Maybe my threat worked, or my words struck a chord with them, because the Hundred all slumped their shoulders. Now, if I just said some kind words to them, the effect would be perfect. But what to say? Something harsh, like, “Life is about more than just fighting. Take a long hard look at yourselves back in Farune”? Or maybe something to bring me closer to them, like, “You shouldn’t throw away lives that you’ve already lost once,” could have been good. “Go back home. You have families, don’t you?” wasn’t bad either. They would surely follow my guidance and return to Farune like obedient lambs.
On second glance, though, I saw that the kneeling members of the Hundred were beginning to get up, gloomy looks on their faces. Good. Now, if I just give them one last push—
“Everyone, are you really all right with this?” Suddenly, a clear voice resounded around the battlefield.
It was Maria. She spread her arms wide and began tenderly addressing the Hundred.
“This is what His Majesty is saying,” she continued. “‘I can take on Eyland myself. Those who can’t overcome such minor hardships aren’t fit to follow me.’”
I haven’t said anything like that! Why would I ever fight an entire country by myself?! Don’t be ridiculous!
“Right now, all of you are being tested! Are you true heroes, or are you not?! You have certainly grown stronger, physically. But what about your hearts? Have you trained your minds? That is what His Majesty, what King Mars is asking you!”
Their minds are already nothing but muscle. This is the perfect opportunity for me to send them back, right now, while their resolve is weakened, so could you just stay out of it?
“This is a challenge from His Majesty?” Juza mumbled, dumbfounded. He was one of the Hundred who had been defeated.
Don’t get tricked by her. This isn’t a challenge at all. Just go back home already!
“Yes, all of this is a test from his Majesty, to make you steel your hearts,” Maria murmured, both hands clasped as if in prayer. Even though I knew it was only on the outside, it still annoyed me how divine she looked.
Why are you agitating for a fight? As a priestess, you should be against violence.
“However, His Majesty’s anger is genuine,” she added. “He is disappointed in you for losing against Eyland. He says that to be felled by mere arrows is a failure unbecoming of the Hundred. Can you understand that anger? His Majesty’s expectations were betrayed. He believed in you, and you treated his faith with disdain.”
Dammit, she’s riling up the Hundred so she can get Eyland for herself. I won’t let that happen!
“Hold on!” I said. “I’m not angry at all! And I don’t want you to fight anymore! I just want one thing: for you all to quickly return to Farune!”
The Hundred all jolted.
All right, I stopped the battle! Maria, I’m not going to let you get away with whatever you want! Take that, you witch! Wait, what?
For some reason, the Hundred had started acting strange, and they groaned their next words:
“His Majesty is going to abandon us!”
“Zero is trying to give up on us!”
“No way, if I’m not part of the Hundred anymore, I’m nothing!”
“What do I do, what do I do?”
“Strength…I have to show my strength…”
“That’s right, I’ll dedicate the heads of our enemies to Zero!”
“I can’t show such a shameful sight to His Majesty ever again…”
“Kill, even if it means death! Kill, then die!”
“Death! As His Majesty wishes, I’ll spread death!”
Everything I could hear was unsettling. The warriors of the Hundred were an eerie sight as they took up their weapons, their eyes empty.
“Well done, Your Majesty,” Maria said, approaching me with a virtuous smile on her face. “I gave them a little push myself, but I could never have gone that far on my own. To think that by making them believe you’d given up on them, you pushed them to head into near-certain death.”
Huh? That wasn’t what I was trying to do at all!
“At first, I also wondered why they were struggling, but I see now that this was your goal. It was Your Majesty’s intention to remake them in both body and mind to train them up as a vanguard for world domination.”
The only person around here with a villainous ambition like that is you.
I looked and saw that at some point the Hundred, who were wandering around like a bunch of ghosts crowded together, had been joined by their top members.
“There’s no way I can let you guys go by yourselves…” Ogma’s voice was unusually gloomy. “I messed up too. I blocked every single spell, and I still got bogged down…how pathetic. I should’ve ignored all that and charged ahead…”
No, defend against magic! You’re still human, after all.
“It’s fear, we had to conquer our fear!” Aaron shouted.
You need fear to live, so I think you’d better give up on conquering it.
Next, Barry spoke. “Damn, I’d forgotten. Zero always teaches us what really matters.”
I didn’t mean to teach such a dangerous lesson. Please, forget it, right away!
Bill and Bruno were there too. As one, the group slowly moved toward the Eylish army.
Everyone was unusually single-minded, which made it impossible for me to say anything to stop them.