――”I will step down from my position as lord.”
Upon hearing Burae’s words, the maid Aura’s expression changed dramatically as she gasped in surprise.
“W-What are you saying, my lady!? I told you not to worry about me…! You can’t just give in to the ‘Dontrak Family’ like this!”
“Give in… huh. Yes, I suppose that’s what it amounts to.”
Burae forced a bitter smile and pushed the wheels of her wheelchair forward.
“…Those people have harassed the servants countless times before. Even as everyone left, I did nothing to stop them. I was too afraid of being deemed incompetent, and so I didn’t seek help from the Holy Capital, all in order to protect the position of lord passed down through my family for generations.”
But…
“I… I’m a terrible woman. The thought of you, the person I love most, Aura, being attacked or hurt in the future… it terrified me… so much!”
“My lady…”
“Listen, Aura. Aura, Aura, Aura… You’re the only servant who’s stayed with me until now. Even though I can hardly pay you anymore, you’ve continued to support me with a smile. Do you know how much that has saved me…?”
Burae’s strained expression finally crumbled.
Like a piece of paper being crushed in a fist, her face contorted, and she began to cry like a child.
The mask of the lord had finally broken.
“I don’t want this anymore…! I don’t want you to get hurt like my father and mother did…!”
“My lady, Burae!”
Aura, unable to bear it any longer, embraced her tightly.
As their shoulders were soaked with each other’s tears, a special bond, beyond that of mere master and servant, was palpable.
“…Hah. After all the stubbornness, she changes her mind just because she doesn’t want to lose her favorite maid. Hey Aura, your master turned out to be quite the child, didn’t she?”
“J-Jade, sir…”
“But I like it.”
He chuckled.
“It’s the worst, and yet it’s the best.”
“The decision to throw away power and pride to protect someone you love. I like it. It’s the best. A thousand times better than a lord who pretends to be fair.”
Why? Because it serves as proof that she responds to loyalty.
“A lord who will protect you with everything they have if you love them. Once that reaches the common folk, they’ll strive to be good in turn. Sometimes, making an unequal choice is what brings peace and prosperity to a land. — Be proud, Lady Burae. You’ve finally made the right decision.”
“Adventurer Jade… But as I said earlier, I plan to summon the Holy Knights, even if it means stepping down as lord, to protect Aura. So it’s too late for—”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“Huh?”
Just as I was about to explain, a loud crashing sound suddenly echoed from the entrance of the mansion.
And then…
“Get out here, Lady Burae! How dare you defy the Dontrak Family!?”
A ridiculous, booming voice reverberated, followed by the angry shouts of a large group of thugs.
“No way… are the family members attacking us!? Aura, please, you have to escape…!”
“N-No, my lady, you must go instead!”
Ugh, seriously?
“Stop acting like a lovey-dovey couple.”
“Lovey-dovey couple!?”
Both of them shouted in unison.
“Don’t act so surprised. You two are totally a lovey-dovey couple.”
“Well, calm down. You’re not going to get away with those legs of yours anyway.”
In that case…
“Let’s go greet them head-on. Time to confront the source of evil infesting this town.”
◆◇◆
And so—
“So, you’re the leader of this organization?”
“Huh!? …So you’re the punk who took down my men, huh!? You’ve got some nerve!”
The man yelling was a large, bald brute.
He barked, backed by dozens of his underlings.
“I’m the leader of the Dontrak Family, Don Dontrak himself!”
Huh?
“You’re so noisy, trash. Is there something wrong with your head?”
“Wha—!?”
Whoa, his bald head just turned beet red like a boiled octopus.
“Hmph, hey you, black hair.”
“What is it, bald head?”
“Die, idiot! …More importantly, you’re the mercenary hired by the young lordling, right? After all, you protected the servants and brought the kid here.”
The bald man glared at my side.
No, it wasn’t some weird armpit fetish. It was because Burae, the young lord, was in her wheelchair clinging to me. Aura was also hugging her tightly. You two are trembling, you know?
“So, what’s the deal, kid!? Did you hire this guy to go up against the Dontrak Family!?”
“N-No! Jade here is someone who just appeared out of nowhere!”
A person suddenly appeared.
“I have no intention of fighting… but I have made my decision.”
“Huh?”
Even while trembling, Burae shouted with a look of determination.
“I will appeal to the ‘Holy City’ about the current state of this town! Even if it means stepping down as lord, I will do it to protect dear Aura!”
At that moment, the mafia members stirred. They realized that the ‘Holy Knights’ would be summoned.
“Wha-? Nonsense! Hey kid, have you lost your mind!? You can just stay holed up in your mansion like before, and we won’t take your life. In fact, with us running the town, you should be grateful considering you’re just a child!”
“No, I’ve already decided. I can’t take it anymore. If it means protecting my beloved Aura, I’ll give up being the lord!”
“Damn brat!?”
Whoa, you sure made a bold statement, young lady.
She’s so desperate she probably doesn’t realize, but standing next to her, Aura’s face is beet red.
“M-Milady…!”
“Damn it, I didn’t know you were this crazy. …The ‘merchant’ said, ‘That child Burae is the only one who will survive the curse poison. She will desperately cling to her position as lord, and you can use that to do whatever you want.’—but looks like that bet was off. You’re just a mad dog.”
“D-Dontrack! So it was you who poisoned the family’s food with curse poison!?”
…Hmm, a merchant, huh?
Who is that? Where did he even get curse poison from an evil dragon species? It’s not something an ordinary human should be able to obtain… And to predict Burae’s future decisions that accurately?
“That’s right. It was all me, Dontrack, plotting to rise to power by slaughtering your entire family.”
“You bastard!”
“And I was planning to make you my puppet, but well, whatever. Hey, you lot!”
Dontrack raised his hand. In an instant, dozens of thugs drew their weapons.
“At this point, we’ll kill them all…! I’ll kill you and cover up the lord’s death. That way, the Holy Knights won’t be summoned! This town will be mine forever!”
“How cowardly!”
And so, the end began. At Dontrack’s shout of “Do it!”, the thugs charged like wild beasts.
With their weapons drawing near, I asked the young lady a question.
“Hey, Burae.”
“W-What is it!? Never mind that, please take Aura to safety!”
“Shut up and answer. —Do you have any regrets?”
“Eh?”
A few seconds left before the slaughter.
“You’re giving up being the lord for your lover Aura. If you hadn’t made that choice, you could have been saved.”
In other words, if you’d abandoned that country maid, you could’ve lived.
I’m asking if you regret that, even for a second.
“Answer me, Burae. Do you regret choosing love?”
Finally, one of the thugs lunged.
The blade was about to strike down—and at that moment.
“No… I don’t.”
Burae, trembling, shook her head.
“With pride in choosing love, I’ll smile as I die!”
Ah…
“Excellent! I grant you the blessing of the Evil Dragon!”
And with that, I unleashed the ‘Flames of Destruction’ from my entire body.
“Gyaaaahhh!”
The man who had swung his sword burst into flames.
Without leaving even ashes, he was completely erased from this world.
And then,
“Burae.”
I also ignited a fire within Burae.
However, it wasn’t her body that was burned—
“Th-This… power is overflowing…!?”
—I burned away the ‘curse poison’ that had been corrupting her life.
Now then,
“Let’s start the show, young lady.”
