Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord - Volume 2 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Hidden Boss Faces Off Against the Duke

I was still worried over what was going on with Duke Hillrose the day after we returned to Dolkness County, but I had no choice but to put such thoughts aside—my work as the lord of the county had piled up.

The villagers from Cottoness Viscounty had finished moving into their newly developed village, and we were continuing to send them aid as they tilled the fields. I’d considered lending them a hand personally as well, but both Patrick and the villagers themselves had put a quick stop to that. I hadn’t been offended by their decision—after all, they’d only denied my help because they were determined to take care of themselves on their own, not because they were afraid that something terrible would happen if they left things to me.

With the villagers settled, I had started my day in my office, endlessly addressing and signing envelopes. I was still there, in fact, and was honestly getting a bit exasperated over the mountain of envelopes Daemon had pushed over to me to sign, for reasons that remained unknown to me.

Turning toward the older man, I said, “Hey, what are these envelopes for?”

“Well...” Daemon’s eyes flickered over to Patrick, who was in another corner of the office looking over some paperwork, then back to me. “Have you told him yet?” he asked in a hushed voice.

Oh, they must be invitations for Patrick’s level 99 celebration party! That explains the envelopes addressed to the margrave and the king.

I had, in fact, not told Patrick about the party—I wanted to keep it a secret to the very last second possible, so it came as a surprise. I was determined not to let Patrick find out, even though he typically had a good ability to sense these kinds of things.

I shook my head slightly at Daemon, indicating a negative response to his question, and then said, “Oh right, the invitations!” as if nothing was going on. “But where are the letters that are supposed to go in them?”

“I’ll be preparing those,” Daemon replied. “These aren’t official invitations, just a notice that there will be a ceremony around winter. All you have to do is address them and sign them; that should be fine.”

I nodded. Giving six months prior notice seems a bit much, but I guess most of the people on our guest list are pretty busy. Still, addressing all of these envelopes is tiresome. 

I thought of the hellishly large pile of letters that I’d eventually have to face, and shivered in preconceived dread.

“Oh, and your dress will be ready soon,” Daemon said suddenly, as if the information had just leapt to the forefront of his mind. “You’ll need to try it on once, and then they will have to make some alterations.”

“You’re talking about the white one, right?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

I sighed inwardly. Do I really have to wear a gown? And a white one, at that? I know it’s a celebration and all, but wearing such a fancy dress is the one thing I’m not looking forward to. Also...what if we go to all the effort to plan this huge affair, and Patrick doesn’t even reach level 99 in time for the party? Even if we’re celebrating the both of us, he might be humiliated. I’m going to need him to keep working hard until winter hits. 

◆◆◆

One afternoon roughly a week after Patrick and I returned from the Royal Capital, when just enough time had elapsed for me to have almost entirely forgotten all the envelopes I’d been forced to address, a letter arrived at the Dolkness mansion. According to the gardener whom the letter had been passed to, a mysterious man had appeared and given it to him.

I gave the missive, which was now in my hands, a suspicious look—judging by the wax seal that decorated the front, it was unmistakably from the duke of Hillrose. Still, there was no ignoring it, so Patrick and I gave in and carefully opened the letter together.

“It’s addressed to you,” I said, turning to Patrick. “It says to come to the palace today.”

“He must be trying to split us up.”

I nodded. While Duke Hillrose’s end goal was still a mystery to me, the letter’s objective was clear. For some reason, the duke wanted Patrick and I separated, and he had likely instructed one of his people to deliver this message to us at a specific time in order to achieve that goal.

“Well, there’s no need for us to listen to Duke Hillrose, of all people,” Patrick hissed, grimacing. “We should ignore him, and both stay here.”

“But...it says the Royal Capital’s going to be in trouble if you don’t go. The duke himself is probably in the Royal Capital, right?”

“Yeah, but I can’t just leave...”

If you considered things logically, between the Royal Capital and Dolkness County, one location had to be a diversion and the other had to be where the true danger was. It seemed obvious that the Royal Capital would be the latter, which meant...

Is the duke trying to keep me from going to the Royal Capital? That would make sense if he was planning on doing something that Patrick couldn’t handle by himself. Although, they could be trying to lead Patrick away so they can attempt to overwhelm me here in Dolkness as well...but the chances of that actually being his goal seem pretty low. I groaned inwardly in frustration. Who or what is Duke Hillrose really targeting? 

“Where do you think the real danger is, Patrick?” I finally asked.

“The Royal Capital, more than likely.”

“That’s what I think too,” I agreed. “So...maybe I should be the one who goes to the Royal Capital, instead of you?”

In that case, I’d be handling everything that occurred within the central area of the kingdom, while Patrick would remain here in Dolkness County just in case something went wrong. It felt like a good plan to me—it was the best one I had.

Patrick went silent for a while, considering. Then, he lifted his gaze, his eyes fixing on me. “You can’t just ignore a crisis in the Royal Capital, can you?”

“Definitely not.”

“And you can’t help worrying over what might happen in Dolkness County either, can you?”

“Nope.”

I could hear in his words an acknowledgment of my fears. I had two places I was concerned about, but there was only one of me. By reminding me of that, Patrick was probably trying to show me that I had to make a choice.

“Whether it’s the kingdom or the county, you’ll need to do everything you can to save one while being prepared to abandon the other,” Patrick said, his face uncharacteristically serious. “You choose, Yumiella—which is more important to you, the Royal Capital, or Dolkness County? You go to the one that calls you the most, and I’ll go to the other.”

“Heh heh.” I winced—the laugh had just unconsciously slipped out.

Does Patrick think he’s having me make a difficult decision right now? I mean, sure, we could have both picked one and just gone there together, but I knew from the beginning he had no intention of abandoning one location. I’m not even worried that whichever place I don’t choose won’t be okay—Patrick will be there to help. 

“I’ll protect Dolkness County, then,” I decided. “I am the lord of this territory after all, and it is my home. I’ll leave the Royal Capital to you.”

Patrick nodded. “Got it. I’ll come back right away if anything happens.”

“What’s ‘anything’?”

“Anything. Like, if you cause some kind of trouble.”

My eyebrows rose. Wait, I’m the one who’s going to cause trouble?

“Am I really that untrustworthy?”

Patrick laughed. “Ever since you played that monster-summoning flute during our first year of the Academy, I’ve never been dumb enough to trust you again.”

“Well then, you better come home if I play the flute,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

“I will,” he promised, turning toward the window. “Let’s go, Ryuu.”

I trusted Patrick and left the Royal Capital to him. Patrick trusted me, who was completely untrustworthy, and left the county to me.

Ryuu had been peeking into the mansion through a window after picking up on the unsettling atmosphere and roared in response to Patrick. Patrick jumped onto Ryuu’s back and took off, headed toward the Royal Capital.

◆◆◆

Mere minutes after Patrick left, it got quite noisy outside the mansion.

Puzzling over the sounds that were drifting to my ears, I frowned. Was the duke truly after my county all along? I wonder if he was watching to see if Patrick would leave.

