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Chapter 38
Chapter 2, Princess And I — Episode 38 : Delete
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
After kissing me, Lilith’s injuries had vanished in spectacular fashion.
「Puha! A recovery!!!」
「Eh?」
In fact, not only her blood color, but even her skin tone is better than before the injury… I was seriously worried about you, you really should return my worry.
「Haah, you fell for my act, kukuku! Now I know which side is in a better position, hmm–hmm.」
The female brat nods, putting her hands on her hips with a smug look on her face. I point a finger at my face and look at the brat’s face.
「Wha—!? You still don’t get it, do you!?」
I’m not going to be undercut by that much.
「Don’t go away on your own again.」
「T–That’s not it～ It’s because Meesha went into that tent…」
Like a master, I scolded my female slave. She lowered her eyebrows and excused herself with a troubled look on her face. Lilith was also worried about Meesha’s disappearance and went to look for her, but she was detained by those guys.
The images Meesha had seen were unbearable to watch.
「It’s Lilith who doesn’t understand. You’re with Shirakaba-san and me, why don’t you come back and ask us for help?」
You’ve been so honest with me…
「Next time you get caught up in something like that, don’t hesitate to hit them with Inanna or your skills.」
「I know that but…」
When I petted her on the head with a good kid, the little brat got angry and said,「Don’t treat me like a child!」She was desperately trying to shake my hand off. But being patted on the head is part of the punishment!
「You made me worry all over again, so at least let me pet your head.」
「Unuu～! It can’t be helped. But just for today.」
Despite her words, she squinted at me like a cat and looked so happy…
（I’ve got to do something about that thing…）
That guy who needs to be completely mosaicked. Even if he’s been an asshole before, he’s still the same heroic human being. I should at least bury him. I don’t know who he is anymore, though, since his head is gone.
I had already started calling him “Funabashi” without using “-san.” He wasn’t someone who deserved to be called by an honorific title in the first place.
He bragged to his subordinates about all the misdeeds he had done in the former world…
Either way, if what he said is true, he is a man who should’ve been executed in our former world. It’s only karmic retribution if he dies in the field in another world, with his guts smeared all over the place.
However, I still felt guilty as if I had left him to die. I wanted someone to listen to my painful feelings, so I asked Shirakaba-san.
「Have you ever lost a friend, Shirakaba-san?」
「Does that mean I’m a martyr? There have been times when it’s been close, but if I had an accident like that in the 1st Airborne, I’d be disciplined.」
With a bitter smile, he answers my question. Yes, I know, it’s not that easy for Japan’s most elite Aerial Kamikazes to become martyrs.
「But the people who died are full of…」
「Yes, I was shown this and more when I was dispatched to the disaster site. That’s how many times, dozens of times more than Mt. Ootake.」
He told me that he was in a very difficult situation, staring somewhere in the void. Shirakaba-san had apparently participated in a disaster relief mission following a major earthquake in Mt. Ootake shortly after joining the military.
There, what he saw was spectacular: just when he thought he had finished carrying one person to the gymnasium, which had become a morgue, more were brought in, one after the other.
「People die, even if it’s not war. Never has reality been shown to me so painfully as it was then.」
Using shovels from the wagon, the two of us dig a grave together. The shovels were unwieldy with their otherworldly shovels, but Shirakaba-san said he was「used to digging trenches,」and he made them deeper.
「That’s enough.」
「Yes…」
There was a tent, so I tore it open and wrapped the body in it. Rigor mortis had already set in, and there was nothing soft about the human skin.
It’s fleeting…
Whether in his former world or in another world, human lives are taken so easily. Funabashi felt that it was a matter of karmic retribution. But the earthquake and volcanic eruption accidents never involved people who weren’t considered to be bad people.
There was no way I could give an answer to that question.
「Schoolwork has answers. But, Kirishima-kun… There are no answers in life. I’m always struggling with it myself.」
Shirakaba-san put his hand on my shoulder with a plop. His hand was big and seemed to encourage me to think about how to make the best of things and not to make any mistakes.
