Vol. 1 Chapter 5 – Bride Recapture
by PinkPantherI woke up in the afternoon.
Sunlight streamed in through the window. The sun had long since passed its zenith and had begun to lean westward, but since dawn had already broken by the time I fell asleep, if I only considered the amount of time I had slept, it was not as though I had overslept that badly.
Last night, I really went through something awful.
The moment Princess Frederica disappeared into the bathtub, the hot water that had been restraining my arms and legs turned back into ordinary hot water.
Somehow freed, I left the bathing area with complicated feelings I had no idea how to put into words, then lay down on the bed just like that. But even when I tried to close my eyes, I could not fall asleep at all.
There were several reasons for that.
Part of it was that I was worried about Princess Frederica, who had vanished. Part of it was also my anger at being restrained for so long and having whatever she wanted done to me. Even though I had been drained that much, my body was not especially tired, and that could probably be counted as one reason too.
But the biggest reason was my first sexual experience. The lingering afterglow of it.
When I closed my eyes, that obscene, wet sound of lips came back to life deep in my ears.
In my mind, Princess Frederica’s full breasts and the pale pink nipples colored at their tips settled there, refusing to leave. Her beautiful face melting obscenely with pleasure and the gentle, smiling expression she had worn when we first met flashed back one after another. Before I knew it, my groin was tense and I was writhing in a restless, frustrated state.
‘Why did this have to happen to me…’
It was unreasonable. It would be easy to put it that way, but saying I had been restrained was not really an excuse.
If I had used magic, I probably could have escaped. But during the day, I had failed to control the power of 『Ignition』and that was still weighing on my mind. I had been afraid that if I lost control, I might hurt Princess Frederica.
Even so… my first experience with oral sex had felt better than I had imagined.
I felt like I understood the feelings of people who frequented brothels. In my previous life, honestly, I had never really understood the point of paying a large sum of money just to release semen. If I had that kind of money, I had thought it would be several times more meaningful to pour it into research materials instead.
‘If she presses me again next time… can I refuse?’
Probably not. If I tried, it would surely require considerable patience. After all, there was no way I could forget the taste of a fruit I had already known once.
As I thought about such things with my hazy, just-awakened mind and raised myself from the bed, almost at the exact same time, the sound of someone knocking on the door echoed.
“Come in.”
When I called out, the door opened, and the maid Giselle entered the room.
“Ozma-sama, are you awake?”
“Yeah. Though the sun’s already gotten pretty high.”
“I came to wake you several times, but you were sleeping so soundly…”
“Sorry about that.”
As I turned my eyes toward Giselle with a wry smile, I saw another person standing behind her.
It was a woman I had never seen before. She was taller than Giselle and Shirley, with fiery red hair full of strong curls and she looked every bit like a strong-willed female knight.
Though the design differed from Shirley’s, she wore a similarly daring knight outfit. What drew the eye was her exposed abdomen, where her abs were sharply defined enough to put most men to shame.
“Allow me to introduce her. This is Tamara-sama, Third Seat of the Imperial Guard.”
When Giselle introduced her that way, the female knight solemnly went down on one knee.
“To be granted an audience with the legendary great hero Ozma-sama leaves this Tamara without words. From this day forth, I intend to serve as your shield and devote myself body and soul to your protection. I humbly ask for your favor.”
Serve as my shield… did that mean she would be guarding me?
“W-Wait a second. What about Shirley?”
When I asked that, Giselle answered without changing her expression in the slightest.
“Shirley-sama will no longer come here. She has resigned from the knight order.”
“Huh!? W-Why?”
“Because she lost the duel this morning, and in accordance with the contract with the Spirit King, she is to be married off to Jotta-sama, the eldest son of the Hureck family.”
“Wha…!?”
I was at a loss for words.
The Hureck family. That was the family name Shirley had mentioned yesterday. Putting the pieces together, there was no doubt that this Jotta was that little mustached man.
“T-That’s ridiculous! There’s no way Shirley would lose to someone like that!”
Even just looking at their movements, Shirley was on a completely different level. I had seen countless soldiers on the battlefield with my own eyes. There was no way I could misjudge someone’s strength.
“However, it is the truth. Regrettably.”
The maid informed me of that in a voice that contained no emotion, and Tamara, still kneeling, timidly opened her mouth.
“Forgive my boldness, but allow me to speak. I was watching the duel, and from the moment she entered the arena, Shirley-dono was barely conscious. To put it plainly, she was staggering. That was… I believe she was drugged.”
“That’s so cowardly! It shouldn’t count! A duel like that should be invalid!”
Driven by my surging emotions, I stood up on the bed and raised my voice, but Tamara quietly shook her head.
“No. If one who calls herself a knight showed enough carelessness to be drugged, then that is her own fault. On the battlefield, words like cowardice are nothing more than excuses used by the weak.”
