Chapter 12:
The Princess Knight
"I DON'T THINK SO." I smiled down at Goaz.
Goaz just looked up at me blankly for a second. "Huh? Er..."
"I said no."
A huge man with a terrifying face was groveling before me, trembling
in fear. The sight was truly hilarious. With his ridiculously bulky muscles and
tattoos—whether they were for fashion or intimidation, I didn't know—he
reminded me of the debt collectors I'd feared in my past life. Frankly, it
pissed me off just looking at him, but I was also very much enjoying holding
his life in my hands and rejecting his pleas for mercy.
Man, I really am a monster, aren't I? Well, there's no point in going
back to being a good person at this point.
Goaz once again pleaded for his life. "Please! I'll do anything, just
spare me!"
The troops closest to me surrounded Goaz with their guns trained on
him while the rest of them carried away our injured and dead. My men
looked down at Goaz with ice-cold eyes. I could practically hear them
thinking, After all this, he's begging for his life?
A captain of a huge pirate gang was crying and pleading for mercy
before a person who looked like a child. The power of violence really was
something. Well, I had my reasons for not granting his request, one being that
he was just the type of predatory bully that had always pissed me off in my
previous life, but he was also operating under a fundamental
misunderstanding.
"There's something you're not getting here. You say that you'll do
anything and that you'll give me an amazing treasure? Your treasure is
already mine, and the only thing you can do for me now is become an entry
on my list of achievements and get handed over to the Empire for the bounty
on your head."
Goaz's eyes widened in shock, but to me there were no surprises here.
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There was nothing he could provide me that would be more valuable than the
bounty I'd receive for turning him in to the Empire.
"Wait! I promise I'll be useful to you if you let me live! I-I may have
lost, but you saw how strong I was, right? Those soldiers couldn't even
scratch me! You could have a guy like that working for you. So please, don't
do this! I've got a hidden treasure that's worth way more than the bounty on
me! I'll give you the goods I have stashed in other places too!"
It probably wasn't all lies, but I was sure he was making up some of it
just to get out of this situation. I was certain this guy would betray me if I let
him live. Having seen plenty of people like him in my last life, I had decided
never to trust anyone of his ilk again.
"What, you're still hiding more? You can tell it to an Imperial
interrogator, then. I'm sure they'll employ plenty of fun and exciting
techniques to get the information out of you so they can claim that treasure
for themselves."
I sure didn't want to know what sort of things they'd do in that
investigation, but Goaz would inevitably endure questioning and then
execution. There would be no allowances for "extenuating circumstances" for
this guy.
Finally realizing that there was no salvation in store for him, Goaz
stopped pleading with me. "D-don't screw with me, you braaat!"
"Showing your true colors now? Why don't you be a little more
cooperative?"
Somehow Goaz managed to stand, despite having only one foot. He
lumbered toward me, black smoke spewing out of him.
I pointed my blade at him and coolly said, "Settle down." I slashed at
him some more, just enough not to kill him, and severed his last limb while I
was at it.
Goaz slid to the floor, looking like he had no idea what had just
happened. After a moment, the reality finally registered, and he began to cry
and beg for his life all over again.
"P-please, let me go! I'm begging you! Spare me! I don't want to die!"
I ignored him. They were all lines I was tired of hearing. Instead, I
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gazed at the sword I'd found, quite pleased. It seemed it would be even more
useful than I'd thought. I had no more interest in Goaz, but one of my men
asked me about his fate.
"You're really going to take him alive, Lord Liam?"
"Is there some problem with that?"
"N-no, it's just...he killed so many of my men."
All the soldiers around him seemed consumed by their hatred for Goaz
as well. It was only natural, seeing as he'd killed their friends.
I don't like them questioning my methods, but these guys are basically
just a machine that generates violence, so I don't want them holding a
grudge against me either. Guess I should tread carefully with them. Not that I
intend to change my decision, of course.
