The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen - Chapter 344



344 – The Way Back

Inside the carriage returning to Hamel.

-Clatter…

Having given priority to the injured for the teleportation device, I was spending time chewing on jerky inside the carriage.

-Chew… Chew…

“When will we arrive?”

One thing was certain, we wouldn’t arrive today. The distance from the north to Hamel was considerable. At the earliest, we would arrive tomorrow. At the latest, it could take three days.

“Yawn…”

I wasn’t sleepy.

I thought about taking a nap to pass the time, but since sleep didn’t come easily, I decided to organize the events of this journey while opening my eyes.

“Hmm…”

There wasn’t much else to do.

‘How much money do I have left….’

Opening my wallet, I let out a hollow laugh as I looked at the empty wallet. It seemed I had spent more money on this trip than I had thought.

I had brought 200 gold for this trip. In contrast, I had 50 gold left. Three years ago, I would have spent three months’ worth of living expenses in one go… Wow.

“I spent a lot.”

Had a meal.

Bought a souvenir for the lady.

Staying at a luxury hotel turned out to be more expensive than I thought. Compared to the money I had saved, it was a trivial expense, but I felt like I had been spending more lately.

“…Money is the best after all.”

Next time I come with the lady, I should splurge a bit. After all, money is meant to be spent.

“…Yawn.”

I put my wallet in my inner pocket and looked out the window, changing the subject of my thoughts. Many things more important than money had happened on this trip.

‘Heretics…’

There were a total of three apostles involved this time.

The Apostle of Compassion who filled Olaf’s vacancy, the Apostle of Gentleness, Elysia, and the Apostle of Temperance who had died at the hands of Michael in the novel.

If it weren’t for the Apostle of Compassion, it would have been an easy journey, but the heretics were not easy to deal with, so there were many variables.

“…Hmm.”

The greatest strength of the heretics is the apostles.

We succeeded in killing one of the seven apostles in this battle. And it was the Apostle of Temperance, who was particularly difficult to deal with.

Of course, the four knights who protect the Pope are the greatest and core strength of the heretics. But those four knights rarely move, so there was no need to worry about them.

To the extent that some apostles had never seen the faces of the knights.

When the Empire engages in an all-out war, the knights make a splendid appearance, but that’s a story for the distant future, so I didn’t want to worry about it.

What is certain is that Temperance has been eliminated.

To be precise, he didn’t die, but he is being treated in a way that would make death preferable.

The Apostle of Gentleness, Elysia, became an ally, and the newly arrived Apostle of Compassion, Elf, who replaced the deceased Olaf…

-Rowen.

-…

-Are you hurt?

-…Ha

-Wow… The Empire’s sword is injured, is our country doomed?

-Are you teasing me?

-Yes.

-…

They said he escaped after wounding Rowen’s arm. Rowen said he wasn’t careless…

“Ah… things have gotten complicated.”

I didn’t know where such a monster had come from, but feeling confused by the appearance of someone who wasn’t in the novel, I clicked my tongue with an awkward smile.

‘I don’t really like variables.’

If only I had retired the elf on the spot, I could have inflicted more damage on the heretics.

‘Never mind. Let’s focus on resting for now.’

Knowing that there wasn’t any particularly sharp solution even if I regretted it, I just chose to be satisfied with the achievements I had gained. After all, I had obtained the holy sword and even an unexpected demonic sword. It was a journey where the gains overwhelmingly outweighed the losses.

‘Speaking of which, an elf…’

-…It’s an elf.

-…Who are you?

-Oh… um.

-…

-I’ll release you for now.

I felt like I had met someone a long time ago, but it was so long ago that I couldn’t remember well.

I think it was when I raided the slave market at the age of 12…

‘Hmm…’

While I was racking my brains to recall something I couldn’t remember, the demonic sword at my waist broke the long silence and cautiously spoke.

-Master…

It spoke in a creeping voice.

The demonic sword seemed oddly pitiful. I wondered if it was really a demonic sword.

-Um… Master.

I looked at the demonic sword and replied.

“Yes, demonic sword.”

-Oh… Are you using honorifics?

-Yes?

-Why are you… -Um… because you’re older?

-Ugh…

Seeing the demonic sword’s reaction as if it was hurt, I shook my head and picked up the words I had spat out. You can’t gather spilled water, but if you wrap words nicely, you can pick them up a little.

“It was a joke. Your appearance is so beautiful that I thought you must have been a high noble in the past, so I used honorifics. Is it uncomfortable to hear?”