“Kh…”
Tamara was right.
I myself was no knight or anything of the sort, but I knew the battlefield all too well. No matter how much you cried and screamed about something being cowardly, the outcome would never be overturned.
As I sank to my knees in shock, Giselle continued speaking without the slightest hesitation.
“A contract with the Spirit King is absolute. The moment she was defeated, Shirley-sama could no longer escape the marriage, regardless of how unwanted that marriage might be. The procedures were completed within the morning. Her name has been entered into the family register, and Shirley-sama has already become a member of the Hureck family.”
Giselle calmly informed me of this while looking straight at me as I bit down hard on my lower lip.
‘To think this happened while I was sleeping so lazily…’
“The wedding ceremony will be held at the cathedral on a later date but tonight will likely be their first night together. Jotta-sama was boasting that he would make her pregnant in a single night. It is an extremely vulgar way of speaking, but leaving behind an heir is the highest priority for nobles.”
But little by little, thorns began to mix into Giselle’s tone. Almost as if she were blaming me.
“He is the sort of gentleman who has impregnated countless women and then cast them aside, and his infamy is extremely great. Most likely, Shirley-sama too will be made pregnant again and again like a sow, until she is ruined and eventually discarded. If Ozma-sama has such an inclination, then several years from now, showing mercy to the ruined Shirley-sama might make for an interesting diversion. Surely everyone would praise you, saying,『As expected of the legendary great hero, how kind he is.』”
“What did you say!”
That, even I could not endure.
Before I could think with my head, I leapt off the bed and grabbed Giselle’s shoulders with all my strength.
From the front of her clothing, which had opened wide from the force, her full breasts looked as though they might spill out, but I did not care about that at all. If this person had not been a woman, I probably would have struck her long ago.
“That’s enough!”
When I glared into her eyes, surprisingly, Giselle glared sharply back at me.
“Enough? That is my line.”
“What did you say!”
“Then I shall say it clearly for you. Ozma-sama, do you even have balls attached?”
The words that flew out of the maid’s mouth were so vulgar that, for a moment, I was dumbfounded and could not understand what she meant. The next instant, she shook off my hands and instead grabbed me by the front of my clothes.
“H-Hey, Giselle! You! What in the world are you saying!”
“Be silent!”
When Tamara hurriedly tried to stand up, Giselle cowed her with a single glare.
Then, thrusting her face toward mine until our noses almost brushed, she rattled on.
“You are not manly at all! You have been granted the right to take any woman as your wife, yet you pretend to be a good person and say everyone has the right to choose? Are you an idiot? Stop disguising your own confusion with pretty words! And then, in the end, after a woman is snatched away from the side, you get all mopey and take it out on a maid. Even though you have the power to save her, what exactly are you doing in a place like this!”
“Guh… W-What do you know!”
“I do not want to know. Shirley-sama said this. That Ozma-sama wishes to stop being Ozma-sama, and that she did not want to become a shackle for someone like you. Are you truly fine with ending it as something that could not be helped? Are you!”
There was no way I could be fine with that.
“If you cast aside the name of Ozma, abandon Shirley-sama, then what exactly are you trying to become?”
I brushed Giselle’s hand away and glared at her anew.
“…You said I could keep women around me whether they were married or unmarried, didn’t you?”
“Yes… However, do you possess the resolve for that? If you intend to exercise that authority as the legendary great hero, there will be no turning back.”
***
The night of despair had come.
When I turned my eyes toward the full-length mirror, I saw myself reflected there, wearing a veil made to resemble bridal attire, white tights and a garter belt, fingerless white arm covers, and indecent underwear.
What a humiliating appearance.
The maids had swarmed around me and forced me to change. Now, I was in the bedroom of the man I hated most in the world, waiting for that man, even though I did not want to wait at all.
Now that I think back, it was right before the duel. After drinking the tea Giselle had prepared for me, I remembered almost nothing.
All I recalled was facing the little mustached man while feeling light and floaty, and then, after taking just a single blow, collapsing to the ground.
The damage itself was nothing serious. My body had gone numb and I could not stand.
As I listened to the little mustached man being declared the winner, I ground my teeth and then my consciousness slipped away.
I had never imagined that Giselle would be in league with that man.
No, I should not say that. It was simply that I had been too naive.
“Please forgive me. This, too, is for Shirley-sama’s sake.”
Just before I was carried out of the arena in my hazy state, I felt as though Giselle had said that, but I was not certain.
When I turned my eyes outside the window, the sun had completely set.
This mansion stood in one corner of the district where the nobles’ royal capital residences gathered. According to the maids, while I was unconscious, the procedures had been completed, and my name had already been entered into his family register.
My family name had changed. I had become that little mustached man’s wife, Shirley Hureck. The despair I felt when I was told that was indescribable. Every time the maids called me『Madam』it felt as though my feet were being caught in a muddy swamp.