"It's my understanding that the bounty is higher if we hand him over
alive, so that's what we're going to do." Or so I thought I'd heard.
"No, there's no difference in the bounty for a criminal as vicious as
Goaz. In fact, they might reward you more if you can prove you saved them
the trouble and finished him off."
The soldier who'd spoken brought up a holographic screen and
displayed the information about Goaz's bounty, and it did indeed say
something to that effect. Guess I was mistaken. Well, that's embarrassing.
"Aah, really?"
I glanced back at Goaz. He was still whimpering.
I can't believe this guy is the captain of a huge pirate gang that's
destroyed entire planets. How pathetic. There's not a single molecule of me
that wants to keep him alive.
I recalled a phrase I'd heard in my past life: "Debt collectors are human
too." Who had said something so idiotic? Those leeches sucked every last
drop out of me in my former life. They didn't have a speck of humanity in
them; no amount of crying or appealing for relief had moved them at all. I'd
lost all hope because of them, desperately asking myself, "Why is this
happening to me?" But now, I was in their shoes, and the blubbering victim I
was threatening was a fiendish criminal. It felt amazing!
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I'm stronger than those guys. I can do whatever I want with them.
"Please, have mercy. I'll tell you everything. If—"
Goaz's pleading was really starting to piss me off. "Would you shut up
already?"
To shut him up at last, I sliced Goaz's head off. Then, looking down at
his body in surprise, I saw his bluish-black skin had turned a more natural
tanned brown.
"His skin's back to normal. So he wasn't a cyborg?"
No machine parts protruded from the chopped stumps of his body
either. So how did he get that metallic stuff? This world is full of mysteries.
I picked up his head and handed it to one of my men. "Will this be
proof enough?"
"Y-yes!" The soldiers all rapidly saluted me.
Just then, I received a report that we'd gained full control of the ship.
"Over already, eh?"
It felt like everything had happened so quickly. There had been a ton of
forces in the pirate gang, but few of them had turned out to be tough. For my
first battle, it was a bit underwhelming.
One of my men brought me an additional report. "It appears there are
captives on board, Lord Liam."
"Captives?"
"Yes. They were being held prisoner by the pirates."
***
One of the captured pirates led us toward a room near Goaz's
chambers. All this time, I'd been thinking this vessel was pretty solidly built
for a pirate ship, but they had apparently just stolen a battleship from some
nation and modified it. It was pretty cheeky of those pirates to have done
something so brash, but the nation that had their ship stolen didn't come out
of it looking very good either.
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I kicked the pirate who was guiding us, and he flew forward. "We're
still not there yet?"
"N-no, sir!" The other pirates referred to this man as the "breeder," and
he had apparently been close to Goaz. He was short, with a bulging stomach
and reedy limbs. The man was more than a little creepy. Apparently, his job
on the ship had required specialized knowledge.
We finally arrived at the room, and one of my men opened the door to
enter before me.
The breeder looked nervous. "P-please don't touch any of the devices.
It's hard to get your hands on things like this, you know."
"Devices?"
Just what kind of animals was he raising on this ship that required
special devices? Did they make a profit selling them? I decided to ask him
something that had been on my mind.
"Hey."
"Yes?"
"You got a dog on this ship?"
The breeder's lips pulled up in a disgusting smile as he tried to sell me
on his skills. "Oh, I know all about what you nobles like; I can make you any
kind of dog you want. Would you like an obedient one, or do you have a
preference when it comes to looks?"
I wasn't sure how to interpret his answer. All I'd asked him was if
there was a dog on board. Is this guy okay?
As I was thinking this, the men who'd entered the room stormed back
out of it and opened the visors on their helmets, vomiting. Seeing their pitiful
display, one of the men guarding me shouted, "Is that any way to act in front
of Lord Liam, you lot?"
Seeing how these trained soldiers had turned blue, I became extra
curious about what exactly was inside that room.
