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[Congratulations! You have completed the main quest ‘Flowers of Death’!]

[Attribute points have increased by 10.]

[Reputation has increased by 5.]

[A new title [Flowers of Life] has been acquired.]

[Rare items [Demon Bone Powder] and [Black Flowers] have been acquired.]

Easy.

“Funny thing is, they both get to do it! I don’t even get to play. It’s unfair!”

What an easy kill of a High Demon.

“Don’t whine about something weird, fairy. Even after playing around like that, you still want to play even more?”

Even if it was easy, wasn’t it too easy?

“Hmph, you’re a talker, Van. If you’ve got the energy, why don’t you fight me? We can do it if our darling let us…….”

“Pft… Cough….”

“……Darling?”

“Kahaha! Uahahaha!”

Lydon’s eyes widened as he saw Cadel suddenly laughing like a crazy person. Did Cadel also lose his mind from the boredom of the battle? That was not to say that Cadel alone had monopolized the large army of monsters.

Lydon and the assembled members of the Knight Order were puzzled by Cadel’s unstoppable laughter. Some were concerned about his mental state, but he didn’t hear any of it.

He was just happy.

‘This is it. It finally felt real. How great is the Order of Knights I have completed!’

One A-grade and four S-grades. Not a single hole, not a single overlapping position. To top it all off, he had reached the same 8-star level as Mamil before.

Cadel couldn’t have been happier. With Garuel, the healer and magic swordsman, and Yozen, the assassin, joining him, Cadel’s solo combat load had been lightened, freeing him up. With just two more people, his tactical options were vastly expanded, and he could implement the best of what he had to offer without being overwhelmed.

‘Until now, I fought like I was being chased because I had no subordinates or free time, but not anymore. In terms of the game, it means that I have finally created a fixed deck and started training in earnest.’

Of course, he still needed to refine the skills of his subordinates, but it was only a matter of time. At this rate, he was not afraid of the Demon War.

Right now, he was not filled with the emptiness of his half soul or the guilt he felt toward his subordinates, but rather the satisfaction of being a gamer who once devoted his life to ‘Hero of Knights’.

Cadel stood up with a big smile on his face. He had quite a bit of mana drained from using [Fire Demon’s Arrows], but he didn’t even know it was difficult, perhaps because he was in a good mood.

“Well done, everyone. I don’t know how long it’s been since we’ve had a battle with no casualties. We need to work together more, but if we keep this up…….”

Cadel, proudly encouraging his men, suddenly stopped speaking. Garuel’s left hand flashed over his suddenly hard, ashen eyes.

“Garuel, why are you hurting…….?”

He had always healed quickly from any wound, but now Garuel’s left hand was dripping with a steady stream of blood.

“Umm……? Ah, this is…… That’s what happened to me then.”

Mendel’s strike was like a death blow. When that murderous intent was aimed at Cadel, Garuel unconsciously grabbed the whip with his bare hands. It wasn’t an act of great resolve, as it would reattach itself even if his hand was cut off.

“That’s fascinating. Will my demonic energy also flinch in front of the concentrated demonic energy of a High Demon?”

“What are you analyzing?! Is everything okay? The demonic energy spreads like poison, or the pain is severe, or…….”

“Ah…… Well.”

“What’s wrong? Does it hurt a lot?”

Cadel’s expression grew serious as Garuel frowned. As a half-demon, his regenerative powers were among the best among pure-blood demons. His wounds healed frighteningly quickly, so he rarely lost blood like he did now.

An attack that Garuel’s regenerative powers couldn’t keep up with must have been something out of the ordinary, and Cadel wondered if there was something wrong with Garuel. In front of a worried Cadel, Garuel relaxed his expression with a smirk.

“Knight Commander, your worried face is so cute it makes my heart ache.”

“……Are you nuts?”

“Haha, don’t worry, Knight Commander. It’ll regenerate itself if you leave it alone. Well, I don’t feel bad about it, seeing as how it’s been a while since I’ve had a scar on my body.”

Cadel. who was quickly upset, pushed Garuel away in annoyance. Since the person involved said it was no big deal, it didn’t seem like it was anything serious…….

‘Although Garuel is close to immortality, he is not truly immortal. I’ll have to keep that in mind.’

In the war to come, they would deal with High Demons as if they were breathing. Garuel was not the only one free from their attacks.

Cadel let out a low sigh as he watched Garuel take the bandages from Lumen.

‘It looks like the light mana wasn’t used properly this time either. If he only responds with demonic energy like this, he will quickly reach his limit.’

Even if the Knight Order was complete, they still had a long way to go. He knew their capabilities better than they did, and he could only awaken their talents.

“Let’s start by strengthening the seal. Thanks to Mendel, the swamp seems to have dried up, so the Lemyn Kingdom should be fine for a while. I hope Sir Jeff will be the first to report our victory.”

