My Death Flags Show No Sign of Ending

Walk along the familiar ridge while looking at the golden flowers that grow on the side of the road. It only takes a few tens of minutes for a horse-drawn carriage that you usually use for work. After spending more than an hour on it, you can finally see the destination.

The scenery of an ordinary town dotted with private houses. One of the homes that blended in perfectly was the frequent visit of Zen, who works as a wagon jockey at the Stokes family.

The garden, which is by no means large, is well maintained, and there is also a small kitchen garden in one corner. The red glut, which I had been accustomed to seeing for a long time, was growing freshly there. Both the vegetable garden and the person who manages it seem to be still fine.

With that in mind, Zen hit the knocker on the front door. The door opens with a gap for a while.

“Yes, who are you?”

“Hello wife”

” Oh, Zen-kun. Please go inside. “

Zen was greeted by a woman in her sixties to seventies. When she passed me to the living room, there was an old white-haired man sitting deep in a chair.

A former Zen colleague, Norman, who retired a few years ago.

“Domo, Norman”

Zen laughs while giving a deliberately broken greeting. Norman also smiled in response.

“Hello. It looks fine and above all”

“Norman-san. Oh, this is a souvenir”

The wooden basket I handed over. The contents are an assortment of bread baked at Zen’s home.

“Thank you always. Oh, hang on.”

Norman prompts Zen to sit face to face with him.

It seems that he is having a mild old age without any major illness even after retirement, but Norman still has something to worry about. That feeling is well understood by Zen, so he’s going to take the time to come here and share the occasional news from him.

He-It’s been five years since Harold left the Stokes family to become a member of the Order of the Holy King. Zen and Jake regularly send envelopes around to report on the status of the house, but the exchange continues even as he quits the Knights but remains in the royal capital.

Harold responded to the envelope sent once every two or three months only once every three times.

“So what’s this time?”

“Nothing in particular.

This is what Harold has said for eight years now. The Stokes family was confident that they would eventually decline. In order to delay it, he devised a new farming method called LP farming method, and further developed it as a large-scale business by embracing the house of the other party who was a bride at that time.

With the help of the Sumeragi family, the financial aspects of the Stokes territory have managed to recover, but public support remains low. When I went out to the town, the outflow of the population was so great that I could feel the outflow of the population. The amount of tax payment has temporarily increased due to the LP farming method, but it will have leveled off in the current situation where the production volume is limited for each territory.

From the beginning, I was thinking about “delaying” the decline of the Stokes family instead of “stopping” it, and I think that the current situation was also what Harold had expected. Will be.

“That’s right. It seems that we can hardly help Harold.”

Norman is sad. Look down. Zen was able to sympathize with that feeling painfully.

Harold has been excellent since childhood. Although the words were harsh, he was kind, good at wisdom, and strong in body and soul. On top of that, he has a hard-working personality that does not neglect his efforts.

He can do most of the things by himself. I’m proud to serve Harold, and at the same time, I feel sick because I can’t help myself.

“Oh, I also care about Huey. I think my younger brother, who is hungry, is cute.”

” I’m not interested in your position or power from the beginning. You’re not interested in the succession battle. “

” So I just want to be cute. Hey, I’ve sent you Huey’s clothes and toys before. “

And it’s two wooden boxes. Perhaps because I couldn’t come to see my face because of my position, the pre-Zen that also served as a baby gift arrived like a mountain.

It may be hard to imagine from the usual harsh and unattractive impression, but it’s not surprising to Zen and Norman. In the letter I was exchanging, when I told him that Norman had reached retirement age, he sent me expensive pottery to commemorate it, and when I reported that Zen was married, I received a congratulatory money that was two orders of magnitude different from the market price. It has also been sent.

Attached to it is a simple message that “something will be needed”.

Zen was wondering if he would accept it because he was afraid, but given Harold’s personality, it was not hard to imagine that he would be forced to do so without any questions. So, just in case, I set it aside untouched.

After all, Harold is that kind of person. It looks like a cold-blooded man and is kind to people.

However, the fact is that there are still many people around him who are still afraid of him because he hates exposing such parts.

Reaching for the cup in front of me, wondering what happened. When I put my finger on the handle and lifted it, the weight suddenly came off on the way.

The cup makes a noise and falls, and the coffee poured inside spreads on the table.

“Wow! I’m sorry …”

“A real man?”

” Yes, but the cup is … “

Zen has broken the cup. It was sent by Harold as a retirement celebration for Norman.

I’m sorry to know that Norman uses it for major events.

“I don’t care, something that has a shape will eventually break …. but it’s broken cleanly.”

“Eh?”

I noticed with that one word. The cup I thought slipped off my hand, but the handle was still in Zen’s hand.

So why did the cup fall? At first glance, the joint between the cup and the handle was separated, leaving a cross section as if it had been cut off.

As Norman says, it’s kind of unavoidable that something tangible breaks.

However, even though I have been using it for several years, I wonder if it will crack like this due to deterioration over time. I feel that it somehow suggests a bad sign.

“… Is Harold safe?”

Norman muttered in a small voice while wiping the table with a cloth. Zen didn’t have a response to that.

◇

Why did this happen? I don’t remember how many times I asked myself. In the first place, eight years ago, from that day when Harold Stokes was replaced for some reason, it has been a series of “why this happened”.

Speaking of now, it’s now.

Although the fighting ability is much higher due to Harold compliance, Kazuki Hirasawa, who controls it, is an ordinary person who seems to be everywhere. I’ve managed to get around by making use of the foul technique of original knowledge, but I’m just an ordinary person.

