The recovery of the Lost Items was going smoothly.
After entering the crumbling castle ruins and clearing out the monsters within, I was standing in front of the treasure, talking with Luxion.
I gazed at the bullet I held in my hand.
In the game, these were specially made items, but whether they'd actually be useful here is――questionable.
"Can we use this?"
"With modifications, it's possible, but considering the performance――"
There were items that looked usable, but if they didn't work as-is, I planned to have Luxion and the others modify them.
Even so, my knowledge of the game has gotten pretty hazy.
I was struggling more than expected with recovering the Lost Items.
"Fact――how are your friends doing?"
The revived weapons of the Old Humanity side.
The one bundling together those artificial intelligences was Fact, the management AI of a massive aerial carrier.
"We are running five percent behind schedule."
"What's the cause?"
"A lack of capability on my part."
Even the all-purpose Luxion has limits to its performance.
If there were no time restrictions, it could surely have done the repairs perfectly.
"If even you can't manage it, then we'll have to give up."
As I stood up saying that, Luxion spoke to me.
"Master――"
But mid-sentence, he moved his single eye to face the entrance.
Wondering if something was coming, I readied my gun, and the ones who appeared were――
"Found him!"
"Your Highness, this way!"
――Daniel and Raymond.
Coming up behind the two of them was Julius.
"You guys, what are you doing in a place like this?"
When I lowered the gun, the three of them approached me.
Daniel had a tired look on his face.
"His Highness asked us to come. Said you were in a crisis."
Raymond was the same.
"We heard you were off adventuring all by yourself here and there, but what are you doing at a time like this? Everyone's worried, you know."
Even though war with the Empire is approaching, apparently there are students who feel uneasy because I'm not around.
Even though I'm usually hated, at times like these I get relied on.
"I've got my own circumstances. More importantly, why did you come to a place like this with my friends?"
When I turned my gaze to Julius, he was out of breath, apparently from rushing here.
"C――Cleare told me the location. Bartfort, I――I came to bring you back."
I was stunned by Julius's words.
"Huh?"
"That's why I said, I came to bring you back! You――you're planning to fight all by yourself, aren't you?"
Hearing that, Daniel and Raymond were surprised.
"Eh? No way, even for you, this time it's impossible, right?"
"It's the Empire, you know!?"
Facing those two, Julius spoke to me.
"I heard the whole story from Marie. Bartfort, I――we will lend you our strength."
"――What did you just say?"
Julius said he heard everything from Marie, and I felt bitter.
Just how much did that idiot sister of mine tell him?
Julius turned his gaze to Daniel and Raymond.
"Sorry. Let the two of us talk alone."
When the two nodded and stepped away, Julius looked me straight in the eye.
I always think this, but if these guys would just stay silent, they'd be needlessly handsome.
It's clear that their usual behavior ruins everything.
"Bartfort――you're Marie's older brother, aren't you?"
Hearing that, for a moment I couldn't comprehend it. But I immediately felt furious at Marie.
"That girl, she really told him?"
She went and blabbed on her own that she was a reincarnator.
She really is a sister who acts wildly without limits.
A little while ago, I'd reassessed her after she recovered items, but my opinion of her dropped again.
"Marie was worried about you. She came to us and begged us to help."
"――You believed Marie's story?"
I let out a sigh and put my hand to my forehead.
Are these guys really going to be okay?
If Marie told them the truth, that should mean she also told them we were siblings in our past life.
I'd absolutely never believe it.
But these guys seem to be different.
"Of course. Marie told us seriously. It would be strange not to believe her."
"I'd say it's strange to believe her. You guys――that's exactly why you got tricked by someone like Marie. You can say things like that because you don't know her true nature."
Julius and the others are the pitiful bunch who got tricked by my reincarnator sister and lost both their status and fortune.
Just as I was about to tell him he should be more suspicious――Julius grabbed me by the collar.
Bringing his face close, he glared at me.
"――Let go."
