CHAPTER 7
THE PLACE I WISH TO PROTECT
He dreamed. He had long since forgotten that people dream in their slumber, because ever since he’d cast aside his human body, he hadn’t had any dreams.
It was a dream of the time when he was still only a boy. The Hero of the Holy Sword, Leonis Shealto, was betrayed by the nobles of his kingdom and assassinated. It really was a surprisingly trite, commonplace story.
He cared little for the motive. Grudge, envy, hatred, vanity, fear…perhaps all those rolled into one. But the ten-year-old boy who had saved the world time and again was delivered to an unnatural death.
Even as he lay in the rain with a puddle of blood pooling beneath him, the boy didn’t resent mankind… He’d seen plenty of its ugly sides, and many of its noble aspects as well. Even those who’d ordered his death weren’t villains through and through.
“—Boy. Do you think this world is just?”
“…I don’t care anymore.”
The boy answered in a tired whisper; the woman simply extended her hand toward him.
“I wish to rebel against this world. What do you intend to do?”
And as she said those words with a smile, her expression was so…beautiful…
…It’s been a long time since I’ve dreamed about her.
It was a vivid dream that stirred memories of his past. Roselia—the girl known as the Goddess of Rebellion. She resurrected the boy once called a hero, changing him into a Dark Lord. She saved Leonis when he’d lost faith in this world, and then she went on to try to save the world itself. Shouldering that heavy burden with that small body of hers…
Plagued with a dull headache, he held his head as he sat up. Pajamas clung to his ten-year-old limbs. He still felt a bit numb.
“Nn… Nnnghh…”
And then an oddly sensual voice tickled his ears.
“…?!” He looked down in a panic.
Riselia turned over on the bed, sleeping pleasantly. Her breath leaked from between her lips. Her sleeping gown had become partially undone, exposing her chest. It rose and fell with each breath. Her silver hair glittered in the faint sunlight that crept in through the windows.
Wh-what is she doing here…?!
Leonis thought back on how he’d retired the night before. There was only one bed in the room, so Leonis had decided to sleep on the sofa. When he was the Undead King, he’d always slept in a stone coffin, so he wasn’t very picky when it came to his bedding.
Yes, I definitely went to sleep on the sofa…
Leonis felt an unpleasant sensation on his neck. It was a bit swollen.
She didn’t, did she…?
As Riselia cooed in her sleep, Leonis pinched her cheek.
“…Mmm, nnng…”
She only furrowed her brow in irritation but made no sign of waking up.
Leonis shrugged and whispered into her ear.
“Awaken, my minion…”
“…Aaaah?!”
The girl’s eyes snapped open in surprise. He’d charged those words with mana to wake his subordinate.
“Good morning, Selia.”
“G-good morning, Leo…” She looked at him, rubbing her eyes.
The sheets were pushed to one side, giving him a clear glimpse of her white panties. Leonis did his best not to look.
“Erm, wasn’t I sleeping on the sofa?”
“Yes, I moved you to the bed. You’d catch a cold if you slept there.”
“I’d probably be fine…”
Dark Lords catching colds was unheard of.
Though maybe it’s possible in this body…?
It hardly mattered right now.
Leonis cleared his throat and glared at her with one eye half-open.
“You sucked my blood while I was sleeping, didn’t you?”
“………”
Riselia looked away in a random direction.
“I have bite marks on my neck.” He pressed harder to make her admit her guilt.
“J-just a bit…,” she stammered, putting her index finger and thumb close together in the approximate shape of “just a bit.” “It was late, and I couldn’t help it… It just kind of happened…”
Vampiric impulses became stronger at nighttime, and having only just become a Vampire Queen, Riselia still had problems suppressing the urge.
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not that I mind sharing my blood with a minion of mine, but at least ask me next time.”
“…A-all right, I will. I’m sorry.”
Still, to think she snuck up on the Undead King while he slept and sucked his blood. This Vampire Queen, he’d found, wasn’t one to be trifled with.
