Chapter 3
Ornica.
She is a character from Valdeon Saga and the Captain of the 3rd Squad of the Guardian Knights.
I never imagined I would run into Ornica in a place like this.
“You cowardly assassins…!”
She glanced at me and frowned.
The short-haired woman’s face turned pale as she raised her hands in surrender.
“W-wait! I surrender! I’ll tell you everything, even who commissioned the assassination, so please spare me!”
“Surrender, you say?”
“Y-yes! If you spare me, I’ll reveal the client who ordered the hit!”
Despite the tearful pleas of the short-haired woman,
“…Get lost. It’s the knight order’s creed not to negotiate with villains.”
Ornica swung her sword without hesitation.
Red energy gathered around the blade.
The sword traced a crimson arc through the air.
[Scarlet Moon Style]
Her signature sword technique unfolded beautifully.
Slash!
The short-haired woman’s head rolled cleanly on the ground.
‘Wow.’
Seeing Scarlet Moon Style in reality, rather than through a monitor, made it all the more impressive.
It reminded me once again that I was truly inside the world of Valdeon Saga.
“…Urk.”
I had to hold back the nausea as I looked at the blood-drenched corpses and the gore covering me.
I know I have to get used to it since this is how this world is, but it’s still too much for me right now.
Forcing myself to look away, I saw Ornica putting her sword away as she slowly approached me.
‘Ornica.’
For a moment, the image of her from Valdeon Saga popped into my mind.
Having gone through countless playthroughs, my brief assessment of Ornica is:
‘A heroine who is almost impossible to capture.’
Of course, she wasn’t completely unattainable.
I managed to capture her in the 78th playthrough by becoming her childhood friend and graduating from the knight order together, and also in the 102nd playthrough where everything was destroyed, and only the protagonist and Ornica remained.
‘If you don’t have a relationship with her from the start, you’d need something on the scale of the world’s end for her to open up.’
That being said, Ornica wasn’t a worthless character.
On the contrary, in playthroughs focused on a swordsman build, she was someone you absolutely had to befriend.
Her [Scarlet Moon Style] is a sword technique that, if used well, can carry you from the early stages to even the late game.
Thus, building a good rapport with her and learning [Scarlet Moon Style] is a basic strategy for the early game.
“Are you alright?”
She glanced at me repeatedly as she asked.
For some reason, she wasn’t looking directly at me.
“Ah… Yes. I’m alive thanks to you.”
“…I’m glad. It’s a relief I wasn’t too late.”
I gave an awkward smile as I stood up.
Seeing that, Ornica twisted her legs, looking somewhat nervous.
‘What’s with her?’
She just cut down two people right in front of me, yet now she’s fidgeting like a puppy that’s been caught doing something wrong.
“I-I’ll escort you to a safe place… but, um….”
“Yes?”
“B-but first, your clothes….”
No way.
Did they pull down my pants as well?
Half in shock, I looked down and saw that my pants were still securely in place.
Only my shirt was gone.
I glanced at her expression, but she still couldn’t meet my eyes directly.
“Ugh…”
Why was she so flustered over seeing a guy’s chest?
“Actually, I don’t have a shirt right now because it’s soaked in blood….”
My shirt was drenched in the blood of the brown-haired woman that Ornica had killed.
I wasn’t blaming her, but I didn’t want to wear something reeking of blood.
“T-then, take this at least….”
She then removed her own cloak and draped it around me.
“…Men shouldn’t walk around with so much bare skin exposed.”
…?
“What?”
“Ahem…! Then, let me guide you to a safer place.”
***
Following her, I eventually arrived at a small base camp.
It was a makeshift place with tents and wooden posts, but it had everything it needed.
“Oh! Captain~! I knew you’d pull through~.”
As soon as we arrived, a girl with twin ponytails waved her hand lazily from inside a tent.
Maybe because of her twin ponytails, there were two swords strapped to each side of her waist.
“…Where are the others?”
“The Captain received the message and went on patrol around the area. It might take a while.”
“Erina. Then what have you been doing here?”
“Someone has to stand strong and guard the base! That way, the other comrades can fight without worrying… Argh!”
“Why is slacking off all you ever think about…?”
Ornica struck Erina, who was called out by name, on the head.
Then, as Ornica glanced at me standing behind her, her expression twisted into confusion.
“…Captain? Who’s this handsome gentleman behind you?”
“He was being held by the targets. I escorted him here in a hurry.”
“Oh my goodness! Is that so?”
In the blink of an eye, Erina closed the distance between us and grabbed my hand.
Then, with a mischievous look in her eyes, she delivered her lines in an exaggerated tone.
“Hello there! I’m Erina, a member of the Guardian Knights 3rd Squad and the loyal right-hand of Captain Ornica! If you ever need help or are in trouble, feel free to come find me anytime! By the way, my tent is the second one on the right…”
Boom!
