Chapter 14:
A Flash of Gratitude
IN A RUNDOWN APARTMENT on a planet far from the Empire, Yasushi
carried a baby on his back while his wife bustled about getting ready to
leave. She was dressed in a suit for work.
"Baby's yours until 7, Yasu. I'll be home around then, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am," "Yasu" replied wearily.
The intelligent woman had made Yasushi into a househusband while
she herself had a day job. Yasushi wished he could run away, but since she
chased after him with a kitchen knife the last time he tried, he was too
scared to attempt it again.
The scar she left on him was easily visible under his kimono. It was
a gruesome line that went diagonally from his chest down to his gut. He
still remembered her saying, with a terrifying look on her face, "Let's
leave this here, shall we? It'll be a reminder for you not to leave me
again." There were medical treatments that could easily erase such a scar,
but she'd purposely let it remain.
Tears welled up in Yasushi's eyes. He regretted getting involved
with a woman whose emotions were so extreme. "Ugh, I want to run
away...but how can I, with my meager allowance?"
He used almost all the money Liam gave him to raise Riho and
Fuka. The rest he spent irresponsibly, so now he subsisted on an allowance
the woman gave him. He stayed home during the day to take care of the
baby, but she did most of the chores around the apartment. He wasn't fully
a househusband, nor was he entirely a mooch—he wasn't much of
anything, to be honest. This was the true form of the Sword God who had
trained Liam, Riho, and Fuka.
The baby began to fuss.
"All right, let's change your diaper. Sigh... What in the world am I
doing?"
In other words, Yasushi was living peacefully on a planet far, far
away.
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***
Riho and Fuka recovered in a special hospital room Liam had
prepared for them at the luxury hotel. They wore hospital gowns and their
bodies were covered in bandages, but they were already healed enough to
have hearty appetites.
Tia watched them angrily with Ellen beside her. Surprisingly, the
two sat up with proper posture as they ate, but they devoured their food
ravenously. They emptied plate after plate, so the hotel wait staff busily
exchanged them with new dishes.
Disgusted by their voracious appetites, Tia asked, "How can you eat
so much when you're still recovering?"
Fuka must have been at least temporarily satisfied, because she set
her chopsticks down and stretched. "Well, I don't have any strength if I
don't eat."
Riho downed the last of a bowl of soup and smirked. "You don't
have much strength to begin with."
Fuka pointed at Riho, incensed. "At least I've got some meat on my
bones! No matter how much you eat, you'll never grow a chest!"
Compared to Fuka's rather impressive specimens, Riho's breasts
were only average-sized. She must have been sensitive about that because
she covered them with her arms and glared at Fuka. "So what? Are you
sure the nutrients that were supposed to go to your head didn't go to your
boobs instead? Why do you even think I care about the size of mine?
What's there to be happy about with big boobs, anyway? If you're going to
be a proper swordsman, I think you should cut off those useless lumps of
fat. They'll just get in the way! Or do you want me to cut them off for
you? Come on, stick 'em out for me!"
Ellen watched Riho's bitter response. It really does bother her.
As quickly as the two had started fighting, their stomachs rumbled
again, and they went right back to eating. Tia continued watching over
them. Her arm had been reattached with a device to help her bandaged
appendage heal.
"Why do I have to look after them?" she muttered.
Ellen was here to observe two fellow swordsmen of the same
school. Liam would be taking care of the two of them, and this was an
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opportunity for her to better understand them. Fuka and Riho were aware
that Ellen was a student of the Way of the Flash too.
"By the way... Hey, Pipsqueak." Fuka addressed Ellen.
Ellen puffed her cheeks out with displeasure. "I'm not 'Pipsqueak.'
My name's Ellen."
"Whatever. We're from the same school, so I guess it's like we're
your aunts, right? Let's get along, kid."
For how belligerent the two young women were, they seemed to like
Ellen well enough. They were acting like they never tried to kill Liam. To
Ellen, however, they were still vicious assassins who made an attempt on
her respected master's life.
