Running towards the battle, I grit my teeth.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Not listening to me, Index continued to clash blades with Incus, who was surprisingly struggling. How could this be? Incus was the main character. She shouldn't be losing.
The sky was still crimson, so there was bound to be a demon left that Incus was meant to battle. And I had yet to find out what would happen if the novel's plot were disrupted.
Right on cue, a giant four-armed humanoid demon appeared. No, that description didn't match whatever that thing in front of me was. It was absolutely monstrous.
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Chapter 120: A Proposed Vow
…
'One more general, and I can go home.'
As Incus was guarding the camp from any danger, a large grotesque demon from Dragonborn's army began marching toward her. It was a sword-wielding beast.
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"Index, get out of there now! Incus has to battle a sword-wielding beast—!"
Stopping for a moment, Index turned around and threw his broken short sword at the demon.
"Looks like I'm the sword-wielding beast that you speak of."
The novel didn't write anything about how the battle was going on. It only stated that Incus was going to battle and win. But it wasn't going that way at all. Incus was losing!
I wanted to step forward and stop him from continuing, but my body just wouldn't move.
Soon, Index was stomping on Incus and raised his sword for a horizontal slash to her neck.
"You've taken everything from me…!"
"…Is that you, Index…?"
How was this possible? Incus could interact with other people when she was being arbitrarily written?
Visibly shaken, Index slashed at her neck.
But all of a sudden, black arms came flying down from the white window screen in the sky, grabbing Index.
"Let go of me!"
As he struggled to break free, when the black arm's hand closed, his body slowly began to decay.
"H-huh…?"
Clenching my teeth, I looked away.
"How dare you treat me like this! Do you know how many years I've spent in that hellhole? My friends died because of your writing! You fucking piece of shit of an author, I swear I'll kill you—!"
His loud curses then ceased. Raising my head, all that remained was black dust as the black arms retracted into the window screen.
Was this what happened when the plot got disrupted?
"What a fool."
***
Sitting on the other side of a table, my hand was being healed by a saint.
"There you go. Make sure to take care of yourself!" She smiled.
"…Thanks."
Taking back the scales around Alleus' shoulder and Lieur's finger, I strengthened my resolve. Once I got out of this novel, I would make sure to write Index a better ending.
"What will we do now? Our strongest member is gone." Lieur was squishing Kraken.
"Don't speak of him like that! He was a great person!" Alleus fiddled with the lotus embroidered glove.
"There's only one thing to do. We must grow stronger."
***
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Chapter 120: A Proposed Vow
…
Helping the workers carry the equipment needed for repairing the wall, a messenger came to Incus.
"Lady Hero, you have a message from the King."
"What is it?" She wiped sweat off her face.
Unrolling a piece of paper, the messenger began to read:
"Great Hero, you are to come to the royal palace of the kingdom. You are to formally present yourself in a fashionable demeanor. Head to your chambers and put on what is in the closet."
Picking herself up, she tapped Steinen.
"Let's go."
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The next day, nothing much went on but the kingdom's wall being repaired, and the saint, alongside the holy mages, was patching up the terrain.
Tying a long rope that we found in one of the crates set up by the kingdom's construction workers around Alleus, we were preparing to send her to go into shops and take stuff we needed for the future. Lieur would watch the distance between us and Incus.
"Geez, isn't this a bit tight…?" Alleus pouted.
"…Maybe if you stopped eating so much." No, you'll be fine.
Damn it, I mixed inside thoughts with outside words.
"How about you stop eating so much?" Alleus began stuffing chocolate into my mouth.
"Orff…" Falling to the ground, I rushed to drink water from my flask.
"Incus is on the move." Lieur tugged on the rope to check its tightness.
Wrapping the longest part of the rope around my hand and Lieur's, we followed Incus.
Opening a large bag in my hands, Alleus immediately started going into stores as soon as we passed through the gates.
"Get the bandages and herbs…!"
Going inside an apothecary, the rolled-up excess of the rope began to grow less and less. Coming out, she dumped small boxes and bandages into the bag.
Shop after shop, the bag became fatter.
The lotus on Alleus' glove also glowed when she opened locked doors.
Seeing something that caught my attention, I commanded:
"Alleus, go into that bar and get an expensive drink."
"But that isn't part of the plan—"
"Forget the plan for now. Just go get something."
She bashed through the bar's door.
"Is this wise?" Lieur asked.
Giving her a nod, she stopped asking further questions.
Waiting for Alleus, Lieur lightly kicked my leg.
"She's taking longer than expected. Incus is getting further away."
Tugging on the rope, I didn't get a response.
Was it possible that she had become null?
Frantically pulling the rope, I met an abrupt stop. It seemed that Alleus wasn't letting me pull any further. At least I knew that she had kept her clarity.
Soon, Alleus rushed out of the bar. Her pouch was overflowing with expensive wine, and she was retying the rope around her waist.
"Did you untie the rope? Are you crazy!" I protested, gently putting the expensive-looking wine into the large bag.
"Sorry, there was an antique wine displayed on the second floor. The rope wouldn't let me reach it, so I tied it to one of the wooden columns."
With a sigh, I rubbed the space between my eyes.
"Just make sure that you don't do anything as stupid as this again."
Lifting the bag off the ground, Lieur stopped when we got closer to the academy.
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
Following Incus, I looked back, trying to find what she could have possibly paused for.
"…I see," I whispered.
It was her flower shop. We could have stopped and picked up something, but it looked like she decided against it. I would have too, because the hard work and memories that were put into the flower shop were nothing but a work of fiction.