A commotion was approaching.

“It's ahead! The marks lead this way!”

“As expected, over there!”

A group of people approached, cutting through the rain.

Every one of them had a blade drawn.

A man who seemed to be the leader among them shouted.

“The Fifth Prince Zionis is over there!”

***

There were at least forty of them.

To think they had sent so many pursuers even in this rain, it was just like Ferbias.

The leader of the men was holding a crossbow, his stride was short, and his movements were swift.

He stared at me and muttered.

“Blue eyes and blonde hair… it would be hard for him not to be the Fifth Prince Zionis.”

The leader of the men squinted.

The focus of his two eyes didn't match, which looked somewhat grotesque.

He seemed to be cross-eyed.

“Then you must be Pies Roesti?”

“…Yes, that's me.”

I snickered.

“Now you can't even deny it, Pies! Why don't you go on over?”

“…Your Highness, I……”

“Ah. Are you going to say something cliché like you had to do it because your family was kidnapped? Don't. What face do you have to say such a thing after you've already betrayed me.”

“……”

It was just as I had said.

Pies couldn't say anything and moved his feet.

His steps were heavy, and it wasn't because of the rain.

I spoke to the imperial guard who had turned his back.

“Yes. I know your loyalty well. I know it's only to that extent. We've been together for seven years, but what can you do?”

“……”

“Go. How difficult would it be for forty able-bodied men to hack one child to pieces. You should lend a hand too.”

Pies couldn't say a single word until the end and stood next to the forty men.

They didn't seem particularly welcoming of Pies either.

Some openly showed their contempt.

And on top of that, the wound in his abdomen that I had given him.

Pies was dragging his feet slightly because it was hurting, and a silent sneer was poured on him.

To think that a knight would get such a wound against an eleven-year-old.

Pies just felt miserable.

“An unprincely brat.”

“And you're an unknightly one.”

The cross-eyed man spat out, and I had no intention of backing down either.

“I've heard of it. That Viscount Levio took in some hunter and made him a knight. They said he was cross-eyed, his name was… Repit?”

“…You're well-informed of the rumors.”

Repit's eyes shone like a beast's.

His gaze was so fierce that even a decent animal would be frightened, but I was not one to be intimidated by that.

“I heard that the knight order led by that hunter disgracefully uses a two-headed dog as its symbol. I see the same thing on your chests. I didn't know that Viscount Levio's dog was sold to brother Ferbias, though.”

“…Hmph.”

“Brother is quite something, buying even dogs with a bit of discernment. With well-trained ones.”

Repit and his knight order had all not received formal education.

Their swordsmanship was not dull, but they were people who lived a life bound by their origins.

When I pointed that out, their faces naturally contorted.

“Now what are you going to do to me, you uneducated dogs?”

“……”

Repit and the forty men had come to kill me anyway.

To even poke at their sore spot and relieve them of their guilt, they must have been grateful.

They drew their swords without hesitation and Pies did the same.

A rainy night, deep in the mountains, the menacing glint of over forty blades.

“As I thought.”

I, Shion Pollinglight, couldn't help but laugh.

“Alright. It's time to catch some dogs.”

Even if I had called them uneducated dogs and whatnot, they were official knights.

Their swords were sharp.

Being surrounded like this, it was rather familiar, and I kept letting out a soft laugh.

The reason was simple.

“I will show you my second secret.”

***

Septem Arcana.

The second flame reveals the past.

Shion Pollinglight's second secret.

‘He does not trust’.

He had shared blood.

He had shared affection.

He had also given his heart.

There were comrades, there were comrades-in-arms, and there was a lover.

And as many as that number, scars remained.

Some were lost and torn, and some even drove the blade in backwards themselves.

He had thought it was right to trust.

He still didn't think it was wrong.

But only the lacerated heart was clear.

A broken heart declares.

I will be for the people, but I will not trust, I will push away for the sake of a futile dream, I will abandon all, this is a great choice-!

Whether it was childishness, vigor, or even an excuse, the secret was declared.

So be gone, all your hearts.

I am content with a futile dream, so please do not reach me.

The second Ars born of a scream.

‘The Unclosable Twenty Steps’.

***

Repit and his knight order were skilled in field warfare.

It was because Viscount Levio had specifically chosen only such people.

Whether it was a heavy rain or deep in the mountains, it was no inconvenience to them.

The first to charge were a little over ten.

“……?”

“……?”

The charging knights all expressed their confusion.

They had surrounded him and charged at the same time.

And just as their swords were about to touch my body, the scenery changed.

And they were several steps away from me.

‘The Unclosable Twenty Steps’.

Everything with a will cannot reach me.

Their feet naturally move away from the futile dream.

So as not to disturb him.

So as not to expose the futility of that dream.

One, two… at least twenty steps.

Ugh.

Before they had time to sort out their confusion, three were dead.

All three of their heads were hanging limply.

It seemed as if their necks had been broken by something invisible.

