Chapter 27 "Extermination"

　I - Heidi - look at my ex-fiancee in front of me.

　She is looking at me, but her attention seems to be on the battlefield as a whole.

Occasionally, her gaze turns to the area behind me, where he and her men are fighting.

　Is she concerned about him?

　Thinking about it, the realization that I have become a different person makes a sense of desolation well up in my chest.

　At least I loved her.

　Did she love me?

　He said, "You have been betrayed."

　I could not believe it.

　At least Zubel and Fatima were the family I had spent the most time with in my life.

　I believed that there was a bond that had been cultivated over a long period of time.

　But, as you can see, the result was not what I expected.

　For some reason, Fatima is attacking us and trying to hurt him, if not me.

　This is clearly hostile behavior.

　He also recognizes her as "the enemy."

　After all, I myself may have had a dim idea that this was going to happen.

　I guess I just didn't want to believe it.

　I remember the past few days.

　I could not forget the shock I felt when I came to consciousness.

　The lightness of my body. The high voice. The short stature.

　And then he appeared in front of me.

　He - the other me.

　He said that after I died, he was resurrected as me.

　His face was the same as the one I see in the mirror every day, but his physical appearance and inner self had changed drastically.

　Especially his inner self, he had changed so much that I wondered if it was really me. 

　His emotions were not so strong.

Even the fact that he was betrayed by Zubel and his friends and that he had died was a matter of course, as if it was someone else's problem.

　Perhaps there were painful things he did not talk about after that?

　He did not talk about his changed physique.

　Did I force him to suffer a terrible fate?

　It made my heart ache to think so.

　At first I wanted to punch myself for being envious of his improved physique.

　He had gone through so much hardship that he ended up like that.

　When I think about it, I get angry at my own inadequacy.

　So I decided to do all I could for him.

　He seemed to be trying to keep me away from him, but I wondered if he was concerned about me.

　He told me several times along the way to live as Lilynette, but I wondered if he was thinking of me.

　I still can't make up my mind about Fatima and the others.

However, I will protect him who has been thrown out into this world because of me.

I will save him from the pain he has suffered in this world.

　He may think it's a nuisance, but I will take responsibility in my own way.

To do so, I will bring down Fatima, who is an obstacle to him.

　I will put my feelings aside.

　I hold the kukri in one hand while watching the other hand.

　The other hand is open.

　It is because it gets in the way of using the ring.

　The previous owner owned several higher level magical tools in addition to this ring of magical destruction.

A ring that greatly improved my physical abilities and gradually healed my wounds and strength.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that I was able to fight properly with him because of this.

　Finally, a ring that partially takes over the chanting of magic.

　If you send the magic power and the image of the magic you want to use in advance, it will send the image of the formation when chanting.

　The feeling is that it can shorten the time by about 30-40%.

　My own experience, physical experience, and knowledge.

　I feel that these three things greatly increase my current overall strength.

　That is all I need.

I relax my body and shut out unnecessary thoughts.

　I exhale lightly and kick the ground strongly to move forward.

　Fatima magically creates a large number of icicles and sends them flying.

　It was slow and the aim was not good enough.

　The amount of icicles was too much, but the aim was too rough.

　I moved forward, dodging the flying icicles as if I were stitching them.

　Fatima must have realized that she couldn't catch me with her icicles, so this time she made a huge block of ice and dropped it on me.

　No use. I released the ring's ability. The magic is destroyed.

　The ice block vanishes as if nothing happened.

　Without slowing down, I jump to the side to close the distance.

　Something passed through the place where I was.

　It is probably a wind magic.

This time, I jump backwards.

　An icicle grows out from under my feet, trying to pierce me.

　I landed. This time, a block of ice from above.

　I destroy it with my ring.

　A barrage of icicles. I evade while running erratically.

　A blade of wind. I roll on the ground to avoid it.

　Fatima's eyebrows go up.

　This time, she creates a huge mass of water.

Shooting it out. The speed was not so fast, so it could be avoided without any problem.

But as I got closer, the mass burst.

The water drenches my entire body.

　The edge of Fatima's mouth forms a smile.

　...Well, Fatima's aim....

　When I came to, my whole body was swallowed by the wind filled with cold air.

I - Fatima Rose Liard - released a wide range of magic to get rid of the insect in front of me.

I can't see well due to the pieces of ice and dust that rolled up when I fired the magic, but I'm sure the stone was dead.

　It was a depressing bug. No, it was a depressing insect because it was an insect.

　Let's catch Mr. Rothfeldt after checking the carcass of the bug.

　Oh, Mr. Rothfeldt.

　Almost there, that beloved one is mine alone....

　The first time I met him was when I was a little girl.

　He had golden hair and a fair face. And a smile that seemed to love everything.

　I fell in love with him instantly, even though I didn't show it.

　Whenever he was next to me, he always took care of me.

　I didn't feel bad as a woman when he cared that much, and he was always serious.

