The Unknown
“Mmm….”
Morning sunlight stabbed into my eyes.
I had fully expected to stay awake all night, but the fatigue must have piled up too high; I’d fallen asleep after all.
Yet for some reason, my right arm—which had been serving as Lize’s pillow—felt empty.
“Lize…?”
I turned my head and found her face-down, buried in the mattress.
Can she even breathe properly like that?
I tried to sit up so I could roll her onto her back properly—only to discover I couldn’t move an inch.
And the reason was obvious.
“Ah.”
My older sister was still draped over me, sound asleep.
The warmth of her body and the soft feel of her skin seeping through her thin clothes made tension coil through me before I could stop it.
That must have been what woke her; she began to stir. Slowly, she lifted her head.
Our eyes met, and she grinned sleepily.
“……Did you sleep well, Roen?”
“Y-yeah. Noona.”
“Hugging me this hard first thing in the morning? Do you like your big sister that much?”
She lowered her head again and nuzzled her cheek against the crook of my neck.
“…I do like it.”
“Heh. Me too.”
I still couldn’t get used to this.
What wind blew her this way all of a sudden?
She had always kept a careful distance from me before.
“Let’s stop and get up already. The sun’s up.”
“Mmm? …Don’t wanna. Just a little longer like this… okay?”
…Had my sister always been this cute?
I must finally be losing it.
I never thought the day would come when Erika looked adorable to me.
And last night she had even…
No.
Better to forget that.
If that decided to raise its head again, things would get awkward fast.
Truthfully, it was already a little dangerous right now.
“No. Get up. Now.”
“Uuuugh… don’t wannaaa….”
She started wriggling on top of me and whining in earnest.
I bit down hard on my lower lip.
At this rate, I was going to hit my limit—clear as day.
I slid an arm under her legs.
“My, Roen! You’re surprisingly… bold, aren’t you?”
“Quit the nonsense and hold on tight.”
I put strength into my arms and stood up from the bed with her still in my hold.
For someone who swung a twenty-kilo greatsword, her body itself was on the light side.
“This is the only way, right? Noona?”
“…….”
“Noona?”
Why no answer?
I looked down, puzzled, and found her face buried against my neck, breathing roughly.
The hands clutching the back of my clothes tightened. Her ears had gone bright red.
So she’s surprisingly bad at being on the receiving end.
Without thinking, I rested a hand on top of her head.
“Hic!”
“You’ve got a surprisingly weak side too, huh?”
“Y-you little—mocking your own sister!!!”
Thud!
“Ack! Shit, that hit bone!”
“Raaah! Take more!!!”
“Aaagh! What is this double standard?!”
Click.
“Yaaawn… What’s all the racket so early in the— hmm?”
““Ah.””
The noise of our scuffle must have been loud; the door opened and my eyes met Ilia’s.
Her head tilted slowly to one side.
“…What exactly are the two of you doing first thing in the morning?”
“Th-that’s, milady. There’s been a misunderstanding….”
“Didn’t you promise me nothing would happen? Was that a lie?”
“Roen didn’t do anything wrong. It’s all my fault.”
“…….”
Ilia’s eyes flashed as she glared at my sister.
“You said you were going to change. Is this what you meant?”
“Hmm. I hadn’t planned on telling you yet, but well… the effect does seem solid.”
What are they even talking about?
Was this related to why my sister had suddenly changed?
I didn’t particularly want to ask.
They would both just refuse to answer, saying I didn’t need to know.
“It’s wasted effort. I’ll be the winner in the end.”
“Who knows? We’ll have to see it through to the finish.”
Still nothing but cryptic talk.
“No. Everything will be decided at the Social Season. The Social Season you won’t be attending.”
“Hmm….”
“What is it?”
“I think I’ll be going after all.”
“…What?”
“What?! What about the Vanguard?!”
“The Vanguard runs fine without me. The vice-captain can handle it.”
In other words, she’s dumping the work on someone else.
Typical of her.
“…Fine. I permit it.”
“My. You’re surprisingly quick to agree?”
“You were planning to follow no matter how hard I refused, weren’t you?”
“Heh. You know me well.”
“Better this than needless trouble. But don’t even think about getting in my way.”
“Of course not. I’ll be accompanying you strictly as Roen’s ‘guardian,’ after all.”
My guardian?
The bodyguard knight of a grand duchess having a guardian of his own…
Something felt off about that.
“Is that really okay, Noona?”
“Roen. The position of Vanguard Captain is not one anyone can look down on.”
“I know that much.”
Anyone who crossed paths with her was too busy showing respect just to keep their life—who didn’t know that?
Only someone confident they could survive being folded in half would dare snub her.
“So no one can stop me from going to the Social Season. Not even His Majesty the Emperor.”
“That’s pushing it a little….”
