350: A Triumphant Return of a Hero
“—Bridget, what’s the situation on your end?”
As Liz and Bridget separated, I got down to business.
“The evacuation of supplies and personnel is almost complete. We are now gathering the forces that were on guard duty. While we are preparing for a field battle, we are also constructing a defensive position. I wish we had a little more time… but we failed to destroy the bridge.”
Bridget’s face darkened.
“The bridge… Langneil?”
“Yes. With the evacuation of supplies and the movement of the residents… it was necessary. But…”
“Then it’s fine. We dropped it while the enemy was crossing.”
“…What did you say? No, how?”
“Hmm… Bridget is a supreme commander… but…”
The details of the doppelgangers’ operation were classified. But still.
“Let me just say this—it was thanks to the doppelgangers.”
“The Sixth Army’s trump card… or so I’ve heard.”
“Oh, has more information leaked than I thought?”
Only the members of the Sixth Army knew the full extent of the doppelgangers’ involvement. Even the disinformation unit itself, since they sometimes operated separately, if you were to say everything, then it might only be me and Liz. Even His Majesty had only received a partial report. And in Wessphia, Bridget had not known the details of the doppelgangers’ involvement.
“No. Just a rumor, that the doppelgangers are being heavily used.”
“It’s not a rumor. It’s a fact.”
“I see. …By the way, what kind of an operation?”
Since she was a supreme commander, I supposed I could tell her, aside from the details.
“They’re usually gathering intelligence, but they also incited the riot that destroyed the Dragon Knights, and they made the Holy Knights, including the Order of Evangel, go on a rampage, and they made the Imperial Guard split in two and fight each other, and they infiltrated Wessphia… I think. And they got us information beforehand, when the assassins were mobilized, and with the catapults.”
“Isn’t that almost everything?”
“That’s why they’re a trump card.”
“…Ah, yes.” Bridget’s expression was one of exasperation. And at the same time, of understanding.
“—That’s amazing. I probably… even if I were given the doppelgangers, I wouldn’t be able to achieve such results.”
“I just did my best to build a relationship of trust with my subordinates.”
“They were scared of you, though.”
“Liz, shh!” I placed a finger to my lips, and Bridget tilted her head.
“…Scared?”
“Among the doppelgangers, this person has a reputation as a truly heartless monster. So much so that one of them has become a representative, to act as a go-between.”
“That child. On our first meeting, she asked me if I was really human.”
Liz and Bridget both frowned.
“…What did you say?”
“…What did you say?”
“The most ordinary thing. The initial operations were simple. One small village after another.”
“Ah, that’s enough. I get it. …The ‘basic plan’ is the most brutal.”
“That said, in terms of scale… I think this operation is far more brutal.”
This war would soon be ‘over.’ Whether we won or lost, there would be very few survivors. And there was no ‘victory’ for the humans anymore.
“I heard you were on a mission. What did you do?” Bridget asked, casually.
What had I done? I smiled, a weak, twisted smile.
“…I’ve killed most of them.”
“Of what?”
“Of humanity.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve crushed the major cities of the sixteen nations, along with their residents and their garrisons. There are no reinforcements, no supplies.”
Bridget was speechless. And at the same time, a murmur went through the crowd.
“What is it?”
I looked in the direction of the gazes, and I saw a flock of dragons, flying in formation. The one in the lead was a dragon with beautiful silver scales, which I couldn’t have mistaken even at this distance.
“…It’s Lital-sama. What a… perfect timing.”
“Lital-sama? Was she out?”
Come to think of it, Lital-sama’s whereabouts were classified, even in peacetime. Especially during an operation in enemy territory, it was no wonder that even Bridget didn’t know.
“…The number… is not right, is it? I heard that fifty dragons were lost in Litalside…”
Of the nearly one hundred dragons that belonged to Listrea, fifty. I had seen many corpses in Litalside. I hadn’t counted, but what a loss that must have been for the dragon race. Even if they won, how many years would it take for the dragons to recover their numbers?
“Eighty… or more?” Bridget muttered, in a daze.
When we had parted in the Empire, there had been forty, including Lital-sama. It seemed they had found almost all of the scattered dragons.
Lital-sama broke away from the formation. She was still quite a distance away, but she must have seen us. She was descending towards where Bridget and I were.
“—Disperse! Make a landing zone!”
At Bridget’s command, everyone moved as if they had been electrocuted, and Lital-sama landed gracefully in the open space. A landing that was impossibly delicate for her massive size. With a lightness that seemed to defy her weight, the ground didn’t even sink, and there was no tremor.
Her golden eyes, shining in her white scales, were fixed on me.