Though he had acted under the assumption that Jeff had been watching throughout the battle, Cadel had expected him to have fled early on. Petals that disintegrated at the slightest touch, legions of bone-armored monsters, and a hail of fire arrows would be hard to survive.

With the seal reinforced, the Knight Order began to make their way to the castle. But not long into their journey, Cadel realized that his expectations had been spectacularly off.

“This is…….”

Pausing, the Knight Order’s gaze fell to a spot on the floor, where a muddy, crumpled bag of luggage and a footprint of blood and gore had been left behind.

Picking up the bag and checking its contents, Lumen narrowed his eyes.

“I think it belongs to Sir Jeff. He seems to have been attacked by a monster.”

“There’s a trail of footprints, Commander. Judging by the lack of monster carcasses nearby, he either ran away or was chased.”

Most of the monsters in the swamp were absorbed by Mendel, and the remaining ones were summoned for the [Festival of Bones]. Therefore, the monster Jeff encountered was probably summoned and traveling toward the seal. He probably tried to fight it too hard, got injured, and fled.

Concern flashed through Cadel’s eyes as he followed the footprints. The footprints that had led straight ahead were cut off at the front of the swamp. It wasn’t a very large swamp, and Jeff had his sword, so he shouldn’t have drowned, but the problem was that Cadel couldn’t guess Jeff’s route. There were too many forks in the road.

“Yozen, can you track down where Sir Jeff is?”

“There was no dark energy buried in that person. I will try to find him, but it will take time.”

“Lydon, you?”

“I’m not a hound, darling! I’m just reacting to the disgusting smell of demons.”

Cadel said, stroking Lydon’s grumbling head soothingly.

“Split up and look for him. When you find it, fire the signal flare, and if Sir Jeff is in serious condition, don’t wait and move straight to the castle.”

The group scattered along the fork and began searching for Jeff. The Knight Order was not to blame for Jeff’s attack, but they could not ignore the attack and turn back. They had suffered no damage in this battle, so they had plenty of stamina left.

At first, they moved individually instead of forming a team, but Cadel was able to meet again with Van, who was moving in the same direction.

“Commander, how’s your mana? You used a lot of mana, you know, the magic spell you used on the monster legions.”

“It’s plenty. I’ve grown quite a bit while coming here. There are also tricks I learned from my teacher.”

Van, who had been attending to Cadel’s condition despite his pleas, fumbled in his bag and produced something. A potion of mana.

“Still, drink this.”

“……What kind of berserker are you, carrying mana potions?”

“Just in case, you never know.”

Cadel, who was being pushed to take the potion, let out a laugh. This was because he found a pile of mana potions in Van’s opened bag. He wondered if Van still didn’t trust his commander, or if he was just being considerate.

‘I don’t think I ever saw him give that to Lydon.’

As Cadel drank the potion, a happy smile appeared on Van’s face. It was cute and Cadel raised the corner of his mouth, but what Van said next was not very pleasant.

“In the past, Commander has always fought without thinking about your own mana capacity. If I had the money, I’d fill my bag with potions and give them to you when you were in trouble. I don’t want to fight among noble peers, but it’s nice to not have to struggle for money.”

“……Is that so?”

The potion, which had always tasted so good, tasted bitter for some reason. Emptying the potion in one swift gulp, Cadel wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. Van casually retrieved the empty bottle and made a pleasant noise.

“That’s not to say that I don’t miss being poor, in fact, when I think about it, I think it was better because it was just me and Commander.”

“…….”

“Do you remember? When we didn’t have enough money to eat, we only had enough money for one skewer, so we shared it between the two of us. I told you I wasn’t hungry, but you forced me to eat. Turned out, Commander only passed on the green onion part because you didn’t want to eat vegetables.”

He didn’t remember. Of course. Because it was a memory he never had from the beginning. Cadel smiled vaguely and lowered his eyes.

“Oh, of course I still like it! Although the number of annoying people has increased too much…… Commander is still Commander .”

It was hard to look him in the eye. Cadel felt himself sinking lower and lower. The sense of accomplishment he’d gotten from defeating Mendel was quickly erased, and in its place was.

‘……It’s frustrating.’

The Cadel Lytos he remembered could never return. Van would always be the only one who remembered the past. No matter how much he thought about it, missed it, and reminisced about it. There would be no one to share it with.

Van would continue to reminisce alone. It occurred to him that it would be better for Van to lose his memory. Here, no matter what choice he made, Van couldn’t achieve complete happiness.

As he was tugging at the corners of his mouth, trying to hold on to the painful conversation, Van suddenly stopped walking.

“Commander, look here. It looks like he moved this way?”

There was a blood-stained cloth lying where Van pointed.

