MaruMA:MaHon:SSS18

Adalbert x Maxine

"You're not dead yet."

As he said that while tracing the rim of his glass with his finger, the man sitting across from him made a strange face for just a second. His eyes looked like they were staring at a child who had thrown a groundless accusation at him.

Perhaps because of the alcohol he has been drinking continuously for some time, the area around the cut on his cheek is starting to turn red.

"… Well, if I'm sitting here drinking alcohol then, barring this being a wild delusion of yours, I am not dead yet. Hey, shopkeep. Hey!"

And then he turns his head toward the hustle and bustle in the place and starts ordering food of all things from the middle-aged man that came running forward.

"Hey, shopkeep, over here, over here. What's this fried uwaraba? Is it something famous in this area?"

All things considered, why exactly is this man directly calling out to the shopkeep or the proprietress instead of to the waiters walking about? Maybe he wants to create a disparity between himself and the other customers around and assert himself as an honored guest to the owner? In a remote town like this and in a tiny store like this?

Adalbert placed both elbows on the table and murmured while blowing out breath reeking of alcohol.

"… The only thing I can say is that he's stupid."

"Who is? Who's stupid!?"

Maxine picked that up with his sharp ears and forced his narrow eyes open wide. His ponytail swayed behind him.

Nigel Weisz Maxine was the originator of the strange hairstyle popular in Shou Shimaron, but that fact isn't very well known.

"You, Nigel."

"H-how rude! Certainly from your… you mazoku's perspective we humans have short lives, but there's the theory that our growth and accomplishments come accordingly faster so our brain development is further along than a mazoku of the same age…"

The man Adalbert had an inseparable relationship with despite being of a different race became talkative once he got alcohol in him.

On the other hand, if he drank a little no one could tell. No one could tell at all. No one could tell even a little bit. He was always calm and collected… is what only Adalbert thought.

"So then just how long have you not died?"

"… Died? If you're going to ask that way then I haven't died for about 32 years…"

"32 years."

Even so, that falls far short of a mazoku's life expectancy.

He knew that humans were a short-lived people. However, since he looked older every time he met him, he had thought that he was already of a considerable age.

"I'd thought you just wouldn't die, but it doesn't seem like you have any special longevity."

"Longevity? Did you say longevity? There's another rude thing to say! For us Shou Shimaron soldiers, wishing for a long life is a disgraceful idea!"

"Huh?"

The cup Adalbert was holding slipped out of his grasp. Luckily, it was only just above the table so the only thing that happened is that it made a dull clunk.

Maxine stroked his meticulously trimmed beard with his thumb and index finger and continued talking proudly with his chest thrust forward.

"Serving our master even if we risk our lives is the way of a soldier. If we are concerned about our lives, we cannot protect our master or defend our country. Especially for myself… in my case, the wonderful being, His Majesty Saralegui, is my master. If it is him, he will save Shou Shimaron from Dai Shimaron's shadow and lead us to be the rulers of the world as a superior existence! If it is for His Majesty Saralegui, this tiny life is insignificant! Oh, he is still His Highness, not His Majesty, though."

Who knows whether he's drunk on alcohol or himself…

As if he got caught up in the conversation, Adalbert strokes his own beard and his eyes drifted over his companion's shoulder to gaze at the rest of the bar.

The soldiers who are said to not want to live long are still alive and the women and children who were supposed to live much longer die.

The world is heartless and absurd.

If all of this is also the opinion of His Majesty Shinou, then Shinou is no different than a cruel god.

"… In other words, for generations we the Maxine family have died in battle in the service of our masters and that is something we are proud of. The previous generation was at sea, the generation before that on a river, the one before that was out at sea on the way from what is now Dai Shimaron to a solitary island…"

"Wait. Your ancestors are from Dai Shimaron?"

"Hm? Well back then it wasn't as cleanly separated as it is now."

"Huh."

When he first saw him, he had thought he was some country bumpkin from somewhere.

"For that reason, as a son of the Maxine family, I should not wish for peace, health or perpetual youth and longevity and should instead become His Majesty Saralegui's sword and shield in battle and fall magnificently. So this way, in this way…"

Maxine rifled around in his traveling clothes bag and pulled out an almost crumpled up piece of paper.

"As proof of my resolution, I keep a will on my person."

"A will…"

There was a single sentence like a farewell poem and a list distributing his belongings on the yellowed piece of paper.

"'If I die, my inheritance will be divided equally to the people listed below. Wife's name… blank. Child(ren)'s name(s)… blank… Y-you don't have a wife or children yet so… there is such a thing as being too prepared."

For some reason, his eyes were getting hot. So there was a life as systematic and empty as this one.

"What are you saying? A will is part of a soldier's dress code. You don't carry one? Or do mazoku warriors not have a beautiful custom such as this? All Shou Shimaron soldiers have one on their body."

"All of them…!? Young and old all have that as standard equipment? So then if a young soldier didn't have one of them and died and he didn't have a will registered, do you make fun of him as someone who wasn't prepared to die?"

"Of course not." Maxine suddenly turned serious and drained the last bit of alcohol from the bottom of his glass. "As if we would make fun of him. We would just be even more saddened."

He silently puts the large, empty glass back down on the greasy table.

"That soldier would not have intended to die in battle. All that would happen is that we would know that he intended to live longer for his country or for himself and his family and return home."

He intended to return home to someone.

"If someone who was supposed to live dies, it will only deepen everyone's sorrow."

The man from Shou Shimaron heaves a long sigh and a few beats later calls out to the shopkeep again. In order to complain that the food he ordered hadn't come yet.

"I haven't gotten the fried uwaraba yet! Surely you're not going out to go harvest some are you? A cheap and lowly bar like this has got some nerve making a soldier of Shou Shimaron wait!"

"… Tch, you're a small man as always."

Tired of Maxine's narrow-mindedness, Adalbert lifted the right corner of his mouth that had unconsciously turned into a frown.

At first glance, the pair looked like a tough travelling man and a companion he got along with drunkenly laughing.

"Nigel. Hey, Nigel. Forget it. It's just food. It'll come eventually. Alcohol is more important. Bring us alcohol first!"

If he drank a little no one could tell. No one could tell at all. No one could tell even a little bit. So even now he was absolutely not drunk… is what only Adalbert thought.

However, the cold soul deep inside of the inner part of his chest felt like it had melted a little. It was almost as if warm alcohol was poured upon it.

That's right. She had intended to live.

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