Swallowing back words I could not bring myself to utter left a heavy, unsettled feeling in my gut.
It was like forcing down something inedible—a wave of nausea rose, and my head spun. I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them to see Nadav and Zigore gradually being enveloped by a dark aura.
‘This won’t do.’
When we first met, Nadav had said:
「Captain, you will restore our rest.」
Knights who wandered in search of their lost heads. The knights of the Round Table, who trusted me without a shred of doubt.
Both Nadav and Zigore had longed to recover their heads. Therefore, my duty was to grant them rest with this damned power.
Biting the inside of my cheek hard enough to regain a sliver of reason, I looked at Zigore and Nadav.
As the black smoke grew denser, their forms became obscured, until finally they vanished completely.
Whichever one recovered their head, it would bring no joy.
“Ah……”
A soft exclamation flowed from within the smoke.
“So that’s it.”
The voice murmuring in a tone of wonder belonged to Zigore. Then the knight who would find rest here was Zigore.
No sooner had I thought this than a solemn voice called out to me.
“Captain.”
The thickly gathered black smoke gradually dispersed in all directions, revealing two figures standing tall.
A man of solid build, and a boy with a smaller, more agile frame.
Upon confirming the two, a hollow sigh escaped me unbidden.
“Why, of all people…….”
A rough, choking sensation rose in my throat. Words failed me; I stood there with lips tightly pressed together, and finally lowered my gaze.
I was afraid I might pick some absurd quarrel—asking what on earth was so urgent that they had to disappear all at once like this.
I clenched my teeth. Now, truly……
It was truly, difficult.
* * *
The first thing Nadav recalled upon recovering his head was not a desire for vengeance against the traitor, nor longing or sorrow for the past.
“It seems I can no longer carry you.”
It was concern for Anelli, who would remain after he attained his rest.
Precisely because he and Zigore had held this place, they should have stayed by the Captain’s side a little longer, even if just one of them.
The moment he saw Anelli looking at him with a distorted expression, Nadav thought that.
At the very least, he should have sent Zigore upstairs to guard the Captain.
“Captain.”
Perhaps Zigore had similar thoughts. Just by looking at his expression, one could guess what he was thinking.
Zigore had always been a child who could never hide his true feelings. What difference would there be now?
“Captain, I’ve recovered my head.”
“Zigore.”
Anelli’s gaze shifted to Zigore, then moved to Nadav.
Meeting her eyes, Nadav felt a childish flicker of joy. Because he sensed an unmistakable sorrow in her.
A knight who rejoiced at discovering his Captain’s sorrow—he deserved to be disqualified as a knight and had no defense if criticized.
But knowing this, he couldn’t help but feel glad.
“Thank you for cherishing us so deeply.”
To grieve so over the impending parting. Nadav was simply grateful to Anelli, who held them dear.
Unlike in the past, the knights now were clearly special beings to Anelli. Having regained his memories, Nadav understood this even more clearly.
“In the past, I could not comprehend the mindset of the traitor who wished to become the Captain’s sole existence.”
Nadav looked at Samuel, who stood a little apart, observing them with a somewhat detached posture.
Throughout their journey here, that traitor had maintained this lukewarm attitude in all matters except when directly guiding the way.
Even when the knights who regained their memories expressed raw anger and wielded those emotions violently.
Thus, even if Nadav now poured any manner of condemnation and scorn upon him, the scene would be no different from before.
So Nadav decided to use this fleeting moment granted to him as meaningfully as possible.
“Seeing things come to this, I think I understand what the traitor craved.”
Samuel’s expression hardened. Considering he hadn’t batted an eye despite enduring the knights’ accusations and insults until now, this reaction was quite surprising.
Anelli seemed not to notice Samuel’s reaction. More precisely, she paid him no attention at all.
Watching that, Nadav understood why the traitor stood in this place.
Understanding that brought a sense of relief.
“I am Nadav, the commander who led all under your command, the ninth knight of the Round Table. I am immeasurably glad to have finally regained my complete form and to carry out my final command.”
“……Final command?”
Anelli murmured weakly. She looked utterly exhausted. It was a worrying sight, but there was nothing more Nadav could do.
Instead, Nadav resolved to show her a composed and upright demeanor.
“You told me to guide this reckless child who might dart off anywhere.”
Zigore, having recovered his head, was weeping openly.
