158 – Qualifications (4)

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Sister Alice roughly reached out and pushed Sylvia away.

Of course, Sylvia tried to resist, but when she saw Alice’s skin flushed red from the inside of her breastplate to the tip of her chin, she looked regretful and pulled her hand away from me.

Alice’s heart, which could break at any moment, is already so stupid that it would explode in anger over such an absurd thing before even fighting the Demon King.

Sylvia licked her lips for a moment as if she was regretting it, then continued speaking slowly.

“Anyway, what I meant to say was that Nana Alice can die, but you must live… Well, that’s not what I meant.”

“… Then what was it?”

Even though the question was directed at Sylvia, the answer came from Sister Alice.

It was as if Sylvia already knew what he was going to say.

“Determination, resolution. Certainly, that kind of mindset can be a very effective motivation in difficult operations. It increases efficiency and also raises the morale of your colleagues.”

“… Whatever the problem is…”

“But… if our goal is not simple success but survival, then it’s a different story.”

ah,

That alone made me completely understand what they were trying to say.

A willingness to risk one’s life, a willingness to make sacrifices.

In an overwhelmingly dangerous mission like the one before us now, it is only natural that anyone with that kind of mindset would be the first to die.

Anyone who lays down on a cliff to make way for others to pass will end up falling down the cliff.

Actually, what I was thinking fit this metaphor perfectly.

I decided that the only thing a weak person like me could do for the two of them was to step forward and make a sacrifice when the road ahead was blocked, so I was willing to do so.

However, it seemed that my shallow intentions were clearly visible in the eyes of those two people.

Could this be a veteran’s intuition?

Perhaps, in the past years of the two people, there may have been quite a few colleagues who died in that way.

A shallow resolution, bordering on a desperate attempt, that I came up with because I wanted to be of some help to those of you who are so insignificant compared to me.

My sisters Sylvia and Alice sensed my impatience all too easily.

Sylvia opened her mouth as if continuing the words spoken by her older sister Alice, who had spoken heavily with a serious expression.

“There’s no need to be prepared to risk your life.”

“But, he’s the Demon King… If someone like me were to be of even the slightest help…”

“If you have to sacrifice Ash, you don’t have to kill the Demon King or anything. I don’t care if the world ends or not.”

Sister Alice slightly frowned at Sylvia’s bold remark, but quickly relaxed her eyebrows.

It seemed like she didn’t want any sacrifices from me either.

Sylvia poured out her words in one breath, leaving me no time to refute her.

“I don’t want to die either. Of course, I won’t let Ash die either. I’ll survive. I’ll survive and return alive with Ash, and I’ll live happily with Ash until I grow old and die.”

“Sylvia.”

“I will not give up even the smallest part of this plan.”

Sister Alice also nodded at Sylvia’s declaration and said.

“Yes, it’s meaningless to be prepared to risk your life. Even if we don’t have the courage to face a crisis, there are plenty of variables like our position at the moment of crisis and other strange things.”

“…”

“The very idea of ​​choosing in advance who will be sacrificed in a moment of crisis is something only fools who don’t know anything about combat would think of.”

An idiot who doesn’t know the real thing.

I felt like there was no sentence in this world that could describe me better than that.

“still…”

“… huh.”

“But if I have to choose, it would be better if it was done by someone who is about to die.”

“…!”

I quickly turned my head towards Sister Alice and glared at her.

But she continued speaking with only a small, bitter smile.

“I can do that.”

“Or I can do it,”

I got upset again by the two people’s light remarks.

“Look, it’s just me after all…!”

“That’s not it, idiot.”

Sister Alice came up to me and slapped me on the head.

I groaned and fell to the ground as a fist wearing a steel gauntlet slammed into my head.

It looked like a light slap, but the sound was fierce and tears welled up in my eyes in an instant.

When I touched my head, a large bump appeared.

“In the first place, neither I nor Sylvia can be killed by external factors. You idiot.”

“… ah,”

“fool.”

“Are you stupid?”

“Ash you idiot.”

Among the voices cursing at me, Pia’s voice, which had appeared at some point, was secretly mixed in.

Sylvia crossed her arms and smiled awkwardly.

