Chapter 103
Chapter 103
Episode 103
I gathered my muddled senses and immediately assessed the situation.
First, what was it like outside?
I lifted my head and looked; the scenery outside was at the time of twilight. Judging by the fact that my location hadn't changed, it didn't seem like much time had passed.
In the first place, if a long time had passed, I wouldn't be here.
The innkeeper would have done something, unless they planned on throwing away the room.
“So, around two hours, then.”
Seeing the commotion outside, it seemed people were only watching from a distance and no one had approached.
Well, that made sense too. It would take considerable courage to even think of getting close after I had fired off [Pinaka] so recklessly while fighting the Hero.
“My bones are……”
Broken. It seemed she had made sure to finish the job after I had passed out.
Before I lost consciousness, I thought it was my ribs, but when I opened my eyes, my arms and legs were broken too.
“And my current location is the inn wall, is it……?”
If you went to the trouble of breaking them, you could have at least put me down.
You broke just my arms and legs while I was stuck in the inn wall?
Is that really the Hero? What kind of thuggish behavior is this?
“Still, well……. It’s according to plan.”
A state like this was far better than what I had originally anticipated.
Because I had thought that, in the worst-case scenario, I would be unconscious for a few days.
“Are you insane?”
As I was thinking that, Lucia spoke to me, looking disgusted.
“This is according to plan?”
Lucia, who had been lying on the floor, clutched her side where her ribs were and approached me.
It seemed her arms and legs hadn't been targeted. It was a relief that it seemed Lucia wasn't recognized as a threat on my level.
“Unless my head has gone strange, I thought you said this was a plan. Is that right?”
“Yes, broken arms and legs were within the acceptable range.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“No, listen carefully. From the moment the Hero found us, it was a given that she would take measures to separate us, so it was better to……”
“No, no, no, no, that's not it, Prince Oz. You are insane. The very act of putting such a plan in your head is insane.”
“……”
What. What part of it is strange?
I was going to get them broken anyway. In that case, isn't it only natural to use it effectively?
“Ah, right. Are you perhaps worried that I won't be able to move like this? As you know, I have a means of recovery that's even more efficient than divine arts, don't I?”
“……Just because you have a means of recovery like that, don't put getting injured into your plans.”
Lucia said, with a rare, bitter expression.
“If you allow things like that one by one, you’ll become desensitized to a lot of things.”
“……”
At Lucia’s words, I suddenly recalled the image of Oz, who had been leaning against a chair as if exhausted.
The one who had given a dry smile.
Was he like this too?
Did he, as Lucia said, allow these kinds of actions one by one until he finally became desensitized?
Was that why he ultimately couldn't move and left his back to me?
“Please, I don't want to see the people around me change like that anymore……”
She looked utterly disheartened.
Yes, to her, becoming desensitized was no different from a terror.
[SR Mingling Cat]
Lucia Punisher
Yes, Lucia was from the Punisher family, one of the noble families of the Empire.
And in the Empire, there was a perception that the people of the Punisher family were somehow unsettling.
The Punisher family was one of the quite historic noble families of the Empire. But at its roots lay the dark history of being executioners.
Each time they beheaded a criminal begging for their life in terror, they severed something within their own hearts as well.
“I’m scared of things like that now.”
That history had continued until recently, and they had become desensitized like that. No, they had to become desensitized.
That was the reality of the Punisher family.
They were a clan that killed themselves.
A lot had happened to her, and a lot would happen in the future, but…….
“Alright, I’ll make sure not to make such a reckless plan again.”
For now, these words of reassurance would be the most helpful.
“You can rest easy.”
“Yeah……”
The first thing Lucia and I did right after I had healed my wounds through [Challenger of the Divine] was to assess the situation.
“Most of the Tenebris members in hiding have suffered minor injuries, but they're severe enough to make it difficult to move.”
What Lucia told me after making contact was rather shocking.
“You mean she took care of everyone in that short amount of time? That's incredible.”
There must have been more than one or two Tenebris members hiding in this town.
But she subdued all of them?
“Ah, not all of them. Only the combat-capable personnel. It seems she took measures only against those who had the possibility of chasing her……”
Lucia began to hesitate, watching my reaction. Was there something she was uncomfortable saying?
“Just say it.”
“It seems Prince Oz was the only one who was dealt with so thoroughly as to have all the bones in his arms and legs broken.”
“……Did she have some kind of grudge against me or something?”
“It probably means you were that much of a threat. She said other people had their bones broken too……”
“I know that too.”
I knew that she had rated me highly.