I glared back, but Julius didn't back down even one step.
"Take that back. What do you mean, 'someone like Marie'? Marie is――she's an important person to us."
He still hasn't come to his senses, it seems.
"How do you know what she said is true? It could just be her delusion."
"You can tell by looking into Marie's eyes!"
"You can understand a person from just that? You're mistaken. That's exactly why you guys are no good."
Easily fooled, they're walking a different path from the one they were supposed to take.
Looking at them, I felt pity.
Pitiful men who got tricked by Marie.
But if they care this much about Marie――they'll probably be fine.
"Yeah, that's right! We certainly have poor judgment! We've caused trouble for those around us too!"
"If you understand that――"
"But Marie didn't abandon us!"
"No, that's why――"
What is this guy trying to say?
As I was thinking that, Julius spoke about Marie.
"At first, we may have been tricked. But Marie didn't abandon us. She didn't abandon worthless us, and she pulled us along."
Isn't that her own way of atoning?
"Right. You guys are no good. So, there's no need for you to help me out."
I want to avoid having these guys participate in the war with the Empire.
If they care about Marie this much, they should definitely protect her in the future.
"――Bartfort, are you serious? You really intend to fight the Empire alone? Even Luxion isn't sure if he can win against them! Why won't you rely on me!"
I'm not alone. I have Luxion and the others. Besides――
"It's because you guys are unreliable! Or what? Are you going to fight in my place? Just whose fault do you think it is that I――that I have to suffer like this!"
I got angry at Julius and the others who didn't know anything.
Why do I have to carry such a heavy burden?
Why do I have to fight a war I don't even want to fight?
It's all because of these guys!
I shoved Julius away, and apparently I had been holding more in than I'd thought, because I began to curse him out.
"While you guys were carelessly living it up, do you have any idea how much I've suffered? Suffering to clean up Marie's messes, suffering because of you guys――and on top of that, your country made me suffer too! Up until now, just how much――"
If only these guys had been more reliable, I wouldn't have had to fight a war.
I could have lived leisurely as a mob.
――I know it's misplaced anger.
I understand that even if Julius and the others had been more reliable, it would have ended up like this anyway.
But I can't bear it.
Julius silently listened to what I said.
"What use are you guys? If you can't do anything, just shut up."
That's definitely better.
Then, Julius raised his fist――and punched me.
After staggering back a few steps, Julius raised his voice.
"Yeah, that's right! We're useless! But Marie came crying to us and begged. She begged us to help you! In that case, responding to those feelings is what a man does!"
I threw down my gun and clenched my fist.
"Don't talk big about things you can't do! Guys like you, you'd only be useful as meat shields!"
When my fist landed on Julius's cheek, he punched me back.
"Then I'll be a meat shield or whatever else!"
"You guys will die!"
Julius headbutted me, and our foreheads ended up pressed against each other.
He had a face that showed he was genuinely angry.
"What about you! Aren't you going to die!"
"――"
When I stayed silent, Julius raised his fist again.
"I don't remember anyone asking you to die for them!"
I felt annoyed at Julius for saying that.
"Then you do it! You do it so I don't have to do anything!"
"If I could, I would! Since I can't――at least we――!"
When I drove my fist into Julius's stomach, he looked like he was in pain.
Even so, he didn't stop.
"Marie doesn't want you to die!"
If I could manage that, I wouldn't be suffering like this.
I don't want to die either.
"You guys are useless!"
"Even so!"
Luxion just watched as we kept exchanging blows.
In the distance, I could see Daniel and Raymond watching us, hesitating whether to step in and stop us.
Julius lunged at me, grabbed my collar, and pushed me down.
Straddling me, Julius had red eyes.
"I――I think it was good that I met Marie."
Wondering what he was suddenly going to say, was it more lovey-dovey talk?
"But I also think――it was good that I met you too. If someone like you died, I wouldn't feel good about it either."
What is this guy saying?
"――It doesn't make me happy to hear that from a guy."
"Don't make light of this!"
