Every Morning, My Mirror Saves the World - Chapter 54

“Aaaaaah—!”

At dawn, two equally terrified screams rang through Juvina’s castle.

Galahad clutched a frilly lace quilt to his chest with both hands twisted into an impossible pose, desperately wishing he could squeeze his entire body beneath the doll-like bedding. His head still throbbed from his hangover, and the naked state of his little brother nearly sent him into a complete breakdown.

Across from him, Vigia had somehow managed to perform the same pose with even greater contortion and despair.

“Waaaah, what did you do to Lord Vigia?! This is too much! How could you do such a thing to a lady?! Y-you… Why did my first time have to be with an idiot like you?! I can’t bear it, waaaah…”

The storm of accusations emptied Galahad’s mind. He struggled to remember the previous night—sword practice, dinner, drinking with his dragon, going to sleep…

Wait. Something about that seemed wrong…

“You’re too damn loud.”

A hoarse voice broke the standoff. Ruiyin appeared in the doorway wrapped in a rumpled cloak, yawning, with the foul low-blood-pressure expression of someone who had not gotten enough sleep.

“Ruiyin QAQ!” Galahad tumbled out of bed as though he had seen his savior. Halfway over, he remembered the She-Demon’s foul temper, rolled back to wrap a pillowcase around his butt, then rolled over again. “What happened last night?!”

“Last night?” Ruiyin tilted her head, thinking. “I believe you two went drinking at a tavern, and then I had to put in a great deal of effort to drag you back.”

“And then?”

“And then you ended up like this.” Ruiyin spread her hands.

Galahad’s rigid gaze ticked back toward his bedmate one notch at a time.

Their eyes met.

Vigia turned away and covered his face. “Waaaaah…”

Ruiyin helpfully added, “By the way, I didn’t do anything. Carrying you back from the tavern was enough work already. You two should know perfectly well what you did afterward.”

“…What could I possibly have done?!” Galahad broke down. “Even if I did do something, all that means is we slept with each other! That makes me a victim too! And more importantly—”

He pointed furiously at Vigia.

“What the hell could I do to a ball, you bastard?!”

The pink ball, who could not maintain human form while drunk, rolled across the bed, taking the rest of the quilt with him. Covering his face, Vigia sobbed accusingly. “See? See! This man is still shirking responsibility!”

Ruiyin yawned and glanced at the time in boredom. “I only came to tell you that yesterday’s meeting abruptly decided to hold the departure rally today. Galahad, didn’t you sign a suicide-squad contract with Juvina? You have seven minutes left. In seven minutes—Mordova?”

The Black Knight appeared silently behind her like a shadow. “Present.”

“Tell Tio there’s a delicious young knight waiting here for her enjoyment. The wrapper has already been completely removed.”

“Yes,” the Black Knight agreed at once.

Ruiyin gave the petrified little dragon-men on the bed a lazy wave. “Goodbye.”

Then she turned and left, thoughtfully closing the door on the still-censored pair.

Rubbing her tired eyes, Ruiyin swayed along a sunlit open-air corridor. The Black Knight followed quietly behind her. A long time passed before he broke the silence.

“My liege, were you taking revenge on those two just now?”

“Correct,” Ruiyin admitted without hesitation. “They dared take Lars drinking at a place like that, and I had to drag all three of them back afterward. Hmph. Idiots who never understand the situation. What, did I ruin your image of your liege?”

She automatically ignored the fact that Galahad had not actually brought Lars there.

“No, you did not,” the Black Knight said gravely. “If revenge is your aim, I know many methods that would leave them alive yet subject them to extreme agony. Countless dark creatures in the Abyssal Demon Realm can be summoned specifically for torture. If those prove unsatisfactory, I could also afflict them with curses and virulent poison spells—”

“…Thank you, but no.”

Ever since the accidental summoning the previous night, the Black Knight had followed her everywhere. Even when Ruiyin furiously denounced him as a “perverted stalker,” he merely followed from slightly farther away.

His towering black figure made a futile attempt to hide behind a pillar thirty feet back. He looked both valiant and desolate…

“The army is fully equipped and ready to depart. Juvina supplied all their gear. The Dark Elves have been divided up and integrated into the mage and assassination teams. Humans still distrust them, but for the moment it doesn’t appear likely to become a threat. How are things on Tio’s end?” Ruiyin asked as she walked.

