Volume 7, Chapter 12 “Liar”
Volume 7, Chapter 12 “Liar”
Part 1
When Lelia woke up, she found herself in the place where the sacred tree had been.
There was only a huge stump left now, but Lelia was on it.
A young tree stood by Lelia’s side as if to protect her, swaying in the wind.
Lying on her back, Lelia looked up at the sky.
It was dawn before she knew it.
When she raised her upper body, there was no one by her side.
“Aneki? Emile?”
She looked at the back of her right hand and saw the crest of a priestess there.
Tears welled up in Lelia’s eyes as she realized that what she had been through was not a dream.
“Ahaha ―― Ahaha! Everybody is gone. An important person, when I realized, all of them are gone. Why am I――Does my second life fail?”
She laughs, then starts to cry.
She had just realized what was important to her, but she lost everything and was left with nothing but sadness.
.
Part 2
[Arroganz has little energy left. The joints are at their limits. It is recommended that you replenish and maintain them immediately.]
“I’ll finish it first”
Arroganz’s joints screamed, with little energy left and an alarm ringing.
I saw the shining crest on my right hand and held it with my left.
“Noelle, did you manage to save Lelia?”
Following the voice I heard, I sent Noelle into the sacred tree.
After that, the sacred tree cracked, and the red fluid that flowed out crystallized and turned into magic stone when it touched the ground.
Crystals of magic stones are spreading all over the area.
Emile’s presence disappeared from the sacred tree, and only Ideal remained.
The sacred tree, which bleeds every time it moves its body, extends its tentacles toward Arroganz.
[Luxion! Leon! Only you guuuys!]
As the sacred tree using Ideal’s electronic voice closed in on the Arroganz, three armors rushed to the scene.
Chris’s blue armor sliced through the tentacles, while Brad’s purple armor manipulated the drones to shoot down the tentacles.
Greg rushed over to Arroganz, he was worried about me.
“Bartfalt, are you okay!”
“You’re late, idiots”
“If you can say that, you’re fine!”
“What happened to Jilk and Loic? And what about the masked idiot bastard?”
“They’ve been busy rescuing people. We’ve rushed over here to help you.”
It seems that the five idiots and my friends have defeated the monsters.
I’ll give them an extra reward later.
“Then all that’s left is the sacred tree.”
“Can you do it?”
“I’ll do it!”
When Arroganz held up the greatsword, the light surrounded it and extended the blade. Wide and long, the great sword was many times the size of Arroganz’s.
Luxion sends me some advice.
[Cut the head in two. Then this will be the final blow.]
One-shot game.
Facing the approaching giant sacred tree, Arroganz, standing on the ground, lifted the greatsword in a large stance ーー and swung it straight down.
The light that followed the path of the sword and spread out was like an open fan.
As the light passed through the sacred tree, there was a momentary delay before a line cut through the tree. From there, the sacred tree slowly split into two and fell to the left and right, spewing red fluids.
The spattering of bodily fluids crystallized in the air and became magic stones, glittering as they rained down.
I heard many sounds like pebbles hitting the armor, and I was deeply relieved when I saw the sacred tree not regenerating.
“It’s over, right?”
[Yes. It was fortunate that Emile was weakened by the separation. Worst of all, we didn’t have to blow up the entire Republic with our main guns at maximum power.]
“You’re a really scary guy.”
However, something jumped out from the wreckage of the fallen sacred tree.
[Master, it’s Ideal!]
The Ideal sphere sub unit that Luxion had found was flying dazedly, trying to escape.
“You can’t get away!”
Arroganz’s joints screamed and the left arm flailed as it let go of the greatsword and flew. As I caught up with Ideal, Arroganz clenched its right hand and caught Ideal forcefully.
“I won’t let you go!”
[More than that, Master has something else to do.]
I looked up and saw Luxion coming up in the sky.
[Master, Noelle is nearing her limit]
.
Part 3
I hurriedly landed on the main body of Luxion and headed for the medical office with a dizzy body.
Luxion’s sub unit machine, which followed me, caught the captured Ideal in his net and dragged him away.
Ideal still seems to be alive, but he doesn’t say anything.
