Chapter 19

Nikolai, who had been standing there stunned, finally came to his senses and began running toward the camp’s entrance. A wooden stick slammed into his face as he was about to pass through the entrance. Nikolai flopped down on his back, bleeding from the nose, and remained motionless. Temeraire stood in front of him, swinging a piece of firewood with both hands. Yuichiro exclaimed, “Is that baseball?” at the sight of him.

“Ba-se-ba-ru?” Yuichiro’s one-liner brought a quizzical look to Temeraire’s face.

Instead of responding, Yuichiro shook his head from side to side before turning to face Rondo. Rondo’s face was neither panicked nor indignant as Yuichiro held the tip of a knife to his lower jaw. “Nice to meet you, 2nd prince,” Yuichiro said as he greeted him.

The man, however, remained silent. Instead, all he did was stare at Yuichiro with a piercing gaze, his throat awkwardly shaking up and down. He soon turned his gaze to Temeraire, who was approaching both of them.

“Temeraire… You…”

Temeraire answered calmly, “—It has been a long time, Rondo-sama,” with his tone seemingly out of place for the situation that was currently going on. As usual, Temeraire still displayed a thick-skinned demeanor that bellied his appearance, Yuichiro thought. As a result, Temeraire’s current attitude irritated Rondo even more.

“Are you still serving that lowly brat? Sneaking into enemy lines like this, you’re being treated poorly, aren’t you?” Rondo ridiculed, even when cold sweat running down his forehead. In addition, he also clenched both fists tightly around the armrests of his chair, causing it to tremble slightly. Even so, Temeraire’s complexion remained still when he saw Rondo’s apparent fear, which the man failed to conceal.

“As I’ve said before,” Temeraire spoke, “you are mistaken, Rondo-sama.”

“It is not Noah-sama whom I serve, and certainly not by anyone’s order that I have come here,” he continued, “but solely due to my own will.”

“It’s a laughing matter that you, who can’t kill people due to the restrictions of being a goddess’s servant, have come to the battlefield,” Rondo retorted, his face slightly scrunched. However, as soon as the knife grazed his lower jaw, a puppy-like whimper leaked from his throat.

Yuichiro involuntarily asked Temeraire, “You can’t kill people because of me?” after hearing Rondo’s remark.

Temeraire shook his head from side to side as Yuichiro asked. “It’s not your fault. In order not to kill the goddess, there are some restrictions placed on those who serve the goddess. It is said that if the restrictions are violated, that person will cease to exist.”

Finally, it dawned on Yuichiro why Temeraire had previously stated that he could not kill people. Yuichiro assumed it was the man’s conscience that kept him from killing people, but it was actually the restrictions.

Later, Yuichiro sighed and nodded slightly. Before he knew it, Rondo was staring at him as if he were being devoured. It was an incredulous expression he had seen many times since his arrival in this world. Yuichiro smiled a deliberately cheerful smile. His benevolent smile, however, would be reflected as a devil to Rondo right now.

“No way… “

“It’s the Goddess,” Temeraire replied to Rondo’s quivering voice. In an instant, Rondo’s eyes popped out to his limit, and Yuichiro could see his own reflection behind the man’s blue iris. It was as if he was gazing straight inside a kaleidoscope. But soon, a loud, high-pitched laugh erupted from Rondo’s reclined throat.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! This kind of middle-aged man is a goddess!? You’ve finally rotted not only your head but also your eyes! What a fool you are to worship such a phony goddess!” At this time, Yuichiro secretly grumbled, thinking, ‘I’m called a fake goddess again.’

In response, Temeraire cast a cold glance at Rondo, who was laughing like a lunatic while sweating profusely, and spoke placidly, “Yuichiro-sama is not a fake. I know that he is a goddess.”

“So what! No one will follow a man like him, who is far from a goddess in form and heart!”

Rondo’s words were right. Even if Yuichiro was placed in front of them, most people would not believe that he is a goddess. most would not believe he is a goddess. They would either scoff at him or look at him skeptically.

