Part 2 Chapter 49

Then Rue warned, “Frame Ball bombardment incoming, Daisy. There are quite a lot of them.”

Just as he said, frame Balls, fired like cannon shells from the enemy ship, came flying toward Ash. Because they spun through the air in curved trajectories instead of straight lines, they were difficult to track with my energy.

Ash barely managed to dodge the successive barrage—just before being hit head-on by the fourth Frame Ball—

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It shrank back down to its tiny form, narrowly avoiding the hit, and flew into my arms.

Phew. Though it was too early to be relieved.

The enemy’s Frame Ball bombers had already begun turning their muzzles toward the passenger ship.

Boom—!

Right on cue, a second shackle slammed into the hull. Rein’s reinforcements started rushing in again, running along the chains.

This time, they’d used their heads a bit, at least, seeing that the masked fighter at the front was carrying a shield. I grabbed the shield that was pushing forward toward me and swung it hard.

“U–uwaaagh!”

The man, flung along with the shield, collided midair with a Frame Ball flying this way and exploded on the spot.

Direct hit.

But handling three or more Frame Balls at once was too much.

Yeah. Like right now.

Thoom—!

From the enemy ship, Frame Balls were fired in rapid succession.

My heartbeat sped up, hot blood rushing to my head.

I held my breath and focused—everything seemed to slow down.

‘Let one detonate midair, let that one go since I can’t do anything about it… then for the last one, is it better to just kick it away?’

It might tear something below the knee if it exploded, but if we went by experience, it wasn’t pain I couldn’t endure, and it would heal quickly enough.

‘…But Rue is scary.’

Just look at that sharp gaze stabbing into my back.

If I so much as sacrifice a finger, it feels like he’d swim all the way back to Calepa right away. And he’d sulk for about a year, too. That’d be hard.

‘It’d be easier if I could just handle all of this with my finger sword technique.’

But I still couldn’t control it well yet. If I swing that kind of power around and end up causing a massive tidal wave… then I’d have to borrow Rue’s power… and if I rely on him for something like this… my pride would take a hit.

‘Deal with the urgent one first!’

I sent out my energy and detonated the first Frame Ball. At the same time, a booming chant rang out from somewhere—

“Ancient Horror Fire!”

What fire?

I could feel the heat of flames brushing against my skin. When I turned my head, I saw a ring of fire suspended in midair.

From within it, a barrage of flaming arrows poured out toward the Frame Balls. Even those that had deftly curved away to evade were eventually overwhelmed by sheer numbers, struck, and sent crashing down.

The mage who had been calmly watching that unfold turned to look at me.

It was the Flame King.

“Ever since boarding, I’ve had my eye on you, Andert Fager.”

Huh.

‘He recognized me as well?’

I shot Rue a suspicious glance. He only shrugged lightly and murmured,

“Told you, didn’t I? It doesn’t work on anyone who has strong interest—or strong feelings, maybe—toward you.”

The Flame King formed another ring of fire and attacked the enemy vessel again as he shouted—

The Flame King created another ring of fire and attacked the enemy ship as he shouted,

“An impressive perception spell. But no one can escape my sight—not even you, Andert Fager!”

So he was the talkative type.

Not that I was trying to avoid his chatter or anything—I simply picked Rue up in my arms and leapt toward the enemy ship to deal with Rein’s followers.

A Frame Ball flying toward me midair was struck by a flaming arrow and sent crashing away.

“Haha! For our first time, don’t you think we work quite well together!?”

I dealt with the swordsman in front of me and took his blade. It should be obvious that no one could stop me once I had a sword in my hand. Afterall, in the end, I was a swordsman at heart.

“Stop him! Hold him back!”

I immediately smashed the Frame Ball launcher and sent a wave of sword energy toward the captain’s cabin.

Boom!

The Flame King, who had caught up at some point, shielded himself with a wall of fire and said,

“The day I saw the report that you had returned alive… I thought to myself—”

This guy really talks a lot.

“—as expected… I knew you would be alive.”

Rue, brushing soot off his clothes, easily ignored the Flame King’s admiration and muttered,

“Daisy, the hem of my dress got burned.”