“Also, no more sleeping in the same bed.”
“Oh, Leo, are you at the age where that bothers you now?”
“I certainly am, yes.” Leonis got up and started changing from his pajamas into his uniform.
“Where are you off to?” Riselia asked.
“The academy’s library. I should be allowed inside now that I have a card, right?”
He planned to spend the day shutting himself away in Excalibur Academy’s library like a recluse, looking into this era’s history. Human society and its development, the appearance of the Voids, the power of the Holy Swords… There was plenty to research.
Besides, according to Shary’s report, the old gods, Dark Lords, and Six Heroes weren’t even legends in this age. Maybe studying history books would help him discover something.
A bit flustered, Riselia called to him as he prepared to leave.
“Um, the training grounds are reserved for your training curriculum this morning.”
“Curriculum?” Leonis asked suspiciously.
“At Excalibur Academy, we can pick our training curriculums freely.”
“…Really, now.”
In Leonis’s eyes, leaving the structure of the training to the pupils was rather inefficient. But seeing as the powers of the Holy Swords residing in each and every student were varied and wide-ranging, a comprehensive, uniform training curriculum wouldn’t work, either. That aside…
“This is the first I’ve heard about reserving the training grounds.”
“I put a curriculum together for you, Leo. As part of my privileges as your guardian,” Riselia said nonchalantly. “I made sure you’re training at the same time as me.”
“Why did you do that?” Leonis asked, taken aback.
“You promised you’d train with me, right?”
“…Hmm.” He had promised something like that. “Fine.” Leonis shrugged.
The Excalibur Academy training area Riselia reserved for them was an indoor space. The expansive, circular room had a domed shape.
“I reserved this gym for just the two of us, so we should be fine,” Riselia said, stretching happily.
She was probably excited to be able to train as a Holy Swordswoman for the first time.
Leonis understood how she felt, at the very least.
“How about you show me your current strength, for starters?” Leonis suggested, tapping the bottom of his staff against the ground. “After that, we’ll think about the details of your training.”
“All right. Should we use a Void Simulator?” Riselia asked.
“No, I have a more realistic enemy for you,” Leonis replied and began chanting a spell.
“—Valiant dead soldiers, obey the Undead King’s call.”
Leonis’s shadow expanded in a circular manner and began writhing wildly. With the sound of frenzied rattling, dozens of incarnations of bone rose from the shadow.
“Wh-what? Are those…skeletons…?” whispered Riselia with a hint of fear.
…My word. So the youths of this age haven’t even seen a skeleton before.
Skeletons would rise naturally in places filled with the miasma of death and were low-ranking monsters that had served as the core of the Undead King’s army. Incidentally, Leonis could summon an army of hundreds of them at once.
“They’re my lowest-ranking minions. Feel free to crush them.”
“…Okay. Understood.” Riselia nodded and held up her right hand into the empty air. “Activate!”
The next moment, her unnamed Holy Sword manifested in her hand. The embodiment of her soul. The elegant sword that defeated Muselle during the Holy Sword Trial.
“Then allow me…” Riselia’s hair glowed with a silvery mana-filled light.
She swung her Holy Sword, crushing the skeleton solders to dust. The desiccated warriors continued their attack without pause, but Riselia mowed through them, annihilating the monsters.
…I’d expect nothing less of a Vampire Queen.
The skeletons were indeed undead, just like Riselia, but they were minions of the lowest rank, no match for a Vampire Queen. Despite the ease with which she moved, Riselia still wasn’t capable of controlling the massive reserves of mana slumbering in her body. She was simply swinging her Holy Sword around with her vampire’s enhanced brute strength.
…No, saying she’s only swinging her sword around would be inaccurate.
Her swordsmanship wasn’t bad. The girl’s form was practical and made for true battle. Before long, she’d defeated all the skeleton soldiers.
“…Huff, huff, how did I do…?”