I ran outside in a hurry, quickly catching sight of a single carriage pulled up in front of the mansion. It was decorated with the duke’s family crest. My eyes narrowed as the door swung open, and out jumped...

Eleanora? Why are you here?!

“Yumiella! I have! Arrived!”

Eleanora tore off in my direction; she’d nearly crashed into me before I came to my senses enough to catch her and hold her back.

“Um...what are you doing here?”

“Congratulations on your betrothal!”

I gave the overexcited girl a dubious look. What is she talking about...? I wondered, beginning to guide her toward the mansion.

“What is this you’re saying about me being betrothed?” I asked Eleanora as we walked.

“You announced it in this letter, silly! Anyway, what was the proposal like?”

Ignoring Eleanora, who was getting herself riled up all over again, I turned my focus to reading the letter she’d handed over to me. To my surprise, written in it was an announcement that Patrick and I were getting married, and that our wedding would be held in Dolkness County soon.

I have no recollection of sending out something like this, I thought, inspecting the envelope only to find that my signature was on it. That’s my handwriting, all right. Could this be one of the invitations for Patrick’s level 99 party? But how did this mix-up even happen? There was really only one person who could be the culprit. Wow, Daemon can be surprisingly inept.

But I had gotten distracted by the letter, and the carefree lady gallivanting in front of me.

More importantly, what exactly is going on here? Is this a part of the duke’s coup d’état? I can’t believe he would leave his daughter to do something so outrageous... Maybe there’s a big misunderstanding here, like there was with the wedding invitation.

As I stared consideringly at Eleanora, my attention was caught and held by a large envelope under her arm.

I didn’t send her that, did I...?

“Lady Eleanora, what’s in that envelope?”

“What envelope?” Eleanora said, giving me a confused look. “Oh, that envelope! This is a letter I need to deliver to my brother!”

“To Ronald? I see.”

Guess it has nothing to do with me, I thought.

But just as I dismissed the envelope’s contents from my mind, Eleanora suddenly ripped the letter open, revealing several documents that had been tucked inside.

“Um, was it all right for you to open that?”

Eleanora waved me off, unfazed. “It’s a letter between family; there should be no problem with me looking at it.”

I’m not so sure about that, I thought dubiously. Even if someone’s related to you, they still want their privacy, don’t they...? My idle thoughts came to a screeching halt as a realization hit me. Wait, if that’s a letter to Ronald from between family members, and it isn’t from Eleanora, wouldn’t that mean it’s from the duke?

Eleanora nudged me, stretching the documents out in my direction; she must have just finished reading them. “I don’t understand,” she said with a frown. “Do you?”

I hesitated before taking the documents from her hands. “Uh...” I said weakly, “wouldn’t it be bad for me to read this?”

Eleanora just stared at me silently in expectation, and I soon lost out to my curiosity, skimming quickly through the papers I now held.

I quickly realized that I was looking at the plans for a coup d’état. The documents detailed the rebels’ strategy, which was apparently to draw monsters into attacking the Royal Capital and then capture the king and the first prince during the chaos. With them in hand, they would have seized those necessary to gain true power over Valschein. If that wasn’t enough already, it seemed the duke’s forces would be aided by a number of skilled fighters sent from Lemlaesta.

Oh, and they’re holding a rally for the radical aristocrats tonight who support the duke, as well, I noticed. Looks like it’s happening tonight.

Overall, the contents of the envelope were universally terrible. I pressed a hand to my forehead. “I shouldn’t have read this...” I moaned, even as my mind spun into gear.

Why would the duke have sent this to Ronald? Is Ronald planning on betraying the king and joining the duke...?

Just then, a small note that had been placed between two of the documents fell out. Eleanora leaned over and picked it up, then began to read it aloud.

“‘Dear Ronald, please take care of Eleanora.’” A doting smile appeared on Eleanora’s face. “Oh, father, I’m perfectly fine on my own.”

I winced. While I couldn’t have any idea what action Ronald would have taken upon receiving this letter, one thing was clear—Duke Hillrose was guilty. He was absolutely planning on carrying out a coup d’état.

How am I going to tell Eleanora...? A sick feeling weighed down my stomach.

This was, of course, the exact moment Eleanora decided to ask the number one question I wanted to avoid.

“So...what did all that stuff mean?”

She’s going to find out eventually, I thought. The only thing in question is whether that’ll be sooner or later. I...might as well tell her now.

“The duke of Hillrose is... Your father is plotting a coup d’état.”

“A coup d’état?”

“An insurrection.” Met with another look of incomprehension, I rephrased, “He’s, uh, trying to down His Majesty, in a sense. He’s planning on turning the entire kingdom upside down.”

“Wh-What...?”

“You should probably stay with me for a while; the Royal Capital will most likely get quite turbulent. Providing you shelter until things calm back down is the least I can do.”

Eleanora must have been quite shocked, for she didn’t reply. She just stared down at the ground, trembling. Eventually she got a hold of herself and looked up, her eyes narrowing into a glare at me.

“That’s impossible!” she declared.

“I mean, the duke’s plans are right here...”

“But there’s no way... If that’s true, I might not be able to marry Sir Edwin...”

Is that really what you should be worried over at a time like this, Lady Eleanora...? I thought, a bit exasperated. But that’s when Eleanora proved that it wasn’t just the prince that was on her mind.

“Yumiella...you probably hate me, don’t you?”

“What?! What are you talking about?”

“My brother probably hates me too...” Eleanora said, her voice quiet and depressed. She looked down once more, tears forming in her eyes. “Maybe, just maybe, there isn’t a single person out there who actually likes me.”

“Lady Eleanora?” Worried, I got closer to her.

“But!” she shouted, tears rolling down her face. “But, my father... I know for sure that he loves the Kingdom of Valschein! There are many things in this world that I don’t understand, and it’s hard for me to tell what others are thinking, but one thing I know for sure is that my father loves this kingdom dearly!”

Sobbing, Eleanora buried her face in my chest and began wailing like a child. Within seconds she was out like a light.

The crying probably tired her out, I mused as I picked her up, then carried her to a bed.

Once I got Eleanora settled, I paused and watched her briefly as she slept. As I stood there, Rita cautiously came up to me and handed me a sheet of paper, which was wrinkled as if it had been crumpled up only moments before.

“This was tossed into the entryway,” Rita explained.

“This is...”

The wrinkled paper had the duke’s family crest on it, and what was written on it was brutally to the point: “I’ll be waiting outside of town.”

There was no need for me to wonder who would be waiting. It seemed the time had come for me to settle things with a certain terrible father, who had made his only daughter cry.

◆◆◆

The only place that had come to mind where the duke could be waiting “outside of town” had been the grassy fields located right on the border of Dolkness Village. They were the same place I’d had that special night with Patrick, when I’d tried alcohol for the first time. I hadn’t been displeased with using them as a meeting place either—I hadn’t wanted to go too far away from Dolkness Village, and the fields more than fulfilled that wish.

Once I’d set out, it wasn’t long before I found Duke Hillrose, who was awaiting me in a location where he could keep an eye on the entirety of Dolkness Village. I walked up to him, but he didn’t spare me so much as a glance.

