The Hero always come late

“……I’ve already come this far, don’t think that you can run away from me now……!”

Valentina stares at Kisei with madness in her eyes. After being repeatedly verbally abused so many times, she must have a lot on her mind right now.

“W, We can talk this out.”

Physically, he has no chance of winning. Even if he tries to run, his opponent is literally a beast in human form. There’s no doubt that he will be caught in 30 seconds at best. If so then there’s no other way out for him but to try and persuade her.

“Sorry, My Love. Even if it’s you, I don’t think that you can get through to the current me……!”

“I thought as much!!”

Kisei cried out, his face twitching.

She just got completely wrecked by Diaroze’s verbal abuse. She probably doesn’t want to hear anything but comforting words at the moment.

“I’m very frustrated right now……hey, My Love. Please don’t resist. This is for your sake as well…….”

With her face pale, Valentina slowly crept up toward Kisei. Like a beast cornering its prey. Inside his head, feelings of helplessness began to overwhelm him.

Little by little, the distance between them narrowed. Kisei has no way to escape. After all, he knows that no matter what he tries, Valentina will immediately pounce at him.

“Good boy……”

“HIE.”

At the moment Valentina’s hand touched his shoulder.

“SEIYAHHHHH!!”

With a loud cry, someone swooped down from the ceiling. It’s Schleer! She activated the thruster on her jetpack and performed a flying kick on Valentina.

“GUH!!”

She was completely taken by surprise. Valentina couldn’t avoid it because she was caught off guard and got blown away.

Seeing Valentina crash into the wall, Schleer did not get careless and landed herself in front of Kisei.

“Kisei! Are you okay? I’m sorry I’m late!”

Schleer asked in a sharp voice without taking her eyes off Valentina. Kisei held his breath and gave her a reply.

“…..I, I’m fine. But Diaroze is….”

“You can just spit on that kind of injury! Don’t worry about her!”

Although Diaroze is lying down unconscious while bleeding from her nose, Schleer’s words were harsh. However, although Kisei couldn’t see it, a sign of respect can be seen on her face.

“That said, since she put Diaroze through that kind of pain, it seems I will have to exercise an appropriate punishment on that woman.”

“Saying so, Schleer pulls out an old-fashioned revolver from her holster. She pressed her thumb on the hammer and gently pointed it at Valentina.

“Ugh…..”

While watching Schleer, Valentina stumbled to her feet. As expected, she’s already nearing her limits. Her legs were wobbling. If gravity still worked here, she might not have been able to stand.

“D, Damn it……”

She reflexively put her hand on her holster but of course, there was nothing in it.

With a hateful look, she glared at Schleer.

“You got this far with that jetpack alone…..!?”

A jetpack can be packed inside a rucksack so it’s standard equipment inside a striker cockpit. However, since it only has a small capacity for propellant, it’s only reserved for emergency uses.

This wrecked battleship is quite far away from the place where their strikers were damaged. Normally, the propellant would have run out long before she got here.

“I asked [Mistilteinn] to serve me one last time. Even if she’s a wreck now, she can still at least fire her thruster in one direction after all.”

“Damn it…….I should have killed you!”

Valentina spat that out with a terribly frustrated expression.

“You thieving dog……you’re playing a hero now!?”

“My, I see, so the fun was already spoiled huh.”

Schleer shrugged without showing a shred of remorse.

“It’s your fault for taking your time. We didn’t have a ladies’ pact binding us to anything so I’d appreciate it if you don’t blame me for your own shortcomings.”

“Y, You…..!”

Valentina tries to curse at her but she knows that it’s her fault so she shut her mouth and didn’t say anything more.

“Now then, what do you want to do? Fight me? Or do you want to give up?”

Schleer asked with a serious look on her face while still pointing her gun at Valentina. She doesn’t want to actually shoot, of course. After all, even with all their differences, they have fought side by side.

“To be honest, I couldn’t care less about your ambitions. If you give me your word that you will not invade Calencia then you can go take your throne or whatever you want.”

Schleer’s words were cold. Valentina’s face stiffened as she stared alternately between Schleer and Kisei.

“……but, I do respect you as a rival. If Kisei-san gives his consent, you are welcome to join us. Now, what do you want to do?”

“………”

Surprised, Valentina’s eyes opened wide.

“…….even after I came this far? I have to give it all up?”

“…….yes.”

Kisei thought for a while and quietly gave a silent nod. He thought that it was the only way for this to end in an amicable way. He doesn’t hate her and he doesn’t want her to die. Even if she just went berserk on him, she can still turn back.

If possible, Kisei also wants to make up with Valentina. Although she’s usually cold toward Diaroze, she actually cares a lot for her sister. It’s too sad if they can not reconcile with a fight like this.

“The throne or Kisei. Choose whichever you like.”

“………”

Valentina had been silent for a while but tears slowly appeared in the corners of her eyes. It continued to pour out and she eventually started crying for real.

“……I thought…..If I become an Empress…..if I become someone important, nobody would make fun of me anymore…….”

As her tears flowed, she began to monologue. She glanced at her unconscious sister, the woman who became their ally although she used to be their nemesis.

In the end, Valentina decided to follow her older sister’s example. She gently puts her knees on the floor and lowers her head, prostrating in front of them.

“I……was wrong. Please forgive me……”

With a grin, Schleer turned to Kisei.

“Alright, I forgive you.”

With those words, the war between Nored and Calencia came to an end.