"I won't get along with people who tried to kill my master!" She
turned her face away, and Fuka looked a bit dejected. She was acting less
like a student from the same sword school and more like an older sister
whose younger sister was giving her the cold shoulder.
Riho giggled at that. "It's understandable, you know. I'd be furious
if someone went after our master, but we only went after our senior
because our master told us to. It seems like he understands that too,
because he took us in. But since you're his pupil, I'm not sure your attitude
makes sense."
Fuka lay back down, apparently done eating. "You might have to
fight your junior pupils yourself one day, if your master orders it," she
warned Ellen.
"I-I..."
Right now, Ellen was Liam's only pupil. He was only looking after
Riho and Fuka as fellow practitioners; they weren't his own students. He
would need to personally train at least two more people who would then be
Ellen's juniors. Ellen wasn't sure how she felt about that. If Liam took on
another pupil at some point, he'd inevitably focus his attention on the new
student. He wouldn't only be teaching her as he was now.
While Ellen wrestled with her feelings, Liam entered the room.
"Well, you seem better." He didn't seem wary at all in the women's
presence.
The two women immediately bowed their heads to him from their
beds. For how brazenly they acted and how rudely they spoke, they did
seem to have at least some manners drilled into them.
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"We truly are sorry," Riho apologized to Liam. "We've learned just
how foolish we were."
Fuka was similarly contrite. "Now we know that we're still
immature. We haven't yet reached the senior pupil's level."
In response to their humbled admissions, Liam sat down in a chair
Tia had prepared for him and looked the girls over. He spoke to them
kindly, as if they were family. "Looks like you understand who's in charge
now. Well, I'll be taking care of you from here on, but frankly? I can't
teach you anything related to the Way of the Flash. The most I can do for
you on that front is give you a place to train."
Riho and Fuka were already trained completely as swordsmen. If
they wanted to improve further, that would be up to their own efforts. All
Liam could do was support them with that. He recognized flaws both of
them suffered though.
"In every other area besides swordsmanship, you're terrible. Master
must have entrusted you to me so I could make the two of you into proper
knights. Once your injuries have healed completely, I'll take you back to
my domain. There, you'll study how to be knights."
Riho reacted with obvious displeasure. "Wh-what does a swordsman
need to study for? I refuse! I only want to concentrate on honing my
swordsmanship."
Liam smiled but shot her down. "No. Master entrusted you to me
because he judged that you were lacking something. I'm not gonna cut any
corners in your education."
For her part, Fuka didn't seem bothered. "We just need to use an
education capsule and then go train somewhere for a few years, right? A
little combat training can't be that hard."
As swordsmen of the Way of the Flash, knight training would come
easy for them, though it likely wouldn't improve their already formidable
combat abilities much. However, Liam had a different kind of study in
mind.
"When we get back to my domain, I'll turn you over to my head
maid Serena for etiquette lessons. Being maids shouldn't be hard for you
either, right?"
Riho and Fuka were both dumbfounded. They had never expected
they'd be training to be maids.
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"Wh-what? What do you mean?"
"Y-you've gotta be kidding me! Us, maids? Th-that's not
happening!"
Liam grinned impishly at their flustered reaction. "Even nobles
often work as servants during their training. Since you two aren't nobles,
I'll just educate you in my own mansion—and don't think you'll be able to
run away."
"B-but...!"
"M-me? A maid?"
From Liam's perspective, he'd be providing them with valuable
training out of the goodness of his heart, but they were upset because they
didn't want to do something that had nothing to do with the blade.
As for Ellen, she was rather satisfied with this turn of events. It'll be
a good punishment for these two to have to learn etiquette!
***
"What...?"
The Guide collapsed to his knees. The secret weapons he'd been
counting on to kill Liam hadn't amounted to anything in the end. It was
fine that they'd lost that one battle, but they gave up on taking his life after
that, instead gaining respect for him as a senior pupil. This whole mess
was Yasushi's fault. Liam had taken the two of them in after reading a
letter Yasushi had given them.