“Hm...” he rumbled, staring at the town behind me. “This town doesn’t really have anything redeeming about it. It’s not particularly big, and it doesn’t seem to have ties to any particular industry. It’s just an ordinary, nondescript town.”

“Think what you want,” I replied. “Regardless, I like it quite a bit.”

The duke gave me his trademark nasty smile. “Of course you do. You’re a good person by nature; there’s no way you wouldn’t be attached to a town you manage.”

My eyes narrowed. You’ve sure caused me a lot of trouble, Duke Hillrose. I’m starting to get pissed. Keep it up and I might just go ahead and capture you—after all, the first person to make a move wins. And, if I punch him a little too hard in the process, well...that’s just me being friendly.

The more I thought about it, the better the plan seemed to me. I could listen to what the duke had to say later, and it would give me plenty of time to decide what to do with him.

Firm in my decision, I threw my sword and wand to the ground and began running, headed straight for the duke.

Should I punch him with my right hand or my left? Or...both? Watching the duke, who was so slow he’d never be able to react to my movements, I decided, No, let’s just go with the right for now.

But the moment I prepared to swing, something collided with my forehead.

“Ow!”

“Well, well. I didn’t think you would suddenly attack me.”

For a moment I was at a loss for words; I pressed my hand to my forehead, where the pain was at its worst, and crouched downward, almost in a fetal position. It felt as if I’d crashed into a wall, but that I for some reason had been the one to take damage, not it.

“Wait! The barrier from the church!”

“You’re correct; this barrier was indeed produced by the magical instrument passed down within the principal church of Sanonism. By producing a smaller barrier than they do at the church, I’ve increased its strength by a few—no, a few dozen time—”

My lips began to turn up at the corners, ever so slightly. “I can’t believe we finally meet again here...”

“Ahem. And that’s not all! Along with its strong resistance against the element of darkness, it also resists physical... Hey! Are you listening?”

Indeed, I was not. Every word the duke said was going in one ear and right out the other—all I knew was that he was rambling. That was because...

I did it—I finally found you! My archnemesis! Here I was, thinking I’d never get to see you again because you’d been stolen, and yet you’ve appeared before me. I knew it; I knew we were fated rivals! As two creatures who are destined to battle in order to settle things between us, it is only natural we’d be drawn to one another this way.

My first attempt at breaking the barrier was to hit it with a spin-kick, but it didn’t budge. That was when I noticed that, unlike in our previous battle, I could actually see a faint outline of my nemesis. I felt a rush seeing its dimly glowing, cuboid form—this was the formidable enemy I had to destroy!

It seems smaller than it did before, I noticed. It can probably only fit like five people.

I started to giggle. “Heh, you’ve gotten harder, my nemesis.”

“Hey, listen. I—”

I need to be quick! Let’s try...a right-handed punch!

My fist slammed into the barrier, and a large cracking sound reverberated through the air.

Did I...do it?

I looked down at my right hand, only to see that my wrist now bent in an impossible direction. I lifted it up closer to my face, and it swung limply on my arm.

I hummed thoughtfully. “If my wrist broke instead of my arm, that means I’m probably not putting my strength to use in the right places,” I muttered. “I need to focus more.”

“H-Hey! Your...your hand! Are you all right?! Doesn’t that hurt?!”

Ignoring the annoying sound of the duke’s voice, I healed my hand with recovery magic. At the same time, I focused my mind—after all, it was time for me to deliver one of my full-power Yumiella Punches.

I drew back, but my mental focus was disturbed by the annoying whining of the man on the other side of the barrier.

Jeez, he’s really keeping the irritating thing up, isn’t he?

“Heyyy!” the duke yelled. “Listen! To! Me!”

“What do you want?” I said in disgust. “Actually, who are you again? You’re in my way, so please go somewhere else.”

“Yumiella Dolkness! Are you not here! Because! I called you out here?!”

What is he talking about? I was guided here by the laws of this universe, so I could reunite with my archnemesis...wasn’t I?

My mind whirled, but I did my best to focus back on the man in front of me. I belatedly remembered he was the duke of Hillrose—it felt like it had been an age since I’d thought about him.

“Oh, right—I remember now. You’re Duke Hillrose. What was it you wanted from me?”

“I’ve been trying! To discuss that! With you! For a while!” the duke desperately shouted.

Huh. Was the duke always like this...? Wasn’t he doing somethi—

“Oh! That’s right, you’re plotting a coup d’état.”

“That’s what I’ve been...” The duke forcibly stopped himself from talking, then took a deep breath. “Yes, that’s right. And right now, I’m going to have you join me on a little trip to the past.”

I gave him a dubious look. I mean...do I have to? I kinda don’t wanna. I’d rather go back to battling the barrier.

The duke must have caught on to my heated desire for battle, as he continued to speak at a faster pace. “It’ll be over fast, okay?”

I sighed. “Fine, please hurry up.”

“Where should I begin...? Do you know how the Hillroses came to be?”

I gave the duke a blank stare, and he groaned.

“I can see you’re not interested. Nevertheless... The Hillrose family dukedom was founded by the younger brother of the first king of Valschein, the very king that we celebrate as a hero.”

I know that much, I thought with disdain. Don’t underestimate me—I’ll have you know I read through all the books in the library when I was bored at the Academy!

And yet...despite my extensive reading, I hadn’t heard about what happened with the Hillrose family after its founding. Curiosity tickled at my mind, and my obsession with the barrier receded, laying claim over only half my thoughts instead of the entirety.

“The first duke thought about what he could do to protect the kingdom his older brother had founded. Instead of his own household, he put the entire kingdom first. He passed this way of thinking down to the next generation, and so they passed it to the next, and the next.”

That doesn’t sound quite right, I mused. The duke may say that, but the king told me the Hillroses have been at odds with the royal family for quite some time. The facts aren’t lining up.

As my face grew more confused, a grin spread across the duke’s lips. “Yes, I can tell what you’re thinking. We have not seen eye to eye with the royal family for generations. But that has been for the kingdom’s sake.”

“I don’t understand.”

“There are several kinds of aristocrats in this kingdom. They of course existed back when this kingdom was first founded, but they have grown in number over the years. Naturally, some of their number have harbored thoughts of rebellion. It is terribly dangerous to the royal family not to know where these troublemakers are hiding.”

I nodded. This part, I could get. I’d seen myself that there were plenty of aristocrats who didn’t think well of Valschein’s royal family. They were all radicals, just like the duke was...

Wait, have the Hillroses been at odds with the royal family so they can gather all these renegades together in one place?

“Th-That can’t be! That would mean that you...”

“Ah, seems you’ve caught on. Yes, we have indeed been controlling those who would antagonize the royal family from behind the scenes. At times, we would discourage them from doing anything too bold, while at other times we would drag down aristocrats in the king’s faction to resolve their grievances.”

But if that’s true, why isn’t he just trying to discourage the radicals from going through with this current mess of trying to make Prince Edwin the king? My mind swirled. Couldn’t he just tell the radicals that now isn’t the time to take action, and warn them that if they do, they’ll be destroyed by the king’s faction? There were so many other things the duke could have done, so why did he take the lead in planning a coup d’état?!

