Chapter 71: The Turning Wheel (3)
Chapter 71: The Turning Wheel (3)
I was a little uneasy, but Rememver was undeniably an excellent butler.
I packed the luggage he had discreetly and swiftly prepared, put on a traveling robe, and descended the mansion's stairs.
When I reached the ground floor, Rememver, who had been waiting at the entrance holding the horse's reins, handed me a bow and arrows with rubber balls attached instead of arrowheads. I took them without a word.
Why the sudden bow and arrows? Because I was about to get into a whole ordeal.
And sure enough, it was just as I was getting onto the horse.
"Couuuunt!"
"You're leaving? You're abandoning us?!"
"Leaving without even a word, isn't that too much?!"
"No, more importantly, we heard His Majesty is taking us back. Couldn't you at least stop that?!"
From far away, a bunch of guys in white knight uniforms came rushing in a horde.
......Run.
Those were mad dogs. I didn't even want to imagine getting bitten by mad dogs.
I urgently kicked the horse's belly. Thanks to the main gate already being open, escaping was not too difficult. Rememver, thank you!
But those guys weren't the type to give up.
I got out of the city smoothly and rode across the open fields, and just as I expected, I began to hear the sound of multiple hooves behind me.
"Couuuunt!"
"Stop right there!"
"If you stop now, there will be no bloodshed!"
"Catch him!!"
"Fuck off, you crazy bastards!!"
Dust rose thickly behind me. I inwardly screamed at the sight that resembled billowing clouds.
Those crazy bastards! Where was Rien and what was she doing? Her lord was in danger!
"You lot! Won't you stop right now?!"
"......Ah."
So she was there. It was just that those brats weren't listening.
Spotting a horse chasing after them with terrifying momentum a little apart from the galloping horde, I grimaced and groped behind my back.
I felt the quiver I had packed a moment ago. I pulled out an arrow.
I nocked the arrow on the bowstring, twisted my upper body without slowing down, and aimed at the head of the horse of the guy running at the very front.
Since it had a rubber ball instead of an arrowhead, there shouldn't be much of a problem. If I made a mistake, the guy on top might fall off the horse, but considering how monstrous those guys were, it didn't seem very dangerous.
He'd avoid the danger himself, or the others would save him.
"My lord!! I hate the Emperor—no, I hate the Imperial Palace! His Majesty is scary, and so is the general!"
That bastard was trying to drag everyone down with him!
'Oh no, I missed!'
I was aiming for the horse's head, but I hit him right in the forehead!
The head of the guy who nearly committed lèse-majesté snapped back as if bouncing. The hand that was gripping the reins tightly loosened for a moment, and his body slid down sideways.
It was a dizzying situation where he could be trampled by the hooves coming from right behind, but a hand scooped him up before he could crash to the ground.
"Whoa! Got him!"
"Oh, nice!"
"Haha......."
"Ha......."
"......This is disgusting, so why don't you get off me now?"
"You think I like being on your lap either?! Move! I'm taking the reins!"
While one side was busy with their lovey-dovey(?) romance, the other side was a complete mess.
The path of the riderless horse had become tangled with the other horses.
It cut in front of normal horses running in a straight line, and collided with another horse and fell, so naturally, the other horses following from behind all fell at once.
"Uwaaaah!!"
"Whew! Dodged!"
"See that? My breakfall skills?"
On the ground, the ones who had somehow landed safely were strutting around, dodging the guys falling on top of them,
"Idiots, I'm going ahead!"
"Hyah!"
And the other guys holding the reins leaped over those fellows and continued chasing me.
If they were the guys I knew, the moment one fell, they wouldn't have been able to think of any other way and would have all tumbled over together. But now they could respond like that...?!
Of course, it was only a few of them, but still. What on earth had they been teaching them at the Imperial Palace?
Thank goodness Rememver had packed plenty of arrows.
Giving praise to the butler's excellent preparedness, I drew the bowstring again.
* * *
Deon Hart secretly received the imperial command and left the Count's residence.
Duke Stave Illustar, who received this news from an informant during their conversation, glanced at his counterpart.
He had deliberately let him overhear the information. If his prediction was correct, his reaction should be.......
"Deon Hart, you said. This will be a chance to find out where he is going."
Just as expected.
"Yes, I'll have to put someone on his trail."
"I can't impose upon Your Excellency. I've been in your care a great deal, so we will attach someone from our side this time."
At the intended reaction, the Duke's eyes curved. His cunning purple eyes disappeared behind his eyelids.
"In my care? I don't recall having done anything worthy of such words."
"Now I'm left speechless. By the way... I've been curious about something for a moment. May I ask how you came to get that wound on your neck?"
"Ah."
He reflexively touched his bandaged neck.
