I Became a Raid Boss

The girl’s first memory was when she was four years old.

With a warm tone and cold gaze.

Even a hedgehog thinks its baby is cute, but there was no trace of affection on her parents’ faces as they looked down at the girl.

“Did you know? In the old days, they brought a bird called a canary into the mines. Canaries have weak respiratory systems and were very sensitive to harmful gases that humans couldn’t detect. So when the canaries died or showed unusual symptoms, people realized there was danger and evacuated.”

A bird that warns of danger through death, a canary.

“And that’s why your name is ‘Canaria’.”

Please, be willing to die for us.
Little bird of the mine.

*

A face dripping with worry.

How long has it been since someone looked at me like that?

Honestly, there’s no need to keep track of time.

I’ve had so few encounters with anyone giving me such a look.

Those who clung to the royal or noble factions were too busy sneering and belittling me, while those beneath me, well, they knew of my power and showed me faith instead of concern.

Of course, the Empire didn’t care about me either.

From the beginning of my memories, what I received were feelings far from warm affection, so Journey’s expression felt extremely foreign to me.

…It felt awkward.

For some reason, a corner of my heart itched unbearably.

You can scratch an itch, but I didn’t know how to soothe the itch I was feeling right now.

“My name is Canaria Gracis.”

As I turned my gaze away from the feelings crashing into me, I brushed aside a swarm of flies buzzing around cluelessly, and finally, the itching subsided.

I lightly shook my sword and walked toward the last remaining fly.

Fortunately, there were no incidents of my sword turning to powder.

“Kuh, cough…!”

“That’s unfortunate.”

You really are a pitiful one.

What on earth did you do to deserve the snake brat’s disfavor?

Sometimes, people mistakenly believe that their choices were made purely of their own will.

It’s understandable. How could you know that a massive force you couldn’t even perceive was controlling your fate?

In this case, that force was the snake.

Perhaps I was the same.

“If only you had more time, maybe you wouldn’t have known.”

Even if it wasn’t an all-out offensive, surviving an attempt to kill does indicate you’re not entirely talentless.

Now, I’m not just alive; that would be correct to say.

But what can I do? I’m not the type to spare someone who just tried to kill me.

I raised my sword carelessly.

The commander clung to his waist, which had been sliced off along with his armor, gasping for breath.

“P-Please… save me….”

“Ah, that’s a phrase I’m familiar with.”

That definitely meant ‘please save me,’ right?

“Yeah, sorry.”

Thud.

“Glurk….”

With the sound of bubbling blood, light left his eyes, and I vividly felt the last moments of life through my fingertips.

There was nothing surprising about it.

It’s not like someone who was just sewing eyes on cat plushies one day suddenly felt sentimental about putting eyes on a dog plushie.

To me, this incident was just about that trivial.

Ah, but maybe I shouldn’t have used the sword.

I feel gross returning something I borrowed after getting it dirty.

“I used it well.”

Wiping off the blood as best I could, I handed the sword back to Journey.

Maybe my actions were not to her liking. Instead of accepting the sword I offered, she looked like she had something to say.

“Gracis… Wow, you were part of the royal family?! No wonder you have such an extraordinary appearance; am I going to get caught for blasphemy? It doesn’t matter since it’s fallen apart, does it? No, still…. Huh? Just ask directly?”

While muttering to herself earnestly, Arkish carefully asked me.

“Kana, Gracis?”

She drew something spiky above her head with her finger. It looked like a crown.

Though her Granic was clumsy, I could tell what she wanted to say.

I shook my head.

“No.”

What a terrible thing to say!

Thinking that I might share blood with those who merely wallowed in luxury without doing anything sent chills down my spine.

She seemed to know Granic, so she probably did some research on Gracis, but maybe she didn’t get this far.

Well, it’s understandable. Such information is only known to those of noble status.

After all, Gracis is only a mere shell of an old custom related to its beginning.

According to ‘Zigrid’s Adventure,’ Gracis was a country founded by the first king Zigrid with the help of the red dragon Gracis.

Whether Zigrid’s dedication to naming his country after himself was commendable or there was another reason, who knows?

Nonetheless, Gracis gifted Zigrid with the Granic language and treasures, and that treasure was a ring named ‘Gracis’ Blessing.’

The ring Gracis made and infused with mana became the most precious treasure for Gracis, but…

The problem was that the ring’s power was so strong that very few could wield it.

It was wasteful to keep it in the treasury, and the king couldn’t use it, nor could they just hand it to someone who could wield it.

