This is a story about searching for ways to fight other than "Gil-gatling."
How does the King make up for his poor close-range combat?
--
"Th-thank you for saving me," the silver-haired woman stammers, refusing to make eye contact. "Fujimaru, Mash. And… King of Heroes Gilgamesh. That's right, yes?"
I look down at her, crossing my arms to hide the fact that I have no idea how to comfort a crying woman.
"…If you wish to thank me, then do your duty properly. Let that be your repayment to me."
"Y-yes… understood."
"Pfft. Look, Mash," Rikka whispers loudly, nudging her shield-bearing companion. "The high-and-mighty Director is bowing her head to Gil."
"S-senpai, she can hear you…" Mash hisses back, looking terrified.
"More importantly, you! Yes, you—Fujimaru Rikka!" Olga Marie snaps her head up, her face flushing red. "Why are you the Master here!? I understand you Rayshifted, but why is Mash a Servant!? Explain this to me right now!!"
Rikka picks her ear with a pinky finger. "No."
"No!?"
"Fujimaru, please don't tease the Director," Dr. Roman's voice sighs from the communicator. "You know… she's difficult and bad with people…"
"What do you mean by that!?" Olga Marie screams at the wristband. "My social skills have nothing to do with this! Ah, I hate this! Why am I all alone!? Lev! Where is Lev!?"
"Now, now, Director. Getting angry ruins your looks, you know?" Rikka grins, rummaging through her pocket. "Want some gum? …Oh, sorry, that was my last one."
"Why are you so carefree!? Are you making fun of me!?"
Rikka laughs. Olga Marie gets angry. Mash panics between them.
"If we weren't in such a situation, I'd find it heartwarming—friends close in age bickering like that," Romani mutters to me through a private channel.
"It cannot be helped," I reply quietly, watching the trio. "Expecting a warrior's mindset from those little girls would be too harsh. When one stands on the battlefield, the sense of life and death sharpens on its own."
"…You're surprisingly tolerant. Are you in a good mood, or do you see something in her?"
"See something in her… perhaps."
As a Master, the girl Fujimaru Rikka certainly has promise.
She laughs even in a place of death. She looks ahead to an unseen future and steps over the despair before her. That resolve—
It is the exact opposite of the life I once lived in comfort. Her toughness and boldness are honestly impressive. Though, praising her would only make her full of herself, so I keep it to myself.
And the girl beside her, Mash, also has great potential.
She constantly pushes herself forward—her weak heart, her trembling body—forcing herself into battle with courage.
She admits the fear inside her, yet still struggles forward, clumsily but earnestly.
Right now, physical strength is a small matter. It is the heart that faces hardship that opens the path to the future. She understands this instinctively, even if she isn't aware of it.
"At the very least, watching over fledglings is not unpleasant," I admit. "Protecting an unskilled contractor is part of the job."
"…Honestly, I was worried whether she could control a Servant as powerful as you," Romani says, his tone shifting. "But it seems that fear was unfounded."
I can feel Roman's voice soften. It seems he has lowered his guard and placed some trust in me.
"I don't sense the nature of a tyrant in you right now. That alone is a once-in-a-thousand-years kind of luck. I only hope that luck lasts as long as possible."
"Hmph. …You are not allowed to fall either, doctor." I lower my voice further. "You send such young girls to the front lines. As the older one, you will repay them with proper work and devotion. I will not forgive laziness. Carelessness and arrogance, however, I will tolerate."
Just to be safe, I warn him. …This carefree man is hard to trust. Something about his words feels strangely cold, lacking passion.
"You really hit where it hurts, King," Romani laughs dryly. "Of course. I fully intend to do my duty—what I must do. That is my way of fighting."
…And yet, I can also feel unwavering sincerity. I cannot trust him, but I can rely on him. I cannot read his true intentions, but I can entrust my back to him. That seems like a fair conclusion.
"Do your best…"
That being the case, the real problem is me—the Servant.
In the last battle, I could not shake the lingering discomfort. It felt as though I had misunderstood something fundamental about how I should fight.
"…Doctor. My class is Archer, correct?"
"Hm? Yes. Your Saint Graph is registered as Archer. Why do you ask?"
"An Archer is a class that uses a bow, is it not?"
"W-well, yes," Romani sounds confused. "That's why it's called Archer."
"I see… a bow, then."
I nod to myself. A bow. Yes, during that fight, I never once picked up a bow. I fought barehanded and swung a random sword to wipe out weak enemies.
Is that the source of the discomfort? An Archer who does not use a bow. That conclusion feels right.
After all, in my previous life, I was just an ordinary man who never stood on a battlefield. I could not possibly have any understanding of combat.
"Very well," I declare, a lightbulb going off in my mind. "Next time, I will fight with a bow in hand. That is what an Archer should do."
"…That's quite the self-imposed restriction. Is this some kind of boredom play, King of Heroes?"
"Fool. This is the result of thought. A spirit of challenge is essential in all things."
"What a positive King of Heroes!?"
He really overreacts to everything.
…Yes. Training without reflection is meaningless.
I am nothing more than a bland soul poured into the vessel of the King of Heroes. At the very least, I must strive to be worthy of that vessel.
"Hey! Gil! We're heading out soon!"
It seems the conversation has ended. From a distance, Rikka is waving her hand.
"Looks like you're being called, King."
"She is a lively girl. Very well, let us move…"
—In the next instant.
"!!"
I sense a piercing killing intent—
"Rikka!! Get down!!"
"Huh—"
"—Senpai!!"
At the same moment I shout, a sharp whistling sound cuts the air. An arrow flies toward Rikka with terrifying speed.
(End Of Chapter)
--
An Archer who uses a bow… really feels like cheating, doesn't it? (sigh)