Part 48: The Lady Knight Strengthens Her Resolve to Become a Hero

Part 48:
The Lady Knight Strengthens Her Resolve to Become a Hero

 

ALAN, LITHISIA, AND CATRIA STOOD in the grassy field as the cool breeze blew by them.

They were ready to commence Operation NFZ: Never Forgive Zeleburg. Needless to say, Lithisia had come up with the name. At present, she stood stiffly in place with tears in her eyes, and Alan couldn’t help but be impressed by her raw emotion. She truly was the princess of a great nation. Her love for her country had to be on a completely different level.

Alan didn’t realize that she was simply furious that her shofession (“sho”vel con“fession”) had been interrupted.

Now, the three looked upon the seven orbs placed at their feet. The original mission objective had been to use the orbs in order to wish for Zeleburg’s defeat. However, there was a slight snag.

“The orbs aren’t activating?” asked Alan.

“Correct…” Lithisia sadly nodded. She frowned at the orbs, looking puzzled. “No matter how hard I wish for Zeleburg’s defeat, they shine weakly, and only for a moment.”

Lithisia had tried this multiple times with no luck.

“And you’re sure this is how they’re supposed to be activated?”

“A person who bears the blood of the Rostir royal family has only to wish it and they will activate.”

“A person who bears the blood of the royal family… A person…?”

Alan and Catria turned their gaze upon Lithisia.

A person.

“Um, what’s the shovmatter?”

 

Well, in that case, it was no wonder that the orbs wound up being a dead end.

 

“Does Lithisia have any siblings?” asked Alan.

“No, she’s an only child,” said Catria.

And so the person-based (i.e., human, not shovel) bloodline of the Rostir royal family came to an end.

“Well, it is what it is. I guess we’ll just have to beat Zeleburg the regular way,” said Alan, and he grasped his shovel.

“Then what was the point of our orb-collecting quest?”

The party felt like they could hear Alice’s question from all the way at the World Tree Castle, where she had elected to stay, but they chose to ignore it. Plus, the vibes they were getting from the princess suggested she wasn’t particularly hung up on using the orbs. She just wanted to crush Zeleburg no matter how they did it.

“How should we start, Lithisia?” Alan asked. As this was a battle to regain Lithisia’s nation, he planned to follow her directions.

“First, could you please eliminate the capital city with your Wave Motion Shovel Blast?”

“Understood.”

“EXCUSE ME?!” Catria stepped in to stop Alan as he casually lifted his shovel.

Lithisia seemed baffled by her knight’s response and frowned at her. “Catria, this is the fastest way to end the conflict with the least amount of sacrifices. Next-Generation Shovel Warfare.”

“Don’t call the population of the entire capital city a sacrifice! Alan, what are you thinking, saying yes to that?!”

“Don’t worry. The beam would only bury the humans. I could just dig them back up.”

Catria’s words caught in her throat. Then that makes this okay? Like hell it does!

“Wait, then what happens to the buildings? People’s clothes?”

“They all get blown away.”

“Are you trying to return us to the Stone Age?!”

“If Lithisia so desires it.”

Rostir was Catria’s home. Her beloved home, even. She couldn’t let it be corrupted by the shovel. “E-either way, rethink this, okay?! Rostir is a beautiful nation!”

“Hrm, if you say so…”

“Shovel!”

As a result of this back and forth, the party decided to scope out the city first.

Rostir’s capital city was said to be the most exquisite on the continent. From upon the grassy hills where the wind blew, one could see the shining white palace in the distance, surrounded by the gorgeous city.

If I show its beauty to Alan, even he’ll change his mind! He has to! Catria held desperately to this thought as she climbed the hill. However, upon reaching the summit—

DA-DOOOOOOOOM!

She beheld a demonic castle. Cascades of lightning struck all over its walls and turrets. Rostir’s pearlescent palace was no more; it had been replaced with this vile structure, a hideous castle that pierced the very heavens. Loathsome gargoyles flew around this black stone monument, crying out into the sky.

The Dark Palace. Rostir’s palace had transformed into the grim castle of legends. At the top of this castle rose an unsettling triangular tower.

What the hell?

“Zeleburg’s doing, no doubt.” Alan hefted his shovel.

Catria couldn’t stop him this time. How could she claim that this—this city, was her home?

We should just blow it away and be done with it… Wait, is it just me, or are my thoughts being corrupted by the shovel? Aren’t I just siding with Alan because he cleaned my ears and it kinda sorta felt a little good?

As Catria held this internal debate with herself, it was, for some reason, Lithisia who took action.

“Pl-please wait, Sir Miner. Um, c-could you leave one building intact?”

“Hrm… Firing my shovel with that kind of accuracy will take time.”

“You just need time?!” Catria wailed.

“I see… Aw…” Lithisia fidgeted, occasionally glancing at the castle with indecision.

Catria couldn’t help but be impressed. Even though Rostir had been taken over by Zeleburg, seeing her homeland even in this state had reminded the princess of her devotion to her country.

“Um, but, if you could, Sir Miner…”

“It’s a no on the Wave Motion Shovel Blast, yeah?”

“I’m sho, sho shorry. I just…” Lithisia pointed at the Dark Palace, specifically the triangular tower. Her eyes sparkled. “I just really want to modify that into the Sholace (shovel palace)!”

A powerfully sharp headache instantly overtook Catria.

“We can paint it over in gray, and if we chisel the sides a little bit, it’ll look like a shovel from far away. Our nation’s symbol!” Lithisia’s eyes glistened. She was already thinking about what they would do after taking back her country. “That’s why, um, I’d like you to leave the castle as-is. Let’s just storm the front door with your shovel.”

“Roger that.”

