CH 22

Mia woke up without a scratch.

She sat up heavily and scurry around.

She could not immediately understand the current situation, but over time she slowly remembered.

───The memory of having been “defeated”.

“… Ah.”

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

“Uh, ah…”

Mia struggled to hold back the tears that were about to spill from her eyes.

She behaved as bravely as she could, thanking the priest who took care of her.

She then went straight to the hallway, and left the school building.

She walked, walked, and ran.

From that moment on, her tears never stopped flowing.

Mia ran toward her dormitory and locked the door as soon as she reached her room.

She leaned against the door and sat down as if she were going to fall down.

She no longer had anything holding back her tears.

“… uh, uhh.”

Mia cried.

Her voice leaked through the gap between her teeth and sobbed.

Once it overflowed, it did not stop, no matter how many times she wiped it off.

Tears of frustration, helplessness, and a muddled mixture of many other emotions fell from her eyes.

And then Mia chose to shut herself in her own shell.

It was unknown how long she remained like that.

Then someone suddenly knocked on her door.

They were “Lily” and “Abel” who were concerned about Mia.

But she didn’t respond.

She just ignored them.

Because she didn’t want to talk to anyone right now.

─── Knock, knock.

Again there was a knocking sound.

“I told you, I don’t want to talk to anyone. Just leave me alone already.”

Mia’s voice contained quiet anger and frustration.

It was probably “Lily” and “Abel” again anyway.

Why do they care so much when we hardly ever talk?

She didn’t know the reason for this, but whatever it was, she just wanted to be left alone for now.

That was all Mia had in mind.

But───

“───Who are you talking to?”

What came back was a voice that sounded different from what she had imagined.

And it contained anger that outweighed hers.

Mia instantly recognized it was “Luke”.

But whoever it was, it was the same thing.

She had no intention to talk to anyone.

“Come on out. I want to talk a little.”

“I don’t want to see anyone───”

“Shut up. Don’t think you have a choice.”

It was an extremely arrogant statement that made her feel disgusted at the moment, it was one that showed no consideration for the feelings of others.

“Hurry up. If you make me wait any longer, I’ll break down this door.”

“I, I get it…! So don’t.”

Luke forced his way into her blocked heart and stomped on it with his feet.

From Mia’s point of view, this was not an easy thing to do.

However, she sensed danger that the door was really going to be broken down, so she reluctantly opened it.

“… What do you want?”

“You look terrible, Mia.”

And what Luke said was also so heartless.

She could feel the anger welling up in her.

But then,

“Was it hard?”

“… eh.”

That anger of hers was immediately quenched.

With a few words.

However, for some reason, Luke’s words entered and settled in the gap of Mia’s heart.

Although she could not understand it herself, Mia certainly felt a sense of peace at that moment.

Then, a tear suddenly welled up and ran down her cheek.

Mia hurriedly wiped them away, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“Y-you came all the way out here to say that?”

“Huh? Let me borrow some of your magic.”

Suddenly, she felt a sensation of being deprived of magical power.

Too many things were happening all at once, and then Mia felt dizzy.

“What are you───”

“Hmm, good attributes.”

The moment she saw the little “chain” spinning at high speed in the palm of Luke’s hand, she was speechless.

“Healing is a given, but ‘Thunder’ and ‘Chains’ are also wonderful. I see, ‘Thunder’ can also be used to improve physical abilities. It is different from reinforcement magic in that it can ignore magic tolerance, which is a good attribute despite its limitations. It would be interesting to link “Chain” with “Hostility Detection” to have an ambush automatically intercept.”

The small “chain” in Luke’s palm increased to five.

Even Mia could only make two of them appear at the same time, and he got five.

And that’s not all.

Each of those chains were imbued with “Thunder” and was crackling with electricity.

Mia was at a loss for words.

“Ah, you…”

Great.

He’s really great.

She knew Luke.

No, Mia realized at this moment that she had only thought she knew.

─── Monster.

She was made to understand with her heart, not her head, that what she saw before her was a monster in human skin.

“Hmm.”

A moment later, the magic that Luke had activated was scratched away.

“Well, I’m here to make you an offer. ───Will you be my pawn?”

“… Ha?”

Mia didn’t know what she was being told.

She understood the meaning of the words, but her brain refused to comprehend it because the context was too lacking.

“A ‘Subordinate’, a ‘Servant’, the name doesn’t matter. An existence that serves me without ever doubting my words. That’s what I want right now.”

Luke spoke as if it were a casual, everyday conversation.

“No, you can’t ask something like───”

“If you do that, you won’t have to feel this way again.”

“───”

“I can lead you, as I just showed you. You want power, right? You don’t want to feel like this anymore? Then be my pawn. ───I will free you from the fear of defeat.”

She could have just dismissed it as the ravings of a madman and laughed it off.

However, Luke’s words had an unearned persuasive power.

And it was dangerously sweet.

It had such a dangerous sweetness that she unconsciously wanted to “believe” in it.

(… W-why am I───)

Mia was terrified from the bottom of her heart.

She realized that the option of becoming Luke’s “pawn” had somehow become a natural choice for her.

Unconsciously, she was seriously considering becoming Luke’s “pawn”.

She suddenly came back to herself and was terrified because she was able to recognize this fact from a different perspective.

But─── her heart had already been poisoned by his sweetness.

So Mia couldn’t help but ask.

