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Chapter 38 – part 18

「I’ll give you 20 seconds.」

I turned my gaze toward Cordelia and Lilith.

「So if you’re begging for your life, beg it from those two.」

「Huh?」

The demon froze for a few seconds.
But it seemed he quickly understood the situation accurately.
After all, he had just yelled with tears streaming down his face, looking desperate.

「H-h-h-help me, Cordelia-san! Lilith-san!」

He yelled as loud as he could towards Cordelia and Lilith.
And then he pleaded for mercy with a pitiful tone in his voice, directed at them.

However, naturally, Cordelia and Lilith didn’t respond.

That was expected.
They were still unconscious.

The promised 20 seconds passed, and the demon sent me a pleading look, almost clinging to it.

「Well, that’s too bad. They can’t answer while they’re unconscious. I guess I’ll give you one last chance.」

Like a piranha, the demon bit into the offer.

「A-a-a chance?」

「You’re confident in your defense, right?」

Nodding repeatedly, or rather, shaking his head vigorously, the demon confirmed.
In response, I raised Excalibur with all my strength.

「Then, show me that you can endure this with all your might. If you survive this strike and I fail to kill you… I’ll help you.」

「T-t-t-that’s… i-im… impossible… it’s impossibleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!」

Despair enveloped the demon’s face as Excalibur’s strike descended upon him.
Inevitably, his upper and lower jaws parted ways.

Squelch!

With a final, almost comically grotesque utterance, the demon collapsed on the spot.
His body, deprived of its brain, spasmed and convulsed.

At that moment, I clicked my tongue.

「I messed up… What a disaster.」
Holding my head, I muttered as if throwing up.

「I killed him before I could hang him.」

A commendation ceremony was held for the defeat of the ogres.

By the way, the ogres, after losing their leader, the demon, lost their will to fight and scattered deep into the forest, fleeing in all directions.
Later, a large-scale search and extermination force was formed, consisting of the surviving knight orders, S-rank adventurers, and others.

They set fire to the forest.
The smoke from that event reportedly lingered over the city of Sashimimas for several weeks, as if the entire city was smoking.

The combined military might of this force was not limited to just one nation.
All the surrounding nations contributed significant sums of money, and even highly regarded adventurers were dispatched.

In an abnormal situation where multiple Ogre Emperors and Ogre Kings were confirmed, such measures were by no means excessive.
There were even rumors of a global-scale extermination force being prepared as a contingency plan in case the initial mission failed.

Anyway, we were invited to the capital city, Barmisham.
Currently, we are in a palace located about 20 kilometers on foot from the Altena Magic Academy.

The grand hall where the throne was placed is adorned with sparkling marble.
There’s a long crimson carpet.
The dazzling chandeliers are adorned with various jewels.
All the seemingly casual furnishings placed along the walls, even the amateur me can tell that each of them holds significant artistic value.

I somewhat understand how the commoners’ taxes are being used, but well… I suppose it can’t be helped.

This grand hall is apparently used for diplomatic purposes and grand ceremonies like commendation ceremonies.
It serves as the face of the nation, so they can’t afford to be frugal.

Honestly, I didn’t want to come to a place like this.
However, I reluctantly agreed to participate in the ceremony.

The Magic Academy provided me with clothing for the occasion, but I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable in it.
It’s like one of those outfits you see in history textbooks, where Oda Nobunaga meets Luis Frois.
It’s fluttering and frilly.

「Wow, isn’t this costume a bit much even for a horse-handler?」

Cordelia said with a whistle, as if mocking my attire.

「What kind of aesthetic sense do they have? I don’t want these overly flashy outfits; I want to wear a black suit, like formal attire, and look sharp.」

「A suit? What’s that?」

Well, it’s not something she’ll understand.

「…Don’t worry about it,」

Lilith interjected into the conversation.

「…I understand. It’s about that outfit the Dragon King is wearing.」

Well, that’s more or less right.
By the way, Cordelia had her hair tied up and was wearing a black dress with an open back.
Her light makeup and pink lipstick complemented her appearance nicely.

Lilith, as usual, wore minimal makeup and her plain white robe, maintaining her usual expressionless demeanor.

Saegusa, on the other hand, insisted that 「Miko wear Miko attire!」and wore her usual outfit.

In a way, you could say it suited the two of them.

「By the way, Lute?」

Cordelia asked me with a puzzled expression.

「What is it?」

「How did you manage to get here at that time? Near the fortress you were protecting, there was a large-scale battle with ogres invading the castle, involving the townspeople in the lower city, right?」

「Yeah, that’s why I arrived late. It was a chaotic battle with civilians mixed in. It wouldn’t have been wise to use techniques like Fighting Arts or Vacuum Blades over such a wide area. It was a real headache. I couldn’t just abandon the civilians.」

「So, how did you manage to get there in such a short time?」

「There were some knights around.」

「Knights?」

「With the appearance of the Ogre Emperor, all the defenders of the fortress fled, and it turned into a chaotic battle involving the townspeople. He said that entrusting everything to a brat like me, even the clean-up of scattered combatants, was a waste of a man. The old guy decided to get serious. They quickly gathered the scattered combatants and reorganized them on the spot.」

「That sounds like incredible leadership ability or something…」

「Well, their pride probably couldn’t bear to let a kid like me handle everything. So, I left the rest to the regular army guys. Only small fries are left after all.」

「I see.」

「But still…」

Cordelia lowered her eyes in thought.

