My Death Flags Show No Sign of Ending

"Knock..."

Confirming that Fincent had fallen, Harold knelt on one knee like he had lost his strength. Though the wounds received are not serious in themselves, it is not impossible to fight for long periods of time, and if you create more than a hundred consecutive moves with your bleeding body, your health can be shredded.

In addition to that, he continues to be exposed to Fincent's onslaught and accumulates a lot of mental fatigue.

But I won. Even Fincent won't be able to stand after all those attacks. I mean, it's not weird if you're dead.

The last Rift Thunder unleashed is the most powerful of Harold's available moves. However, because of its thermal power, it had a long storage time and was also a very difficult move to use.

It would be obvious that even the game is not suitable for action, given that it was turned into the default kind of story move to be stopped before it was activated. It's basically going to be a battle in pairs of four, so it's only natural that if you accumulate it for a long time, they attack you and cancel your moves.

This time it was just a good decision because it was an unlikely one-on-one fight first when it was a game.

That's why I won, I thought so.

Harold's ear leaning back and breathing roughly, Jari, sounds.

I stopped breathing. The thought of no way fills my head.

But at the same time, I also thought that if Fincent... Harold looks up to face to face the reality he doesn't want to believe, but it could be.

And words leaked into the sight.

"... the monster"

The armor is scattered in pieces, and the flesh of the person who was wearing it is dyed by countless wounds and compatible blood.

Despite that, Fincent stood up. I wandered unexpectedly at the look of a ghost.

He flutters his body, which would be powerless to do so much, and takes a step as he drags the Great Sword. dead body but only its eyes shine unusually sharply.

"Harold... Stokes, of... elimination first... and su..."

"... Are you a puppet, too? A man who was also the leader of the Knights of the Holy Kings fell."

In the original, Yustus' words confused me to lose sight of myself, and now he's even deprived of his self-consciousness by brainwashing or something. Everything seems worse than the original.

Fincent is in a similar position to Harold, I suppose. Stage device for being defeated by a protagonist named Boss Character. Although not clearly depicted in the original, it would be dead in view of Cody's lines.

That means Fincent is also a man with a death flag. It's not funny because those two are killing each other for whatever reason. Do you think fate and they want us to keep fighting until one of us dies here?

"I'm not kidding..."

I felt terrible. I have lived a day where I continue to resist my fear of death, suffering much more because I didn't even know it and I was possessed by Harold.

Just because this is a world so similar to the game I love here doesn't mean I can just enjoy it. Enjoyment could have reduced the mental burden, but even that has limits.

The fear and anxiety were misfortunes, though they knew the end of themselves and the world.

But in front of Finn St., who has thus become a troublemaker, I feel like he's a pretty unhappy man, too, who wouldn't know anything.

I lost my family and my hometown, became a mercenary to live, dyed my hands in blood, and still knighted my friends - to protect someone. Not only did he rely on his talents, but he made considerable efforts to climb up to the head of the regiment because of his qualitatively rigid character.

This is the result.

In the original, he lost many of his men, and the Knights of the Holy King, both in the form of dreams and in pride, fell and put his sword to the liners, attached to his heart, which was weak to Justus, who caused it. At the end of the day, he died in defeat of Cody, who was a childhood tame and best friend.

And now he's brainwashed and no longer turned into a doll just to faithfully carry out Justus' orders. Moreover, the end brought about by that order is the catastrophic sinking of the continent for every people Fincent is trying to protect.

I don't know which one is more unhappy unless it's Fincent, but either way, it's no different that it's a life full of misery.

"... are you satisfied with your life like that?

I would have asked that if I had noticed. Even though I knew it was pointless where I put my words to Fincent now, I couldn't help but put the swirling emotions in my heart into words.

"It doesn't serve its purpose, it's just used for the thoughts of others..."

That must have been anger at irrational reality.

"I don't approve of a life like that. What can you call the earliest life, such as a life that you can't live for?"

At the same time, it was a thirst for life.

I'm dying just to color the story, what a reality I can never accept.

"What about you, Fincent? Is that the ideal justice you want?