“Last night, I discovered her preparing to steal back her Soul Crystal. She had also secretly undone half the binding knot. I have retied it and added a permanent, irreversible death curse,” the Black Knight answered instantly. The thirty-foot gulf between them did nothing to diminish his volume.

“An unreliable ally, just as expected.” Ruiyin snorted. “Juvina’s documents are ready as well. Yesterday’s report from the front said the Orcs had already entered the Sunan Empire’s borderlands. It appears they’ll have to depart very soon.”

“Yes.” The Black Knight immediately picked up the report. He raised one hand and conjured a three-dimensional map in midair across the thirty-foot galaxy separating them. “To be precise, the border forces can no longer withstand the Orc assault. The berserk Orcs personally commanded by Kandaru have already reached the edge of the Thread of Life.”

“I see. Then what happens next will depend on Lars.” Ruiyin nodded, then abruptly stopped. “Oh, Mordova. Come over here.”

“Yes.”

The Black Knight instantly appeared before her from thirty feet away. Behind him, Ruiyin could almost see an enormous tail made of black smoke wagging furiously.

“Could you take off your pants and let me look?” Ruiyin asked, turning toward him.

The imaginary tail froze.

Then a roaring cloud of black smoke erupted from inside his armor.

The towering pillar of smoke made Ruiyin realize the problem with her phrasing. She hurriedly corrected herself. “I mean, let me see your leg. When you appeared last night, you definitely had legs, right?”

The Black Knight fell silent for a moment. Then he reached down and snapped open one plate over his knee. Ruiyin saw only a flash of flesh-colored skin before he immediately fastened it shut again.

“So you really do…” Ruiyin tapped her chin. “When I saw you last time, there was clearly nothing there. In that case, is it possible for your entire body to return to its original state?”

After some hesitation, the Black Knight slowly nodded.

“Lars said you committed the ultimate evil, which is why you became like this after death. Your soul was condemned to sink forever into the Abyss of Nothingness and burn eternally in the fires of purgatory. Forget recovering your living form—manifesting physically in the mortal world should have been impossible.

“Yet here you are. Is it because the God of Darkness receives different treatment from humans? Or…”

Ruiyin’s fingers lightly stroked the dagger hidden in her sleeve. Her gaze at the Black Knight turned as cold as a blade in snow.

“Are you not the God of Darkness at all? Mordova, tell me. Who exactly are you, and why are you following me?”

Listening to Tio and the Black Knight talk the previous night had done nothing to help Ruiyin understand the current situation. Once the two confirmed neither intended to fight, they did nothing but trade sarcasm and verbal thrusts. Ruiyin could tell they had once been close, but beyond that, she still knew nothing about what had happened two hundred years ago.

Between her fingers, she held the crystal Juvina had given her, which could summon the holy-light mage corps. She watched the Black Knight closely.

She waited a long time, yet he merely stood there without moving.

“I am… Mordova. Dark God Seres, who started the war two hundred years ago. I preside over deception, destruction, and conspiracy. So long as war and deceit remain in the world, I will continue to exist.”

The Black Knight regarded Ruiyin.

“As for why I follow you… is that important? I will become your strongest shield and sharpest blade. I can bring you endless wealth and glory. Countless humans have wished to sign a pact with me. I can grant your every desire. Why concern yourself with a reason so insignificant?”

Ruiyin thought for a moment, then answered decisively, “No. I never trust loyalty without a reason. Compared to feelings with no foundation, I’d rather trust my own strength—even if that strength is pitifully weak.”

“I see,” the Black Knight murmured softly. “Is that how you regard Lars as well?”

Ruiyin hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”

They stared each other down, the air between them taut as drawn swords. Neither had any intention of looking away first. Wind howled through the corridor.

At last, the Black Knight lowered his head slightly. His voice was grim.

“…Seven minutes have passed.”

“…”

“They still haven’t finished dressing or come out.”

Ruiyin abandoned their battle of gazes and turned to leave.

“My liege, are you…”

“Going to the departure rally.” Ruiyin looked coldly over her shoulder. “Tio is there.”

