Vol 2 Chapter 71 – Natan’s Miscalculation【Vol 2 – The Condemned Knight Edition】

“Wh-why are you here…?”

“I’d look cool if I could say I sensed Eleonora-san’s crisis, but…”

Erik smiled softly at Eleonora’s question.

It was quite a stylish smile, but it didn’t look cool with blood flowing from his forehead.

“Debora threw a tantrum. I was blown away by an explosion.”

Erik smiled softly again.

That explosion sound had been from Erik being blown away by Debora’s tantrum.

Looking up to see where from, smoke could be seen rising from one section of the Royal Castle.

“F-from there…?”

How powerful an explosion had he taken to be blown from such a distant place?

And after being slammed down from such a height, how could he smile like that?

She knew he was immortal, but Eleonora still couldn’t accept it.

“Oh, right. Eleonora-san, you forgot this.”

“Eh…?”

Erik offered a handkerchief to the confused Eleonora.

“I faintly heard something about being alone, but you have me now. Please don’t worry.”

“Ah…”

Being alone wasn’t a problem. In fact, it had always been that way.

But why? Hearing that from someone who accepted even her true nature made her feel happy enough to cry.

“…Um… why aren’t you taking it? Is this abandonment play?”

“N-no, that’s not it. Natan has stolen my body’s freedom…!”

“Natan?”

Only now did Erik register the old man in his field of vision.

Natan glared at him resentfully.

“Altruistic Charity Hero… will you interfere with me here too!”

“Interfere, you say…”

Erik drew his sword with a troubled smile.

“For now, let’s have you release Eleonora-san.”

“Ngh!?”

Erik kicked off the ground and attacked Natan.

Natan barely managed to twist his body and dodge the overhead slash.

The reason he—someone with no close combat training—could avoid it was probably because Erik wasn’t in perfect condition either.

Though he’d recovered using Miriam’s magic-infused tools, the shock of the explosion and fall damage still lingered, making his movements lack their usual sharpness.

“Scary, scary. There’s no way I could win against a hero in close combat.”

That said, Natan understood better than anyone that continuing like this would result in his defeat.

“You’re not as vicious as Eleonora, are you? In that case, even with power that won’t break this jewel, I should be able to control you.”

Natan grinned wickedly and pointed his staff at Erik.

In Eleonora’s case, he’d made advance preparations, but with him, this was the real deal.

Therefore, he probably couldn’t dominate his mind, but…

“Erik-san! Run…!!”

“Too late! Magic, activate!!”

Before Eleonora’s warning could reach him, the jewel on Natan’s staff glowed ominously.

Naturally, the defenseless Erik was bathed directly in that light.

And then…

“Th-this is…!!”

Erik’s eyes widened in shock.

He couldn’t move his body freely.

Paralysis play while conscious… this is good…!

He’d misunderstood something.

“Kukuku, surprised? This is my perfected version of enslavement magic. Normally, I could completely dominate the mind and turn someone into a puppet, but… since I spared magical power, lacked preparation, and am using the magic on two people simultaneously, it seems I can only control the body.”

“Control… of the body…!”

Being controlled by someone stimulated Erik’s masochistic side.

In a way, he might be great for being able to derive pleasure regardless of age or gender.

“Hmm…”

Natan—naturally unaware that Erik was experiencing pleasure—peered into his face.

“Hmm, the hero has quite refined features. In that case, he should fetch a good price from noble madames.”

“Y-you mean… slavery!?”

“Kukuku, scared? Even a hero, if sold as a slave—why are your eyes sparkling?”

Slave trading… to think he himself would be sold…

Erik’s heart leapt. Yahoo.

“I won’t let you…!!”

However, there were people who wouldn’t allow Erik to be sold as a slave and become someone else’s property.

Princess Debora of the Kingdom of Vilemse, the hero’s partner Miriam, and… Knight of Judgment Eleonora Blatukhina.

She was slowly moving her supposedly immobilized and controlled body.

“I-impossible!? My magic should be perfect…! And yet, why…!?”

The one shocked was Natan, who had created the magic over many long years.

It was natural to be surprised when the wonderful magic he’d finally completed after all that effort was about to be broken.

“Ngh…! Heh… knowing I’m not alone, strength mysteriously wells up. I might be surprisingly simple-minded…”

Saying this, Eleonora took one step toward Natan with her leg.

That alone was enough to make him tremble all over in fear.

