I Returned with the Cheat Holy Sword

"Crown Prince, please stay inside for a moment."

"What? What about you?"
"I have business to attend to."
If it really was a demon, having others around would only get in the way.

He prepared the Tear of the Stars and the Eye of Quiria.
And most important of all.
"…Huh, what’s that, a sword? Where did that come from?"

All he had done was return the Holy Sword, which he had stored in the form of a bracelet, to its original state.
It was rather funny seeing the prince’s eyes go wide at the sight.
"Anyway, please stay quietly inside!"

With those words, Carlyle gripped the hilt of the Holy Sword and leapt over the window frame.
This was a matter of seconds, of minutes. There was no time to waste.
The place he was aiming for was easy enough to find.
[This is the building. Be careful when you go in. The density of the aura here is on a completely different level from the lesser spirits you faced before.]

Carlyle himself could feel that clearly.
It had flickered and vanished after a moment, but the sensation still lingered, as though his skin were about to rot. It was on an entirely different plane from the lesser spirits he had encountered before.
A fierce battle was surely ahead. Thinking that, he kicked the door open.

…And what he came face to face with was someone he had not expected in the slightest.
"…Oppa?"
Inside the building, reeking with a stench of blood so strong it could make his nose fall off, someone tilted their head and spoke.

"Baron of the March, Lady Raiza…?"
Amid a pile of corpses, silver hair glowing faintly under the moonlight shone with a pale brilliance.
Carlyle looked around at the scene while staring at Raiza, her entire body drenched in blood, red dripping from her hands.

A mountain of corpses was piled high.
At least dozens of human limbs were scattered in every direction.
[All of them were well-trained personnel. To be slaughtered so one-sidedly shouldn’t have been easy.]

There were not even traces of resistance anywhere.
These were individuals the Hero herself would admit were highly trained, and yet they had been butchered without the slightest fight.
"Was this your doing, Baron?"

"And what if it was?"
"…"
"Is there a problem?"
"…Could you explain your reason for doing so?"

"Ah, hold on."
With those words, Raiza stomped on one of the twitching corpses.
A human head burst like a balloon.

"Wow—tough one. How can something still be alive even after all its limbs are cut off?"
She said it naturally, wearing the same cheerful smile Carlyle had once seen on her face.
"…"

Carlyle stared at her in silence.
From the Holy Sword came a voice of disbelief.
[…This one’s a lunatic.]

Seeing that, he suddenly felt it vividly.
This woman was the Emperor’s “Executioner.”
She was utterly numb to killing.

He didn’t know by what method she had slaughtered this many alone, but she showed no weight or burden in the fact of it.
And when Carlyle said nothing, Raiza looked at him, then chuckled faintly.
"Oppa, what brings you here?"

"Lady Raiza. Forgive me, but you still have not answered my question."
"…"
Raiza quietly studied him.

"Hey. By any chance, Oppa… do you dislike me?"
"…What?"
"You don’t act that way with others, but with me, it’s like your words always carry thorns. Look. Even now, you’re ready to draw your sword at a moment’s notice."

"…"
"I’m His Majesty’s sword, and he ordered me to ‘clean up’ any suspicious people in this area. So I killed them, that’s all. Before every Grand Parade, vermin always gather from all over."
With that, Raiza yawned and pointed at the blood-drawn figures covering the wall.

"You see that? It’s a summoning circle. They might not have been able to bring out a noble-class /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ demon, but with a few more sacrifices, who knows what could’ve happened. Demons aren’t the only things that can be dragged out of Hell, you know?"
"…"

"You rushed here because you sensed something too, didn’t you? Everything that crawls out of Hell is insane."

Carlyle’s eyes narrowed.
"…Baron, you are knowledgeable about Hell?"
"To some extent?"

"…"
From what Carlyle knew, all information about demons and Hell was tightly controlled by the Orthodox Church, the headquarters of all exorcism. Outside of that, it was not so easily disseminated.
Unless one had lived through regression and collected such knowledge firsthand as Carlyle had, to meet someone with this level of understanding of demons was unprecedented.

…This person.
Every time he encountered her, something felt off.
She knew things she should not know.

She used techniques not even the Hero had seen through.
What exactly are you?
While Carlyle was turning that thought over, Raiza spoke again.

"But since you ask so many questions, I’d like to ask one too."
"Yes?"
"Oppa, you’re strangely numb to death, aren’t you? Not what I expected from your face."

Raiza smiled in a circle.
"When I did that just now, you didn’t even flinch, did you?"
"I’m used to violent matters."

"No, no, if that were the case, you would at least say something."
Raiza tapped her cheek with a finger, humming.
Blood streamed down her face.

