How long had I been fighting? There were no enemies left, but I still had my sword, and my shield and armor were fine. Baron Krisel should be heading towards his territory by now.
Are the others who separated from me safe? I… Sophia is scheduled to go to the rendezvous point ahead of me. Did everyone make it? Did they earn a lot from the battle rewards? It would be a hassle if they earned too much, but I hope it offsets my kill count.
Sophia and Christine, along with Christine’s Army, were at the rendezvous point. Christine’s Army had suffered heavy losses, but the eyes of the survivors were fixed on Christine, so I decided not to interfere.
“We’ll wait here for two hours. If I don’t return by then, please go on ahead. I’ll chase after you.”
Without waiting for their reply, I plunged back into the battlefield. I knew they would stop me if I listened, and it would be problematic if they followed.
I found Orietta not long after I started searching. It seemed her prized armor had malfunctioned. Orietta’s armor. It reminded me of a powered suit I’d seen long ago, but shoddily made, something that shouldn’t exist in this world.
“Orietta, are you alright?”
Her head was positioned near the chest of the powered suit. I tapped the chest of the suit to gauge her reaction, but there was no response. As I brought my ear closer to her chest to hear if she was okay inside, the hatch suddenly opened, and I was head-butted.
“I’m glad it was you, Captain~”
“It hurt, you know. Is Orietta alright? Are you injured?”
“I’m fine~. This thing stopped working, and I couldn’t see anything, so it was scary~.”
“You don’t seem to be injured. Let’s hurry back to everyone.”
“That’s the problem. My clothes are caught and I can’t get out~.”
“I told you to stop wearing those frilly clothes back in my past life. I forgive you when you wear them normally because they’re cute.”
“Please help me~. It’s going to melt soon because of this thing’s self-destruct function~.”
“It’s a waste since you made it. Why don’t you wait for it to melt?”
“Orietta will melt too~!”
“Say that earlier. Where are these frilly clothes caught? They’re frilly everywhere, so I can’t tell what’s caught.”
“I’m going to cut them off!”
“Please do~. And please deal with the Orc coming from the front~.”
What?! I’m busy cutting these clothes. Please wait. The powered suit was already melting, and even Orietta’s clothes touching it were starting to melt. I wanted to watch… But alas, if I didn’t cut off her clothes, Orietta’s life would be in danger.
By the time I cut Orietta’s clothes and pulled her out of the suit, the Orc was already right in front of me. As I turned, I stabbed the Orc’s stomach with the knife I’d used to cut Orietta’s clothes, but its armor easily broke the blade.
“Get down~!”
I dropped to the ground with all my might. I felt something ripping through the air behind me. Orietta’s great hammer whizzed right over my head.
The gust of wind, strong enough to make me think “I’ll go bald,” passed over my head, and the Orc was blown away. When I looked back, Orietta stood there, her clothes mostly gone, melted and torn, carrying her great hammer.
“My armor is all melted~.”
“Is it fine that your clothes melted? You’re practically naked. Your cute navel is showing… This is also good. The amount of clothing lost is a bit too much, but this is also good.”
“Will that, ‘thing,’ come out again?”
“That won’t come out anymore~. It was quite good, but it didn’t last long~.”
If it melted every time it came out, it would be dangerous and wasteful. Also, you should stop wearing those frilly gothic lolita clothes. Though cutting them is fun.
“Orietta, can you get back to the rendezvous point?”
“I can~. It was just the armor that stopped working~.”
“Then find some clothes and return to the rendezvous point. I’m sorry I can’t escort you.”
“Are you going to look for everyone else~? I think Rufina is ahead of you~.”
“I’ll go look for her. Please be careful.”
I draped my coat over her, but I struggled to look away from her fair skin peeking through the gaps. I should burn it into my memory. For now, the time to push her down… is not there!
“Be careful~. Don’t forget your battle rewards~.”
I want to forget. How many times will my memories be dug up?
Rufina. Probably one of the strongest Necromancers. In the White Lily Corps, she and Orietta were good friends, and they often plotted mischief, leading to me being killed… and annoyed many times. There’s no way Rufina would be outmatched by Orcs or Trolls. After all, blood is the reward.