Julius, who immediately got worked up when I teased him, was shedding tears.
"It's true we're useless. But even so! Even so, we've decided to lend you a hand. It's not just because Marie asked us to. ――Bartfort――no, Leon, we want to lend you our strength."
"――You guys would just get in the way."
I lied to keep them from participating, but Luxion cut in.
"No, their strength is necessary. Master, you should borrow their strength."
"Luxion, you――"
I thought he was being meddlesome.
But Luxion's opinion was different.
"This problem belongs to everyone living in the Kingdom. For Master to try to carry it alone is the height of presumption."
When I fell silent, Julius stood up and held out his hand.
"You can't argue back, can you? If the fight with the Empire is unavoidable, we can't just stay silent either. Even if you don't want us to, we'll participate on our own. If that happens, won't you be the one who's troubled?"
True enough, having them participate on their own and getting in the way would be a nuisance.
I took Julius's hand.
He should have just run away, the idiot.
"I'm going to work you to the bone, so prepare yourself. You guys are absolutely going to regret this."
"I'm used to regretting my association with you. Besides, it's not just us. Jilk and the others are also taking action."
Hearing that, I felt uneasy.
"Those guys, they're not doing anything unnecessary again, are they?"
"We won't know until we get back. More importantly, the people of the Kingdom are anxious because you're not around. It's better to go back and reassure them. You are our hope."
He really managed to say such an embarrassing line.
I was almost impressed.
――But the recovery of the Lost Items has also reached a stopping point.
Let's hurry back.
I'm worried about whether the other four are causing trouble, and I'm concerned about whether Marie is doing something unnecessary.
◇
On the way back.
Aboard the airship Einhorn, I decided to talk with Daniel and Raymond.
I told them with various things hidden――but I felt a little envious of Marie, who had been accepted after telling everything.
If only they would believe me without doubt, like Julius and the others――I couldn't help thinking that, but Marie and I are different, so it's probably impossible.
Raymond was trembling.
"You're saying even you don't know if you can win――they're that strong?"
I honestly told them that even I, who'd kept winning until now, might not be able to win.
And that if there was a path to victory, it would be a near-suicidal attempt with about a thirty percent win rate.
"――So, this time I won't tell you to participate."
At that, Daniel was flustered in front of me.
"I-isn't this your usual joke? Like always, you actually have a chance of winning and you're just saying you might lose, right?"
I'd taken advantage of them quite a bit until now, but this time I couldn't force them to participate.
"If you participate, please assume there's a high chance of dying. So, I won't tell you to participate. If you value your lives, it'd be better to run away."
The two of them looked down.
Raymond's glasses had slipped.
"Survival of the species, what's that all about? Old Humanity and New Humanity existed in the past? I don't get any of this anymore."
Daniel was holding his head too.
"You can't just spring this kind of thing on us!"
In front of those two, I shrugged my shoulders.
"I'm troubled too. Thanks to all this, I'm having to fight a war I don't want to fight. But――unless we definitely crush the enemy's leader, we won't be able to live."
Daniel covered his face with one hand.
"What are we supposed to do about this?"
"Do as you wish. Even if you participate, I don't have the capacity to protect you."
Raymond looked at me.
"Why fight? If it's you, Leon, you can run away, right?"
Even if I ran away, what awaits is a slow death.
This planet will eventually perish, and even if I escape into space, the chances of finding a place to settle are low.
Besides, even Luxion can't save everyone.
"You guys can run away. There's no need to stick with me."
When I said that, the two of them slumped their shoulders.
Daniel looked frustrated.
"Why would you tell us we can run away at such an important time? Until now you've been so――damn it."
Raymond was expressionless.
"That just means the situation is that bad, doesn't it? It would have been better if you'd jokingly fooled us like before."
Even I can't fool them in this situation.
These guys, normally they treat me like――well, whatever.
"Tell everyone I'm sorry. The contract――the promise, looks like I'm the one who won't be able to keep it."