“Aaagh! You hit me again! Why do you keep hitting me?!”
“Can’t you see he’s already shaken up? Don’t cause any more trouble and go back inside.”
“…Tsk. You’re just trying to keep him to yourself, Captain…”
“Do you still want more of a beating?”
“Okay, okay! I’m going!”
Erina winked at me one last time before retreating into the tent.
Hmm, what should I say?
Having a pretty girl flirt with me so openly isn’t all that bad.
But getting caught off-guard like that makes me feel weird.
It’s like when a beautiful woman approaches you out of nowhere, and you think she’s trying to convert you to a cult or something.
If I didn’t know about the Guardian Knights or Ornica, I would definitely have been suspicious.
“She’s not a bad kid, so please don’t take it to heart… though I still wouldn’t recommend going to her tent.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m fine.”
“Then, that’s a relief.”
“You’re Ornica, right? I’m a bit late, but thank you so much for saving me.”
I bowed my head deeply to express my gratitude.
After all, she had saved me from the danger of being raped(?) by those women.
“Ahem, ahem. No need to thank me. It’s what any knight dedicated to protecting the innocent would do.”
Ornica cleared her throat awkwardly and looked away.
‘She’s reacting like this just because I said thank you?’
She seemed a bit different from the Ornica I knew.
Normally, she would have said something like, “Make sure you can protect yourself next time” or “Being rescued isn’t a pleasant experience. Train yourself harder.”
“By the way, may I ask your name? Once my squad members return, we’ll escort you back to your home.”
“My name is… Alben. Just Alben.”
I didn’t bother mentioning my family name.
Since I was already exiled, going back there would just result in me being kicked out again.
“Alben… what a beautiful name.”
Ornica smiled softly.
Then, as if realizing what she’d said, she flailed her hands in panic.
“N-no, I’m sorry if that was inappropriate! I didn’t mean to say that out loud…”
“Oh… it’s fine. Really, it is.”
“I-I’m glad to hear that… No, I mean… I’m glad.”
What the heck?
Seriously, what’s going on?
First off, what’s so beautiful about the name ‘Alben’?
And why are you blushing?
Before I could even begin to solve these questions, Ornica continued with her next inquiry.
“Then, where is your home?”
“……”
“Alben?”
“…U-ugh. My… my head…”
“Alben?! Are you alright?!”
“Ugh, my head. My memories. Ugh…!”
Possession Trope: Character experiences sudden amnesia.
***
Alben lay soundly asleep in the corner of the tent.
A hasty meeting of the knight order was convened.
“…So,”
The first to speak was one of the two knights who had just returned from patrol. The woman wielding a rapier, named Corinne, began.
“You brought back a man with amnesia?”
“Yes.”
“…Huh. I didn’t know our Captain had that kind of side to her.”
“There’s no other motive. I’m merely doing my best to protect and aid him according to the principles of knighthood.”
“Aww~. We all know you’ve never been involved with a man before, so what’s there to hide?”
“Erina, do you want to get hit again?”
“Eep.”
Erina covered the top of her head with her hands and took a step back.
“A man, huh. Well, our squad’s been full of women for too long. It’s nice having a man around. Brightens up the atmosphere, doesn’t it? I can almost smell flowers blooming already.”
The red-haired female warrior, Galli, who had a rough impression and carried a greatsword on her back, laughed heartily.
“If you’ve got time for comments like that, you should think of a way to treat his amnesia, Galli.”
“But is he really suffering from amnesia? What if he’s just faking it? Y’know, a honey trap. Assassins are getting more clever these days, and a lot of them use tricks like that.”
When Corinne brought up that possibility, the four of them turned their gazes towards the sleeping Alben.
‘Whoa….’
‘He is… pretty.’
‘Ah~ I’d love to take him as my bride. I wish he’d make soup for me every morning.’
‘Mmhmm….’
Alben was beautiful. Especially for Ornica, who had seen his bare body, the feelings were more complicated.
His body was soft and showed no signs of muscle development.
His face was gentle and delicate, reminiscent of a florist.
“…He’s not an assassin. His body’s never even held a weapon before.”
Even if he was sent by an assassin guild, with a body like that, he’d get overpowered before he could even try.
“So, there’s no need to worry about that. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do with Alben?”
“How about we take him to the nearby village? If he was wandering around this area, he could be one of the villagers.”
“Hmm. From what I saw of his tracks, it seemed like he had been wandering the mountains for quite a while.”
“Even if he is from a village, it’s not necessarily safe. He could have been exiled due to some wrongdoing or mistreated, which led to his memory loss.”
The four of them exchanged a variety of opinions, their words tangling and intertwining.
After a long discussion, the conclusion they reached was this:
“Alright… So, is everyone in agreement with this?”
“Agreed~! Agreed! Agreed~!”
“I won’t oppose it.”
“Hahaha! Of course, I agree as well!”
That night seemed unusually long.
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