A flag fluttering in the mist.
Hertlocker rubbed his eyes and looked up at the flag until his neck ached.
On the familiar flag, it was written in Trude language.
– 1st Company Siegfried
A company flag named after an old hero.
Realizing this, Hertlocker immediately understood.
Ah, this is a dream.
“Hertlocker. I’ll be back soon, so wait for me.”
The soldiers heading out.
Hertlocker felt a rough hand petting his head, realizing what kind of situation this was.
It was that day.
The weather, the composition, every scene matched that day.
The day when the 1st Company was wiped out except for one person.
He had to say it.
Don’t go.
If they did, they would all die.
“Uwa······!”
But all that came out of his mouth were incomprehensible strange sounds.
No matter how desperately he moved his lips, the result was the same.
“Don’t worry. We’re the heroes of certain victory. We’ll definitely come back.”
“Ah······!”
Even till the moment ‘that person’ turned to leave, Hertlocker couldn’t hold them back.
His limbs had frozen in powerlessness and wouldn’t move.
He could only watch as hundreds of soldiers marched into the jaws of death.
Soldiers waving their hands towards this side.
Soldiers making silly faces to reassure him······.
He hadn’t understood as a child.
But seeing them again in this dream, it made sense.
They knew that the place they were going was the jaws of death.
“Ah······ Ah······.”
Only then did he understand.
Why those relentless humans who always brought him along for chores had left him behind that day.
They were going to die.
In obedience to orders.
For the nation.
For their people.
For the sacrifice of the great cause.
Watching the procession grow distant, Hertlocker felt long-lost powerlessness.
The feeling of being unable to do anything.
He couldn’t do anything with this young body······.
“Ugh······!”
At that moment, Hertlocker woke from the dream.
Cold sweat had already formed on his forehead.
It was like a terrible nightmare.
If he had seen ‘that person’ again, wasn’t it a happy dream?
“Damn.”
Getting up from the bed, Hertlocker took a deep breath and washed his face.
It was strange.
To dream an old dream so vividly.
The Sigfried Company was annihilated in that battle.
Except for just one person.
As the last Siegfried, Hertlocker inherited the company name as his surname.
Then he awakened at an astonishing speed and became active as an assassin, earning the title of one-man company.
The once weak and helpless boy had become a tactical weapon sweeping the battlefield in just a few years.
“What a ridiculous dream.”
Imbuing meaning into a dream was a foolish act.
Hertlocker thought so and erased thoughts of the dream.
There was a lot to do today.
Morning meant construction site manual labor; afternoon meant washing dishes at a restaurant······.
A pile of side jobs waited for him.
Last time, he had bought protective gear and a gas mask to enter Whist Forest, which had blown the Intelligence Agency’s budget.
That said, he couldn’t buy an antidote because there were no available stocks back then.
In the end, he had to buy the expensive gear, which now was just a headache without any use.
Having been drenched in mana energy shower once, its durability had deteriorated significantly, making it hard to sell even as used goods.
‘But hey. I saved Schlus Hainkel.’
Wasn’t it worth spending that much money to save Schlus Hainkel?
Emilia had begged him not to let Schlus die, so he had to save him.
‘Huh? Am I suddenly getting pissed off?’
Thinking this, he wondered if he should have just let him die.
Why does Emilia protect that guy so much?
Is that bastard trying to charm our Emilia?
As Hertlocker opened the door in a fit of anger.
“······?”
He faced a veiled person standing at the door.
The first thought was, “Aren’t they hot dressed like that?”
“Kingheart. I have a request.”
“What······?”
Hertlocker’s pupils dilated in an instant.
Only the Crows knew the name Kingheart.
Since it hadn’t even been publicly disclosed, there was no possibility of someone impersonating a Crow.
“What’s the request?”
“Read the request form.”
A rolled-up paper was shoved toward him.
Carefully unfolding it to check its content, Hertlocker was hit with—
– Idiot.
“What the hell?”
He was thoroughly flustered.
As soon as he lowered the paper, the veiled man had vanished.
“Th····· what······.”
That wasn’t all.
Suddenly, the scenery around him began to shatter.
With a *fizzle* sound, the world seemed to collapse like falling puzzle pieces.
Only one thing remained after all the pieces fell away: nothingness.
An entirely white, empty world.
Left alone in the middle of it, Hertlocker clenched his eyes tightly.
Still a dream.
“Huh!”
Realizing that instant, Hertlocker returned to reality.
This time it was definitely reality.
Mana that hadn’t been felt a moment ago was now circulating throughout his body.
But the problem was—
“What the fuck······.”
He had some bag over his head and his limbs were bound.
No matter how hard he struggled, the restraints showed no sign of loosening.
Whatever spell had been cast, the mana within his body wouldn’t obey the regulations either.
How on earth had this happened?
As Hertlocker pondered over his memories carefully, a voice came.
“Nice to see you, Kingheart. It’s been a while.”
“······!”
A familiar voice struck his ears.
Just hearing it made him want to throw that bastard into a dung pit and kill him.
It was Schlus Hainkel.
*
“Schlus! Untie this!!!”
“Hah······.”
