Priscilla, silent beside the carriage, had been abducted. It was unusual for her to be operating the carriage this is for sure. The atmosphere around her was such that if I accidentally touched her chest, she would likely ignore it.
Normally, she’d talk my ear off, complain one-sidedly, or cross her arms strangely, leading us to find a place to spar. But this time, something felt eerie.
We arrived at a large forest a short distance from the training grounds. Without a word, she dismounted and quickly disappeared into the trees alone. It was truly unsettling.
Deep within the forest, where I couldn’t see the outside, Priscilla stopped. We had ventured quite far in, and I didn’t want to get lost on the way back.
From behind her back, I asked, “Can’t we just do this normally?” She smoothly drew her beloved Buster Sword, and I gave up. I’ll win anyway. Priscilla, you masochist.
Without a sound, a powerful slash attacked from overhead. How could she approach this silently? What footwork! My left prosthetic arm, adjusted by Orietta, was functioning perfectly with its magic circuits. When I blocked it with my small shield, the shock still ran down to my knees.
“As expected, you’re fast,” I muttered.
Your slashes are heavy. Cheap shields would be trashed in five hits against Priscilla’s power. As Captain, I have to stop this waste.
Facing Priscilla, I hesitated to use two swords; my prosthetic arm felt unreliable. I hadn’t even used it against the Knight Order. It was time to finish this with my pride and joy, the Black Sword.
I could have cut her to pieces until she was naked, but would cutting the “armor that doesn’t come off even when turned into a Lycanthrope,” which I had painstakingly made, make Orietta sad?
“Speed idiot!”
As I said that, Priscilla attacked again. I deflected her with the Black Sword, avoiding a direct hit. It would be a waste if the Black Sword broke. It was useless to talk if it came down to a battle of raw power. Even my Black Sword felt sorry for itself. Now, what should I do?
I deflected and parried a couple more blows, and my plan came together. Alright, I’ll cut off a piece of her clothes and subject her to an erotic torment. Imagining the glimpse of Priscilla’s skin that would be revealed, my meager lust surged.
“I will win,” I declared.
I created distance and locked onto the spot to cut. Let’s start with her legs. I wanted to feast my eyes on her long, trained legs, even if just a peek. The thought alone was condensed… Wait, it’s still too early.
“Hmph!”
With a war cry, I lunged and cut. Just a glimpse of her healthy thigh, her clothes slicing vertically. Should I make it Hot Pants next? No, wait, let’s rip open her chest first.
Was that a little too shallow?! I could have seen her cleavage, but the armor was in the way! I’m sorry, Orietta, but I can’t resist my desires.
“As always, you’re fast. Do I need to become a Lycanthrope?”
Wait, wait. Isn’t it fine as long as she’s in human form? Lycanthrope form has its advantages, but the eroticism of human form…
I need to cut Priscilla down before she transforms into a Lycanthrope. Let’s end this quickly and enjoy myself. This time, I’ll use the full Godspeed I showed Rufina. My eroticism… I’ll show you my true power.
I braced my legs and unleashed my full Godspeed with the intent of launching myself from a catapult. Die, Priscilla! For my lust!
I wasn’t launched from a catapult. The power I intended for the catapult was used for CPR.
“Guh!”
Caught off guard, my reaction was slow. Did my heart stop for a moment!? There’s only one person in this world who could do this…
“What’s wrong, Speed King? Your legs have stopped moving.”
Christine?! No one in this world other than Christine could stop my heart. And she’d infused a considerable amount of power to paralyze it. I need to perform CPR myself, or I’ll die.
“Die!”
To swing the Buster Sword while I’m busy with CPR, isn’t she a demon?! With my faltering Godspeed, I exchanged blows with Priscilla at a speed that could hardly be called Godspeed anymore.
This is really bad. Facing the genuinely strong Priscilla without Godspeed is tough. Christine’s misfortune, my heart paralysis, is only getting stronger. I’ll be killed by Christine before Priscilla even gets me.
“Christine! This is beyond a joke! Please stop!”
Even as I fought, my cry reached Christine, and she responded with a heart explosion, unfortunately for me. I’m in even more trouble! I have to hold my exploding heart and redirect the pulse to Godspeed, which prevents me from moving fast.
“Priscilla! Wait a minute! Make Christine stop…”
Priscilla never allows anyone else to interfere, not in Guard Duty or even in wartime rewards. She always fought one-on-one. What’s going on?
“There’s no ‘wait’ on the battlefield.”
Is she really trying to kill me?! But she’s fighting me, who’s lost speed, and she’s toying with me, isn’t she? She’s got a good face, but a terrible personality!
Unable to contain the power of the Buster Sword’s strikes, I was sent flying with each blow. Even my best strikes were blown away easily.
“You can’t do anything on your own.”
Damn it! If only Christine weren’t here, I wouldn’t lose. I feel like crying. Where is Christine? If only I knew where she was…
“Why are you so in a hurry to live all by yourself?”
A sharp slash followed, aiming to sever my head. The Buster Sword and the Black Sword clashed with a fierce metallic ring. This is serious. Is she really trying to kill me?
“Don’t be so cool.”
Unable to fully deflect the Black Sword, my stance broke. Priscilla’s sexy leg kick from below sent me flying. But this isn’t the time to be thinking about that.
My ribs must be broken… It burns with pain. To be pushed this far without Godspeed. I collapsed to my knees, clutching my side, but Priscilla didn’t pursue.
“This is the end…”
Priscilla. Why do you look so sad? That’s not the look of a victor. I stood up as if the pain of my broken ribs had vanished. Then, a Godspeed strike!
“Whoa, you’re still going!”
“It’s over, Priscilla. The fight’s been dragging on, and Christine seems to have gotten bored. I can use Godspeed again.”