“I wonder when you’ll notice… I’m a little disappointed, Ash.”

“Ah, no… Sister Alice is definitely going to die…”

“That’s right. It’s a long story, but roughly speaking, my life is coming to an end. Tick tock, tick tock, every minute, every second. I don’t know exactly when it will end, but I know for sure that it will be soon.”

Sister Alice pounded her fist on her breastplate.

Every time that happened, hot steam would sizzle out from the gap in the shoulder area of ​​the armor.

Although I didn’t hear a detailed explanation, it seemed certain that my sister’s lifespan was due to the mechanical heart beating ferociously inside her chest.

“But, that’s just a problem because you never know when this machine will explode or stop, as long as this damn thing keeps spinning, I won’t die, you punk.”

“… yes,”

“Oh, really… I’m getting angry just talking about it.”

Sister Alice shook her head nervously and tousled her hair.

I’m sure she said that before.

It is difficult to control emotions because of the mechanical heart.

The faster the mechanical heart beats, the more angry you become, adding heat to your anger.

I hung my head in confusion at the thought that perhaps my foolish actions might have caused her death.

“I, I’m sorry, Sister.”

“Phew…”

Alice let out a hot sigh like a steaming train and said only one word softly.

“Eat dinner and go to sleep. We’re leaving tomorrow.”

＊

It was still too early in the morning for the sun to rise, but Alice’s eyelids were opening slowly, annoyingly.

It’s not that I wasn’t tired.

Alice’s fatigue from running nonstop to find a horse without even having time to nurse Eric, who was badly injured while trying to get Malice’s bracelet, was not something that could be recovered with just a day or two of sleep.

Of course, it wasn’t that I couldn’t sleep because I was nervous about facing the Demon King, nor was it that I was nervous because I didn’t know when my heart would burst.

The reason Alice woke up in the middle of the night, or rather, in the early morning, was because of a noise coming from outside.

“… fool.”

The clanking sound was moving regularly closer and farther away.

It seemed like Ash was practicing running while wearing his armor.

Alice sighed, sat up, and slowly looked toward the entrance to the cabin.

The sound was so loud that it was annoying, and then I noticed that the door was slightly open.

“As if… Ash…”

And in front of the slightly open door, Sylvia was sitting, breathing strangely.

Alice felt a sense of bewilderment at the sight of Sylvia’s back secretly watching Ash through the crack in the door.

“Ash… so cute.”

“You crazy b*tch. What are you doing?”

Sylvia kept her gaze firmly fixed ahead and answered in a small voice without looking back.

“I’m watching my husband work hard and secretly cheering him on from behind.”

“… under.”

There was so much I wanted to say, but I didn’t have the confidence to put any of it into proper sentences.

No, to be exact, I didn’t have the confidence to open my mouth without swearing.

Alice breathed in and out through her nose for a long time before she managed to utter just one word.

“Why… the fuck.”

As expected, it was impossible.

“It’s cool.”

Sylvia answered, her face still buried in the crack of the door.

Alice hit her forehead with the palm of her hand and slowly approached the crack in the cabin door.

What the heck, how cool is it that Sylvia can’t get her mind off it?

I felt like I had to see it at least once, just out of curiosity.

Alice quietly brought her face above Sylvia’s head and looked through the crack in the door.

“…”

“How is it? It’s cool, right?”

“…”

It was difficult to say that the appearance of the cute little brother was cool even in empty words.

He was already exhausted, his breathing was not even regulated, he was panting like a dog, and his eyes looked blank and open.

Both arms and legs were waving diagonally forward instead of forward.

He was clearly running, but it seemed more like he was swinging his legs forward rather than kicking the ground.

However, perhaps because of the weight of the heavy armor, the two legs that had fallen to the ground were thumping heavily.

It was obvious that he had used up all his energy.

“What are you doing… If you do that, how are you going to be in shape for tomorrow…”

“Hey, Alice, you can heal her.”

“Of course I can relieve the fatigue in your legs, and Ash can handle the sleepiness on his own, but I can’t do anything about mental fatigue. Besides, all I can do is relieve the pain and relieve the fatigue in your body, but you won’t be able to move unless you eat something. You know that too.”