The medical room we were looking for came into view. Waiting in front of the room was ―― Marie, who was sitting down, and Cara and Kyle, who were supporting her by her side.
Looking at me, Marie is crying.
“I told you to hurry, didn’t I!”
“My bad”
When I entered the room, there were a lot of people around the bed.
The injured Clement-sensei is also there with a bandaged body.
Alberg-san and Louise noticed me and made space for me.
As I approached, Ange and Livia looked at me and spoke to Noelle.
“Noelle, Leon is here”
“Open your eyes, Noelle-san”
Ange looked sad, and Livia had tears in her eyes.
And ―― Yumeria-san, who hugged Sapling-chan, is shedding tears.
“Leon-sama, Noelle-san is”
As I approached the bed and rolled my upper body down to peer at Noelle, my crest reacted and glowed.
Noelle’s right hand shines too, and I hold with my right hand.
Noelle slowly opened her eyes, but it was quite weak.
Various machines and tubes were attached to Noelle’s body, and it was somehow maintaining her life.
Creare explained the situation to me apologetically.
[I did everything I could. If only we had treated her a little sooner ―― No, she was shot in the vitals in the first place, so it’s a miracle she didn’t die instantly.]
“Noelle is really strong”
I touched Noelle’s cheek with my left hand and she looked a little happy.
Noelle talks to me.
“Leon, you know. I know it’s not fair, but I need to ask you now.”
“What?”
Noelle, breathing painfully, stares into my eyes.
“I like you, Leon. I love you.”
Noelle bursts into tears when I remain silent.
“You don’t like it, right. I’m falling head over heels with someone who already has a partner. But you know what, I still like you, and I really wanted to tell you.”
As I was holding Noelle’s crying right hand, I heard a voice from behind me.
It’s Ideal.
[I will never forgive you. You’re the only ones who ever will――It was a hope. The sacred tree was our hope. You who defeated it without knowing anything about it, should know what you have done. The unbelievable fools]
[Shut up. I’ll destroy you.]
Luxion sent an electric shock to Ideal, but still did not stop speaking.
[Perish, you descendants of the new humans! You should never have existed! The AI that doesn’t understand that is just as guilty. How much do you think we have made a sacrifice!]
Creare was complaining to Luxion, [Get him out of here].
Noelle looks at my face painfully.
“Leon, please tell me the answer. You don’t say anything is painful for me. I don’t want to die like this.”
As Noelle waits for an answer to her confession, I―― tell her that I love her.
“I love you too. Come with me, Noelle.”
Noelle laughed. She smiled ―― and said to me.
“Liar”
.
Part 4
Ideal listened to Noelle’s words as he was trapped in the net.
“Liar――Leon is a liar”
[――Eh?]
The voice was very nostalgic. A memory folder that he cherishes was replayed, bringing back memories of that time.
He should have remembered, but Ideal didn’t realize it until just now.
Noelle overlaps with a certain person, who is dying.
There was an elf woman on the side, hugging the saplings with great care.
[Second lieutenant,――Yume?]
He forgot his hatred in the sight in front of him.
And when Noelle calls him a liar, Leon makes a smile and speaks happily to Noelle. His voice is trembling slightly, as if he is trying to hold back from crying.
“Lie? I’m an honest man, I would never lie to you. Noelle knows that, right?”
“It’s a lie, because Leon has Angelica-san and ―― Olivia-san. If you tell me that you love me here, they’ll be angry with you later.”
Noelle was in pain, but she was enjoying the last conversation.
Leon’s lie seemed to make her happy and sad at the same time.
[I-I am――I am――]
The people around him did not notice that Ideal was acting strangely.
He is watching over Leon and Noelle.
“I’m not lying. I love Noelle. ――You’re the third, though.”
“Third? Haha, I have really fallen for a horrible guy.”
“I’ll always keep the third seat for you.”
“――Well, I guess that’s good. I am satisfied with that for now. I wish I had met Leon earlier. Maybe then I would have been the first.”
Leon was laughing, but shedding tears.
“I’m sure it is. If I’d met you sooner, I’d have hit on you myself.”
“That’s a lie, too, isn’t it? But I’m happy.”
