Chapter 28 (2/2)

「The Second Emperor is my aspiration」

She, as always strong willed, showed more interest in swords rather than dolls

During bedtime, she would convince her mother to tell her, not fairy tales, but stories of the Twelve Great Gods of Grantz as she fell asleep

And a them, in the militaristic nation of the Grantz Grand Empire, the Second Emperor always held a fearsome level of popularity

Having been ai to be a soldier, it was natural providence that she held interest in the Second Emperor

「No h, no one acknowledged irl」

At first, it was her dream to be a soldier

Next, it was a general, then, a commander in chief

Each tireith her

Everyone laughed at Liz and ignored her But that situation would change completely

—This was due to her receiving the favor of [Laevateinn]

The first one to approach her was the head of the Kelheit house, one of the Five Great nobles of Grantz

After he, who held influence in the eastern region, expressed his support of Liz, all the lower and middle class nobles expressed their support for her as well

She becanored by the other successors of the throne, but that all collapsed the moment the head of the Kelheit house was assassinated by an unknown culprit

By the time she realized, only Tris and Dios were still with her

「Then, I got word ofForest to take s」

That's where sheboy who looked exactly like the Second Emperor, her aspiration

Liz touches her hand to Hiro's cheek and smiles

Though he's still breathing hard, it looks like he may have calmed down a bit

The corners of Hiro's eyes had softened a bit as he was looking up at Liz

「You know, I have a dream」

At that moment, noisy footsteps could be heard from outside

「Move it! The boy is going to die!」

「Don't make an old man run!」

「Then I'll carry you on my back!」

「Eek!」

Liz forced a smile, then put her mouth near Hiro's ear so he wouldn't miss what she said

She whispers Maybe it was because Hiro had already predicted what she would said, but he didn't look surprised

Her dream is an extraordinary one It will not be an easy journey by any means

—I will become the Empress

She ht shi+ning down on her face, she looked even more beautiful than usual

Imperial Year 1023, July 11th

Ten days after the battle with Lichtein's army

Fort Belk, central tower

Hiro was in the room which was provided to him

It was a dreary rooth ht

It's a given, but he had no personal ites

As for iteht from Earth, it was pretty much just his clothes

Hiro stood in front of the ure

Or rather, he was stroking a part of his face He is yet to grow accusto

The left half of his face in the mirror was covered with an eyepatch

It is a special eyepatch which was purified with a spirit charm

With it, he no longer senses the slip in the world and is able to live as he had until now

If he re in enough information to rupture his brain

「Well… guess I need to get used to it I just have to get used to it」

Right He just needs to be able to master [Uranus]

Since it is his own eye, he should be able to master it in the near future

And it's not bad He sorown up feel to him with the eyepatch on

Without thinking, Hiro crossed his arms, lifted his chin, and tried to make a cool pose

As he was getting carried away and debating whether or not to summon [Excalibur]…

「Hiro~! I' in」

A cri

He had the urge to say sos, but more importantly, this was a bad situation

「What are you doing?」

Liz stopped in her tracks in front of the door surprised

Hiro's face instantly flushed red She saw him

His pounding heart starts to beat faster He can tell he's getting hotter from his neck up

This is e… He thrust his hands out and waved them flustered

「N-No! You've got it all wrong!」

「Got what all wrong?」

Liz tilts her head and swings her crimson hair

Ahh, Hiro thinks it's such a cute gesture, but doesn't voice his thought

If he could, he wanted to escape fro the exit

「Uhh… How should I put this…?」

It would have been so easy if he could say his body was taken over by a moment of vanity

TL note: Word used here is ”chuunibyou” Wanted to avoid any japanese in these translations, but we thought we'd add this note for clarity

Silence falls It's an extremely aard atmosphere

While Hiro was lost as to what to do, Liz was the one to act first

「Co to tell me?! Anyway, come with me!」

She grabs his ar shaken

He's dragged off by a th and flies out the roo downstairs

「And where —?!」

He wasn't able to tell her that he was ill until just the other day

This was because they started going down the stairs at full speed He would bite his tongue if he spoke in this situation

They basically flen the stairs When they rushed out the central tower, they were met by the plaza

The brilliant sun was beating down and broiling the surface They could feel sweat building on their skin

「Aura said she's returning to the west We have to see her off, right?」

「W-We still have time! We don't have to rush like this!」

In order to bury the soldiers who had died in the previous fight, she stayed at Fort Belk while receiving treatment

Unfortunately, there were also many soldiers who could not be found Some corpses were so severely injured and covered in mud that it was difficult to discern whether they were friend or foe

Despite being injured herself, she had been going around looking for the bodies of her subordinates until the sun set

They gathered all the corpses of Lichtein's troops in one spot and burned them

Because there was also the fear of disease spreading, they had the Fourth Imperial Army assist them to dispose of the bodies quickly

The Fourth Irave Grinda's territory

This was due to the possibility of survivors of the Lichtein ar the public order

It seeuards and returned to the Imperial capital

(Someday… I have to pay him back)

He decides to live his life the way he wants as Altius told him to that day

For now, he puts aside his revenge on the First Ier inside

Reason being, there was someone he had to see off with a smile on his face

「Did you come here just to see me off?」

There was a young girl straddled atop a warhorse with her right arlum look on her face

There was also Alfred next to her with his entire body wrapped in bandages

Although he looks to be in pain, in a way, it was coh

「Your highness, and… Sir Descendant Thank you for seeing us off」

Alfred sounded thoroughly displeased the moment he said ”Sir Descendant”

You couldn't see his expression through the bandages, but you could tell what it looked like

Liz puts her hands to her hips and speaks

「Yes, a lot happened, but I'lad we're all alive」

「Yes The outcos from this battle」

Aura kept staring after speaking

Hiro forces a s for so

「How is your eye?」

「Well, it seems like it'll take some time for it to heal」

The only ones who know about his eye's abnormality are Liz, Tris, and three doctors

Everyone else was told that it was a wound from the battle

So there was no way Aura would know, but for soure out the truth about his eye if she kept observing him

「I see As long as you haven't lost your sight But still, that's a large eyepatch」

「Eh, ell…」

They had no choice but to use a large eyepatch to hide the spirit charm

But he couldn't possibly explain that to her

As Hiro was thinking of an excuse, Liz threw him a lifeline

「It's a huge wound! It's a… a really horrible wound!」

「I see… Do you think it will leave a scar?」

「Ah, no, I think it'll be okay」

Hiro said, as he was shaking inside

「… That's good to hear」

Then— can you please stop staring at me?

No aze was fixed on Hiro, piercing through him

Liz stood in front of hiaze

「We'll send you a letter or so」

「I will also write you a letter once things settle down」

「Lady Aura, it's almost time」

Alfred interrupted the conversation

Lined up behind hih their numbers had diminished

Perhaps because of the heat, they earing light armor rather than heavy, and the warhorses had their armor removed as well

They were stored along with their food provisions and water in the wagons

「Then, shall we depart? Take care」

Aura wraps her arms around her horse's neck as the sleeves of her ate

She looked back after aze lands on Hiro

「Held, let us ain somewhere」

TL note: Aura calls Hiro the sa of the chapter

ED note: OO!!!!!

After that, she didn't look back again

With her at the lead, the group of warhorses slowly goes out the gate

Despite the heat, his heart is assailed by chills and he feels frozen stiff

Liz patted Hiro's stiffened back

「Hiro, I know this is sudden, but we're going to practice riding horses」

Those words froze his heart even more

Hiro ended up gettingsun

—Two days thereafter

An Imperial command was delivered to Hiro from the current Emperor

ED note: I’es