I feel like Iâve been asleep for a very long timeâŠâŠIâm in a daze and my recent memories are fuzzyâŠâŠ
âWhere am I?â
I look around, but Iâm in a strange room, though considering that Iâm sleeping in a medical capsule, it looks like Iâve been treated for injuriesâŠâŠ.
I exited the medical capsule and tried to walk out of the roomâŠâŠbut realized I was naked and looked around the room for clothes. At that time, there was a sound and the door of the room was openedâŠâŠ.It was a young man who came in.
When he saw me naked, the man looked flustered, closed his eyes and apologized.
âSorryâŠâŠ! I didnât know you were up already!â
He handed me a simple white dress without looking at me. I put it on and asked the man a question.
âWhere am I?
Ride-carrier medical bay.
âWhat am I doing here?â
âYou were badly injured. I was treating you. Iâm glad to see youâre better.â
âYou saved my life. I want to thank you.â
âNo, weâre the ones who hurt you.â
ââŠâŠWait a minute, you said you hurt meâŠâŠ.?â
Those words triggered a little bit of memoryâŠâŠ.As I recall, I was in a battle with the Beast King mercenariesâŠâŠ.
âAre you from the Beast King Mercenaries?â
I exclaimed, looking around the room for some kind of weapon. But the man shook his head and denied it.
âHow come the name of the Beast King Mercenaries came up?â
âI was killed by the Beast King mercenary groupâs magicraftâŠâŠ.â
âWeâre the Iron Knights, why are we talking about them?â
âIron KnightsâŠâŠwhatâs that?â
âThe mercenaries, the ones who defeated you, remember!â
ââŠâŠThen that golden magic machineâŠâŠ.?â
âThatâs Vajra, my friend.â
âFu âŠ..okay, I understand that you Iron Knight defeated me, but I donât know why Iâm here.â
âYou were badly injured and needed to be treated immediately, so you were put in a medical capsule for treatmentâŠâŠ.â
âWait a minute, thatâs why you saved me, the enemy?â
âIt doesnât matter if youâre an enemy or not, youâre injured and itâs normal to help.â
Iâm not sure I understand what this guy is sayingâŠâŠ.WellâŠâŠhe saved my life and will probably get a ransom from ElysiaâŠâŠ.
âOkay, you want a ransomâŠâŠ.Thatâs a wise decision, Iâm a double Highlander, Iâm sure theyâll give you a hundred or two hundred million easily.â
âRansom? Weâre not criminals, we donât need ransom. Weâre not going to hold you. Youâre healed now, so you can leave anytime you want.â
What is this guy sayingâŠâŠthat he helped the enemy without getting any benefit from it? Thatâs impossibleâŠâŠ.Thereâs no such mercenary, there must be something more to it than thatâŠâŠ.
âAre you hungry? If youâre going to leave here, why donât you at least eat?â
Although I was wary of the enemyâs invitation to eat, my stomach reacted honestlyâŠâŠ.I convinced myself that replenishing my energy here was an important act to return to my homeland, and accepted the offer.
âThe Kirks Republic has been destroyed!â
As we ate, I listened to what happened after I was put into the medical capsule.
âYes, it seems that someone from Elysia, the strongest rider on the continent, came and quickly destroyed it.â
âI donât believe that Yuto-san isâŠ..How did that happen? Itâs impossible for Yuto-san to be in the war of a vassal state, no matter how much he wants to.â
âI donât know about that, because as soon as we rescued you, we canceled our contract with Kirks and left the country.â
The man with the weird pointy head said indifferently as he chewed on a sausage.
âWell, I guess Iâll find out when I get back to ElysiaâŠâŠ.But more importantly, you guys are so natural, even though youâre eating with the enemy, arenât you wary?â
I couldnât help but ask if it was because there were children present, or because the atmosphere was so homey.
âYou said you were an enemy, but that was while you were under contract with Kirks, and now that Kirks doesnât exist, youâre not really an enemy, are you?â
âWell, maybe itâs just a dry feeling peculiar to mercenaries, but the fact that I was defeated by one of you doesnât go away, donât you think I have a grudge against that person?â
When I said that, for some reason, everyoneâs eyes were drawn to one girl, who got out of her seat and walked towards me.
âGoshâŠâŠIâm sorryâŠâŠNanami was desperate tooâŠâŠ.â
With her head bowed, the girl apologized to me.
âNo wayâŠâŠcould it be that you are the riderâŠâŠof that golden magicraft.â
The girl who introduced herself as Nanami gave a small nod. I was shockedâŠâŠthat the rider of that powerful magicraft was such a young girl.