“Okay, it’s okay. I’ll feed you.”

“…Sylvia.”

“I told you it’s okay. In the first place, I’m the only one who’s actually seen the Demon King here. So keep your mouth shut.”

“…”

Alice could barely contain her anger.

In fact, out of the three people present, she was the only one who had actually seen the Demon King.

No, even if the scope was expanded to include all humans in the world, she would be the only one who faced the Demon King and survived.

Oh, and there was that son of a b*tch Balder too.

Alice bit her lip hard.

“What kind of guy was the Demon King? Shouldn’t it be time to tell him?”

“I’ll tell you later, for now I just want to keep looking at Ash who is working hard.”

“Hey. Sylvia.”

Despite Alice’s angry voice, Sylvia could only mutter softly.

“…You know that too.”

“What,”

“Ash is acting like that. It’s because he’s anxious.”

“…”

“You know, Alice, you’re running around like that because you’re anxious, because you’re not sure if you can help, because you think things are going to go wrong because of you.”

“…”

At Sylvia’s words, Alice slowly brought her gaze closer to the crack in the door again.

Ash stumbled as if he would fall over at any moment, but he clenched his teeth and started running again.

“Isn’t that a pretty good way to relieve stress? At the Academy, there was a guy who couldn’t handle the pressure and ended up stabbing himself in the neck with a knife.”

“… She was a kid who took the same class as you.”

“Yes, a two-handed sword specialist. I don’t remember his name… but I remember the way he died clearly.”

“…”

In fact, the peaceful atmosphere of the academy gradually became heavier as the Demon King’s presence was revealed and the monsters became more active.

It was unavoidable because we had to continuously produce soldiers to fight against the monsters and also form a party of warriors to subdue the Demon King.

Among them, the knights’ department, which dealt with the slingshot in particular, demanded military discipline from its students, almost like a paramilitary facility.

At first, many complaints erupted among the students who could not stand the atmosphere, but the heavy and oppressive atmosphere was further accelerated by the birth of an outstanding hero named Sylvia.

And in the process, there were many children who were unable to overcome the pressure or were overcome by fear before fighting the monsters.

“You pretended like nothing happened back then, but I guess you were worried inside.”

“Somehow… I felt like I made it that way. I was appointed as a warrior for no reason, so I thought maybe the other kids were forced to achieve the same level of results.”

“That’s not wrong.”

“No matter how talented the kids were, they were all just kids in the end…”

“You’re the same age as us, right?”

“I’m… a little different.”

Sylvia closed her mouth slightly with a stern expression.

Certainly, Sylvia had skills close to perfection from the time she first appeared at the Academy.

A swordsmanship that lacks elegance or sophistication, but is efficient and extremely violent.

The sight was enough to cause students to create countless rumors and horror stories about Sylvia’s past.

But Alice didn’t bother to ask Sylvia about Sylvia’s past because it was a good story to her anyway.

Sylvia also quietly changed the subject.

“Come to think of it, you didn’t answer my question.”

“What are you talking about?”

Sylvia asked again in a low voice.

“how is it?”

“…?”

“Ash, isn’t it cool?”

Alice looked at Ash silently.

Even while talking to Sylvia, Ash didn’t stop even once, although he slowed down.

Never, never gave up.

“ah…”

In that moment, explosive emotions boiled over.

My heart pounded and raced, and my body temperature soared.

“Ugh…!”

This fucking piece of junk,

This fucking piece of scrap metal that burns emotions as fuel and amplifies them.

Her parents are dead, her friends are dead, her fiancé is taken away, and the world is ending.

Could it be because I was in a situation that only caused me anger?

Alice could only now realize.

Anger wasn’t the only emotion this artificial heart fed on.

Anger wasn’t the only emotion that was amplified.

Alice pursed her lips, but her lips, which were forced to move, eventually stung and slowly let out mashed words.

“… Cool.”

“If you look at me, I’ll kill you.”

Alice glared at Sylvia.

Sylvia was also staring at Alice with large, ominous red eyes in the darkness.

Moonlight pouring in through the slightly open door thinly illuminated the center of the two people’s faces.

It was as if they were indicating to each other where to cut this place.

.