Not many people enjoy fighting.
Even mercenaries who take war as their profession and laugh off bloodied blades also feel the same way. There are research results suggesting that duels, bare-knuckle brawls, and even petty arguments can cause fatigue.
Naturally, I myself was no exception.
Having crossed the line of life and death multiple times and defeated numerous strong opponents, I also hated fighting. Rather, one could say that it was my aversion to fighting that drove me to endure such hardships.
I wanted to restore peace once again.
Regardless of what anyone said, I was a “pacifist.”
In this context, my biggest dilemma these days was how to stop the squabbles among women.
Or rather, was it even possible?
Even Senior Delphine, whom I trusted, was subtly tormenting Ceria. As for the Lady Virgin Saint and Senior Elsi, it was unnecessary to mention.
Despite repeatedly agonizing over this, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at the scene before me.
“No matter how I look at it, this is our first meeting… where on earth did this girl come from? Why is she sticking so close to Sir Ian?”
“Ah, no… it’s a misunderstanding, Shi-en. I was—!”
“Do you perhaps like Sir Ian? Overstepping your bounds… And when did we become so casual? Do you know who I am? I’m confident!”
The neutral fighter couldn’t withstand Shi-en’s barrage of questions unleashed like a machine gun.
If it were a sword fight, it might have been different, but in a war of words, there was no way the neutral fighter could compare to Shi-en.
From the sidelines, the scenario looked no more than a chick pecking at a worm.
It all began with Shi-en puffing her cheeks and placing her hands on her hips. I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh at the sight.
However, it seemed the one being attacked was having a different experience.
At the sound of my laughter, the neutral fighter yelled in frustration.
“Y-you think it’s funny? Ian Fercurus, you brat! If you don’t stop Shi-en right now…!”
“And what’s with that strange tone? Hah, are you some kind of grandfather now?”
Before long, the Imperial Princess’s tone had shifted to mockery. It was hard to imagine that she wouldn’t realize how close her careless guess was to the truth.
Instead, Shi-en snickered, spreading her arms and shrugging her shoulders as if to say it was ridiculous. She looked utterly absurd.
“Hmph, you’ve set up quite the scenario.”
“Ah, no… it’s not a setup…”
“Then what is it? A girl who uses an old man’s way of speaking… it’s either a mental illness or acting, isn’t it? Should I introduce you to a reliable priest?”
Every word she said was correct.
In reality, the neutral fighter was in a state that could be deemed close to a mental illness. How else could one define a state where the mind and body did not align?
There were only two solutions.
Either regain a body suitable for the mind or have the mind adapt to the body.
Of course, neither option was realistically available in the short term.
Just as I was nodding my head in thought, the Imperial Princess was already demonstrating open hostility, and the neutral fighter was looking at me with desperate eyes.
It was a plea for help.
“Hmph, regrettably, it’s already too late! Sir Ian’s side is already filled to capacity even for pets! So, stop with the ridiculous setup…!”
“Please, don’t be like that, your highness.”
At my calm intervention, the Imperial Princess finally regained her reason.
“Oh, I see,” Shi-en began, stammering and nervously trying to explain to me. “I-Ian, it’s a misunderstanding… how could I possibly want to torment anyone? I… I’m busy repenting for the sins I owe to Sir Ian… Oh, it’s a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding…!”
If left as is, she seemed ready to break down in tears and kneel.
I preemptively calmed the Imperial Princess.
“I understand. However, there seems to be a misunderstanding… this child is actually suffering from a disease.”
The reactions of the two girls to my words were starkly different.
The Imperial Princess widened her eyes in surprise, while the neutral fighter frowned heavily.
“…What?”
That displeased voice mirrored the little girl’s feelings.
Her fiery gaze was somewhat intimidating. If I didn’t provide an appropriate explanation, it felt like she would blow up right there.
Feeling a drop of cold sweat trickle down my neck, I quietly added an explanation.
“I heard that when she was young, she trained alone in the mountains with her grandfather. Just recently, it was decided she could enter the academy through special admission, but when her grandfather passed away, it affected her mind a little… yes.”
It was a hastily concocted story, but thankfully it had the bare minimum of plausibility.
Most importantly, it was a matter of the Imperial Princess being involved.
The girl was completely taken aback, unable to fathom the thought of doubting me, and her hands clasped together in shock.
A deep pity flickered in her gray eyes.
“I see… how unfortunate.”
Yet another girl simply could not accept my excuse.
The neutral fighter, who had momentarily touched her forehead as if feeling dizzy, soon began to raise her voice slowly but firmly.
“No, no, no… what nonsense is this…!”
“Your highness also has a grandfather, right?”
However, the neutral fighter had no choice but to silence herself.
Before Shi-en was born, the late emperor had lost his life in battle against the plague. Thus, the only person Shi-en could refer to as “grandfather” was none other than the neutral fighter herself.
Shi-en soon began to nod along with a naive smile.
“Aha, you mean a great-grandfather? Of course, he’s a respected elder of the royal family.”
“Have you met him before, your highness?”
“Of course! Although he has a playful side, he’s still a kind and dignified person. Definitely feels like a great elder of the royal family.”
The unexpected praise made the neutral fighter cough lightly, avoiding eye contact.
However, her flushed cheeks and stiffened shoulders clearly revealed her true feelings. She seemed quite pleased, despite her efforts to hide it.
After all, was she not someone who had ended her long period of wandering due to her deep affection for the royal family?
It would be unreasonable for her not to feel good about the praise from her niece.
So, at this point, I decided to deliver the final blow.
