I Became a Raid Boss

Chapter 20

The girl’s first memory was when she was four years old.

A gentle tone and a cold gaze.

Even a hedgehog thinks its younglings are beautiful, yet the faces of the parents looking down at the girl showed no trace of affection.

“Did you know? In the past, when entering a coal mine, they used to bring a canary. Canaries are sensitive to harmful gases that humans can’t detect, so when the canary died or showed abnormal symptoms, people realized it was dangerous and evacuated,” they said.

A bird that signals danger with its death, the canary.

“And that’s why your name is ‘Canaria.'”

Please, willingly die for us.

The little bird of the coal mine.

***

How long has it been since I’ve seen someone look at me like that?

In fact, there’s no need to count the time.

I’ve hardly received such a gaze from anyone else before.

Those aligned with the royal family or the aristocracy were busy mocking and belittling me, while those beneath me believed in me, feared me, knowing my strength.

Of course, the Empire had no reason to be concerned about me.

From the moment my memories began, I had only received feelings far removed from warm affections; thus, the expression on that person’s face felt very foreign.

…It’s uncomfortable.

For some reason, a part of my heart felt unbearably ticklish.

When it itches, it’s fine to scratch it, but I didn’t know how to relieve the kind of itch I felt now.

***

“Canaria Grasis. That’s my name.”

As I averted my gaze from the heart that charged straight toward me and organized the swarm of flies that had dashed in without knowing the topic, the ticklish feeling finally settled down.

I lightly brushed off my sword and walked towards the only remaining fly.

Fortunately, there was no accident of my sword turning into powder.

***

— “Ku, cough…!”

“How unfortunate.”

You’re really a pitiful creature.

What on earth did you do to be out of the snake’s favor?

Sometimes people deceive themselves into thinking that their choices were made entirely of their own will.

It’s natural. How could one know that a great being exists if they couldn’t even perceive it, let alone know that it governs their fate?

In this case, that being was the snake.

Perhaps I might be the same.

***

“If only you had more time, you might not have known.”

Even though it wasn’t an all-out attack, judging from the fact that you survived an attempt to kill you, you aren’t completely lacking in talent.

It’s true that I’m merely existing, but I suppose it’s fair to say I have some talent.

But what can I do? I’m not the kind of person who would spare the life of someone who tried to kill me.

I raised my sword indifferently.

The commander clutched his waist, which had been sliced through his armor, gasping for breath.

“P-please… save me…”

“Ah, I know that line well.”

Surely, he was begging for his life, right?

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

Thud.

“Grrr…”

With a sound like bubbling blood, the light faded from his eyes, and I felt the last breath of life vividly transmitted through my fingertips.

There was nothing novel about it.

A person who casually attached eyes to cat dolls one day wouldn’t feel any special sentiment upon doing the same to a dog doll.

To me, this was exactly that level of event.

Ah, but maybe I shouldn’t have used a sword.

It feels a bit uneasy returning something soiled that I borrowed.

“Well done.”

In an attempt to make up for it, I wiped off just enough blood and returned the sword to Joanie.

Perhaps she didn’t like my action. Instead of accepting the sword I offered, she had a look that seemed to convey she wanted to say something.

“Grasis…? Wow, was she royalty?! No wonder she looked so extraordinary; what if I get arrested for blasphemy? But it’s already been destroyed, so what does it matter? No, still… huh? Just ask her directly?”

Joanie, mumbling earnestly in archaic speech, cautiously asked me.

“Kana, Grasis?”

She drew something that resembled a crown above her head with her finger.

Though her grasp of the archaic language was clumsy, I understood what she was trying to say.

I shook my head.

“No.”

How could I be related to such terrible people?

The very thought of having the same blood as those who lounged around in a castle without doing anything sent shivers down my spine.

She seemed to have some knowledge of Grasis, but perhaps she didn’t know everything.

Well, it’s understandable; only nobles would know such information.

After all, the story about the origins of Grasis and the customs surrounding it were almost like relics, basically just shells of what they once were.

According to the “Zigrid Adventure,” Grasis is a kingdom founded by the first king, Zigrid, with the help of the red dragon Grasis.

Whether it was Zigrid’s sincerity in naming the kingdom after himself or some other reason, I don’t know.

For whatever reason, Grasis provided Zigrid with the Granic language and treasures, one of which was a ring named “Grasis’ Blessing.”

This ring, created by Grasis and imbued with mana, became an invaluable treasure for Grasis, but…

The problem was that very few could handle the ring’s overwhelming power.

It felt wasteful to keep it in the treasury, too dangerous for the king to wear, and yet giving it outright to someone who could handle it wasn’t a feasible option.

While troubled by this, Zigrid devised a clever plan.

He decided to create an order of knights and appoint the strongest person in Grasis as the commander of that order, entrusting them with Grasis’ Blessing.

