CHAPTER 457: CHOOSE BETWEEN LOYALTY AND AFFECTION

I was going to see Zephyra, but I sensed two presences that immediately made me leave the castle to check.

"Mama Pandoru!!" The moment I step outside the castle, Azazel runs up to me and jumps into my arms, while I see Grimm and, surprisingly, Mikael.

"Mikael, that purple eye..." I see a large purple eye on Mikael’s face, along with some bandages on his arm.

"I fought her. I was near the elf forest looking for an opponent when she showed up and said she would take me to say goodbye to you because you’re going away for a long time."

"I refused, naturally. So she challenged me to a fight... She ended up winning, unfortunately, but I dealt some good damage and it was a good fight, so I’m satisfied. Although fighting you was more fun," he says with a smile.

"I’m glad you came. I really wanted to say goodbye to you too," I say, approaching him while Azazel in my arms points at him.

"He looks strong!" Azazel says as I put her back down on the ground.

"Yeah, he definitely is... Mikael, shall we go inside? It’s been a while since we’ve had a pleasant conversation," I say, inviting him in while Azazel goes over to Grimm, who approaches me.

"Pandora, now that I have permission, I will be settling in your castle, since it’s good for my daughter... Don’t look at me like that. I won’t lay a finger on your girls," Grimm says with a malicious smile as she starts heading inside with Azazel.

"Mama Grimm, is it true I have another little sister?! I want to see her!" I hear Azazel talking as the two of them enter. I approach Mikael with a smile.

"So, it looks like it’s just the two of us now!" I say, and he nods.

"I heard you won the war, and from the looks of it, you came out almost unscathed," he says, staring at my arm. It seems he noticed. How attentive of him.

"You’re very... perceptive... Yes, my arm isn’t in great shape," I say, acting like it’s nothing.

"I hunt monsters. I need to be alert to weak points... Mesumari has become more annoying, you know? She won’t stop trying to go see Violet, so it’s probably good that you’re distancing yourself a bit. Mesumari needs some time," he says, and I also realize that Violet has been talking to me less.

’So that’s why then....’

"Violet has also been less active with me lately. She’s usually inactive until I call her. It seems the two of them really hit it off," I say with amusement.

"..."

"That’s not funny. Mesumari is my sword. She needs to be ready when I need her, not off fucking some random girl thousands of miles away from me. That’s really inconvenient."

"Random?! A bit arrogant of you to call my sword a random girl," I say in a threatening tone. Violet might be annoying, but she’s helped me out a lot, many times.

"...Arrogant or not, it’s a fact that your sword is distracting my sword from her duties. Mesumari now needs three times more ’food’ than usual just because she’s wasting energy on this weird relationship."

’More food?...’ When he says that, I’m surprised he’s having this problem too. Violet is also spending three to five times more magic than normal passively, a pointless expenditure happening even when she’s not being used.

’Is Mesumari... trying to devour Violet!?’ I’m shocked by this thought, and it’s a possibility. Special weapons are pieces of the primordial goddess’s physical body and represent fragments of her.

Violet is the heart and thus has powers related to destiny. I don’t know what Mesumari is, but she has a connection to the void and the ability to "devour" everything.

"...Okay, Mikael, you’re right. I guess this relationship is a bit problematic. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll be going to the Abyss soon. It should be too far for the two of them to connect." He immediately agrees with a nod.

"Probably, and I think that’s better for now. Mesumari can be very... hostile and harmful. She isn’t exactly the best choice for a physical or deeply emotional relationship," he says, coming over to me and holding my waist.

"Since you’re leaving, I’ll be without my chance for a rematch... So come back soon, because I still want to fight you again," he says with a smile. I think this is his way of showing "concern," and I like it.

"Of course, I’m still going to beat you up again to show you who’s boss! Hmmm... But since I won’t be here, I guess there are still people who could be fun to fight... I know you’ll find some entertainment."

"It seems we won’t see each other for a few years then..." He lets me go and steps back, and I understand that this is probably the most sentiment I’ll ever get out of him.

After all, he’s a very brutish and wild man, not sentimental at all, and I don’t expect much feeling from him. Me loving him is enough.

