RATH 114
TL: Eevee

12. It’s not over til it’s over (12)

“Hauuu!”

The metal bat’s cute fist struck the princess’s leg as she collapsed with a whimper.

“Wha…. sat?”

Looking down at the imperial princess who couldn’t even form coherent words, I lifted my right hand to my neck, unfurled my thumb and said.

“Finish her.”

Slit.

The moment I gestured a throat-slit, the metal bat’s two fists began to hit the princess’s body.

“Huu! Wa, uuuht, eet!”

The metal bat is equal to all except for me.

Aka. Everyone else is bat.(1)

Although I didn’t feel like I could go up against some sole Yu Ilhanbeing that would become the god of concealment, with the possible exception of a god, I’m probably the only being in the world that is unaffected by the metal bat.

Well, considering how it works against gods of other worlds as well, it’d probably work against gods of this world too.

“Ahhh… sttt!”

Despite the tears in her eyes, the way she was looking at me instead of the metal bat gave me the shivers.

Even Sia had focused on the hand with the metal bat instead of my face when she was hit by it.

And yet despite her screaming and crawling on the ground, the imperial princess was looking only at me.

Then again, she’d done this before as well.

Unlike her normal carefree way she carried herself, she’d had a sense of desperation about her.

Because of that, to get her to let her guard down I threw my only weapon, the metal bat.

The plan to then have the metal bat use its remaining mana to transform itself to its human form and finish her off was successful.

“Uwuuuu… why… uuuht… do you reject me……”

As I watched her eyes lose focus, I sighed.

“Because it’s troublesome.”

Would the fallen princess have heard my answer?

Well, not like it would change even if she had.

“I weckon that unni’d just thwow away her pwincess title or whatever and just follow owner?”
“So does that not make her a princess?”
“Innt she not if she quits?”
“No.”

Even if she abandons her title to follow me, that does not stop her from being a princess.

More accurately, even if she isn’t a princess, the problem is that she’s a (former) princess.

There’s a reason why former heroes disappear with none the wiser.

There are cases where heroes who became too famous and fled to live quiet lives, or those with a grudge from their active hero days tracked them down to give them even harder lives than when they were active.

“How does owner know that?”
“It’s something we did frequently in the organization after all.”

For the record, the majority of evil organisations pay back grudges immediately, but as the greatest evil organization in the empire, Howling’s track record or paying back grudges was impressive indeed.

If they’d gotten done in by other organizations, they either burned the corpses or sold it to places that researched black magic.

And if they were alive, they didn’t skimp on resources to do their absolute best to kill them.

The ones that weren’t some posing fakers, but genuine active heroes, the majority of them had relations with at least one royal family and countless other nobles as well.

But if they quit being heroes?

The majority of those relationships disappeared, and only a few very close people were left.

Since they no longer had any comrades their combat power was reduced, and the country didn’t kick up a fuss even if they died so the aftermath was easier to deal with as well.

And normal civilians were more interested in the exploits of active heroes rather than the death of a former hero so they were more easily forgotten as well.

So like the aformentioned examples, the princess forfeits her title of princess to marry me?

Sure it’s easier to make the relationship work because she’s no longer royalty, but would the nobility leave alone a former princess, with ties to the imperial family?

Moreover, the moment she and I had children, that would be the creation of offspring with a bloodline thick enough to contest the throne, would the Crown Prince really just watch and let it happen?

And the countless soldiers of enemy countries that were curbstomped by us?

“And th’ most impowtant thing is that owner’s the one caught in the middle?”
“Of course.”

And there was me, caught in the middle.

Kah, I could only imagine a bleaker future than a hero that diligently did hero things.

To the point dealing with assassinations and poisons would be easier to deal with.

“Therefore, this is where our relationship ends in this life.”

Well, I had a scary feeling that if it’s this princess she would kill herself and chase me again after she reincarnated, which was why I only said this when she was unconscious.

“Now then, let’s run.”
“But can ya deal wif it? I gots a feewing that there’s probabwy an army waiting outside for us?”

“But if we stay here, we either get reviving swordsmasters or Sir Reia coming down the same route I did which screws us over either way.”

No one had come down the pole I used yet, but there were no guarantees that this state would continue.

“And if it’s an escape route, I still have one left!”
“Really?”
“Of course. But… how much mana do you have left?”

