As Tristan explained, Zigore quickly added.
[But she was kind!]
[To Mori and Zigore, she was like a mother.]
Nadav, who spoke after Zigore, glanced at my knee. His gaze was directed precisely at my knee, where Mori was curled up in a ball.
[She played the role of a parent even better than I did, and I was always grateful for it.]
Playing the role of a parent? Surely her nature isn't that of a nanny, is it?
As I tried to quell the unease rising within me, Minte spoke indifferently.
[Since she's become a Dullahan, she won't complain about her knees hurting anymore.]
"Ah, that's right! And we won't need to pluck her white hairs anymore either!"
Pallides chimed in with a tinkling laugh.
Listening quietly to their conversation, I felt my unease growing thicker and cautiously asked,
"...Was Soana old?"
I was beginning to wonder just what the selection process for these knights had been like. How could they possibly have gathered such a diverse, non-overlapping group of knights?
"She wasn't old, but she was growing old."
Hearing Pallides's explanation, I thought the former Captain must have been a harsh person.
Not only did he lure an innocent child who knew nothing, but he also exploited someone who was growing old?
[Soana would be hurt if she heard that.]
[Kyu!]
Ganik, nestled in the arms of the baby Lizardman, chided Pallides in a dignified voice.
Then, as the baby Lizardman shook its shell up and down, Ganik ducked inside to stabilize the center of gravity.
Seeing how familiar they were with this play, they must have played like this in the subspace. The paternal love of throwing himself into being a toy was astonishing.
I was watching Ganik and the baby Lizardman play with a sense of wonder when Samuel, who had been standing apart, quietly approached.
"Might I have a moment of your time?"
"Hmm?"
"I believe we should confirm the route to Veladia."
Once we retrieve Soana from here, there will be one Dullahan left, so we should indeed confirm the route to set off for Veladia.
Glancing at the Dullahans busy chattering among themselves, I set Mori down from my lap onto the floor.
"Very well."
[A-are you two going alone?]
At those words, I stopped halfway through getting up, frozen awkwardly. Mori's voice was so loud and urgent that the Dullahans, busy talking among themselves, stopped their conversation and looked over.
Standing somewhat sheepishly under their gaze, I first nodded to Mori.
"Nothing will happen."
Mori stared intently up at me. Mori didn't say anything more, but just from the moist look in his eyes, I could guess what he was thinking.
...Come to think of it, this child said he remembers everything.
What the other Dullahans don't remember. Those horrific deaths.
I bent down and gently stroked Mori's head with the tip of my index finger.
"I won't lie. Nothing will happen."
After stating it firmly, I turned around. Samuel, who had been watching this from a short distance away, glanced at Mori.
Then he soon withdrew his gaze with an indifferent expression. Not a trace of emotion could be felt in that attitude.
The place Samuel led me to for a comfortable conversation was inside his tent.
"It's noisy outside," he added, as if making an excuse, and gave a small, dry cough. Indeed, as Samuel said, outside was noisy with the chatter of all sorts of animals.
To Samuel, it would all sound like animal cries, but to me, they were all voices, so it was better to have the space separated like this.
Without replying, I examined the map Samuel had laid out. On the large map, the Trevi Mountains, the Veladia Valley, the territory of the Ruejak family, and others were marked.
As I was carefully examining the locations with my eyes, Samuel, who had been quietly standing guard beside me, suddenly spoke.
"About that snake earlier."
"Mori?"
"Does he know who I am?"
I just rolled my eyes to look at Samuel. Samuel's gaze remained on the map. However, he didn't seem particularly focused on it.
After a brief silence, I replied in a nonchalant tone.
"Yes."
"How much does he know?"
"Everything."
"He will be wary of me, then."
"Wary? Is that all?"
I muttered with a snort, picking up a pen that was lying nearby. With so many place names, it would be easier to see if I marked them with a pen.
"I don't know where the remaining one is, but for now, let's prioritize considering the shortest route..."
"There's something I'm curious about, but I don't think you'll tell me even if I ask."
My hand, about to move the pen, paused. Samuel, meeting my gaze, spoke with a placid face.
"I'm curious about the past."
"The past?"
"Yes. How I treated you. What kind of gaze I looked at you with. Things like that."
Hearing the explanation, I felt a subtle discomfort somewhere. The moment I heard Samuel's words, the final conversation between the past Samuel and the Captain came to mind, making it even more so.
Tilting my head awkwardly, I muttered as if to myself.
"Didn't you roughly remember?"
