“That fool...!”

The scene that greeted me as I arrived at Arient Castle was the ridiculous sight of Sylvia charging alone against the ant army.
Is this girl staging a protest for me to see?
Is she trying to say, “If you keep cutting my salary like this, I might die”?

My blood pressure soared.
Without realizing it, I emitted a murderous intent, causing Count Arien to hiccup in fear.

“Oh, brother! Where are you going? Your knight is stalling for time, so there’s no need for you to go out...”
“Step aside. I need to save her.”
“Cough!”

Pushing aside the obstructive Count Arien,
I leaped into the evacuation line, moving against the flow.
How dare she use her own life as a bargaining chip against me?
That kind of stunt is useless against me.

A useful person will be used in any way possible.
I won’t let her die.
That was the strategy I had chosen to survive since I possessed this body.

'They said it’s an ant monster.'

Though mutated and enlarged by mana, it was still just an ant.
Its classification was still that of a bug.
So, the skill “Death’s Touch” should work.
...It must work.

'Damn. I should have experimented at least once.'

Of course, this is assuming that I can trust the skill description word for word.
What if there are other variables?
What if there are exceptions?

Once I start doubting like this, there’s no end to it.
With Sylvia on the verge of death, I had no other choice but to dive in.

If Sylvia dies, who will run Vermont Security?
Who will handle the already beefed-up staff?
Who will protect the mansion?
Without Sylvia, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Vermont would go under by tomorrow.

'Damn. Mana exhaustion?'

The chill emanating from Sylvia’s fingertips stopped,
and I could see her staggering, unable to maintain her balance.
Had she used up all her mana?

After freezing them sufficiently, she should have escaped with the remaining mana.
What a fool to have used all her mana!
But thanks to the halt in the cold release, I was able to approach.

'What an incredibly foolish person.'

I was starting to understand what kind of suicidal act she had undertaken.
In a situation where countless lives were at stake,
there was no option for her to take a step back and “leave some room to escape” in her mind.

She poured her all into ensuring the survival of the evacuees.
Nothing else could have been on her mind.
Her awareness of the potential danger to herself paled in comparison to the survival of strangers.

Watching her, it was infuriating how frustratingly foolish she was.
It was a miracle that she hadn’t died on the battlefield with such a mentality.
But if this continued, she would die soon.

'I have to watch her back.'

I was the only one who could stop her from that self-destructive path and protect her.
With that in mind, I gritted my teeth
and leaped toward the staggering Sylvia.

“What’s with that expression as if you’ve accepted death? It’s bad luck; fix your face.”
“L-Lord!? Why are you here...?”
“There’s a lot for you to do. I will never allow you to escape from your duties and pay cuts this way. So, put aside thoughts of dying for now.”
“No, it’s dangerous here! You need to leave me and run away! Please, quickly! If they thaw out, we’ll both die!”
“Don’t worry. I’m not an idiot like you who leaps in recklessly.”
“...?”

Sylvia looked up at me with a bewildered expression.
What? Didn’t you jump in to die? Her eyes seemed to say.
Not everyone in the world is as kind and foolish as you are.
Unlike you, I’m cowardly and selfish, so I prioritize my own survival above all else.

To prove that,
I extended my hand and quietly murmured the spell of a skill I was unsure would work.

“Skill, Death’s Touch.”

Sssss.
In an instant, the air around me grew cold,
and my hand trembled.
It must work! Please let it work!

Before me, the ant monsters charged with the intent to tear me in half,
I raised my hand, standing my ground without moving.
The ant’s jaw opened wide as it flew toward my hand.

“Ke? Keyeek!?”
“Krack?”

With a roar,
the monsters crumbled and fell before me.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, they collapsed, creating a wall of corpses in front of me.
Sylvia’s eyes widened in shock.

“Don’t you ever think of dying in front of me again.”
“Ah...”
“You said you would watch my back. To do that, you need to stay alive.”
“Ugh...”
“Why are you crying like a puppy that needs to go outside?”

Sylvia seemed uncomfortable, making whimpering sounds and shaking her body.
If she was mana-exhausted, she should be lying still. Why was she acting like this?
Now that I noticed, her face was bright red like a tomato.

“W-What’s this...? Your hand is... on my chest...”
“You’re too heavy; I can’t find anywhere to support you. Forgive me.”
“...You’re being very rude to a lady.”
“A lady, you say?”

What kind of lady carries a sword at her waist and uses the name of a technique that even Charlotte wouldn’t use?
I couldn’t help but chuckle, and then I attempted to lift Sylvia but gave up immediately.
She was too heavy for me to manage.