He had always been a tearful one. Though he swaggered about, boasting of bravely wielding his sword at the vanguard, it was all merely a facade to hide his deeply fearful nature.
Nadav had witnessed this firsthand when he took Zigore in as the last knight of the Round Table. Perhaps because he was the same age as his younger brother Mori, Nadav had always felt protective of him.
And so, in the end, they met their final moments here together.
“Captain……”
Zigore, sniffling, roughly rubbed his eyes.
“The sword of the Captain, who instills the most terrifying fear in the enemies of the world, pays its respects. Wherever the Captain points, I wished to stand and be a sharp blade.”
Perhaps because he was forcing back his tears, his voice was too low and his pronunciation unclear. Yet no one present pointed this out.
“But the Captain… I failed to protect the Captain again, and now like this……”
“Zigore. You have protected me sufficiently until now.”
“But I will soon attain rest, and the traitor will remain by the Captain’s side.”
At Zigore’s words, Anelli flinched. Nadav quietly watched Zigore wipe away his tears, then stepped forward toward Anelli.
Even as Nadav approached, Anelli made no move.
The green light enveloping her hand was also exceedingly faint. For the light to be so weak……
It meant she did not wish to grant rest to Zigore or Nadav.
“Captain.”
Anelli looked at Nadav with wavering eyes. It was the first time he had seen Anelli so shaken.
The Captain of the past was always serene, an immensely strong and steadfast proxy of the goddess.
All the knights of the Round Table expected the Captain to lead them rather than worrying for her, and believed it would surely be so.
Anelli was slightly different from the Captain of the past. Outwardly, she appeared more aloof and colder than the past Captain, but in truth, she was quite affectionate and considerate.
Thus, Nadav could not help but believe. That their newly met Captain would not forsake the promise of the past.
“Due to that one’s betrayal, I was able to meet you, Captain. I do not deny that the traitor has merit in that regard.”
“But that doesn’t mean we can leave that bastard by the Captain’s side and attain rest!”
“You see. This child is so immature.”
At Nadav’s words, Zigore glared at him with reddened eyes. Soon after, his lips trembled as he turned to look at Anelli.
“We’re about to reach the final destination, so I’ll accompany you like this. I can endure! It’s just climbing some stairs and crossing a bridge!”
If that were true, the other knights who attained rest earlier could have endured as well. What reason would there be for them to enter rest immediately upon recovering their heads?
Zigore, whose soul seemed on the verge of shattering at any moment, was raising his voice, insisting he was fine.
“Captain, most of this child’s words are bluster.”
Nadav calmly corrected Zigore’s statement. Zigore glared at Nadav with a flushed face, then spoke to Anelli again.
“I am Zigore, the knight who instills terrible fear in the enemy from the vanguard!”
“My apologies. I did not know he would act so childishly even after recovering his head. It is my fault for not disciplining him enough in the past.”
“Nadav, is this the time for nonsense?”
“Zigore, you are the one who must not throw a tantrum.”
At Nadav’s composed words, Zigore looked up at him with a betrayed expression.
The light of the power remained faint. It seemed unlikely she could grant proper rest even to one of them, let alone both.
Nadav chose not to point this out. Anelli herself seemed unaware of her own condition, and he had no desire to press her to grant rest.
Of course, he never once thought she would not grant them rest.
“I believe you will guide us on the right path, Captain. Zigore will comply as well, so please do not worry.”
Anelli, who had been looking back and forth between Nadav and Zigore, let out a shallow breath. She swept a hand over her weary face and asked in a low voice.
“……Do you trust the rest I grant? Why? There’s no way to know if you’ll receive the rest the other knights desired.”
Anelli clenched her fist tightly.
“This is the power of death. What if rest only…… guarantees your death?”
Such distrust would have been unimaginable for the Captain of the past. She clenched and unclenched her hand a few times, then fixed Nadav with a dark, sunken gaze.
“Do you wish to die?”
On the surface, it sounded like a cold question. At the sudden query, Zigore’s eyes widened and he recoiled instantly, too stunned to speak.
And Nadav, too, answered without much deliberation.
“No, I do not.”
A faint flicker of relief passed through her violet eyes. Thanks to that, Nadav felt once again.
How specially their current Captain regarded them.
What that traitor had missed.
“I trust not the power, but you, Captain.”
This time, the final power will surely succeed.
Thus, at the end of this path, I will attain the rest I truly desire.
“You, who stand before me.”