You Don't Have to Do That Now

The conversation between Iselen and me.

Dierk’s face, listening, twisted hideously.

“No, what is this? You don’t believe my words? If you just pray to that person, the Sirik you want……”

No need to listen further.

Iselen and I exchanged glances and charged.

Iselen handled information — originally she shouldn’t be on the front lines.

But our Imperial Military was always outnumbered, and she and I had coordinated countless times on battlefields like this.

We understood with just a glance!

“Hah!”

Crack-crack-crack!

We both used Mana Sprint simultaneously, swinging swords and cutting down knights.

The armored knights’ limbs flew, blood spurting.

Me descending from above, Iselen striking upward from below.

Dierk, looking back and forth, quickly jumped down the stairs.

“Won’t let you escape!”

We both immediately jumped after Dierk.

Iselen’s sword striking down first.

Dierk barely landed on the floor and quickly rolled.

But…… I, who fell slightly later, threw my sword one beat delayed.

Fifth rank, a thrown blade infused with blue magic!

Fwoooosh!

“Keurgh!”

My sword pierced through Dierk’s chest.

A staggering body.

And Iselen turned her body while rising and slashed upward greatly.

Thunk!

The headless body staggered and collapsed.

Iselen stared at Dierk’s corpse for a long time, then breathed deeply.

Thud! Thud!

Sounds of falling everywhere.

With Dierk finished, the controlled knights were finished too.

Silence.

As if the heat of clashing blood and blades had been a lie, the estate grew quiet.

And we stood facing each other.

About ten meters apart.

Iselen looked at me with a face not knowing what to say.

Fidgeting fingertips.

“……D-don’t press your fingernails into your fingers.”

“……”

“I know you’re doing that to manage your expression. What’s the point of acting self-conscious now?”

I pressed my forehead while shaking my hand.

Iselen asked vacantly.

“R-Rigen. No, Si-rik?”

“Right now my name is Rigen. But my past life was Sirik Karakas. That’s the simple explanation.”

“……How can I believe that?”

“Beats me? I can’t believe it either.”

When I shrugged, Iselen made a desperate expression.

“……D-don’t say it like that. D-don’t be mean either.”

“Hey, what are we supposed to do when Your Majesty, who was talking about killing or sparing until just now, says that?”

“……”

Iselen just kept shaking her head again and again.

She believed but didn’t know what to do.

I spoke calmly.

“I know it’s too surprising and confusing. Let’s organize things first and calmly a bit more…… Behind you!”

Fwoooosh!

Suddenly a bright red lump of blood burst up and wrapped around Iselen from behind.

A crimson blood body!

“Kgh!”

Iselen quickly stabbed her sword backward, but at that moment the blood body’s head portion sank teeth into Iselen’s neck.

“Don’t move! If you move, I’ll kill this woman!”

“……”

No, I definitely severed the neck, didn’t I?

Blood flowing from Mezrin’s neck had gathered and transformed to human size.

A horrifying form with only intricately spread blood vessels floating in the air.

Where a human would have eyes, nose, and mouth, pitch-black darkness swirled.

That must be Dierk’s main body.

I coldly focused my mind.

Dierk spoke roughly.

“Clear a path and let me go. Then I’ll release this bitch!”

“……Iselen, don’t bite a poison capsule.”

“What!”

At my warning, Dierk flinched.

From my clairvoyance examination, Iselen didn’t have any poison capsule.

But Iselen, called the Queen of Assassins, wouldn’t be strange carrying such a thing.

Preconception — I’d shake him first.

Dierk panicked and spoke.

“I-if the Queen of Assassins dies, the dark elves’ network can’t be restored!”

“……And you can’t inhabit me by biting. You can only transmit through humans.”

Iselen spoke quietly.

Dierk, with Iselen’s neck bitten, spoke.

“You’re already bitten! If I want, your blood will harden and you’ll die immediately! Is that fine with you?”

“I saw Sirik again, so it’s enough.”

Ice-cold words.

Not a bluff.

I felt it, and Dierk felt it too.

Iselen looked at me.

If we let Dierk escape here, the damage would be too great.

Just as we hadn’t fallen for the enemy’s tricks until now, do the same this time.

“……”

Footsteps.

Rough footsteps running in.

Ragged breathing.

It was Uren Sagittari.

I glanced sideways, and Dierk turned around.

The moment Uren and Dierk’s eyes met.

“Mezrin!”

Uren suddenly shouted.

At that moment, Dierk froze.

“Ah, aaah……”

An opening.

I focused my mind.

Given the situation, I had to use it.

Teleportation.

The sword I’d thrown earlier was still embedded in Mezrin’s chest.

I slipped my right hand behind my back, hiding it from Dierk’s sight.

Then using clairvoyance…… I looked at the sword embedded in Mezrin’s corpse.

I moved it with Teleportation.

A sensation gripped in my hand.

I’d caught the sword.

Uren, breathing heavily, approached Dierk recklessly.

“Mezrin!”

“D-don’t look!”

Dierk swung his arm sharply.

The blood vessels tightly bundled into an arm thinned and stretched, becoming a whip.

A whip made of blood.

Swiiish!

“Kgaak!”

As Uren screamed, chunks of flesh flew up.

Amid the screams and cries, I swung my right hand that I’d moved toward the corpse and hurled the sword.

Aiming at Dierk’s head from behind.

And immediately charged with Mana Sprint!

“What……”

The moment Dierk saw me and tried to respond, the sword pierced through from the back of his neck to his forehead.

“Keeeek!”

As he staggered, Iselen struck his solar plexus with her elbow and escaped.

Fwoom!

And I pulled the sword embedded in his head with telekinesis to recover it while kicking forward.

Then a vertical downward slash!

Fwoooosh.

