After exchanging a few more words with Heinri, I cut off the communication.
The Dullahans, who had been blocking the path in case any Monsters might charge this way, began to show signs of moving again and approached me.
[They must be those who gathered voluntarily to follow the Captain!]
[I am certain of it as well.]
Perhaps because we were completely excluded from that dogfight, the Dullahans observed the situation quite leisurely. Tristan, in particular, seemed rather excited after seeing the bustling scene.
[If only I could show the Captain the figure I remember, that would be wonderful!]
At Tristan's words, Nadav interjected with a sigh in his voice.
[I remember. The sight of the women grabbing each other's hair over Tristan.]
[The area around that well was spacious and good for fighting, though.]
Even Minte agreed with Nadav. However, Tristan laughed heartily, as if his own unvarnished past was not the least bit shameful.
[Hahaha! Only the victor wins the beauty! Is that not the law of nature?]
Come to think of it, when I first met Tristan, either Zigore or Nadav earnestly warned me. Not to be swayed by Tristan's appearance.
[Seeing that sight reminds me of the women who fought bloody battles over me!]
At the time, I just accepted it and moved on, but hearing him say that much made me curious.
To look at that dogfight and reminisce about his own love quarrels. Just how formidable was Tristan's popularity?
[Let us go now. If we linger any longer, we might get needlessly swept up in that fight.]
Soana, who had been observing the situation most rationally, subtly urged.
After standing and watching the Monsters' fight for a moment, I agreed with her words and turned around.
According to what Samuel said earlier, another Dullahan would soon retrieve his head. The knight who, because he was blocking the enemy, couldn't even properly fight the traitor.
Recalling what I had heard from Samuel, I was about to ascend the uphill path leading to the inner castle when I suddenly stopped.
"What is the matter, Lady Anelli?"
[Captain?]
The Dullahans also looked at me with puzzled eyes. Instead of answering their calls, I stared fixedly at the uphill path.
"Lady Anelli, are you all right?"
I could feel Xenon's gaze examining me with concern. But I could not hear his voice in my ears right now. I was…….
I was watching the retreating back of a knight walking up the path before me, dripping blood.
With each step he took, a handful of sticky blood poured out.
[Captain, your hand!]
Nadav called me in a flustered voice. Drawn by the sound, I lowered my gaze and saw my hand glowing green.
As if reacting to something, the light repeatedly grew stronger and then weaker.
"Why are you suddenly like this? Are you hurt somewhere? Huh?"
I could feel Xenon's flustered voice pouring out words as he wiped my cheek.
Not knowing the reason, I blinked blankly, only belatedly realizing my cheek was damp.
The tears would not easily stop. No matter how much Xenon wiped, it was useless.
I gently pushed him away and slowly moved my steps. Following the spots where the blood had dripped, I moved my steps accordingly, and soon the castle gate leading into the inner castle appeared.
“…….”
Before the firmly closed inner castle gate, I turned to look back.
The Dullahans and Xenon, who seemed not to understand what I was doing, stood awkwardly watching me.
Only Samuel, standing among them, understood this situation.
Samuel knew. He knew where this place I had stopped was.
[Ca, Captain.]
Leaving the Dullahans calling me worriedly, I bent my knee. As I swept the ground with my glowing hand, the dust tickled my fingers.
It was soil still damp with moisture from the rain that fell last night.
Clutching a handful of soil and rolling it in my palm, I took a deep breath. The smell of wet earth pricked the tip of my nose.
What soaked this ground now was rainwater. Not blood.
But this was also the place where a pool of blood had formed.
The place where the knight, having used all his strength to block the enemies who poisoned the well and burned the granary, struggled up and stood his ground.
"He lost too much blood."
I clenched my teeth. The smell of blood, though not present, swirled dizzyingly in my mind.
Tears kept blurring my vision. These tears were not my tears.
They were the tears of the 'Captain of the past.'
"Why did you stand guard in this state."
A knight in blood-soaked armor stood before my eyes. He was an illusion, but not a false one. It was a memory etched in my mind, a scene I had witnessed.
The burning Veladia Castle, the battle filled with screams and shouts, my knight who was supposed to guard the inner castle gate but could not bear to ignore the people dying down below and rushed down.
He did his utmost to protect those who had loved him.
He fought until the well was filled with bloody water, and returned here with his body battered and broken.
I was looking down at him. I watched his end from atop this castle wall.
"Tristan."
He, dripping blood and striving to carry out his orders to the last, had arrived here again.
* * *
Tristan was a notorious playboy even in Veladia Castle.
It wasn't that he was a lecher who flirted with this woman and that. He was simply a man who was affectionate, kind, and cheerful to everyone.
With his handsome appearance and added affection, whoever he faced was often easily captivated.
In the early days, there were frequent suggestions that such a Tristan should be excluded from the Round Table knights.
It was around the time the number of women who fought over him by grabbing each other's hair exceeded five.
But Tristan didn't care.
「Being able to love someone to your heart's content is the most perfect freedom the Captain has bestowed! I live more fittingly to his will than anyone!」
Faced with his praise for free love, the knights of the Round Table threw up their hands in surrender.
Strangely enough, the women who fought over Tristan would, over time, form a sense of solidarity and join forces. Thanks to that, it never escalated into a long-term problem.
Yes, let's acknowledge the freedom to love. Wasn't their very act of rebelling against Tarn originally for the sake of a free life?
Even after that conclusion was reached, Veladia Castle remained boisterous, and occasionally became chaotic due to those chasing after Tristan.
The outer castle of Veladia was an extremely lively and noisy neighborhood, and Tristan often volunteered for patrols there.
Tristan showed courtesy to all who loved him.
That was why he left his post and ran to the well area.
To keep faith until the end with the love he received and the love he gave.
[Are you saying I guarded this place?]
Tristan was bewildered.
He, who had just been reminiscing about the past with his comrades, was disconcerted by his own sudden turn.
Tristan looked back at the outer castle they had passed through. The streets had become even more of a mess due to the raucous fight of the Monsters.
Standing here looking down, he truly felt the familiarity of the composition. But he, he…….
If the Captain said so, it must be true. On the day he faced the traitor, he must have been in charge of the inner castle gate.
[I fought the traitor here…….]
He must have fought the traitor and been killed by him.
The reason he attached the abstract and uncertain expression 'must have' was because that scene simply would not come to mind clearly.
Tristan approached where the Captain was standing. The empty space above his neck burned painfully, and his vision swayed and distorted.
He instinctively realized that all of this was the process of retrieving his own head.
Finally standing before the Captain with a tear-streaked face, Tristan retrieved his complete head.
"Tristan."
Tristan did not answer the Captain's call. He merely furrowed his brow and carefully touched his own cheek.
Then he looked back again. The scenery of the outer castle visible in the distance. The scenery trampled into a mess.
Even after retrieving his head, the sensations were still not clear. Vague and bewildering, as if floating in deep water.
"I apologize, Captain. I……. My memory of fighting here…… doesn't……."
Doesn't come well.
Even after retrieving his head, what rises to mind are only the memories of fighting down there.
The sight of the outer castle residents, who would smile brightly and greet him whenever they saw him, dying.
Himself, who knew he had to guard the only path leading up to the inner castle, yet could not bear to ignore the scene he saw below.
And thus, the moments when he finally drew his sword and cut down the enemies.
"But Captain, is it all right to stay like this? The battle down there doesn't seem like it will end soon."
Rather than feelings toward the traitor, anger toward the Hobgoblins rampaging far away surged more strongly.
Down there were the invaders who had finally occupied the outer castle and lived there for a long time as if it were their own territory.
"Wouldn't it be better if I went to join in? Soon Minte on the wall will come to support, and Minte alone should be enough to hold this place."
"Tristan."
"The well and the food stores are important. No, it's where the outer castle residents always gather, so the damage is too great, I……."
"Tristan!"
The force grabbing his arm snapped Tristan back to his senses.
"I apologize. I must guard this place. The Captain trusted and assigned me here, yet I dared to leave my post. I will return immediately and block the enemy."
"The fight is over, Tristan."
Tristan, who had been rambling, looked up with startled eyes. Tristan's pupils, which had been wandering between past and present, finally focused properly.
Purple eyes, which felt intensely rational despite being wet with tears, were staring straight at Tristan.
"You……."
Anelli moved her lips but ultimately said nothing. Seeing her like that, Tristan realized.
By the time he returned here after leaving his post to protect the outer castle residents and fighting, his body was already in such a mess that he could not think properly.
That he died in such a battered state that he couldn't even remember the fight with the traitor.