Although the schedule had changed abruptly due to the assassin, I didn’t think Soana and I would miss each other.
Since Dullahans could sense each other’s presence to some extent, I assumed Soana would similarly detect her comrades.
So when Soana, after wandering for quite some time and finally finding me with the guidance of thrushes, arrived, I was a bit taken aback.
“……You couldn’t sense my presence?”
[No.]
Soana offered an awkward, somewhat embarrassed smile.
[I was originally a priestess who served Tannen. The Captain granted me freedom, but the price of apostasy was mine to bear.]
The phrase “price of apostasy” sounded particularly bitter.
“Then you should have told me before we set out.”
[I naturally assumed you would wait for me in the village.]
“Ah……”
I first comforted Soana, saying she must have had a hard time. Soana bowed her head without any sign of strong protest.
Rather, it was the other Dullahans who were surprised by the fact that Soana had almost failed to join us. I could see the Dullahans cautiously approaching Soana and speaking to her in hushed tones.
[Soana, I’m glad you found your way here!]
[From now on, Soana mustn’t stray far from us!]
Soana listened to the Dullahans with a gentle, enchanting smile.
Pallides, who had been watching from near the driver’s seat, quietly approached me and asked,
“Shall we set off again now?”
“Let’s rest a little longer. Everyone seems startled.”
When I told Pallides to rest as well, she too went over to Soana and began chattering away.
I found a spot nearby to sit and gazed intently at those Dullahans.
‘A knowledgeable, affectionate, motherly teacher.’
I could feel that not only Mori and Zigore, but all the Dullahans relied on Soana. It was different in nature from the blind devotion the Dullahans felt toward the Captain.
It felt more… familial?
‘Familial, of all things.’
The expression that had unconsciously come to mind felt absurd. I didn’t even know what “familial” felt like, yet here I was applying that label.
“That servant feels a bit different from the other servants.”
Xenon, who had gone to wash his face to chase away drowsiness during the short break, plopped down beside me and opened the conversation.
“Does it seem that way to you as well?”
“Yes.”
Remarking that they were exactly like a mother and her children, Xenon let out an admiring sigh as if fascinated.
Listening to him, I recalled something Pallides had said.
Once, she had spoken about the past Captain, saying she was glad I focused on her more now.
「In the past, we didn’t even dare cry in front of the Captain……」
Ah, the Captain of the past was too busy tending to all things in the world to give the Twelve Knights any special attention.
The one who looked after the Twelve Knights in place of the past Captain was that Soana.
That’s what “motherly” meant.
‘So that’s why.’
That’s why it feels so unguarded.
The ones who always tried so hard to look good in front of me—in front of Soana, they were like that.
As I nodded, beginning to understand the Dullahans’ attitude a little, I suddenly stopped. A question had abruptly surfaced.
‘She’s so calm and dignified, so why……’
Why did Soana revert to her Dullahan true form in front of Cheche in the first place? She doesn’t seem the type to act without thinking of the consequences.
To say it was simply to escape the trap…… Surely she could have thought of another way without having to transform into her true form.
Staring blankly at the Dullahans, I slowly parted my lips.
“Mori.”
Mori, who was with the other Dullahans, turned her head sharply at the call. Realizing I had called for her, Mori wriggled her small body and approached.
I placed Mori’s tiny form on my palm and stood up. When Xenon asked where I was going, I vaguely brushed it off, saying I was going to wash my face too. I saw Soana glance slightly in this direction.
However, she said nothing and returned her focus to chatting and laughing with the Dullahans.
I arrived at the stream where Xenon had gone to wash his face and set Mori down.
Mori was clearly flustered by my sudden action. Her black eyes darted around, obviously trying to gauge the situation. She seemed to be inwardly wondering if she had done something wrong.
“Mori.”
[Yes, yes?]
“I’m curious about something.”
[Yes!]
Mori nodded, visibly relieved that this wasn’t about reprimanding her for a mistake.
I stared intently at Mori like that, then glanced back over my shoulder. I could see the Dullahans chattering noisily some distance away.
And Soana, surrounded by them.
“How did Soana die?”
[Huh?]
“In the past, how was Soana killed?”
As if the question was unexpected, Mori couldn’t easily answer.
[Uh……]
“You said you remember everything.”
[Yes, yes.]
“But your memories only go up to the moment you were alive, right?”
[Yes……]
“Did you see Soana die?”
Confusion filled Mori’s pupils.
That answer was enough. I extended my palm to Mori again. Even in her bewilderment, Mori obediently climbed onto my palm, and I returned to the group with her.
Seeing me return, Soana hushed the Dullahans. From what I could gather, she was saying it was time to set off now.