“I fear our old method has reached its limits,” Duke Hillrose continued with a sad smile. “The kingdom has been contaminated too deeply. The time has come to gather every bit of poison lingering within its veins and purge it all at once. Besides, I knew the methods passed down to me would eventually fall short of being able to manage our kingdom’s malcontents. I had already committed myself to this operation before we even came close to the incident with the Demon Lord. That’s why I sent Ronald to him.”

The plan grew clear to me—the duke intended to get himself executed, and to drag all the scheming aristocrats who were opposed to the royal family with him.

“But you... How can you commit to doing something like that?”

The duke cocked his head. “Something like what?”

“Sacrificing yourself entirely for His Majesty!”

“Oh, that. Well, for starters, you’ve got it wrong—none of what I’m doing is for him. It’s for the kingdom. I adore this county, but that feeble royal? I couldn’t care less about him.”

I stared at the duke incredulously as a large, truly gleeful smile spread across the duke’s face. Weren’t you two supposed to be each other’s closest friends in the past?! How can you smile like that while insulting him?!

But that’s when it hit me—Duke Hillrose had spent the majority of his life lying in order to deepen the rift between the royal family and his own. Perhaps he was continuing to lie, even in this moment.

Regardless, I can finally understand his objective—he wants to take down all the radical aristocrats himself, in order to rid the kingdom of their influence. But what does that have to do with me?

“Now that I understand what you’re trying to accomplish, I can’t help but wonder why you came to me,” I told the duke.

He nodded. “Well, there are two reasons for me to do so. The first is to show the public that my intention to rebel against the kingdom is real. The second has to do with my plans, which have likely reached Ronald by now. I state there that I am going to unleash a monster attack onto the Royal Capital, while gathering the rebels to safety within this barrier. However, it would be quite dangerous for the kingdom to actually unleash such a plan within the capital. Which is why I wanted to do it somewhere a bit less dangerous...”

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. “What a nuisance...”

“The plans I sent Ronald also go over how the rebels tried to get you, Yumiella Dolkness, to join our forces, but when you refused us we went into a frenzy and unleashed a monster attack onto Dolkness County, in a practice run for what we were planning to do to the Royal Capital. I...think that’s all of it.”

Oh, but wait...the plans for the coup d’état aren’t with Ronald, but at my house, I realized. Ah well, I think I missed my chance to tell him. I have something I’m more concerned about, anyway. He says he’s going to unleash monster attacks onto specific locations, but only the Demon Lord should be able to pull off something like that. As far as I know, humans shouldn’t have the power to control monsters.

“Isn’t it a bit unrealistic to use monsters to attack the Royal Capital?” I asked.

The duke nodded. “Correct—I have no power to make monsters go to a specific location. However, it is possible to draw them to a specific place... In fact, I believe the time has come to do just that.”

The moment the duke stopped speaking, a familiar sound rang out from behind me, from within Dolkness Village—the sound of a monster-summoning flute. It was a nostalgic sound, as monster-summoning flutes had been a great help to me back in the days when I’d been grinding experience. This sound was strangely different then my old flute’s though—it was significantly louder, as if it had been amplified. It thundered through the air, reverberating through the entire area around the village.

“You know this sound too, don’t you?” the duke boasted while listening to the tune. “It’s a monster-summoning flute. I’ve prepared a very rare extra large one to boot.”

“Oh! Actually, that one’s mine! I tried really hard to buy it from a merchant, but it didn’t work out... Anyway, I’ll pay you whatever you want, so can I please have it?!”

The duke’s nasty smile wavered slightly, but he got it back under control. “Soon, monsters will gather inside Dolkness Village. Then, you will—”

“One of your subordinates played it, right? Where are they? Oh, did you maybe plan to leave it there and have them flee the premises? If I grab it, it’s finders keepers, right?”

“Pay attention!”

I gave him a confused look. No need to shout—my attention is clearly on the most important subject here—the extra large monster-summoning flute! I truly regret not having bought it, especially after doing something so embarrassing trying to get it...

“I apologize, I got a little carried away,” I said, regaining my composure after remembering the tantrum I threw.

“There’s something wrong with you,” the duke said with a heavy sigh.

I’ve been told that many times by Patrick; it’s not even worth bringing it up at this point. Speaking of Patrick, now that that monster-summoning flute was just played...

“They’ll be coming...”

“Yes, a swarm of monsters will be making their way here.”

I waved him off. “No, not the monsters.”

If he heard that, my watchdog is definitely coming to get me. I better start preparing my explanation.

“We still have some time before the monsters appear,” the duke of Hillrose leisurely began from within his impenetrable barrier. “So I might as well tell you about the second reason behind my visit here.”

The duke had already told me his first reason for coming to Dolkness County was that he wanted to summon a monster horde somewhere less dangerous to people than the capital. He was right that things wouldn’t get too out of hand while I was here, but it was still a major inconvenience.

Seeing the grimace form on my face, Duke Hillrose let out a jovial laugh. I narrowed my eyes at him.

That guy has a straight-up twisted personality, I thought in disgust.

“You know, the information I’m about to tell you is my real reason for being here...”

“Oh, just get on with it already.” I sighed.

“Don’t look at me like that,” the duke said, chuckling. “You’ve got such a cute face; twisting it up like that is a waste.”

“The hell did you say?” I snarled, my temper finally snapping.

Honestly, it’s kind of a miracle that I kept it together this long, I thought wryly. But I can’t let him distract me; I’ve got to analyze the situation. That barrier he’s using protects him against dark-type magic. Back at the church, I couldn’t get through, but all the others could. That means it’s only effective against monsters, dark magic, and people who use dark magic—in other words, physical attacks that don’t involve my body should work.

I picked up a rock of a suitable size and threw it with all my might at the barrier, aiming right by the duke’s face. It flew through the air so fast it turned red at the friction.

He’ll probably start running if I keep this up, I mused. But just then, a loud thud reverberated through the air, followed by a sudden cloud of dust.

Huh? I specifically aimed that rock so it would just barely miss the duke’s face; why did it sound like it hit something?

To my surprise, upon closer inspection, it seemed the rock had hit the barrier and fallen to the ground. The duke still seemed to be just fine; he was staring at the rock in horror, moaning: “I thought I was going to die...”

I, however, was more preoccupied with other things. “I don’t get it,” I muttered. “Why did it block the rock when it doesn’t even have an element?”

The duke, hurriedly resuming his composure, said flatly, “I’ve adjusted the barrier to be smaller, so its resistance against physical attacks has also... Didn’t I explain this earlier?”

“I apologize,” I said sincerely. “I was so shocked about being reunited with the barrier that I wasn’t listening.”

There was a brief silence, and then the duke huffed, “I’m done.”

His words didn’t make any sense to me, so my mind started wandering. This barrier is crazy strong, isn’t it? Like, way too strong. Heh heh, as expected of an opponent I’ve acknowledged as my rival. We may be enemies, but I’m proud of you all the same, barrier.