I’d only been told just now that although the armour transformation was impossible, the metal bat had enough mana left to transform into its human form, but I didn’t know if it had any more mana left.

For my escape it needs at least enough mana to change shape…….

“Hm… well… around three more transformations worth.”
“Well, if it’s that much……”

I picked up the sword the imperial princess dropped and started drawing on the ground.

Using the floor as a canvas is a romance of cultured men.

The metal bat looked at said romance and nodded that it could transform into that shape, and having confirmed that fact I prepared to escape this place as soon as possible…

“Wazzup?”
“Do I take that with me, or not?”

While the princess’s sword had fallen to the ground, the wooden bat she’d been holding in her off hand was still firmly in her hand.

“Uwiit! My wil’ sister!”

If I tried to take it then the princess might wake up, but if I left it be then the princess would mass-manufacture swordsmasters like the knights on the ground over there.

“Hm…… would ya really get more swordsmasters? If they’re lucky ones? Even in the academy we didn’t get any swordsmasters aside from Aris, didn’t we?”
“We might have if we kept hitting them.”

Moreover, as the world’s biggest superpower their territory is the greatest in the world as well.

Who knew just how many talented people they could pull in from the corners of the land, would they really be unable to produce swordsmasters that even an evil organisation could?

“Tho’ the trap is that all the organization’s swordsmasters’re all owner’s disciples.”
“There are people that weren’t?”
“Three of the org’s swordsmasters were owner’s disciples, and one was the organization’s?”

This thing’s been coming at me with too many facts lately.

Attack with lies and fake news!

“Ewhew… I just gotta stop talking. Let’s huwwy up and wun!”

As the metal bat trotted away, I sighed and decided not to retrieve the wooden bat.

It’s not like the princess was the type to lie or go back on her words, since she said she’d leased it from Rein I might as well not take it back for his sake.

He’d already been caught by the imperial princess, who knew how he’d survive even the bat was taken from him.

“Well, seeing how that’s that, please give up on me and live happily in the imperial court, Your Highness.”

As I smiled bitterly towards the princess whose only noises were quiet breaths as she lay on the ground like a corpse, I said my final words to her, turned around and started chasing the metal bat without looking back.

“Hey, it’s not that way!”
“Uwiit!”

So, Your Imperial Highness.

I nearly got screwed because I met you, so let’s not meet again! Please!

#14 Their story: Aris ril Letia’s story.

“Haa… haa… ha……”

Our castle was bathed in a sea of flames.

The flag of Yugrasia that symbolised this castle’s owner was already broken.

Lighting rained down and eliminated Yugrasia’s students, and the small wolves that leaped out from the shadows tore into the students that avoided the lightning.

“Did… did it really have to be this way?”

My left hand was already unusable.

My right hand was also near-powerless with all the injuries it had accumulated, as I screamed despairingly.

Indeed. In the end, on the very last day of the imperial festival.

Yugrasia had been driven to the point of defeat at the traitors’ hands.

“Lady Aris.”
“Give up.”

And the leaders of the traitors, the president and vice-president were commanding the battlefield with slow footsteps.

…Together with beautiful women!

“Because a lady like you…….”
“Already has something that suits you.”

At their words accompanied by blatantly disgusting shows of affection, the silver devil appeared behind my back and whispered to me.

“Uhiihiit, let’s play, unni!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“Haa… haa… ha……”

I took in rough breaths as I looked around me.

Thankfully the silver devil was nowhere to be seen.

“It was… a dream.”

Although the cold sweat that drenched my body felt displeasing on my body, the relief that the silver devil wasn’t here was greater.

As I got out of bed, I took a dry towel and wiped the sweat off my body, went outside, picked up a rock on the ground and threw it at my target.

“This is all your fault!”

The rock I threw with decent power behind it hit one of the people tied to stakes outside Yugrasia’s tents.

But no cry of pain came back.

They seemed to be unconscious after yesterday’s trial and judgement.

“Ehew…….”

Looking at over a hundred stakes that reminded me of prisoners of war, I sighed.

But it was still over.

Yesterday, the final event of the imperial festival finished.

There were some truly dangerous moments, but thanks to vice-president Karen who joined us after wiping out Marcis’ remnant forces, we’d just barely managed to defeat the president, vice-president, and the rest of the traitor elementalists.