Naturally Fincent didn't answer, but as Harold, I didn't mean to ask for a separate response.

I just wanted to tell you. It was an outrage at ourselves, an unsolicited pity for Fincent, an outrage at our destiny surrounding each other.

I manage to get up with a stabbed sword on the ground instead of a cane. Physically, it's pretty much the limit.

The thread of tension will be cut by what I thought I won once, and it will be partly because fatigue has pushed me towards it. I am not even sure that I will be able to mount a sword and fight properly. There's definitely a lot of damage to the opponent as well, but the odds are low if you can even ignore all those injuries and move.

Still, the only way to live is to hold my sword.

I don't like it...... and while I thought in a corner of my head like some other HR, Harold nevertheless made me exhale pneumonia.

"Don't let others fool you, you fool! Let your will reign by itself!

It was shortly after that screaming that a change appeared in Finn St.

Stop walking slowly and remove the sword you were holding.

"... ahhh?

A surprising voice leaked unexpectedly. I put aside that I was such a lousy voice as to say which one of these chimps I was, and I'm confused not knowing what happened to the sudden.

Don't miss the gap and see if you can make a quick attack. After the tour, Harold chose the latter.

The heavy pressure of defeat if you go wrong on the offense made that leg stop.

"Give me Harold... me, ha...!

And I notice. Until earlier, it was a catacotto. To the fact that the pronunciation is returning to something that is no different from normal times.

What the change means. Harold finds a glimmer of hope in an instant conclusion.

(Could it be that the brainwashing state is about to unravel?

There is no certainty, but it turns from an inorganic impression, and the voice feels humane.

I don't know why brainwashing is about to unravel, assuming it was. Is it the damage that was attacked, the action that Harold took, or is it a temporal one?

But I didn't care about that. What matters is that we may be able to get Fincent back from that state to a legitimate human being. If we can do that, we won't have to kill each other here either.

It was Harold's sweetness in a way that I thought so. Anyway, the personality of the contents is a college student who lived peacefully in modern Japan until eight years ago.

Possessed of Harold painted on the death flag, he has experienced many battles with humans as well as monsters. Kill or be killed if you make a mistake. It was such a critical way of life, but in other words, Harold had never killed a human yet.

That's a clear boundary that you can't go back to once you step over. Harold has therefore continued to hesitate, consciously or unconsciously, to cross that line.

That's why he chose to scream instead of launching an attack on Finn St. here.

"Wake up! This farce is how you wanted it to end!?

"Gu......!

in response to Harold's words. Fincent holds his head and raises a groan that seems painful.

There was certainly an intention that if we didn't have to fight any more, we would never have crossed it. But the words Harold spat out at this time were also a cry from the bottom of his heart.

Because Ichi Hirazawa "Harold" wanted a human being named Fincent van Westerfallt to live. Because even if he was only a character in the game, Fincent, who is now confronted like this, is a living person.

I'm not close. I've never even had a decent conversation. I just know the character and the circumstances unilaterally.

But that's why I know he's not the person to die for. If there's a way I can help, I want to help.

It was still Harold's sweetness and tenderness.

"Just come back, Fincent!

"... ahhhhhhhhhhh!

A loud shout of wood spirits in the cave. And Fincent knelt down to collapse.

He stops moving as he is.

"Hey......"

I'm not responding to Harold's call.

Is the brainwashing not unraveling, or are you fainting? If all of a sudden, he approaches Finn St. with vigilance to be able to respond even if he launches an attack.

And the moment that distance cut two meters, Fincent moved.

Harold takes a long distance.

Without passing through such Harold as if intentionally, Fincent, who started acting again, took out an object. It was an empty liquid, in a clear cylindrical container.

I saw that. Harold's blood draws me all at once.

(Astral potion!)

A horrible item that Harold consumed in the original and his body couldn't stand the enhanced power that led to death.

That's now in Fincent's hands, not Harold's.

I thought death from it would be avoided if I didn't even drink Astral Potion. But what happens if Fincent ingests whatever the situation is? Harold would be killed by him temporarily empowered, and then Fincent himself would die.

