"Umm... Thank you for saving us, thank you very much, see you tomorrow... Wait, that won’t work, will it? Yeah, that won’t work."
Knuckle asked hesitantly.
"Yeah—— In the end, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m a monster who transformed because of a Seed of Desire."
"...No."
As I nodded at Knuckle’s words, an unexpected denial came from someone else.
Saber liquefied the holy sword, took it into her palm, and walked toward me.
"I have incurred another debt... If you had not appeared, I would have caused sacrifices and made many people unhappy."
She smiled as if in gratitude, yet also as if in self-mockery, and gently placed a hand on her own chest.
"If it is something I can do, and as long as it is not something like cutting down an innocent person, I will do anything. Speak without reservation."
"W-wait—— Saber-senpai!"
"...Don’t say ’anything’ to a man. Do you understand the meaning of those words?"
It throbbed.
The desire deep inside my body swelled as if rising up.
Right now this woman said "anything." In other words, that means... that, right?
"Of course I understand."
Isn’t it obvious? her expression seemed to say.
Saber nodded.
"But we alone could not fully protect this school. Surely many students would have been killed or violated. I myself would have belonged to one of those groups. Then, ’if offering just my own body is enough to balance the scales, it is a cheap price’ — is that not so?"
Then there was nothing more to be said.
Whether it was her purity or whatever else, she would offer as much as needed.
If that would satisfy the Monster Villain before her eyes, if sacrificing someone like herself would save someone, then it was a cheap transaction — she believed.
Those eyes that truly believed such reasoning from the bottom of her heart, those eyes that were convinced she herself was worthless, were unbearably irritating.
"——Then, all right. I have one request."
I walked closer.
Toward Saber, toward the Sacred, toward the girl who wished to protect someone.
Behind me I sensed Knuckle bracing herself. Probably, if I tried to do something outrageous to Saber, she would seriously try to kill me.
See, she’s so well-liked — she’s not worthless at all, so why can’t this woman even notice something like that?
Compared to someone like me — who, the moment I awakened my previous-life memories, was swallowed by the desire of "Now I can violate beautiful girls" and ended up becoming a tentacle Monster Villain — she has far, far more value. She is cherished by someone.
Therefore—— I took Saber’s hand.
I strongly, strongly gripped her slightly trembling hand so that she could not refuse, and looked straight into her eyes with my own shining red.
"If I ever cease to be your Vigilante and fall into being nothing more than an ordinary Monster Villain—— Sacred Saber, I want you to destroy me with that sword of yours."
——A curtain of silence fell.
I did not understand what she was thinking or why she prioritized others so much over herself. Because my previous-life knowledge had dismissed it as unnecessary, and because she did not speak of it.
I did not deny the wish itself of wanting to help someone.
Nor did I deny aiming to become a champion of justice for that purpose.
That radiance was surely something precious—— and it was because I had been captivated by that light that I was who I was now.
Not a Monster Villain who attacked people according to desire, but a Vigilante who protected the people he thought were precious according to his own will.
Therefore—— there was no way I could say something like "It doesn’t suit you, so stop."
"...I believe I said ’as long as it is not something like cutting down an innocent person’?"
"That ’someone’ means a human, right? In the first place, as you can see, I’m no longer human, and I’m not innocent either."
I didn’t want to die.
I didn’t want to die, but since I didn’t understand why I was still maintaining my sanity, the possibility of becoming a monster who violated people according to impulse was not zero.
Therefore—— I would make use of that.
"...So until then, live while smiling, Sacred Saber."
The wish of wanting to save someone was precious and I did not deny it—— but if you sacrifice yourself too much for that, it loses its meaning, right?
Before you save someone, you should become happy. Your smile is cute, so I want you to properly enjoy every day and keep smiling.
"I don’t know your past—— but even someone who has debts doesn’t put even their minimum food expenses toward repayment, right? No one will complain if you become happy while saving people. Enjoy happiness while atoning."
"What—— are you saying..."
"It’s simple. If I fall into being nothing more than a Monster Villain and you’ve broken your heart and can’t move, it would be a problem. This is an order as the reward for protecting the students of this school—— you wouldn’t go back on your word, would you, Sacred?"
It was the reward for protecting the lives of people who were truly precious.
She surely could not deny that. To shake her head at this moment would be to indirectly admit that the lives of innocent people were lighter than my wish.
Therefore, though it was underhanded, I would make use of that trauma.
For the sake of my wish—— first, you become happy.
"——I under... stand. I don’t... know if I can do it well, but..."
"No one can change right away, right? Just getting a verbal promise is enough for me this time."
I extended a tentacle and stuck it to a utility pole.
I couldn’t stay here forever. I needed to leave quickly and blend in with the people who had evacuated outside the school.
While pulling the tentacle back, I leaped. Jumping in the style of a manga where a giant is driven off, I rapidly moved away from the schoolyard.
"W-wait a second! Please wait!"
Toward my back, Knuckle hurriedly shouted.
"Your name! We still haven’t heard your name! Don’t we at least have the right to know the name of our benefactor!?"
"Huh? Ah—— sorry! Actually, I still haven’t decided on one yet!"
There was no way I could give my real name, and "tentacle Vigilante" was surely not a name.
Thinking how anticlimactic it was, I raced through the sky.
Holding the satisfaction of having saved them in my chest, yet also feeling fear toward the battles to come.
Even so—— because I wanted to avoid a future where I pretended not to see and lost the two Sacred and my friend.
I would continue stretching these tentacles toward the future.