“Wonderful. Your skill with a sword is impressive.” Leonis applauded.
“You know about swordsmanship…?” Riselia tilted her head questioningly.
Perhaps Leonis didn’t look like the type to wield a blade.
“Well, a bit…” Leonis shrugged as if to avoid the question. “Did someone teach you, Selia?”
“Yes, my father had a blade-type Holy Sword.”
…I see, her skill was passed down by her father.
“…I’m no match for Sakuya, though.” Selia shook her head.
“A Vampire Queen’s true power lies in her massive reserves of mana. Once you can control it, I’ll teach you some sorcery.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I think that would be for the best.”
If she could use mana to reinforce her body, she’d be able to fight as a spellsword.
“Let’s up the ante a bit, then.”
He chanted a spell to summon skeleton beasts. These were skeletons formed from the bones of black wolves.
“These are beast-type undead that make use of group tactics. They won’t be as easy as your first opponents.”
“Okay!”
She wiped away her sweat and gripped her Holy Sword tight with both hands. She looked positively ecstatic just to be wielding the weapon.
Two hours later, their exercises were finished. The training grounds were littered with too many bones to count.
“Haah, haah, haah…”
Riselia was breathing heavily, her shoulders rising and falling.
“This seems like a good place to stop…”
Leonis expanded his shadow, retrieving the bones and returning them to his Realm of Shadows. This wasn’t an age where bones were scattered across battlefields. If he retrieved any bones left around and poured his mana into them, he could use them again.
“…Thank you very much!” Riselia bowed her head.
Watching his minion grow certainly could be enjoyable.
“Do you need me to replenish your mana?”
“Ah… N-no, I’m fine…,” Riselia stuttered, cheeks tinged with pink, after a moment of thought.
“All right. Then I’ll be off…”
“Oh, Leo.” The silver-haired girl stopped him before he could make for the library. “I’ll be going out to the commercial district; could you join me?”
“No, I still need to…”
“I’ll treat you to lunch. It’ll be tasty.”
“………”
The Dark Lord’s stomach gave a thunderous growl.
…Damn this body! How incorrigible.
He’d planned to spend his day in the library, but it wasn’t like the building was going anywhere. Checking out the city wasn’t a bad idea.
…I shouldn’t leave all the town investigation to Shary, I guess.
…And admittedly, the sweets she’d brought him the day before had piqued his interest.
“That’s strange,” Elfiné whispered, squinting at the analysis screen.
“What’s wrong, Miss Elfiné?” Sakuya peered at the screen from behind her back.
“The thirteenth platoon was investigating the seabed, but they haven’t returned yet.”
“The thirteenth platoon? Aren’t they all skilled elites?”
“Looks like the academy’s top brass hasn’t publicized this yet.”
The only ones who could access information withheld by the administration bureau were those who had Holy Swords like Elfiné’s, capable of interfering with the information network. The academy was, of course, apprised of her Holy Sword’s ability, but they were unaware she could access the network that deeply.
“Wait. Wait just a second…!” Elfiné exclaimed, eyes fixed on the screen.
“Mm?”
“This strange waveform… No, it can’t be…!” She went pale.
She hoped this was a malfunction, but she’d seen this scenario countless times in the simulator.
“I have to report this to the bureau as soon as possible.”
The moment she got to her feet, though, the screen filled with an explosion of red dots.
“Here we are.”
Riselia had driven the two of them on her vehicle to an area a short distance from the commercial district. It was a place with very little traffic, and there were no Excalibur Academy students in sight.
“Is this some kind of restaurant?” Leonis looked up at the building Riselia had pulled over next to.
“Yes, it’s a restaurant that doubles as an orphanage. They shelter refugee children who have nowhere to go.”
“An orphanage…” Leonis frowned.
He didn’t have good memories of orphanages. It felt like a wound he’d forgotten about had opened again.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
It was a brick building, unusual for the Assault Garden. Riselia got off the vehicle, picking up a large box with both hands.