“Hmph. If we’re finished talking, we should prepare for the day’s duties. So get off Roen already, Erika Kraus.”
“So prickly. Put me down, Roen?”
“Yeah.”
I set her on the floor, and we all started moving busily to get ready for the day.
Of course, I didn’t forget to wake Lize first.
Time flowed on until the day before our departure for Kronstadt.
“Roen.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
I was alone with the Grand Duke in his study.
Why had he suddenly summoned me when I had been right in the middle of packing?
“Tomorrow we leave for the capital.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I hear your older sister and younger sister are going with you as well.”
“That’s right. They acted like they wouldn’t, then suddenly changed their minds for reasons I still don’t understand.”
“Ha.”
The Grand Duke snorted.
He looked thoroughly incredulous. Had I said something wrong?
“You. Do you truly not know?”
“I-I’m not sure what Your Grace means….”
“Mm… You really are something else. The spitting image of your father.”
“Pardon?”
“That complete lack of awareness. My daughter’s road ahead is going to be rough indeed….”
“Pardon?!”
Am I really that dense?
Dense enough for the Grand Duke to say something like that?
“…Am I really that bad?”
“The fact that you’re even asking already proves the case is hopeless. Though I suppose that’s exactly how you managed to get close to Ilia.”
“…….”
“What do you think is the reason those two came here?”
“Uh… because they missed me?”
“Hm. At least you figured that much out. Good.”
What is this?
Did he just call me here to thoroughly roast me?
“Well, enough of the idle chatter.”
“Ah, yes.”
Suddenly growing serious, the Grand Duke opened a drawer and set a document envelope on the desk.
Then he slid it toward me.
“May I ask what this is?”
“A report from Baron Erich. The Rabe family’s crows delivered the news, I hear.”
“Crows….”
It sounded like a joke, but it was the truth.
Information Officer Corvus Rabe and Patrol Captain Erich Jaeger could both understand the language of crows.
Every crow in the empire was their eyes and ears.
Once again, those crows had brought intelligence.
“Is this something I’m allowed to know?”
Scout reports were top-secret, shared only with the Grand Duke.
Should I really be reading this?
“On the contrary, you must know. You are my daughter’s bodyguard knight.”
“…….”
Just what kind of information was this?
I picked up the envelope he had pushed toward me once more.
Carefully opening it, I found a single sheet of paper.
The contents were concise.
Northeastern outskirts of Kronstadt, the border region where the Northern Grand Duchy and Eastern Grand Duchy meet.
Discovery of an unknown small village shrouded in thick, crimson mist that does not appear on existing maps.
Entry was attempted; subjects found themselves returned to the starting point without realizing how.
Access appears restricted to those possessing a specific route or the necessary qualifications.
No signs of human presence.
However, consistent crow testimony reports that the deeper one proceeds, the thicker the stench of blood becomes.
Reason for its sudden appearance after remaining unseen until now: unknown.
Risk factors are present, yet the necessity of further exploration is assessed as sufficient.
My brow furrowed as I read through the document.
“Finished?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“What do you make of it?”
“You’re not seriously telling me to go investigate this, are you?”
“Ha! Look at that. Suddenly sharp when it matters.”
“…You’re serious?”
The Grand Duke nodded and held out his hand; I placed the document on his palm.
He flicked the paper with a finger as he spoke.
“The timing is far too convenient, don’t you think?”
“Mist appearing on the outskirts of the capital when the Social Season is less than a week away… Yes, I agree it’s suspiciously coincidental.”
There had been no such event in the original story.
…Or maybe there had been and I simply missed it.
The original had only ever progressed from Lilian Claire’s point of view.
She had been far removed from incidents like this, so it might never even have been mentioned.
“Exactly. Which is why I’m asking you. You’re headed to Kronstadt anyway.”
“Even that timing is convenient. So what exactly do you want me to do?”
“I would like you to investigate what this mist is. You needn’t force your way inside. The likelihood of extreme danger is high.”
A thick smell of blood.
Whatever lurked within that mist, danger was a given.
No need to go looking for it on purpose.
“I have no desire to lose a capable young man either. However… should you somehow end up inside the mist… I entrust Ilia to you. That girl will insist on following you in no matter what.”
“…Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good. The Social Season is almost upon us, so I’m sorry to add another concern.”
“Not at all. I am a knight of Nordwacht. I will gladly follow Your Grace’s command.”
“Mm. An excellent attitude. Take your time with the investigation. The Social Season lasts a full month, after all. You may go.”
“Yes.”
Leaving the study, I let out a long sigh.
The original timeline was drawing near, yet I still knew far too little.
That wasn’t my fault, though.
The problem was the unfriendly original story that never even resolved its own foreshadowing before rushing to a sudden ending.
At times like this, the only things I could trust were my sword, the people around me—
and myself.
I would just have to push through somehow.