“It looks like the clothes on the injured area were torn. I think the wounds are quite severe considering that he threw away his luggage and ran away.”

He was relieved to see the timely sign. Cadel stooped to pick up a crumpled piece of cloth, but just as he was about to pull himself upright again.

“Ugh…….”

A dull pain radiated from his lower back. Cadel froze stiffly, and Van gave him a questioning look.

“What’s the matter, Commander? What else is on the ground?”

“……No. It’s nothing.”

Cadel ignored the pain and straightened his back. The area that hadn’t felt so bad a moment ago was now bothering him.

‘I thought I avoided it. It looks like it grazed me a little.’

Mendel’s strike. His whip did not penetrate Cadel, but it was not out of reach. He couldn’t open a barrier as he tried to maintain his magic. Still, Cadel thought he had avoided being stabbed by twisting his body, but it seemed he had been slightly grazed as he dodged.

It was not a major wound. It would be better to go back to the castle and ask the healer than to check it here. With that thought, Cadel examined the piece of cloth he had picked up.

“There’s nothing.”

Van suddenly stretched out his hand and lifted Cadel’s cloak. A dark red stain was spreading over the exposed uniform. Van’s expression hardened when he noticed the gash on Cadel’s back.

“When did you get hurt? You should have told me as soon as it hurt.”

“It’s okay, it’s a wound I didn’t even know existed until now. I can get treatment later…….”

“In a swamp like this, even the smallest wound can become a serious infection if you pick up any bacteria. There was a healer right next to you, why did you leave it unattended?”

Van shrugged off Cadel’s assurances that it was fine and dug through his bag. He clicked his tongue irritably as he looked around for something suitable, and soon unwrapped the cloth around his greatsword.

“Let’s at least stop the bleeding with this.”

It was the [Queen’s Bandage]. Cadel was sure if he wrapped that around, this amount of bleeding would stop.

“Hey, why waste those good bandages on a small wound like this? I’m okay, you know? Let’s find Sir Jeff quickly and return.”

“Just stay put.”

The words were uncharacteristically sharp. When Cadel flinched and closed his mouth, Van rolled up his shirt with a careful touch. The shirt came up to his waist, revealing a long scar underneath. It wasn’t deep, but it was long enough to run down half his back. It could have  ended in an ugly scar.

Frowning, Van said, sounding upset.

“Why don’t you always take care of yourself? You were planning on sacrificing your own safety to make the magic spell succeed this time, right? That’s typical of you, Commander, but now you have a lot of comrades, so you can rely on them.”

“…….”

“But you never hid your wounds after a fight before. When did you learn to hold back? We’ve brought in a healer, so you don’t have to…….”

Van, who was bandaging Cadel’s wound, stopped talking. His eyes turned to Cadel’s trembling hand holding his wrist. As he slowly raised his head, he saw Cadel’s heated expression as if he was holding back something.

“I said it was fine. What’s so bad about it?”

“Commander……?”

“What’s the reaction you want? Tell me. I’ll give it to you.”

Cadel’s condition was strange. Panicked, Van reached out to Cadel’s face, but Cadel jerked back, avoiding the touch, and then let out a sneering sigh.

“As expected. I don’t like sacrifice, I like the way we are now fighting together with everyone……. When you say that, in the end, it’s the one in the past that you think of as the complete commander.”

“What are you talking about, Commander?”

“The me of the past…… No, you like the Cadel Lytos of the past. Right?”

He couldn’t keep up with what Cadel was saying. What was he saying all of a sudden, was it battle fatigue setting in? Van tried to calm Cadel down, but to no avail.

“I’m sorry if anything I’ve said has offended you, Commander, but Commander is the Commander, past or present, it doesn’t matter. However…….”

“What if it’s someone else?”

“……Pardon?”

“What if I am a different person from Cadel Lytos of the past? Does it still not matter? Can you still say that Commander is still the Commander? Is it okay as long as the outer appearance is the same? Nope. Probably not, Van. That’s why it matters.”

“What……. Commander, calm down first. Calm down and let’s get your wound treated.”

As Van began to reapply the bandage, Cadel, who had knocked Van’s hand away, snatched it from him. With clumsy dexterity, he wrapped the bandage around his wound, tearing off the remaining part nervously and tying a knot.

Van’s eyes fluttered wildly as he watched. Cadel was acting like a madman. He hadn’t shown any signs of it a moment ago.

“Okay, done? Now tell me. What should I do? Should I smile kindly? Throw myself into a fire pit? What kind of commander do you want? Just let me know and I will do it. I can do it.”

“Com, Commander…….”

“Say it!”

Everything was unfamiliar. Cadel’s yelling at him and his bloodshot eyes reflecting Van himself. Nevertheless, one thing was certain.

“I’m, I’m sorry. I can’t stand it…….”

It was that his commander was in pain.