"How should I put it. It’s really, really strange. It’s not that you’ve grown used to it, but that you’re worn down, rubbed raw—like your senses have been ground away—"
He had gone through so much that no stimulus could rouse him anymore.
Time, experience, memory had crushed him until even instinct itself was dulled.

…Something beyond human.
"I’m a bit like that too, you know? I don’t feel anything anymore when it comes to this. Isn’t Oppa a bit like me?"
"I think my path is somewhat different."

At the very least, Carlyle was not the kind of human who could smile cheerfully while killing people.
"Hey—! I’m not some deranged lunatic, you know! I’ve never laid hands on anyone but bad guys! I’ve never once crossed the line or used violence recklessly!"
Raiza puffed her cheeks, pouting in complaint.

…Well, that was somewhat true.
Demon worshipers deserved death.
Even Dean Sior, someone Carlyle trusted, had never left any particular condemnation of Raiza.

Still, in her case—
"It’s just that, for me, most things, I simply ‘can’t feel.’"
Raiza said it with a smile still on her lips.

"…What?"
"Emotions… they’re fading. Unless I act like this on purpose, exaggerating it."
"…"

"I guess I was born that way. Strange, isn’t it?"
Her lips smiled, but her eyes held no emotion at all.
"…"

"Maybe that’s why I like you, Oppa."
Carlyle blinked, dumbfounded.
[What the hell kind of deranged gutter-rat is this woman, and what is she saying right now?]

…He had no idea why the Hero was fuming when he himself remained still.
"Baron. Did I just receive a confession?"
"Not anything that serious. But it’s true I’m curious about you. You’re interesting, after all—"

Raiza snickered.
"Oppa, aren’t you someone whose emotions are fading too?"
Carlyle’s eyes narrowed further.

"Honestly, aren’t you already living just like me—‘pretending,’ most of the time?"
"…"
"How could I not be intrigued? You’re the same kind as me."

What should he call it?
This time, he felt it for certain.
…This woman was sharp.

She kept trying to dig into him.
She pressed against the veil of his heart, probing with razor accuracy.
Enough to make even Carlyle unconsciously hold his breath.

"So, what do you say, Oppa? Want to get along from now on?"
"When you say get along…?"
"Just."

Raiza shrugged.
"Work with me sometimes, do some things together. The March of Forhaven is actually a pretty nice place to live, you know?"
"…Are you asking me to enter your service?"

"Mmm, hmm, well, I wouldn’t mind if it were even closer than that?"
"…"
"I don’t find many people who interest me. When I do, I never let them go. And if I do keep them close, I give them everything."

"…"
"I promise. I’ll treat you well."
"I already have someone I serve."

"But, come on, honestly."
Raiza let out a deep sigh.
"The Hero—she’s a bastard, isn’t she?"

"…"
"Has she ever once treated you kindly?"
"…"

"Has she ever shown affection, consideration, anything like that? Of course not. She probably just beat you whenever she pleased."
"…"
"I would never do that. I’ll treat you properly, as a human being."

"…"
"I’m better than that brute, aren’t I?"
…This was.

Something he could not refute, no matter how many mouths he had. It was accurate insight.
Carlyle gave a bitter smile and sheathed the Holy Sword.
I had heard that suitors would be aggressive…

He had already been told that during the Parade, he would have to decide whom to pledge loyalty to.
But he hadn’t expected someone to come so directly, and so soon.
"It’s an attractive offer. Thank you."

[…You?]
From within the Holy Sword, the Hero’s voice suddenly spoke.
[W-what’s attractive about that? Why are you responding like that to the proposal of such a lunatic?]

…He almost thought she sounded anxious.
"Baron."
Still, there was one thing.

Carlyle spoke in a serious tone.
"You are not to my taste."
"…"

"How should I put it—you’re too in-between."
Raiza’s face went blank.
"…Uh, what? In-between…?"

"It may not have been a serious confession, but I thought a serious rejection was needed."
"…"
"My tastes lean toward someone more extreme. My apologies."

The Baron stared at him with a vacant look.
She clearly had not expected such a reply.
"…Did I just get rejected for not being attractive enough?"

"Yes."
"…"
"And also, I never gave you permission to call me Oppa."

"…"
"I imagine we’ll meet again during the Parade. Even then, my answer will probably be the same."
"…"

Carlyle bowed politely to her.
"Lady Raiza, Baron of the March. As for me, I still prefer my brutish Hero as the master I serve."
Hearing that, the Baron—

Still wore a dazed expression.
"Well then, I’ll take my leave. I must head to the Imperial Palace tomorrow."
As Carlyle left the building, behind him came only—

"Ah—seriously."
Raiza’s voice, stretched with a helpless laugh.
"You’re really fun, you know."

…No doubt.
He had the feeling these words foretold that they would meet again.