I’m not by far the smartest or the tactician, but if I don’t have the original knowledge, I can outsmart Justus or negotiate with the task partner in an impossible way. be.

Harold has been particular about developing the original knowledge because he knows it. That’s because I thought it was the best way for me to survive.

However, the world is very similar to the game, but it is different, and both the world and the people are alive. So it was Zara that things didn’t go as Harold expected. And as a result of the accumulation, I finally decided to abandon the flow of the original from myself.

This is because I said that it has the highest probability of ending the original work safely.

I still don’t know the correctness of this decision.

But at this point, Harold’s anxiety was a perfect hit.

A stormy storm grazes your skin. A ridiculous formidable power that makes me think that it can cause lacerations.

Harold keeps a distance from the person standing in front of him while avoiding it. As expected, it may be a sloppy remark, but I can’t help but think so.

“The title of Knights is not Date, Vincent”

Vincent van Gogh. A masterpiece who is the leader of the Knights of the Holy King at a young age, he is a so-called boss character who stands in front of the protagonist at the end of “Brave Hearts”.

He and Harold were holding a sword.

Harold honestly never expected to fight Vincent at this time. In the first place, it is unexpected that I will fight Vincent.

So why are you in such a situation? The reason is extremely simple.

“Harold Stokes … Enemy existence … Elimination wo top priority tossle …”

A turbulent look. Chestnut 《 Shit 》 No matter how you look at it, it’s not in a decent state.

What I mean is that Justus really came to kill Harold.

Harold, who broke up with the Liners in Sumeragi’s territory, returned under Harrison with his feet and found out where the remaining treasure was allegedly present. I went there. Of course, it’s an act without permission from Justus.

Six are already in Harrison’s hands, in effect Justus. But now Harold, who isn’t willing to follow the original story, is poised to fight hard for the next few months. He glared that stealing the last treasure could delay Justus’s plans.

However, it was an ordinary person’s idea, and it seems that Justus had a prospect. It was Vincent who was insane waiting at the ruins where the treasure is said to be.

“Hey, you! Why attack me!”

“Harold no exclusion, top priority tossle …”

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Vincent repeats the same words while shining his eyes suspiciously. I have tried many conversations from earlier, but there is no result.

Probably in a state like brainwashing. They have a common point in that they have lost their will, but considering that they are speaking words, it may not be a complete brainwashing.

That’s why I tried to find out if it could be solved by dialogue, but that’s hopeless.

A large sword sword that is created from a step that creates a dent in the ground. Avoid it and turn behind the gaps. Even if you challenge Vincent with high firepower head-on, you won’t win. That’s why Harold competes in high-speed combat, which is his specialty.

However, the slashing from behind is blocked by one left-handed hand and its gauntlet. Even an attack with Harold’s speed and strength can be easily stopped with just one arm. Robustness as if it were slashing on the wall.

And wield a big sword that would be difficult for ordinary people to lift with only the right hand. Its speed is faster and sharper than a normal knight. A blow that crushes rather than slashes.

From a game point of view, even if you eat some normal attacks, your HP will only decrease a little, but in this world, a single blow will be fatal. I thought I’d try to prevent it with an R guard, but I gave up and tried to avoid it because I might be hit from the top of the guard.

Due to heavy equipment and heavy armament, Vincent’s speed does not seem to be a threat, but its firepower and durability are outstandingly high. And the troublesome thing was that the moment he swung his sword, and the action of defending with his sword and gauntlet, was fast enough to keep up with Harold’s speed.

It seems difficult to maintain that speed due to physical load and physical problems, but the speed of offense and defense at the time when it is time to divide the game is remarkable. There is something. This is also a different part from the game.

Dull but high firepower and demon durability. That alone would not be enough to climb up to become the leader of the Knights. I am in that position because I have little chance to take advantage of it.

There are two options before Harold.

One is to give up the treasure and run away. It’s not that difficult to escape if Vincent is your opponent.

However, in that case, all the treasures will be in the hands of Justus. In a sense, it’s the same as the original, but the suspicion that the flow of the original is ahead of schedule cannot be ruled out. The liners’ capture may not be in time for the event to be triggered.

Another option. It is to defeat Vincent here.

Originally, at the end of the story, Justus instigated and fought against the Liners, but in this world, the probability of not doing so was higher. Because Fincent was aroused by his best friend Cody leaving the Knights after the battle in the Bertis Forest, and Hoshiyomi 《. Stella >> It was taken advantage of the fact that the mental fatigue caused by the loss of authority of the Knights for slaughtering the tribe was combined and weakened. Can be mentioned.

But both were hampered by Harold’s actions, and I thought Vincent wouldn’t get into Justus’s mouth. And in fact that would be the case.

That’s why Justus came up with a hard-line strategy of brainwashing. protagonist 《 Liner 》 , not villain 《 Harold 》 to kill.

“Fucking …!”

If you pull here, a brainwashed Vincent van Gogh will be added to Justus. It’s a trump card like a joker. And Justus will surely cut it at the best possible time.

Harold doesn’t have the brains to read through the timing because of the development that deviates from the original. No matter what, I’m behind. It may even make Justus unstoppable if it puts you in a pinch.

If so, there is no choice but to decide the game here. From a different point of view, this is a chance to reduce Justus’s strength.

That’s why Harold decided.

“… Vincent van Gogh Westervoort. I’ll make this your grave marker”

I don’t know if I can win or not Battle with. A battle that will die if you lose.

I didn’t really want to use it until the end, but if I made an excuse for four or five and died, I wouldn’t have any children. Now I’ll do everything I can and just think about winning Vincent.

“I’m going!”

Harold shouts. The jade-colored crystal embedded in the longsword held by the right hand gave off a faint glow.