"...."
Frost Knight stared blankly at the hissing Shushruta, then obediently stood up and stepped back. He looked like a predator slowly backing away to avoid provoking an agitated beast.
Only after confirming that Frost Knight had quietly retreated did Shushruta turn her gaze to .
"You. Are you alright?"
"No."
I answered bluntly.
"How could I be alright?"
Shushruta ca to her own conclusion.
"Seeing as you can talk, you must be fine. Can you move?"
"No. I can't even lift a finger."
Shushruta looked at with her jet-black eyes that seed to hold the night sky.
"...I really thought you were going to die this ti."
Shushruta's eyes grew moist. She looked at my battered body and whimpered.
"You're a complete rag... What is this? It's so upsetting..."
"...Calling a person a rag."
At that mont, the sound of pattering footsteps was followed by a loud thud. Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw a grass-green head peeking over the edge of the arena. A mont later, I realized it was a grass-green head with two braids.
Linda struggled to climb up onto the arena.
"Devil!"
...Why does that girl climb up like that when there are perfectly good stairs? No, this isn't the ti for that. She was, after all, Mad Linda. Her na was still proudly on the kingdom's public enemy list. With a bounty of about 30 gold. Of course, it was ridiculously low compared to mine... but she was still one of the most heinous wanted criminals.
I unleashed a torrent of nagging at Linda, who was running towards .
"Hey! What do you think you're doing coming up here? I told you not to leave the waiting room. What are you doing in front of all these people..."
My words were cut short as soon as I saw her tear-streaked face.
"Waaaaah! Don't die, Devil!"
"Keoheok!"
She slamd her body into my chest. The intense pain made my head spin. I wasn't dead yet, but if I did die, it would be this girl's fault.
"Waaaaah! I thought you were going to die!"
Linda buried her face in my chest and sobbed like a child who had her candy stolen. I just blinked with a bewildered face.
'What's with her?'
It was the first ti soone had shed tears for , and I was at a loss for words.
I remained frozen for a mont. I ca to my senses and quickly scanned the audience, but fortunately, no one seed to have recognized her. Seeing them cheering and chattering amongst themselves, it seed they didn't care who she was.
I let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
"Sob, sob."
"...."
But that didn't an my bewildernt disappeared. I was still flustered. I didn't know what to do. Was I always this weak to tears? I knew how to beat up bad guys, but I didn't know how to soothe a crying child. Of course, Linda's age probably wasn't that young, but her ntal age was similar to a child's, so it was just as bewildering.
"Hey, hey. Get off ."
I pleaded earnestly, but...
"Waaaaah!"
Linda just cried even louder. The tears that poured from her eyes like a waterfall soaked my clothes. Why was she crying so sorrowfully? The more she cried, the more my ribs vibrated. ...It seems my ribs are broken.
But right now, the bewildernt of not being able to handle a crying Linda was greater than the pain of my broken ribs.
I asked Shushruta for help.
"Hey. Get her off ."
But Shushruta also had tears welling up in her eyes. ...Are tears contagious?
My bewildernt doubled.
The one who saved from this swamp of bewildernt was an unexpected person. Soone pulled the sobbing Linda away and then lifted up with a rough hand.
"Keok...! G-gently!"
I looked to see who it was, and it was the Black Prince. The Black Prince, who had sohow co up onto the stage, draped my right arm over his shoulder and smiled.
"What's with that expression? You look like a country bumpkin who dropped his bundle in the river and doesn't know what to do. It's not appropriate for a victor's face."
I grumbled.
"A victor's face, my ass."
He grinned.
"You're surprisingly weak to this kind of thing, for a guy called a devil."
"...Shut up."
It was strange, as it seed to be the first ti I had seen him smile like this.
"Here, take him."
The chuckling Black Prince released my arm and pushed towards soone.
"Whoa, whoa."
The mont I staggered, that soone supported in his place.
"You've worked hard."
Fluffy was smiling at .
"Vlad says congratulations too."
A small laugh escaped at his silly joke.
"Bullshit."
"What happened at the end? It really looked like you were wielding a demon sword."
I answered nonchalantly.
"You had a demon in your sword, but it seems I was raising a demon in my heart."
"...Is that so?"
"It is."
"I see."
Fluffy simply accepted it. Though I couldn't tell if he really understood.
This ti, the Count, who had appeared with his shoulder wrapped in bandages, smiled benevolently and patted my shoulder. The demonic atmosphere I had seen when he was fighting was completely gone.
"You've been through a lot. Really."
"...It's nothing."
Linda tugged at the hem of my clothes.
"Devil! I'll, I'll support you. Here, lean on my shoulder."
Shushruta scolded Linda.
"Just stay still."
"Whyyy! I want to help the Devil too."
"You staying still is helping."
"N-no, it's not!"
I watched the two bickering in front of ... then looked forward. I saw the back of the Black Prince, who had passed off to Fluffy and was striding towards the center of the arena. It was a back that strangely exuded dignity. He was walking across the wide arena alone, but there was no hesitation in his steps. Co to think of it, he was now the one who would be king, so it wasn't that strange.
"...."
I watched the Black Prince's dignified back... then raised my head. A cloudless blue sky was looking down at .
The feeling that it was finally over, and at the sa ti, a deep lingering emotion colored my heart sky blue.
'...Tina.'
***
The Black Prince approached Aron, who was chattering excitedly into the magic tool that amplified the user's voice, and spoke to him.
"Sir Aron."
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