“Certainly,” Yuichiro interjected in admiration, with Temeraire’s possessive gaze directed at him.

In the contrary, Rondo whose face was already drenched in sweat, groaned, “No one will recognize a fake goddess like you. How can such a middle-aged man save this country…? How is it possible that the throne of the king is held by a kid who was just running around? What ‘rightful king’?! Brother is the only rightful king! I will not leave this place until I kill that kid! I will not retreat even if it means my death!”

Rondo’s tone became increasingly erratic over time. His obvious cowardice could no longer be hidden. He screamed until the end, despite the fact that his teeth were misaligned, demonstrating his grit in desperation. Nonetheless, when Yuichiro’s mouth twisted into a smile, Rondo’s eyes widened in horror. It seemed as if he was staring at a monster.

While whispering softly,.”Hmmm, it can’t be helped…,” Yuichiro raised the knife he was holding in one hand. He planned to thrust the knife into the chatterbox’s mouth. Just before the tip of his knife entered Rondo’s wide-open mouth, a loud voice was heard.

“Don’t move!!!”

Yuichiro immediately directed his attention in the direction of the voice and saw Noah along with Lieutenant General Gadelman, standing at the entrance of the camp. Gadelman was grabbing Noah by the neck, whose posture slightly slumped, due to his hands tied behind his back. At this moment, Yuichiro suddenly recalled the cheers he had heard earlier.

[Was that cheer earlier because they’ve caught him?]

With the muzzle of his shotgun pointed at the back of Noah’s head, Gadelman snickered triumphantly. Temeraire, on the other hand, exclaimed quietly, ‘Noah-sama!’

Mockingly, Gadelman spoke, “Well, well… Would you mind lowering your weapon, Goddess-sama?”

Yuichiro didn’t put down his knife, and with just his eyes, he signaled Belz and Yama, who were also watching the situation, to stand still with their weapons drawn.

Simultaneously, Rondo’s eyes gleamed at once. “ Gadelman! You’ve found him. Well done!” he exclaimed proudly.

“Yes, he appears to have been hiding inside a closet in the maid’s room. When I told him that if he didn’t come out, his vassals would be slaughtered one by one… He walked out on his own. He is a very weak-willed child. Hahaha.”

Despite being cursed, Noah remained lying on his face, seemingly exhausted of strength Furthermore, a reddish-black bruise could be seen on his cheek, indicating that he had been beaten when he was apprehended. Looking closer, dirty stains on his shirt also indicated that he had been kicked. Yuichiro felt an unexpected seething sensation in the pit of his stomach as he examined Noah’s bruises. His fingers, which were gripping the knife, trembled with rage.

And yet, Yuichiro’s expression remained unchanged as he muttered in an indifferent tone, “It’s the end of the world when a lieutenant general of the army takes a king hostage.”

“You, you have no idea where our loyalty lies. What are you going to do about it?”

“Ah… By ‘our’, do you mean the swine who are fattening their own pockets? Or are you referring to traitors who sell their own country to the enemy?”

At Yuichiro’s sarcasm, Gadelman erupted in a stupefyingly predictable manner. “Shut up!” he yelled, his double chin trembling. “In the first place, it is wrong to entrust the country to such a child solely because he was chosen by the Hōshu! The rightful king should not be chosen by the Hōshu, but by us who have served our country until now! We are not wrong!”

[You have a very self-serving mindset, don’t you?]

Just when Yuichiro wanted to cover his ears from hearing Gadelman’s screeching voice, which sounded like a pig’s squeal, Noah, who had been lying limp, quietly looked up. His young face was painfully swollen with bruises.

After that, Noah mumbled weakly, “Enough… already,” his voice barely audible. After glaring at Temeraire, who looked as if he was about to rush over to Noah, Yuichiro kept his voice down and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“You… don’t have to kill anyone anymore… If… I die, no one else will have to die…”

When Yuichiro heard this, he almost laughed as he remembered Noah’s previous exclamation, ‘I don’t want to die!’ Yet, he didn’t laugh. With the gun still pointed at his head, Noah’s tears spilled from his eyes, and said, “I’ll hand over the throne to my brothers… You can kill me. Please… don’t hurt anyone else.”