Something about the look in my eyes must have set the duke off, because he let out a groan and plopped his head into his hands. “Ugh, was setting my sights on this one a mistake after all?”

“Can you just tell me why you’re here, already? Nothing you say is making any sense.”

The duke looked at me with decidedly less enthusiasm than he had earlier, but to my relief began speaking after my prompting.

“I’ve already explained the role of the Hillroses, yes?” he began. “Well, the future of this kingdom has been on my mind. What will happen if the aristocrats who hold resentment toward the royal family begin acting separately, of their own accord? There would be chaos like we’ve never seen before. Which is why I’ve been searching for someone to take on the Hillrose legacy—someone to step into the position we’ve held until now.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. So he’s saying he’s been searching for someone who’s willing to appear opposed to the royal family so they can round up ambitious radicals? I scoffed internally. Yeah right, there’s no one who would agree to that—there isn’t even anyone who can!

At this point, I wanted out of this conversation. I was starting to get a bad feeling about where this was heading, but alas, I had no choice but to continue listening.

“In the end, I set my sights on you, Yumiella Dolkness. I have no doubt your house could head the opposition against the royal family, just as we Hillroses once did.”

“Yeah, no thanks,” I said. “I mean, I’m just a countess anyway. Why not ask the marquess?”

“The marquess?” Duke Hillrose repeated, disdain in his voice. “That family is at the crown’s beck and call! Not to mention, they’re too weak—they could never stand against the royal family.”

I mean, I don’t think my family has what it takes to do that either... You’re expecting a bit much from me, Duke Hillrose. If you’re looking for anything other than brute force, you’ve got the wrong person. Although... Jeez, that’s kind of a depressing thing to think, isn’t it? I’m the one who thought it about myself, but still...

I shook myself from my thoughts. “But I can’t take the Hillroses place either. I might have a high level, but other than that I’m just a normal person.”

The duke scoffed. “Having a high level like that gives you an absolutely incredible amount of power. And, while you might think you’ve succeeded in pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes, I’ve realized that you’re actually quite sharp.”

He’s...totally misunderstanding things, I thought with a sigh. It’s taking things in a bad direction, even though he’s making positive assumptions instead of the negative ones people usually make about me.

Even if I could have taken on the role that the Hillroses played in the kingdom, problems still arose when you considered the fact that it was a long-term commitment. Generations of my family would have to shoulder the same burden, and there was no guarantee that they would reach as high a level as I had. Although...I had to admit it was a possibility they would, considering that Patrick was on the verge of reaching level 99 himself.

After a moment’s pause, I calmly said, “Hypothetically speaking, even if I could take on the role the Hillroses play in this kingdom, I would have no obligation to do so.”

The duke’s eyes narrowed. “Yumiella Dolkness, you have fondness for the town behind us, don’t you?”

“Well... Yes, I do.”

“I’m sure that wasn’t always the case. Once, you couldn’t have cared less about that town, but now it’s become something dear to you—the same thing will happen with the entire Kingdom of Valschein. Trust me; I’m speaking from experience.”

I pondered this. “We’re quite different people,” I said at last. “I don’t think I would ever have such feelings.”

“Let’s reframe things then.” The duke paused, and his face twisted into the nastiest grin I had seen from him so far.

This is bad; he’s totally going to resort to some sort of nefarious method.

“Consider this, Yumiella Dolkness!” the duke exclaimed, letting out a boisterous laugh that gave me the distinct feeling he’d gone mad. “A horde of monsters will soon attack your precious town! Of course, you shall depart to protect it with your strength...but that’s when I shall deactivate this barrier. And I... I’ll likely be killed by monsters!”

I blinked at the man in confusion. Did he...really just announce a plan that results in his death in such an excited, happy manner? And beyond that, what is his reasoning for doing such a thing? I still don’t understand what he’s trying to achieve. If he thinks that he can get me to obey his dying wish by killing himself, he’s nuts. I’m not going to be bound by a request like that.

“You’re still too weak, countess,” the duke began again. “You’ll have to leave me to die in order to save your town; the memory shall haunt you forever!”

“I... What?!”

“You may have superhuman physical abilities and dark magic that’s perfect for annihilating wide areas of land, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have any weaknesses. Light magic is one, of course, but you also lack the ability to coordinate well with others during a fight and are unskilled in defending a singular location. You’re aware of that, aren’t you? That you flounder when you must fight and protect something at the same time? You may have been able to get by before since you were only defending one thing at a time, but this time you’ve been left with two. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll fail.”

My chest went a little tight, listening to the duke. It felt odd to have someone dare me to save them if I could when they’d made the selfish decision to let themselves die in the first place. But despite the ridiculousness of his plan, the reality was that it had proved quite effective. Indeed, it was working even better on me than I’d have ever thought it would, if I’d heard of it earlier.

So that’s why he wanted to separate me from Patrick and Ryuu. He really did his research on me.

Despite what I’d thought earlier, I knew that I’d regret it for the rest of my life if I left the duke to die. It was possible that I’d even try to control the turbulent elements of the kingdom by acting in opposition to the royal family, just like the duke wanted. But...

That will only be the case if I actually leave here to defend the town.

“Don’t you need to get going?” the duke asked arrogantly. “The monsters are almost here. Soon, they’ll be swarming the town in droves.”

“Actually, I’ll be staying here,” I replied calmly. “The moment you deactivate the barrier, I’ll knock you out and carry you to safety. After that... Well, I’ll think about that later.”

“Wh-What do you mean?!” the duke sputtered. “What’s more important to you, your people or me?”

“The townspeople are, of course. Now hurry up and turn that barrier off. They’re going to be here any second now.” I turned around and pointed up toward the sky, where a large shadow was gradually growing bigger and bigger. “See? Here they come: the second strongest person in the world, and the most adorable dragon to ever exist.”

I’d always believed that they would come back—although I hated to admit it, Ryuu was a monster by classification. There’s no way the monster-summoning flute would have failed to catch his attention; not after how loud it had been.

Even though they were still quite far away, I heard Patrick yell, “Can you hear me, Yumiella? What happened?”

I grinned internally, impressed. It’s pretty slick of you to use your wind magic like that, Patrick.

I called back, “One of Hillrose’s people played a monster-summoning flute. It was that huge one that merchant brought by before. It wasn’t me, okay? I really didn’t do it.”

There was a short pause. “I’m...sure you didn’t,” Patrick replied. “Regardless, how can I help?”

Hey, what was that pause for?! I know I shouldn’t be trying to clear my name right now, but how can Patrick be so suspicious of me at a time like this?

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to focus. Duke Hillrose had been right when he said I wasn’t good at defending a singular point—I’d leave protecting the town to Patrick. Unlike me, he was the perfect person for the job.

“I need you to go to town,” I yelled to Patrick. “I think monsters will be arriving there soon.”

“Got it,” he said seriously. Faintly, I heard him tell Ryuu, “I’m going to go ahead and get off now.”

Nearly the same instant the wind delivered the words to my ears, I saw Patrick jump off of Ryuu, who was hovering over Dolkness Village.