Catria sighed deeply. She felt like an idiot for even thinking this would go differently. At the end of the day, the princess thought only of shovels.

“Oh, and Catria?” said Lithisia.

“Yes?!” The lady knight trembled when the princess called her name.

“There seems to be a battle taking place near the fortress you used to be stationed at in the southwest.”

“A battle?”

“The wind told my shovel,” said Lithisia. “Please go save them.”

“Hoooold on a second.”

Everything about that sentence was weird. And anyway, there was no need for Catria to hurry when Alan could basically just warp to the fortress using the ground and fire off his Wave Motion Shovel Blast. The fight would be over in a second.

But Lithisia smiled. “Go show the captain just how much you’ve grown.”

“Huh?”

“Show your old comrades, the people who looked down on you, how strong you’ve become.” Lithisia raised her red shovel into the wind. “Show them the true strength of Rostir’s most powerful knight!”

I’m…the most powerful knight?

As Catria stood dumbfounded, Alan made his move. He tapped his shovel on the ground and checked the vibrations. “Hrm, there does in fact appear to be a battle taking place to the southwest. Hundreds of people have taken to the field.”

“Hundreds? Th-that’s no mere scuffle. That’s all-out war! How could I change anything?”

“You would change everything,” said Alan definitively.

“Eh?!”

“Catria, go become the hero you’re destined to be. You already have the power you require.”

Alan of all people told Catria this. That Alan.

Could she really do it?

Can I actually stop a massive battle like some kind of hero of legend? Sure, I pulled off something similar in the Light Nation, but that was in the tunnels beneath the ground, where Shovel Power is strongest. Plus, the enemy were demons, who are weak to holy power. That’s completely different from doing battle in a field under the open sky.

But for some reason, a mysterious sense of courage bubbled up inside Catria as she gripped her Holy Knight Blade. The sword sheathed within the Sacred Scabbard Arcadia told her she could do it.

Can I really? No, that’s not right… I’m the only one who can do it! At last, I’m going to be the most powerful knight in all the land!

“A-all right, I understand. I’ll—huagh?!”

Suddenly Arcadia’s alarm began to ring, causing Catria to freeze in place. She mechanically turned around. It was the warning alerting her that she was in need of a daily Anti-Shovel Power recharge.

“Catria,” said Alan.

“Ah! Alan, n-no, please. Stay away!”

Catria held her hands over her ears and backed up. This was bad. She couldn’t handle an action so delightful on top of this wonderful hilltop. Plus, they were right in front of the princess. How could she let Alan dig her ears while she rested her head on his lap under these circumstances? If she let him do that, she knew without a doubt that something deep inside of her would be completely corrupted by the shovel.

But her heart beat a mile a minute, and her cheeks remained bright red.

This is bad, bad, bad, bad!

“Oh gosh, my ears. My ears are—no!” Catria raised her voice like a child, but she couldn’t resist. Just imagining the sensation in her ears being shoveled put her over the edge.

Swoosh, swoosh. Poking away at the insides of her ears.

“Don’t worry,” said Alan. “Since I cleaned your ears yesterday, we’re doing something different today.”

“Wha?” Catria relaxed for a moment, though a creeping disappointment began to—

Fwoop!

Something plunged up her nose.

“?!”

“Stay still. You’ve been crying so much that you’re all plugged up in there.”

Alan used a soft, twisted-up tissue shaped like a shovel to dig deep into Catria’s nose. He moved the Tissue Shovel around her mucous membrane, cleaning away the filth within Catria. There was a lot to clean away, considering all she’d done as of late was cry.

Fwoop, fwoop.

Alan held her tightly from behind to make sure she didn’t freak out while he cleaned away.

“Ah, eee, nngh!”

Fwoop, fwoop, fwoop.

Alan is having his way with the dirtiest part of my face. What’s going on? What’s happening? This is way worse than what he did to my ears!

“Perfect, recharge complete.”

“Nnnnngh!”

And so Alan pulled out the Tissue Shovel while Catria held down her nose and breathed heavily.

This is bad. Completely bad. That shoveling just now was—

“Ah, ahhh, uuuuugh.”

Even more embarrassing than when he cleaned my ears!

“Now then, back to business.” Alan patted Catria on the shoulders as she shook with shame. “Get out there and be a hero.”

As if I could right now?! You big dummy! Catria thought to herself.

She’d been embraced by a man, had her nose picked, and now the culprit himself was telling her to go be a hero all willy-nilly? Seriously? But Catria couldn’t voice her complaints. All she could do was sniffle up her remaining snot as she cried.

“Uuuuugh.”

“You have a handkerchief, yeah?”

It was plain as day that he was treating her like a child. This sucked. As for what specifically sucked, it was the fact that his treatment and care made her even a little bit happy.

She had just decided to go and be a hero, too.

Uuugh, I’m not going down like this! Catria gripped her Holy Knight Blade and once again steeled her resolve. She wasn’t going to the battlefield in order to show her old comrades how much stronger she’d become. She needed to show Alan.

Alan, when this is all over, the first thing I’m gonna do is pick your nose with all my might!

“Wait, what the hell am I thinking?!”

“Hurry up and get going.”

Three minutes later, Lithisia secretly started blowing her nose. It stung like crazy, but she kept it secret from Alan. If he found out about her uncouth behavior and unbecoming desires, it would cause all kinds of trouble for him.

“I’m so jeavel (jealous + shovel)…”

However, she was immediately found out.

“Lithisia, get over here.”

“Shovel?!”

On top of that breezy hill near the Rostir capital city, a happy little princess had all sorts of things picked and cleaned.

This was the scene three days before Rostir was wiped from the face of the continent.