The One Who Bears Conviction
“That’s one less thing to worry about.”
With Ashir locked away in prison and every process returning to normal, Estel plucked the cigarette from between her lips and smiled.
This particular crisis had been quite a struggle, yet thanks to Ashir’s thoroughly empty head they had weathered it far more easily than expected.
“There won’t be another incident like this, will there?”
“Hahaha! I don’t think you need to worry.”
“With this affair as a turning point, my position has grown even more secure. Even if the First Prince returns, no one will be able to stand in my way now.”
Tene still looked at her with worried eyes, fretting that something similar might happen again, but Estel only laughed heartily in reply.
Through this incident, Estel had seized an unshakable position.
Though the Council of Elders and the Black Dragon stood on her side, there were still many who looked unkindly upon Estel for trampling on elven tradition. That was why, when Ashir—high in the line of succession and claiming legitimacy—made her declaration, their hearts had stirred and they had sided with her.
But the very Ashir they had backed had not only made a complete fool of herself but had become a full-blown traitor. Their arguments vanished without a trace, and the proportion of those supporting Estel within the Great Forest was now estimated at over ninety percent.
The elves, too, had been jolted into the realization that clinging solely to tradition could allow the entire Great Forest to fall into foreign hands without so much as a whisper. In that sense, the Ashir affair had been nothing short of a boon for both Estel and the Evergarden barony.
“Let’s say the problem is solved. What about that one?”
“That one? Ah… you mean the Second Princess.”
“She’s still a princess, even if she doesn’t look like much right now, isn’t she? The elves are shouting radical things because of her ties to the Empire, but harming a member of the royal family still leaves a bad taste, doesn’t it?”
Felix, who had been fretting over something for a while, finally brought up the issue that had been weighing on him.
“Well… the fact that she, a princess, colluded with the Imperial Crown Prince to deliberately block the elves’ entry into human society was quite the blunder.”
“If that proposal had come purely from the Second Princess herself, without any advice or connections, we would have had no justification to stop it… Thinking about it that way, that Ganix fellow must have a fairly sharp mind.”
“But the Second Princess herself was far too stupid, which is how things ended up like this. For now, we’ll keep her locked in the dungeon, and once the potion business is running successfully, we can decide what to do with her then.”
“She is a princess, so throwing her in that shabby dungeon is only a temporary measure. After some time passes, we’ll have to improve her treatment somewhat.”
“…Well! She’s so infuriating that I’d like her to stay there for a while and do some reflecting.”
Her crimes were grave, but she was still a princess of a nation. For the time being they planned to keep her in the underground dungeon out of sheer spite, but after a suitable period they intended to improve her conditions and draw her over to their side.
“For now, let’s focus on stabilizing production as quickly as possible. How is the work progressing?”
“The elves who had been mobilized to harvest the World Tree’s leaves are returning quickly. At this rate, we’ll have more than enough potions ready before the delivery deadline.”
“The sales route will be through Evergarden Territory for the time being, right?”
“That’s right. Those pompous nobles will have to haul their heavy rears all the way to our territory just to buy a single potion.”
“And while the nobles stay in the territory, the blind gold coins they scatter will boom the market economy. Excellent.”
There had been various incidents, but they had passed without major trouble. The sunlight was warm, work was proceeding smoothly, and the time was thoroughly peaceful.
In that atmosphere, Tene leaned back against the sofa with a pleasant smile and closed her eyes.
However.
Zzt—
“…?”
A sharp electric jolt skimmed across Tene’s mind, forcing her closed eyes open.
“Huh? Wha—? Something… something’s…?”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
Tene sat bolt upright on the sofa and shook her head in bewilderment. Rosaria, seated beside her, asked.
“Just now, I felt something outside. Something… something terribly ominous—”
And just as Tene, brow furrowed in concentration, opened her mouth—
KWAANG—!
“Ugh!?”
“What the hell?!”
“Waaah!?”
An enormous boom suddenly rang out, and everyone present clutched their ears and cried out.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—
Before the roar had even faded, the office they were in shook violently, as if it might be torn free from its foundations.
“W-what’s going on?”
“That enormous boom…! Something must have happened outside!”
“F-for now, let’s go out and see. We need to check what’s happening…”
Once the tremors had somewhat subsided, Estel—who had maintained her composure even in the bewildering situation—took charge of the family and was about to leave the office when—
Bang—
“Your Highness! It’s an emergency!”
Before her hand even touched the door, it burst open with a bang, and a soldier, forehead dripping with sweat, shouted urgently from beyond.
“What is it? What’s that roar outside?!”
“Th-the World Tree…! It’s on fire!!”
“…What?”
At the dire news delivered with the soldier’s gasping breath, Estel’s pupils shook violently.
“Fall back!!”
“When will the water magic be ready?!”
The Evergarden family, who had rushed over at the soldier’s report, found their mouths hanging open at the spectacle unfolding before their eyes.
“Y-Your Highness!”
“…Current status!”
