“You insolent sorcerer! We shan’t permit you to follow our Lady Chastille around!”
“Isn’t he basically living with her inside her shadows?”
“Kill him!”
“Yes. Understood.”
All the Angelic Knights were yelling violent accusations as they began seriously splashing water at him. Having said that, nobody was wearing Anointed Armor or anything, so none of it possessed enough power to even draw blood. Nevertheless, with enough of them doing it, it was at least hard for him to breathe. And just then, something like a light got mixed in with the water.
“Hey assholes! Who the hell threw a blade at me!?”
“Huh? I did. What of it?”
Kuroka replied to the accusation completely calmly, leaving even all the other Angelic Knights speechless.
Zagan gazed on their tomfoolery, when...
“Hm...? Uh, hmmmm?”
Zagan’s face stiffened up.
Huh? Ummm, one, two, three...
Zagan began counting everyone who was present as if doubting his own sanity. Barbatos ended up joining them, so there should have been thirteen people present on this uninhabited island. That was the case, but...
There’s fourteen of us...?
For some reason there was one extra Angelic Knight splashing water at Barbatos. He could tell at a glance that they were new. It was only natural since Zagan knew the faces of everyone he was close to, including the Angelic Knights.
More importantly, what’s ‘that?’
In any case, with their sudden new intruder, Zagan understood that his vacation wouldn’t end peacefully.
Chapter III: All Sorcerers Have Communication Disorders, but Apparently Angelic Knights Are in the Same Boat
Chastille had brought along three regular Angelic Knights including Richard. And before anyone knew it, there was one more than before. Honestly speaking, Zagan didn’t really remember the faces of any of the Angelic Knights, but nevertheless, there was suddenly an intruder on the uninhabited island.
That in itself was certainly a problem, but what baffled Zagan was that the intruder showed no signs of trying to hide himself. All Angelic Knights were different in their own way, but this one here was clearly quite frivolous.
I mean, we didn’t bring a geezer like that over.
He looked to be in his late thirties. He had many old scars carved into both his arms, and his physique was just a little larger than the other Angelic Knights who were here. Just this much showed that he had been through a fair amount of carnage. It was likely that he was several levels above Richard and the others, or perhaps even beyond Chastille and Raphael in skill.
He was a man who was not supposed to show any negligence, but... for some reason, he was the only Angelic Knight here wearing Anointed Armor. Even from a distance, one could see that sand was getting into all the gaps and was probably quite the irritant.
Moreover, he was standing around in this heat in the middle of the ocean, the ocean water was surely evaporating inside his armor and making quite the smell. The fact that he ignored all this and was having fun splashing water around with the other Angelic Knights made Zagan just want to punch him. As for an even more baffling point than all of the above...
The hell is he even doing...?
It was a face that Zagan recognized. And he was snickering at Zagan saying that he wanted him to quip with a “What the hell are you doing here!?” even as he splashed water on Barbatos. Such was the case, but Zagan simply looked annoyed and didn’t say anything.
There was no mistaking that this was someone he knew, but he didn’t want to get involved. And eventually, Chastille finally noticed the abnormality and completely stiffened up.
“Huh...? What? Why...?”
“What’s the matter, Lady Chastille?” the new Angelic Knight replied, feigning ignorance.
“‘What’s the matter’? Why are you even here, Lord Michael!?”
The man looked relieved from the bottom of his heart upon hearing that.
“Hngh... As one would expect of the sole woman among the Archangels! Thanks! I’ve been waiting for someone to say that!”
The fully grown man was nodding his head repeatedly while huffing out his nose. And with that, everyone noticed he was there. The other Angelic Knights all looked startled, and Barbatos and Gremory surrounded him with a keen wariness—though it wasn’t clear whether this was because he was an intruder, or whether it was because of his stuffy looking Anointed Armor.
“Who the hell are you? You’re not just some ordinary asshole right?”
