Having barely regained consciousness, Phrygian fell asleep once more.
‘……Roam is finished?’
The Duchess of Roam gritted her teeth as she strode briskly across the corridor.
After being denounced as a heretic by the Temple, Roam was rapidly collapsing. The Duke of Roam and his vassals were being investigated one after another, and the Duchess of Roam was effectively under house arrest.
Naturally, no family stepped forward to aid the cornered Roam. There were various reasons, but the greatest was the widespread rumor that they had antagonized the Resurrected One.
That the Resurrected One was the second daughter of the Duke of Roam was a fact no one considered.
‘To call bringing Roam’s own child back to Roam an abduction!’
Suppressing her rising anger, the Duchess of Roam headed for the study.
With the head of the family absent for days, urgent matters fell to her to resolve. Though urgent matters were nothing more than pleading for a helping hand from anyone and everyone.
“My Lady, My Lady!”
Just as she was about to enter the study, the butler urgently sought her out.
“His Highness the Crown Prince and Lady Lilia are said to be coming to the capital!”
“How?”
“Well, they were captured by the search party……”
“Ha, couldn’t even manage to run away properly, and now they’ve made the situation worse?”
The Duchess of Roam let out a hollow laugh. Waving the butler away irritably, she entered the study.
The documents piled on the desk held no interest for her. She paced anxiously, biting her lip.
She was not deeply involved in politics, but she could shrewdly grasp the prevailing mood.
And from her perspective, the First Prince seemed determined to use this opportunity to completely topple the Crown Prince.
In that process, Lilia would inevitably become entangled. Therefore, she needed to sever ties with Lilia, but……
“That cunning girl wouldn’t try to die alone.”
The Duchess of Roam, arms crossed anxiously, paused.
She had just remembered the original reason for bringing Lilia into Roam.
“Perhaps……”
Lilia possessed the power of foresight. Surely she must have foreseen the current situation as well.
If so, wasn’t her being captured by the search party and coming to the capital also because she had some plan?
A glimmer of hope flashed in the Duchess of Roam’s eyes. But she immediately shook her head.
“No, no.”
It was precisely because she had trusted that damned foresight of Lilia’s that this mess had happened. She couldn’t rely on foresight again.
……But was there any other way?
Without knowing the future and acting accordingly, how could one navigate such a desperate situation?
“Ha……”
If Phrygian had met Anelli and returned, she might have had something to say, but for some reason, the awakened Phrygian showed no will whatsoever.
She had never thought the girl was that weak.
It seemed the near-death experience had made her timid.
“She’ll come to her senses if we give her a little time.”
She didn’t have many cards to play. The only one who might still be of use was Phrygian. And as for Lilia, who was said to be coming to the capital……
“At least making contact with Lilia to check her condition……”
To see if the girl was still useful, if her foresight was worth listening to one last time.
Wouldn’t it be good to check that much?
The Duchess of Roam cautiously approached the window and lifted the curtain. Her gaze, looking down at the surveillance soldiers surrounding the mansion, darkened.
* * *
Samuel’s wound was deeper than expected.
Under normal circumstances, he would have needed a day or two of rest for treatment, but Samuel insisted vehemently on moving, saying the bleeding had stopped so he was fine.
He added that now that they were inside the castle, delaying for a day or two would be meaningless.
The bleeding had been stopped, and as he said, this entire journey would soon be over, so there was no need to dawdle unnecessarily.
I agreed with him, and we emerged outside again at daybreak.
“Something’s……. The scenery is a bit different from yesterday.”
Xenon said, looking around with a bewildered face.
Indeed, he was right. It was clearly still ruins, but how should I put it? It seemed tidier, perhaps?
“In the past, after the battle, buildings collapsed, creating much clutter. If it were like yesterday’s situation, progressing would not have been easy. Fortunately, it seems the things that once took root in this land are returning.”
Samuel, moving one shoulder awkwardly as if his arm was uncomfortable, hinted at an explanation.
According to him, the wild animals I saw last night were likely those ‘things that once took root in this land.’
So, did those animals clear away the broken building debris to open a path?
[Ah, it’s not just us who await repose.]
Seeing my doubtful expression, Mori hesitantly added an explanation.
[Many, many lifeforms also awaited the final authority in the past.]
“Many lifeforms?”
Come to think of it, Mori was a knight who pitied all the fragile things in the world.
As I silently looked down at Mori, he averted his gaze and said.
[Yes, yes. All lifeforms who can hear the Captain’s voice.]
I blinked, about to ask something, then closed my mouth.