In the meantime, the ‘Fantasy Finger’ had taken the lives of another two.

Having put five knights to eternal rest in an instant, I gave a faint smile.

“You cannot reach me and my fantasy twists your necks. Isn't it unfair?”

I moved leisurely among them.

“Still, there are forty of you and I'm alone. Cut me some slack.”

Even while surrounded, I was at ease.

Between the trees, between the raindrops, between the blades.

My light steps even seemed exciting.

It was not a strange thing.

I, Shion Pollinglight, was originally a man who specialized in facing many alone.

What's the use of thrusting a sword, when ‘The Unclosable Twenty Steps’ doesn't allow it.

What's the use of trying to dodge, when the ‘Fantasy Finger’ twists the opening.

The cross-eyed Repit tried shooting a crossbow, but what could he do, when it couldn't pierce Mana Armor Valziart.

“An Ars? It's an Ars!”

Repit shouted.

He was a seasoned man, so much so that Ferbias had made him the leader of the pursuit, and therefore he had heard something about the power called Ars.

However, simple knowledge was sometimes terribly powerless.

“I don't know what kind of Ars it is, but contact the main camp……”

The cross-eyed man hastily backed away.

Already more than ten knights had lost their lives.

There wasn't a single one whose swordsmanship could be called dull, yet they had fallen like dolls.

Repit, full of astonishment, held up a communication magic device.

I returned his gaze with a sneer.

“We're already in the Sobel mountain range.”

The fog was thick.

It was a trace of a prank that Sen Sorti had left behind 400 years ago.

No magical power could pierce this fog.

A small communication magic device, of course.

“If you want to send news to the outside, you might as well tie a letter to that arrow and shoot it.”

Of course, I had no intention of giving him such an opening.

Three ‘Fantasy Fingers’ rushed in and gripped Repit's crossbow.

To Repit's eyes, it just looked as if the crossbow had suddenly shattered into pieces.

No matter how seasoned a hunter he was, he couldn't help but be dazed.

“Ah……?”

“Fools, did you think you had me cornered?”

The regressed hero wrinkled his nose.

It wasn't that the level of Repit and his knight order was low.

It was just that they were not enough to reach me.

I, still in the body of an eleven-year-old, had several weaknesses, but I had made it so that they could not exploit those openings.

I considered this to be true skill.

“I was the one who lured you, to a place where no information could leak.”

A thick fog settled on the corpses.

Detection magic could not be used, and to top it all off, it was raining.

It would take quite a while to follow the tracks.

Those who were still alive held daggers or crossbows.

However, I had already put on Valziart and was in the form of a black beast.

“Ah, aaack-!”

“…Ah!”

“……”

The black beast rampaged.

Screams erupted and then subsided.

Soon, everything was quiet.

Half had their necks broken and the other half were taken by the beast's claws.

Repit and the forty men died without being able to display their skills even once.

“That ended quickly. You're the last one.”

The man left alone had chestnut-colored hair.

He clutched the wound in his abdomen and looked at the master he had sold out.

The grip on his sword loosened.

“…Your Highness, I……”

“Shut your mouth, Pies Roesti.”

The regressed prince's voice was cold.

“Die with your sword in your hand. It's the last mercy I'm giving a traitor.”

***

“…Ugh, ah!”

Pies Roesti gripped his sword with all his might.

And he charged at me.

I very specially did not use either ‘The Unclosable Twenty Steps’ or the ‘Fantasy Finger’.

Valziart stretched out and took the form of a black spear.

The body of the eleven-year-old Zionis was not trained.

There was no way it could keep up with the speed of the prince's imperial guard, Pies.

Therefore, instead of clashing with his sword, I swung low at his shin.

Pies jumped, and the second spear was thrust.

He tried to twist his body to dodge, but the wound in his abdomen.

The black spear pierced his shoulder.

The sword fell from the chestnut-haired man's hand.

“Foolish Pies. You can't even die with your sword in your hand.”

I sighed.

To think it would be this easy.

It seemed he had neglected his training far too much during his seven years as my imperial guard.

I summoned the ‘Fantasy Finger’ again and held Pies firmly.

“Don't resent me too much. Even if it weren't me, they would have killed you. Why on earth would they let you live?”

From Ferbias' perspective, Pies Roesti knew the details of Zionis' murder, was not particularly skilled and was an imperial guard who had sold out his master.

And on top of that, if they let him live, they would have to pay him hush money, so there were more than enough reasons to kill him.

“You should have made a wiser choice. You didn't know brother Ferbias well enough.”

“…For me, it was the best I could do.”

“Ah. I told you not to say cliché things.”

The chestnut-haired man bowed his head.

His hair, mixed with blood and rainwater, stuck to his face unpleasantly, and the wound in his abdomen was even more painful.

But strangely, his chest was the most uncomfortable.

“Just one thing……”

That strange discomfort rose up from the root of his tongue and popped out.

“…I will ask just one thing.”