But a contract with the Spirit King is absolute. When I thought that from now on, I would have to serve that man as my husband, a chill ran through me. Goosebumps rose across my skin.
“…Ozma-dono.”
Suddenly, the profile of the one I loved crossed my mind. When he told me he wanted me to come with him, I had felt as though I were ascending to heaven.
But if that person were to cast aside his name, I would surely become a burden to him.
Perhaps there might have been a future where I cast aside my house, my honor, everything and went with him.
Living in a small house in the countryside, raising children while tending the fields. Modest yet happy days. A future that could no longer possibly exist now.
Just as I unintentionally lowered my gaze, the door opened with a rough BANG!
“Heh… Fuhahahahaha! What a fine appearance! My wife!”
The moment he saw me, the little mustached man broke into a vulgar smile and raised his voice as if greatly amused.
Humiliation. There was no other way to describe it.
“Kh… Kill me.”
“Do not be absurd. You are already mine. Do not worry, I will dote on you to my heart’s content, until you begin fawning over me of your own accord.”
I glared at the little mustached man as he approached with rough, excited breathing.
“As if I would ever fawn over someone like you!”
“Someone like me?”
The little mustached man grabbed my chin, twisted his mouth, and visually violated my entire body with a look meant to toy with me.
“Who do you think you are speaking to? If you are to address me, should it not be『Husband-sama』?”
“Guh…”
“Or is my wife such a fool that she would trample upon her contract with the Spirit King?”
“…Please. Kill me.”
When I hung my head weakly, he raised his voice as if reveling in victory.
“Uwahahahahahaha! Do not make me say the same thing again and again. I will not kill you. I will love you. I will love you thoroughly until both body and heart melt, and I will make you carry many of my children. You can only act strong for now. Soon enough, you will be fawning over me, begging for my cock. That is all women amount to, once they come to know a man!”
Then, veil and all, he grabbed my hair and twisted it upward.
“Ow!”
As my face twisted from the pain, the little mustached man thrust his chin toward me and raised his voice, sounding utterly aroused.
“You yourself made the contract with the Spirit King, that you would become the wife of the one who defeated you. Now then, let us have you declare your defeat. Say,『I was defeated. I apologize for my impudence. For the rest of my life, I will continue loving Jotta-sama.』”
His foul-smelling breath struck my face. I turned away and closed my eyes.
To think things would turn out like this…
“I… was defeated… I apologize… for my impudence…”
From the sheer humiliation, tears blurred at the corners of my eyes. In my mind, the figure of that person, the one I must not seek salvation from, passed through my thoughts.
‘Ozma-dono…’
Then, just as I drew in a deep breath to spin even more miserable words…
Suddenly, a tremendous explosion rang out.
A roar like the very axis of the earth had been shaken. The entire mansion trembled violently, and cracks ran across the walls. The window glass shattered, and screams echoed from various parts of the mansion.
“Wha!? What the hell was that!?”
The little mustached man cried out in panic, and I, bewildered, looked around.
Outside the window, now reduced to only its frame, flames flickered, and black smoke rose into the sky.
There were hurried footsteps running through the corridor, and one of the little mustached man’s personal soldiers burst into the room.
“Young master! W-We are under attack!”
“Impossible! This is the middle of the royal capital! Kh! What fool is responsible for this!? How large is the enemy force!?”
“Well…”
The soldier suddenly faltered.
“What is it!?”
“The enemy… consists of only two people. A young man and a maid.”
***
Let us go back in time a little.
In one corner of the district where the nobles’ royal capital residences gathered, we stopped the Moto on the road and Giselle turned back toward me as I sat on the cargo bed.
“That is the Hureck family’s royal capital residence.”
Most nobles, in addition to their main estate in their territory, also kept a separate residence in the royal capital.
In order to respond quickly to summons from the royal family and also for the purpose of socializing and building connections unique to noble society, many of them apparently had their eldest son, in other words, the next family head, stationed there permanently.
The Hureck family was no exception, and Jotta, the eldest son, lived in their royal capital residence.
There was no way I could understand the ranking of nobles in this era but even compared to the surrounding mansions, it was quite a large estate.
It was surrounded by high walls, and beyond the iron-barred gate, a spacious garden could be seen. At the far end of that garden stood a splendid stone mansion that looked as though it had a long history.
“The surrounding mansions have already been cleared of people.”
When Giselle said that and I looked around, it was true that almost none of the other mansions had lights on. Only the Hureck family’s mansion seemed to float up out of the darkness.
“By Her Majesty the Queen’s order, this entire area is empty of people, with the exception of the Hureck family’s mansion. Every road leading here has been sealed off by the Imperial Guard, so please use your power to your heart’s content.”
The Queen’s full cooperation.
It had been daytime when I heard about Shirley from Giselle but the reason it had become this late was because we had been waiting for the evacuation of the nearby area to be completed.
