Chapter 260: Auto-Battle (2/2)

“No thanks necessary. Marni did tell us to take care of you if something happened to him (and couldn’t be revived in time).” Edward, the young mage said.

Gerald dropped to his knees and stared at him blankly in disbelief.

“He… he actually said that?”

Gerald was the one who was supposed to protect Marni. But in the end, not only did he fail in his duty as a guardsman and could only watch as the merchant was killed by a wildling, Marni also had to entrust his safety to his friends before he died.

Marni had so many other fellow believers and he did not protect or cared for any of them, only himself…

Moved, Gerald’s heart cascaded, but he was soon drowned with the guilt and regret that washed over him at the same time for not protecting Marni.

Once he recalled doubting Marni’s intentions and that the merchant was only using him as a meat shield to protect himself in the cruel battlefield, Gerald only felt guiltier.

Come to think of it, even if Marni did tell Gerald to protect him, Marni had rushed into the fray immediately by himself. Even though Gerald himself had beaten some of the Hyena-men, Marni would still help give the last blow, so that Gerald did not have to live with blood in his hands…

What sort of spirit was that!?

Since he was five, Gerald had never shed a single tear. He knew well from the hard training he went through every day that tears and crying wouldn’t work, aside from making his trainer stricter.

However, he understood that his parents chose such a strict trainer for his own good as he grew older, since their family mutually exists with the city of Lancaster from a certain point of view.

Worthless members of their clan were therefore meaningless. That was why he continued to work so hard.

Gerald never once thought that it could be wrong since he was a child, and only now did he realized that he was crying without himself knowing

Edward saw his tears, and suddenly had the feeling that the knight may have misunderstood himself—after all, everyone else were Players and death was no big deal.

Who hadn’t died two or three times anyway?

Only a non-believer like Gerald would die when he was killed, and the Clerics reviving spells wouldn’t work on him.

Moreover, it would be hard to explain things with Lancaster’s mayor if Gerald died here since the knight was of Lancaster nobility. It could well cause a diplomatic incident, which was why he was given such special treatment.

Still, Edward felt a little guilty that the knight misunderstood and dropped to his knees and sobbed in regret, as if he had lost his right to live.

But even as Edward was about to explain away the misunderstanding and console him, the Ancient Imperial Wrath Tiger Warrior whom they had stopped twice roared and charged towards them.

[1] type of steel made in Japanese tradition