Since it was a position to protect the kingdom, it fit well with the name “Grasis’ Blessing,” and as Grasis was incapable of pointing a blade at royalty due to Grasis’ arrangements, there was no reason to hesitate.

Moreover, given Grasis’ sentiment of reverence for the red dragon, it was impossible to look down on someone who could wield dragon mana, so they bestowed the title of “Grasis” and regarded it highly.

It was like being a representative.

In reality, it was a way of blinding ourselves to the truth.

Regarded highly? Nonsense. Over time, the meaning faded, and by my time, it had become a completely hollow and ineffectual custom.

So, the average citizens of the kingdom would know nothing about it. The royal family mentioned it only during ceremonies.

Anyway, it was only natural that I possessed the title of Grasis.

After all, I was the last commander of the Crimson Aegis.

“—But saying this won’t make any sense anyway.”

Instead of explaining in detail, I lightly brushed off Joanie’s question with a vague denial.

Joanie still looked utterly confused.

“…Is that a no? It must be a no, right? Ugh, then what…? No, more importantly, that’s not the important thing right now….”

The more I looked, the more I realized she had a lot of inner monologue.

I meant to convey with a gesture to take the sword and leave, but Joanie fumbled to grab it.

Then, suddenly, she bent forward at the waist.

I was taken aback by her sudden and unexpected action.

“Sorry. Secret, name.”

“Oh.”

Only after hearing her stammering in Granic did I understand Joanie’s behavior.

A mere three-word apology.

But for some reason, those clumsy words resonated deeply within me.

From her reaction, it seemed that the word had spread because of her, but she hadn’t informed the Empire…

Despite being a coward, she didn’t hesitate to confront the Imperial Army, so it wasn’t as if she hadn’t made an effort to redeem herself.

More than anything, for some reason, looking at her made the suppressed itchiness within me try to rear its head again.

“Well… it’s fine.”

I averted my gaze from her.

Then, as I waved my hand to adjust my hood that had been pulled down, I remembered that the connection had torn and awkwardly ruffled my hair.

“Um, do you want me to fix it?”

“…?”

“I’ll repair it, repair it.”

Joanie, who had been looking at me with guilty eyes, this time waved her hand.

With one hand, she seemed to hold something broad while the other grasped something long.

“‘Repair’…?”

“Yes! Repair!”

So, she meant to say she would fix it?

As I stared blankly, Joanie moved her hands again.

This time, it was a gesture closer to sewing.

I tilted my head slightly, then accepted it without much thought.

After all, it was a ruined garment. I didn’t care whether she repaired it or sold it off somewhere.

Still, I hoped she could at least fix it.

As I took off the cape, a gust of wind brushed past my arm.

Thud.

“Hello.”

“Greatsword chick?”

While I was talking to Joanie, an Apostle wielding a greatsword stepped closer to me to greet me.

Then, she thrust the greatsword, about my height, towards me.

“Let’s fight.”

“…?”

“Yuki!”

“Hey!”

There didn’t seem to be any malice behind it.

When I tilted my head at the greatsword thrust toward me, the people around began to panic even more.

Joanie had seen this so often that she was unfazed.

The man behind was… well…

Thanks to Edel’s protection, his face still wasn’t properly visible, but in another sense, he felt familiar.

Like someone I had crossed swords with several times.

Right?

Wham.

Thud.

“….”

“….”

“…Ha, haha.”

…It’s a bit unsettling, but considering the effort of those Imperial bastards coming here claiming they want to take me down, I’ll let it slide this once.

But there won’t be a second time.

As I turned my gaze away, I could hear a sigh of relief.

I looked into the eyes of the Great Sword Chick and tried to read her emotions.

In her eyes, a quiet flame flickered.

‘Aha.’

There are sometimes people like this.

They possess high self-esteem, charging forward without hesitation even when faced with a superior opponent.

Such individuals usually have a strong desire for self-improvement, and rather than scheming in secret, they prefer to confront openly, so I don’t mind them too much.

It’s just that it’s bothersome that they have set their sights on me.

As I pondered, I reached out to Joanie instead of responding.

“…Huh?”

“Can I borrow your sword, just once more?”

Especially this Great Sword Chick, whether in battle or now, is the type to annoyingly follow me around, even if I ignore her. It’s better to just give her what she wants and send her on her way.

“No way, Yuki! Are you really going to fight with that? Are you out of your mind? Really? For real?”

“Isn’t it more fun that way?”

“Not at all.”

Joanie shook the Great Sword Chick’s shoulder vigorously, but the Great Sword Chick remained unyielding.

“Even if you can’t understand, just don’t kill me…”

I chuckled and shrugged at Joanie, who was extending the sword towards me.

I really have no idea what she’s saying.