“Lord Rileyla!” Roje ran through the corridor and came to a stop on one knee.
When Rila, in her feline form, looked up at her servant, she understood the meaning in her expression.
The former demon lord’s heart skipped a beat.
Roje looked as she did whenever reporting a death during the Human-Fiend War. Rila had sensed something odd afoot, and had dispatched Roje to track Roland’s activities, just in case.
“The situation is very bad,” Roje stated.
Rila started running to the Gate set up within the castle.
Roje followed after, scooping up Rila and setting her on her head with a “Pardon me.”
“What do you mean by bad?” Rila questioned.
“A clash between him and the assassin targeting the hero. Neither of them are fit for battle now.”
“Then hurry.”
“Of course.”
Once they reached the Gate, Roje used her mana to teleport.
Unable to battle? Roland?
Rila could scarcely conceive of the notion, yet some part of her had expected this.
The atmosphere of the last few days felt like the prelude to a losing battle, when one of Rila’s subordinates decided to sacrifice themself.
Roje and Rila hurried toward a section in the slums. It was all the decrepit houses could do to remain standing.
The area felt deserted. Rila could not tell whether the humans had fled as soon as the battle began or if no one had been here to begin with, but she suspected the latter.
On the way, the pair found Almelia sitting with her back against a pillar.
“Almelia.”
“Lord Rileyla, it seems she’s only unconscious. He watched the hero fight against the assassin and waited for an opening.”
“…He did not notice you were following him?”
“It seemed he could not afford to… She was a formidable opponent.”
Roje rarely praised humans.
The elf recounted everything that had transpired to Rila as they followed the signs of battle through the town.
“Over there.”
A small black puddle had formed under Roland. Rila realized it was blood immediately. Nearby, there was a woman lying on her side.
“Roland.”
Rila leaped off Roje and ran to his side without giving the collapsed woman so much as a passing glance.
“Ah…Rila, it’s you.”
He looked haggard, bereft of strength. His voice was faint, and his face white as a sheet. He’d lost too much blood.
“We must tend to you quickly. Roje!”
“Yes!”
“Wait… Wait, please. It’s not over yet.”
Roland gritted his teeth and tried to stand. He tried to steady himself with his right hand, seemingly forgetting it was gone, and lost his balance.
Rila felt chagrined that she couldn’t lend him a shoulder.
“What do you mean it’s not over? You have won, have you not?”
“I promised Amy.”
Rila recalled that was the name his teacher often used.
Upon glancing at the woman, Rila saw she was still breathing, although only faintly.
“Her dream is for me…to kill her.”
“Who cares about that?!”
It was difficult to tell if Roland was listening. He steadied himself, leaning his left arm against a pillar, and finally stood. His eyes meandered until they came upon his own right arm, lying on the ground. He then took the knife still clutched in the severed limb’s hand.
“You have no obligation to fulfill a promise she forced upon you!”
He staggered forward one step at a time. Rila placed herself between him and Amy.
“You said it yourself at the house in the mountains. She is the parent who gave birth to the assassin you are.”
“Yes,” Roland rasped. He wasn’t looking at Rila, instead focusing on moving forward, like a specter of the man he previously was.
“I cannot let you kill her…”
If Roland heard that, there was no indication. He was blind to Rila, and she was powerless to stop him in her cat form.
“Rila… This has nothing to do with you…”
“If she created the assassin you were, then it has everything to do with me.”
They would have never met otherwise.
“She told me… She wants me…to put an end to her last moments…”
“How is killing your own parent normal?!”
The shout burst from her throat. A small noise issued from her collar—a tear.
“Lord Rileyla, your collar…”
No sooner had Roje commented on it than Rila’s surroundings filled with light, and the world grew wide. Shackles were coming free. Upon examining herself, Rila understood she’d returned to her original form. The collar Roland had put on her lay at her feet, but that wasn’t important now.
“I do not care who that woman is. You shall not kill her yourself.”
“Get out of the way, Rila…”
As Roland walked, Rila threw her arms around him.
His body, normally as sturdy as steel, had weakened. Anyone could have stopped him at this point.
“I cannot allow you to kill your precious recollections of yourself…”
His memories of his childhood.
His days of training. His dreams and ambitions.
His growth as an assassin.
All of that time was spent with the woman on the ground.
“You needn’t kill her,” Rila entreated. “You needn’t fulfill that promise. You are a guild employee.”
For some reason, Rila began to sob as she held Roland fast and squeezed his frail body.
Roland hung his head, resting it upon Rila’s shoulder.
“Yes…you’re right…,” he whispered into her ear, barely able to form the words. “I don’t need to anymore… I don’t need to kill anyone…”
He went limp.
Rila used the highest order of recovery magic she knew and stopped the blood still flowing from his shoulder. Roland’s breathing evened out, and Rila released a sigh. She gently wiped the blood from his face.
“Lord Rileyla…it seems you have recovered your mana,” Roje commented.
“…Indeed. The collar that kept it sealed away has broken.”
By all accounts, it should have been unbreakable, but such things were often said of antiques and rare curios. Perhaps it had simply reached its limit after having to hold back the mana of the most powerful demon lord of all time.
“Lord Rileyla, if you stay here, you will cause a commotion. I believe we should leave as soon as we can.”
“Quite right.”
Rila also cast recovery magic on Amy.
“Roje, take this woman, as well.”
“This human?” Roje asked incredulously.
“Mm-hmm. She is important to Roland.”
Roje agreed, although she looked unconvinced, and shouldered Amy.
Rila took a step, and a magic circle drew itself on the ground. “We shall go to the island,” she decided. “That should keep us from troubling the humans.”
“As you wish.”
Rila collected Roland’s severed arm. She knew of no way to reattach it after it had been away from his body for so long. Not even demonic magic could help this time.
However, a collar had contained a demon lord’s power, so perhaps there was a yet undiscovered method… Although, that collar had broken.
Rila trusted she’d find a way to mend his arm.
They headed to the island the remnants of the demon lord’s army used recently. Rila hadn’t visited this place since then.
The army doctor still lived here, but it seemed she was presently away.
“She did mention she occasionally leaves for research excursions. Perhaps that’s where she’s gone,” Roje speculated.
The two women left Roland and Amy in separate rooms within what had once been the barracks.
Roland still looked pale, but Rila was confident he’d pull through. She cast a preservation spell on his arm. That would stave off the rot as long as the magic lasted.
Rila peeked into Amy’s room, which drew Roje’s attention.
“What do you intend to do with this woman?” asked the elf.
“By your account, she possesses a truly dreadful skill, correct?”
“Yes, she can copy the skills of others and use them like they’re her own…”
“How very useful…”
The assassin, Amy, was beautiful, even as she slept.
“Sh-she could become terrible competition for me…”
Rila stared at Amy resentfully. Thinking of how Roland had lived with this woman for years brought an unpleasant sensation to her chest.
“Maybe we ought to kill her, Lord Rileyla.”
“No.” Rila slapped Roje upside the head.
“Ow!”
“If I kill her for convenience now, she will win.” Rila nodded to herself, as if to praise her comment. Roje, on the other hand, wondered at the meaning of the remark.
“I shall leave telling Leyte, Almelia, and Maylee to you, for I shall remain here to watch over them.”
“As you wish.”
Rila watched as Roje made to hurry back to Bardenhawk.