I can’t believe he’d do that when he’s afraid of heights, I thought, encouraged by his bravery. I need to do my best here, so I can repay him in kind.

But before I went back to dealing with the duke, I had one more thing I needed to do. I leaned down and swiped up the wand that I’d left lying in the grass, then took off at a run.

“Patrick, take this!” I shouted, catapulting the wand forward like it was a spear in a spear toss.

The wand zoomed forward in a straight line toward Patrick, bowing with the force of its passage. My eyesight was good enough to see it hit Patrick right in the stomach in the middle of his slow descent toward the ground.

“Whoops, sorry!” I yelled over to him.

Although the wand had gotten to him well enough, I wasn’t sure my apology had; while Patrick had been carefully manipulating the wind to decrease the speed of his descent just seconds before, now he was free-falling, clutching at his stomach.

Look at that, I thought in surprise. He landed without slowing down.

The wand must have bounced off of Patrick, because it plunged to the earth a short distance away from him, just outside of the edge of Dolkness Village. It looked like it had pierced straight into the ground.

“Now that was pretty awful,” I heard the duke say snarkily from behind me.

I ignored him. “Oh, Patrick got up! I knew he could handle a fall like that.”

“Isn’t he just the margrave’s boy?” the duke asked, uncomprehending. “The dragon’s a threat, but what does him being here change?”

What is he talking about? I wondered, glancing back over my shoulder at the duke. Wait...did he really only call Patrick to the capital so Ryuu would go? If that’s the case, that’s quite rude of him. There’s no one else who would be more useful than Patrick in this kind of situation.

“I think you may be operating under a misunderstanding,” I said. “Patrick is probably the next strongest person in the world after me.”

Though he was stumbling a bit, Patrick wobbled over to the wand and pulled it out of the ground, holding it up high over his head. I couldn’t hear his voice now that he wasn’t using wind magic to ferry it to me anymore, but his magic was easily visible. In fact, you’d have to be at least as far away from him as the duke and I were to gaze upon the full scale of what he’d just done.

“Wh-What is that...?” the duke muttered.

Within seconds, Dolkness Village, which lacked any walls, was surrounded by a towering earthen rampart. It was incredibly tall and thick for something Patrick had just made on the spot, and even more impressively, he’d surrounded the entire town with it.

“Our countermeasures for the monster attack are taken care of now,” I boasted to the duke, who had fallen into stunned silence. “Well then, I’ll be getting back to my match with my little friend—the barrier.”

At this point, I’ve got to admit that this light-elemental barrier is just as strong as I am, I thought wryly. I gotta give this my all.

Now bereft of my wand, I walked back over to my sword and picked it up off the ground. I hefted it in my hand, then gripped it like I would have a baseball bat.

Who gives a damn about swordsmanship!

I swung the sword as hard as I could toward the barrier, braced myself for impact, and...

“Huh?”

I was sure I’d hit the barrier, but I hadn’t felt an ounce of resistance. Perplexed, I glanced down at the weapon in my hands, only to find that the blade had snapped in half.

“No, this can’t be...”

A genuine rush of sadness went through me. Sure, I hadn’t had many chances to use the dark-type sword I’d grinded so hard for, but it was still quite important to me. There was no other sword in existence that could hold up against my full strength.

I can’t believe it would break so easil— Wait.

I stared more intently at the end of what was left of the blade, where it had broken off. It was brownish in color, almost like...wood.

“This is that wooden katana I bought!” I exclaimed.

I must have mixed the two swords up since they’re the same color! They were both collecting dust under my bed, along with the wand, so it would’ve been easy for me to grab the wrong one. What a stupid idea—who the heck decided to put it there?!

“You doing all right over there?” the duke mumbled. He eyed me warily as I writhed in agony over my mortifying mistake.

“It’s just...the barrier, you know? It’s incredible—my magical sword was nothing against it!”

“Isn’t that a wooden swo—?”

Before the duke could finish his thought, I shot forward, making my next attack.

The only way I’m going to beat this thing is with magic. So...I should give it a proper send-off with the highest class of dark magic I can use—it’s the polite thing to do!

“Black Hole!”

A black orb appeared, roughly the size of a human head. I’d condensed the size this time, since I hadn’t wanted to erase Duke Hillrose along with the barrier. The orb swallowed a portion of the softly glowing light barrier, then disappeared, and...the light barrier went with it! A small circular hole had been left in my spell’s wake.

I did it! I’m definitely a mage after all! Some may think I’m all muscles and no brains, but this proves the opposite—I’m actually an intellectual who belongs in the rearguard!

The duke stared at the hole in the barrier, his eyes wide with shock. “How... How is that possible?! This is a legendary class magical instrument!” He opened his mouth to continue ranting, then paused, as if he’d noticed something. “Hmm?”

Curious, I followed the duke’s gaze back to the hole I’d made in the barrier. It was slowly closing.

It can even repair itself! Unbelievable!

Even as the duke and I watched, the barrier began to repair itself at a faster and faster pace. The hole that had once been large enough for me to stick my head through could now barely fit one of my arms. Any moment now, it would close completely.

“Aah! Wait, hold on!” I shouted. Without thinking, I stuck my right arm into the closing hole.

I’ll just force it to stay open with my overwhelming strength! I believe in my all-powerful muscles!!!

Alas, the light barrier was not cowed by my arm. It completely closed up, taking, uh...something with it. On the duke’s side of the barrier, the front portion of my arm, from fingertips to elbow, plopped to the ground.

“Wow, that was kinda cool,” I said, examining my bleeding stump. “If someone used a barrier like this to dismember someone, it would be pretty stylish, don’t you think, Duke Hillrose?”

But the duke was too busy shrieking in horror to answer my question. “Aaagh! H-Hey, are you okay?! Y-Y-Your arm!”

I examined my arm more intently, noting that the barrier had cut through it cleanly, leaving my stump a flat cross section.

I’ve got a lot of injuries up till now, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cut like this before, I thought, intrigued. Even back when that monster with a sickle for an arm attacked me, the injury it left was much messier.

“Do you think if I press the front part of my arm onto my stump, it’ll stick back together?” I asked the duke idly.

“HEY!” the duke shouted, fully hysterical now. “You’re pouring blood over there! If you lose too much blood, you’ll—!”

I pressed my remaining hand thoughtfully to my chin. “Oh, that’s right, there’s a little less blood on the right side of your body than on the left, hmm? Maybe it’s because the heart is on the left side of the body? I could just be imagining it...”

I glanced back over at the duke, but he was in no condition to reply. He’d shrunk away from my dismembered arm as much as possible within the small space inside the barrier, his back pressing against the opposing wall.

Jeez, there’s no need to be so afraid... Although, I guess it would be pretty bad if he turned out to be some freak who got turned on by women’s arms and tried to take mine home.

“I apologize, I didn’t realize that this sort of thing would scare you this much,” I told the duke. “Heal.”