“It’s an attack by someone! Flames from fire magic have ignited the base and the leaves of the World Tree and spread in an instant!”
But a commander could not afford to fall into chaos, so Estel immediately collected herself and began receiving a report on the current situation from the approaching soldier.
“The World Tree burning from fire magic? That shouldn’t be possible with such simple magic.”
“Th-the court mages are looking into the cause as well, but… we still haven’t found the exact reason.”
The World Tree was a being so great that the elves held it as an object of faith. Tea brewed from its leaves was a panacea; staves made from its branches boasted performance close to legendary weapons. There was no way the World Tree would fall to mere fire magic.
“This… isn’t simple fire magic at all!”
At that moment, Felix, who had been observing the World Tree with mana sight the instant he arrived on the scene, spoke up in dismay.
“The activation and the phenomenon itself are fire magic… Inferno, corresponding to Class 3… but something’s mixed in midway! It seems like modified magic with some kind of intervention…”
“So, can you put it out?”
“It’ll take time!”
“Damn…”
If it were ordinary fire magic, they could somehow deal with it, but Felix was certain it would take time. It was not a state in which the flames could be easily controlled.
“Who the hell would do something like this…!”
“Your Highness! Th-the Second Princess who was imprisoned in the underground dungeon has disappeared!”
“…Ganix! That bastard!!!”
When the report came that Ashir, who had been locked in the underground dungeon, had also vanished, Freya immediately identified the culprit.
Even so, the elves knew how important the World Tree was to them. Setting fire to it like this was no different from declaring war.
“…Suppress the flames as much as possible! The World Tree must not burn! That, above all, must be prevented!”
“What about the Second Princess…”
“The World Tree is more important right now! Move quickly!”
The family was appalled by Ganix’s act of sabotage against potion production, but right now protecting the World Tree was paramount.
Watching the soldiers move out, Freya and Estel wrung their brains for a solution.
Then.
“At this rate, potion production will face major setbacks…!”
“…Hey. Are there people inside the World Tree right now?”
“…Honey?”
Darian, who had been silently staring at the flames until now, grabbed one of the running soldiers and asked.
“Right now… there are several people who were working in the interior space of the World Tree…”
“Rescue?”
“Because of the flames, entry is impossible…”
“I see.”
Thud—thud—
Upon hearing that there were lives inside the burning World Tree, he walked without the slightest hesitation toward the World Tree that was blazing like hell itself.
“Honey! Wait a moment! You’re not seriously planning to go in there, are you!?”
“Stop, Mom! That fire isn’t ordinary fire! If you go in without protective gear, you’ll burn up in an instant!”
“…There are people inside.”
Freya and Felix, startled by his actions, tried to stop him, but Darian’s legs did not halt.
“I’m a firefighter. And a firefighter saves people from fires. To me, that’s the most important thing.”
“But…!”
“Th-then I’ll go!! I’m fine even in flames, after all!”
“Tene. Your power is too strong. You could end up completely collapsing the interior. In the end, the right person for this is me.”
“I’ve got that Sword Aura thing too, so I can hold out somewhat. If I don’t move now, everyone in there will die.”
“Ah.”
Freya realized it.
That no words would get through to Darian now.
And that Darian would definitely go into those flames.
The rest of the family likewise understood Darian’s resolve in their hearts.
“Wait!”
“Daughter. Even so, I can’t stop—”
“I know! I know! But just wait a second!”
Watching Darian advance in that situation, Felix immediately dashed out and shouted in front of him as if screaming.
Whoooom—
“…Barrier and fire-resistance magic. I’ve thinned the oxygen concentration within a three-meter radius around Mom, so it should be somewhat better. Of course, I’ve put a kind of filter on so breathing won’t be a problem.”
“…This… is all I can do for you. I have to put out the flames, so…”
“…Thank you, my daughter.”
Felix, who had blocked Darian’s path, rapidly chanted spells, then cast every protective magic he could on Darian and stepped aside from his path.
“Wait! Lit!”
—Yeah! Mom!
“Take Lit with you! She’s a fire spirit, so she’ll be of some help!”
Rosaria, who had contracted with the fire spirit, also pressed Lit into Darian’s arms and shouted.
Even with all sorts of magic and the blessing of a fire spirit, the interior was still fraught with extreme danger.
“…Honey.”
“Well, I’m not going there to die. Don’t worry too much.”
When the family, realizing it was time for him to leave, tried to speak as they looked at Darian, he beat them to it, smiling as he gazed back at them.
“I’ll be back.”
Shouldering the axe he had received as a gift, Darian walked steadily toward the World Tree that was burning like hell itself.
She wanted to stop him.
She wanted to block his path right that instant, and if necessary use force to hold him back.
In her mind, the worst possible scenarios kept welcoming her, and she felt so powerless for being able to do nothing.
“…Come back safely.”
Even so, Freya had no choice but to let Darian go.
The reason she loved Darian was precisely because he was the kind of person who always stepped forward in situations like this.
As she watched his back, transparent tears rolled down Freya’s cheeks.