「Are you really okay with it?」

「With what?」

While shaking her head left and right, Cordelia muttered with an indescribable expression.

「Even though you did everything, most of the credit is being attributed to me by the higher-ups. They even claimed that the existence of the Demon God was an illusion caused by our magic. It was as if I had managed to land the finishing blow on the nearly defeated Ogre Emperor you had defeated. At first, there was no mention of my contributions… But, well, I protested strongly, and it ended up like this.」

「Stubborn people tend to believe what’s easy to believe and deny what they can’t understand. It seems that’s the same everywhere in the world. Well, isn’t it easier to write reports that way, saying that the hero did it rather than the villagers doing everything?」

「But still…」

Cordelia bit her lip in thought.

「What do you mean?」

“She’s quite serious about this…” I thought to myself while shrugging.

「It’s okay; it doesn’t matter. I supported the Hero Cordelia in defeating the ogres. That’s fine, right? To be honest, I didn’t want to participate in this ridiculous ceremony in the first place.」

「Ridiculous…?」

「You do have your reputation as a hero, don’t you? The higher-ups want to reward even a commoner like me for assisting Cordelia. If I didn’t attend, it would tarnish your reputation. So, I’m here to accompany you.」

「I see…」

「But from now on, you and I will walk the same path. There will probably be plenty of scenes like this in the future, so don’t worry about it.」

「The same path…? You and I?」

Cordelia’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

「Yes, that’s right. So don’t worry about it.」

After thinking for a moment, Cordelia blushed slightly and wore a bright smile, like a clear blue sky.

「Yeah! I won’t worry at all!」

Cordelia wrapped both her arms around my right arm with a beaming smile.

「Arlis… Tomolis… Yuri Heiniken… Momolis… Kyunso… Cogito Exorism!」

Lilith began chanting a spell with a murderous look in her eyes, directed towards us.
Wait, this spell is… really not good!

「Don’t you dare try to cast a forbidden spell on Cordelia, you idiot! That is a forbidden technique within forbidden techniques!」

I dashed over to Lilith and forcefully interrupted her incantation by dropping my fist on her head, causing a loud thud. Lilith teared up and looked down.

「Even so, I’m not in the wrong.」

At that moment, the academy’s headmaster, who was nearby, theatrically cleared his throat with a cough.

It seemed that the king, the main guest of the commendation ceremony, was about to make his appearance.

「……」

「……」

「……」

「……」

「……」

「……」

「……」

「……」

After a few minutes of the headmaster’s coughing, a slightly overweight man dressed extravagantly entered the grand hall.

「For the subjugation of the Ogre Emperor and Ogre King. You have our heartfelt thanks. We will now proceed with the commendation ceremony.」

The man’s skinny attendant spoke these words.

「Lute McLane… step forward.」

Again, the skinny man commanded.
Without a word, I moved forward, bowed before the king, and knelt on one knee.

This etiquette had been drilled into me relentlessly by Cordelia, so I executed it flawlessly.

And then, the man finally began to speak.

「Since you are a student, you will not be attached to our kingdom. However, in recognition of your achievements, Lute McLane, we hereby award you the Order of Merit, Fifth Class. Furthermore, you will be granted the status and authority of a knight in the International Union.」

The patrons of the Altena Magic Academy come from various countries.
Since contributions are made from multiple nations, it would be very inconvenient for diplomatic relations if students received job offers unilaterally.

For someone in my position, there might not be much of an issue, but for Cordelia, it would undoubtedly become a struggle among nations.
In such cases, the responsibility for Cordelia’s fate would be determined through negotiations among the countries.

The students of the magic academy, regardless of their status, face these complexities, and even someone like me, at the bottom of the class, has to deal with such complications.
Hence, the king phrased it this way to avoid such problems.

By the way, the status of a knight in the International Union is somewhat like an international driver’s license, allowing one to be recognized as a knight in any country.
This is quite remarkable, and for a mere villager, there is no higher achievement at this age.

Well, becoming a hero’s assistant for disaster relief involving multiple Ogre Emperors might make this level of recognition somewhat expected in a way.

—A mere villager like me, becoming a knight in my mid-teens.

The king himself presented a silver medal.
I accepted it gently and bowed.

I gazed at the silver medal in my hand.

—Looking back, I’ve come a long way.

Back when I was hiding behind her in that village, before my return from death, I would have been overjoyed with this.
But I won’t stop here.
I know better than anyone that my abilities are not limited to this.

So I stood up, bowed to the king, and turned on my heel to walk back to my original position.
Pure joy filled me, so I raised my right thumb and smiled warmly at Cordelia and Lilith without saying a word.
Cordelia and Lilith returned the smile and nodded enthusiastically.

And then, silently, I muttered to myself.

—Now, it’s time for me to rise to greater heights…