Though of course… there were many moments that were dangerous enough to give me nightmares.

“But…….”

We won…… we won!

“Eiyahoo!”

A joyful shout that should never made itself known from a member of one of the Ten Great Familes, no, just any girl of noble birth came out automatically.

There was no more night study. It was over.

That nightmare would never revisit us ever again!

“It’s over… it’s over… mhmm……”

-Aris……

I jumped around in joy, then when a single tear escaped my eye I sat back down on the ground.

Sniff… it’s over… it’s all over now. The night study is over…

“Aris……”

Siir, who’d been my roommate, hugged me from behind.

“Siir… no more night study now……”
“Mm……”
“Sniff… now… the devil… won’t hit me anymore too?”
“There, there. You worked hard.”

The silver devil had done its best to be able to hit me especially.

How many times had I gotten hit by it on the grounds that hitting me once had the same feeling as hitting someone else twice?

“Over… hrgh… waahhhhhh”

In the end, as I burst into tears in Siir’s embrace, I tasted true happiness.

#15 Their story: the anti-empire army’s last.

“Kgh……”

It felt like all the blood in my body was travelling the wrong way.

Having been toyed with in the hands of that foul emperor, the majority of us had fallen trying to defend against that merciless attack.

I had also fainted, but thanks to my loyal subordinates, I just managed to escape the empire’s evil hands.

“Although it was futile……”

We lost.

We had completely lost against that foul emperor.

Whlie I was unconscious, the other executives moved the injured to our main base, but it had already been long taken by the imperial army.

And that resulted in a massacre.

Having already used the majority of our combat power in blocking that bombardment, the majority of us either lost our lives or were captured by their indiscriminate blades.

“Very well, I admit defeat.”

Humiliatingly, after we hijacked the broadcast, they continued to broadcast the live coverage of the students’ match.

So that was how it was.

The anti-empire army expended their all, yet the core of the plan, the students, didn’t even bother to evacuate the castle, and continued with the festival event.

We admitted defeat.

But, ignoring our final ember… ignoring our very last spark…

“We will never allow that, emperor!”

My magic power exploded outwards.

The emperor was moving personally for the awards ceremony of the imperial festival.

And as for that emperor…

“Die!”

At my words, every single remaining member of the anti-empire army all charged at the emperor.

But.

“What’s this?”

At a single swing of the indifferent emperor’s blade.

“What… happ……”

At the same time I felt something brush past me, I felt my upper body fly into the air.

“I see.”

And when my body hit the ground, I realised I was dead.

#16 Their story: A certain emperor’s story.

“The heck are these things?”

When I muttered so as I sheathed my sword.

“Those things are the anti-empire army, Your Majesty.”

My old friend and currently my bodyguard, who took care of my work in the imperial court so well that without him I would have no semblance of a private life, Arten, whispered as he bowed his head.

“Anti-empire army? Why? Is this some new form of suicide?”

The moment I heard that my daughter had returned to the palace and that she had lost that man Ast again, I scrambled to get over here for the students’ awards ceremony as quickly as possible.

Normally this job would be my boy the Crown Prince’s job, but judging by the atmosphere around my little girl I thought I should get out of the palace as fast as possible, so I sacrificed the Crown Prince to escape.

I ditched the Crown Prince who was begging me to let him do his job and ran out.

Eh, so what. Rank rules.

If he has a problem, then he should resent that he’s the Crown Prince and not the Emperor.

“Ah, now that I think about it… there were numerous cases related to the anti-empire army during the students’ matches.”
“Really?”

Well, the anti-empire army tends to pop up everywhere.

Odds were that they went into the students’ playground to do something, failed, and blamed me for it.

“They’re still just small fry, aren’t they?”

It’s a specialty of the anti-empire army that the important people don’t show themselves.

The branches move, but the roots hide and never show themselves.

“I suppose so.”

As Arten nodded, I ordered someone to come clean this mess up and calm the civilians, and moved on to very slowly present the students with their awards.

Slowly… very slowly… my daughter was scary today and I didn’t want to go back to the palace, so I completed all my tasks as slowly as possible,

“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”
“You even eradicated the anti-empire army!”
“Uwiing?”

Once I finished all my tasks and returned to the palace, I heard the news that the anti-empire army had been completely annihilated.

…What’s this?