I would find out soon enough if we kept going; there was no need to ask in advance.
“…….”
Instead, I quietly gazed down the path, recalling last night.
After returning to the building, after examining Samuel’s injury, the brief conversation we had.
「You wish to know the approximate locations.」
「Yes.」
「Is it to grant them a swifter repose?」
When I asked him to tell me where he had killed the Dullahans, Samuel asked in return.
That question felt like he was asking if I was looking for the optimal route.
So it felt a bit…… unpleasant.
「I just want to know in advance.」
At my answer, Samuel fell silent for a moment. He lowered his gaze quietly, lost in thought.
Then he answered slowly.
「The knights do not remember the exact locations of their deaths. At that time, for me, cutting down those who stood in the way and reaching you was paramount. The clearest memory I have left is…….」
[Captain, please climb onto my back.]
The continuing memory was abruptly cut off by Nadav’s voice. Belatedly noticing the surrounding gazes, I saw the Dullahans’ worried looks and let out a low sigh.
It seemed my collapse yesterday had caused them concern.
“No, it’s not that bad.”
[However, due to last night’s rain, the ground hasn’t fully dried. It will be uncomfortable for you to walk.]
“I climbed a mountain slope; this is nothing. It’s fine.”
I stroked Nadav’s mane lightly in thanks.
Feeling the texture of the tangled fur in my hand, I turned my gaze forward.
The open path ahead stretched inward. Beyond it, the inner wall was visible, and above that, the soaring main tower.
Was that main tower where I needed to reach? By the time I reached that place, how many knights would remain by my side?
「At the end of this path stood you, alone.」
Perhaps I would stand alone.
* * *
“At this scale, it was practically a village.”
Xenon muttered to himself, looking around. I also agreed with Xenon’s opinion.
Certainly, at this scale, it would be no exaggeration to say an entire village had been contained within.
[Yesterday, it was hard to find even a single insect, but in just one night, so many friends have gathered!]
[Ugh, Tristan. Are you really going to attract bugs?]
[Bugs? I said insects!]
Tristan laughed heartily at Minte, who looked disgusted.
It seemed it wasn’t just animals that returned here last night.
Tristan was overjoyed, saying friends had finally appeared to scout the castle for us, and Minte was earnestly pleading with him not to bring any disgusting bugs.
“It’s amazing that insects increased overnight.”
[Haha, it’s because life is beginning to sprout from the earth again. Soon, Veladia Castle will be abundant with even more life!]
A plump, black bumblebee fluttered down and landed somewhere.
It was on a blade of grass peeking out between the building debris.
[You were hiding under here, hello!]
It seemed he had found an insect, but no voice was heard. Tristan had raised his voice too excitedly.
[Yikes, don’t swing! I’m your friend!]
“Tristan, what’s over there?”
[Ah, a mantis…….]
“……Don’t bother innocent insects for no reason and come here.”
If he approached the mantis calling it a friend, he’d probably just get pinned by its forelegs.
At my sigh-laden words, Tristan lamented as if it were a pity.
[I was trying to give it a gracious opportunity to help our Captain! What a foolish friend!]
[Did you catch stupidity from Bark too?]
Minte scolded Tristan in a disdainful voice. Then Tristan retorted with a serious expression.
[……That’s too harsh, Minte!]
Seeming genuinely hurt, Tristan stuck himself right next to Nadav, who was walking farthest from Minte.
After a brief hesitation, Minte’s voice was heard apologizing to Tristan, saying ‘I went too far.’
And Bark, who was listening to all this conversation right beside them, muttered in a very aggrieved voice.
[What’s wrong with me?]
Listening to their chatter, I unknowingly let out a small sigh of relief.
There was no special reason. It was just that their boisterousness still gave me a sense of stability.
As we were almost leaving the residential area, a well appeared. Despite last night’s rain, the bottom of the well was bone dry.
“Huh? Is that a field?”
I was sneakily peering into the well bottom, wondering if someone’s head might be there, when Xenon called out to me loudly.
Where he pointed, there was a fairly wide open space.
It wasn’t a clearing created by something collapsing, like the places we had passed, but land that had been left empty from the beginning.
Behind it sat a solitary, warehouse-like structure with blackened burn marks.
Xenon, who had stopped me from approaching, strode over to check.
“This was probably…… a food storage warehouse.”
Xenon, who had been rummaging through the debris, stood up clutching something in his hand.
In his sooty palm were small seeds. Grains, presumably.
“Ah.”
Seeing the seeds, Samuel’s expression hardened into a strange look.