Volume 8 Side Story Part 6

(I was a little reluctant to accept it at first…)

At that time, Katarina was shunned. Not by her father, or her brother, or her family. By her father’s vassals.

Katarina was a girl who didn’t open her heart very much to others at that time. She kept strange animals, including lizards and hedgehogs, as pets, and was stubborn towards everyone except the members of her family.

She has also been compared to Alois a lot. Her clever and good-natured younger brother was something that she was proud of as an older sister, but also a good source of material for those who shunned her.

Compared to Lord Alois…

(How often have I heard those words spoken behind my back before?)

Maybe that’s why my battle flag was shaped the way it was?

Katarina’s Banner is called 「Pathfinder」, and it gives her men and their horses the power to go faster and farther than they normally would be able to go. It is also said that this type of Banner often appears in possession of the Lords who 「aim to reach a place beyond the one where they already are」, and according to the rumors that Katarina heard, it often appears among the free knights who traveled the vast expanse of the Dark Continent.

Her Crest became Katarina’s wings. With it, she sneaked out of the castle, tired of it, and did all sorts of naughty things outside before returning home. They were small wings, but they were her own wings nonetheless. The subjects also admired Katarina more and more, and even though there were still some of them who claimed that she was useless and a failure, she no longer cared about any of what they were saying.

She thought that with the power of the Crest, she could go anywhere she wanted, anytime she wanted.

(But…)

But everything changed with the battle of the Tree Dragon Forest.

At that time, Katarina almost lost her country. Shortly after her father died, another person took over Fargard, and his younger brother was almost killed as well. And when the crisis was over, no one would call Katarina, who took it back and subdued the Demonic Realm, useless anymore.

And Katarina has also changed as a person.

Fergard was no longer a place she wanted to escape from. She felt that it was truly her home, and a place that she had to protect no matter what.

(That’s why I…)

She could take her hand off the Crest without feeling afraid.

If the country remains, her place of belonging will remain as well. Even if she ends up losing her Crest and her wings with it, she’ll have no regrets about it.

Katarina opened her eyes.

The light from the Crest was already turning the area white. The way it flickered irregularly gave the impression that it was in pain.

Katarina’s chest ached slightly at that sight, but her determination remained the same.

「…I’m sorry. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. 」

She untied her hands that were folded in front of her chest. The Crest slowly left Katarina’s body, and she thought she even saw it blink once or thrice before it broke with a sound as if a delicate glasswork was being dropped onto the ground.

「Khh… ugh! 」

Immediately after the sacrifice, Katarina was struck by severe pain.
She felt as if a sword had been thrust into her chest. Her body also seemed to be drained of invisible blood, as if both her strength and her body’s heat were being taken away from them.

「Lady Katarina! 」

Stia tried to run towards her, but she stopped her with her hand.

Now that her Crest was no more, the only thing left was a Chaos Core. That was they only opportunity they were going to have.

「Summon… Null… now! 」

She managed to squeeze the words out of her throat despite the pain.

Stia bit her lips in frustration, but nodded her head nevertheless, and she raised her magic wand and began chanting a summoning spell. When she did that, Chaos swirls around the Chaos Core as her magic wand moved. The sound of something creaking and cracking echoed throughout the area.

Katarina strained her eyes desperately to see it, but she was losing consciousness from the pain and weakness of her body after having her Crest destroyed. But she couldn’t allow herself to fall unconscious just yet. She needed to see the end result of the summoning magic.

(Please, let it be a success…)

「Come to my side, oh Tentacle Mage! 」

Stia shouted at the top of her lungs, waving her magic wand around like mad. The swirling Chaos converged in a single place and then gradually took shape.

It certainly had the shape of a human. He was a slender-looking Mage with gray hair slicked back and a richly decorated robe.

The man then slowly opened his eyes.

「Null? 」

Unable to hold back, Katarina called out his name out loud. The man blinked repeatedly and narrowed his eyes.

「Is that Katarina’s voice? I can’t see clearly… 」

「Ah, yes. Here are your glasses. 」

「Oh, thank you…… my oh my, it really is Katarina! And Stia too! 」

Nuru suddenly shouted that, but then his face instantly turned pale.

「Hey, what’s wrong, Null? 」

「If I am here, then… then does that mean that my magic failed? Or maybe it succeeded, but the projection still returned to the forest after a few days?! 」

Holding onto his head, Null let out a frantic voice.

「Uwaah, so uncool. So unbelievably uncool. I can’t believe that the first thing he does after returning to our world is having a nervous breakdown, especially after we had such an emotional parting! 」

「Ah, uhm, Null? 」

「Ahhhh! No, it cannot… is simply cannot be! How can I possibly look you in the eyes after failing so miserably?! 」

「No, Null, listen, I’m telling you… 」
「I think it would be better if I didn’t see you again for the rest of my life, and when I eventually came back in a hundred years or so, at least I could look at the territories belonging to your descendants and be all cool about it and say the cheesy lines like: so you managed to protect the future of your countries after all. Don’t you also think that it would make for a really touching moment, Katarina?! 」

「Oh, w-what do I think? W-Well, I think it would be…w-wait, that’s not important right now! Listen to me, Null! 」

Katarina screamed uncontrollably. Null closed his mouth tightly due to the immense pressure that she was exuding right now, and for some reason, he was sitting in an apologetic pose with his knees together.

「Haaa…goodness gracious. Even though it’s been a while, you’re still the same as ever Really now. 」

「That’s just my nature. By the way, has it been that long while I was away? 」

「Yeah. First of all, it’s been about a year since you disappeared into the dimensional gap… 」

Katarina briefly explained what had happened so far. The current relationship between the two countries of Fargard and Medinia, the fact that they’re currently being attacked by Waldrind and that they needed Null’s help to fand it off, and that’s why they resorted to the summoning magic in order to bring him back.

「Summoning magic? 」

Suddenly, Null frowned.

「Un. That’s right, Stia performed the spell. 」

「Yes. I’m relieved that I succeeded. 」

She was probably exhausted, but Stia still had a smile of relief on her tired face. However, Null remained silent with a thoughtful look on his face.

「What’s wrong, Null? 」

「Ah, no, it’s nothing. More than that… 」

When Null said that, he made an exaggerated gesture and sighed.

Why did you bring me back in such a troublesome manner? I would have gladly come back if you wanted to see me more, or if you wanted to agree to becoming my girlfriend, or for any such other emotional reason. 」

「Because we need your help. Help us, Null. 」

In response to Katarina’s request, Null slumped his shoulders in an exaggerated manner and shook his head.

「You went so far as to break your Crest in order to call me back, right? Did you really have to go to such extreme lengths for someone like me? Well, now that it’s come to that, I guess I’ll have to work at least as hard as you did, or else I feel like I won’t be able to stand by your side anymore.

Catarina couldn’t help but smile when she saw Nuru say: 「There’s nothing I can do about it now, is there? 」

「Really, you haven’t changed at all. 」