“Christine!!”
Priscilla frantically turned and shouted towards where Christine was. Towards where…
“So that’s where you are!”
I thought I was going to die. For a split second, I poured all my Godspeed into speed, stopping the CPR. Priscilla must have been flustered by the sudden Godspeed. She’d lose if I could use Godspeed.
My mistake was panicking and checking Christine’s location. But now I knew where she was. I’ve overdone it this time. Christine will pay for this.
Alternating between Godspeed and CPR, I pushed through the grass, leaped over stones, and found her amidst the trees.
“Christine! This time, I won’t let you get away with it as a joke!”
As I lunged towards Christine with Godspeed, Orietta stood beside her, clad in armor and wielding a giant Hammer.
“I’m a home run hitter~”
Orietta treated me like a ball and swung her giant Hammer. I, having rushed in recklessly, dropped at a right angle in front of Orietta, like a forkball, and dodged the Hammer.
My back clothes were slightly torn, but the trees diagonally opposite Orietta’s Hammer were blown away, roots and all, by the shockwave.
“Orietta! Are you serious?!”
“One strike~”
Don’t say such foolish things. That power unleashed with the armored suit is dangerous. If I were hit, I’d explode, or at best, die.
“■■■■, you damn greatsword.”
“■■■■, you damn greatsword.”
A double chant from left and right?! Rufina and Rossa! Even while rolling around in agony, I drew a knife from my waist and adopted a two-sword stance, channeling magic into my left prosthetic arm. Bring it on anytime!
The large amount of magic flowing into my prosthetic arm went berserk, conveniently deflecting the greatsword coming from my left. My right hand, my pride, the Black Sword, with Godspeed added, blocked it.
I couldn’t reach Orietta, of course. I dodged the Hammer swung down from above by fleeing into the sky. The ground where I had been was a crater, like the epicenter of an explosion.
“Two strikes~”
“Rossa! You’re clumsy. Hit him.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Idiot, idiot! You thought you’d hit me. Too bad. With Godspeed, I can at least do this much… Unfortunately, Christine’s misfortune has no heart paralysis.
As I soared into the air, a platinum laser sliced through the large branch I was aiming for, along with the entire tree supporting it. My perch was gone.
With no branch to stop me, I could no longer defy gravity and fell past the large tree. I rolled a great distance, throwing away both my Black Sword and my knife.
“Checkmate, ‘s.”
Alana’s sharp claws tightened around my neck.
It’s over… I couldn’t move my hands or feet. If you take away my speed, is there nothing left…?
“You’re dead. This is the end…”
Priscilla walked over leisurely, a sad look on her face.
“Why are you doing this…?”
I was completely defeated. Cornered and hunted. To think it was all orchestrated, even reading my feints.
“You can’t do anything on your own. Why do you try to carry everything alone, you idiot?”
“That’s not what I intended.”
“Like with Rufina, you became a Baron, then the Training Corps… Why are you in such a hurry?”
I didn’t intend to be in a hurry, but there was a reason I needed to be. With a little over a year until the Demon Lord’s advance, the three northern countries alone wouldn’t be enough. I needed the power to mobilize the Empire. I wanted the power to be called a Hero.
Alana released her grip on my neck. The members of the White Lily Corps gathered around me. They were all worried about me. Perhaps I had been running too far ahead alone.
I thought Godspeed was invincible, and I tried to solve everything myself. That wasn’t my intention, though. Maybe I was living too selfishly.
“You’re just a damn Captain whose only pride is his speed. Rely on us more. We’re all the White Lily Corps.”
“That’s harsh. I think there are other things to be proud of.”
Thank you, Priscilla. I almost became that idiot who charged the Demon Lord alone and died pointlessly, like back then. After I died, did you all cry? Or did you curse my name?
“What else can you be proud of besides swinging the Buster Sword, you damn Captain?”
That’s true. I shall show you. My proud Buster Sword! Above all, Priscilla, I want to see your smile.
“That’s not true. I rely on you, Captain. I’m proud of my healing magic.”
Thank you, Sophia. Please use your magic to recover. Lasers hurt, you know.
“I’m not losing to the Captain when it comes to speed.”
Alana, you’re fast. Traveling over cavalry… I don’t think I could do something so skillful.
“I am invincible. Together with Rossa, we will kill all enemies.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Rufina, when you eventually merge with Rossa, will you become so strong that I can’t kill you anymore? Rossa, when you appear in public, please put on some weight.
“I can make anything, Olie~ Master’s prosthetic arm is no problem~”
I’ve been secretly helped by Orietta. A normal prosthetic arm is fine. I don’t need rocket punches.
“…………”
…Yes.
Let’s keep trying. I apologize that there are things I can’t talk about, but I want us all to go to a future I don’t know someday.
“Well then, Captain, you’ll have to do your best!”
“Nngh?”
We just reached an agreement, right? To do our best, together. Not just me, but all of us.
“Nngh? What do you mean ‘Nngh?’ If the Captain doesn’t do his best, how will we get our wartime rewards? We’ve put everyone on the line this time. I’ll take on all six of us and that skeletal guy.”
So it comes down to this… This is the White Lily Corps, I guess. I found myself smiling faintly.
“Great, great! Let’s take them all on together. Alana, there’s wine in the box under the weapon rack in the carriage. Get it out.”
“Ah~ That’s my hidden stash!”
“No need to be strict. Let’s make it flashy since we’re at it.”
Can I live up to their expectations? Will I recklessly die on my own? I don’t know what the future holds, but if I falter or make mistakes, the six members of the White Lily Corps will surely show me the right path. …With their lives.
That night, I desired them more intensely than ever before. The six members of the White Lily Corps, Rossa, and one who had joined us unnoticed. Intensely.