　From the way he looked at me, I knew he was thinking about me even when I wasn't next to him.

　I believed that he and I would make a good family.

　As a family connection, this marriage is not bad, and it is a wonderful relationship that will make everyone happy.

　...But while I was fulfilled, somewhere in my heart, I felt a little lacking.　

　I became aware of this one day a few years ago.

　The hat I had bought for my father was blown away by the wind and caught in a tree, and it was when Mr. Rothfeldt went up to retrieve it.

Mr. Rothfeldt was able to retrieve the hat, but he accidentally fell from the tree.

　I rushed over to him.

　He smiled as he desperately endured the pain, saying, "It's all right."

　Seeing this I felt ...... a pleasure that numbed my uterus.

　He is suffering for me.

　That fact alone filled me with an unspeakable euphoria.

　This is what I wanted from him.

　Since then, I have stood by and let him hurt and suffer for me.

I knew that he was suffering because of Zubel's failure to manage his territory.

　The way he was smiling so desperately because he didn't want me to worry about him was...well, it was a bit...flirtatious, but it was very exciting.

　But still, what was Mr. Rothfeldt thinking to have a man with eyes so clouded with desire by his side?

　Or was he unaware of it?

　If so, even that is lovely. Because, you know, isn't that so?

Without him, I would not even be able to see it.

　After all, he will be with me and we will fulfill each other.

　I was strongly convinced of that.

　But...

When I heard that Zubel had disposed of Mr. Rothfeldt, I became irritated.

　He was a foolish man, but to this extent.... The man's audacity exceeded my expectations.

　I immediately hired someone to investigate and search for him, but he could not be found.

　After a reasonable number of days, I finally found him when I was beginning to give up in my heart.

　I don't know how it happened, but it seems he was hiding in Liard.

A report came to me when Zubel, who was on his way to Liard on business, happened to find him and contacted some shady people in an attempt to get rid of him again.

I tried to stop them, but by the time the report came in, things had already moved on.

Later, I learned from those who came to report under Zubel that they had been beaten back by Mr. Rothfeldt.

As expected of Mr. Rothfeldt, he was the best.

　There was no way he could have lost to such trashy people.

　The survivors were also trashy, but they had useful information.

Mr. Rothfeldt is alive and on his way to me.

　Oh, I am so glad. You are finally coming back to me.

　I was waiting for Mr. Rothfeldt, preparing my forces to greet him and clear up the sad misunderstanding.

　I thought it would take a little longer considering the travel time, but you came in a hurry to see me, didn't you?

　That person whom I met again had changed a lot, but there was no way I could mistake him for my beloved.

However, he must have been going through a lot of pain.

His speech had become very vulgar.

And sadly, it seems that my words did not reach him well.

　However, if it is Mr. Rothfeldt, I don't mind at all.

　It was my fault for not being able to read Zubel's behavior.

　Let's take time to heal slowly.

I arranged the pawns to restrain Mr. Rothfeldt, but to my surprise, he destroyed them, although only a few of them.

　To be honest, I did not expect this.

I was well aware of Mr. Rothfeldt's skill, so I had expected to be able to hold him down with only a little damage inflicted at best on one of the pawns.

　The magic he used and the fact that I haven't seen him for a while, he seems to have grown a lot.

I am very pleased to see the growth of my beloved Lord.

　However...there is one thing I don't like.

　What is it?　What is that bug that interrupted us in the middle of our conversation?

　A couple who have pledged their future to each other?　Sacrificing your body and soul?

　I don't understand what you are talking about.

　But what is it?　This dusky feeling.

　It is one of the five most unpleasant things I have ever lived with.

　Mr. Rothfeldt, you are keeping such an insect by your side to attract my attention, aren't you?

　...But that doesn't change the fact that I was uncomfortable.

Even though it was an insect, it was someone with whom you shared time.

Perhaps you have fallen in love with her, and you are keeping her close to you out of pity, right?

　Please rest assured. I will exterminate the insect.

Let the pawns hold Mr. Rothfeldt and I will concentrate on exterminating the insect.

I attacked it with magic, yet it was just an insect, but it easily evaded my attacks one after another.

Unfortunately, the insect move too fast to be caught by puncture attacks.

　I switch to a ranged attack, much to my chagrin.

After wetting its body with Water Ball II , I aimed to ice it with Blizzard II.

　I saw the insect was swallowed by the blizzard.

　That thing would be iced over and dead, or if alive, it would be unable to move.

I chant wind magic to restore visibility.

There is also the confirmation of the corpse, but it is convenient in some way that Rothfeld-sama can't see it.

　"...!?"

　I quickly move to the side.

　The next moment, a shiny object passes through the space where I was.

　Was that the sword the insect was holding?

　I was distracted by the sword for a moment.

　When I brought my attention back to the front, before I knew it, the insect had pulled the sword from its waist and was swinging it in front of me.