Chapter 3

“Hmm.”

The man in the jet-black full plate armor—the protagonist, Chrono Kishi, the Black Knight—crossed his arms and surveyed his surroundings.

Was that girl just being attacked by a thug or something?
Impressive… really impressive.
To stand up and fight back through tears—there’s something noble, something beautiful about it that makes you want to watch.
Alright, let’s help her out!

Whoa!
Some weird monster—wait, is that a demon?—is shooting glowing stones at me! (Blue flames, apparently.)

Anyway, I’m Chrono Kishi, prince of another world.
My dad—the King—rules over a basically peaceful realm.

Which means… yeah, life’s boring as hell.

My dad keeps boasting that his power could make even the gods obey him.
Honestly, he’s got a full-blown case of chuunibyou (delusions of grandeur).

I was thinking it’s time I grew out of it too…
But nope, I’m seventeen and still a hopeless case.
Right now I’m literally playing dress-up in my black full plate armor.

So, as usual, I was rummaging around in Dad’s treasure vault, thinking about what to do today, when—
Huh? A “Dimensional Transfer Stone”? Random destination, too?
Perfect! Let’s run away from home! (Just for a bit, hehe.)

It teleports me to a random world, but I’ve got a Return Stone, so it’ll be fine!
Even a low-magic weakling like me should be able to handle this!

So I used it—
And found myself in what looked like a dungeon.
There, a girl was crying as she faced off against some pervert.

The words slipped out before I knew it:
“…Beautiful.”

I didn’t know if I could actually beat the monster—it’s not like I have magic or anything—
But I couldn’t just abandon her and warp home either.
She looked like a priestess, someone who clearly wasn’t used to fighting.

Quietly, I placed a hand on her trembling shoulder.
“…”

Crap—I was too nervous to even talk! Why now?!

The demon tilted its head and sneered.
“And who might you be?”

“…”

The saint couldn’t make sense of anything anymore.
She was sure she was going to die, engulfed by those deadly blue flames that had burned the magic girl alive.
But suddenly, from nowhere, a large black knight had appeared—
and was now standing between her and the demon, protecting her.

Even though the armor looked cold and hard,
when his gauntleted hand rested gently on her shoulder, she felt warmth.
That comfort broke her composure—her legs gave out, and she collapsed to her knees.

Could this be… a savior? Someone who could actually defeat the demon?
She looked up at the Black Knight with desperate hope.

(Is he reinforcement?)
(Maybe from another explorer team?)
(Never seen him before…)
(Unranked adventurer?)
(Just stall for time!)
(Wait—he blocked the blue flames!)
(Respect for his bravery!)
(Please, save my granddaughter…)
(Save my daughter…)

The demon sneered.
“I can’t sense any mana at all. Probably just some low-level nobody. Nice armor, though.”

Chrono said nothing.

He reached behind his back and drew a massive greatsword.
Dark energy—like a living shadow—began to swirl around him, wrapping his entire body.

“Tch! You look like you could fight, but that’s just for show, isn’t it?”
The demon relaxed, completely underestimating him.

Then it launched a barrage of massive blue fireballs.
“There’s no way you’ll survive this! Behold the might of a Demon Lord’s Four Heavenly Kings!”

He shouted his title mid-attack—apparently for dramatic effect.

The saint covered her head and trembled.
That blue fire… just the sight of it filled her with terror.

But—

“Hmph!”

A black flash.
The Black Knight’s sword cut through the torrent of blue fire and the demon itself in a single swing.

The blast left a crater fifty centimeters deep beneath his feet,
and the echo of the shockwave shook the entire dungeon—no, the entire structure.

The flames split apart, the demon split apart,
and both were swallowed by the black slash that tore through the wall and vanished somewhere far beyond.

“Ahh—!”
That single strike obliterated the demon.
Its body turned to mist, then condensed into a magic stone.

And it wasn’t just any magic stone—
while goblin stones are worth maybe two or three million yen,
this one was the size of a human torso.
Easily worth over a hundred million yen.

(Incredible…)
(He cut it in half with one swing!)
(Wait, is this staged? Some kind of promo video?)
(The Black Knight is so cool!)
(Where’s the rescue team?)
(Did the girl survive?)
(Please tell me she’s safe…)

The saint was still trembling on the floor, unable to move.
But the blue flames never came.
When she finally looked up,
only the Black Knight—and that massive magic stone—remained.

“Ah… ah… ah…”

Had she been saved? She couldn’t even tell.
Her mind couldn’t catch up. She just… cried.

The Black Knight sheathed his sword and looked around.

Then the saint suddenly gasped—
her party members!

She stumbled over to her fallen friends, starting with her best friend, the magic girl.
Her legs still shaking from fear, she dragged herself forward.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

Through her tears, she cast healing magic.
She knew it was useless, that they were already gone.
But she couldn’t stop.
She kept casting, over and over again, the meaningless spells.

Meanwhile, I—the Black Knight—was standing there, thinking:

“Hmmm…”

That weird monster throwing glowing stones? Totally gone.
Maybe it was some weak bully or something.

Oh? Are those her companions?
Yikes, they’re in bad shape. Got caught in a trap, maybe?
And the priestess girl—her hand’s glowing. Healing magic?
But… it’s not doing anything. Is she just shining a light?
I don’t get it.

I do have some elixirs I stole from Dad’s vault… maybe I should give her one?
But what if this is some kind of prank show or skit?
What if it’s all a misunderstanding? Then I’d be the weirdo.

While I was standing there with my arms crossed, thinking way too hard—
the priestess suddenly burst into tears.

“Uwaaaaahhh!!!”

Her wail echoed through the dungeon.