A sigh escaped involuntarily.
Because of that thing flailing with its limbs in front of me.
To explain why the situation had come to this, one had to go back several hours.
“Hello. Mail delivery~”
“······.”
It was when I opened the door while resting in the mansion.
A cute boy in a uniform appeared.
Out of habit, I cast ‘survey’ to check his identity.
I immediately frowned.
“Jin. What are you doing looking like that?”
“Ah······.”
It was Jin from the Crows.
Had he transformed into a male this time?
Now that I think about it, it suddenly struck me that Jin could try out sexual experiences both ways.
Damn. What am I imagining?
“How do you always recognize me right away?”
“It’s the scent. A unique scent.”
“What?!”
I had to hold in my laughter seeing Jin raise his arm to smell himself.
Must have thought it was serious.
“There’s no smell at all······.”
“Just get to the point before my attendant comes.”
“Tsk. I completed the request, so I’m asking you to come.”
“What request?”
“Why act like you forgot? You asked me to find Kingheart.”
“······.”
That was indeed true.
I had taken on the request thinking I needed to meet with Hertlocker someday.
Since I thought it would take a while, I had completely pushed it out of my mind.
But now, midterms were right around the corner, and I was busy.
“Today’s tough. Let’s do it next week.”
“No, what would that mean······? That would kill me with worry.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“He’s currently tied up in the basement. Am I supposed to let him sit and wait till next week to handle his shit? No way, I can’t do that even for extra pay.”
“······.”
I couldn’t help but feel enraged.
I mean, if I asked to meet someone, who the hell locks them up?
As footsteps approached from behind, Jin handed me a note.
“Here’s the address. Do whatever you want with him. I’m never going back there.”
“······.”
If he was tied up by Hertlocker, he must have also been subjected to mana suppression.
That meant he wouldn’t be able to escape on his own.
If I didn’t go, he would die of hunger, dehydration, or smother in his own filth.
Damn······.
Jin turned out to be a trash Crow who could easily slap Henderson two or three times.
They’d described him as mischievous, and now that came back to bite me.
“Can you really transform into a male? Your tastes are unique.”
In anger, I spat a remark at Jin’s back.
But the response I got back was ridiculous.
“I’m a girl, you idiot.”
“······.”
Jin stuck out his tongue and swiftly turned his back.
Is that really a girl······?
Phew, thank goodness.
I thought I was getting a little flustered seeing a guy.
Ah······ that’s useless talk.
Anyway, to return to the present—
“No matter how much you torture me, I won’t spit out anything! Do whatever you want! You’ll get nothing from me! Go ahead and try to make me a vegetable with your magic!”
Hertlocker was incessantly shouting.
Is this soundproofed?
Since this is Jin’s prepared house, it should be safe but I was momentarily worried.
With this guy’s boisterous voice, it seemed likely to pierce through soundproof walls.
“Hey, hey. It’s painful to my ears. Shut up.”
“Quit dragging this out! Schlus Hainkel, you damned Imperial lackey!”
“Isn’t it tiring? Eat some dumplings.”
“······.”
I quickly ripped off the bag from his head and shoved dumplings in front of him.
They were fresh, having been bought on the way here.
He blinked for a moment, squinting at the bright light, then turned his eyes to the dumplings instead of me.
“Are you trying to humiliate me?! You think I’d give in to stupid dumplings?”
“Shut up and eat.”
“Ugh! Fine! This is cold torture!”
“Goddamn. Then drink some water with it.”
“This is water torture·····! Ugh!”
I fed him dumplings and shoved a water bottle in his mouth while he whined.
Could I really converse with this guy?
A rising anxiety that I might just escalate misunderstandings swept over me.
“Feeling better now? Huh?”
“Don’t mistake that you can win me over with this! Schlus Hainkel!!!”
“Ouch. My ears.”
Right.
This bastard was originally so full of energy.
He seemed to just be raising his voice more unnecessarily.
I shouldn’t have fed him dumplings.
“Shall we have a little chat?”
“I have no conversation to make. Ah! But that list! How did you get our list?!”
He said he had no conversation to make, but immediately asked a question, which was downright infuriating.
Should I smack him a couple more times to start?
“I threw it into a sewer. Didn’t you hear that from the traitor?”
“Don’t lie!”
“It’s not a lie.”
“Prove that it’s not a lie!”
“······.”
Yeah. I figured the conversation would turn out this way.
This guy had deep-rooted distrust towards me.
The road ahead already looked bleak.
And I had to eventually draw him into being an ally.
“Do you know if any of our agents from the royal intelligence agency got captured after that? If I intended to keep that list, I would’ve handed it over to the Imperial Police long ago to earn a medal, right?”
“Th- that’s······ You’re keeping it to threaten us, right?!”
“Hah······. Yeah, fuck. Let’s say that’s true. Then you really should listen to me, shouldn’t you? Do you have the lives of your comrades at stake here?”
“······.”
Finally, Hertlocker closed his mouth.
I should have acted this way from the start.
Why didn’t I think of taking Emilia hostage sooner?
Has my character become impatient after facing death so many times?
I seemed to have become someone who was willing to use any means necessary.