I had no idea what basis she had for it, but Giselle had confidently said,『There is no need to worry. At the very least, before the sun sets, there is absolutely no chance that man will lay a hand on Shirley-sama.』And so, even while impatience scorched my chest, I endured it.
“Even so…that was quite a splendid declaration you made to Her Majesty the Queen. As for my doubts regarding whether you possessed balls or not, I shall gladly apologize and correct myself. Ozma-sama did indeed possess magnificent balls.”
“Did possess…? I don’t remember showing them to you.”
“It was my imagination.”
“Don’t imagine that! I mean! Whether I have them or not! There are more important things to worry about, aren’t there!?”
At that, she tilted her head with a truly puzzled expression.
“Other things… hmm?”
“…No, never mind… Sorry. You’re kind of amazing.”
In any case, after that, I went to see Her Majesty the Queen with Giselle and Tamara accompanying me. And then, I declared this.
“Your Majesty! I will not move according to your wishes. No, if you say this country belongs to me, then I will act freely. Who I take as my wife and who I have children with, will be decided by my will. I have no reason to be forced by you!”
Perhaps because it was so sudden, Her Majesty the Queen looked taken aback. But after exchanging glances with Giselle, she gave a satisfied smile.
“As Ozma-sama’s heart desires.”
And then, she knelt at my feet once more.
She had tried so passionately to make me take her daughter as my wife. I had been prepared for a complete breakdown between us, but instead, it was anticlimactic. The Queen yielded so unexpectedly easily that I felt bewildered.
‘I kind of feel like I was set up, though…’
In contrast to what was going on inside my chest, Tamara, upon seeing the Queen bowing before me, burst into tears from sheer emotion, saying that she had witnessed the birth of a new Ozma legend.
Apparently, despite her strong-willed appearance, she was quite easily moved.
The reason I went to speak with Her Majesty the Queen was simple. I wanted her to overlook what I was about to do. After all, I was about to attack the mansion of a fairly influential noble.
Of course, even if things had broken down with Her Majesty the Queen, there was no way I would have given up on rescuing Shirley. In that case, I would have chosen the option of stealing her away and fleeing.
“I do not intend to hold back against anyone who resists. People will probably die.”
When I said that, I thought she might stop me, but the answer that came back was, once again,『As your heart desires.』In fact, she even made arrangements to clear out the area so that I could use magic without any hesitation.
“Then… shall we begin? Giselle, wait here.”
I stepped down from the cargo bed and turned my eyes toward the mansion across the street. But then, Giselle also stepped down from the driver’s seat and bowed politely.
“There is no need for concern. I can protect myself. I have a duty to witness how this matter unfolds.”
“A duty? What’s that supposed to mean…?”
“More importantly, Ozma-sama, in noble mansions, in addition to the nobles themselves, there are often users of spirit magic stationed as private soldiers. I shall inform you just in case, but『Dispel』and『Magic Shield』have no effect on spirit magic, so please take care. Spirit magic is not the materialization of mana. At the stage where it manifests, it has already become a physical phenomenon.”
“I see, so that’s how it works… Wait! Hold on!? How do you know something like that!?”
There was no way she could have made that statement unless she understood not only spirit magic, but also the magic from my era, which should have been lost in this age.
“You… what exactly are you?”
“Would『just a maid』… not satisfy you? Well, is it not fine? At the very least, I am not Ozma-sama’s enemy.”
I let out a deep sigh.
At this point, there was no use suspecting her. This was not the time for that. Every single moment was precious.
Turning my back to her, I stepped toward the mansion. Then, as I walked down the street, I thrust my hand forward.
“Second Tier, Fireball!”
Magic particles swirled and converged in my hand and the fireball that shot out with a roaring gou struck the iron-barred gate.
Breaking the silence of the night, a shrill explosion rang out, and the gate warped, then burst apart.
Black smoke rose. As I stepped over the gate, where the remaining flames still smoldered, I fired another『Fireball』toward the mansion. With a roar that seemed to echo in my belly, the ground shook violently.
As expected, the power had risen by about two tiers. The Second Tier『Fireball』was manifesting with the destructive force of the Fourth Tier『Explosion.』
‘This is troublesome in its own way… It doesn’t look like I can hold back at all.’
I had told Her Majesty the Queen,『I don’t intend to hold back』but this was a problem from before that point.
When I raised my face with a wry smile, black smoke was billowing up.
Since the mansion itself was made of stone, the fire had not spread to it but the garden trees had caught fire and were going up in flames.
Along with the commotion, countless figures rushed out of the mansion. Drawing their swords while shouting angrily, a murderous swarm of soldiers came spilling out one after another. It was like a hornet’s nest had been stirred up.
“It’s him!”
“Capture him! He’s carrying some kind of explosive! Be careful!”