Noah’s pleading evoked a prompt feeling of spitefulness within Yuichiro. After all, the kid was a fool to think he could save his country at the expense of his own life, he reasoned. Yet, it was absurdly beautiful. Regardless, what kind of selfishness was the kid referring to? If Noah died, not only will he no longer receive a single yen’s worth of compensation, he would also be unable to return to his own world. Ultimately, the outcome would be an utterly complete, unforgivable defeat. In the end, he wanted to knock some sense to the kid. Alas, before he knew it, he had already lowered his knife that was against Rondo’s lower jaw.

Rondo’s mouth quivered happily out of the corner of Yuichiro’s eyes, perhaps confident of his backhanded victory. With his arms dangling loosely, Yuichiro asked Noah, “Aren’t you afraid to die?”

At the question, Noah stared at Yuichiro almost burning into his eyes. What came next was a dejected smile, saying, “I’m more afraid of living.”

Yuichiro almost let out a small voice and felt something escape from his thinly opened lips. Additionally, Temeraire also gasped. At this, Yuichiro had understood why. Noah had said something similar to what he said the other day.

[I’m afraid of dying…]

[I’m afraid to be alive…]

[I’m more afraid of living…]

What a miserable way of living. Yuichiro and the child in front of him were both so pitiful that it almost brought tears to his eyes. If so, this ending may be the most appropriate for both of them. Being executed would be the ideal ending for them if they were completely defeated. As these thoughts filled his mind, the strength of his fingers gripping his knife dwindled. Gadelman smirked at Yuichiro’s reaction and aimed his gun’s muzzle at him instead of Noah. Yuichiro exhaled deeply while staring at the muzzle, which appeared to be a pitch-black hole. Afterward, gazing up at the sky, he thought to himself, ‘It’s pretty quiet…’ But just as Gadelman was about to pull the trigger, Yuichiro heard a disappointed voice coming from somewhere.

“What are you being so sentimental for? You don’t have that kind of character,” Something like a green cord emerged from the gap in Noah’s coat, its golden eyes flickering. It was Hōshu, Izrael. Izrael then slid and crawled up Noah’s body and bit Gadelman’s wrist who was holding a shotgun in a single gulp.

The fat man shrieked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and leaned back. Reflexively, Gadelman pulled the gun’s trigger, firing a bullet that grazed next to Yuichiro. In the next moment, Rondo’s piercing scream was heard.

“Gyaaahhhh!!!”

Yuichiro looked over and noticed Rondo’s face; bright red and wet. A chunk of flesh had been gouged out of the man’s ear. Gadelman’s bullet apparently unintentionally struck Rondo’s left ear. As Yuichiro watched Rondo flailing and screaming in panic, he suddenly heard a creaking sound.

Izrael’s body had grown so large that it was squeezing the camp from the inside. His fangs, which were only the size of a pinky finger, were now larger and sharper than an elephant’s tusks. Apart from that, his massive torso writhed like a snake inside the camp. Even as he grew in size, Izrael kept biting Gardelman’s wrist and refusing to let go.

Gadelman yelped, “Arghhhhhhhh!” like a deranged bird, and his wrist was eventually bitten off. Gadelman, unable to bear the excruciating pain, foamed at his mouth and collapsed to the ground. Later, Izrael spat out Gadelman’s blood-soaked plump wrist and muttered, “Haaa… I’m disappointed. Really disappointed. How could you choose to die on your own? I thought you were a strong child, but in the end, you’re just like all the other goddesses I’ve seen who sit around waiting for help and pretending to be a tragic heroine.”

[What a load of crap. You’ve overlooked the fact that you’re the one who brought their misfortune upon them in the first place.]