Another man exited it and reported, "I would recommend you stay out
here, Lord Liam." His voice was shaky, and he hadn't even told me what
he'd found, so this hardly counted as a report.
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"I need to know: what's in there?"
While my men hesitated to speak, the creepy breeder spoke up instead.
"This is also my laboratory, you see. I spent most of my time fulfilling the
late captain's requests. I'm sure you'll like my work as well, my lord."
The soldiers who'd come out of the room glared at the man. "You pig!"
He just smirked in response. "Oh? Not to your tastes, then?"
I didn't like this guy's attitude. "Explain."
When I demanded an explanation, the breeder all too eagerly
commenced describing his work.
Sickened, I borrowed a gun from one of my men and shot him through
the head.
There's no value in any of these people.
***
Ominous tools lined the walls of the dark room. I spotted various
strange devices and an operating table.
The pirates had called this the "stable." It was a disgusting display of
the experiments done by the man called the breeder, and the abominable acts
Goaz had asked him to perform—things a normal person couldn't have hoped
to understand.
The things on display in this room were all men and women—or rather,
what had once been men and women. Apparently, Goaz had enjoyed seeing
beautiful people gradually made ugly, and the breeder had enjoyed modifying
the human body. This combination meant the room was now full of tragic
sights that had once been healthy men and women, whom Goaz had captured
from planets he'd plundered and locked into these upright cylinders.
One of the women in this torture chamber had received particularly
poor treatment. Her name was Christiana Leta Rosebreia—and she had once
been a gorgeous female knight. Hailing from a small planet in the
Intergalactic Empire, she had been born into royalty and beloved by her
people. They had affectionately called her Tia and revered her strength and
beauty as the Princess Knight. When Goaz had taken her entire planet
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hostage, she had surrendered to him, and she had survived all this time as his
favorite plaything.
Others amongst the captives brought to this room had been in similar
positions, and their appearances had been altered by Goaz's twisted lust.
Christiana—Tia—resided in the room as a lump of flesh, all traces of
her former appearance gone. She spent her days grieving her now-destroyed
homeland and wishing for the day to come when she would finally die. She
had once been a noble-minded individual, but now Tia's heart was beyond
the point of breaking.
Sensing the change occurring inside the ship, her suspicions were
confirmed when an unfamiliar combat unit entered the room. The troops
wore different equipment from the pirates and followed organized commands
and therefore had to be soldiers belonging to some nation. When these
soldiers entered the room and saw the tormented creatures inside, they
couldn't help but retch.
Tia addressed one shaking soldier. "What happened to Goaz?"
She had once possessed a beautiful voice, but there was no trace of
beauty now. This distorted voice coming from the ugly creature she had
become only served to further terrify the soldier. He pointed his gun at her in
fright. "Ahh!"
Seeing his reaction, Tia was reminded of just what a monstrosity she
had become. The thought saddened her all over again, but at the same time,
she was relieved that she would finally be freed.
"Please do not be afraid. Despite my shocking appearance, I am not
your enemy. Let me ask again: what happened to Goaz?"
Yet the soldier was so afraid, he couldn't answer. In fact, he looked as
though he were about to pull the trigger at any moment. However, this only
brought relief to Tia and the others like her who had been transformed. Ah,
we can finally die, they thought. For closure, they wanted to know what had
become of Goaz and the breeder in the end, but Tia could barely bring herself
to care anymore. She just wanted it all to end.
At that point, she heard a single gunshot from outside the room. What
had happened? While she wondered this, the soldiers all lined up, and a
single knight entered the room. He was small, still young, and holding a
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sword. She couldn't tell if he'd come of age yet. Despite this, Tia sensed
from the soldiers' attitude toward him that he must have held a fairly high
position.
"Was Goaz captured?" she asked him.
The boy seemed surprised that she could even speak, but he quickly
answered her. "I killed him." He seemed possessed of a composure beyond
his years. "I shot the breeder too."