When I found Rufina, she was sitting on the ground with one knee up, as if she had just spat blood from her mouth. When I grabbed the hem of Rufina’s robe, it was soaked all the way to her feet.
Looking at my hands again, they were stained bright red, and from the wet feel of the robe, an unusually large amount of blood was flowing out.
“Rufina… I’m sorry…”
I gently embraced Rufina.
“C-Captain…”
“Rufina!”
I faintly heard Rufina’s weak voice. She’s still alive! Can I make it to Sophia’s location if I run at full speed!?
“C-Captain… I’ll be away for a bit.”
Good. Is she alright? That’s an incredible amount of blood.
“I’m just a little dizzy from the magic.”
“Are you sure? That’s a lot of blood. Your robe is soaked…”
“This blood spilled over. I was drinking it quickly, so it spilled.”
“You drank it? Blood!?”
“Captain, you’re misunderstanding something. I drink my own blood to recover magic power.”
“Huh?”
“Unlike Sophia and Orietta, Necromancers recover magic by drinking blood. This is all that blood.”
So that’s why she was so eager for blood. Necromancers have it tough if they can’t recover without drinking blood.
“Especially Captain’s blood is so sweet, so sweet.”
Blood doesn’t taste sweet, it tastes like iron. At least she’s safe. I thought Rufina would be fine.
“Can you get back to the rendezvous point? If you’re injured, I’ll escort you.”
“I can make it. I’ll be waiting at the rendezvous point.”
Rufina’s steps were light. She must have defeated a truly large number of Orcs. My own steps felt heavy. How many tens of liters of blood will I have to share? It probably won’t be just one liter, and I wonder if it’s true that you can eat liver to fix anemia.
When I went to look for Alana, it was just as I expected. Alana was toying with a dead Orc among several others.
“Alana!”
I called out to Alana, and she turned towards me, startled enough to tremble. Her eyes were wide, her fur standing on end, and her hands were covered in blood. She’s giving into her bad habit again.
Alana lunged at me with her claws, mistaking me for someone trying to steal her prey. I don’t need any more Orcs, and it won’t end like it did last time.
If I know she’s coming, I can avoid it. I have Godspeed, after all. However, in terms of strength, she still surpasses me even now.
Where I lack in strength, I’ll make up for with joint locks. I’ll show you what I learned from correspondence courses.
I caught Alana as she came at me, securing her arms behind her back and slamming her to the ground. Or rather, “slamming” might be more accurate. She tried to break free with brute force, so I put all my might into it.
She still swung her free left hand, growling “Waaah” or “Gaaah.” I managed to pin her left wrist, the one with the sharp claws, from above to stop it, but I’d never seen Alana growl like this before.
“Alana, Alana!”
She only responded with growls and strained with all her might, as if she were going to break her own arm… What should I do?
This is when I should use that…
I don’t know if it’ll actually work…
I saw it on TV…
But Alana’s fangs are scary…
What if she bites my face off…
I released my grip and laid her on her back. I spread my arms wide and kissed her. I struggled to suppress the strength entering my arms. It didn’t work after all, did it? Does this only work on TV?
After a moment, I felt her strength dissipate. All right, now I’ll insert my tongue into her mouth and tease her, and Alana’s tongue entwined with mine. Good, even though I cut my lips a little.
I enjoyed myself for about the time it would take to defeat three Orcs before I broke away from her mouth. Alana, who looked reluctant to part, was cute again.
“Are you alright? Are you injured?”
“I-I’m fine. I’m fine now.”
I was worried, so I did a full-body check to reassure myself. Of course, it was over my armor, and I only put my hands inside her clothes a little. It’s not sexual harassment. It’s skinship.
“Can you go to everyone else? I’ll be waiting at the rendezvous point.”
“What about you, Captain?”
“Only Priscilla is left, so I’ll go find her and bring her back.”
“In that case, I’ll go with you.”
“That’s not possible. I won’t be able to get back by the time I promised Sophia. Please depart once Alana reaches the rendezvous point.”
Alana said various things, but time was short. Her dejected figure as she walked away was so sad, I wanted to hug her.
Only Priscilla is left. I cut a piece from a fallen Pomerian banner, thinking I could wrap it around Priscilla, who would likely be a Lycanthrope and probably not wearing clothes.