All the blood that had splattered around me got sucked up and flowed back into the stump of my arm, but my severed limb stayed where it was, trapped behind the barrier. And, without the ability to reattach it, the spell decided to grow an entirely new one. I could feel tons of mana pouring out of me, but I wasn’t alarmed—that wasn’t anything new.

A few seconds passed between the duke and I in silence, and before long I was sporting an entirely fresh arm. The only mark that something had happened was that one of my shirt sleeves was much shorter than the other, giving me a slightly avant-garde look.

“Are you really human...? Just what kind of person did I get myself involved with...?” The duke pressed his hand against his mouth, looking sick.

Here we go again, I thought. Why must everyone always treat me like I’m some kind of inhuman being? Although, there aren’t that many people who can use recovery magic—I guess I can’t fault him for thinking I’m an angel.

Forcing myself to focus on the task at hand, I locked my eyes on the barrier in front of me once more. All I had to do was capture the man behind it now that Patrick and Ryuu were here; they would take care of the monsters. Even better, it had now been revealed that my rival, the barrier, was powerless against the highest class of dark magic spells. Sure, it did repair itself if it was partially destroyed, but it was slow enough at it that it left me an opening.

“This is the end of the line for you, barrier!” I cried. “Black Hole!”

This time, I summoned an orb of darkness that was much larger than before. It spanned roughly half the size of the duke’s glowing cuboid. It was easy for me to avoid injuring him too—he still had his back pressed up against the side of the barrier opposite me. Then, my black hole vanished, and I was pleased to see it took half of the barrier with it.

All that’s left is to capture the duke, I thought, turning toward him. But there was something odd happening—why was his chest shimmering so radiantly? His clothes are pretty good quality; what could be shining so brightly that it’s visible through such premium, high-quality fabric?

I had just been about to step into the barrier, but I stopped, my instincts prickling. It was the only thing that saved me—before I could fully register what was happening, the barrier repaired itself entirely, the speed completely incomparable to its response to my previous attack.

If I’d tried to go in there, my torso would’ve had to say goodbye to my legs! That was dangerous.

Sure, my recovery magic could handle healing a lost arm or a leg, but regenerating half my body? It was very possible that might have been too much. I’d never tried it before, so I honestly wasn’t sure how far I could push it.

Duke Hillrose reached into his shirt and pulled out a glowing jewel, staring at it in bewilderment. It seemed he didn’t quite know what had happened either.

“I thought it was over for me, but...” An ugly grin formed on his lips. “I see, this truly is a legendary magical instrument.”

“Is that the...?”

“Yes, it’s the magical instrument that cast the barrier. It was pretty difficult to steal.”

So that’s the jewel responsible for the barrier, I thought. I’m not sure what it draws its power from, but it’s gotta run out of steam at some point, right? If I keep destroying it and making it repair itself until it runs out of fuel... I let out an irritated sigh. It would be quicker if I could just destroy the entire thing, but that would wipe out the duke along with it. A battle of endurance it is.

I began to plan out my attack, but was struck by a sudden realization: the barrier only blocked dark magic and physical attacks, not other elements. They could probably pass through no problem.

That means all I have to do is wait for the town to reach a safe point, and then I can just have Patrick blow the duke away using his wind magic! I can settle things with my barrier friend later; right now, I need to be patient.

“I’ve just gotta hold myself back,” I muttered to myself.

“Haven’t you forgotten something...?” the duke asked haughtily. “My goal was never to make you fight monsters.”

He must have gotten used to my severed arm, I mused. That nasty grin of his is back in full force.

“All I want,” the duke continued, “is to die and leave you full of regret. This may not be as impactful as what I had planned, but it’ll have to do.”

With that, the duke took out a short sword and held it up to his neck.

“What?! Hold on—wait a minute.”

Shivering, I thought, If he dies like that, I’m definitely going to have nightmares.

My left arm was the first part of me to react—my right arm still wasn’t at full strength after the whole regrowing thing. But, just as my fist was about to strike the barrier, I caught sight of the ring on my fourth finger, shining the same green as Patrick’s eyes. I pulled away, just barely stopping myself from slamming it into the barrier.

“I need to be more careful,” I muttered, clutching at my hand.

That was really close—I almost destroyed Patrick’s gift to me. Maybe it’d be safer if I stored it somewhere instead of wearing it, but...

The ring was one of my most prized possessions. Every time I looked at it, I remembered how Patrick had filled it with his wind-type magical energy, and...

Hold up. Wind?

My lips quirked, even as I reached my left hand back out toward the duke. “Thank you, Patrick...”

“Please...” the duke said, the short sword pressed to his throat, ready to slice at any moment. “Take care of my daughter, Eleanora.”

“It’s too soon for your last words,” I replied flatly. “Also, I’ll have you know that she’s sleeping at my home even as we speak.”

“What?! That girl is supposed to be at Ronal—”

“Wind!”

The green glow coming from the ring Patrick had given me grew stronger, as if in response to my words. Suddenly, storm-force winds gusted through the area around me.

The fierce gale struck the duke directly, and he stumbled back a few steps before tumbling backwards off his feet. Still, he managed to keep a hold of his short sword. He fumbled, trying to press it against his neck once more.

Finally getting his weapon in place, he grinned. “Heh, this is goodbye!”

Little did he know, but I’d been after the other thing the duke was holding. I knew it; he prioritized that sword after all!

“I’ll have you know, it wasn’t that sword I was aiming for,” I told the duke lightly. “It was your other hand.”

As I spoke, the wind moved exactly as I wanted it to, forming into a small tornado which rolled the jewel across the ground toward it, then cast it from the ground to the air.

I’m sorry, my dear barrier. I must destroy your true form. You’re strong, but Black Hole can still destroy you. If the duke wasn’t here, I would have taken you out along with the jewel, so I win, right? Right?!

Still aflight on the tornado of wind, the jewel shot around the inside of the barrier. Ironically, it crashed into the very thing it was generating, shattering on impact.

“Wh-What?!” the duke exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise as the barrier vanished. He dug the blade a little further into his neck, and I kicked off the ground, flinging myself in front of him and knocking the sword away with one of my feet.

The duke’s nasty smile widened, even as his gaze turned vacant and blood spewed from his throat. “It looks like...you were too late...” he breathed.

“Nope!” I said firmly. “I’ve made it just in time! Heal!”

I can regenerate whole arms! Healing a slit throat is a piece of cake to me!

In a matter of seconds, the duke’s injury had fully healed. Life returned to the duke’s eyes, and soon he grew conscious enough of his surroundings that he turned and looked at me with abject shock.

Heh heh heh! Come on, praise the angel that saved your life!

The duke’s face contorted with rage. “Dammit! You devil!”

I smirked. “Isn’t that a little too harsh?”

“Whatever! You’re just wasting your time! My plan has already come to light, and since I’ve made a stand against the royal family, there’s no way I’ll be able to avoid execution.”

“Oh, about that. Your daughter seemed to have come straight to me, without stopping by at Ronald’s, so...”

“What?! Eleanora is really here?”

I nodded. Right now, the radicals in the Royal Capital were likely puzzled, wondering why the duke wasn’t there. The biggest oversight he’d made in his planning had most likely been leaving the delivery of such important documents to Eleanora.