“Do be careful, Purgatory. Even I couldn’t tell when this fellow showed up... Well, I can’t even tell the difference between stuffy looking men who don’t deserve any love to begin with though.”
“Hey, the fomorian sorcerer over there, aren’t you being a bit cruel?” the man replied in a pitiful voice, as he then turned to face Zagan. “Or rather, come on Archdemon. You noticed me a good while ago, so why did you just ignore me?”
“Why the hell do I have to play along with your stupid little game of trying to get some attention...?” Zagan declared with even an air of hostility about him, to which the man raised both hands as if surrendering.
“Whoa now, I’m not so dumb that I’d come to pick a fight barehanded with an Archdemon you know?”
“Hmm. Barehanded... huh?”
The man had a sword dangling at his waist. This likely wasn’t just some regular sword. And regardless of this fact, Zagan had a thought as to why this man would claim to be unarmed.
The man then stuck his hand into a gap in his Anointed Armor.
“Yup, barehanded, unarmed. All I got on me is this lovely little... huh?”
He pulled out a tin box from his chest pocket, likely a box of tobacco. The moment he pulled it out though, water flowed out of it. Tobacco was a plant grown in a specific region that was rolled up into a leaf and burned as a stimulant to be inhaled. Unlike a pipe, these were disposed of after each use. Zagan had never smoked himself, but the stuff had only begun circulating in markets in the last few decades and was quite expensive.
“Nooo... they were so expensive...”
The man wailed in grief and looked like he would collapse right there, but he then noticed the gazes filled with contempt around him. He let out a whistle and regained his composure.
“Anyways, don’t get so pissed here. The fact that I’m here is... well, an accident.”
“...An accident?”
As Zagan pressured him and even unleashed his mana, the man let out a laugh and tapped the sword at his waist.
“Before that, I need to introduce myself. I’m Michael Diekmeyer—just as you can see, I’m one of the Archangels. Nice to meet you, Archdemon Zagan.”
He put emphasis on this being their first meeting, and Zagan folded his arms.
Is he telling me to match his story?
Zagan frankly had no obligation to play along with him, but...
“I see. I’ve heard that name before. Archangel Michael Diekmeyer. If I recall, you’re Zachariel’s wielder?”
The pairing of Archangels and the names of their Sacred Swords was something Zagan heard from Raphael. He then carefully made one more addendum.
“Also, setting aside Chief Archangel Ginias Galahad, you’re also referred to as the Strongest Archangel.”
“Haha, how flattering. I’m honored to be recognized by an Archdem— whoa there.”
A dull thud tore the air apart. The sand between Michael and Zagan burst and smalls screams could be heard here and there.
“Hey now, no need to be such a bully. Most humans will straight up die from a punch from an Archdemon you know?”
“...Hm, seems like that Sacred Sword is the real deal.”
Michael suddenly had a greatsword in hand, a Sacred Sword. Zagan had driven in his fist without any warning at all, and Michael repelled it with his Sacred Sword. Zagan had put the same amount of power in his fist that he would usually hit Barb
atos with. Any plain sword would have shattered from it. Seeing that Michael’s sword didn’t break, it was a real Sacred Sword. There were several people present who understood all that at a glance. Barbatos, who usually received that punch to the face, even had sweat going down his brow as he groaned.
“Hey, that guy just repelled Zagan’s fist?”
And he did so easily without making any preparations at all. It was questionable whether ‘work mode’ Chastille could even do so. It gave a glimpse at just why this man was called the strongest. And at this point, Chastille cut in between them.
“Stop! Please wait Zagan. This is certainly Archangel Michael himself. Moreover, even though he isn’t part of the Unification Faction, he isn’t part of the Warring Faction either... how do I put it, he’s in a clique sitting cleanly in the middle. He’s not an enemy.”
“Hmmm...?”
At the very least, he was trustworthy enough for Chastille to make that declaration. She then turned to face Michael.
“Lord Michael, could you please explain what exactly you are doing here?”
“Huh? Seriously? Didn’t they contact you? I was dispatched here to support you!”