“Heave…ho…”
It looked heavy.
“If you used the mana afforded to you as a vampire, you’d be able to carry that pretty easily,” Leonis advised her.
“I want to feel human in my normal, everyday life. Besides, any mana I use up, I’ll need to have replenished, so…”
“…I understand,” Leonis acknowledged, but he cast a spell to make the box lighter anyway.
A bell chimed as they entered the building, and…
“It’s Selia!” “Seliaaaa!” “Selia’s here!”
Several children ran into the room, hugging Riselia by the waist and legs.
…How dare they cling to my minion like that…! Leonis reflexively tensed but then reconsidered. Well, they’re only children. I shall overlook it this time.
Forgetting he was a ten-year-old boy, too, he decided to forgive them.
…Leonis Death Magnus had always been the most tolerant of the Dark Lords.
Still, he had to wonder. Riselia was quite beloved by these children. She smiled wryly as she carried her package to the table, the kids still clinging to her.
“You haven’t come to play for so long, Selia. We missed you!”
“I’m sorry. We had midterms at the academy, so I was busy…”
“Hyah!” A boy who looked to be five years old tried to flip up Riselia’s skirt.
“H-hey, stop that!” she snapped, holding down the hem of her skirt.
…That was a little too hard to let slide. Even a forgiving Dark Lord couldn’t help but be angered by this. But just as Leonis was about to cast a spell to trip the boy…
“Deen, what are you doing?!” The door to the kitchen opened, and an elderly woman stepped out. “I’m so sorry. You always help us out so much…”
“Not at all. I only hope I can actually be of some assistance around here…” Riselia turned to face Leonis and introduced him to the elderly woman. “This is Phrenia, the orphanage’s owner.”
“Who might this be?” the woman named Phrenia inquired.
“A boy I saved from a ruin. His name is Leo, and he’s a Holy Swordsman.”
“My, at such a young age?” Phrenia exclaimed.
“Cool!”
“Reaaaally?”
“Awesome!”
The children started gathering around Leonis.
“…D-desist!” commanded the Undead King, speaking in his natural voice. It had little success, as he soon found himself surrounded.
“Show us your Holy Sword!”
“What do you call it?!”
“S-stop, you can’t do that…”
The oldest girl of the group (though only relatively so—she was just eight) tried to stop the other children, but they all started rustling Leonis’s hair.
…I—I am a Dark Lord…!
“My, aren’t you popular, Leo?” His minion made no attempt to rescue him, choosing to watch and giggle.
…I won’t forget this, woman…, Leonis grumbled from the depths of his heart.
“I picked some veggies in the plant and brought them over.” Riselia opened the heavy box she’d carried in, revealing it was filled to the brim with produce.
She’d grown them herself in one of Excalibur Academy’s plants.
“There isn’t much, but they should taste good.”
“Thank you. I’ll make some soup.” The old woman returned to the kitchen.
“I’ll help her make lunch. Leo, you play with the kids until it’s ready.”
“What…?!”
Leonis reached out a hand, but Riselia disappeared into the kitchen.
“Show me your Holy Sword!” “What does it look like?!” “Your uniform is cool!”
“Ugh…”
With his ten-year-old limbs, he couldn’t tear the kids off him, and using magic on children felt like it would hurt his dignity as the Undead King.
“S-stop it, you’re bothering him…!” The oldest girl tried to reprimand the rest, but her frail voice didn’t register.
Damn it all…! Leonis looked grudgingly at where Riselia had stood a moment ago.
“It’s ready.”
Riselia peeked out of the kitchen fifteen minutes later, clad in an apron. In the blink of an eye, the children who had been playing with Leonis ran to the table.
…Good grief.
Leonis got to his feet, fixing his wrinkled clothes and ruffled hair. For the Undead King, who had once pushed back an army of tens of thousands of soldiers on his own, this was an unbelievable dishonor.
