“What’s this ‘Captain of Captains’ now?”
[Because you are the Captain’s Captain!]
“……Fine. If you insist on playing the subordinate, I won’t stop you.”
I quickly gave up on correcting the title. After all, having more monsters to command was a good thing.
Even though half the skeletons were still scrambling to assemble their own bodies, searching for their missing arm or leg bones…
As I watched the skeletons floundering awkwardly, Mori suddenly poked his head out of my pocket and looked at me.
[But Captain, the color of that leather on your neck has changed!]
Only upon hearing Mori’s worried words did I realize this was a land of the dead, saturated with miasma.
The fact that I wasn’t having much trouble breathing was entirely thanks to the choker I was currently wearing.
“Now that we’ve caught Dasha, I suppose we could just leave.”
There were skeletons staring at me, but they didn’t seem to have the courage to stand in my way.
I also didn’t think moving locations would cause me to miss Xenon or the other Dullahans.
After all, this Samuel even had a tracking spell on him. If things got urgent, Samuel would surely find a way.
Having made up my mind, I moved. Mori, noticing I was trying to leave this land, asked curiously.
[Won’t you wait here for the other knights?]
“I was going to, but if the choker’s color has changed, I should move.”
No need to visually confirm the limits of this purification magic for no reason.
I pointed at a skeleton standing nearby and ordered it to lead me out of the land of the dead. The skeleton immediately stepped forward.
With Nadav absent, I had no choice but to travel on foot.
Crossing the pitch-black land was a simple and tedious affair. So much so that it was easy to get lost in one’s own thoughts.
‘How many days will it take to reach the Trevi Mountains?’
Rumors of my abduction must be circulating by now, so I need to change my appearance again. In fact, I had a problem right at this moment.
‘To think the magical artifact would break.’
While subduing Dasha and the skeletons using the illegal magical artifact, the chain of the appearance-altering necklace had snapped.
I only realized this belatedly while cleaning up the mess. By the time I searched for the artifact, it was already too late.
I don’t know who stepped on it, but the magic stone was shattered into pieces, lying scattered. Naturally, the artifact no longer functioned.
‘I’ll have to ask Xenon to cast a spell on me when we reunite.’
He’s the successor to the Tower Master; he should know how to cast an appearance-altering spell.
I quickly let go of my attachment to the artifact with that thought, but moving alone like this left me feeling uneasy.
[Ca-Captain of Captains!]
Walking while wondering when I’d reunite with Xenon, I snapped back to attention at the skeleton’s urgent call.
We were still standing on the land of the dead. The land of the dead, where thick miasma drifted faintly all around.
So, there shouldn’t be any living creatures to be found.
“……What is that now?”
Beyond the deep purple mist, I saw black figures. They were heavily armed people.
I didn’t know what they were, but it was obvious they weren’t here with good intentions. I immediately gripped my bracelet.
It was a bit embarrassing to summon them only to send them back right away, but it was better than stubbornly refusing.
* * *
Duke Roam’s face upon returning from the imperial palace was unprecedentedly grave. So, the Duchess of Roam hurriedly followed him into his study.
And there, she heard shocking news from the weary-faced Duke.
“……Arrest the Crown Prince?”
It wasn’t an official order but a covertly issued one. Fortunately, Duke Roam, who still had informants within the palace, seemed to have returned immediately upon hearing the news.
The Duchess couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Daring to capture the Crown Prince?
The people who could issue such an order were extremely limited. Someone seated higher than the Crown Prince.
The Emperor had been secluded for days due to illness, and he had no reason to be hostile to the Crown Prince in the first place.
That left only one person……
“Let me ask again. Has the Empress shown no signs at all?”
At Duke Roam’s sharp question, the Duchess shook her head.
“None at all. Even during the recent audience, she only said participating in the central council was burdensome……”
The Duchess, answering in confusion, paused. Her face contorted, and she raised her sharpened eyes.
“You mean the Empress deceived me? Why?”
“To carry out something like this, of course.”
The Empress’s face flashed through the Duchess’s mind. The two women, peers, had attained their respective positions around the same time and had known each other for just as long.
Though not intimate, they had known each other long enough to understand one another well.
“But the Empress is a woman who has lived her entire life far removed from power struggles. She did her utmost to please the Emperor!”
The Duchess knew better than anyone why the Emperor had chosen the current Empress.
The reason she herself had not become Empress was also the reason the current Empress had ascended to that position.
If the Empress had ever tried to seize and wield power, the Emperor would never have allowed it.
At the Duchess’s words, Duke Roam pressed his lips together tightly and turned.
“What about Lilia?”
“The last news was a prophecy that the Crown Prince’s subjugation would fail.”
So, it contained a plea to please send reinforcements, stating that the forces here were insufficient.
If they had the leeway, they might have lent an ear to Lilia’s request.
But unfortunately, the Duchess didn’t even have time to reply to Lilia’s letter.
Because the atmosphere of the capital’s social circles had changed rapidly over the past few days.
The groups that used to whisper about Roam’s flaws behind their backs were acting increasingly recklessly.
They weren’t even afraid of the Duchess herself. The power of the Roam family alone had its limits in swaying public opinion.
All of this was because a power transcending human authority had appeared.
The proxies of God, the daughter they had cast out.
“Tsk.”
Duke Roam clicked his tongue irritably. Roughly sweeping back his bangs, he announced bluntly.
“I negotiated with Phrygian.”
The Duchess’s eyes widened.
Phrygian had been accused of being the culprit who stole the secret documents from the study when the Roam mansion caught fire.
Because it was Phrygian who had threatened Roam with the documents that disappeared at that time.
That incident had caused a major rift between Duke Roam and Phrygian, escalating into an open conflict between the House of Roam and the Kendal barony.
Normally, the Kendal barony wouldn’t have dared to oppose Roam. That is, if Phrygian hadn’t become a member of that family.
That’s why the Duchess found Phrygian all the more detestable.
“She dared to threaten Roam!”
To negotiate with such a Phrygian! The Duchess couldn’t help but be shocked.
For the negotiation, Duke Roam must have offered a reward satisfactory to Phrygian. What that reward was seemed all too obvious.
……Roam.
“We have Sayri!”
“Do you think we are in a situation where we can wait for Sayri now?”
“It’s true that Sayri has been talking nonsense lately, but……”
“Prince Heinri, backed by the Empress, has bared his fangs at the Crown Prince. The Emperor hasn’t shown his face for days, and the news from the Crown Prince’s subjugation force is not of victory, but of a disgraceful defeat!”
Duke Roam raised his voice. It was a sharp shout that made the Duchess flinch.
“Do you even know what the pretext for arresting the Crown Prince is? The pretext is that he fell into wicked heresy and attempted to assassinate the Resurrected One!”
Duke Roam seemed to have no composure left, showing the anger he usually reserved for his subordinates in front of her.
“In the midst of this, Roam is under surveillance for allegedly kidnapping the Resurrected One. So, I will entrust this matter to Phrygian.”
“She can’t even be called Roam anymore……!”
“If you hadn’t meddled this way and that about Roam’s successor in the first place, things wouldn’t have gotten this tangled!”
Finally, the arrow of blame pointed at the Duchess.
The Duchess, who had been staring at her husband while holding her breath without realizing it, clenched her teeth.
“Darling.”
“Don’t say another word.”
Duke Roam stood before the window with his hands clasped behind his back.
The newly relocated mansion wasn’t as good as the previous one, but it was sufficiently large and spacious. This study was the same.
It was decorated to be as similar as possible to the old study, so visitors completely forgot about the fire at Roam’s mansion and discussed business matters.
But not its owner, Duke Roam.
“Phrygian cannot let go of Roam, so she will surely succeed.”
Everything was unfamiliar. The new mansion, this study, everything surrounding them.
To the point where he didn’t know where things had gone wrong or what to tackle first.
“We must bring Anelli and make her testify to Roam’s innocence with her own mouth.”
The most arduous thing was the fact that there was no going back now.
* * *
Clang!
The last knight’s sword clattered to the ground.
Gurgle—the knight’s body, vomiting blood, slowly slumped forward. I stared at the falling knight with weary eyes and let out a long sigh.
[What shall we do?]
Minte’s sword was now pointed at the sole remaining enemy.
“Ah, Anelli……”
The person standing there with a deathly pale face.
It was Phrygian unnie, whom I never expected to see here.
The knights, soldiers, and mages she had brought were now spilling their blood on the black earth, growing cold.
Phrygian unnie, who had frozen in shock while watching her forces being brutally slaughtered, quickly parted her lips when our eyes met.
“I—”
“Don’t explain. I think I get the gist.”
Cutting her off with a sighing voice, I looked around.
I had considered summoning only the Pallides, who could transform into humans, to deal with them, but the numbers seemed larger than expected, so I summoned all the Dullahans.
There was also the intention to firmly silence anyone who appeared. Thanks to that, Phrygian unnie had seen all the Dullahans protecting me.
“You, those Dullahans……”
Phrygian unnie, who had moistened her trembling lips with her tongue several times, forced a calm tone.
“Are you going to kill me?”