It meant the pressure of my [Contemplation] was felt that threateningly.
But still, wasn't this kind of discrimination a little too much?
She broke all four of my limbs.
“Haa……. Right, well, whatever. It's not the first or second time I've been misunderstood because of my gaze, so I'll have to bear it.”
In any case, I had been prepared for my bones to be broken from the moment we encountered her.
There was no point in arguing about it now.
“So what now? Are we going to pursue them right away?”
Right now, the only people among the group monitoring Eleanor and Lustitia who could move were Lucia and I.
[Challenger of the Divine] boasted a considerably wide range.
The wounds of the Tenebris agents who were taken down by Lustitia would have also been cleanly healed. But…….
“Well? I'll be fine, but will you guys be able to move?”
“Everyone says they're fine, but……. there will probably be aftereffects, so I'll be the only one to move for now.”
“And you're okay?”
“This is my responsibility too. It's about Eleanor, isn't it? So why wouldn't I.”
“Of course you would.”
Seeing her make excuses by calling it work, she was a tsundere through and through.
If she was worried about Eleanor, she could have just said so honestly.
“Then let’s follow them from a distance. This time, we shouldn’t get too close and get caught like before; you’ll have to confirm with your eyes from afar.”
“I see. You said you could see a wide area, but not far, was it?”
“Are you dissatisfied?”
“No, I was actually relieved that I wouldn't be a burden.”
Lucia gave a gentle smile.
Was she dissatisfied with that? Well, it was true that she hadn't had many chances to be active recently. I understood.
Because I now knew from painful experience how agonizing it was to be powerless.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Eleanor and Lustitia had already crossed the border and set foot inside the Kingdom of Chrysos.
Chrysos was a country made up of five fiefdoms, along with the royal castle, which included the capital in the center.
And the two of them had arrived in [Pretium], the fiefdom of the Margrave, one of those five fiefdoms.
“There are…… no signs of people, as expected. Haha, well, of course. After all that chaos, if anyone had survived, they would have run away long ago.”
“Noah……”
“It’s okay. I was prepared for this.”
Eleanor tried to act fine as she looked at the Pretium fiefdom, which had become a ghost town, but she couldn't hide the sorrow she had concealed within.
Lustitia, seeing Eleanor like that, tried to lighten the mood and continued speaking in a deliberately bright voice.
“What kind of fiefdom was Pretium?”
“Ah, you mean the Pretium fiefdom? That is, hmm……”
Eleanor began to search her mind to answer Lustitia's consideration. The Pretium fiefdom.
“First, the name was probably a word that meant something of value, like Chrysos, which means gold.”
“Silver…… perhaps?”
“It did have that meaning, but if you had to be specific, it would have had the broader meaning of wealth.”
“Oh? The country and the capital are named gold, that's unique.”
“Father considered it an honor to protect the border. So he probably gave the fiefdom a name with a broader meaning than Chrysos.”
“I see……. I'm not royalty or nobility, so I didn't know about things like that. Ah! More importantly, what was the Pretium you remember like, Noah?”
At Lustitia's question, Eleanor shook her head as if troubled.
“I’ve never been to Pretium, so I don't know well.”
“Ah……”
“It was only a short while before this situation that I, who had been cooped up in the palace, started to get around.”
The point when Eleanor began to change, the moment she wanted to be different. Cruelly, her world had turned all those resolutions into nothing.
“I was planning to come here with Decentura……. Haha.”
“……”
Lustitia, seeing Eleanor scratching her head, began to scratch her head as well.
By bringing up the wrong thing, the atmosphere that was about to get better had become strange.
After a brief silence. Lustitia began to ask a different kind of question than before.
“Noah……. Do you not resent King Delayed?”
“Pardon?”
“Do you not resent the person who made you unable to do anything?”
“……No.”
Eleanor gave a gentle smile.
And Lustitia was surprised to see Eleanor's expression.
The Eleanor she knew must have been in a quite terrible environment.
Royalty, who from birth would be destined to live among many people.
And yet they had treated a royal child like an invisible person.
The sense of isolation must have been unspeakable. And yet, Eleanor could smile.
Was it because it was all in the past? Because she had already changed?
No, it was none of those.
“Father was cold to me, but……”
Eleanor was nothing more than an ornament to embellish the man named Delayed.
She had been made that way so that she wouldn't do anything useless.
In that case, was it only an unhappy thing? No, Eleanor did not think so.
“Still, he treated me preciously. If he had hated me, there would have been no reason for that, would there?”
“It might sound cruel, but couldn't that have just been for political purposes?”
