Chapter 275 - The Honor of the Ancestors
Notice regarding the Afterword
"Hey, Odoric. Hey, I'm talking to you."
I tried shaking his shoulder while calling his name, but the young Royal Knight showed no reaction whatsoever.
Slumped in the toilet stall, staring vacantly at the ceiling, he looked exactly like a living corpse.
If it wasn't just my imagination, even his pupils looked dilated.
I had no choice.
It was a drastic measure, but I decided to try letting him speak with Philia directly.
I pressed the smartphone against Odoric's ear and
"Try talking to her however you like,"
I prompted.
At that, Odoric suddenly regained his vitality, his eyes shining brilliantly as he shouted, "Philia-sama! My beloved Saint! The true noblewoman!"
Philia's reply was a cold one: 'Won't you please switch with Hero-dono?'
'Since you are being dispatched here, you must be a most renowned knight. However, what I need right now is the voice of Hero-dono.'
"Wh-why would you say such a thing... What did that man do to you!?"
'...'
"Did he do something you cannot speak of!?"
Philia began to confess in a moist voice.
'Hero-dono washed my body every single day... Using his fingers and his mouth, he purified my entire being. There is not a single place on my skin where Hero-dono's tongue has not crawled.'
I had a vague suspicion, but it seemed this woman derived a dark pleasure from telling a young man who was pining for her about the numerous debaucheries she had engaged in with me.
Or perhaps she intended it as a confession.
In this other world, there is a culture of confession. Following a loose sense of ethics where everything is fine as long as you confess your sins at the end, there was a possibility she was just recklessly spilling the facts. No, it wasn't just a possibility. It was definitely that. That's the kind of woman Philia is.
'Knight-san, please give up on me. I am already a captive of Hero-dono, in both body and soul. To be blunt, I can think of nothing but how I might be defiled by Hero-dono. Having been trained by Hero-dono's technique and masculinity, things like faith or patriotism have vanished without a trace. ...I will be blunt. Even if you approach me, it is nothing but a nuisance. This time we are spending talking is a waste. Hero-dono has over a dozen lovers, so the time he can spend talking to a single woman is extremely limited. If you understand, will you please quickly switch with Hero-dono? Since Hero-dono has gone to the trouble of calling, I wish to use his voice to masturbate.'
Out of mercy, I moved the smartphone away from Odoric's ear.
"Ah—hello, it's me?"
'Kei-kun!? Kei-kun! Come home quickly! Keiii-kun! My body is aching so much I can't stand it!'
I actually started to feel sorry for him, so I ended the call and turned back to the knight.
He looked as if he were almost dying, but he still seemed to be barely breathing.
...I don't like killing, but perhaps it might be better for this man if I just put him out of his misery all at once.
As I generated a Light Sword and was pondering at what angle I should cut to decapitate him without causing pain, the area outside the stall suddenly became noisy.
It seemed people had arrived.
But the voices were high-pitched.
Girls' voices—
"Found you."
With a squelch, Chloe's finger, and then her face, appeared.
She was likely hanging there, gripping the wall.
"This is the men's restroom, you know."
"It's fine, I cast a spell to clear the people away."
With a "Yo!" shout, the Homunculus girl leaped lightly into the stall.
"It's cramped with three people in here."
"What happened to Ange?"
"She's hovering indecisively in front of the entrance. It seems she's embarrassed to enter a men's restroom."
"So she actually has a side like that... No, if she's a virgin and a shrine maiden, it's a natural reaction."
On the contrary, my own daughter was so wild. I wonder who she takes after.
"So, how is it? Is the interrogation progressing?"
Chloe looked down at the broken man that was Odoric and waved her hand in front of her face.
"Amazing, he's almost a dead man... How did Lord Father drive him this far in such a short time?"
To Chloe, who spoke in a voice of wonder, I replied, "It's a trade secret."
"As expected of a veteran Hero, even his interrogation is professional...!"
Beside Chloe, whose eyes were shining as she thought how great Lord Father was, Odoric muttered.