Probably wary of my magic, the soldiers with anger in their eyes advanced toward us while spreading out in a semicircle, trying to surround us.
“…There are more of them than I expected.”
There were far too many for simple mansion guards.
Giselle responded to my mutter.
“Yes. This is a number more than sufficient to charge them with treason. As for Jotta Hureck, there has also been a suspicious amount of traffic between him and the neighboring country of Mature, so he has been the target of an internal investigation for some time. This evacuation was also arranged under the pretext of inspecting the Hureck mansion.”
“So… you’re saying you tried to use me to purge them?”
“Of course not. It is merely a coincidence.”
There were many things I wanted to say but this was hardly the time.
The soldiers came at us, roaring.
If this had been a battlefield in the past, I would have annihilated them all at once with high-tier magic. But now, if I carelessly unleashed a large spell, its unexpected power might blow away Shirley along with the entire mansion.
‘Here… I’ll split them apart.’
“Third Tier, Modified! Flame Curtain!”
When I raised both hands and swung them down, curtains of flame taller than a person spread straight from my left and right toward the mansion. It was a spell I had created myself by modifying the formula of the Third Tier『Fire Pillar』meant to divide the enemy.
I heard a few screams but those belonged to only one or two people who had been in the line of fire. The others came to a halt amid the commotion. But that was enough. By deploying curtains of flame on both sides to block the soldiers’ entry, a straight path leading to the mansion’s entrance opened before me.
Most of the soldiers had already come outside the mansion. And now, blocked by the curtains of flame, they could no longer move. The inside of the mansion was probably lightly guarded.
From here on, it was a lightning assault.
I broke into a full sprint down the path protected by those blazing curtains of flame.
The moment I moved my body, I could tell. It was light. As expected, this body’s physical ability was far superior to that of my previous life’s body.
And yet, the sound of Giselle’s footsteps behind me stayed perfectly close, right at my back, without falling behind in the slightest.
‘Seriously, what the hell is she!?’
“Damn it! What is this!? Is there no one who can use water-attribute spirit magic!”
“Hurry up and put it out! Someone protect the young master!”
Beyond the curtains of flame came the soldiers’ angry roars, curses and panicked voices. Listening to them without really meaning to, we crossed the garden in one rush.
But when we approached the mansion, the door opened, and new soldiers appeared in front of us.
“W-What is this!? A fire!?”
The moment they stepped outside, the soldiers panicked at the sight of the flames raging in the garden. There were only five of them. On top of that, they were gathered together in almost a single line.
“In that case! Second Tier, Modified! Flame Javelin!”
This, too, was one of my originals. It was something I had created by modifying the formula of『Fireball.』It would not explode, but it was a spell with only its piercing power enhanced.
I gripped the spear of flame that formed in my hand and hurled it with all my strength.
The spear of flame flew forward, shaking the air and cutting through the wind. It pierced straight through the bellies of the gathered soldiers all at once, then vanished.
Kicking down the dying soldiers who were still standing there groaning, and stepping over the corpses that had fallen to the ground, Giselle and I burst into the mansion.
Beyond the entrance, the foyer had corridors on the left and right leading deeper inside, and directly ahead was a grand staircase leading to the second floor.
Somewhere in this vast mansion, Shirley had to be.
‘Damn it… I shouldn’t have left search-type magic to someone else.’
My former secretary, Misca, had been so skilled at search-type magic that I had neglected learning it myself but to think the price for that would come due in a place like this…
“Where are you! Shirleeeeeeeeeeeeeey!!”
While my body burned with impatience, I shouted at the top of my lungs.
“Shirley-sama is in the room farthest in the back on the second floor.”
At those words from Giselle behind me, I charged furiously up the stairs without even turning around. It was not that I believed her. The problem came before that. I was so frantic that I did not even have the composure to examine how she knew that, or whether it might be a trap.
Even I thought I was no vessel fit to be a great hero. But I did not want to lose Shirley so badly that I had lost all my composure.
When I ran up the stairs and reached the second floor, the corridor split left and right.
“Either right or left will be fine. This floor has a circular corridor structure.”
With Giselle’s voice at my back, I started running to the right. On the left-hand wall were several doors, while on the right was the open atrium above the entrance hall. After going down the red-carpeted corridor for a while, I reached a dead end, where the corridor turned left.
The moment I rounded that corner, under the dim light of the lamps, the far end of the corridor suddenly grew bright. I could see a spherical flame swelling up in the distance.
“Tch!”
Just as I reflexively began to deploy『Magic Shield』 Giselle’s words crossed my mind.
『Dispel』and『Magic Shield』have no effect.
The fireball had already been released. The flames came rushing toward me. I hurriedly threw myself to the floor. With a roaring gou, the fireball skimmed past overhead. The unpleasant smell of singed hair struck my nose.