“What if that neutral fighter were to become a girl?”
“…Huh?”
Shi-en’s flow of thought, which had been kindly responding to my words, suddenly came to a halt.
How long did we remain frozen like that?
Shi-en let out a sudden burst of laughter.
“Puhuh, ahaha! I-I’m sorry… but that’s just too ridiculous…”
“Just as I thought, right?”
“Of course! No matter how much Sir Ian says, it’d be blasphemous to have such words about the great elder of the royal family. I’d be too scared of what others might think… ehehe.”
As Shi-en’s innocent assertions continued, the neutral fighter’s expression visibly hardened.
Eventually, with a face darkened, the neutral fighter found herself facing Shi-en, who had cautiously approached. Then, with compassion in her eyes, she placed her hands on the fighter’s shoulders.
Unquestionably, it was Shi-en’s hands.
In a warm yet firm tone, she said, “It seems you’ve had such a sad story… don’t worry too much. You must have been surprised by the sudden change in environment, right? From now on, I will help you adapt… by the way, how old are you?”
“I, um… uhh…”
Unable to accept the sudden shift in circumstances, the neutral fighter’s words trailed off.
I seized the opportunity and said, “I’m one year younger than your highness.”
“I see! Special admissions typically involve early enrollment… so, let’s see you call me ‘sister’?”
The neutral fighter trembled, her eyes squeezed shut.
For an instant, I detected a hint of jealousy in her gaze directed at me, but what could be done?
Setting her as the younger one was more persuasive.
As if it were her last attempt, the girl made a pitiful protest.
“I-I… I find this way of speaking comfortable…”
“…‘Sister.’”
However, Shi-en’s smiling voice had an unexpectedly chilling quality to it.
In the end, the neutral fighter could do nothing but hold back tears.
“Y-yes, sister…”
After that, I began to converse softly with the neutral fighter in front of the excited Imperial Princess, who had just acquired a new younger sibling.
“It must feel nice to have a pretty sister…”
“Eh?!”
However, the neutral fighter’s furious expression was anything but trivial. She pinched my side with a pinch so hard it felt like my skin might tear.
In the end, I was left silently moving, unable to utter even a scream.
My side was stinging. If the Lady Virgin Saint had been here, it would have been a wound I could fix in no time.
As I walked lost in my thoughts, I soon found myself on a path leading to a particular building.
Buildings that seemed to hold suspects suspected of being part of the vampire’s bloodline.
I intended to enter one of them and conduct an interrogation together with the Imperial Princess.
The ‘Dragon’s Eye’ possessed by the Imperial Princess was incredibly useful during interrogations.
I prayed for the truth to be revealed without great difficulty.
Wishing that the students of the Empire’s Intelligence Department would not have to endure merciless interrogations that numbered in the hundreds, I sent a silent prayer.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that I had been worrying needlessly.
It was a very slight trigger.
The moment I stepped into the closed room to interrogate one of the missing persons.
“I smell, I smell…”
Dazed, the missing person began to mutter to themselves.
I turned my bewildered gaze towards the Imperial Princess standing behind me. However, the Princess wore a similarly perplexed expression, just as clueless.
The Imperial Princess’s confused voice followed.
“Appetite, lust… the scent is too strong. It’s hard to look into any other feelings…”
Before long, the breathing became disturbingly humid, with a “huh, huh,” that tickled the ears.
The gaze, lifted toward the ceiling’s lighting, held a dangerous longing. Despite being bound by restraints on her hands and feet, the woman wriggled occasionally as if having seizures, and finally let out a scream.
“I smell, I smell… sweet scent, a scent that makes me want to lose my mind!”
And then, with a loud crack, the restrained woman’s body could no longer endure the muscle contractions, and her limbs twisted and tore away. The experience of seeing skin shredding with muscles in my retinas was not particularly pleasant.
The body, now devoid of hands and feet, fell to the ground and, in a startlingly fast motion, sprang up.
Right towards my waist.
If there was one problem, it was that I wasn’t the type to just submit quietly either.
A few seconds of grace.
That alone was enough. Behind the silver flame that swept through my vision, a colorless world emerged.
A world deprived of all movement.
The only thing traversing there was a single blade.
“Kyah…!”
The body, which had lost its hands and feet, fell sorrowfully. Since I had previously faced a vampire’s bloodline, the woman’s limbs had been already well prepared.
The terrified girl’s eyes were looking at me.
Now that I think about it, hadn’t the neutral fighter said she would wait outside just in case?
At that moment, sounds began crashing onto my eardrums.
Boom, boom, boom!
Kyaaaak!
Kieeeeeek!
The screams of monsters echoing from all directions were frankly obvious in their intent.
I could only afford a hollow laugh.
“Have all these things gone mad together…?”
All the vampires in the building were targeting me.
I couldn’t guess the reason, but it was clear what I had to do.
“I-Ian… Kyaaaaa?!”
I immediately took the Imperial Princess under my arm and bolted. Surprisingly, the Imperial Princess accepted my embrace willingly, even blushing slightly.
It turned out to be a fortunate occurrence.
After all, outside was the neutral fighter waiting. The likelihood of the vampires’ claws reaching us was infinitely low.
The problem was only one.
The ones trapped here were not just the vampires’ bloodlines.
There must have been innocent missing persons as well.
And among the monsters, there were those we must not kill.
Lady Lupeisia.
With all my strength, I kicked off the ground and shot forward against the vampires, or rather, against the even worse monsters.
I had to find the neutral fighter somehow.
Before he wiped out every other life besides ours.