“That much is fine. What is it?”

“…Are you the Your Highness Zionis I knew……?”

When he first met him, Zionis was four years old.

After that, he served by his side for seven years.

“…I know. This Pies knows……”

They were always together.

He had personally washed the bed sheets he had wet.

He had put minced meat into his pouting mouth.

Even when he whined that he didn't want to sleep, if he sang him a lullaby by his side, he would soon fall into a deep sleep, and looking at that face, he would gently cover him with a blanket.

Those were the seven years.

“…It was from the day the Succession War was proclaimed. You have been different since then……”

It felt as if someone else had entered his body.

He knew things he shouldn't know and did things he shouldn't be able to do nonchalantly.

Above all, that smile.

He had started to wear a smile tinged with a terrible resignation, a smile that the eleven-year-old Zionis would never make.

“…So it's strange. It's really strange. Even though you're so, so different……”

Different.

He was not the Zionis he knew.

Look at him now.

Didn't he kill forty men in an instant and laugh nonchalantly even after stabbing Pies in the stomach?

“…It is you, Your Highness.”

Shion was not the Zionis he knew.

But he was Zionis.

This conviction was absurd, yet unwavering.

That was even stranger.

“Please, tell me. Please show this pitiful Pies one last act of mercy……”

19 years of time had turned Zionis into Shion Pollinglight.

Pies did not know of the regression.

But the seven years he had spent by his side told him.

No matter how much he had changed, he was undoubtedly Zionis, it kept shouting from deep within his heart.

“…Is it really you?”

“Am I me? That is, Pies……”

A whisper.

“…It's a secret.”

And, the sneer of a liar.

“It's too much to tell a traitor.”

“H-khahahaha……”

Pies' eyes widened as he let out a laugh.

His face contorted strangely.

“I can't understand, I can't understand at all……”

To sneer at someone on the verge of death like this, it wasn't Zionis.

The Zionis who, even after being scolded for causing trouble, would soon come running and grab his sleeve, and then smile as brightly as an angel, it couldn't be!

But it was Zionis.

Ah, what a contradiction…….

“…Who on earth have I been serving? You, you devilish kid, no, Your Highness, what on earth are you……”

The chestnut-haired man took a deep breath.

It was his last breath.

***

“Hmph.”

The corpse that had been Pies Roesti was in a pitiful state.

There were holes in his stomach and shoulder, and though he was a swordsman, he had died with his sword dropped.

Above all, his face, his dazed pupils, crushed by questions, were pathetic.

“Yes, die, incompetent and miserable.”

I did not close his eyes for him.

I left him, shabby and pitiful.

I left him to look as if he had died begging for his life.

“You have to be that way, Pies Roesti.”

I recited, though there was no one to hear.

Who was it for, who was he trying to persuade with his excuses.

No one but himself would hear.

“Ferbias wouldn't be interested if you died in the most pathetic way.”

I realized Pies' betrayal as soon as I regressed.

Why?

The question was answered all too easily.

The answer was in Pies' room, which I had secretly searched in the middle of the night.

There was a letter from Ferbias' faction, and a bundle they had enclosed.

“Only then would he let go of your kidnapped family without any lingering feelings.”

The content of the letter sent by Ferbias' faction was very simple.

We have your old mother and younger sister as hostages, so sell out Zionis.

The choice is yours, but you wouldn't want to see your old mother fried alive and your younger sister sold into slavery.

In the enclosed bundle were two human fingers, preserved by magic.

One was an old person's, one was a woman's.

What should Pies Roesti, who had received a letter with his own family's fingers enclosed, have done?

What kind of night had he spent?

I had seen it.

The traces of tears and blood that had soaked the letter, the knotted rope he couldn't bring himself to hang from, the traces of that terrible agony.

“This is truly the last mercy, Pies.”

The chestnut-haired man was dead.

He had met a shabby end.

Therefore, no harm would come to his family.

That fool, the crime of regicide was hereditary in the first place.

If he had really killed me, all of his precious family members would have been sent to the execution ground.

“……?”

I tilted my head.

Pies' chest, where he had fallen, was bulging.

What was it that he had wrapped so tightly?

I absentmindedly lifted his chest and a golden object wrapped in a bundle was revealed.

Soon, laughter burst out.

“…Honestly, you foolish bastard!”

It was pumpkin pie.

Even after passing through that downpour, it was still warm.

“You brought a snack for the prince you were going to sell out?”

I could tell without even tasting it.

It must be a n-n-not ordinary, veeeery sweeeet p-p-pumpkin pie.

“…Ah, really……”

The rain had stopped.

The sky was clearing.

Was the end of the night such a ridiculous fellow?

If not, why was it so ridiculous?

I snickered.

I couldn't help it.

“Farewell, Pies Roesti……”

The corner of my Shion Pollinglight's eyes glistened.

It was rainwater.

The rain had already stopped, but it was because of the rainwater anyway.

“…My first friend.”

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