In the end, Zigrid came up with a clever scheme.

He founded the Knights Order and bestowed the position of commander of the knights to the strongest person in Gracis, entrusting them with Gracis’ Blessing.

It suited the position of defending the kingdom, and since, under Gracis’ arrangement, the sword could not threaten the royal family, there was nothing to worry about.

Additionally, given the sentiments of Gracis, which revered the red dragon, they couldn’t afford to disrespect even a small number of those who could handle the dragon’s mana, so they were given the surname ‘Gracis’ and treated with honor.

It was like a proxy representative.

In reality, it was just a farce.

The once-valued significance had become completely hollow and meaningless by my time.

So the common citizens would naturally be unaware of such customs. It was something that barely came up in royal ceremonies.

In any case, it was only natural for me to carry the name Gracis.

I was the last commander of the Crimson Aegis.

‘-Not that it would matter since she probably wouldn’t understand anyway.’

So, rather than explaining, I brushed off Journey’s question with a light denial.

Journey still looked utterly bewildered.

“…Does that mean no? It’s that kind of no? So, what does that mean? No, but right now that’s not the important thing….”

She certainly talks to herself a lot.

I implied she should stop muttering and take the sword when I extended it again, and Journey hurriedly accepted it.

Then she cautiously bent forward.

I was taken aback by her sudden and completely unexpected behavior.

“Sorry. Secret, name.”

“Ah.”

Only after hearing her clumsy Granic did I understand her actions.

A mere three-word apology.

But for some reason, those three words, uttered in an awkward tone, struck me deeply.

From the way she reacted, it did seem that what spread was correct, but it didn’t seem she informed the Empire.

More than anything, I couldn’t help but feel an itch trying to emerge again while looking at her.

“Well… it’s fine.”

I averted her gaze lightly.

Then, while trying to adjust the hood that had been pulled back, I recalled that the connecting part was torn and awkwardly fixed my hair.

“If you’d like, I can fix it?”

“…?”

“I’ll mend it.”

Journey, looking apologetic, waved her hand this time.

With one hand, she seemed to grasp something wide and with the other, something long.

“‘Mend’…?”

“Yeah! Mend!”

So, she meant to fix it?

As I stared blankly, Journey moved her hands again.

This time her actions were much closer to sewing.

Tilting my head for a moment, I absentmindedly accepted her offer.

After all, the clothes were ruined. It didn’t matter if she repaired them or if she sold them afterward.

Still, I hoped she’d manage to fix it.

When I took off the cape, a breeze brushed past my arms.

Thud.

“Hi.”

“Great Sword Peep?”

While I was talking to Journey, an Apostle wielding a great sword stepped forward to greet me.

Then, he thrust the great sword, close to my height, toward me.

“Fight me.”

“…?”

“Yuki!”

“Hey!”

He didn’t seem to be hostile.

As I tilted my head at the great sword thrust in my direction, the people around began to panic even more.

Journey was old news, but the guy behind her… well…

Thanks to Edel’s blessing, I still couldn’t see his face properly, but in another sense, he felt familiar.

It’s like we’ve crossed swords a dozen times before.

Right?

Bam.

Thwack.

“…”

“…”

“…Ha, haha.”

It was a bit displeasing, but considering the goodwill from the Empire folks trying to take me down, I could let it slide just this once.

But not twice.

Pretending not to notice, I turned my eyes away as I heard a relieved sigh.

I tried to read the emotions in the eyes of the Great Sword Peep.

There was a gentle flicker of flames in the Great Sword Peep’s eyes.

‘Aha.’

Some people are like that.

They are so competitive that even when faced with someone superior, they rush headlong without fear.

Such people tend to have high self-improvement spirits too, so it’s not that I dislike them for being straightforward.

It’s just that it’s a hassle when I become their target.

After a moment of contemplation, I reached out to Journey instead of answering.

“…Huh?”

“Can I borrow the sword just once more?”

Especially this Great Sword Peep is the type that would annoyingly keep following me around during fights, so it’d be better to just give him what he wants and send him off.

“Yuki, are you seriously going to fight with that? Are you out of your mind? Really? Really?”

“Isn’t it even more fun?”

“Not at all.”

Journey shook the Great Sword Peep’s shoulder, but he remained resolute.

“Even if you won’t understand, please don’t kill me….”

I chuckled as I shrugged at Journey, who was extending the sword towards me.

I really don’t know what she’s saying.

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