Episode 15: The Strongest, I Must Become That or It’s the End

Three times the moon had waxed and waned since that night of the birthday party.

The hectic days had ended, and peaceful days had returned once again.

However, my heart had been terribly disturbed since that day.

The cause of it all was the truth I had learned that night.

In less than 5 years, I will die.

Moreover, 5 years is merely the time until the main story begins, and there’s a high possibility I’ll die before that… probably 3 or 4 years from now.

So whether I die tomorrow or right now, nothing would be strange about it.

Well, humans never know when they’ll die, and the above applies to everyone, but having it presented as a confirmed fact is an entirely different matter.

What was even more shocking was that I probably haven’t deviated from the trajectory of the main story at all.

The minor details might be different, but in the end I die, and she falls into darkness and becomes the final boss.

Until now I’d been working hard so Eleanore wouldn’t follow that tragic fate, and I’d even thought I might have actually deviated from that path, but in the end that was nothing more than an illusion.

Everything I’d done up until now was meaningless—I couldn’t help but think that.

…That said, I can’t just sit around waiting for death either.

Above all, if I die, Eleanore will rush headlong toward the worst possible ending.

I want to avoid that at all costs. In these 3 years, my attachment to her has become the strongest among all the people in the world of “Celestia Kingdom.”

Somehow, I want to prevent her from meeting such a tragic death.

But what should I do…?

Should I make her hate me, so her heart won’t be moved even if I die?

…No, that would be putting the cart before the horse. The moment I push her away, she might start on a path of massacre.

It might be conceited of me, but in the main story, when I—when her childhood friend died, she killed the characters.

After all, preventing my own death would be the quickest and most effective solution.

However, if I could do that, I wouldn’t be in trouble in the first place.

To begin with, I don’t even know how I’m going to die.

Illness? Accident? Murder?

If it’s illness, what kind of illness?

If it’s an accident, a fire? A fall?

If it’s murder, who killed me? Will I be assassinated, or killed after a battle?

Everything is unclear.

Even in my memories from my previous life, the cause of death isn’t recorded in such detail. Or rather, I wonder if it was even established as a setting…

Honestly, I’m at a dead end.

But I can’t just sit still either.

I think, tremble with fear about when I’ll die, and think again.

At the end of all that, I was swinging my sword and reading magic books intently.

I know it’s a simple, muscle-headed kind of idea even to myself… but I also think this might be the most effective approach.

Even for illness, if I have magic, I can cure it.

Even for accidents, if I have magic I can recover, and I might be able to prevent them with swordsmanship.

For murder especially, getting stronger would be the best policy.

I’ll smash through any death flags head-on.

I don’t know how strong I need to become, but at the very least, I won’t be safe unless I can overcome any danger of death.

Yes, in other words, I need to become “the strongest.”

Less than 5 years from now. There’s no time to spare.

Each single swing, each few seconds of drilling magic knowledge into myself—I felt as if they would determine my fate.

***

“───Ggh”

Letting out a voice that wasn’t quite a voice, I rolled across the ground.

My entire body was scraped and stinging with pain, but it wasn’t painful enough to prevent me from moving.

“One more time… please!”

“Hey hey, are you seriously saying that!? Your whole body is scraped up like a knee, you know”

When I asked to spar once more, the armored man before me said that with shock… or rather, half in exasperation.

Currently, I’m having mock battles with the knights stationed at this Anciness household.

I’ve crossed swords with them to some extent before, but recently, whenever our schedules align, I’ve been sparring with them like this every day.

The reason is simple.

Worthy of serving a count’s family, they’re skilled fighters indeed. Just watching them is enough to contribute to my growth. So if I actually fight them, I can grow even more, right?

When we seriously go at it like this, I really feel keenly that the mock battles up until now had a lot of playful elements. Before, I had a fifty-fifty win rate, but now it’s at the level where winning once out of 10 matches would be praiseworthy.

I’m far from the strongest.

So I must gain more from them.

“I’m fine, please!”

“No, Arcs, you… Hmm…”

I answer vigorously, but my opponent seems quite reluctant.

Well, beating up a child probably looks bad… but I need this…

As I’m thinking that, he quickly rushed over here.

“No… well, yeah. Got it. But let’s take a break first, okay?”

“No, I don’t mind. If I use recovery magic, fatigue is nothing”

“…That’s not what I mean”

While rubbing between his brows as if troubled, he whispers in my ear.

(Every time I knock you down, Ojou-sama’s glare gets intense…)

(…Eleanore-sama?)

Her name came up unexpectedly, and a question mark floated up for a moment, but when I looked in the direction the armored man was pointing, Eleanore’s figure was indeed there.

(Wh-when did she get there!?)

(She’s been there for quite a while, didn’t you notice?)

“…If you understand, let’s take a break”

He said that in a volume others could hear, then stretched and quickly left the area.

With things being this way, I had no choice but to sheathe my practice sword and head toward Eleanore.

“If you were here, you could have called out to me”

“I didn’t want to… disturb Arcs while you were working hard”

With her cheeks slightly flushed, she showed me a smile.

“Nanai-san’s lecture is…”

“Already finished. You could praise me for finishing early, you know?”

“As expected of Eleanore-sama”

Wearing white gloves, I patted her head lightly.

A privilege only permitted to handsome men… but Eleanore also laughed with satisfaction, so it’s all good.

A little while ago—or rather, after the birthday—she’s been cutting short her lectures and appointments like this to come visit me during training.

She doesn’t tell me when she arrives, just watches silently.

Perhaps after that night, she’s become even more attached to me.

Well, I don’t mind that at all, in fact I think it’s a good thing.

But at the same time, my anxiety grows larger.

The fact that she makes time to come see me means that the existence called Arcs Leefort is important to her.

If my death becomes reality, when I think that her sadness and the degree of her fall into darkness will also become stronger…

Ah, no good.

Recently, I’ve been thinking like this constantly.

I can’t help but think that everything connects to either my death or her fall into darkness.

“Arcs?”

“Eh, ah, ah. Sorry”

It seems I was spacing out.

When I said that to cover it up, she made an expression as if her eyebrows were drooping.

“Recently, Arcs has been strange somehow. Did something happen?”

“…No, not really, nothing in particular”

I’m going to die soon apparently, and because of that I found out you’ll become an existence that torments people! There’s no way I could honestly say something like that, so I vaguely brush it off.

Eleanore’s face looks unconvinced too.

I don’t want to lie much… but I have no choice about this.

As I’m telling myself that, there’s an impact on my back with a smack.

“What is this guy trying to act cool for!”

When I turned around, there was the figure of the knight I’d been sparring with earlier, laughing heartily.

“Act… cool?”

“Yes! He’s working hard to show Ojou-sama something good for the coming Trial Ceremony!”

“…Eh?”

A voice leaked out unintentionally.

I had question marks floating up in two different senses at his statement.

Well first, about acting cool and such—I have absolutely no such intention, so I was a bit confused when he said it so confidently.

And the other thing was the phrase “Trial Ceremony.”

…Wait a minute.

Is it already… that time!?