Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

This time, the perspective is not from Satou.

There are some cruel descriptions, so please be cautious if you’re sensitive to that.

Note: Typo corrected on 2/11.

God is cruel.

Just when the unpleasant male soldiers were gone and things felt comfortable, I end up going on a journey to look after the young lady...

Dreaming of the day I can wear that cute maid outfit again, I’ll just have to endure it for now.

“Pina-san, Pina-san, Karina-sama left, but aren’t you going to stop her?”

My subordinates call out to me, who was lost in thought. Of all people, those assigned to guard the young lady are the troublesome Talna and Elina — truly, God is cruel.

Putting off my complaints for later, I looked toward where Elina was pointing, and blood drained from my face.

Until just a moment ago, the young lady was peering down the cliff, but without any hesitation, she jumped down.

“Y-young lady!”

I hurriedly rushed to the cliff’s edge, but it was useless to run up now. Ah, how incompetent I am not to have stopped her suicide. I’ll lose my job, and worse, probably become a slave. The baron is a doting father, but despair might cause him to order my beheading. Ah, what a misfortune.

“Pina-san, better wallow in your misery after you see this, okay?”

Talna, who looks quiet but has thick nerves, points down the cliff. Maybe she’s only broken something and got caught somewhere?

Steeling myself, I looked down—and below the cliff, the young lady was cheerfully defeating bandits.

It seems my job is safe after all.

◇

“Young lady, I told you so many times not to act rashly—”

“Well, protecting the villagers from bandits is our duty as nobles, isn’t it?”

The young lady spoke over my scolding to assert her views. She never listens, really. Besides, this is the duke’s domain, so technically those people aren’t her villagers, but if I pointed that out, she’d probably say it’s a trivial matter.

“My apologies, Lady Pina. I tried to stop her, but lives were at stake. Please forgive her.”

This gentlemanly plea came from Lord Laka, the curious talking magical artifact.

Honestly, I think the young lady’s reckless behavior got out of hand only after obtaining this magical artifact.

Apparently, those they saved were a merchant group headed to Daregan City. Their mercenary guards were killed by bandits, but they themselves only suffered minor injuries. No one is seriously hurt, so let them handle treatment themselves.

Talna and Elina are stripping equipment from bandits who are half-dead and unconscious. It’s troublesome, but I helped. The leather armor smells awful, but it sells for a decent price, so it’s removed before disposal. Unfortunately, the bronze spears and swords they had were mostly destroyed. The young lady must have smashed them with her strength, though it would have been more profitable if she’d broken their necks instead of their weapons.

After stripping the bandits, we kill them one by one. Since they disguised themselves as bandits, they must have expected to be dealt with this way. At least I aim for a single thrust to the heart to spare them suffering.

Talna and Elina finished disposing of their share as well.

We head to the young lady, who is troubling the merchants with tales of bravery. The naïve young lady apparently told the merchants who offered her a reward, “No thanks are necessary.” Since we can’t ask for the reward now, we have them buy the confiscated equipment at a high price—likely including the reward.

At their insistence, we will accompany them to Daregan City. Secretly, I’m motivated by the attractive escort fee. This means we won’t have to rent a barn for lodging in Daregan City, except for the young lady.

The travel money given by Nina was barely enough for a round trip to Daregan City. Considering the barony’s strained finances, I couldn’t ask for more. If the head maid hadn’t secretly arranged for supplies equivalent to one silver coin, we might have had to hunt along the way.