The worst development passes through the back of the brain. Never let me use that one.

That's what you think, but you had to step on your feet right now, but your body didn't move. The center of gravity is also leaning backwards due to leaping backwards.

Put that center of gravity forward, pack the distance from Fincent, and smash the astral potion to pieces. It won't take a few seconds if it takes time. But it feels so long and far away that only a few seconds of it can't be helped.

If I don't make it, I'll know.

"Stop."

All I could do was scream like that. I know it's useless, but the right hand I stretched out still can't grab anything.

Only Fincent's movements look terribly slow in that.

Raising his face as he looked up to heaven, he opened his mouth to consume astral potion, and a container filled with liquid was crushed.

◇

Itsuki, who was cleaning up her paperwork in her own room, exhaled as her back stretched to relax the muscles on her stiff back where the work had gone through a paragraph.

"Hmm... let's take a break"

"Then you'll make some tea."

"Thank you. Please."

Silvi, who had refrained beside him, exits to prepare tea. Until I got here, Silvi had lived a life of tea when it came to tea, but now he was actively trying to brew me green and frying tea.

Seeing her trying to get used to Smeragi's culture quickly warms nature and Itsuki's heart as well.

"Becoming a couple is a lot better than I thought."

Potty and such a grunt leaked. I also feel like my new American husband, who hasn't been married for six months, lacks persuasion when he says it, but if it were Sylvie, we would have a relationship like the one we have now... no, we had the certainty that we would be able to think of each other more than we are now.

That's not why I still can't help but think about it.

"I hope Erica and Harold join us..."

We are like-minded to each other, and the strength of that will, especially to Harold, will probably be at the height of humanity. It is very difficult to bend it even if it can be shaken slightly.

Harold continues to make his own choices, both now and in the past. It may sound good when it comes to steel will, but if it were to be on a lonely path that no one can rely on, it would make me really worried from those who know him well.

"Harold relied on Smeragi once... no, only twice"

The first time I came to ask for help intercepting soldiers of the Sarian Empire attacking me by Yustus' ploy in the Bertis Forest. That said, Harold's request was a very simple one: "Prepare the military uniforms of the Salian Empire," and he could not stand out and support them very well, even as a smeragi.

And the second time... it hasn't been possible yet.

Remove a single seal from the locked desk drawer. I gave it to him from my father. That holds an autographed Harold letter.

I've loaded enough to recite the contents. Spread it out.

What's written inside is a proposal to destroy the engagement that was later embedded in weakness, the provision of groundbreaking industrial technology called LP farming methods, to the method of manufacturing antibodies to qi that was occurring in Smeragi territory.

And sooner or later, when the Stokes disappear, I want you to turn your hand so that there will be no problems in the lives of the people living in the Stokes' territory. Honestly, I don't want that time to come, but at the time, Harold, 10, thought its future was definitive. And that would still be the same.

"... I wonder what kind of world Harold sees"

The ability to grasp the status quo, read ahead, and execute using them to open up the future you wanted. Itsuki thinks he's no match for any of them.

And it is no exaggeration to say that if you hold the sword, you are an individual with the strongest force on the continent.

Psychophysical, force, and tactical intelligence. combining them to a very high standard. Now my friend is a masterpiece that is not strange to keep his name in history.

"That's one of the few favors from him. Whatever it takes to help..."

That's all I said, Itsuki mumbled. There is no stray in that determination.

I just thought about it again and was uncomfortable with the contents of this letter. Would that Harold do an honest favor by making it easy to understand "I want you to save my own people" and so on?

I didn't realize it at the time I received the letter, but now that I have a good understanding of a human being named Harold Stokes, I can say it with certainty. There is no way he would do such a cheap favor.

Assuming the Stokes family has faded, if it remains so, the territory will be allocated to other nobles. It is unlikely that Smeragi will have a major obstacle to the lives of the inhabitants without turning his hand, rather it is even conceivable that liberation from the Stokes would improve the environment.