Chastille put her palm to her head.
“So the reinforcements... referred to you...?”
“Damn straight. Those cardinal geezers said I should put in some work once in a while.”
“...Well, I understand that you came to support me, but why are you on this island? How did you get here?”
This was the part that Zagan didn’t get either. And as everyone glared at him, Michael’s shoulders drooped in a crestfallen manner.
“Why? That’s what I wanna ask here. There wasn’t even a storm or anything, but a huge wave suddenly sank my ship, and I barely escaped with my life and got washed up here. Why are all of you here? Did you also get shipwrecked?”
Everyone averted their gaze from his sorrowful complaint.
Did this guy get caught in the Archwhale’s wave?
This man liked to play the dunce so much that it was hard to tell how serious he was. Michael gazed out at the sea in grief as he retold his tale.
“By the time I came to, I was on this island, and as a bonus, I saw all of you having a blast. So I thought maybe I’d start by just joining in on the fun...”
“Just joining in... You just said your ship sank, what about your subordinates and the sailors?”
“Aah, no need to worry ’bout that. I was the only crew. My budget was too small to hire a boat with an actual crew.”
“So you came alone?”
Even Chastille found this rather suspicious. However, the person in question just let out a bold laugh.
“Well yeah. You’re getting mixed up in incidents with an Archdemon and a dragon that even the Archangels can’t do nothing about right? Like hell are we bringing civilians or my subordinates, who all have such bright futures, along.”
The old man winked in a playful manner, leaving Zagan to sigh in a disconcerted manner.
“That’s some confidence you’ve got.”
The man spoke out of concern for his comrades, and despite declaring that all the other Archangels would just get in the way, he was basically declaring that he would be fine on his own. Zagan then pointed to the opposite end of the beach.
“Then go to Atlastia. We’re in the middle of enjoying a vacation.”
Zagan made no effort to hide his displeasure, and Michael shrugged his shoulders.
“Oh come on, nobody will be bothered if you just shelter this poor, shipwrecked old man for just a bit, right?”
“It bothers me. Get lost already.”
There’s no way Nephy and the others could relax with such a strange old man hanging around. Zagan’s words were now even filled with killing intent, leaving Michael to just nod back reluctantly.
“Fine, fine. I get it. Work is work... Well, it’s a little weird of me to ask this, but... I’ve got a request.”
“...What?”
Michael looked greatly perplexed, then pointed to the sea with both his index fingers.
“A small one’s fine, but do you got a boat I can borrow?”
“...”
Zagan held back his urge to just tell Michael to swim and let out a sigh.
“Hey Lilith. Wake up already.”
Lilith was still unconscious on the beach despite all the uproar going on. Gremory and the others were at least nursing her, so there wasn’t any risk to her life. Upon being called to by Zagan, she finally woke up and shook off her head.
“Uugh...? W-Wake up...? Huh? Who’s this?”
Lilith was still half-awake trying to get to grips with what was going on, as Zagan just arbitrarily gave her orders.
“He’s just a victim. We’re sending him away, so lend him a boat.”
“The boats we used earlier were all we had, though.”
Zagan looked at the scattered pieces of wood spread across the beach. Even with sorcery it would be difficult to restore them into a usable shape with all the missing pieces out there. The sorcerers gathered here didn’t really specialize in such sorcery too. With this, it looked like the fishing contest ended in a draw.
“It can’t be helped. Lend him the boat we used to get here... huh?”
Zagan turned to look at the wharf, but the boat that was supposed to be there had vanished. It wasn’t all that big, but it was enough to fit a dozen people and store plenty of food and luggage.
No way, did it get swept away by that wave?
Lilith scrubbed her eyes like she couldn’t believe the reality before her, then turned completely pale. She then stiffly turned towards Zagan.
“Um, Your Highness, how’re we supposed to get back?”
And so, their fun vacation transformed into a life of survival on an uninhabited island.
◇
Anyways, are these guys alright?