“What? Hey—tone down the flames. You’ve damaged my girl’s clothes.”

The Flame King shook his head with a faint smile.

“…To think you’d be swayed by a woman. The man I knew was a lone wolf with unwavering resolve. I see, even my hero cannot escape the passage of time.”

“I said, turn down the heat..”

“Does a chaotic age call forth a hero, or does a hero call forth chaos… I don’t yet know the answer. But there is one thing I am certain of.”

I really can’t get through to him.

“The hero this age has called… is not you, but me.”

“Sorry, Rue. Once we get off, I’ll buy you something even prettier.”

“Hm. A short skirt that shows off the knees wouldn’t be bad either.”

While I was clearing out the remnants, a well-built swordswoman slid down along the chain connected to the ship. Tap. She landed lightly, brushing her long hair back over her shoulder, then pointed straight at the Flame King.

“You idiot! Why do you keep charging off on your own like that? Did you forget you’re a mage, not a swordsman?”

Looks like the two of them are in the same party.

Standing proudly within his wall of fire, the Flame King let out a deep sigh.

“My life isn’t important. What truly matters is protecting others.”

“How long are you going to keep putting everyone else first? Start taking care of yourself for once! I… I’m scared you’re going to die like this!”

Watching the remaining enemies scramble and fall into the sea, I called out,

“Hey, pink-hair. Fire off some of those flame arrows, will you? They’re getting away.”

“Sorry. But this is the kind of man I am. Protecting others… is what matters more than myself..”

“Flame King…”

“I said shoot them.”

“If I die protecting the world… then that too must be the will of the world. I do not fear fate!”

“Flame King, you…!”

The swordswoman threw herself into the arms of the Flame King, who seemed to be deaf all of a sudden.

“Then I’ll die protecting you too!”

“Bri….”

“Flame King…!”

And he was criticizing me just now for being swayed by a woman. Look at him.

Rue strolled over lazily and handed me a sword.

“Use this for the time being. I picked a sturdy one.”

Just like he said, it looked pretty decent. I fastened the ownerless sword at my waist and asked,

“So when are you giving me a new one?”

Rue, who had been gently brushing my chin, narrowed his eyes.

“…It might actually be better for you to go without a sword for now. You’re strong enough with one, but you can’t rely on weapons every time.”

Well… that’s true.

“Are you still scared of controlling your energy?”

What?

Afraid? Me? Of something like the third chapter of the Demonic Sword Art—finger sword techniques?

Such a statement would hurt any man’s pride—no, it hurt my pride as a woman.

Just then, Baroness Fiora, standing at the passenger ship’s railing, shouted toward me,

“Lord Andert! The enemy ship on the left has sunk! The remaining one is nearly dealt with as well—you may return!”

As expected of the Swordmaster. No mercy.

I climbed back to the passenger ship along the tattered chain. Not long after, warships from Penrotta appeared in the nearby waters.

Word must have spread that things had settled—several spirited passengers came up on deck, bursting into cheers.

“Flame King! Flame King! Flame King!”

Receiving their applause, the Flame King lightly reassured them. From any angle, he looked every bit the kind of hero worthy of admiration.

Well, his personality’s a bit… peculiar. But honestly, among exceptional people, it was always rare to find anyone completely normal.

“Citizens from my dearest Contaninos and the Penrotta Empire! I have something to say to you!”

At some point, the deck had grown crowded, and all eyes turned toward him.

“Today’s events are not my achievement alone. Please give a great round of applause as well to the soldiers who protected this passenger ship and its people!”

“Waaah—!”

“And one more!”

With a solemn expression, the Flame King raised his fist into the air.

“And above all… the one who played a crucial role in today’s battle at sea. I’d like to introduce that person here—someone you all know—”

Before he could finish his words, I slipped away and fled back to the cabin.

—

sorry for the long hiatus, my midterms were going on and I’ve been so busy irl. I was absolutely delighted at the manhwa adaptation, and it seems to have also brought us a lot of new readers. Welcome aboard, everybody~ this is Ami, your translator!