"He just had to save his own skin in the end!"
It was only natural, considering Yasushi's personality, but the Guide
still felt betrayed.
The worst thing about all this was that it had led the Guide to learn
the truth about how he had actually affected events. "More importantly,
the actions I took to hurt Liam, the things that were supposed to harm
him... They all actually helped him? So all this time I was actually
supporting Liam with a big smile on my face?!"
The Guide reviewed recent events through this new, clearer
perspective. Calvin's faction had lost a good deal of its unity and power.
Liam, on the other hand, had gained a lot more power inside Cleo's
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faction, which was growing much more mighty as well. With Calvin's
faction unable to do anything but watch, Cleo's faction had become a
significant threat to them.
"You won't get away with this, Liam!!!" The Guide clenched his
fists.
Then there was the matter of Liam's domain. The troublemakers
he'd sneaked in to start a democracy movement had been identified and
removed so they couldn't advance their beliefs. Everything had worked
out in Liam's favor.
"At this point, I don't care if I have to go down with you, Liam, so
long as I destroy you!"
The Guide decided to gather negative emotions using whatever
means he could in order to build enough strength to defeat him. Luckily,
there had just been a massive war between intergalactic nations, so there
was plenty of misery to go around. A lot of this negative energy was
directed at Liam himself. The Guide would draw it all in with the intention
of ending Liam personally. He had no idea if he'd actually be able to kill
the young man through his own powers, but he was determined to give it
his best effort.
"I'll kill Liam—I swear it!!!"
After the Guide disappeared from the scene on his mission to gather
up negative energy, a dog that had been secretly watching him stepped out
of hiding. Then, the dog disappeared too.
***
Upon the expeditionary army's return, nobles all across the Capital
Planet threw parties to celebrate its victory, inviting their peers and the
soldiers who had fought in the war. Some simply wanted to congratulate
the victors, while others sought to cozy up to Cleo's faction. Cleo was no
longer the powerless prince he had been.
Invited to one such party, Cleo became exhausted after greeting an
endless string of attendees. At one point he escaped and brought Lysithea
into a lounge.
"This is tiring... The count does this every day? I can't believe it."
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Lysithea chided Cleo, though playfully. "This is all thanks to the
groundwork the count laid, you know. The whole time you were out there
fighting, he was here on the Capital Planet, networking. Look how many
people want to know you now. It's not like before, when you were
virtually powerless."
"I'm just a figurehead, though," countered Cleo.
"That's not true. Don't lose your nerve."
"Sure, I 'fought' in the war, but I didn't actually do anything."
Cleo wasn't responsible for their victory in the least. There was no
room for him to act since Tia was effectively the commander of the fleet,
while a talented knight named Claus supplied her with the support she
needed. All of this only exacerbated Cleo's inferiority complex. He knew
there was nothing he could do about it, and had to be content with being a
figurehead, but he hated himself for it all the same.
He then reflected on Liam. "The count himself is keeping a rather
low profile lately, isn't he?"
Lysithea clued Cleo in on Liam's current plans. "Apparently, he's
going back to his domain for a time. The protests there are calming down,
but he must be worried about how things are back home."
Lysithea was impressed that Liam had remained on the Capital
Planet up until now, despite personal circumstances, but when Cleo
thought of Liam, he could only compare himself unfavorably.
"The count can do anything, really. He's completely different from
me."
Cleo was in competition with his brother to see who would become
the next emperor, but he knew that his current standing wasn't due to his
own merits. He accepted it...but he didn't have to like it.
"If I weren't around, no one would care so long as Liam was," Cleo
muttered.
Lysithea didn't catch what he said. "Did you say something?"
For her part, Lysithea was excited for what would come next. They
made it through a dangerous crisis and were left with the power to go toe
to toe with Calvin's faction.
Cleo only shook his head, not wanting to dampen her enthusiasm.
"No, nothing."
