151: Only Four People Know
Don’t leave me alone.
With those words, the strength left her body.
Liz gently stroked the head of the woman sleeping on her lap, a tear track on her cheek, her face as innocent as a child’s.
“I won’t leave you alone.”
She whispered, knowing she wouldn’t be heard.
“…I’ll take her to her room.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Yes. Stay with her, Liz. We’ll clean up here.”
“Indeed. As the sober ones, it is our duty. …But before that, I believe we four should discuss our master’s words.”
“Harken-dono, what do you mean?”
Not just Samarkand, but Liz and Rebecca also turned to Harken.
“Our master bears a heavy burden. In a world where she has no one, she is called a ‘heartless monster,’ the ‘enemy of humanity.’”
“…Yes. But now, we are…”
Harken narrowed his eyes—or rather, the will-o’-the-wisps in his eye sockets.
“Her ‘loved ones’?”
“…Yes. That is my intention.”
Harken clicked his jawbone once and laughed.
“For you, Liz-dono, it is your job.”
“Harken! I!”
“Liz!” Rebecca’s sharp voice cut through Liz’s outburst, calming her.
“Mmm…” On Liz’s lap, the subject of their conversation stirred.
“…Master is waking up.”
“Do not misunderstand. I do not doubt your feelings, Liz-dono. …It is not something you can simply dismiss as a job. You have shared a heavy burden, and faced death together.”
Harken continued, his voice softening.
“But just now, our master said this: ‘I will listen to Liz-dono.’ ‘I will do a good job as the Lord of Disease.’ ‘I will exterminate humanity.’”
Harken paused, looking at each of them.
“—‘Therefore.’”
They all looked at the woman sleeping on Liz’s lap, her face still as innocent as if she had never known the evils of this world—a woman who was, by demon standards, still a child.
“Yes, we are her subordinates. We receive a salary from her, and we have sworn our loyalty to her. Therefore, we will not betray her. …As long as she does not betray us.”
“That sounds… evasive, Harken. You think Master… the Lord of Disease… might betray us?”
“I am not saying that. But she has lost everything.”
“Everything…” Liz’s voice trembled.
“She smiles often. …So often, I wonder if she is forcing herself to be cheerful.”
“That…” Liz looked down. She had suspected as much.
Behind her playful words and actions, there was a glimpse of a deep, dark abyss, a void that could never be filled.
That was why, when she occasionally responded to her whims, when she saw a truly contented expression on her master’s face… she felt as if she had helped to fill that void, even just a little.
And yet, to hear her say, “Don’t leave me alone”… it was a stark reminder of how deep that void was.
“Her name, her family, her life. —Even her happy memories are in ruins. It would have been better if they had been completely erased… I thought so, when I became a skeleton.”
“…I, too. Even if I have my memories… everything from my ‘past life’… is gone.” Rebecca nodded.
“For me, that was four hundred years ago. I fulfilled my role in this country… and I earned my current position.”
“Master, too!”
“Yes. But is she not suffering because of it? Because the only thing she has is the position she won for herself, the ‘Lord of Disease, supreme commander of the Sixth Army’?”
Samarkand glared at Harken.
“Is anything more necessary? Our master’s position, after today’s battle, is unshakeable. Bringit-sama of the Second Army, and Lathus-sama of the Third Army, will undoubtedly be her allies. She has also built a relationship of trust with Lital-sama of the First Army, and the fact that Eldritch-sama of the Fourth Army has dispatched Rebecca-sama and Harken-dono is a sign of his trust. And the Old One of the Fifth Army’s loyalty to His Majesty is beyond question. He would not dare to harm someone His Majesty trusts so deeply.”
“Indeed.”
“Therefore, as long as Listrea exists, the Lord of Disease’s position is secure.”
“Is it not that very position that is causing her to suffer?”
“…Her position…? Harken-dono, what are you saying?”
“Our master has won a position that did not even exist, the sixth supreme commander. —Therefore, does she not believe that is the only value she has in this world?”
He continued.
“If she were not the Lord of Disease, would we truly be here?”
A silence fell.
“Isn’t it… cowardly… to say that? That was the only way… we could have met. We can’t change the past… and I knew her before she took the name Lord of Disease. That is a given.”
“Indeed, if I had not been ordered to assassinate the Lord of Disease, I may never have met her. But… I was deeply moved by her words. And so I decided to serve her, even at the cost of my life.”
“Yes. Harken, we came here because of our assignments. But… that is not the only reason we are here.”
Harken nodded at the words of Liz, Samarkand, and Rebecca.
“Yes. That is true. …She is an interesting person. To make people like us want to serve her, from the bottom of our hearts.”
“…Then what is the problem?”
Harken nodded gravely at Liz’s question.
“The problem is that our master does not clearly understand that.”
At those words, the three of them looked at the Lord of Disease.
“I believe… it is not so… but if we were ordered to kill her, even by His Majesty, we would resist to the end. If we could not accept it, we would not hesitate to draw our swords.” Harken said, his words bordering on treason.
“She understands the value of her position very well. …Perhaps too well.”
Harken continued, his voice filled with affection.
“She said to us, ‘Don’t leave me alone.’”
“Yes… that is proof of our… no, of my… powerlessness.” Liz looked down, her ears drooping.
“That’s not true, Liz.” Liz slowly looked up at Rebecca’s words.
“Indeed, Liz-dono. It is our joy to see you with our master. You are not powerless.”
“Do you think so…?”
“Yes. She may be afraid of being alone. And those who have nothing do not fear such things.” Harken nodded.
“…And, in her fatigue and drunkenness, she wished to be with us. More than with the people of her own race, more than with the precious people she left behind in her own world.”
A look of realization dawned on their faces.
“Therefore, I am convinced that we must respond to her trust, a trust she has shown with her actions, with our own.”
They all looked at each other and nodded.
“Harken. …You have a plan, don’t you?”
“Yes. But it may be difficult…”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes.”
“Is there anyone among us who would shy away from a challenge for our master?”
Harken, receiving their gazes, clicked his jawbone once and declared.
“We will spoil her with all our might.”