“…”

The departure rally was held in the Sunan Empire’s arena.

The world-famous structure had been built entirely from ocher sandstone. Its rough, granular surface was extraordinarily durable and could withstand magical impacts below the seventh tier. Eternal levitation crystals held its octagonal stands suspended in midair.

Over the centuries, countless heroes had emerged from this place. Some climbed to the very pinnacle of glory.

Far more left nothing behind at all.

The instant Ruiyin pushed open the door, she saw a black-haired young man duck beneath a blond man’s attack. He drove a fist hard into his opponent’s stomach, caught the man’s arm with one hand, used his momentum to swing him over his shoulder, and slammed him savagely to the ground like a wild beast.

The explosive cheers nearly deafened her.

Every spectator on the floating stands was on their feet, roaring with excitement. A soundproofing spell covered the entire arena. From outside, Ruiyin could never have imagined the scene within.

“What’s going on?” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

“The Pact Trial. Entertainment for the rally,” the Black Knight said beside her. His voice was not loud, yet she heard every word clearly. “It has been a traditional event for centuries. It appears they have found a new hero.”

Ruiyin shoved her way through the surging crowd. From the spectators’ shouts around her, she pieced together the situation.

The so-called Pact Trial was essentially an exhibition match held before departure. The rally’s organizers ran it as a battle royale: any competitor below could enter the ring for a group assault. Whoever remained standing at the end became everyone’s hero.

That glorious stage now had a new master.

Someone hauled the shirtless blond man into the air. He spat blood from his battered mouth and glared sidelong at the young man whose long black hair remained perfectly tied.

“You didn’t even remove your weighted armor… Are you looking down on me?”

The black-haired youth’s emerald eyes were as still as two stones sunk in a deep pool. His expression remained calm and remote.

“No. There simply wasn’t any need.”

The man laughed coarsely. “Arrogant little bastard. You’re nothing but a wet-behind-the-ears brat. What gives you the right to stand there? ‘War God’s Envoy’ is a load of bullshit. Without that empty title, you’re nothing!”

“What gives me the right…?”

The young man narrowed his eyes. His expression turned frigid in an instant.

“I joined the knight order at eight. I began training in Gloomwood at ten. I fought in my first war at twelve. Until I turned nineteen, my life contained nothing but training.

“I spent three full years practicing a single sword stroke. I crossed the Venomwolf Wastes alone and killed seven hundred and twenty magical beasts. I don’t chase women. I don’t gamble. I don’t drink myself senseless. I spend the time you waste provoking people on beating them down.

“You ask what gives me the right to stand here? I defeated every last one of you. I am Deputy Commander of this alliance. I stand here now, and you do not.”

The young man lifted him high overhead with one hand. After a brief pause, he hurled the final opponent from the ring without hesitation.

“And most importantly—because I have something I want to protect more than any of you do.”

At some point, the enormous arena had fallen completely silent. The black-haired young man swept a cold gaze over the crowd.

“And what gives *you* the right to stand here? Why don’t you tell the Orcs what I have? Tell them every inch of this land belongs to us. Tell them to crawl back where they came from. Tell them they won’t take so much as a single grain of sand!”

“Lars…”

No one knew who shouted his name first. Gradually, it infected everyone. Like an exceptionally contagious virus, it swept through the entire arena until the place erupted.

Every spectator stood. They shouted in excitement and roared with wild abandon.

The name that had once belonged to an idiot in Ruiyin’s memory now thundered across this stage of heroes.

“Lars! Lars!”

Everyone cheered and leaped.

Only Ruiyin and the Black Knight remained in the same shadowed corner where they had entered, silently watching his performance.

“Did you teach him this as well?” the Black Knight asked quietly.

“No.” Ruiyin stood with her arms folded, gazing at the man surrounded by the crowd. “So you see, he was always destined to stand there. No one can stop him.”

The Black Knight started to say something, but a shrill whistle cut him off.

Everyone in the arena looked up in shock at the vivid red flare that had abruptly appeared in the western sky.

“The border alarm.” Ruiyin’s expression changed. She whipped the dagger from her sleeve, shoved open the door, and rushed outside.

“It looks like… the Orcs have broken through the Thread of Life.”

Author’s Note: