Chapter 7

It happened in an instant.

Leya had thrown me.

I am ashamed that I even thought I had been abandoned for a moment then.

Leya must have done this so I wouldn't get caught up in it.

I fell onto the outer wall. It hurt a lot when I landed on my feet, but I ignored the pain and looked up at the sky.

Leya had taken the attack from the Knight Commander and was thrown somewhere.

I only saw her for a moment, but her face showed no ease.

I was also shocked by what the Knight Commander had released. At the same time, I felt despair.

The Holy Relic, the Certain Death Thunder Strike Spear.

It is a spear of victory that does not stop until it pierces the heart of its target. The spear never misses its mark.

Unbelievably, it looked like Leya had grabbed that spear.

In other words, Leya would be thrown far away, eventually tire out, and die.

"Ahh... ahhh..."

It's my fault.

I fell to my knees. If I hadn't been there, Leya wouldn't have died.

If I hadn't been there, Leya wouldn't have become the target of the Certain Death Thunder Strike Spear.

Because the Certain Death Thunder Strike Spear only targets those who possess a Holy Relic.

Leya doesn't have a Holy Relic. I can sense it.

So, it must be me.

I knew there was a possibility, however small, but I didn't tell Leya.

Why? It's obvious. I was afraid.

I'm not a person, I'm an object. I didn't want to see Leya's face when she found out.

She had finally started to think of me as a person. I wanted to keep the lie going.

Do I have any value in living? No, I don't.

Even though I wanted my life to be acknowledged, I had treated Leya's life as nothing.

Even though she had saved me.

The clouds covered the sun.

At that moment, I looked at the Knight Commander.

The Holy Relic had returned to the Knight Commander's right hand, with blood dripping from the spear tip. The spear returns to its owner's hand after sinking into its target.

I had a faint hope that Leya might still be alive, but that hope was shattered.

I envied that spear. Born as an object, loved, and used.

I threw myself off the outer wall.

I'll die hating this world. I'll die hating this rotten world... I'll die hating this hopelessly ugly world.

The ground was getting closer and closer. It was coming to meet me. I had flown toward the sky just now, but I would die looking at the ground.

"Whoa, I won't let you do that."

At the sound of the Knight Commander's voice, I was caught on the ground.

I felt despair.

"Are you... going to make me do something more?"

It's absurd to apologize when I haven't done anything.

"You are no longer useful, but it would be a waste to discard you."

The Knight Commander said this and tried to carry me away.

I resisted and struggled.

The Knight Commander let go of me, and I fell to the ground.

I was pulled up by my hair and forced to stand.

"It hurts..."

"An object is fine just being there. Be quiet."

That's right, those eyes. He doesn't see me as a person.

The moment I saw those eyes, I lost the will to resist.

The Knight Commander's lips curled up.

In the midst of despair, I was dragged by my hair toward the castle.

---

"Bring that here."

"Hai."

I am now in front of the throne. I have been brought before the king. I am in a place where it is normal to be called "that."

I was brought to the king by the Knight Commander, and the king stroked my hair.

It's disgusting.

"Beautiful. If there's no use for you, you can be a decoration. Put her there."

"Hai."

I was taken by the Knight Commander and chained to a pillar near the balcony.

"What should we do about the hero summoning?"

"Let's do it today."

"Hai."

"No, wait."

"...What is it?"

"It might be entertaining to do it in front of the people. Yes, let's do it in the arena. Astes, gather the people in the arena and do it there."

"Hai, I'll make the arrangements."

Is Astes the Knight Commander's name?

I was thinking about this trivial matter while looking down.

I'm going to be a decoration.

But it's much better than being stuffed in that box.

After that, the king and the Knight Commander left, and I was left alone.

Chained, I couldn't even think of escaping.

How long had it been? I was sitting alone in the king's chamber, looking down.

Looking at the sun from the balcony, it had risen to about midday.

The wind blew in from the balcony. It was refreshing, as I had been in the box without awareness until yesterday.

