Vol 2 Chapter 44 – An Order with Debora in Tow【Vol 2 – The Condemned Knight Edition】

SKREEE!!

“Kuh…!”

I parry the downward swing of a rusted dagger.

The force behind it isn’t particularly strong.

“Hah!!”

GYAAA!!

Its evasive abilities aren’t very high, either. The enemy that launched the attack—a goblin—is cut down and killed in an instant by my counter.

A goblin’s individual capabilities are not that impressive.

Even a new recruit fresh from joining the Knight’s Order could probably defeat one without issue.

But the terrifying thing about goblins isn’t their individual strength.

“Gigih!”

“Gya! Gya!”

“Gugih!”

A number of goblins appear before me.

Each one brandishes a dagger, menacing me.

That’s right. The terrifying thing about goblins is that they swarm.

The most frightening part is the potential to be crushed by the violence of their numbers.

In fact, I’m already surrounded.

Heh heh heh… A lynching. My sincerest thanks.

And to be cut by those rusted daggers that look like they have such a poor edge… Oh, it’s just so exciting.

To be honest, I’ve already sustained several wounds.

The pain, which feels less like being cut and more like having my flesh gouged out, sends me into a state of utter ecstasy.

“Erik!!”

A voice, fraught with concern for me, calls out.

There, a short distance away from the goblin encirclement, was Miriam.

She’s watching me with a worried expression.

I’ll have to ask you for some healing magic later. That pain, too, is simply irresistible.

I smile at Miriam to show her I’m fine.

After all, getting surrounded by goblins like this is all part of the plan.

“Ready when you are!”

A girl’s voice, not Miriam’s, reaches me.

At the same time, a vortex of magical energy begins to form, encircling me.

The goblins don’t seem to quite grasp the threat, but this is something tremendously dangerous.

I glance over at the small girl standing next to Miriam.

With her voluminous hair, she was Debora, the princess of the Kingdom of Vilemse.

“A-Are you really going to do it? I’m worried about Erik…”

Miriam directs her question to Debora.

The plan is as follows: I draw the goblins to a single point → Debora’s skill blows them to smithereens → The end.

It’s perfect… Including the part where I get caught in the explosion, there is no better strategy…

“It’s fine. Erik won’t die from the skill, and you’re here, so he can be healed right away, right? No sweat, no sweat.”

“W-Well, that’s true, but… Erik still feels pain, you know… And my healing magic isn’t the proper kind, anyway…”

Miriam, you’ve saved me so many times. You need to have more confidence in yourself.

…Is what I’d like to say, but with the goblins attacking me so relentlessly, I don’t have the luxury.

“Gah!!”

A goblin’s dagger drives itself into my leg. My sincerest thanks!

I can hear Miriam’s scream from a distance.

“Princess! Erik is…!”

“Yeah, yeah. Here it comes, Erik!”

“Ready!”

I am prepared to be caught in the explosion at any moment!

As if to answer my expectations, the vortex of magical energy finally grows visibly dense and…

“Ggya!?”

The goblins finally seem to sense the danger they’re in, but it’s too late.

After a moment of silence…

KRA-KABOOOOOOOM!!

A series of explosions erupts.

…A series?

The blast wave and heat wash over me, but none of it is strong enough to send me flying or leave a burn.

…Huh? This isn’t what I was hoping for.

Shouldn’t there be something more… like being launched into the air…

But the only things flying through the air are the goblins and their severed limbs. My own limbs are not flying apart.

In the end, Debora’s explosion concluded without my ever getting to savor any agony.

Looking around, I see the ground littered with the corpses of goblins.

I wanted to be lying among them, too…

“Erik!”

Miriam and Debora rush over to me.

Oh, Miriam! She’s still here.

“My apologies, Miriam. Could I ask you for some healing magic?”

“…! Is… is my healing magic good enough?”

“It has to be you.”

I answer Miriam’s probing question without hesitation.

That’s right. The one who heals me must be her.

“…Okay.”

Miriam says, and then casts her healing magic on me.

A warm light… and then, a pain like being sliced by a rusted sword once more assaults my body.

“Guh… ugh!”

“…”

When Miriam heals me, she always wears an anguished expression, as if she herself is experiencing the pain.

Miriam, please smile. I’m enjoying this, you know.

Healing magic that inflicts agony… and in exchange for that side effect, its healing speed and restorative power are magnificent, beyond comparison with any other healing magic user.

My injuries vanished in an instant. What a waste…

“Thank you, Miriam.”

“…Mm-hmm.”

When I offer a smile, Miriam finally smiles back.

“Man, glad that worked out so well.”

The one who stepped in between us was Debora.

…Should I add her title right now?

“Princess Debo—”

“Don’t need the ‘Princess’ part.”

Debora cuts me off instantly.

I see. In that case…

“Debora, you were a great help.”

“Hmph, it was nothing. You’re my knight, Erik. It’s a given that I’d help you out.”

Debora puffs out her chest.

She’s just like a child, happy to be praised.

“However, that control over the explosion…”

…was not good. I need you to blow me away along with everyone else, or it’s a problem…

“I just thought, ‘Don’t hit Erik,’ and it worked. …Well, it’s not like it’ll work out that well every time, though.”

“Is that so…”

Debora is evolving.

I felt a sense of alarm at that, but on second thought, this was the first time her explosion hadn’t swept me up in it.

The success rate probably isn’t that high.

I can rest easy, then.

“Still, you do this kind of thing all the time, huh, Erik? Must be tough.”

“Yes, well…”

The reason we’re out here subjugating goblins is, as always, due to an order handed down from King Rei.

However, it’s a little different from what Debora means by ‘all the time.’

Ever since the incident with Biriel’s rebellion was resolved, Debora has started tagging along with Miriam and me.

She’d said she wanted to go on an adventure, so following us around must have been convenient for her.

Now, the one for whom this was inconvenient was King Rei.

Well, Miriam, with her hatred of royalty, also looked extremely displeased, but it was King Rei who was openly against it and voiced his opposition.

And you can see why. There’s no way that doting parent would want to throw his beloved daughter out into the dangerous world.

He’d much rather keep her in the royal castle, coddling her like a precious flower.

Furthermore, the orders he forces upon me are harsh enough for me to enjoy.

There’s no way he’d want to send Debora on a mission like that.

King Rei was vehemently opposed, but Debora is just as stubborn.

The two of them clashed, their opinions leading to a head-on argument, but in the end, King Rei buckled under the threat of, ‘I might start to hate you, Papa.’ He was forced to approve Debora’s accompaniment. So weak.

However, that didn’t mean he could assign Debora to the same kinds of orders he’d been pushing on us.

And so, the difficulty of our orders dropped precipitously.

All we get now are subjugation missions for weak monsters that have overpopulated a bit or are causing damage to human settlements, just like this one.

I am dissatisfied.

Getting caught in Debora’s explosions is a pleasure, but… when I think back on the string of harsh missions from the old days, I find myself missing them.

“Oh, by the way, Papa was asking for you, Erik.”

“What? King Rei…?”

The one who looked displeased was Miriam.

After all, the person running at the top of her ‘most hated royals’ ranking is probably King Rei.

I, however, am thrilled. I wonder if he’ll give me another unreasonable order.

“I see. In that case, shall we return to the royal capital?”

“Yeah.”

“…Yeah.”

Debora and Miriam nod at my words.

And so, with the goblin subjugation complete, we made our way back to the royal capital.