It wasn’t that my strength was weak; it was that Sylvia was just heavy.

After a struggle, I finally succeeded in lifting Sylvia.

“You at least know how to feel embarrassed. I thought you wouldn’t realize when you came out with that fork stuck in your head last time...”
“T-That can’t be! I wouldn’t act so foolishly!”
“Just press against my back more. You’re making it hard to carry you with such an awkward posture.”
“This is the closest I can get...”

“...”

It felt completely different from when I was carrying Yulia or Charlotte, and I realized why.
The source of this discomfort was something big, heavy, and soft that blocked the space between Sylvia and my back.
This was not something that could be solved by simply telling her to lose weight.
I became increasingly embarrassed, and an awkward silence hung between us for quite some time.

.
.
.

“W-What’s that...?”

Sssss.
The sight of monsters rushing towards Count Vermont, collapsing one after another,
left Yuria, who was watching from atop the castle wall, quite shocked.

Is that even possible?
Killing enemies without even touching them, as if they were falling asleep?
It seemed like there was some invisible sphere surrounding Count Vermont, within which any monster that came close would die without exception.

Soon, the monsters began to move in a circular pattern, avoiding the area around Count Vermont.
It was an unbelievable sight.
She had never seen such magic before.
So that must be it, or rather, surely.

“Dark magic...!”

It must be the dark magic that Vermont has been researching for a long time.
If that isn’t dark magic, then what is?
The bugs were suffering so much from their hatred of Aslan Vermont that merely approaching him made them wish to die, so the hypothesis that the ant monsters died simply because they were bugs didn’t make sense.
Yeah. Even though Aslan is quite detestable, that’s not it.
Yuria nodded and completely denied the possibility that was so close to the truth.

'I need to get Charlotte and Yulia out of here as soon as possible...!'

Was I not in Aslan Vermont’s favor?
After appealing to him, I thought I had caught his eye,
so why wasn’t I being utilized yet...!?

I wanted to rise to a high position in the Vermont family as quickly as possible, so I could freely interact with Charlotte and Yulia.
For that, I needed accomplishments.
And for accomplishments, I needed power.

Power. I need more power.
I can’t remain like this.
Getting caught up with just a few ant monsters is pathetic.
I can’t even compete with dark magic that takes down dozens or hundreds with a flick of a finger...!

Yuria clenched her fists,
determined to become even stronger once again.

“This is bad! The monsters are climbing the castle walls!”
“Damn it! Shoot arrows! Throw stones and pour hot water! Do whatever it takes to make them fall!!!”

Grrrr!
The monsters had already reached the walls and began to climb.
She thought they had killed many,
but the number of monsters clinging to the walls had grown beyond counting.

Could Aslan Vermont stop them?
No way. That man can’t do it either.
That dark magic has a limited range, and it wasn’t enough to deal with the monsters surrounding the wide castle walls.

“Gah! We’re out of arrows!”
“Bring stones! Quickly!”

While the arrows, stones, and boiling water dwindled,
the momentum of the climbing monsters didn’t diminish at all.
They continued to climb, and before she knew it, the monsters had reached the edge of the castle walls.

Mana gathered at the tips of Yuria’s fingers.
It was a moment when despair cast a shadow over everyone’s faces.

“Charlotte! Yulia! It’s your turn!”
“...!”

The moment Count Vermont called their familiar names,
Grrrr!
The ground began to tremble ominously, as if something unusual was about to happen.
Count Arien, as if haunted by trauma, covered his head and crouched down.

“Yulia...?”

What Yuria turned her head to see was
Yulia standing expressionless in the fields, dressed in the kind of neat attire suited for a noble.
From Yulia’s mouth came a sound resembling a bizarre evil god’s language, hissing through the air.

[Kyahhhh!!!]
“...!?”

With a chilling scream, a gigantic monster appeared.
In the pitch-black darkness, only its two eyes glimmered.
The silhouette’s size far exceeded the height of the castle walls.

Could that be the evil god...!?
Had Yulia formed a contract with an evil god?
Yuria felt tears welling up at the sight of her transformed friends.

“Gah! I have descended!”
“Charlotte...?”

Following that was Charlotte, clad in tight armor.
What was that horrifying and grotesque black sword she was holding?
Moreover, with each swing of the sword, sinister black flashes erupted!

That was clearly a cursed sword!
Had Charlotte been corrupted by that cursed sword!?
That’s why she was speaking in such a strange manner!

“Ah...”

Unable to bear the agony, Yuria dropped to her knees.
The sight of her friends being so changed made her feel like she was going to cry blood.