(Then I want the Smeragi family to manage that land, or...? If so, it would seem bad to break the engagement, but if it means Harold himself isn't willing to get involved after the apocalypse... but assuming that is the case, does there exist a need for a new lord of Stokes territory to be Smeragi?

Itsuki turns her thoughts visibly in an attempt to read Harold's sincerity as described in the letter. But all the answers that float are stubborn.

"What have you done?

When I'm thinking about it, I can speak to Silvi, who brewed my tea and came back.

I gratefully receive the hot water and spread Harold's letter on my desk so that I can look like Silvi if I'm in a mood swing.

"Nah, it's a little uncomfortable to go back over the letters I've received from Harold before."

"Uncomfortable, is it?

"Oh here I am..."

Silvi also glances at the letter as Itsuki urges her. Here were Sylvie's thoughts on reading that all the way through:

"... sorry. I don't know what's wrong."

Well, I guess so, it was Itsuki's mood. It doesn't mean Sylvie's conjecture is bad, it's about the extent to which she finally feels a little uncomfortable knowing how Harold twisted.

It is more impotent to notice something about Silvi, who has barely been in contact with him.

"I don't care. It might be my mistake to be uncomfortable."

"But Itsuki is anxious... what is it?

"Ha... I can't hide anything from Silvi at all"

"If you look into Mr. Itsuki's eyes, you'll see. I'm sure you're convinced of that discomfort."

You were right. Itsuki feels there is absolutely something in this letter.

And at the same time, I remembered the impatience I couldn't say to such a hunch. an unfounded impatience that is going to be irrevocable if we do not respond as soon as possible.

"But is the contents of this letter true? I can't believe Harold's house is going down..."

"I hear Harold predicts that will happen. You've been giving me this letter for eight years."

Sometimes I want to suspect that Harold is predicting the future. At least when it falls, or is close to it...

"No, falling...? Yes, if it's normal... I can't believe Harold went out of his way..."

The word 'fallen' was spoken by Silvi. Words that point to what was flourishing decaying and finally perishing from the world. Meaning is almost similar to apoptosis.

But the word "fall" is more prevalent if used as a regular use. I guess that's why Sylvie changed it to nature, too.

Naturally Harold knows that. Okay, so what if you dared to use the word apoptosis?

Falling and fading. There is only one decisive difference, though in almost the same sense.

Is it already falling, or is it just falling? Although slightly different, there is a difference between whether the decline is complete or in the process of decline.

And it would be more appropriate to use the word "fall" in this letter.

But if apoptosis is a sentence with the right meaning, doesn't this mean that you want the Stokes to reach out at this time correctly, not after the fall, but in the middle of a decline?

"But what's that? Financial support is as far as LP farming can go..."

What Harold wants. Looking to the future for eight years now, now is what we need.

Diving again into the sea of thought, Itsuki turns his head.

"Anticipating the future, the present situation... the Stokes crisis... no, it's Harold's enemies who assume it's a threat?.................. No way"

And one answer I arrived at. It's absurd, but it's not unlikely if you think about it.

If I had assumed this situation for eight years, I would exhaust a word of anomaly, but in Itsuki the word has been set with Harold for a long time. Believe me, even if I had set up an eight-year-old letter so that no one would understand me until the time was ripe. Itsuki, who has long been indirect with Harold, a chunk of anomaly for better or worse, is.

No, maybe I've built a relationship so far to make you feel that way at this moment.

Still. Whatever thoughts you had, Harold is an irreplaceable friend to Itsuki. It seemed tens of thousands of times more than regretting it without acting, even if you were going to think too much and look stupid.

"What's wrong? Itsuki."

"Sylvie, I could do something I had to do."

"... Really? That's very important to say what you have to do, isn't it?

"Oh, yeah. But if you do it badly, it could cause trouble for you and your house."

"Don't worry if that's the case. I am your wife, and I swear I will walk with you no matter what path you take."

Silvi smiles softly saying so. To her like that, Itsuki suppressed a bunch of words. Just one word.

"... thanks"

I just told him.

Yes, and nodding Silvi. Even without daring to put it into words, the short exchanges made good sense between the two.