"...What business does a mere doll have?"
"A doll?"
"You, you must be a Homunculus soldier."
"Hmm? Since I don't know your face, you must be acquainted with one of my sisters."
"I heard you were made from the semen of a Yellow Monkey and the Menstrual Blood of a female knight? Disgusting..."
"Yellow Monkey?"
"The man over there."
Odoric's gaze was directed at me.
"...Are you planning to call Lord Father a monkey?"
"Don't get heated," I said, soothing Chloe. This girl is scary. Her eyes suddenly turned into those of a killer.
"Hey, how much information could you pull out of this man?"
"Almost nothing. I should have made him taste the agonies of hell, but he refuses to talk at all. Rather than having a strong will, I'm starting to feel like he might not even know the details himself."
"...I see."
Chloe created a Light Sword—one with a shape identical to mine—in her right hand and thrust it toward the tip of Odoric's nose.
"Have you finished your report? I gather your mission is to scout Earth's military strength and report it to the Royal Palace."
Just as I was about to stop her, saying this man wouldn't say anything, Odoric opened his mouth.
"...I finished it yesterday."
I was startled and looked back at the man in front of me.
Does this guy actually answer interrogations if Chloe is the one doing it?
"What did you report?"
"That the people of Earth are scum, and that we can conquer them in three days. His Majesty will surely dispatch troops immediately."
Chloe raised an eyebrow and tilted her head suspiciously.
"...That can't be called an accurate report. In my estimation, if we were to engage in a head-on fight with this world's military, I believe both sides would suffer immense damage. Earth's science has already reached the level of magic. Surely even you must understand that deeply? Compare the trains that carried us, moving at the speed of the wind, to the Kingdom's carriages."
"So what? Doll."
"Why won't you convey accurate information?"
Odoric answered with a twisted cheek.
"That's to start a war."
"...Do you want a medal?"
"No. I simply hate this world—from the moment I first set foot on this land, it has been nothing but eerie."
"I think it's a good country, clean and developed."
"I cannot tolerate that. For a mere Yellow Monkey, to have a higher standard of living than us? It is something that should not be."
"...In other words, you can't stand that a different race... people of the same yellow race as Lord Father, possess a superior civilization, so you're going to give a false report and cause a war."
For a doll, you are quite quick to understand, Odoric sneered.
In an instant.
Chloe's right hand swung from a low position to a high one, slicing the man's face in two.
"Agah?"
Odoric's face, sliced down the middle, fell heavily to the floor.
"Hey, you didn't have to kill him!"
"He insulted my ancestor right before a warrior's eyes. It is the natural retribution."
With a thin smile, Chloe began to burn Odoric's corpse.
The magical flame was a temperature-less fire that did not burn any object other than the target. Surely, a similar flame was lit within the core of this girl.
Eventually, having finished the cleanup, Chloe placed her hand on her chest and spun around.
"Lord Father! I have slaughtered with these hands the fool who insulted you and your people! Everything was for your sake!"
Kneeling reverently in an archaic tone, she took my hand and kissed it.
"I have protected your honor... Lord Father, please, give me words of praise... Hey, praise me, pet me, Lord Father... Lord Father?"
Chloe looked up at my face anxiously.
"What's wrong, Lord Father? Are you depressed because a war is starting? It's okay, if they're enemies, I'll kill plenty of them. For your sake, I'll kill anyone. Even if they have the same face as me, I won't feel anything at all, you know? To me, anyone other than you is no different from a talking straw doll. So please rest easy. Because you have me by your side..."
An army consisting of thousands upon thousands of mass-produced daughters with the same mental structure as this one will eventually invade.
Feeling a sensation akin to dizziness, I stroked Chloe's head.
The daughter, making a spoiled voice like a kitten, looked so young that it was hard to believe she was a killer.
Thanks to you all, Volume 3 will be released on December 25th!
Also, the first volume of the manga adaptation has been decided for release around the same time!