A Letter from the Wasteland
With Miteraos's sudden, unannounced appearance, the anomalies surrounding Cartadia entered an entirely new phase. In the royal palace study, the only person handling affairs of state alongside the king was Diego.
Diego glanced once more at the empty seats of the princess and the prince, then let out a long sigh. Both of them had left for the lands of the anomaly and still had not returned. With the two of them gone from royal duties, Diego was working himself half-blind.
Nearly two months had passed since Melchior left his post, and though Adelaide had been gone for less than a month, it was only a matter of time before she hit that mark as well.
Melchior had originally planned to assess the situation for a month and then return. But then came the utterly absurd revelation that the wasteland was Cartadia's own future — and because of that, Melchior's operation at the Angolo Outpost had been extended indefinitely.
So Diego had pinned all his hopes on Adelaide's return alone. And then even that became uncertain.
All because General Gero had violated military law. He had deliberately withheld information while in possession of official documents. The loss of soldiers had been considerable enough that the matter could not simply be brushed aside. As a result, General Gero was immediately recalled from Lacrima, and naturally the highest authority present — Adelaide — took command of the outpost in his place.
This has to be a joke, right?
Diego was reaching the end of his rope.
His daily routine of late consisted of reading through petition after petition — this place needs reinforcements, that place has a monster problem — until he collapsed into sleep at his desk. And he couldn't even skim them. People weren't writing these things to make him suffer. They were writing because they wanted the kingdom to prosper.
"Father."
"Yes, Diego."
"Will our royal family be all right like this?"
"Well… we'll just have to trust your brother and sister, won't we?"
The king wore a thoroughly unimpressed expression. He looked as though he had been worn so thin by all of this that nothing could stir him anymore.
Diego was reviewing documents with exhausted eyes when he spotted a letter mixed in among them.
"…Huh?"
The seal stamped on the envelope was unmistakably Adelaide's. With a knot of unease in his chest, Diego tore it open.
The handwriting was different from the one he knew — Adelaide must have dictated the letter through an attendant. It was not particularly long.
My dear brother Diego. Though I cannot see your face, I send you word by letter. How goes the work of the court? You are so very clever — I trust you are managing splendidly at Father's side.
I said I would return within a month, but promises are so terribly hard to keep. I long to come home more than anything, but truly, there is nothing to be done. You must miss me as well. Hold that feeling close and wait for me. And do not resent General Gero too much. He, too, has recognized his own recklessness and is on his way back.
It is still cold here. Even so, now that we have escaped the threat of the highest-class monsters, we are enjoying a peace beyond compare. But would you believe me if I said this is only the beginning?
I shall cut to the heart of it. We have come face to face with something beyond imagination. This is no novel. This is reality.
A human from the future exists in this world.
Perhaps that should come as no surprise. Monsters have crossed through time — so is it so strange that a human from the past or future might turn up as well? That human is Alice. The hunter who has been aiding me for some time, and who continues to aid me even here. But she does not know everything. She has lost her memories, you see.
And the problem does not end there. At last, we have identified the true culprit behind these events. It revealed itself at Lacrima. The Time Dragon, Miteraos. They say it is a dragon that commands time itself. Alice told us that the future Cartadia became a wasteland entirely because of this dragon called Miteraos.
Diego — could you have the servants search the royal archives for any old literature concerning the Time Dragon, or anything related to it? That is the sole clue we have been given, and our ultimate objective. If we defeat that creature, every anomaly will surely be resolved. We need to know more about it. I am counting on you!
P.S. The meat of a monster called Cervona is quite delicious here. I think you would like it.
Diego read the letter once, failed to make sense of it, and read it again. Only on the second pass did the situation click into place — and his eyes went wide.
Then, with a thoroughly troubled look, he called for the king.
"Ah, Father."
"What is it? Has some intractable problem come up?"
"It's a letter from my sister. Would you read it?"
"Hmm. Very well."
The king took the letter and sipped his tea with a soft slurp. Quietly savoring the flavor, he began to read — and as the contents sank in, his mouth gradually fell open, tea dribbling straight down his chin.
Diego asked,
"What should we do?"
"I have no idea… A person from the future? What on earth…"
The king pressed hard on his throbbing temples.
"Ah, and the physician told me not to take on stress — to take it easy…"
"Please stay calm."
"I can't stay calm. I simply cannot. Why does this sort of thing have to happen in my twilight years? Hah… Should I just hand over the throne already? I can't do this king business anymore. I really can't."
Battered by one crisis after another, the king's stress valve had finally blown wide open.
Diego squeezed his eyes shut.
"Ah — the next monarch hasn't been decided yet, so perhaps you could hold on a little longer?"
"Ah, I just want to pass the crown along and go live somewhere quiet with my wife."
The king blinked a few times, then leaned back against his chair. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped low and quiet.
"Diego. This matter is no ordinary affair. A human from the future, and a dragon that walks through time… What am I to do about this…"
Having suddenly set a serious tone, the king glanced sideways at Diego.
"Someone will need to look into it."
"Yes — and since the subject has come up, you can handle it."
Diego grinned inwardly.
I've been waiting for this order. A precious opportunity to legally step away from royal paperwork.
Diego answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Yes! I'll take care of that. Then as for my duties…"
The king cut him off.