Noelle draws her last breath as if she were asleep.
Leon pressed his forehead against Noelle’s right hand.
[――Aa, I wish I could have sent her like this.]
As Ideal regained much of his composure, the sapling of the sacred tree that Yumeria was holding began to shine strongly.
It was trying to save its own priestess by cutting off its life to protect her.
Creare begins to fuss.
[Noelle’s heart is beating!]
“Can you save her? If so, I don’t care what you have to do. You must save her!”
Ange squeezed Claire, but it was still useless.
The sapling of the sacred tree began to wither, and Yumeria cried.
“This child will wither. They’re both going to die.”
The life that had been restored is about to disappear.
Ideal saw this and made an offer to Luxion.
[Luxion, I’m giving you the data now. We have something in the hidden facility that is more powerful than the medical capsule here. If you use it, you’ll be able to make it just in time.]
Ideal tells Luxion where he keeps the important medical capsule he had prepared.
Luxion could not believe Ideal’s change of heart.
[Why are you telling us this? We’re supposed to be your enemies, aren’t we?]
[It doesn’t matter. I’m ―― going ―― to stop ―― functioning. The rest is ―― up to you ――]
Just before it stopped functioning, Ideal thought.
(I’m sorry, everyone. I failed to fulfill my promise. After all, I was still a liar. I’m really ―― I’m sorry. My apologies.)
.
Part 5
The high-performance medical capsule that Ideal had carefully stored was more powerful than the one that had been loaded onto Luxion.
The technology used was more advanced than what was available at the time, and according to Luxion――”Ideal developed it over a long period of time.”
We don’t know why they needed those things, either.
But thanks to that, Noelle survived.
And in the evening ―― I had come to the site of the sacred tree.
What I found was Serge, who had been absorbed into the demonic armor.
Serge had been freed from Ideal’s control and had regained consciousness.
Alberg-san, Louise-san, and I are in front of Serge.
Serge was suffering.
“Help me, Dad! I’m your son! You always love Leon only!”
Most of his body was blown away, and it was strange that he was still alive.
When Louise-san turned away, Serge shouted.
“You’re not gonna look at me! I liked you! I liked you so much! Why did you choose Leon instead of me!”
When they saw Serge, they were in tears. Alberg-san seems determined to finish him off to help the changed Serge.
He picked up a gun.
“You’re gonna kill me? You’re gonna kill your son? I knew you didn’t love me! I wanted to be your son!”
Serge was saying all the things, but Alberg-san scolded him.
“When did I ever keep you away!”
” ―― Dad?”
With tears streaming down his face, Alberg-san said something to Serge that he had not been able to say before.
“I’ve always treated you as my son. And then you ran off on your own, thinking you were abandoned ―― Idiot.”
“Son? I am?”
When Serge stopped fussing, Louise-san wiped her tears and then looked at Serge.
“If you like me, you should have said so from the beginning. You were causing so much trouble, and we thought you hated us, so we distanced ourselves from you!”
“I-I don’t hate you”
“Look at father! He has no choice but to shoot you! He couldn’t leave it to anyone else――”
Seeing the two of them crying, Serge finally understood.
For the first time, he apologizes.
“Sorry――I’m sorry, Dad――Aneki“
Serge shed tears, but he could no longer return to human form.
Alberg-san tried to pull the trigger, I pushed him away and took the shotgun I had brought with me and pressed it against Serge’s forehead.
“What are you doing, Leon-kun!”
“Parents don’t have to shoot their kids. I, a stranger, will do it.”
Serge’s eyes widen, but then he looks relieved.
“I’m sorry. I got you in trouble, too.”
“If you’d just been honest about it, we wouldn’t be in this mess. You’re a real pain in the ass.”
“Haha, no doubt. ――Well, let me ask you one last time. What were you going to say to me at that time?”
What I almost said to Serge when he was still in human form.
“You were loved. I’m glad you could feel it at the end.”
“It was too late, though. I’ll leave the rest to you. It’s already impossible for me.”
Seeing that Serge had closed his eyes, I pulled the trigger.
Serge is blown up by the shotgun and bursts into pieces.
Alberg-san and Louise-san turned their heads away from me.