“W-what do I have to do? As your… pawn?”

“───Kuku.”

Mia’s expression, her slightly trembling voice, and such trivial information convinced Luke that this “experiment” was a success in its own way.

“It’s not hard. When I need it, I want you to lend me your power. That’s all.”

“Need… that is? My power…”

“Yes. I need your power.”

“………”

Mia’s heart trembled as soon as she heard those words.

He did not offer words of comfort or wrap her in kindness.

She didn’t want to meet anyone, but she was forced to open the door halfway, and what she was even told was an unheard-of proposal to become a “pawn” of his.

And yet.

And yet.

(Luke needs my power. I’m just─── happy about that fact.)

Mia felt an extremely instinctive and intoxicating pleasure.

She had not been involved with Luke for any length of time.

She would say it has been rather short.

Despite this, each of his words were so sweet that it melted her heart.

She felt at peace, like being embraced by something warm.

─── I want more.

She was possessed by this irresistible and intense desire.

But───

“… Can you give me a moment to think?”

If she followed her heart, she would have answered Luke with a resounding yes.

But somehow she managed to hold back.

This was definitely not something she should decide on the spot.

She needed to calm down and think about it.

The remaining shred of reason in her warned her to proceed with caution.

“… Hmm, I see.”

“───”

Luke looked a little disappointed.

That’s all.

By seeing just that, Mia experienced a tremendous sense of guilt that tore at her heart.

This choice is absolutely wrong.

What a mess I have made of myself.

Such remorse washes over her like a wave.

Let’s correct that now.

It must be corrected.

That’s when Mia made up her mind.

“I’ll ask again tomorrow. I expect a good answer.”

Luke then placed his hand lightly on Mia’s shoulder.

At that moment, she felt electricity ran through her body as she trembled slightly.

“… ah.”

Her hips lost strength as she sat down flat on the spot.

“Hm? What happened?”

It was something Luke did not expect.

She sat up like a broken doll with only a hand on her shoulder.

He could no longer make sense of it.

And the situation accelerates further.

“W-what are you doing to her?”

A third party’s voice was heard.

Luke turned his eyes and saw two people there─── “Lily” and “Abel”.

They were concerned about Mia and came to check on her again.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“……..”

Mia’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes were somewhat vacant.

She was clearly not in her usual state.

However, there was nothing actually wrong with her.

It’s just that being touched by Luke triggered an outburst of various emotions, and she was just a little dazed.

However, there was no way that Lily, who had only just appeared, would know about it.

What she saw was Mia sitting in a state that was clearly not normal, and Luke beside her.

“Ah, you! Luke, right? What did you do to her!”

“… I didn’t do anything. And don’t yell every single time. You loud woman.”

“What did you just—?”

Luke decided that he had already served his purpose.

She didn’t need to deal with this noisy woman any more.

He came to that conclusion and walked away.

Ignoring Lily, who was still babbling on and on.

And at that moment when he passed Abel, who had remained silent.

“Luke, you came here out of concern for her, too, didn’t you?”

“…Ha?”

Luke was taken aback, but Abel had nothing more to say.

He just smiled.

As if words were no longer necessary.

(… What’s with that ‘I know what you were doing’ look? I really wasn’t…)

After this, Luke had nothing to say either.

Simply because he was tired.

He went straight down the stairs and back to his room.

He lay in bed and lost himself in thought for a bit.

(Increasing the number of pawns is surprisingly time-consuming. Guiding the person’s heart towards the destination of “loyalty” through words and actions. To put it simply, that’s all there is to it, but in some cases, it may even require staging a tragedy.)

This time’s “experiment” was too convenient.

Either Mia or Lloyd would’ve lost, and their emotional swing would’ve become wider.

That’s why a gap appeared in the losers’ hearts.

For Luke, it didn’t matter if it was Mia or Lloyd.

Also, the “first” defeat is the best chance.

Humans are ‘get used to it’ creatures.

The second time will have a smaller emotional impact from defeat than the first time, and the third time will have a smaller impact from defeat than the second time.

That’s why this round of the rank battle was perfect.

───For the experiment of “increasing the number of pawns”.

However, the result was not quite as he expected.

Luke had confidence.

He thought that he could use Mia as a pawn.

But that didn’t happen.

“Well, for the first time, it’s not bad. ───tch, but it’s still unpleasant.”

However, Luke was even more made to understand the value of “Yolande” because of this time.

──── “A Pawn that can increase the number of Pawns”.

Its scarcity value is immeasurable.

It is too precious.

There is no way he could easily let it go.

“… Haah, I should swing a sword.”

The only way to expel stagnant thoughts was to swing a sword.

Luke picked up his sword, which was propped up, and left the room again.

＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋

Next morning.

When the milky dawn begins to drive out the darkness.

“Well… I’m ready. ───To be one of Luke’s pawns.”

“………”

Mia visited Luke’s room first thing in the morning, and said so with a bit of hesitation and embarrassment.

Luke, who thought this attempt was a failure, was speechless for a few seconds, partly because it was a morning when the sun had not yet risen.

─── It was all because of “Yolande”.

Through his encounter with the man, who does not appear in the original story, Luke became interested in “pawns”.

And he did an experiment.

It was an experiment to make a pawn of his own.

And as a result, the girl who was destined to become a “Magic Knight” chose to become Luke’s “pawn”───.