Yuichiro was currently seething with anger. Clenching his fists, Yuichiro glared at Izrael. “Shut up, you fucking dragon. Don’t you dare talk to me like that.”

“Hoho, this wimpy goddess has such arrogance… But is this the time to take it out on me?” Izrael’s eyes narrowed with a grin as he looked up at the ceiling of the camp.

A moment later, a violent explosion was heard. A tremor shook the ground to its very core along with bombing sounds and pierced their eardrums. Yuichiro reasoned calmly and guessed that Goat had probably begun igniting the gunpowder that was placed within the enemy’s lines. Along with the sounds of explosions, Yuichiro heard something falling from the sky and yelled, “Get down!” while Izrael shielded him with his body. Later, the sound of destruction mingled with a violent impact sound. Yuichiro’s entire body was engulfed in a cloud of dust, leaving him breathless. Seconds later, he looked up and saw Noah’s face, which seemed like he was about to cry. Furthermore, he also noticed Temeraire, Belz, and Yama on the ground. Evidently, Izrael had protected everyone.

Yuichiro finally realized what was falling overhead earlier as he looked over Izrael’s thick torso. It was actually a turret. The turret was apparently blown away as a result of a large amount of gunpowder that had been planted. Yuichiro sighed as he dusted off the sand that stuck on his face. “How are you going to thank me?” Izrael laughed, observing Yuichiro’s amusing state.

Silently, Yuichiro almost cursed at him, ‘Damn dragon.’ Instead, he glared at Izrael and snarled, “That’s your job, isn’t it? Just shut up and protect me.” Far from being angry with Yuichiro’s haughty and arrogant reply, Israel relaxed his mouth happily.

“That’s what I love about you.”

Yuichiro felt nauseous at the sound of Izrael’s enraptured voice.

[What the hell do these people, this world, think I am? A goddess is really just a toy in name, is it?]

Yuichiro felt extremely displeased and annoyed. He then turned his gaze into the cloud of dust. Gadelman remained lying on the ground, bleeding from his wrist, whilst Nikolai and Rondo were nowhere to be seen.

[Did they manage to flee in the midst of chaos just now?]

He clucked his tongue. Violent explosions continued to reverberate in the area, and Yuichiro peered through the ripped curtain to see that the area outside had already turned into a sea of fire. He could also hear the cries of soldiers fleeing for their lives as the flames pursued them. The scenery in front of him was jarring, like a cacophonous orchestra.

“Each and every one of them is…,” curse-like words escaped from his lips unknowingly. He yanked off the goggles and bandana that were covering his face in frustration. Temeraire, who was covered in sand, staggered to his feet and looked at Yuichiro, later his face stiffened.

What Temeraire saw was Yuichiro’s reddish-black and distorted face, resembling a demon. The rage and hatred building up inside Yuichiro made his body creak as if it were about to burst.

“Yuichiro-sama…” Temeraire called out fearfully.

In return, Yuichiro stared at him with bloodshot eyes and hurled, “Everyone, including this guy, is making fun of people.” While being hailed as the goddess, Yuichiro ended up being toyed around in this world. For him, it was unforgivable.

“I’ll make sure you people know this,” Yuichiro grumbled to himself. “Take Noah and Temeraire, and withdraw to our own camp,” he said to Belz and Yama, his eyes bloodshot. “How about you, Goddess-sama?” Belz inquired, but Yuichiro quickly responded, cutting off any further comment, “I won’t say it twice. Carry out my orders.” Following this, Belz and Yama could only bow their heads without saying anything. Yuichiro later extended his arm toward Izrael.

“Carry me over the wall.”

“Hmmm, that’s a funny thing to say. What are you going to do?”

“Just get me over there quickly!” Yuichiro shouted like a child throwing a tantrum.

Izrael then muttered, “Oooh how scary,” as he grabbed Yuichiro’s arm and flew into the air. As soon as Yuichiro’s toes left the ground, he heard Noah and Temeraire’s voices.