"Want to stay here at the castle with me? I still have a week here before I leave... We could have some friendly duels without magic, just with weapons." When I mention duels, he perks up.

"Sure, I’ll stay for that. But today I want to rest. The Vampire Queen really is as strong as they say."

"Hahaha, yeah, Grimm is pretty strong, really." Grimm has as much power as the goddesses, so Mikael could never beat her, but I don’t need to say that.

"Now let’s get something to eat! I was going to talk to my wife, but you’re my husband too and deserve my attention!"

...

...

...

"Mesumari, I have to go..." I say to Mesumari as she holds me firmly, pinning me against the wall.

"Violet, this isn’t very fair to me, you know? I can’t reach that far, but if you connect with me, I can always find you! Even if Pandora goes to the Abyss, we can still be together!" Mesumari speaks, sounding somewhat desperate.

"...I can’t, Mesumari. I am Pandora’s weapon, and I will not connect myself to some other weapon." I sealed my fate with Pandora. I will accompany Pandora for all eternity.

So I can’t just connect to another weapon. I know Pandora doesn’t want that, and I... don’t want that either.

"You have to leave. I don’t know how you keep invading my home, but this is not your place. Go back to Mikael!!" I say, pushing her away from me. She looks hurt by this.

"...I thought we had a special connection?!" she says, furious.

"And we do... but that doesn’t matter right now. I am Pandora’s sword, and I will stay with her. Mesumari, you should be ashamed of yourself for being here spouting this nonsense. What about Mikael? Don’t you care about him?"

"You are his sword. Trying to form a connection with me is a terrible betrayal of him! You’re already connected to him; why did you think it would work to connect to me as well? You chose him, so you should stay with him until the end," I say, full of stress.

Ever since Mesumari and I started this strange relationship here inside, I had been happier, but it only lasted a few months until I realized Mesumari is draining my strength.

She is literally corrosive to me because of the type of weapon she is. Just the fact that she’s here inside, she’s already devouring my magic, and it took me way too long to notice.

"Look at what you’re doing to my body?!" I say, pulling up the sleeve of my dress. My skin has black and purple marks, the equivalent of "rust" for a sword.

However, I am a special weapon, meaning I’m theoretically unbreakable. There’s no way for me to rust.

"...I-I already apologized! I didn’t mean to hurt you..."

"Mesumari, we’ve talked about this!! You just invade my home without permission, eat all the ores Pandora gives me, and treat my house as if it were your own! This has gone too far!"

"I don’t care if it was unintentional! You are eating my magic, and that is crossing the line!" I like her. I liked our nights together, and she explained and taught me many fun things.

But this is crossing the line to the extreme. I won’t stay with someone who is slowly devouring my very existence.

"..."

"I am Pandora’s sword. I need to always be sharp for her... She and I might fight and talk badly about each other, but we both know we are friends who help each other."

"I can’t destroy my blade just for personal feelings. This ends here, Mesumari. It’s better this way for both of us. Let’s just... pretend none of this ever happened."

"Mikael would be disappointed in you if he knew you wanted to connect to another... and... I too... am disappointed in you." I say, looking down. Seeing that she could be so disloyal to the master she chose really bothers me, disappoints me, and is a complete disillusionment of what I believed.

Even if she "loves" me, it doesn’t justify her still trying to do this. A connection isn’t just a simple contract or empty words; it’s a powerful bond between the two who made it.

It’s similar to me and Pandora, even though in our case, I was the one who cursed her so we would never be separated. It’s still a bond I’ve learned to value.

"..." Mesumari punches the wall in anger and frustration.

"Dammit! This is so unfair! You know I didn’t do it on purpose!! You know I was made to consume everything in front of me! So why are you treating me like I’m some disloyal slut?!" She just runs out of my home, disappearing, while I know I will recover from whatever it is she did to me.

"Haaa... Love is so... strange." I sit down on the floor, leaning against the wall. I don’t know what to feel about all this. Even though she was hurting me, I still like her.

"Fate is truly an unpleasant comedy..." Making me choose between loyalty to Pandora and my own feelings was a pretty cruel blow from fate. But I will always choose Pandora.

"I need to talk to Pandora more... I shouldn’t have distanced myself from her just because of personal feelings."