-No… not at all.

“That’s a relief.”

An awkward atmosphere flowed.

Because of the shy demon sword, the awkward atmosphere felt even stronger.

“…”

-…

“…”

I broke the silence and asked the demon sword. With the intention of making it speak since it called me.

“Why did you call me?”

– Ah, that is…

“Yes.”

– I have one question. May I ask? I will also answer any questions you have.

“Ahaha… You can ask anything. Don’t worry about it.”

– Then I’ll ask.

“Yes.”

– Hoo…

The demon sword took a deep breath and asked an unexpected question.

– Master, are you perhaps not a human?

“Yes?”

Not a human, what does that mean? I shrugged my shoulders at the question I had never heard in my life.

“I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

-… That is.

“I am human… Hmm.”

-… Ugh.

“If you think about it complicatedly, it could be.”

-…!

“But, why do you think so?”

The demon sword hesitated for a moment and then gave a timid answer. Saying it seemed to have seen something strange when giving trials.

– I don’t know well either… When I saw your memories, I saw so many that I couldn’t handle them.

“What exactly did you see?”

– I don’t remember. I couldn’t see everything either.

“Ah…”

“I can only see the most difficult memories. Specifically, the saddest memories in life.”

“This is something that doesn’t exist in my memory. That’s strange.”

“So I was surprised too. I wondered if it was possible… Anyway.”

“Yes.”

“There were also a lot of scary women.”

“Women?”

“Yes… I don’t remember them well, but they were really scary. I think there were about seven of them.”

“…”

I nodded roughly at the words of the demon sword, which made incomprehensible sounds, and pointed out one thing that the demon sword might be worried about. Even a demon sword that had been asleep for hundreds of years would be worried about adapting to a new environment.

“Please take care of me.”

“Yes…”

“I’ll try to avoid bad things as much as possible.”

“That doesn’t matter. I’m not a good person to point out such things…”

“That’s good to hear.”

I wondered if Mikhail was doing the same as me.

By now, he would be talking to the holy sword, which has a clear purpose of protecting the world. I thought it wouldn’t be fun.

On the other hand, this demon sword…

“…Please don’t treat me too harshly…”

It seemed too timid, so I hesitated to say anything.

I touched the scabbard of Caliburn, which had returned to timid mode, and spoke softly.

“Caliburn.”

“Yes…?!”

“Is this your name?”

Caliburn responded with a small vibration.

“Yes… But why the name…?”

From noble mtl dot com

“I thought it would be better to call you ‘Caliburn’ rather than ‘Mr. Demon Sword’.”

“Yes… I prefer that.”

“Then I’ll call you that. Mr. Caliburn.”

“Oh… Ah… Yes.”

A funny demon sword.

Knowing how to be ashamed.

I started having many conversations with Caliburn. I talked about who I am and the people we would meet in the future.

– We are going to Hamel.

– Hamel… Is that in the Empire?

– That’s right.

The distance to Hamel was longer than I thought, so I had plenty of time to talk with Caliburn, and I was glad that the time wasn’t as lonely as I had expected.

It wasn’t bad.

The conversations with Caliburn were more interesting than I thought and not boring at all.

– So, there’s a bear, a noble lady, and a wizard?

“Yes.”

– I’ll do my best.

“Yes?”

– I don’t have a body, but I’ll do my best.

I liked her bright personality.

I could hear a bit about Caliburn’s story too. As Shuen said, before being sealed, Caliburn was the progenitor of vampires with that name.

She was also the king of many people.

She was said to be a wise ruler, but she seemed reluctant to talk about why she was sealed and why she became a cursed sword, so I didn’t ask.

It surely wasn’t a good thing.

Still, I was glad that she was a ‘woman’ before being a cursed sword. If she had been a trivial man, it would have been unpleasant in its own way.

Now, I can see it slowly.

“Uiiing…”

The sullen face of the lady riding on the bear.

“Iik…”

The lady on the bear turned her head as she watched the carriage passing by the mansion.

Wondering if that was the carriage I was on.

“Uiiik…”

I smiled slightly at the lady’s innocent appearance and opened the window to smile.

“That’s her.”

-…Oh… Oh oh!?

“That’s the lady I serve.”

Ignoring Caliburn’s screams, I waved my hand and smiled at the lady. I had returned.

“Miss!”

“Eek?”

“Miss!!!”

“Eeeek?!”

I’m home.

“I brought chocolate.”

“Ricardo!!!!”

Finally, I returned to the home I missed so much.