Yet, my mood didn't improve at all. If there's only despair ahead, maybe I should bite my tongue and die.

Just as I was thinking that,

The door to the king's chamber was slammed open, and several soldiers appeared.

"There she is, take her quickly!"

The soldiers unlocked my chains and made me stand up.

"Come!"

Then I was taken away.

I wondered where I was being taken, and it turned out to be the arena.

When I went inside, the stands were overflowing with people.

What caught my eye the most was the magic circle drawn in the center of the arena.

It must be the magic circle for the hero summoning they mentioned earlier. It was an unusually large size.

But from the way it was glowing, it seemed that a little more magic power was needed to activate the magic.

"We have brought her!"

In the midst of this, I was brought to the Knight Commander by the soldiers.

"Good work."

What will happen to me now? No, I can guess from that magic circle.

I will be forced to infuse it with magic power.

"I will infuse that magic circle with magic power."

"...I don't want to."

I shook my head. I didn't want to do as they said.

Smack, the Knight Commander slapped me.

"Do it."

Again, that look at an object.

"...I understand."

Even saying that, I was dragged to the magic circle.

The king's special seat was in the stands, and the king was sitting there with his elbow on the armrest.

Then I infused the magic circle with magic power.

The people in the stands fell silent, eagerly awaiting the hero summoning.

I couldn't understand.

It felt like everything was normal, as if something ordinary was about to happen.

I don't think the people who are being deceived are at fault, but I hate this world more and more.

This is the place where I can convey what I want to say.

Yes, I can probably do it. The result might not change anything.

But I want to say what I want to say to this country, to this world. There are so many people here.

Determined, I let out a voice from the bottom of my stomach.

"King! You are a foolish king!! What is this hero summoning? Defeating the Demon King? Don't make me laugh! What do you have to say after imprisoning innocent people for the sake of hero summoning!!!"

After I finished speaking, a different kind of silence fell. I took a small deep breath while infusing magic power.

The Knight Commander had his hand on his sword.

Seeing this, I said,

"Don't come any closer! If I wanted to, I could ruin this magic circle!"

The Knight Commander's face twisted in anger, and he took his hand off the sword.

At that moment, something flew from the stands and hit my head.

"Ouch..."

What had fallen at my feet was trash.

"Don't insult the king!!"

Looking at the source of the voice, it was a small child. I was taken aback.

And as if influenced by that child, words of contempt were thrown at me one after another.

"The king would never do such a thing!!" "Traitor!!" "Die!"

Such voices gradually spread and eventually enveloped the entire arena.

"..."

I bit my lip in silence.

Before I knew it, the Knight Commander was right next to me.

The next moment, I received a powerful kick.

"Guh...!"

I bounced and rolled on the ground.

"Good job!!" "Do more!!"

The Knight Commander approached. I braced myself for death.

Even though it ended up like this, I have no regrets.

I didn't try to get up and accepted death, lying on my back with my arms spread out.

But the words the Knight Commander spoke were the last thing I wanted to hear.

"You're going back in that box."

Despair for the umpteenth time today.

No, I don't want to go back there. I don't want to be alone. It's cold in there.

Why do I have to suffer like this?

A tear fell from my eyes.

"Please help me... someone..."

At that moment,

The sky suddenly darkened.

Lying on my back, I could see it.

A giant dragon was circling above the arena, flapping its wings and cutting through the air.

"...A dragon!"

When the Knight Commander said this, everyone looked up at the sky.

Then, the voices of condemnation turned into screams.

The soldiers of the knight corps hurried to evacuate the people, and the Knight Commander frowned, pressing his right arm and exhaling.

I couldn't move from the spot and just watched.

Lightning crackled around the Knight Commander, and I could feel the energy that shook the air.

Then, the Holy Relic, the Certain Death Thunder Strike Spear, appeared in the Knight Commander's hand.

However, what was unnatural was that dragon.

It didn't take any action. Just as I thought this and looked up, a shadow on the dragon's back.

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