Eyy!!
I stuck the sword that Funabashi was holding in the ground and used it as a tombstone… Shirakaba-san put his hands together, but I didn’t.
As he drove the wagon to the end of the water, I struggled to explain how me and Lilith had gotten into that disreputable act.
「No, no, that’s not what I meant…」
「But Kirishima-kun… as a parent of a child myself, when I see something like that, my trust in you…」
I understand what you are saying, Shirakaba-san. In my former world, if I saw a boy my age kissing a little girl, I would suspect it was a crime…
Lilith was sitting in the back of the wagon, legs dangling, petting Misha and in a good mood. She was in a good mood, petting Meesha, and was in a good mood. She didn’t give a damn about my disgrace.
「Lilith, at least prove to me for a second that I’m innocent.」
「Kaname’s a total black slut!」
「What is, that…」
I ain’t kissing Lilith again!
What annoys me is that she uses the loli and the old man thing to suit her convenience. If she call it a cop-out, she’s right, but when I get angry or something, she goes all loli, and I feel more guilty than me scolding her.
To be clear, I kissed her because I thought the little brat was going to dodge, not because I had any lust for her! I am.
We returned to the town of Conwell with a lecture from Shirakaba-san.
Marielle welcoming us.
「Kaname-sama, you must be tired!」
「Ah, no…」
Shirakaba-san, perhaps out of concern, took Lilith with him and told her that he would distribute the barrels of water to the people of the city.
I had to report to her.
I needed to tell her about the first heroic death for the kingdom of Alastria. The kingdom must have lost a valuable asset, even if he is a bastard in personality, which he had summoned.
Alone together in a tent temporarily set up in the town square, he gave the details.
「Sorry… I was right there with him, but I couldn’t do anything.」
「Kaname-sama is not to blame! It is all Funabashi-sama’s problem. Even if you had defeated the demon tribe, innocent people would have been the next to suffer… Please, lift up your face.」
She takes my hand and encourages me to do my best. A drop of water fell on the back of Marielle’s beautiful white hand.
「Ahh… ahh… thanks, thank you…」
She nodded and smiled at each of my feelings. For a man to cry in front of a girl is, to put it bluntly, shameful and pathetic. But I felt saved by the warmth of Marielle’s words.
I wanted to protect her, Marielle, even to the death. She was the one who wrapped me in her arms as I sobbed like a child.
If something happens to Marielle, will I be able to survive? It was as if her presence was taking over my mind.
I was always grateful for Marielle’s adoration. But I never responded to that feeling with romantic feelings. No, I couldn’t.
The existence of ××…
Therefore, I felt that I was overly eager to protect Marielle. Yes, I was trying to respond to Marielle’s feelings by fulfilling my mission as a hero.
If I tell Mariel how I feel, I would be betraying ××…
Still, I want to protect Marielle’s smile.
I had to survive for that. Funabashi’s arms joined together on the spur of the moment to do so. The jaw closed heavily even though it was almost at my throat… I forced my mouth open in a retching tone.
「Marielle… I, I got skills to work with…」
「Congratulations to that, Kaname-sama!」
「Yeah…」
The binding of Funabashi’s arm to me has allowed me to use the storage and slotting of skills, but as Meesha’s video shows, this unholy hand that strangled that girl….
I was neither happy nor disappointed.
Every time I look at my left arm, I feel like I’m going to dream about the girl Funabashi roughed up and her lover’s end.
「Marielle… is it true what is written in this book?」
The book I held out in front of Marielle was titled【Tremble And Memory.】It’s on loan from the Magistrate’s Office.
「Yes… But, Kaname-san, do you really intend to learn and use Delete?」
「Yeah, if it’s true, I want to use it. Because apparently, I might go crazy if I don’t.」
To have Funabashi disjoint from me…
Shirakaba-san touched my shoulder and comforted me, saying,「it had to be done,」but I began to tremble and feel crushed with guilt, even though I didn’t do it, as the book in the Royal Academy of Magical Arts said I did.