In terms of power, it was only slightly stronger than the 『Fireball』I had used before coming to this era. But that thing was similar, yet fundamentally different. It was probably fire spirit magic.
While collapsing onto the floor, I activated my magic.
“Second Tier, Modified! Flame Javelin!”
In indoor combat, the magic I could use was limited. Especially now, when something was wrong with my control over magic power.
If I carelessly unleashed a high-tier spell and ended up dragging Shirley into it, it would be unbearable to even look at the result.
Still lying down, I hurled the spear of flame. With a dull impact sound, a man’s scream-like voice echoed from the far end of the corridor.
“Splendidly done.”
Giselle said that as she appeared late from around the corner of the corridor. But I ignored her and began running again.
At the end of the corridor, the man who had likely fired the fireball earlier was collapsed on the floor.
There, the corridor bent to the left. Beyond it, on the right-hand wall halfway down the corridor, I could see a set of double doors larger than the others.
“Is it there!?”
I flung the doors open and jumped inside. It was an especially large room, almost like a dance floor. A luxurious chandelier hung from the ceiling, and several chairs were arranged along the walls.
But Shirley was nowhere to be seen here either. Instead, in front of the door visible at the far end, a giant of a man clad in full-body armor stood in my way, holding a massive war hammer.
“Guwooooooooooooooh!”
The moment the giant spotted me, he let out a roar and charged fiercely.
The enormous iron hammer swung down toward my head. I dodged it with a sideways leap while activating my magic.
“Kh! Second Tier, Modified! Flame Javelin!”
The iron hammer smashed the stone floor. Shards of stone scattered. Right around the same time as the explosive sound, the spear of flame I released attacked the giant’s shoulder from point-blank range. At the moment of impact, a sharp metallic sound rang out.
“Guoh…!”
The giant staggered back dramatically. But he did not fall. Unharmed. No, all that remained was a black scorch mark and a dent on the shoulder guard. I had no idea what material that armor was made of, but it was terrifyingly hard.
I quickly sprang back up and took some distance while moving around behind the giant.
‘What should I do…? If I use magic with any more power than this, the mansion might collapse. The person inside the armor probably isn’t completely undamaged. In that case, I could fire Flame Javelin repeatedly and build up damage… I don’t want to waste time in a place like this, though…’
While I was thinking that, the giant charged toward me again. He raised the iron hammer. That crude lump of iron came at me as if trying to crush me flat.
But then, I realized something.
‘Why am I able to dodge this?’
At first, I had simply thought it was because this body had higher physical ability than my previous life’s. But I could see the hammer as it swung down, and I could predict its trajectory. I could see the opponent’s next movement too. More than anything, even without thinking about how I should move, my body moved on its own.
A sensation impossible in my previous body. Movements impossible in my previous body. The only explanation I could think of was that this body had been ingrained with hand-to-hand combat techniques on the level of a master.
‘In that case! …Can I do it?’
A question to myself. The answer was『Yes!』
“Guwooooooooooooooh!”
Together with a deep, beast-like roar, the giant swung the iron hammer down.
I dodged it by a hair’s breadth, then slipped behind him as though switching places with his forward-leaning body. Then I grappled onto the giant’s back, thrust my fingertips into the joint between his helmet and armor, where a small patch of exposed skin could be seen, and released fire.
In this situation,『Ignition』was more than enough.
The flames that entered through the gap transformed the inside of the armor into a scorching furnace.
Flames and black smoke erupted from every joint in the armor, and the unpleasant smell of burning flesh struck my nose.
“Gugaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?”
Throwing me off, the giant rolled across the floor while letting out a death-scream.
The armor struck the stone floor with a loud metallic clang, and before long, leaving behind black smoke and faint lingering flames, the giant stopped moving entirely.
“Haa, haa, haa…”
Apparently, using close-quarters combat that I was not used to had strained my nerves more than I had expected.
My body was stiff. The sweat would not stop. It was terribly hard to breathe.
‘There’s so much I don’t understand. What the hell is this body…?’
But it was also true that I had been saved by it.
As I slowly raised myself, Giselle, who had been watching the situation from the corridor, came into the room while clapping her hands.
“Splendid. As expected of the legendary great hero. C’est bon, c’est bon indeed.” [TL:FREESIA IS THIS YOU?!]
“Cebon? What’s that?”
“That was…from when I served Emperor Elizabeta under the name Lia…Though even if I say that, you would not understand. It is enough for you to think of it as praise. Now then, Shirley-sama is beyond the door at the back. Please hurry.”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
I turned my back to her and walked toward the door at the back. Then I kicked it open and stepped into the room beyond with that same momentum.
“Shirley!”
And sure enough, there I found Shirley and the little mustached man.
At the back of the bedroom, near the window facing the rear garden, the little mustached man was holding Shirley from behind and pressing a dagger against her neck. Shirley was dressed in white lace underwear, with a veil like bridal attire over her head.