Zagan was secretly following behind Lilith and Kuroka. Behind him was Nephy, Nephteros, and Foll. Fortunately, because they were in a forest, there were no signs that they had been noticed yet. It was possible that Kuroka could sense them, but with all the wildlife in the forest it would be difficult. She might have a sense of something being out of place, but it wouldn’t be clear what it was. The two of them didn’t show any particular signs of awkwardness about them.
This might have been fairly natural since Zagan didn’t notice anything awkward about Kuroka until Gremory pointed it out. He had no clue at all what Kuroka was worried about.
The matter with Raphael should have already been resolved...
However, people had many worries over the course of their lives. Zagan groaned over this fact as Nephy muttered to him curiously.
“Master Zagan, did something happen between Miss Lilith and Miss Kuroka?”
“I don’t know either, but according to Gremory, Kuroka is worried about something. And that’s been weighing on Lilith’s mind.”
Nephteros came to an understanding and nodded in return.
“Now that I think of it, that girl always keeps a step back from those around her.”
“Hmm... It’s not like she’s dragging out her original dispute with Chastille right?”
“I wonder... There are times she treats Chastille like a stranger too, so it isn’t entirely out of the question...”
“...Seriously. Why do I have to keep a watch over all this crap...”
“Isn’t this just the same as usual for you, Big Bro?”
“....”
Zagan was left stumped that even his sister-in-law saw him in that light. Foll then muttered out upon suddenly remembering something.
“That tabaxi girl was scared of touching Zagan’s face.”
It happened when they were reunited in Atlastia. Since Zagan had turned into a child due to the curse, he made her touch his face so that things could be explained more quickly, but Kuroka seemed to be abnormally flustered by that act.
“You’re right... But what does that mean?”
&nb
sp; Zagan did in fact get stabbed by her quite seriously when he came to stop her rampage. It was possible that she had feelings of guilt over that. Zagan racked his brain over what it could possibly be as Nephy continued to pry into it as well.
“That girl was part of an assassination group called Azazel, right?”
“Yeah. She uses a Holy Treasure and can fight on level with Chastille. So you can almost call her a thirteenth wielder of a Sacred Sword.”
Zagan answered, and Nephy put her hand to her chest as she nodded.
“Then, I feel like I understand,” Nephy said, then continued as if confessing her own crimes, “Isn’t this because she killed someone completely out of malice?”
Zagan’s eyes shot open.
Nephy once worried about how she had allowed her entire village to be massacred.
She no longer displayed such worries outwardly, but there was surely no way she had forgotten about it.
“Revenge feels great the moment it happens. But after that, it brings up an extreme sense of self-hate. ‘Aah, I’ve dirtied my own hands... is it fine for me to make Master Zagan’s meals with such hands?’ Even I have had such worries before.”
With that, Zagan finally came to an understanding as well.
“My hands... are dirty... so touching someone’s face is a little...”
There was no way she didn’t kill any sorcerers during her tenure as a church assassin. Her hands had murdered others out of hatred, so she was scared of touching others with them.
You can’t even tell what people’s faces are like if you don’t touch them, right...?
Even Zagan knew that the blind could perceive the faces of others by using the sense of touch in their fingers. And yet, this girl cast away that means of doing so due to feelings of guilt. There was surely nothing more uneasy than interacting with others whose faces were a complete mystery to her.
“...What a foolish girl. There isn’t anyone around you that would even care about that...” Nephteros added.
Chastille was the one to take her in. Just who would blame her for the sins of an assassin?
“Seriously, it’s completely foolish. There’s no point in caring about the life and death of complete strangers.”
Zagan had killed plenty of people too. That was precisely the kind of people sorcerers were to begin with. Even now, Zagan would kill anyone who got in his way as if it were nothing. He only held it back a little because he felt like Nephy would be disgusted with him if he just went about meaninglessly slaughtering people. There was also the fact that lately it was more convenient to let them all live to fulfill his goals.
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 7 (Premium) Page 8