「I am holding your hand. Please, if you’re in pain, do as you please…」
「Thank you. I want peace in this world. So… I’ll keep going.」
And so…
【Delete】can be mastered. Do you want to learn it?
Yes <——
No
Of course, my answer was「yes.」And I immediately exercise my skills.
【Do you want to delete the memory?】
Yes <——
No
Selecting yes,【Delete!】and shouted at the top of its voice.
Learn more
Pause
Unmute
A moment later.
Hah!? Huh? I couldn’t remember anything.
「What was I worried about?」
「Don’t worry, it’s already done.」
My saintly lady with a big smile on her face for me.
「N–Now I have to give my congratulations to Kaname-sama… for your hard work…」
S–So close… we were so close that I could feel the warmth and wetness of Marielle’s breath on my cheek.
「Marielle… W–What is the congratulation, I wonder? I wonder if it’s something you have to get that close to give～?」
I ask her about it, but she doesn’t seem to have anything in her hand. Not only that, she doesn’t even seem to be trying to take it out of her costume.
That’s when Marielle closes her eyes. Don’t tell me she’s trying to purify me again!?
「Marielle!? I think I’m already fine to be purified… nhn.」
Marielle’s soft lips touched mine as she closed her eyes. My lips are pressed against hers. Happiness fades away like a mist.
Marielle opens her eyes, her cheeks flushed, and tells me.
「This isn’t kiss, nor this is a cleansing… this is a blessing.」
「B–Blessing!?」
「Y–Yes… For Kaname-sama’s new skill.」
Fidgeting and rubbing her hands together around her crotch…
「Kaname-sama, if only you would allow me… I’d like you to give more blessings…」
No, no, no, Marielle!?
This time, I squirmed my over-full flab on my second arm and it was dancing in front of my eyes.
This is more than a blessing, it’s an eye-opener!!!
「M–Marielle… I can’t go any further… I’ve already had so many blessings from you, you know.」
My pants are going to be tenting…
「I don’t think I have enough for Kaname-sama yet. You’ve been treated coldly all this time.」
I sit on the mat and she comes at me on all fours. She backs away, but her cleavage is emphasized.
It’s more like a pair of tits..
I must not become a perverted hero who lusts after the saintly lady. As I desperately try to keep my reason.
「This is a big problem…」
Lilith flips up the fabric of the tent doorway and comes in with a blue face. Suddenly Marielle backs away from me, looking embarrassed. I know I shouldn’t, but I’m sad to see Marielle move away…
I made a joke to Lilith, whose face was blue. I’m not mad at her for getting in the way of my dodgy business with Marielle, but I’m not mad at her.
「What, did you wet the bed or something?」
「Why is it that when I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you, you’re always saying stupid things,——! I don’t know anymore!」
「I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll give you some candy to put you in a better mood.」
「What!? Why don’t you tell me that!」
A lollipop-like round tortoiseshell candy with a stick inserted into her. It was given to me by a man in town as a thank-you for carrying water. The lollipop is licked with a chirping sound.
Haah, good thing she’s a simple person.
「Nhn— well! Oops, I shouldn’t have been licking my lips over a candy bar. You and Marielle need to see this!」
————Myaa～hn!
「Nhn?」
「Yes?」
Apparently, Lilith was sorry for what she had done and wanted to be of help to me, so she sent Meesha out as a scout.
Prompted by Lilith, we were astonished at the images Meesha had explored. She seemed to have gone off somewhere while we were talking, and then returned to Lilith’s place.
「What is this!?」
My hand that had been holding Meesha shakes with a tremor. I immediately wanted Marielle to see it too, so I left Meesha with her… Marielle was as surprised as I was when she saw the video, and she couldn’t help but scream.
「「Ehhh!?」」
「Why is that guy… being scouted?」
That guy was being solicited by a succubus-like erotic female demoness wearing goat-like horns and a red bunny suit as well as Lilith, who stroked his chin.