Switching off my head torch, I hid myself in the shadow of the wall in the large room of the dungeon.
Very near , lying face down on her belly, was the lady knight.
In the distance, I could hear Deets voice and the voices of two n, getting closer. Theyre finally here!
Sh-shes dead, see. Not even an eyelid twitching.
B-but! The colour of her skin it really looks like shes alive.
That must be Klein and Barney.
I thought wed decided that she was dead? If we sell this dress armour and shield and divide the money between us, well make a pretty penny. Co on, hurry up and strip them off.
Thats Deets voice. Won are scary. She was playing her part incredibly well.
Based on what Ive been told, that must be Klein. He finally put a hand on the shield of the fallen lady knight.
Thats when it happened. Suddenly, the lady knight placed both hands on the ground and pushed herself into a sitting position, and turned to look Klein in the face.
Klein Is that you? Barney Is that you?
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Ria?!
I bet their bloods running cold. Klein and Barney both fell on their backsides.
In a hoarse voice, Barney said,
Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-youre alive?
Yes Sohow or other youve co to help , havent you?
W-w-w-w-w-w-well, of course!
Klein insisted that hed co to help her. Liar!
Didnt Deet say they were going to split the money between them? She guessed that would be the case it looks as if she was right.
Knowing they cast their comrade aside so easily, I thought theyd be like this.
I cant let Ria hear these things.
Im so happy Klein
G-gah! Well, its only natural that wed co to help out our comrade!
Angrily, Deet said,
Klein, what are you on about? Didnt you say youd moved on from Ria, and youre with now? Whatever. Lets sell that womans dress armour and shield and split the profits.
Kleins face was already deathly pale. It was impossible to tell which of them was supposed to be a corpse.
W-w-w-w-w-w-well pay you a reward, Deet, dont worry.
I see. Thank you very much. In that case, Ill hold my tongue.
The lady knight crawled weakly towards Klein. She looked up at him with pleading eyes.
Klein.. What is she talking about? Surely you didnt co to hold a morial service for ?
O-o-o-o-o-o-of course not! Deet just says strange things.
Thats true You told that, didnt you, Klein? Tee-hee-hee
The lady knight laughed happily. There was sothing off about that laugh.
Tee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee
R-Ria?
By the way, Klein Since you ca to help , you must have brought your own sword with you, right? Please give back the sword that was granted to by Lady Monica.
U-um!
Klein glanced at Barney. Hes probably looking to him for help. Barney shook his head.
Klein. We have to pay Deet. Theres nothing in the Principles of the Adventurers Guild that says you have to give it back just because she turned out to be alive!
These two really only think about themselves.
In any case, its only because no-ones turned up alive before that there isnt a rule about it.
But they were so shaless that theyd probably use that as a reason to muscle their way through.
Ti to put my plan into action! Stealthily, I reached out and pressed the button by the robot arm.
Wh-whats that sound?
The two n looked above them to where the sound was coming from.
A s-suspended ceiling?
In reality, it was an iron door, but the thickness of the door made it look like a suspended ceiling when viewed from below.
Unable to stand up, the two of them tried to escape by scrambling backwards on their butts.
But the lady knight, laughing, grabbed hold of their feet.
Tee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee
What are you doing?Klein almost scread. At the sa ti, the face of the lady knight lted off, revealing her skull in an instant.
Shizuku was also playing her part well. Perhaps because she was a sli, watching her turn the face from flesh into liquid and lt away was enough to freak out, too.
Aaaaaaggggghhh! L-let go of eeeeeeeeeee!
Klein and Barneys screams rang out.
Please return Arias sword The sword of mithril. If you give it back, Ill think about letting you go
I will! Ill give it baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
Thank you very much. But Ive thought about it, and Im not going to let go of you.
Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Klein and Barney seed to have fainted.
I pressed the button one more ti. With a click, the iron door began to rise up again.
Hey, you two are quite the actorsI said admiringly to Deet and Shizuku as I stood up.
Thats because I was really angry!
When a sli gets mad, they get really mad, you see!
Of course. Even I was angry.
I looked at the two unconscious figures.
That Klein guys wet himself. Shall we do the sa to Barney to make things equal in the commorative photo?
I splashed so of the cola that Id brought with just in case onto Barneys crotch.
Then I took a photo of the two of them with my cara.
Right. I recorded them saying theyd return the sword on my smartphone, and Ive taken a picture with my cara as well. Deet, Shizuku, shall we go back to the apartnt?
Yeah.
Yes!
The monitor in the Western-style room showed the two of them lying inside the closed iron door.
In place of the mithril sword, Id casually put down the sword that Deet had bought on the surface in front of Kleins face.
And to top it all off, printouts of the commorative photo
Whats with that weird monologue?
You sound like a chef.
Deet gave a wondering look, then glanced at the monitor and laughed.
Oh, those two have co round. Theyre looking at the photos you put out, Thor! Heeheehee
I opened the iron door and watched on the monitor as they scurried away like frightened bunnies.
All thats left to do is deliver the mithril sword to Ria, whos by herself in the Japanese-style room, and then were done.
I picked up the mithril sword and went into the Japanese-style room. Tactfully, neither Deet nor Shizuku followed .
When I entered the room, I found Ria sitting in the corner in her gym shorts, her hands clasping her knees.
Is it over?
Its over.
I handed the mithril sword to Ria.
Oh! This is the sword that Lady Monica bestowed upon . Thank you so much.
Shedding tears, Ria hugged the sword close. It made very glad to see her like that.
Shell probably never see those two again.
Id intended to stick the commorative photo up on the noticeboard in the Adventurers Guild and to keep putting it there.
But, from what Id seen on the monitor, there might not be any need for that.
With regard to those two, everything had turned out fine. But there was still one thing that I had to do.
Im so happy that you were angry on my behalf, Sir Thor.
Huh?
After all, I thought you were the gentle type, the kind who doesnt really get angry.
Well, I guess its quite rare for to get cross.
She probably ans that I got mad at Klein and Barney.
One cant say that Klein and Barney are bad, as adventurers go.
Ria I dont care about the law, or the Principles of the Adventurers Guild.
Thats because youre Japanese, Sir Thor.
No, its because Im .
What do you an by that?
It might be right according to the law, or the rules of the Adventurers Guild. But wouldnt you rather decide for yourself whats right and whats wrong? What I wanted to say is, even if everyone else in the world thinks its right, if it makes you sad, Ria, then I think its wrong.
Sir Thor
I felt my face growing a little red. But I got the feeling that, if I was going to say things like this that made look good, then I had to tell her the truth as well.
Ria, the fact is theres sothing in particular I want to tell you.
Wh-whats that?
I looked down. It was hard for to say it.
Im not a wise sage. Im sorry.
I couldnt see Rias face. But I couldnt run away from this forever.
I lifted my head timidly.
I knew that. Im the one who should be apologising.
Ria was smiling from ear to ear.
What? You already knew?
I still dont know exactly what kind of person you are, Sir Thor, but all the sa, I know that youre not a wise sage.
Thats true. I mustve seed pretty weird.
But why are you saying sorry to ?
Ria looked apologetic.
I figured it out, but I kept pretending that I was still fooled.
But why?
Um I enjoyed living with you so much, Sir Thor, that I ended up depending on you and staying on here. Because youd forgiven , and because I didnt have a sword, and because of the trauma Id suffered. I must have been a nuisance, right?
What! Is that how you see it? Youve done a favour by staying with all this ti
Besides, Ria couldnt really have returned to the surface, right? Surely going back to that dark cave would have been more frightening than anything else.
Incidentally, what kind of person are you, really?
U-um, I wonder. Its difficult to explain, you see.
As I sat cross-legged on the tatami, pondering, Ria knelt in front of .
She turned towards the handle of her sword.
Huh?
I dont mind who you are, Sir Thor.
It looked like a pose Id seen sowhere. I-is she really
For as long as I live, I pledge my sword and my fealty to you, Sir Thor
What? W-wait a sec. Theres no need for that.
I-is that so?
H-huh? Youre giving up that easily?
In that case, please accept as your bride.
Whaaaaaaaaaat? I um
Whether Im your knight or your bride, its all the sa to . Please be my new master. I cant make it without a master. So please, choose one. If its at all possible, the latter
Sohow, she seed extrely happy.
W-well, maybe youd better be my knight? Since youll be going to the surface of the other world as an adventurer
Ria puffed out her cheeks and said in a clearly offhand way,
I dedicate my sword and my fealty to you, Sir Thor.
Is this really the attitude of a knight?
There will be adventures too, of course. Feel free to choose Deet or Shizuku for those, Sir Thor.
Ulp.
Deet doesnt an anything to , and Shizukus a white sli! I should have retorted, but for so reason I couldnt reply.
But if you want not as a knight but as a bride, please dont hesitate to tell at any point. Ill be waiting for you.
As she said this, the blonde knight in gym shorts blushed bashfully and smiled.
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