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***
The Guide returned to the Capital Planet. He had been moving from
place to place lately, nourishing himself on the vengeful spirits of those
destroyed by the expeditionary army and gathering up the lingering hatred
of the Capital Planet. Now, he was back to challenge Liam to a fight.
"Liam! Today, I'll end you by my own hand!!!"
Unable to kill Amagi the android—and having learned that all his
recent efforts to bring Liam misfortune backfired and led to Liam's victory
instead—the Guide seethed with fury. Struck down from his previous high
by vicious reality, he was now completely consumed by anger. Therefore,
when he spotted Liam at the spaceport preparing to head back to his
domain, the Guide charged straight for him.
"There you aaaaare!!!"
Liam had Riho, Fuka, and Ellen in tow, showing the women a ship
he was particularly proud of. They walked along its pointlessly lavish
corridors, unaccompanied by any guards.
When the Guide saw them from behind, he willed his negative
energy to shape a weapon from his own body. The Guide's arm
transformed into an ominous blade, which sped toward Liam's back.
"Liaaaaam!!!"
***
"Well? Impressive, right? I spent a ton of money on this
superdreadnought. This thing's as big as a space colony!"
The three-thousand-meter ship was huge enough for people to live
inside it. Personnel came and went at regular intervals, of course, but some
people had been on the ship for years and had even gotten married
onboard. I heard a child had been born on it too, but that seemed a bit
much to me. Could you really raise a kid on a warship? I supposed they
would set up a school on it soon, but... Anyway, I bought myself this
ridiculously enormous ship just to satisfy my own sense of vanity, and yet
it was still hard for me to take in at times.
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I also spent a ridiculous amount of money making sure the
battleship's interior was lavishly decorated. I was strangely happy to see
how much Fuka liked it. It seemed like she had a penchant for the
extravagant.
"Whoa! Can I have one, too, senior pupil?"
To be honest, I would have liked to give her a ship or two, but
unfortunately I couldn't. "You think I can just do whatever I want with
these superdreadnoughts? I need Amagi's permission, so that's not
happening. She'd never agree to it."
Amagi made a sour face whenever I bought a battleship for myself,
so I didn't want to imagine what she'd say if I bought one for my junior. I
was all about being an evil lord, but I still didn't want to upset my maid. It
wasn't that long ago that she complained about me commissioning a ship
from Nias. That vessel was almost done, and I looked forward to picking it
up. Though I felt a bit guilty because of how Amagi felt about it, so I
figured I'd control my spending for at least a little while.
"Aww..." Fuka was disappointed, but I did have a present in mind
for those two.
"Don't be so down. I'm going to give you both your own personal
mobile knights. You'll need to know how to pilot things like that, so it'll
be good if you have your own."
Riho just played with her hair, evidently not very interested. "Boys
love robots, don't they? I think it's more impressive if you can cut your
enemy down without getting into a machine."
It seemed she wasn't looking forward to my present, but my
apprentice Ellen's eyes were sparkling.
"Master, I want one too!" she cried.
I felt bad for Ellen since she was so excited about it, but I couldn't
include her in this. "It's still too early for you."
"Oh... I see..." She hung her head sadly, but Ellen was still too
young. I needed to take my time training her.
Fuka, at least, seemed interested in it all. "What kind of mobile
knight will you give us?" she asked.
Good question! "Actually, I decided to create a mass-produced
version of my own trusty craft. Though the mass-produced versions will be
inferior, of course."
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Apparently, it was impossible to create a mass-produced version of
the Avid that matched its specs. "It's just beyond copying" is what the
Seventh Weapons Factory told me when I asked. Even with the requisite
rare metals, without a Machine Heart installed, not even a similar craft
could replicate the Avid's specs.
Still, I decided to have a mass-produced version of the Avid made
and give one to both girls, since its specs would still be quite high. It
wouldn't be a match for my unit, but it would surpass any other mobile
knight. After all, it would take more money to create these inferior
knockoffs than it would to create most other personalized craft.
"Dunno how I feel about having an inferior machine..." Fuka
complained.