If the magic—his mental anchor—was about to be broken through, it was natural for Natan, who wasn’t particularly exceptional, to cower.

So he targeted Erik.

Running to him, he wrapped his arm around Erik’s neck from behind and used him as a shield.

Yes, a hostage.

“Don’t move! Take one more step closer to me and I’ll tear this hero’s throat out!”

“Tch…!!”

“Ooh…!”

Natan, cornered and sweating as he made his threat; Eleonora, clicking her tongue in frustration; and Erik, looking somehow pleased—this was the scene that unfolded.

The knife blade pressing against his neck and sinking in slightly felt good.

“Fwahahaha! It seems the hero’s existence has become quite significant, Eleonora! To think that you, the justice fanatic, would hesitate to attack! Kukuku, who would’ve thought? The Knight of Judgment falling in love…!!”

“Love? It’s nothing like that. He’s simply necessary to me.”

A response that would make anyone hearing it wonder why they were flirting so much.

No one would think necessary (to vent her sadism).

“Kukuku, either way is fine. Now then, hero. I’ll be using you to ensure my life’s safety.”

Perhaps feeling vulnerable with the threat of Eleonora present, Natan pressed quite close to Erik.

Who benefits from the unreasonable situation of being in close contact with a sweaty old man?

Only someone like Erik.

“No… that’s right. In such an advantageous situation, just running away would be wasteful.”

Natan’s eyes gleamed ominously as if he’d had an epiphany.

Those eyes turned toward Eleonora.

“Eleonora, if you don’t want the hero killed, become my puppet.”

“…!?”

Seeing Eleonora grind her teeth hard, Natan laughed with genuine amusement.

“Yes yes, this is much better. Losing Eleonora’s military strength was painful for me too. I no longer need to act, and knowing my true nature… a righteous knight meekly following a villain’s orders wouldn’t be bad either, would it?”

Eleonora, who frequently used the word justice, bowing to the evil she detested and following its commands.

What a delightful and thrilling future. Natan smiled wickedly.

“That’s right. Eleonora has good looks too. To get dirt on the royalist nobles, use your body. Tongues loosen in the bedroom, after all.”

“…You truly are vomit-inducing evil.”

Such insults didn’t affect Natan’s heart at all—rather, they only pleased him.

“Hmm? Then will you refuse? If so, this man’s life ends, you know?”

“Erik-san!!”

He pressed the knife deeper into the throat.

Breaking through the skin, blood began to flow.

Erik’s pleasant smile was concerning, but Eleonora had no mental capacity to address that oddity.

“Sacrificing oneself to protect someone important… is that it?”

“…What are you saying all of a sudden?”

Erik spoke while smiling faintly, so Natan looked at him suspiciously.

He was slowly moving his sword arm.

“I have no hobby of making someone else do that. Though the reverse is different.”

“…You’ve been saying strange things for a while now…?”

Natan still didn’t understand what Erik was trying to do.

Finally, Erik’s arm had risen to about face height.

This was probably because Natan, cowering at Eleonora’s intimidation and unable to maintain mental stability, had weakened his control.

Erik gripped the sword hilt with both hands.

“In other words.”

Erik smiled brightly.

“Rather than make Eleonora-san do such (enviable) things, I’m the type of person who does this.”

Erik gripped the sword tightly.

Now, no matter how much Natan tried to strengthen his control, he couldn’t stop him.

Finally understanding what Erik was about to do, Natan’s face went deathly pale.

“A-are you sane!? If you do that, you won’t get away unscathed either!?”

“Heh… my vitality is on par with a black G, so don’t worry.”

“Th-this guy…! Acting cool while…!!”

Where is there a man who brags about having the vitality of a pest?

While thinking that, Natan’s mind raced to figure out what to do.

If Erik was really about to use the worst method he was imagining, he needed to get away from him immediately.

But what if what he was trying to do was a bluff, just a means to distance himself?

The moment he separated, Eleonora—already freed from control—would kill him.

Natan could do nothing anymore.

All he could do was believe in the man called Erik.

“Ha, hahahaha!! Y-you couldn’t do such a thing!! Even if you survived such a thing, the pain would be tremendous. If you’re a person with common sense, there’s no way you could do such a thing to yourself—”

“Heave-ho.”

Natan mocked Erik while sweating profusely.

Without listening to his words until the end, Erik swung down his sword with an anticlimactic shout and thrust it vigorously into his own abdomen without any hesitation whatsoever.