“E-erm… Are you…all right…?” The eldest girl among the children extended a clean handkerchief in a show of consideration.
“Mm, yes, those are just children playing around.”
“I’m sorry… They didn’t mean any harm, so…” The girl bowed her head several times in apology. “Oh, but I think it’s really cool that you can use a Holy Sword, too!” Her face went red as soon as the words escaped her lips.
“Tessera, can you come here?”
“Y-yes!”
The girl bowed to Leonis and ran off.
“…Tessera, huh? It’s good to see some kids are polite,” Leonis muttered, combing his hair with his fingers.
The front of the orphanage was a public restaurant. A basket full of bread was sitting on the table alongside soup, salad, and deep-fried fish. The place wasn’t very spacious, but it did have a pleasant atmosphere.
“I work here sometimes,” Riselia said, taking off the apron.
Seeing her in an apron contrasted starkly with Leonis’s perception of her noble heritage.
“On days when the restaurant is closed, everyone gathers here for meals.”
Glancing outside, Leonis noticed the OPEN sign had been taken down.
…I see.
It had seemed she was well accustomed to handling kids, given how she’d taken care of Leonis while she thought he was one. It was likely because she was used to pitching in at the orphanage.
“You always help out so much, Miss Riselia,” Phrenia said, bowing her head in thanks.
“Oh, not at all—you pay me a salary, after all…”
The children were seated at the table and already chewing away on bread. Leonis was just as hungry as they were but reached out calmly, demonstrating his dignity as the Undead King.
“How do you like the turnip soup?”
“…It’s good.” Leonis gave his honest opinion.
The homemade vegetable soup had a gentle saltiness to it, and its taste was simple but savory.
“Thank goodness. Regina taught me how to make it,” Riselia said, giving a thumbs-up.
“Um…the bread tastes good, too.” Tessera offered him a slice.
“Oh, thank you.”
“Y-you’re welcome…” Her cheeks turned rosy as Leonis accepted the food.
“All these children were rescued and brought from outside the city by Holy Swordsmen,” Phrenia explained.
“That’s right. They’ve all arrived here from different countries and places, seeking shelter.”
“Selia, can we play later?”
“Sure. What do you want to play?”
The children embraced Riselia affectionately. She responded with a smile.
…I see. This is the place she wants to protect, Leonis thought as he watched her.
Her homeland was destroyed by the Voids, so she likely felt strongly about protecting children who’d suffered the same fate.
…I’m a bit envious of her, I’ll admit, the Undead King thought. The kingdom I am promised to protect is already long since lost…
He thought back to the long ruined, nostalgic scenery of Necrozoa. But…
“C’mon, show me your Holy Sword!”
A chubby five-year-old boy tugged on Leonis’s sleeve.
The child must have been truly courageous to accost the person of the Undead King.
“Phoca, the Holy Swordsman isn’t a toy.”
“Aww!” The boy whined at Phrenia’s scolding.
”No, it’s fine. I’ll show them,” Leonis offered generously.
Showing them a little something to distract them wouldn’t be too bad. Making the children happy should please Riselia, too.
“What are you going to do, Leo?”
“…Hmm. Perhaps an artistic circus of skeletons would be good here.”
“Skeletons?” “What’re those?”
Curious questions from the kids came rapid-fire.
“M-maybe you shouldn’t, Leo. You might scare them.” Riselia tried to put him off the idea.
“…You think?”
“Yes. I mean, skeletons are a little scary…”
…Hmm. So skeletons are frightening.
Leonis actually found them quite cute.
“All right. Then how about some small, table-sized fireworks…”
But just as Leonis was about to chant a fire spell…
“………?!”
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
A tremor shook the earth, causing the tableware to fall to the ground in a loud clatter.
“…Was that an earthquake?”
“No, that shouldn’t be possible, the Assault Garden’s fixed to the seabed by an anchor,” Riselia replied.
Leonis’s shoulders tensed.
And the next moment…the city’s siren blared.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login