I gave her a flick on the forehead. "Don't be greedy. It may be
inferior, but it'll still take a ton of money and time to create. It'll be a
luxury craft compared to other mobile knights."
The budget required to create these units would be excessively high,
but it was still basically chump change to me.
As I continued strolling along in a pleasant mood, Ellen asked me,
"Master, has something good happened to you?"
My apprentice could always tell how I was feeling.
"It has. I just won total victory in an intergalactic war. It all went
even better than I hoped."
Cleo's faction had gained enough strength to stand on equal footing
with Calvin's. Then, my good fortune had continued when I'd met
Master's two pupils. Plus, my own student Ellen was slowly but surely
improving. Reflecting on this, I was in a great mood today, and all of it
was thanks to the Guide.
Still, I was so busy lately that I felt I was forgetting to give a proper
amount of gratitude to the Guide. Now that I really thought about it, a lot
of things that were really lucky for me had happened one after another.
I was sure it was all thanks to the Guide that I was able to overcome the
hardships I endured so far.
At that moment, we just happened to come upon a solid gold statue
of the Guide that I had commissioned. I stopped and turned to the others.
"You three—I want you to pray here."
Riho cocked her head at me. "What do you mean?"
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"Just pray," I said. "I want you to direct your feelings of gratitude at
this statue!"
Fuka and Riho exchanged confused glances.
"What should we do?"
"Well, I don't mind if it's an order from our senior..."
Ellen, of course, was completely on board. "I'll be really thankful,
Master!"
"Well said! Now, start giving your thanks to this statue!"
***
The three girls did as Liam asked and turned to the golden statue of
a strange figure in a top hat and tailcoat.
Riho wasn't sure exactly who to be thankful to, so she directed her
thanks to the first person who came to mind. Well, if I'm going to be
thankful to someone, I suppose it would be Master Yasushi.
Naturally, Yasushi's face was the first Fuka thought of as well. So I
should just be thankful to Master Yasushi? All right.
Lastly, Ellen directed her thanks to Liam. I'll be as thankful as I can
that I met Master!
The sincere gratitude projected by the three of them flowed into the
golden statue of the Guide.
***
Liam and the girls were stopped in the ship's corridor. Seeing this,
the Guide decided this was his moment. He leaped at them with the hand
holding his blade outstretched. "Liaaaaam! It's over—huh?!"
The four of them were kneeling down in front of what the Guide
realized was a golden statue of...himself. What in the world was this, and
what were they doing?
The prayers of gratitude from Liam and the girls began to gather
around the statue. Liam had the statue created so that even when he flew to
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far-off places in this ship, he would be reminded to give thanks to the
Guide. The statue began to shine, though with their heads bowed and eyes
closed, Liam and the girls saw nothing. Only the Guide saw the gratitude
the four of them poured forth manifest as a brilliant, shining light.
"I-it's so bright!"
The golden light started to burn the Guide's body...and then, a
sword of light burst forth from the statue. The golden light had taken the
form of a blade because the combined prayers came from the four
successors of the Way of the Flash. It was an embodiment of their feelings
of gratitude, but to the Guide, it was pure poison, made all the more lethal
with the inclusion of Liam's personal thankfulness. Though the blade
shone with a divine light, it looked hellish to the Guide.
"S-sto—!" The moment he tried to tell them to stop, the blade shot
forward and pierced the Guide's chest. It burned him from the inside,
infusing his body with deadly poison.
"Noooooooooo!!!"
Through the blade, the Guide could feel gratefulness of a magnitude
he'd never experienced before. In the mix was an extraordinarily strong
gratitude for Yasushi and feelings of thankfulness toward Liam as well.
Three more golden swords floated from the statue, and these quickly shot
into the Guide too. These additional swords were formed from gratitude
toward others in addition to Liam's gratitude for the Guide.
"This gratitude has nothing to do with meeeee!!!"
Finally, the combined force of gratitude burned the Guide's body
away completely. His top hat floated down to the floor, where it sank and
disappeared.
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