"Of course, after you've finished all your work."
"Ah… Father!! I shall devote myself wholeheartedly to my assigned tasks!"
Diego wept tears of blood on the inside.
Why am I the only one working, you absolute garbage people.
Such was the sorrow of the youngest child.
My ear's itchy.
Scratch, scratch—
Prince Melchior gently dug at his ear with his pinky finger.
Beside him, the royal scribe Biopia was sorting through correspondence that had arrived from the kingdom. The two of them had finished their wasteland expedition and returned to Angolo to reorganize.
"Your Highness, has sand gotten into your ear?"
"No. It just feels like someone's talking behind my back."
Biopia nodded and said,
"Well, it isn't me. For the record."
"When did I say it was you?"
"I already got all of mine out of the way before we came here. Whatever just happened wasn't me."
Has this woman lost her mind?
Melchior stared at Biopia as though she were some bizarre creature.
"I didn't want to know that, so spare me the details. Well — Adelaide must be badmouthing me somewhere."
"It doesn't occur to you that it might be Prince Diego?"
Melchior shook his head, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes.
"My little brother would never do such a thing."
"Ah… I see."
Adelaide is also your sibling, she nearly said. Biopia pressed her lips firmly shut.
"Speaking of the princess — a letter has arrived from Lacrima."
"Hmm. From whom?"
"Who else would it be? From the princess."
"So it will contain insults directed at me, then."
"Aren't you being a little too hard on Her Highness?"
"This is simply the natural ecology of our relationship. Rather like… the territorial struggles of a Luga-lac."
Biopia sighed at Melchior's analogy. Ever since he had started studying up on hunters among the hunter ranks, his pointless citations had multiplied at an alarming rate. Noah, in particular, kept filling his head with nonsense — it was becoming a real problem.
"Not a Luga-lac, then — how about a Pienos?"
At the word Pienos, Melchior's eyes flew open and he snapped,
"Do not cross that line. Even as a joke, comparing me to a Pienos is an insult."
"Ah. Yes."
Well, a Pienos might have been a bit much. Biopia nodded, acknowledging her own overreach. The poor Pienos, minding its own business, was the real victim here.
"Just read the letter, then."
"I am a scribe, you know?"
"That is an order."
"Your Highness, are you by any chance illiterate?"
"You speak far too freely. I happen to be drowsy, and I simply wished to hear it in your voice."
…W-what is he even saying?
Biopia blinked at Melchior. He spoke in a perfectly serious tone.
"Your voice snaps me wide awake. Rather like… the cry of a Kakari."
"Your Highness, have you been drinking? You've never even heard one, and yet you pretend you have."
"Hunters have a special talent for imitating monster cries, you know. I heard it secondhand. A Kakari goes kaka—."
Biopia held her tongue. The hunters were almost certainly messing with Melchior, who knew nothing about any of this.
She shook her head and unfolded the letter.
"…Right, then. I shall begin. 'Dear Brother, I hope you have been well…'"
"Did you misread that?"
"I did not."
"Oh-ho."
The contents were not much different from what Diego had received.
The one who had turned Cartadia into a wasteland was the dragon that walked through time — the Time Dragon, Miteraos. And Alice was a hunter from Cartadia's future.
"Aside from the Time Dragon, this is all information I already know."
Of course Melchior already knew. Alice was not merely a hunter of Cartadia — she was something like the ultimate weapon of the future, a woman who had pacified a world overrun by monsters.
"The Time Dragon… the Time Dragon… Now I finally understand why Cartadia became a wasteland. They said it was the kingdom two hundred years from now, yet the land itself looked as though thousands of years had passed. If the Time Dragon truly commands time, as the letter says, that would be more than enough to explain it."
Melchior's reasoning was sharp.
"It must have been that creature that sent Alice into the past as well. But why? Why leave only Alice behind and cast her into the past?"
"…Perhaps something in the future was meant not to be repeated?"
"Something like what?"
"From a monster's perspective — perhaps humans slaughtered far too many of them, or something of that nature."
Melchior tapped his lip with a finger, then nodded.
"Yes. Looking at what we found on our expedition, the humans of the future did seem far more inclined to hunt monsters than people are now. The values hunters once held appear to have faded."
Melchior paused for a moment.
"…In truth, that aligns with my own original thinking."
"Your thinking, Your Highness?"
"I, too, intended to incorporate the hunters into the royal army and systematically cull monsters for the sake of national strength and prosperity. I used to imagine how powerful an army clad in monster materials would be."
"Your Highness…"
Melchior touched the corner of his mouth.
"If the result of that path is this wasteland… then perhaps I am not fit to be king."
"Your Highness, you must not think such weak thoughts!"
"…Biopia?"
"You have to become king!"
Biopia looked up at Melchior with mournful eyes.
As expected of my scribe — to worry for me and believe in me this deeply…
Melchior felt a flicker of genuine emotion. Biopia promptly shattered it.
"If Your Highness abandons the throne, what on earth becomes of me, standing on Your Highness's side of the line?!"
Ah. Yes. As expected of a scribe.
"That does it. You truly need a thrashing. Present your forehead."
"Yes. I shall sacrifice this one body of mine. After you hit me, we make a promise that you'll become king."
"…"
"Promise."
That day, Biopia received three solid flicks to the forehead.