At the boy's blunt words, Tia felt happiness for the first time since
she'd been imprisoned here. "Is that so?"
The creatures in the other cylinders in the room began to emit sounds
of joy, gratitude, and tearful happiness. They were overwhelmed that their
tormentors were finally both dead.
While the soldiers were frightened, the boy faced Tia. One of the men
who had been searching the room brought the boy a tablet.
Tia was grateful from the bottom of her heart. To her, this boy was like
a messenger from the god she'd prayed to every day, sent here to free her
from her hellish suffering.
"It's finally over. I do not know who you are, but if you have any
compassion, please...save us." The salvation Tia begged for was death at the
hands of the boy and his men. In her current body, she was not capable of
granting this wish herself, but through these others her living nightmare
would finally be over.
"Save you?"
"Yes. I'm sure you can understand what I mean when you see how we
are now. We can never live as humans again. So please, by your hands..."
They'd been turned into disgusting travesties and could never return to
their former selves. There was no point in them staying alive a minute longer.
But the boy's response was not what they expected. "Very well, I'll
save you... And I expect you to return the favor. Somebody, get a medic and
transport these people."
He seemed to have misunderstood her. "W-wait—" But he took his
team of soldiers and left the room. She pleaded to the remaining soldiers
instead, "Please! Kill me! Just kill me!"
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The soldiers averted their eyes. "We can't disobey Lord Liam's orders.
Sorry."
Despair came crashing back down on Tia and the others. They had
thought they were finally going to be freed, but their expectations had been
cruelly betrayed.
"Please! Kill us! There's no meaning in living like this anymore!"
The cries and screams continued to echo through the chamber long
after Liam had left it.
***
After leaving the sickening collection, I scrolled away on a tablet,
learning about the original forms of the unfortunate creatures inside those
tubes. There were also records of exactly what kinds of experiments had been
carried out to make those beautiful men and women so grotesque, though I
had no idea what was so amusing about such a pursuit. The breeder had even
kept a sort of journal of each change his subjects had undergone. I just can't
understand these sadistic pirates.
"Lord Liam, are you really going to save them?" one of my men asked
He seemed to have some medical knowledge. "From what I can tell, the
only way to help them would be to create completely new bodies for them."
"But it can be done?"
"Y-yes. You would need magical elixirs, though. I'm sure you could
dilute them, but you know what those cost, don't you?"
Elixirs in fantasy worlds are like a miracle cure-all. This world has
them too, of course, but they're a rare find even in the vast Empire. When
they can be found on the market, they go for ridiculous prices. Frankly,
they're so expensive that a lower-class noble can't even afford them.
"Well, I've just gotta buy 'em, right? I wanted some on hand for
myself anyway."
If I sell the treasure I'm nabbing from Goaz, I should earn a decent
amount. Actually, Goaz might have some elixirs hidden on his ship. I'm the
type who'd use my elixirs right when I get them.
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"Well, er...you'd need a specialized doctor too. The facilities for their
treatment would also be expensive. Considering the state they're in, they'd
need psychological care as well. It would take years to get them back to their
original bodies. I, well...I just think it'd take an unreasonable amount of
money to treat them."
Well, I think I'll make plenty of money off our victory, so it shouldn't be
a problem. "They asked me to save them, so I'm saving them. That's all there
is to it."
"I think what they meant by that was—"
"I know."
The soldier went quiet.
I understood that they didn't have any hope of a normal life anymore.
Looking over the entries in the tablet, however, I'd been struck by the
unfairness of it all. I felt like I was looking at my old self—though they had
gone through even more than I had—and I couldn't help but sympathize.
Nearly all the people in that room had had their planet destroyed by Goaz.
They didn't have a home to return to.
"I'm in a good mood right now. It doesn't hurt to do a good deed every
once in a while, don't you think?"
