Kuro no Maou

‘But I don’t about when I actually go into the battlefield and am about to die’–Simon said, half joking, half serious .

However, I clearly remember Simon revealing that he was afraid of wars when I visited him after he started theological school .

And so, I told him that it’s fine if he didn’t fight, it’s fine if he just made weapons . And he actually did end up making weapons . But even still, he plans on going to the battlefield with those weapons . Because I asked him so .

“Sorry, Simon . You can still—”

“I said it’s fine, didn’t I?”

Simon said softly with a smile, to not make me worry . His emerald eyes looked into mine .

“I will fight too . Even like this, I am still a man of Spada . Besides—”

Even while carrying sorrow and grief, his eyes shone with determination .

“I will take revenge for Sousse . ”

“… . . I see . ”

“Yes . ”

I have no reason to stop him anymore .

I don’t know if the 11th apostle will appear in this war but even still, it’s enough reason to fight against the crusaders .

“I understand . Then let’s beat the apostles together . ”

“Leave it to me, I am good at shooting . ”

Far from the front line where we will be fighting, Simon’s job is to shoot just once . That’s if Sariel really stands out .

Of course, even if the apostles don’t appear, fighting the large crusader army head to head is risky . There’s no absolute safety in the battlefield .

“But, even though I complained that much, there’s no mistaking that Sofi is a really strong ice mage so I think I will be fine . I am worried about you, brother, since you will be at the front line . ”

“It’s not like I am not scared, alright?”

Now that I am rank 5 adventurer, my strength is guaranteed . However, there’s no guarantee that I will not die just because I am strong . Rather, I will have to take risks befitting of that strength . And fighting the apostles would be the riskiest of it all .

And so, I too am scared of dying .

“But, I can’t not fight either . ”

There’s something I am even more scared of than dying . Something that I do not want to lose even if I die .

“Don’t be too reckless, alright?”

Having such carefree conversation with Simon like that, I spent the last peaceful night in Spada .

The preparations for the war are complete . I had also said my farewells to the people of Spada .

Finally, tomorrow, I—no, we, the Element Masters, will be heading out for Galahad fort .

Month of Gloom, day 9 . As if to bless us on our journey, the morning was splendidly sunny .

Under the clear blue sky, we, the Element Masters, quietly left the dorm and headed for the main gate of the royal Spada theological school to get the horses .

Lily and I got on Merry . And thanks to Merry’s younger sister, Mary, didn’t show any sign of shock or fear seeing her completely changed sister, Fiona was able to ride her and silently follow us .

Riding on the horse was gentle . Because just beside us, Simon also tagged along to see us off from the main gate .

“Sorry, I am the only one departing late . ”

“Don’t worry about it . You have no choice until your necessary equipment are done . ”

Because Sofie’s right hand completely destroyed the Gatling gun—that wasn’t all there was to it . No matter how much of a virtuoso Reghin is, there’s a limit .

As ‘The Grid’ prioritized on finishing our weapon first, Simon’s one ended up getting late .

More so because the anti-Sariel sniper had to be specially made from scratch .

“I will probably make it in time for the 2nd battle . ”

We will be heading towards Galahad fort as the fourth squad, ‘Gladiators’ .

As soon as the information of the crusaders advancing was received, the first once to move was king Leonhart with the first squad, ‘Brave Heart’ and then Spada’s standing army, second squad ‘Tempest’, lead by Simon’s elder sister Emelia .

The king and the elder sister’s army had already reached Galahad fort and was eagerly waiting for the crusaders’ arrival . As they met up with the third squad ‘Rampage’ which was on stand by there, the whole army of Spada had gathered in one fort .

Among all that, since the ‘Gladiators’ were formed after the war with the crusaders was confirmed, it is only natural for us to be late in departing compared to the standing army . And even though there are some adventurers of Spada who want to participate in the war, there are also a lot of them still in dungeons for quests and haven’t received the information .

As the news of Spada going into war had spread to the neighboring cities and states, they would know if they just get to a city . Even today, there were many adventurers seen hurrying back to the city to take part in the war .

Either way, because of these reasons, ‘Gladiators’ was broken into several portions and were to be sent to Galahad fort in order . As we are the 4th squad officially, we were a part of the army and so were moving in formation . Although it would be a violation of order if someone were to rush ahead, it seems most of it is tolerated .

As the adventurers—or the Gladiator members now gathered, we departed for the fort and were also defending the war provisions heading there . The enemy isn’t just the crusaders . Even though we weren’t crossing any dungeons, when you are apart from the city, there will be wild monsters so the provisions need to be guarded .

“Even when we reach, the crusaders’ attack probably won’t start . So you won’t be departing late or an—hmm, looks like something is going at the main gate . ”

We had reached the main gate while I was talking with Simon but a crowd of people seems to have gathered in front of it .

“Did they all gather to see you off?”

“Eh, really? Are we perhaps really popular—”

“A lot of the adventurers from the adventurer course will be participating as well after all . ”

“Well, I guess that is true…”

Destroying my expectations right after raising it, my glass heart got slightly hurt . There are a lotta adventurers except us who are heading for the Galahad fort . Just as Fiona had said, quite a few people from our adventurer course will be participating . After all, the school was filled with topics like ‘who will go and who will not’ these days .