“What’s the meaning of this, Ernst?”
The calm voice reverberated clearly throughout the room.
As a result, his question carried a lot of weight behind it.
However, Commander Lieber wasn’t disturbed by this in the slightest.
“The meaning, huh?”
He mused to himself in a soliloquy, before suddenly turning away from Sir Leonhard and threw the stone in his hand into the darkness. The sight of the stone shattering into pieces came to my mind and I quickly covered my face with both hands.
But the shatter never came.
When I opened my eyes again, before I knew it, there was a man who stood clad in the darkness. In his right hand was the Demon Lord stone.
“Thanks for your cooperation.”
The man who raised the stone as if to show it off with a smile was a young man I met at a restaurant in the village… Latte.
So Latte was from Raptor, after all.
Although the fact that he turned out to be an enemy was quite a shock to me, right now, I was still overwhelmed by Commander Lieber’s betrayal that it didn’t register at all.
“And that’s how it is.”
When Commander Lieber declared as such, Sir Leonhard’s face distorted in pain. I’ve only known him for less than a month so it feels unreal to me, but what about Sir Leonhard? How much pain is he going through? I can’t even begin to imagine.
“Are you betraying the kingdom?”
The voice he squeezed out showed how much emotion he was trying to suppress, as was his sharp gaze that put pressure on me, even when I wasn’t in his line of sight.
But Commander Lieber snorted happily without a care in the world.
“Betray?”
He repeated Sir Leonhard’s words before breaking into a grin. A cruel, false, evil grin.
“What are you saying this late into the scene? I’ve already sold myself out long ago.”
Commander Lieber lightly pushed me.
Seeing me stagger, Sir Leonhard opened his eyes wide.
“Ernst!!!!!!”
A beast’s roar echoed. Sir Leonhard kicked the floor, and at the same time, Commander Lieber threw the torch onto the ground.
Commander Lieber caught Sir Leonhard’s downward slash with his sword. Steel against steel vigorously collided and threw sparks everywhere.
“Sir Leon…!”
“Oops, I think it’s best you don’t move.”
Latte grabbed my hand as I was about to run in.
“If you get too close, I doubt it’ll only be a flesh wound.”
He forcefully pulled me back.
It’s frustrating, but he’s right. The unfolding battle between Commander Lieber and Sir Leonhard is so fast I’m finding it difficult to follow. Now that he isn’t his usual calm self, I doubt even my words will reach him.
I wanted to stop the fight but didn’t know how.
So I could do nothing but watch on with my lips clenched tight.
Sir Leonhard swung down his sword as if letting out his anger that had nowhere to go, but Commander Lieber parried each of those heavy attacks with ease.
I couldn’t believe he was laughing so happily in such a fierce battle.
“To think I get to fight you seriously! When was the last time, I wonder? Answer me, Leonhard!”
“Stop joking around!!”
Sir Leonhard cut off Commander Lieber’s light-hearted tone and swung his sword at the same time, but Commander Lieber caught it with the hilt and flicked it away.
Commander Lieber then returned the favour with a thrust towards Sir Leonhard’s face. A lock of his black hair, as he narrowly avoided the sword, scattered in the air.
Sir Leonhard kicked Commander Lieber’s body and gained some distance.
Sounds of heavy breathing echoed within the dimly lit room.
The two who had been staring at each other started running at the same time while keeping some distance between them. The torch flame still rolling on the floor was greatly disturbed by the changes in the air. Every time their shadows clashed, an ear-piercing sound resonated across the room.
“Why!? Why did you betray us!?”
Sir Leonhard glared and shouted as he closed the distance.
“You should already know.”
Commander Lieber tilted his sword and slid out from the interlock before bringing it down in a downward slash. Sir Leonhard jumped back to avoid it.
“I’m sure you’ll notice sooner or later with that good head of yours. When Raptor gets the upper hand ahead of us enough times, you’ll ask yourself the ‘what if’ question. But this friendship of ours has blinded you, hasn’t it? Am I wrong!?”
“How dare you say that…!!”
To the sword that was being swung down towards him, Commander Lieber launched a counterattack of his own.
Sir Leonhard bent down and avoided Commander Lieber’s sword. A deep gash was left on a pillar behind him along with a jarring noise. In that position, Sir Leonhard caught Commander Lieber’s leg.
Commander Lieber consequently plunged his sword from above, causing Sir Leonhard to roll sideways, narrowly avoiding it. As Sir Leonhard regained his posture, Commander Lieber swept at his feet, but Sir Leonhard leaped into the air and evaded it.
Commander Lieber then flipped his blade upwards, and turned it into an upward slash. It was easy to forget to breathe when watching this battle that was unfolding at a tremendous speed.
“This isn’t a very knightly way of fighting, Leonhard!”
“I’m trying to kill you. If you want to be graceful about it, you can do it in the afterlife!!”
Sir Leonhard, who told Commander Lieber to throw away the formalities, thrust his sword forward. A red streak ran down Commander Lieber’s cheek. Without a moment for pause, Sir Leonhard followed with a push from his left palm, causing Commander Lieber to lose his balance, before connecting it with a downward slash.
Commander Lieber caught that attack at the last second.
“Oh, so scary.”
While out of breath, Commander Lieber laughed.
Sir Leonhard looked like he was in pain compared to the commander who seemed to be having the time of his life. It was an emotional pain, not the physical kind. His grim expression was one I’d never seen before, but instead of being intimidating, it was full of sadness. I wished I didn’t see him with such a face. I’d never wanted him to make a face like that ever again.
“This might be the first time I see you so desperate.”
“That’s right. And it’ll be the last time you ever get to see it.”
The two conversed as they crossed blades.
‘And here I wanted to see more of it,’ Commander Lieber murmured in a tone that left me wondering whether he was being serious. He laughed with the same gentle expression he gave me when he was reminiscing Leonhard’s old stories back at the fort.
“The you now should understand why I acted so foolishly.”
“…Shut up.”
Sir Leonhard’s shoulders trembled slightly from Commander Lieber’s words.
He’d been listening to all the remarks that Commander Lieber had to say up until this point. What could possibly bother him enough to upset him?
“So you do understand, after all.”
Commander Lieber narrowed his eyes happily.
“…You know, Leonhard. Finding something irreplaceable is the pinnacle of happiness.”
“Shut up!”
Sir Leonhard roared as if to drown out Commander Lieber’s voice.
“But at the same time, it means you’ll always be obsessed with the fear of losing it.”
“I told you to shut the fuck up…!!”
*kiiin* A sharp sound reverberated.
The sword that was blown away made an arc in the air and fell down. It slipped across the floor and hit a wall, before stopping still.
Sir Leonhard trained the tip of his sword towards Commander Lieber’s throat.
Only the two’s rough breathing could be heard from within the room.
The battle came to an end. And with that, came the predicament.
No one moved an inch.
After what felt like an eternity, Commander Lieber finally broke the silence.
“…Aren’t you going to kill me?”
Commander Lieber asked with such calm eyes. No impatience nor resentment could be seen. He only titled his head slightly and smiled.
Did you perhaps expect this outcome? From the bottom of your heart, did you want Sir Leonhard to stop you, even though you’ve forsaken everything in this world except your wife?
“…”
Sir Leonhard remained silent and only stared at Commander Lieber. His eyes, seemingly full of unknown emotions, took my breath away.
I don’t want this. There’s no need for things to end like this.
“Sir Leon, please stand down.”
Although he heard me, he didn’t reply.
I got impatient and took a step forward but was stopped by Latte. I tried to shake him off but couldn’t win against the strength of a man.
As I struggled, Commander Lieber continued his onslaught to corner Sir Leonhard with his words.
“I am the man who betrayed this kingdom and your loved one. Even then, do you still intend to keep me alive?”
“Sir Lieber!”
I shouted out of frustration.
Shut up already. Don’t corner my beloved any more than this. He has already been through a world of pain so if you hurt him any more, I won’t forgive you.
“Isn’t it better to get rid of me here and run away together with Her Highness? Better do it before Raptor’s men surround this place.”
“…You’re right.”
Sir Leonhard replied with a face that looked like he was crying.
I felt a certain resolution on that face and desperately tried to reach him.
“Please, please stop! You don’t have to do it! Please!!”
I didn’t want to see it.
I pleaded. Not using logic nor reason, but purely of my own selfishness. I definitely didn’t want to see the scene unfold.
Commander Lieber glanced my way and smiled, shaking his head how a child would.
“Your Highness is so kind. But please, close your eyes, at least until Leonhard has fulfilled his role.”
The moment I heard that soothing, gentle voice, an emotion so strong it was splitting my head apart surged up inside me.
My body trembled as it could no longer contain my feelings.
Kind? Who is?
And Sir Leonhard’s role? What the hell is that?
Don’t go and spout random nonsense when you don’t even know anything!
“…with me.”
The emotions that churned through my veins were neither pain nor sadness.
Only pure and undiluted anger.
I stomped the ground as hard as I could.
The moment all eyes gathered on me, I screamed.
“Don’t screw with me!! Don’t you dare make Sir Leonhard do such a thing!!”
My outcry was so loud it put a strain on my throat. It was perhaps the loudest I’d ever been ever since I came to this world.
“What’s the meaning of this, Ernst?”
The calm voice reverberated clearly throughout the room.
As a result, his question carried a lot of weight behind it.
However, Commander Lieber wasn’t disturbed by this in the slightest.
“The meaning, huh?”
He mused to himself in a soliloquy, before suddenly turning away from Sir Leonhard and threw the stone in his hand into the darkness. The sight of the stone shattering into pieces came to my mind and I quickly covered my face with both hands.
But the shatter never came.
When I opened my eyes again, before I knew it, there was a man who stood clad in the darkness. In his right hand was the Demon Lord stone.
“Thanks for your cooperation.”
The man who raised the stone as if to show it off with a smile was a young man I met at a restaurant in the village… Latte.
So Latte was from Raptor, after all.
Although the fact that he turned out to be an enemy was quite a shock to me, right now, I was still overwhelmed by Commander Lieber’s betrayal that it didn’t register at all.
“And that’s how it is.”
When Commander Lieber declared as such, Sir Leonhard’s face distorted in pain. I’ve only known him for less than a month so it feels unreal to me, but what about Sir Leonhard? How much pain is he going through? I can’t even begin to imagine.
“Are you betraying the kingdom?”
The voice he squeezed out showed how much emotion he was trying to suppress, as was his sharp gaze that put pressure on me, even when I wasn’t in his line of sight.
But Commander Lieber snorted happily without a care in the world.
“Betray?”
He repeated Sir Leonhard’s words before breaking into a grin. A cruel, false, evil grin.
“What are you saying this late into the scene? I’ve already sold myself out long ago.”
Commander Lieber lightly pushed me.
Seeing me stagger, Sir Leonhard opened his eyes wide.
“Ernst!!!!!!”
A beast’s roar echoed. Sir Leonhard kicked the floor, and at the same time, Commander Lieber threw the torch onto the ground.
Commander Lieber caught Sir Leonhard’s downward slash with his sword. Steel against steel vigorously collided and threw sparks everywhere.
“Sir Leon…!”
“Oops, I think it’s best you don’t move.”
Latte grabbed my hand as I was about to run in.
“If you get too close, I doubt it’ll only be a flesh wound.”
He forcefully pulled me back.
It’s frustrating, but he’s right. The unfolding battle between Commander Lieber and Sir Leonhard is so fast I’m finding it difficult to follow. Now that he isn’t his usual calm self, I doubt even my words will reach him.
I wanted to stop the fight but didn’t know how.
So I could do nothing but watch on with my lips clenched tight.
Sir Leonhard swung down his sword as if letting out his anger that had nowhere to go, but Commander Lieber parried each of those heavy attacks with ease.
I couldn’t believe he was laughing so happily in such a fierce battle.
“To think I get to fight you seriously! When was the last time, I wonder? Answer me, Leonhard!”
“Stop joking around!!”
Sir Leonhard cut off Commander Lieber’s light-hearted tone and swung his sword at the same time, but Commander Lieber caught it with the hilt and flicked it away.
Commander Lieber then returned the favour with a thrust towards Sir Leonhard’s face. A lock of his black hair, as he narrowly avoided the sword, scattered in the air.
Sir Leonhard kicked Commander Lieber’s body and gained some distance.
Sounds of heavy breathing echoed within the dimly lit room.
The two who had been staring at each other started running at the same time while keeping some distance between them. The torch flame still rolling on the floor was greatly disturbed by the changes in the air. Every time their shadows clashed, an ear-piercing sound resonated across the room.
“Why!? Why did you betray us!?”
Sir Leonhard glared and shouted as he closed the distance.
“You should already know.”
Commander Lieber tilted his sword and slid out from the interlock before bringing it down in a downward slash. Sir Leonhard jumped back to avoid it.
“I’m sure you’ll notice sooner or later with that good head of yours. When Raptor gets the upper hand ahead of us enough times, you’ll ask yourself the ‘what if’ question. But this friendship of ours has blinded you, hasn’t it? Am I wrong!?”
“How dare you say that…!!”
To the sword that was being swung down towards him, Commander Lieber launched a counterattack of his own.
Sir Leonhard bent down and avoided Commander Lieber’s sword. A deep gash was left on a pillar behind him along with a jarring noise. In that position, Sir Leonhard caught Commander Lieber’s leg.
Commander Lieber consequently plunged his sword from above, causing Sir Leonhard to roll sideways, narrowly avoiding it. As Sir Leonhard regained his posture, Commander Lieber swept at his feet, but Sir Leonhard leaped into the air and evaded it.
Commander Lieber then flipped his blade upwards, and turned it into an upward slash. It was easy to forget to breathe when watching this battle that was unfolding at a tremendous speed.
“This isn’t a very knightly way of fighting, Leonhard!”
“I’m trying to kill you. If you want to be graceful about it, you can do it in the afterlife!!”
Sir Leonhard, who told Commander Lieber to throw away the formalities, thrust his sword forward. A red streak ran down Commander Lieber’s cheek. Without a moment for pause, Sir Leonhard followed with a push from his left palm, causing Commander Lieber to lose his balance, before connecting it with a downward slash.
Commander Lieber caught that attack at the last second.
“Oh, so scary.”
While out of breath, Commander Lieber laughed.
Sir Leonhard looked like he was in pain compared to the commander who seemed to be having the time of his life. It was an emotional pain, not the physical kind. His grim expression was one I’d never seen before, but instead of being intimidating, it was full of sadness. I wished I didn’t see him with such a face. I’d never wanted him to make a face like that ever again.
“This might be the first time I see you so desperate.”
“That’s right. And it’ll be the last time you ever get to see it.”
The two conversed as they crossed blades.
‘And here I wanted to see more of it,’ Commander Lieber murmured in a tone that left me wondering whether he was being serious. He laughed with the same gentle expression he gave me when he was reminiscing Leonhard’s old stories back at the fort.
“The you now should understand why I acted so foolishly.”
“…Shut up.”
Sir Leonhard’s shoulders trembled slightly from Commander Lieber’s words.
He’d been listening to all the remarks that Commander Lieber had to say up until this point. What could possibly bother him enough to upset him?
“So you do understand, after all.”
Commander Lieber narrowed his eyes happily.
“…You know, Leonhard. Finding something irreplaceable is the pinnacle of happiness.”
“Shut up!”
Sir Leonhard roared as if to drown out Commander Lieber’s voice.
“But at the same time, it means you’ll always be obsessed with the fear of losing it.”
“I told you to shut the fuck up…!!”
*kiiin* A sharp sound reverberated.
The sword that was blown away made an arc in the air and fell down. It slipped across the floor and hit a wall, before stopping still.
Sir Leonhard trained the tip of his sword towards Commander Lieber’s throat.
Only the two’s rough breathing could be heard from within the room.
The battle came to an end. And with that, came the predicament.
No one moved an inch.
After what felt like an eternity, Commander Lieber finally broke the silence.
“…Aren’t you going to kill me?”
Commander Lieber asked with such calm eyes. No impatience nor resentment could be seen. He only titled his head slightly and smiled.
Did you perhaps expect this outcome? From the bottom of your heart, did you want Sir Leonhard to stop you, even though you’ve forsaken everything in this world except your wife?
“…”
Sir Leonhard remained silent and only stared at Commander Lieber. His eyes, seemingly full of unknown emotions, took my breath away.
I don’t want this. There’s no need for things to end like this.
“Sir Leon, please stand down.”
Although he heard me, he didn’t reply.
I got impatient and took a step forward but was stopped by Latte. I tried to shake him off but couldn’t win against the strength of a man.
As I struggled, Commander Lieber continued his onslaught to corner Sir Leonhard with his words.
“I am the man who betrayed this kingdom and your loved one. Even then, do you still intend to keep me alive?”
“Sir Lieber!”
I shouted out of frustration.
Shut up already. Don’t corner my beloved any more than this. He has already been through a world of pain so if you hurt him any more, I won’t forgive you.
“Isn’t it better to get rid of me here and run away together with Her Highness? Better do it before Raptor’s men surround this place.”
“…You’re right.”
Sir Leonhard replied with a face that looked like he was crying.
I felt a certain resolution on that face and desperately tried to reach him.
“Please, please stop! You don’t have to do it! Please!!”
I didn’t want to see it.
I pleaded. Not using logic nor reason, but purely of my own selfishness. I definitely didn’t want to see the scene unfold.
Commander Lieber glanced my way and smiled, shaking his head how a child would.
“Your Highness is so kind. But please, close your eyes, at least until Leonhard has fulfilled his role.”
The moment I heard that soothing, gentle voice, an emotion so strong it was splitting my head apart surged up inside me.
My body trembled as it could no longer contain my feelings.
Kind? Who is?
And Sir Leonhard’s role? What the hell is that?
Don’t go and spout random nonsense when you don’t even know anything!
“…with me.”
The emotions that churned through my veins were neither pain nor sadness.
Only pure and undiluted anger.
I stomped the ground as hard as I could.
The moment all eyes gathered on me, I screamed.
“Don’t screw with me!! Don’t you dare make Sir Leonhard do such a thing!!”
My outcry was so loud it put a strain on my throat. It was perhaps the loudest I’d ever been ever since I came to this world.