My men didn't seem able to respond to that. Maybe they were
ridiculing me on the inside for being a villain who talked about good deeds.
Maybe they were holding back laughter.
Well, anyway, I've once again come out of this with a nice return on
my investments. And as always, it's all thanks to the Guide.
***
Back in House Banfield's domain, the media reported Lord Liam's
grand victory over the Goaz Pirate Gang. The whole planet rejoiced when
they heard the news.
The bartender served his patrons drink after drink in celebration.
His regular at the counter proposed a toast to the bartender. "You're
doing great business today, aren't you?"
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The bartender drained his own drink after the toast. "I thought we were
goners for sure this time." He'd felt like he was doomed the moment he heard
the Goaz Pirate Gang was on the way. There had been no detailed
information from the government, but as far as the average citizen
understood, it wasn't a rare event for a planet to be wiped out by pirates. That
was just how malignant pirates were.
The regular happily downed his drink as well. "You said it! I panicked
and opened up a bottle I'd been saving for a special occasion."
The bartender laughed at this. "Bah, you should have held off! It
would've only gotten better with age! Instead of drinking while fearing your
death, you could have drunk it while praying for victory."
"Yeah," the regular agreed. "It was a bit of a waste. Is the rumor true
that this was the count's first battle?"
"That's what the news says."
Empire nobles sometimes participated in battles out of a desire for
notable achievements, but even then, they participated from the safety of the
rear. However, the news was reporting that Lord Banfield had entered a
mobile knight and charged the enemy flagship himself. In fact, reports went
so far as to say that he had boarded the pirate ship and killed Goaz
personally, but this was probably not true.
"He's like a hero from a fairy tale. If it's true, that is."
"You're right about that," the bartender agreed. He couldn't help
smiling. "I prefer to believe it's true. If something were to happen to that
man, I don't think I'd get to see this anymore."
The bartender and the regular both looked out at the crowd of patrons
making merry in the bar. Before Liam had been born, the bartender could
never have imagined a sight like this.
His regular was just as happy. "Yeah. Well, whatever the future holds,
let's just celebrate our lord making it through his first battle."
The two hoisted some more drinks and toasted again.
***
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When I returned home, I received a warm welcome. My subjects were
overjoyed, and Brian was sobbing—so much that it kinda creeped me out.
"Master Liam! I knew you would return safely!"
"Oh, uh, yeah?"
"It's true that he was worried about you," Amagi whispered into my
ear, "but he didn't think you would win."
"Is that so?" I shot a suspicious look at Brian, who averted his eyes.
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Well, I guess I should be happy that he was so worried about me.
"Anyway, how were things back here? No problems, I hope?"
Brian gave me all sorts of information, but I couldn't really make any
of it out through his sobbing. In the end, I had to ask Amagi for clarification.
"I got a summons from the Capital Planet?"
"Yes. You are to be rewarded with a medal for your triumph over the
Goaz Pirate Gang. A more official summons should be coming soon."
The Guide had said something about that, hadn't he? Fame and prestige
and what have you.
I've obtained treasure and prestige just from taking out some lame
pirate gang. Pirate-hunting might not be a bad hobby.
"There were messages from the Henfrey Company and the Seventh
Weapons Factory as well. Master Thomas wished to discuss purchasing your
spoils of war."
"The Weapons Factory too?" That was where Nias worked, though I
couldn't help but think her pretty face would be better served elsewhere. I
wasn't sure what they wanted from me.
"Many of the pirates' weapons were made in other nations," Amagi
explained. "The factory would like to purchase them for research."
"Guess they're passionate about their work."
"They may have also heard that we discovered some rare metals, so
they may want to acquire them as production materials."
The Goaz Pirate Gang had been in possession of a large quantity of
precious metals. They didn't have a ton of gold, though, so I wasn't very
excited about the rest.
"Meeting with Thomas comes first."
"I shall arrange it immediately."
It's definitely nice to have competent people working for you.
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