"Stop!" Amaranth intervened, grabbing Cineraria's shoulder. "We owe this man. Don't kill him."
"You're too soft, Amaranth. My instincts scream that he's a threat. Keeping him alive might ruin our plans."
Jasmine then laughed, "It's rare to see you two, who dislike men, arguing so fiercely over 'kill him, don't kill him.' He's piqued my interest too."
"Shut up, Jasmine! This guy's caused me trouble twice already. It's only natural to be cautious!"
"But now's not the time, Cineraria," Jasmine said, leaning close to her.
In the meantime, I’m trapped in a huddle of three women, feeling quite suffocated. A little space, please, before discussing my fate?
"Earlier, we nearly killed him, suspecting sexual assault on Amaranth. But if we think about it, killing a man trusted by the hero could turn the hero against us. Considering Amaranth's current incapacitation, we'd surely lose."
"…There are already four saintly sword wielders with them…"
Actually, with Platanus joining, it's five, but I'll keep quiet about that. I sense a chance to escape this ordeal.
"Why do the saintly sword wielders always flock around him!?" Cineraria spat out in frustration.
"That’s exactly why he’s a threat," Jasmine remarked.
"We’ve been planning for years, and he just..."
With visible irritation, Cineraria sheathed her sword and silently left the house."It seems they've lost the intent to kill me."
"Crow."
Amaranth, equipped with the Oni God Sword, the Rakshasa Sword, and the Demon Class Sword, declared, "With this, I've repaid my debt. If we meet again and you still choose to protect the hero, we will be enemies. I can't share details, but we have our reasons to trust our master, believing that they won't err."
With those parting words, Amaranth left the house.
Wait, why hasn't Jasmine left? She's still here, gazing at me. Strange.
"There is no such basis."
"Eh?"
"Cineraria seeks revenge, Amaranth repays a past kindness. They pledge loyalty to a 'master' for their own reasons. No one truly knows the consequences of our actions."
Jasmine placed her hand on my shoulder, leaning in closer.
"Do you know of the Time Flow Sword, a saintly sword to the Divine Blade?"
"Eh? Oh, yeah. The one that manipulates time, right?"
"…You seem well-versed in Divine Swords. Can the Time Flow Sword resurrect the dead?"
"It can."
I glanced at Holly for confirmation, who nodded affirmatively.
"Really? Even though it's impossible with the Healing Sword or the Demon Class Sword?"
"Yeah, if it's within twenty-four hours…"
"…Eh?"
Jasmine visibly panicked.
"Twenty-four hours? What do you mean by that?"
"Well, if it's been more than twenty-four hours since death…"
"…A corpse that's been dead for over twenty-four hours can't be resurrected?"
"It depends, but definitely not after several days. The 'rewind' ability of the Time Flow Sword is more difficult to handle than 'accelerate' or 'decelerate', so going back more than twenty-four hours is impossible. There are limits to everything."
"…Where did you get this information?"
"Uh…"
What should I say? Revealing that I learned it from Holly might give away my rare advantage of being the only one besides the hero who can see and talk with her."Well, King Daria already knows, so keeping it a secret is probably futile anyway."
"I don't want to say because it's related to how I found the hero's location…"
"Understood…"
Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Jasmine left the house, leaving me behind. I got up and peered outside through the window.
There, I could see the witch, the nun, and the woman in the cloak, all leaving together.
Seems like I've been spared. Dodged a bullet there. But Jasmine's last question keeps nagging at me. Why did she ask that?
Regardless,
"Why do only scary women approach me…"
Holly and I both sighed in unison.
After settling the commotion in Greydragon, I returned to Pendragon with Cattleya and Platanus. My plan was to leave the rest to them, but then,
"Why didn't you take me to Bluedragon!?"
Iris complained,
"I wanted to come too! I was so bored, I could've died! There were so many monsters!"
And Saffron was hard to calm down.
"I was almost killed by monsters..."
"I thought I could finally be of help to Lord Crow, but during the evacuation, he went and defeated the source of all the trouble…"
Exhausted Cattleya and Platanus, whom I had taken with me, were barely standing.
"By the way, Crow. Stop leaving Shion behind."
"I get it. This incident made me realize the dangers of leaving Shion behind…"
"No, that's not it. That girl doesn't even crack a smile or talk to anyone when you're away. It's scary. She just stares silently in the direction you left."
Iris shared this rather unsettling information, prompting me to fulfill my promise of bathing together with Shion.
If this makes Shion happy, I don't mind being labeled as a weirdo. Besides, I'm starting to value my life more.
"But! I wanted to be alone with big brother!"
"Stay still!"
But in the large bath, it was Holly who ended up washing Shion's hair and body.It turns out, Holly had been washing Shion every time they bathed.
Considering the massage incident, I guess I misunderstood their relationship. They're actually quite close.
I sighed as I watched Holly carefully washing Shion's golden hair.
Well, more than half of the saintly sword users are now cooperative with Shion, and Platanus, who I had long desired as a repository of wisdom, has joined our ranks.
Saffron, who was spying on us, is now fully one of us, and my trust in Cattleya, Iris, and Prince Heath remains unchanged.
In terms of numbers and strength, my companions are beyond reproach.
As for the battle with the demon king, there seems to be no worry left.
But there's one concern.
"The Timeflow Sword..."
With Platanus owning the Thousand-Mile Sword and Amaranthus possessing the Demonic Sword, the only saintly sword of the twelve whose whereabouts remain unknown is the Timeflow Sword.
And I have a hunch about who owns it.
The mastermind behind Amaranthus, Cineraria, and Jasmine, who gave and manipulated five saintly swords.
That person must be the owner of the Timeflow Sword.
What's more troubling is their continued absence. Is it because of the formidable and tricky nature of the Timeflow Sword, or because they don't want their plans known?
If it's the latter, they are much like me.
Someone just like me, a real piece of work, is using three saintly sword users against Shion.
"Shion,"
Just then, Shion, freshly washed by Holly, approached me in the bath.
"I'll wash you next, big brother. Please sit up."
Despite everything, I feel like it's going to be okay.
Our ranks have grown, and above all, I have Shion.
Even if the enemy's mastermind is a scoundrel like me, they have no chance against Shion.I decided to think simply about it.
There's one clear thing I understood.
Before facing the demon king, who is the flip side of the hero, there's one troublesome obstacle that needs to be shattered.
When the time comes, I'll handle it myself.
With my ultimate technique, the "pass the buck."