Part 49:
The Lady Knight Becomes the Dragon-Slaying Hero
CATRIA STOOD ALONE in a windswept field.
About three hundred meters before her lay a town, the very same town the party had stopped at on the way to the Elf Woods not so long ago. Her old brigade currently surrounded said town. According to Princess Lithisia, they had been brainwashed to believe that rebels hid within it.
Over one hundred knights in total… A full-blown army. Even worse, this army consisted of Rostir’s best and brightest.
How can I possibly fight an entire army on my own?
Catria gripped her Holy Knight Blade and courage flared up from within her. Alan, that shovel-incarnate superhuman of a man, had made this sword for her. And Catria had decided to become a knight worthy of the blade.
<Don’t hesitate, Catria. Do what you must!>
She cheered herself on in her mind, and as she did, it was as though she could hear Alan do the same. Catria smiled. To think she’d started to hear things. Even deep within her heart, she relied on Alan.
<Oh, and hurry up. They’re going to attack soon.>
What a specific thing to imagine hearing.
Wait, his voice is way too clear!
“Hey…”
<What’s wrong, Catria?>
“Don’t you give me that! Y-you’re the one who told me to go and become a hero on my own!”
<My apologies, but I wanted to see you in action as up close and personally as I could.>
“Huh?”
<You’re a vein of talent I mined up myself. What’s the point if I don’t get to watch you in action in person?>
Catria’s heartbeat suddenly sped up.
<That’s why I followed along in secret. Forgive me, Catria.>
“Er, um, r-really? Hrm.”
I see… So Alan followed me. He wanted to watch me in action. Huh.
Catria neglected to notice her own grin.
<Don’t let your guard down, Catria,> Alan said sternly. <I won’t be helping you. I’m currently an invisible man.>
“An invisible man? What’s that supposed to mean? You sure you don’t mean invisible shovel?” Catria was certain Alan had made a slip of the tongue.
<No. I don’t have a shovel with me right now.>
“What?”
<I left my shovel behind. I’ve got nothing on me. If things look bad for you, I won’t be able to step in.>
KA-BOOOOOOOOM!
“WHAAAA?!” Catria was bowled over by what felt like a weapon—not a shovel—colliding with her head. He left his shovel behind? Alan did? Had hell frozen over? “Wh-why would you do that?!”
<In order to be here for you when you break out on your own, I used Stealth Shovel to obtain stealth abilities.>
“How are those two things related on any level?!”
<By cutting some letters, I’m able to hide the true meaning of things, therefore hiding myself.>
What was he going on about now? None of this made any sense. Nevertheless, Catria tried her best to put it together. That was when she noticed the pair of shoes (sho[v]e[l]s) standing in roughly the direction Alan’s voice was coming from.
“…”
Catria was assaulted by a wave of understanding.
<The main weakness of this technique is that my shoes don’t turn invisible with me. Hm? What’s wrong, Catria?>
“I don’t even care anymore. Fine, no help. Got it.”
Catria somehow managed to mentally overcome everything that had just transpired just as she heard a whistle being blown—a shrill cry, one she was all too familiar with. This was the sign for the knights to attack.
No good. Catria dashed forward.
Urgh, I’m not gonna make it at this rate!
Approximately a thousand feet separated Catria and the knights. She could fire her Justice Stream at any time, but it lacked power at this range. She panicked, fearing the situation hopeless.
However, even in hopeless situations, Alan made the impossible possible. If Alan faced this problem, he’d solve it quick as anything.
At this range, huh?
“If it’s too far—I should be able to ‘fill’ the distance!” Catria cried out, unconsciously grasping the hilt of her Holy Knight Blade. As she did—
SHWIIIIIIING!
“Huh?”
For a moment, Catria was blinded by white light. When she could once more see, she found she had instantaneously changed location.
“What…?”
Catria blinked rapidly. Weird, much? The army a thousand feet away from her now loomed right in front of her very eyes. Before her stood a veteran knight with a huge beard: Captain Lancelot. He looked right at her.
No, wait, what the hell? I was so far away. Why is the army right here?! Catria thought. “Alan! What did you do?!”
But Alan (currently in stealth mode) simply kicked the dirt with his visible shoes. “Nothing. You’re the one who performed a most excellent Showarp.”
“A Showarp?!”
“The act of ‘filling in’ the distance between you and your target.”
Catria’s jaw almost hit the ground. No, wait. Hold on a second. I did nothing of the sort. I did not Showarp!
All she had done was grip her Holy Knight Blade, if somewhat unconsciously, and think about filling in the distance—
“You’re the traitor, Catria! Where did you come from?!” Captain Lancelot bellowed, interrupting her thoughts. The captain’s voice was piercingly hostile. The knights surrounding him recovered from their confusion and took up battle stances facing Catria.
Now wasn’t the time to bicker with Alan!
Catria unsheathed her Holy Knight Blade and stood off against Captain Lancelot. His glowing red eyes locked on to her with killing intent.
Those eyes aren’t normal. He’s being controlled by someone—or something!
In other words, there was a mystery to uncover here, and Catria had to figure it out. At that moment, Catria remembered how they had solved the puzzles in the pyramid.
“The pyramid…?”
Back then, what did Alan do? Catria focused, racking her brain. That’s right, Alan wrote it into the ground and…
While Catria retraced her memories, she mimicked Alan’s actions in real-time, writing into the dirt with the tip of her sword: “how to undo the captain’s brainwashing.”
Immediately, answering words appeared in the dirt: “The man in front wearing a purple robe is a demon. Defeat him.”
Catria instantly “filled in” the distance between herself and the purple-robed man and smacked him with her sword.
“GAAAAAAAAH!”
SWOOOSH!
Catria’s single blow sent the purple-robed man flying into a mountain far on the horizon.
Alan applauded Catria’s good work. <A wonderful strike, if I do say so myself. You buried him in the mountain, right?>
“Yeah, thanks… Wait, wait waaaaaiiiit!” Catria’s concentration finally broke, leading to her scream. Hold on! What the hell did I just do?!
<A perfect shovlauncher. To be honest, I’m really impressed.>
“Gaaaaaah! N-no, that’s not it! I used my sword, not a shovel!”
<It doesn’t matter what you use. I just want to see more of your stunning skills.>
“Wha?!” Catria’s heartbeat grew louder.
<You’re the absolute best right now, Catria.>
BADUMP, BADUMP, BADUMP!
Why is my heart reacting like this to a shovel man like him of all people? No, he isn’t actually a shovel right now. So it’s more like Shovel Man - Shovel = Man. It’s completely normal for a woman to find her heart fluttering because of a man. That’s a common thing. In other words, I can feel love and attraction toward Alan and do all kinds of things with him and—
“Wait, NOOOO! What am I thinking?!?!?!?!” Catria shook her head furiously in an attempt to wash away the steamy thoughts taking over her mind. Something’s wrong with me! This is all Alan’s fault!
“Ugh… Where…am I? Ergh… Knight Catria, is that you?!” Captain Lancelot’s mind control had been broken, and he blinked at his surroundings, bewildered.
Catria, flustered, dashed up to him. The captain had overseen her training and been a great help to her in the past. “C-Captain, are you all right? You were being controlled by a demon!”
“A demon, you say? Ugh… I see… I remember interrogating Zeleburg in the capital, and then…”
“You’re back to normal?”