“Considering how things are right now, I believe we can actually settle things privately, so—”

“That’s...that’s impossible! This is the role of the Hillroses—this is our destiny!”

“You’re doing all this for the kingdom, right? Well, I think you’ve done more than enough.”

“No, I haven’t!” the duke shouted. “I have nothing more to discuss with you. Just...just take care of my daughter. Despite how she seems, she can get lonely easily, so make sure you pay close attention to her. She’ll also start doing something ridiculous every once in a while, but she’ll get bored and stop practically right away, so she’ll be fine as long as you keep an eye on her. And...what else is there?”

It seems that Duke Hillrose foresaw the destruction of his family years ago, when he sent Ronald away. I’ve been wondering why he didn’t do the same to Eleanora, but...it seems he just loved her too much. He couldn’t bear to be apart from her.

“If Lady Eleanora is so important to you, why don’t you stay with her?” I asked.

But the duke didn’t seem interested in giving me an answer. “Can I leave her to you, or can I not?” he demanded.

Come on, just listen to me, okay? I don’t want to do all that stuff the Hillroses have been doing. Although...if all I have to do is take care of Eleanora, I can probably handle it.

“I guess you can trust me with her,” I said slowly. “She won’t be an aristocrat anymore though, so it would be good for her to learn some fighting skills...”

“Are you going to make her become an adventurer or something?!”

I waved him off. “Don’t worry, I’ll just help her with her leveling. Oh! Can I have the big monster-summoning flute? I want to use it for grinding.”

The duke’s face went pale with horror. “Wh-What are you planning to make Eleanora do?! I can’t die—I have to protect Eleanora!”

And here I was worrying that he might take all that to mean I was someone he could trust his daughter to, I thought with an inward grin. That was me being nice, dude. Honestly, I don’t get what’s so terrifying about it, but I guess things turned out how I wanted them to anyway.

“If you don’t want me to subject Eleanora to stuff like that, you need to live,” I told the duke sternly. “You need to go see her again too—she’s a total daddy’s girl.”

Duke Hillrose let out a displeased groan, and his shoulders sagged. Now that he’d accepted his defeat, these events were now resolved, and—

“Wh-What am I feeling?” the duke asked, shuddering.

Huh, I thought. Now that you mention it, the atmosphere does feel like it has changed.

“There’s something...almost nostalgic about it...”

“Nostalgic?! No, it’s something dreadful... Wait, what’s that thing?”

The duke’s gaze had fixed on a singular point in the distance. I turned and looked in the same direction myself, and found myself gazing at a knight on horseback. The horse was massive, and the knight was dressed in impressive armor, a black mist wafting around him. And, on top of that...both horse and rider were headless.

“A Dullahan...” the duke breathed. “I didn’t even know they existed.”

I wasn’t quite as shocked as the duke—after all, the final boss of the dark-type dungeon in Dolkness County was a Dullahan. Still, I hadn’t known that the flute Duke Hillrose had used could summon monsters even from inside of dungeons.

As we watched, monsters began to appear one by one behind the Dullahan; they seemed to be following its lead. From what I could see, each of the monsters was a strong enemy that I’d typically only see in the depths of the dark-type dungeon. Working together, it was possible they were even stronger than the Demon Lord had been.

I quickly glanced toward Dolkness Village and saw that monsters were swarming around it as well. It didn’t seem like they would be able to climb over Patrick’s dirt wall though, and with both him and Ryuu protecting the town, it would likely be just fine.

“Leave me and go!” the duke wailed. “It’ll be difficult to keep the monsters at bay if you don’t help the Ashbatten boy!”

I glanced back at Duke Hillrose and discovered that he’d fallen to the ground, overwhelmed by the rich presence of death boiling off the Dullahan.

“It’ll be fine,” I told him with a fed up sigh.

“From what evidence did you form that conclusion?!”

“Relax,” I told him. “I’m just gonna focus on taking down the boss for now. I’ll bring you somewhere safe after that.”

And with that, I began running toward the headless knight, completely disregarding the duke’s frantic yelling I could hear over my shoulder.

This is it, I thought. I’m going to go up against one of the strongest monsters with only my bare hands.

My eyes darted to the head clutched in the Dullahan’s right hand, and for a moment it almost felt like I’d made eye contact with it. I couldn’t be sure though, since its eyes were hidden behind a helmet.

Maybe I’m just imagining things, I mused, but at that exact moment the Dullahan’s horse, which had been walking at a leisurely pace, let out a panicked neigh. The horse reared, its front legs lifting high into the air, and the Dullahan fell right off its back.

Staring in confusion at the scene, all I could say was, “Huh?”

The headless horse turned and galloped off at full speed, leaving its owner behind. Abandoned, the Dullahan picked up its dismembered head and turned to face me.

Oh, we totally made eye contact that time. I guess we’re not total strangers, so...should I say hello?

“It’s been a while,” I told the Dullahan. “Thanks for all your help in the past.”

Looking at the monster, I couldn’t help but think, Man, this takes me back. I’d actually grinded out my last few levels in the dark-type dungeon; I couldn’t even count how many times I’d defeated the Dullahan in front of me.

We’ve known each other for so long, my friend. Our encounters are too numerous to put a number on.

There was a long, frozen moment, and then the Dullahan spun around and began running away from me at full speed.

“Is it...fleeing?” muttered Duke Hillrose. His fear of the Dullahan seemed to have ebbed a little.

There’s no way, right? A monster said to spread death wouldn’t just run away, would it...?

“Wait, hold on,” I called out, running after the Dullahan.

The headless knight only increased its running speed, as if it were fleeing desperately. Then...

Oh, it fell.

The Dullahan’s head tumbled from its arms, rolling across the ground.

Is it...trying to run from me? I wondered.

When I’d fought the Dullahan in the past, it’d seemed to grow faster with each battle I waged against it. By the time I’d gotten close to level 99, it had become quite the difficult task to land a blow on it at all. Watching its pathetic attempt at escape, I found myself feeling slightly bad, but I couldn’t let it escape—the Dullahan would be a tricky monster to handle even for Patrick. I absolutely wasn’t going to send it his way.

The Dullahan was running around in a panic in front of me, apparently looking for its dropped head. With a sigh, I began attacking it with my magic. It wasn’t long before I struck my final blow.

“See, everything’s fine,” I said, turning to look back at the duke.

That was when I saw it—Duke Hillrose was being attacked by several monsters. I’d been so focused on killing the Dullahan that I’d forgotten that it wasn’t the only monster that had appeared.

Duke Hillrose’s words from earlier flashed through my mind. He was right—my abilities were endlessly ill-suited for defense. To make things worse, I was now a significant distance away from the duke since I’d gone chasing after the Dullahan. I could use a long-range attack to try and get rid of all the monsters that were after the duke, but that would likely hurt him as well.

In a panic, I started running toward the duke, but it was too late—the horde of monsters were already closing in. Despair washed over me at the sight.

And so, the man known as Duke Hillrose met his end.