Lustitia wondered if Eleanor was being deceived by Delayed's surface.
That was why she asked a rather direct question. But Eleanor only widened her eyes as if surprised by the words, and then said as if it were fine.
“Political purposes……. Yes, that could be. Still, I think it’s a little different. Father never oppressed me.”
“……”
“I was in a birdcage, but the door was always open.”
Delayed did not force Eleanor. Even if he and those around him treated Eleanor like an ornament, he had thought that Eleanor didn't necessarily have to be that way.
Eleanor could change at any time. And so, she was actually able to change, with Decentura as the catalyst.
And most importantly.
“Father always told me it was okay to do nothing. But he never forced me. Ah! Was there just one time?”
“When was that?”
“It was probably when Decentura and I blew up the armory.”
“That……. is honestly understandable.”
Lustitia couldn't bring herself to defend Eleanor.
If he had ended the matter of blowing up the royal armory with just a single word, then Delayed was a saint.
“I believe Father definitely fulfilled his responsibilities as a family member.”
That was why Eleanor could not hate the person named Delayed.
Perhaps even more so than Eleanor.
Because he was just a clumsy person.
Because he just didn't know how to love others without a purpose.
“So I wanted to come here. Father may have been a harsh person to me, but he was someone who would fulfill his responsibilities no matter what. I wanted to be like that too.”
Delayed was obsessed with honor.
That also meant that to protect his honor, he had fulfilled his duties as a king with certainty.
And yet there was a monster that was devouring Delayed's body and trying to tarnish the honor he had protected his entire life with his voice.
Eleanor could by no means just stand by and watch that.
“Family has to protect each other.”
“I see……”
Lustitia was finally able to understand the reason why Eleanor had wanted to go to Chrysos.
There was the noble cause of saving the people of the kingdom who were captured and being used at will by the monster.
But before that…….
“Father may have been a sinister person, but he was still definitely my family.”
There was a more fundamental and simple reason.
Because she was human, and because they were family.
She could not just stand by and watch them being used.
“Sister, do you remember?”
“Huh? What?”
“The monsters we encountered on our way here. Most of them had bizarre appearances and seemed to have no intelligence.”
“Did they?”
Lustitia tapped her dazed head and thought.
It seemed she hadn't remembered things to that extent.
“Ah……”
And the moment she remembered that fact, her complexion turned pale.
The effect of the curse was showing itself more than she had thought. Normally, she would have observed properly.
But the reason she couldn't was because her head had become quite dull due to the unresolvable sleepiness.
“……Are you okay?”
“Hm? I’m fine. Come to think of it, I think it was like that.”
“Right? But the person we met at the Papal States was different.”
“Hmm……. That person was strictly speaking a little different, I think.”
“But the monster connected to that person said it swallowed Father.”
Lustitia tried to recall the opponent she had fought at the Papal States.
She couldn't remember the exact details of the battle, but she did remember that if she hadn't struck first, the fight would have been quite long.
Yes, she had subdued him in an instant, but the opponent was definitely a strong enemy.
“Why was it only that monster? Is that monster special?”
Eleanor began to wander around the Pretium fiefdom while spouting her hypothesis. It was as if she were looking for something.
“Father uses a spear. But that person used a greatsword. And so naturally, as if it were a weapon he was used to.”
It could be that the monster was good at handling a greatsword in the first place. But was that really the case? To say so, there was no sense of incongruity in the man's fighting style.
There were things one could know because one was the same kind of warrior.
It was something that couldn't be unless the weight and shape of the weapon, and even the physical conditions, were a perfect match.
“Noah, then what you’re saying now is……”
“Yes, that monster could be special, but what if it’s not just that monster that’s special……”
Eleanor remembered the monster that had swallowed Decentura.
That monster had dared to call Eleanor's name with Decentura's voice.
And it was a word that she could accept quite familiarly.
“That monster swallowed a person's soul. If so, couldn't it also use that person's power?”
Wandering through the Pretium fiefdom, she was finally able to find the things she was looking for. The moment Lustitia saw them, she was able to completely understand what Eleanor was saying.
“And that monster is……”
“It's using human flesh and souls as an energy source.”
What appeared before them were lumps of flesh, spread out like mud.
Because there had been several battles before, they knew that those lumps of flesh made up the monster's body.
It wasn't that someone had defeated it. The monster had shown a quite unstable form from the first time they saw it.
That was why it was using the human flesh and souls it had swallowed as an energy source. And if that energy source were to dry up…….
“Invader……”
“Yes, these monsters can't live unless they kill us.”
They would need new souls.