"My memories are fragmented."
Well, unlike the other Dullahans, Samuel had undergone a complete rebirth. He became a human like me. So, his memories couldn't be intact like the Dullahans'.
Unlike the Dullahans' memories, which would become more complete over time, his memories would likely remain like a spiderweb full of holes even later.
But what reason is there to remember that? The only thing Samuel needs to remember is the duty given to him.
Guiding me to Veladia. Precisely that.
"You're curious about something useless."
What use is there in remembering past emotions?
"If I had the memories... wouldn't I be more useful?"
"Have you already forgotten how the past ended?"
In truth, all I knew was from the dream I had before. I didn't know how the Dullahans perished by Samuel's sword, or what the final scene was that Mori remembers and detests.
The only fact I knew was that there was no need to remember and dwell on all those past emotions.
"The first knight betrayed the master he served. There's no need to know a betrayer's memories, and knowing them would likely only become an obstacle."
At my cynical response, Samuel pressed his lips into a tight line.
"I have no intention of being your interpreter, so give up. Especially about the past?"
Good heavens, are you so curious you want to ask a Dullahan?
An absurd laugh escaped me. If Mori heard this, he would probably transform into a Dullahan on the spot and charge at Samuel to strike his neck.
No, given his tender disposition, he might rather shed tears and have a fit. That seemed much more likely.
If such a situation arose, I would probably take Mori's side. I don't... particularly have a hobby of making children cry.
"Aren't you curious? Why I... went that far in the past."
The expression 'that far' sounded a bit ridiculous. What he did was far too terrible to be expressed with such a short phrase.
How terrible it was could be understood without needing anyone's testimony, simply by objectively listing the events that occurred.
"Not curious at all. The object of that obsession wasn't me, was it?"
This time, Samuel fell into a proper silence. And then he didn't bring up any topics related to him again.
It was an awkward but welcome silence.
* * *
The Empress awoke from a deep slumber.
However, just in case, Heinri frequently sent imperial physicians to the Empress's palace. Fortunately, all the reports that came back were opinions that it was safe to be reassured.
However, it was said that after waking from her sleep, the Empress often spent increasing amounts of time sitting blankly in the garden.
At first, Heinri surmised that it must have been stifling to have lain down for so long.
'Now that I see, it's clear that wasn't the reason.'
Heinri, who had stopped a short distance away, gazed at the Empress visible in the distance.
The Empress was sitting at an outdoor table, not even touching the teacup placed before her, just staring vacantly at the rose tree blooming in the garden.
Her profile, visible at an angle, carried a faint loneliness and gloom—emotions rarely seen in the Empress, who was not easily unsettled.
After hesitating for a moment, Heinri calmly stepped forward.
Perhaps hearing Heinri's approaching footsteps, the Empress glanced back.
"Is your body well?"
"Thanks to you, it's much better. It must have been hard for you to look after this mother even amidst your busy schedule."
"You look tired."
"Is that so?"
The Empress gave a faint smile. It was a smile so precarious it seemed it might vanish at any moment.
"...I was told you likely had dreams while you were asleep."
It was information Anelli had shared before leaving the capital. While handing over various materials from Roam, she had hinted that the Empress, attacked by a Monster, must have had a long dream.
She said that after waking from that dream, one might feel a sense of loss or fatigue.
At Heinri's words, the Empress's expression changed subtly.
"A dream, you say."
"If necessary, I will summon priests to request healing. Divine power should help clear and purify your energy."
At the subtly offered suggestion, the Empress gave a faint smile.
"It's alright."
"But to shake off unnecessary lingering impressions..."
"I don't want to shake it off."
At that moment, Heinri paused.
"I want to feel this afterglow a little longer."
The Empress's gaze returned to the rose. The petals of deep color were curling up in an elegant curve as if about to burst into flame.
"A dream. It must have been a dream..."
The Empress's murmur, like a soliloquy, was filled with regret and bitterness.
He dared not even muster the courage to ask what kind of dream she had had. It seemed that if he made her recall that memory, something terrible might happen.
But despite Heinri's careful words, the Empress was already deeply immersed in the past dream.
"If it were such a dream, it would have been better not to wake from it."
"Mother."
At Heinri's stiff address, the Empress let out a soft laugh.
"You don't need to call so sternly; this mother won't confuse the reality she's in."
Seeing her reaction, Heinri could guess at least one thing.
The setting of the Empress's dream was certainly not the imperial palace.
"Monsters are truly terrifying things. To enchant a person so easily."