“It has been a long time, Lord of Disease. I have come to fulfill my promise.”
And she turned her long neck.
“Bringit Finis. …You are alive.”
“Yes, Lital-sama. …And those dragons? Where did they come from?”
“Oh? Has the Lord of Disease not told you?”
“We just reunited. …So, what did you do?”
“Bridget, what’s with that look, as if I did something?”
“No, what other possibility is there?”
“Aside from borrowing their strength to transport our forces to enemy territory, it was just a matter of the dragons following Lital-sama’s charm.”
“—Everyone, listen. In this battle, we dragons will do our utmost, and we will fight for Listrea, for our comrades. The Lord of Disease has freed the dragons who were once deprived of their free will under the humans, and has brought us together. —The time has come to reclaim our lost pride!”
Lital-sama’s voice, which echoed far and wide, sank into the crowd, and after a beat, a cheer went up.
“Well then. In battle, I will command… and I will serve as the final shield.”
And with that, she rose into the air, as if freed from the shackles of gravity, spread her wings, and slowly returned to the sky. As Lital-sama flew away, the cheer grew even louder, as if to not be outdone by the wind she had created. The names of Lital-sama and—the Lord of Disease—were chanted, and they were praised to a level that made me wonder if Samarkand had learned how to use a wide-area brainwashing spell.
I pulled my hood down and trembled.
“Master, what’s wrong?”
“Even I’m embarrassed by this.”
“So… those are the dragons from the Dragon Knights. They should have been scattered in human territory… but in such a short time?”
“The Black Hound Barghests did a good job.”
“…I see.” Bridget nodded, as if resigned to her fate.
And she turned her gaze to the death knights, who were standing at a distance.
“So, what’s with those crazy undead? They’re not from the Fourth Army, are they? …No, they’re from the Sixth Army?”
“If you eat tens of thousands of souls, you’ll become like that.”
“…Ah, so you didn’t just go to cut off their supplies and reinforcements. This was the main event? …Haha.” Bridget laughed, a tired laugh.
“…Do you know what ‘common sense’ is?”
“I know it well. I’m a sensible person.”
“What are you talking about?”
Liz’s words were sharp, but if I were to be discouraged by that, I wouldn’t be able to serve as a supreme commander.
“If I were to be bound by common sense, I wouldn’t be able to call myself the Lord of Disease and wage a war.”
“…That’s convincing.”
“Too convincing…”
The way the two of them nodded in unison was so in sync, it was clear they were sisters.
“—L-Lord of Disease…”
I looked in the direction of the voice, and I saw a female dark elf in a surcoat with the emblem of the Second Army, similar to our own death knights. She was not a Dark Knight in plate armor, which was expensive to produce and required a skilled user, but she was probably a soldier of the Dark Knights. A stranger.
In her hand was a rectangular piece of paper. A very familiar object, in more ways than one.
“May I have your autograph?”
The bromide, which was sold at the official certified shop, was offered to me with a nervous expression. And since it was of the Lord of Disease, it was a very familiar object in every sense of the word.
“Wait, is that a thing?”
“If I could, I would…”
“If you would be so kind, I would also…”
The others who had been surrounding us also came forward, one after another. As a supreme commander, I wanted to respond, but I didn’t have the time to deal with this many people. I understood a little of why idols didn’t sell their handshake tickets cheaply. I wasn’t an idol, but in the sense of an idol, we were similar.
I looked at Bridget, and she, too, was at a loss. But she took a breath and, her expression composed. And she took a breath and opened her mouth—
And a moment before, I shouted.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t sign for everyone here! So, burn this into your memories. A two-shot of the Blood Knight and the Lord of Disease. —When this war is over, I’ll develop as many as you want, and I’ll sign them! And it’ll be on me!!”
I linked my arm with Bridget’s, smiled, and even gave a peace sign. It was a pose I only remembered making when my sister had begged me for a commemorative photo, but it had made her happy.
For a moment, the place fell silent… and then a cheer erupted, breaking the silence.
Bridget whispered, “…W-what are you doing?”
“It’s impossible now. …But a world where we can do such a foolish thing is the world I wish for.”
“This… I see.”
“Yes. So please, smile, Bridget. —So that everyone can imagine what kind of a world it will be, when we win.”
“…Yes.” Bridget nodded and, though a little awkwardly, she smiled and even gave a peace sign, to match me.
An even louder cheer went up, and Bridget flinched. The strength in her linked arm was a little fresh.
“H-hey. Is this really the world you wish for?”
“I’m a little unsure myself.”
At the very least, I thought their morale had risen.