“Captain, shall we depart now?”
Pallides asked in a lively voice. I answered by nodding.
Soana said she would fly and follow the carriage, flapping her wings. Some Dullahans entered my bracelet, while others boarded the carriage.
Minte went to sit beside Pallides, who found sitting alone in the driver’s seat boring.
“Lord Anelli, didn’t you say you were going to wash your face?”
Xenon, brushing himself off as he stood up, sidled over and spoke in a low voice.
When I looked at him silently, he hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“There’s no trace of moisture at all. Did something happen?”
A faint note of concern tinged Xenon’s voice as he asked. I shook my head and replied flatly,
“No.”
I gazed up at Soana, who had soared into the sky, then turned back to the carriage.
* * *
The Lizardman habitat was drawing near.
Soana, flying high, couldn’t possibly be unaware. From her vantage point, she could see everything.
It had always been that way. She had always seen much and strived to understand.
‘That’s the place.’
In the distance, she could see a marshland with reeds jutting sharply from the dull gray water surface.
Wasn’t this the place they had come to release the young Lizardman that Ganik was caring for?
Soana glanced at the carriage, now a mere dot.
The road leading to the marsh appeared flat. Perhaps they could even bring the carriage very close to the water’s edge.
Pallides was driving the carriage. Though a knight of great pride, she now played the role of an apprentice coachman, clumsily learning the task, heeding Minte’s advice beside her.
Should it be considered fortunate that Nadav wasn’t chosen to pull the carriage as a horse?
‘Everyone has truly ended up in such absurd states.’
Soana suppressed a sigh that habitually threatened to rise and gave her wings a powerful flap.
Her gaze lingered for a moment beyond the marsh, over the hillocks in the distance, before she indifferently circled the open sky.
Then she descended at a not-too-fast speed. Though the carriage was moving, she landed on it with relative ease.
[We’ll arrive at the marsh soon.]
As Soana spoke softly, Pallides opened the window attached to the back of the driver’s seat.
“Captain! We’ll reach the marsh soon!”
[We’ll get to see Ganik cry!]
Zigore’s cheerful voice came from inside the carriage. Soana’s eyes softened gently.
Zigore was as adorable now as ever. Mori was the same. Even in their monstrous forms, the two knights still seemed like children in Soana’s eyes.
And it wasn’t just Zigore and Mori. Pallides, Minte, Nadav, Bark, Tristan, Ganik—they were all the same.
They were all precious knights. Precious Knights of the Round.
Knights who dreamed of freedom and longed for peace, who served the Captain with all their hearts more than anyone for that sake.
“Huh? Stop?”
Soana, momentarily lost in old memories, snapped back to attention. Pallides had suddenly pulled the reins hard, bringing the carriage to a halt.
“Captain, what’s the matter?”
Pallides immediately asked in a serious voice, peering into the carriage interior. Minte also leaned out to look inside through the window.
No doubt the Dullahans inside the carriage were bustling about as well. Though she didn’t know what was happening, it seemed their Captain had ordered the carriage to stop with the destination right before them.
Soana remained seated atop the carriage, waiting quietly.
A moment later, the sound of the carriage door opening revealed their Captain.
Soana’s gaze naturally turned toward the Captain as well.
Ever since their reunion at the rocky mountain, Soana had thought the Captain’s gaze was quite cold and dry.
If the Captain of the past was someone who regarded all things with a warm gaze, the Captain now was someone who observed all things with indifference.
One didn’t need to look long to know that. When Soana had shooed away the young hawks, the former Captain would never have reacted that way.
「A more decisive personality than I expected.」
The Captain’s retreating figure, who had uttered just that one line in a flat voice before passing by, was clearly different from the Captain she remembered from the past.
Yet, if asked if it felt unfamiliar, it actually didn’t.
Their Captain was the same person, then and now. Tragically so.
[Captain, what is the matter?]
Soana shook off her thoughts and asked the Captain. The Captain, as if not hearing Soana’s question, was suddenly sending Minte and Pallides into the subspace.
Was the plan to abandon the carriage and approach on foot? Even so, why not send all the Dullahans in?
Though curious, Soana didn’t press the matter. Instead, she also prepared to enter the subspace.
But for some reason, after sending even Pallides into the subspace, the Captain said nothing to Soana.
[Captain?]
The Captain, who had been stroking the shimmering bracelet with one hand, glanced up and looked at Soana.
It was a gaze that regarded everything with the same temperature. Just like in the past……
No, it wasn’t like the past now. The Captain of the past didn’t look at her so directly. Not just her—the Captain didn’t look at any of the knights like this.
“Soana.”
[Yes, Captain.]
“Do you resent me?”