She was certainly beautiful, but when I thought that this man had made her wear it, rage surged through me so fiercely it felt like my blood might flow backward.
“Ah… Aah…”
The moment she saw me, perhaps unable to find the words, Shirley’s lips trembled in small movements.
Tears spilled down her white cheeks in streams, and a voice like a sob leaked out.
Meanwhile, the little mustached man wore an expression mixed with fear and astonishment.
“W-What did you come here for, you bastard! W-What happened to Aizley!? H-He’s a monster who killed a hundred men! T-There’s no way someone like you could defeat him so easily!”
Aizley was probably that giant man in full armor.
“…Try putting even a hair’s breadth of a wound on Shirley. You’ll pay for it with your life.”
“Hah! Do not be absurd. This woman is already my wife. No one else has any right to tell me how to treat her!”
“…Let Shirley go quietly.”
“Who do you think you’re talking to!? This is exactly what people mean when they say thieves are shameless. You are the one who should kneel and beg for forgiveness! Listen well! I obtained this woman through a legitimate duel! Surely you do not intend to trample upon a contract with the Spirit King, do you? If you do such a thing, the Orthodox Church will not forgive you, and Her Majesty the Queen, in the name of the Spirit King, will surely have you punished!”
When the little mustached man raised his voice like that, Giselle quietly entered the room.
“Jotta-sama.”
“Hm, o-oh! You are the messenger of Her Majesty the Queen… You came at just the right time. Tell this fool. Tell him that he is finished.”
Giselle quietly lowered her eyes.
“Yes. It is finished.”
“Indeed. Her Majesty the Queen, the Orthodox Church, the Spirit King, God, and even the great hero Ozma himself would never forgive this man’s outrage!”
At that, Giselle let out a sigh of exasperation.
“Please do not misunderstand. The one who is finished is you, Jotta-sama.”
“Huh?”
“Just now, you invoked the name of the great hero Ozma-sama, but…”
Giselle opened her eyes and gave a faint smile.
“This gentleman here is that very great hero Ozma-sama himself.”
The little mustached man stared blankly, like a cat that had just been startled by a sudden clap.
“Huh? What nonsense are you…”
“Ozma-sama’s resurrection is written in the Orthodox scriptures, so I believe Jotta-sama is aware of it as well. However, when that would occur is a royal secret. Not even the Archbishop knows of it. And just the other day, Ozma-sama welcomed the day of his resurrection.”
“R-Ridiculous. You expect me to b-believe such nonsense!?”
“No, there is no need for you to believe it. Ozma-sama’s resurrection is classified information. The reason I went out of my way to tell you is so that you may understand the weight of the sin you have committed.”
“W-What did you say!?”
“There is no longer any need to count your crimes. You tried, through scheming, to forcefully make a woman whom the great hero Ozma-sama had chosen into your own. Her Majesty the Queen has also commanded that, for that one matter alone, you are to be sentenced to death.”
“S-Scheming!? W-What are you saying!? T-That was, y-y-you!”
Whether from fear or anger, I could not tell, but the little mustached man’s body began trembling in small shudders.
“Hmm? Whatever could you mean?”
“Y-You set me uuuuuuuup!”
When Giselle smiled brightly, the little mustached man screamed at the top of his lungs.
He shoved Shirley toward me and she came stumbling forward as if about to fall.
“Shirley!”
I hurriedly reached out and caught her body.
But in that interval, the little mustached man dashed toward the window and threw himself out into the air in one leap.
It was only the second floor, but noble mansions had high ceilings on each floor. It was still a considerable height. If he slammed into the ground, of course, he would not escape unharmed.
But as I held Shirley and peered down from the window, I saw the little mustached man land softly, like a feather. At once, Giselle clapped her hands together with a pon, as though she had just remembered something.
“Ah, yes, that is right. That gentleman’s magic was of the wind system, was it not?”
Then, with a somewhat deliberately theatrical gesture, she folded her arms.
“But this is troublesome. If he escapes like that, Ozma-sama’s existence may be brought to light. Ahh, how troublesome.”
“No… You’re the one who revealed it, weren’t you?”
“Now, now, that is that, and this is this. What do you think? Could you not finish him with Ozma-sama’s ancient-language magic?”
“No…At this distance, I would have to use fairly large-scale magic, but the damage would be pretty severe…”
“To what extent?”
“I can limit the range, so I think it would only blow away the rear garden, but…”
“Then there is no problem whatsoever. It will be fine.”
Giselle smiled sweetly.
‘Hey, you… You’re smiling the same way Her Majesty the Queen does.’
“Fine… Don’t blame me later!”
I looked down at the little mustached man as he ran through the rear garden and activated my magic.
“Seventh Tier! Prominence!”
***
“Haa, haa, haa… Wh-what do you mean, Ozma! Don’t screw with me! Someday I’ll come crawling back and I’ll make sure to tear off that false face of yours!”