“U-uuuh……”

The blood body split cleanly from head to crotch staggered and collapsed with a splash.

Blood slowly spreading across the floor.

It seemed over, but you never know.

I gathered the blood puddle on the floor with telekinesis and compressed it to one spot.

Crrrk. Crrrnch.

“Grrrrr.”

Whether dead or alive, a bizarre sound flowed out.

I kept compressing with telekinesis until it shrank to fist size.

A grotesque lump of blood floating in the air.

Fwooom!

When I slashed it again with my sword, the blood body split in half and fell to the floor with a thud.

Then it melted away with a hissing sound.

No more reaction.

“……Whew.”

It had been a tenacious enemy, but it truly seemed over.

I sighed and turned around.

Uren had a dazed face.

His right arm, struck by Dierk — the lower part was gone.

But Uren paid no attention to the blood streaming from his arm and only stared at Mezrin’s corpse.

“Uren.”

At my call, Uren bit his lip hard and turned to me.

And…….

“……Thank you very much!”

He saluted me.

Habitually with his right hand, then realizing it was gone, with his left.

Shouting with all his might until his voice cracked.

“To not even know the vicious enemy’s blade reached my throat — I’m truly ashamed beyond measure! Thanks to the headquarters commander’s brave struggle and insight, our House Sagittari……”

“Uren Sagittari.”

“……”

“You don’t have to do that now.”

At my words, Uren froze with his mouth open.

I just shook my head.

“I’m sorry. There was no other way.”

“N-no, Headquarters Commander.”

“……Take care of yourself first.”

When I spoke with mixed feelings, Uren lowered his head.

A low sound.

“U-uugh.”

The crying of a man whose voice had been so loud was so small.

Though deceived, she’d been the wife he lived with.

Having dealt with her, I could say nothing more.

I turned to Iselen…….

BOOM!

Suddenly an explosion sounded from far away.

“What’s that?”

“Ah, I remembered! I had explosive shells planted in the estate’s basement!”

Uren swallowed his tears and quickly spoke.

I sighed and said.

“You take care of your arm, Iselen, take care of the kids. Let’s get out.”

Late night.

The Sagittari estate burned.

Dark elf agents who’d been waiting, Central Police, and even firefighters deployed, but the flames wouldn’t be contained.

Fire from explosive shells was a magic phenomenon — couldn’t be extinguished by ordinary methods.

Instead, it wouldn’t spread beyond a certain area.

I told them to send everyone back except some firefighters and surveyed the situation.

Groans of patients collapsed throughout the garden.

There had been casualties during the fight.

Also, most of those freed from Dierk’s infection couldn’t get their bearings.

“Ow ow ow……”

Kalbina, sitting cross-legged beside me, grimaced while wrapping bandages on her arm.

“How’s the wound? Are you okay?”

“I left it to luck and got lucky. Maybe three months to recover?”

Kalbina spoke cheerfully, but it wasn’t a light matter.

Arms are life to a swordsman.

High-grade healing medicine wasn’t something you could get just with money.

What if she couldn’t use her arm forever? Normally people couldn’t do it thinking such thoughts.

But Kalbina had done it.

Thinking she might get controlled and harm me, she immediately stabbed her own arm.

I patted Kalbina’s shoulder.

“Thank you, sis. I’ll definitely get healing medicine.”

“Hehehe, no. You don’t have to. Hehehe, since my arm’s inconvenient…… I’ll use this as an excuse to act totally spoiled with Amelia!”

“……It’s not a joke — she’ll really scold you terribly, you know? She made a huge fuss even when I got hurt.”

“Gasp! I’m doomed! She’ll be angry?”

Kalbina’s mouth fell open vacantly.

Even this cheerful older sister couldn’t resist Amelia, it seemed.

“Don’t worry. I’ll explain well for you.”

“……I trust you, little brother.”

I smiled and examined the ongoing situation.

Railway Military Police Commander Arsen had come out personally to survey the scene.

Medical staff were treating Uren and Dargal.

Noticing my gaze, Dargal stood up and bowed his head deeply.

A respectful greeting unlike before.

Grateful for removing the darkness that had lurked in his family.

“Once those two finish treatment, I’ll look into Dierk’s information……”

I turned my gaze.

Among the dark elf agents.

Iselen stood wrapped in a blanket, staring at me.

Paying no attention to the other dark elves around her or other situations.

I approached and spoke.

“Let’s organize the remaining story now. Queen of Assassins.”

“……”

Iselen looked around and spoke.

“We’ll have important discussions, so everyone withdraw. That’s an order.”

The dark elves all stepped back.

Iselen whispered as if worried someone might overhear.

“……I want to talk alone somewhere quiet.”

A soft voice mixed with shyness.

“Special Officer.”

Then Arsen approached, calling me.

Iselen instantly made a cold expression and radiated icy chill.

Originally a woman who only relaxed before me.

When I turned, Arsen hesitated and gestured.

Important talk to have just between us two.

I signaled Iselen to wait and approached Arsen.

Arsen confirmed there was no one listening nearby and spoke.

“A somewhat troublesome problem has arisen.”

“What?”

“……People came from the Imperial Military. They’re demanding we hand over Uren Sagittari and Dargal Sagittari to their side.”

“Well now? Are they joking?”

Arsen shook his head.

“The Imperial Military side is serious. Thousand Swords Commander Kanarik came directly with soldiers, saying he’s Uren’s superior.”

Thousand Swords Commander would be the peak of field-grade officers.

I smiled and said.

“They sent his direct superior, so do as they want? If we quietly hand over Uren and Dargal, there’ll be no bloodshed?”

“……What will you do?”

“Tell them to cut the bullshit.”

If they try to add their spoon at the end, I need to break it.

Along with their fingers.