Vol 2 Chapter 21 (2/2)

After instructing his subordinates to restrict the demon――or to eliminate it if possible, Serdio rushed upstairs; to the room where Marita was being held captive.

「――Huh? Captain… what’s wrong?」

「Is there any problem?」

「Aa, you guys come with me.」

Serdio’s eyes rested on Ren and Rey who were on guard duty. That they would immediately move places was conveyed to them. Taking the locked up Marita and Logins, who was by her side, they would escape from the back. They planned on separating the demon from the mount beast.

「――D-demon? Why again…」

「I don’t understand either. I let the guys down there know of the rendezvous point. In case they killed the demon――」

While advancing down the moldering pa.s.sage that had walls crumbling here and there, Serdio answered Ren’s question. While they were en route—a thunderous roar resounded downstairs. Concurrent with it, a violent shock as if something exploded shook the building.

Availing the opportunity while everyone was preoccupied――someone moved.

――It was Marita.

「Wai… How――」

She pulled the short sword, from the pair of swords on Ren’s waist, out of it’s sheath . Without pointing it at her enemy, she put it on her own throat.

「Don’t come any closer!」

Uttering such words, she slowly retreated. Through the crumbling walls of the pa.s.sage, she could peek at the beautiful sky dyed in madder red. It had been a long time since her lungs were filled with open air. Even in such a situation, she was seething with a refres.h.i.+ng feeling.

However… although she was now outside, she was far from the ground. If such a child as Marita fell from that height, it wouldn’t end in just a fractured bone.

「Don’t spout nonsense. Only a kid would threaten with something they can’t do. I don’t have time to play around with a kid――」

When Serdio approached Marita without a care, Marita shallowly thrust the short sword into her throat. A red droplet trickled down the short sword and plopped onto the floor.

Upon seeing that, Serdio clicked his tongue and spat the words toward Logins.

「Oi… didn’t you say such things wouldn’t happen? You’re not acting in tandem, are you?」

「Marita-sama…」

Despite Serdio’s saying so, Logins was unable to move.

The scene unfolding was too… too similar.

To how the girl’s mother let go of her own life――back then.

Over and over again… That scene replayed in his dreams and filled his brain to the brim.

When Phylia jumped to her death, what filled her eyes was not hatred. It was concern for her family… It was love. Therefore, Logins might have tried to protect what Phylia held dear in her dying moments.

Therefore, this time, he tried to catch the hand that he couldn’t catch that time. And for that, he knew he had to move… However, Logins’ hands and feet were trembling. They didn’t move as he willed.

「…pathetic…」

The feeble voice that was meant for no one;  the voice of Marita that was full of youth, resounded.

「It’s scary but… whom I was raised by; whom I always thought of the same way as my mother… Even if I wanted to hold a grudge toward Logins, I knew it would be impossible――」

Martia’s eyes turned toward Logins.

「――――For all this time… Thank you for looking after me… Goodbye.」

「Sto――!!」

Logins’ inhibited voice was in vain as Marita resigned her body to the air.

Beating his s.h.i.+vering legs, he rushed over to catch――However, his hand couldn’t reach.

Exactly――like the scene that played over and over again in his dreams.

However, Logins, the body of whom collapsed in despair, clearly saw.

――A silhouette cutting through the air and galloping through the sky.

With a force strong enough to push air aside and create whirlwind, it approached the falling Marita.

Before the delicate body of the girl could crash into the ground, it caught her tenderly as if wrapped in soft wool.

As for it’s form, it was a monster with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion――It was a griffon. And mounting it was someone clad in a long robe――the face of whom couldn’t be seen.

「Is that… a griffon!? What is it doing in such a place? Don’t tell me… is that the demon? Ku… forget it, chase them!」

Serdio’s was justified in being puzzled. However, the one who was rescued, Marita, was just as puzzled.

She had resigned her body with a resolution to die. However, now that she had survived, fear took over her body.

Besides, she could not feel relieved yet for she had heard from Serdio that they were being attacked by a demon. If the man in robe was that demon’s companion――That is to say, if he were a demon, Marita couldn’t be said to have been rescued.

The terror of demons, Marita was aware of it from books.

Nevertheless, as to why such a demon would save Marita was a mystery… Wasn’t it?

「W-what do you want…? Why did you save me?」

It was commendable that she voiced her doubts even though she was frightened.

In reply to the question came the following words.

「I want to save you, of course.」

「Y-you… can’t be.」

Upon hearing the familiar voice, a hot sensation rose from the depth of her chest.

He, who should not be here, was here.

The strained feeling, until a while ago, gradually unwound… Before she knew it, tears were running down to her cheeks without an end.

The griffon alighted slightly far off the building. The man turned his concealed face to Marita and took the hood off.

That black hair and those black eyes, to the Marita now, looked reliable to no limit. That, again, black armor under the robe and that, again, black sword on his waist were all too familiar to Marita.

Although he was entirely black, the impression he gave off was totally different from that given off by those men in black.

The man in black, who was giving off such a sense of security, complemented his earlier words to Marita.

「…After all――Marita is a friend.」

「U…… Eeeeeeen」

This time, it felt as if something had melted inside Marita.

Dread, agony, strain, and whatnot. Everything jumbled up and ran off her chest.

The girl was finally able to say what she had been meaning to say.

「――Th… ank- you…」

Author’s note: Next time――『Rage』

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