I sprint through the backyard with all my strength, heading for the back alley behind the mansion.
Leaving aside the man calling himself Ozma, if the Queen is involved, then there is no choice left but to flee the country.
We had joined hands with the independence faction of the neighboring nation, Mature, and had been advancing a grand plan.
Of course, we had prepared an escape route for times like this.
I will gather strength in a foreign land, lead soldiers, and return.
‘When that time comes… simply killing that man will not be enough to satisfy me. That maid, Shirley too, no! Even the Queen herself, I’ll tear off their limbs and use them up as nothing more than manwhore!’
Harboring dark ambitions within my chest, I reach for the bar, the kan’nuki, on the backyard gate.
But at that moment, the earth suddenly shakes violently.
“Wh-wh-what the hell!?”
In the next instant, a crack runs beneath my feet. And deep within that fissure, I see scorching flames raging and boiling.
***
“A-amazing… th-this is the legendary magic that defeated the evil dragon.”
In my arms, Shirley looked up at the sky and murmured in a daze.
Outside the window, from a crack running through the ground, a pillar of highly viscous flame was shooting straight up into the sky with a tremendous roar.
Meanwhile, as I held Shirley in my arms, inwardly, I was completely freaking out over the power of my own magic. I might have even been showing the whites of my eyes.
‘Ehh… What the hell is thiiis!? Th-this is bad. I c-can’t just carelessly use high-tier magic… not after this.’
If the Seventh Tier already had this much power, then what in the world would happen if I used the Tenth Tier 『Falling Sun Sundown』?
One wrong move and not only this country, but the entire continent itself might be wiped out.
Though there was no way for me to know it at this point, the pillar of flame, which soared far beyond the tallest spire in the country and reached high enough to pierce the clouds, was apparently observed even from the distant neighboring nation.
***
“You have returned, Giselle.”
“Yes.”
Her Majesty the Queen was already dressed in her nightclothes before bed. On the table, a bottle of the brand of wine she favored as a nightcap had been opened.
“It seems things went well.”
“Yes, without incident. For the most part, it was just as I had heard from Feria…That said, even that was information Feria had heard from Elder Zumba, so there were parts that had been distorted in the telling and there were moments when I became somewhat anxious…”
Her Majesty the Queen laughed softly, kusukusu.
“To begin with, Ozma-sama’s first wife was named Sally, a royal guard knight. I immediately understood that it must have meant Shirley…Even so, fate truly cannot be changed, can it? As her mother, I had wanted to make my own daughter Ozma-sama’s first wife.”
As for myself, I could only smile wryly. I see. So that was why she had been pushing so aggressively.
“And then… was Shirley angry?”
“Very much so. The moment Ozma-sama was no longer watching, she pressed a sword to my throat.”
“My, my. That is what happens when one uses such forceful methods.”
“Based on what I had heard from Feria, I merely made an assumption that this was how things would unfold and acted accordingly. There was not even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of it happening but I also knew that if Ozma-sama did not move, Your Majesty would have sent the royal guard knights charging into the mansion.”
Her Majesty the Queen faintly relaxed the corners of her mouth.
“After all, we already knew that the eldest son of the Huleck family was conspiring with the independence faction of Mature and plotting something wicked. Ozma-sama choosing to act was nothing short of a godsend.”
The neighboring nation of Mature, which carried the influence of the Empire, was a vassal state, but in recent years, those calling themselves the independence faction had begun making suspicious movements. Their names and identities had yet to be grasped, but it seemed their leader was claiming to be the『legitimate successor who inherited the blood of Emperor Grozny.』
“So, where is Shirley now?”
“A short while ago, I escorted her to Ozma-sama.”
“I see. That is excellent.”
At that point, Her Majesty the Queen’s expression turned serious.
“We have already received an inquiry from the Orthodox Church.”
“Already… Your Majesty?”
“Of course. That magic is the very symbol of the great hero Ozma. No one who saw it would fail to remember the legend of the evil dragon’s defeat. They sent an inquiry bearing the Archbishop’s own signature, asking whether the prophesied resurrection of Ozma had come to pass.”
“How did you respond?”
“I suggested that perhaps the Huleck family’s donations had been insufficient enough to incur the wrath of Ozma in the heavens.”
“That is… quite a magnificent provocation.”
The corruption of the Orthodox Church was unbearable to behold. Her Majesty the Queen had made a sarcastic jab at the rampant bribery within it.
“By the way, regarding Ozma-sama’s enrollment in the Academy, there will be a scholarship transfer from the regional branch school next week, so I am thinking of having him join at that time.”
“I permit it. If I recall correctly, his second wife is supposed to be someone he meets at the Academy, yes?”
“Yes. Feria told me she was likely a fellow student, and that her name was 『Vine』.”