I Finished Saving the World, But Then I Picked Up a Girl With Amnesia - Chapter 15

At first, it was supposed to be just a light sparring match. A mock battle to gauge each other’s strength.

However, both Aria and the boy became so engrossed in the fight before them that the concept of holding back disappeared from their minds.

The intensity of their heated battle blew apart the rooftop, turning the situation into a complete disaster.

The school alarm blared throughout the grounds. The shouts of the knights on patrol echoed in the distance. But to the two combatants lying on what little remained of the intact rooftop, these sounds felt like someone else’s problem.

“We overdid it…”

“Yeah, we overdid it…”

Both Aria and the boy lay sprawled out on the edge of the collapsed rooftop, staring up at the sky.

The boy had won. Aria had lost.

For Aria Linage Aiaras, this was the first defeat of her life.

“I thought I was pretty strong, though…”

“You are strong. Really strong.”

The boy sat up, shrugged off his tattered uniform jacket, and draped it over Aria’s shoulders. It was his way of showing consideration for her equally torn-up uniform.

“I already told you, I don’t particularly care if I’m seen.”

“Well, I care.”

“…I see. Thanks.”

Hugging the boy’s jacket to her chest, she sat up.

“Why are you so strong?”

“I’m still weak. I have to defeat the Demon King and save the world. If I’m this beaten up fighting a single princess, the road ahead doesn’t look good.”

“Wow, what’s that supposed to mean? Are you mocking me because I lost?”

She joked, letting out a wry smile before collapsing back onto the rubble-strewn ground again.

“You’re so cool, though. Your strength has a clear purpose, a big goal behind it.”

“Hm?”

“I don’t have anything like that. I was born a princess of a royal family with responsibilities, born with ‘magic’ in my body, and was told I had talent. So, I just went along with what everyone said and trained because they told me to.”

But no matter how strong she became, it all felt hollow.

No matter how hard she reached, she couldn’t touch the unwavering strength born from the boy’s clear conviction and will.

“That’s why… I’m jealous.”

“Then come with me.”

“Huh?”

He pushed himself up to his feet with a determined motion.

“As I said earlier, I’m going to save the world. But, you know… doing it alone feels like I’d just get myself killed. I’d like you to protect me.”

Stretching with his arm to the sky, hand on his hip, he looked up at the clouds.

For some reason, the sight of his unassuming back seemed so much larger to Aria.

“You’re a princess and a knight, right? That makes you the perfect fit.”

Protect me, and I’ll protect you, he said as he turned back to her with a smile.

“I’ll make sure to protect you. So, if you can, I’d like you to watch my back sometimes too.”

As if embarrassed by his own words, he averted his gaze after saying them.

“…Is that a no?”

Her frozen heart felt a spark of warmth.

“It’s not a no.”

She stood and moved to stand beside him.

“Alright, I’ll be your knight.”

Then, kneeling slowly, she raised her battered sword from their sparring match.

“So, my liege, may I have your name?”

“…Oh, crap. I didn’t even introduce myself, did I?”

“Nope. Not yet.”

“Sorry, sorry. My name is—”

Thus, Aria Linage Aiaras swore an oath.

She pledged her proud sword to the Hero.

—

Burning.

The two-horned devil’s right arm, which had touched the knight’s armor, was ablaze from claw to shoulder.

“GRRRAAAAHHH!”

Howling in agony, unable to endure the pain, the devil fell to his knees.

“Looks hot.”

Extinguished.

The devil’s most intense flames, capable of melting steel, vanished from the azure-silver armor in an instant.

What is this?

What is this?

What is this!?

These aren’t my flames. These flames are coming from the knight.

The silent scream in his heart shook his very being.

Everything had been perfect. He had read the situation. He should have won.

So why?

“Why!? Why!? Why!? Your magic should be ice-based!”

“Huh? No, it’s not.”

Her tone returned to its usual lightheartedness.

Her innocent tilt of the head sent a chill down the devil’s spine.

“I’m a knight, you know. I’m not great with magic.”

Forgetting even the burning pain for a moment, the two-horned devil felt his blood run cold throughout his body.

“T-That’s ridiculous! If that’s true, then what was that ice!? What are these flames!?”

Screaming, the devil ripped off his own arm before the flames could spread to his torso. Overwhelmed by pain and rage, his entire body trembled.

“My magic allows me to change the temperature of anything I touch, including myself.”

Stepping firmly on the devil’s scattered blood, the knight declared:

“These swords are technically ‘holy swords,’ you know. The right greatsword consumes magic to release and manipulate fire. The left one consumes magic to release and manipulate water. I simply alter them to mimic magic spells.”

The first attack had been an extended flame slash. The second had been water frozen into ice along the ground.

Fire into flames.

Water into ice.

The simplicity of the explanation made the devil cry out in despair.

“Alter…? Holy swords are relics imbued with immense magical energy! There’s no way their properties can be altered just by touching them!”

“They can. Because that’s what ‘magic’ is.”

The devil was rendered speechless.

This knight could imbue everything she touched with heat.

This knight could strip everything she touched of heat.

The knight, whose heart burned with unwavering resolve, neither faltered nor hesitated, always moving forward.

She was the perfect fusion of blazing passion and icy composure, creating an absolute zero of crimson flames.

“Crimson Ice Knight—Erytheia.” Aria Linage Aiaras.

The greatest knight and magic user who saved the world.

The ability to freely manipulate the temperature of herself and anything she touched meant one ultimate truth:

The devil’s flames would never work on her.

All was lost.

Finally, the two-horned devil chose to bow his head before a human.

“Knight… please… have mercy.”

“Hm? You feel like talking now?”

“Th-That is…”

“It’s no use, is it? You probably don’t know anything anyway.”

Though her expression was hidden, the eyes peeking out from her full-face helm gazed quietly down at the devil.

At last, the two-horned devil understood.

Rage.

The knight had been angry from the start. Beneath her armor, she had been seething with fury.

To threaten something so precious to her was a mistake from the very beginning.

Her twin blades crossed, pressing against his neck.

“We’re done here.”

With an icy calmness—

“You said you’d kill the Hero, didn’t you?”

—and fiery intensity—

“Keep begging for mercy. Go on, little devil.”

The knight swung her sword.

“Spitting on the honor I swore to protect… Your life alone can never atone for such a crime.”

—

Just before saving the world, the Demon King’s final attack was not directed at the Hero, but at Aria.

If the Demon King targeted his companions, the Hero would undoubtedly shield them. After countless fierce battles, the Demon King had deduced the Hero’s nature and exploited his kindness in the cruelest way.

The Hero couldn’t move.

He had reached his limit.

Those words, however, were excuses.

The Hero was cursed with an unbreakable spell.

────Why did you protect me?

────Because I promised I’d protect you, no matter what.

Ah, yes. He had promised. She had sworn an oath, too.

Not to simply look up to his back, but to stand beside him and protect him from the closest position possible. She had vowed to do so.

But she failed.

His name, and the names of those he cared about, were all taken away.

It was her fault.

“Aria,” he used to call her.

She loved hearing him say her name.

Love cannot be touched. Its warmth cannot be measured.

But if feelings for others and for the world could generate heat, Aria knew no one who burned as brightly as he did.

So she decided to love him. To respond to the care he had shown her with all the devotion she could muster.

In the end, she had failed to protect him as a knight. The regret of that failure burned within her, never fading even for a moment.

She loved the Hero who saved the world.

She knew many others harbored feelings for him.

Even so, Aria Linage Aiaras could declare with certainty:

────My love burns the brightest.