Chapter 2:
The Evil Bloody Mistress Aigis
“AIGIS, YOUR MEN HAVE ALL SURRENDERED. I don’t want to kill you. You were just being used… Please, lay down your sword.”
The handsome blond young man stood across from the beautiful red-haired woman, both of them holding their swords up. She was covered in injuries, but the arrow wound in her shoulder was particularly grisly. If left unattended, she would die in the near future.
“What of it?” she said. “Are you saying you’ll save me? Like some kind hero?”
“Yes, of course,” he replied. “If I ask my friends, they’ll be able to heal your wounds without a problem.”
He smiled warmly at her in an attempt to set her heart at ease, then approached her. In response, she swung her sword.
“Such kindness! Too radiant for me to even look at,” she said with a cackle. “I am not so naive as to trust such a thing. If I am to be betrayed time and time again, then I shall put faith only in myself and fight!”
“Aigis, I…”
A look of sorrow crossed the young man’s face. His pleas to save her were falling on deaf ears. It was precisely because his words were so kind that they did not reach her.
“I hate you!” she hissed. “And you know what? I don’t care about anything anymore. Everything and everyone I wanted to protect is already…”
For a time after, the sound of swords clashing filled the area—until Aigis Bloody met her end.
This was the final time that the protagonist crossed swords with his rival. After this event battle, a dramatic cutscene played in-game. Players loved it for the strength of the CG and voice acting. It was such an impactful scene that fans watched it repeatedly in the hopes of saving Aigis from her tragic fate.
After being used by the people around her, she was scorned as an evil woman, and the protagonist’s words no longer reached her ears. However, what if he had been able to reach out to her when she still was capable of believing in others? If someone reached out to her, not purely with kindness but with their own motivations laid bare, could things have turned out differently?
Fans of the Bloody Mistress Aigis often wondered this.
✦ ✦ ✦
The sounds of swords clashing filled the training space. Since everything that happened with Barbaro, the territory had become much safer. As for what I was up to…
“You have improved, Lord Weiss,” said Kaiser.
“Are you being sarcastic?” I asked. “You kicked my butt.”
In addition to practicing magic, I was also training with Kaiser in the art of sword combat. I was capable of decently holding my own now, but I stood no chance against a veteran soldier like him. For some reason, when he heard my complaints, he merely smiled.
“Remember, I have given my life to the sword. I cannot afford to so easily allow myself to be defeated,” he said to me, clenching a fist, before he proceeded to stare into my eyes. “That being said, I was so moved when you told me you wanted to continue your sword practice!”
He threw his arms around me, tears streaming down his cheeks as he embraced me. Despite my discomfort, I pledged to myself that I would become stronger. After all, I’d decided to live alongside Rosalia and make the Hamilton territory a strong one. In order to survive the approaching war, I had to not only develop this land but become more powerful myself.
Plus, if things were proceeding along the game timeline, then pretty soon I would have to deal with a challenging event. Thinking about something so awful on the horizon gave me a heavy heart.
“Ah, I am most sorry. I was just so happy that I lost control of myself,” he said apologetically.
“Oh, it’s no big deal. All that did was show me how worried you were, and honestly, I’m glad,” I replied with a smile.
He was a Weiss fan too, just like me and Rosalia. I was nothing if not grateful that he remained so loyal despite everything Weiss had done.
Though he did smell like sweat when he hugged me.
“Thank you for your kind words,” he said. “Let us put an end to today’s training. Oh, and thanks to the information we received from Barbaro, we have made excellent progress on eliminating the mafia. Criminals who have heard rumors of what happened have been fleeing the territory.”
“Really? Excellent,” I said. “I’m counting on you going forward.”
“Leave it to me, Lord Weiss.”
As Kaiser bowed, I noticed a few people some ways behind him doing the same. Ever since I accompanied the men to take care of Barbaro’s organization, a number of them had started greeting me. I even had a few ask me about my magic. Even if it was only a little, I was pretty happy to have my hard work recognized.
Waving my hand at the men, I left the training grounds.