"It's nothing. There's a child who fusses particularly badly, you see."
"Did you have a niece or nephew?"
"Who knows. More importantly, about the story we were discussing earlier."
There was no reason to continue a worthless topic. The Duke blatantly changed the subject.
His counterpart also had no particular interest in it, so he obediently followed the shifted topic.
"Ah, you mean the story about the Emperor declaring continental conquest? I don't dare doubt Your Excellency, but I must ask your reasons."
"......."
"Why should we not move?"
The man seated across from the Duke asked, adjusting his posture as if he was ready to listen if the reason was given.
Perhaps because he wasn't the leader of the Revolutionary Army for nothing, the subdued atmosphere unique to someone who led people dominated the room.
That atmosphere, which he had often seen from the Emperor.
An atmosphere he could never acquire no matter how hard he tried. The Duke narrowed his eyes at it, then smiled softly and began to speak in a gentle voice.
As if to reclaim the initiative, the Duke's own distinctive atmosphere gradually began to encroach upon the entire room.
"The Revolutionary Army must not make any full-scale moves until the Emperor has consumed half of the continent."
"So, why on earth...!"
"When the war reaches its peak. When it's a situation where the Emperor can no longer stop the war at his own whim—that is the opportune moment."
The position of the Revolutionary Army's leader was not one an idiot could hold. The man, Daniel, shut his mouth.
By the time the Empire had consumed half of the continent, other kingdoms would already be on the move. Even if their judgment was slow and they remained still, they would begin to move once things reached that point.
Because they would have felt threatened. There was no way they would leave this situation be. It meant that even if the Emperor wanted to be satisfied and step back, he wouldn't be able to withdraw easily.
To replenish the troops lost in previous wars, the Emperor would pull up most of the forces from various locations, including the Imperial Palace, leaving behind only the minimum troops needed to protect them.
When that time came, even if the Revolutionary Army ran rampant within the Empire, they wouldn't be able to suppress it easily. Because there would be a shortage of personnel to stop them.
"......Truly, you are the Duke. I apologize for my disrespect."
The convinced Daniel withdrew, and Stave moved immediately.
By now, one member of the Revolutionary Army should be trailing Deon Hart. It would be good if this ended well, but the Emperor was not one to be so easy.
[So he's left, has he. No doubt, pests will flock to him. Deal with them and return. Do not follow Honorary Count Hart. Just deal with the pests and come back.]
He had not induced the Revolutionary Army to move for nothing. The Revolutionary Army member tailing Deon Hart would soon die.
He felt sorry for the Revolutionary Army member who would soon die, but there was no grand reason for doing such a meaningless thing.
What he was aiming for was simply to screw over the Emperor himself.
'If the person he sent for cleanup doesn't return, he'll be quite anxious.'
Were they dead, or alive? If alive, they would have betrayed him, so he could set that aside. If dead, did they finish the job before dying, or did they die before that, and so on.
Imagining the Emperor, who would be very anxious, the Duke smiled softly and gave a command to Cruel.
[If you follow the traces of the Revolutionary Army, you'll find someone who is backing Deon Hart on the Emperor's orders. Kill that person. And if circumstances allow you to follow Deon Hart, confirm where he is heading and return.]
Stab!
Since he was currently killing Revolutionary Army members, finding that 'backing man' was not difficult. Having killed the masked man as the Duke ordered, Cruel raised his head.
Because of that, the blood that had splattered onto his cheek rolled down his jawline and dripped to the floor, but his gaze was unwavering, directed at only one spot.
Far away, he could see Deon sending his horse back and walking into the forest.
Was it because he was afraid of leaving traces?
Cruel, who had been staring at that retreating figure for a long time, took a step into the forest just before Deon disappeared between the trees.
Keeping a distance just enough for Deon to remain in sight, Cruel also vanished between the trees of the forest.
How much time passed after that,
'.......'
Cruel came out of the forest.
His attitude and expression were no different from usual. His green eyes, unreadable as to what he was thinking, stared blankly back at the forest he had just exited.
Only for a moment. Cruel turned his body. He retrieved his horse, which was tied up a short distance away, mounted it, and rode toward the place he had to return to.
Perhaps because autumn had arrived, the sharpened wind fiercely assailed him.
.......
"You've returned. Did you handle the matter well?"
"Yes."
"Then, did you find out where Deon Hart was headed?"
"......."
"......."
"......By the time I handled the matter, Deon Hart had already left the area. I apologize."
* * *
"He left."
"Yeah."
"He really left."
"Abandoning us, that is."
"I even got a bruise on my forehead!"
"Seeing your running mouth, it seems you have room to spare. Add 10 laps around the training ground."
"Ah, Commander!!"
"We'll die!"
"Quiet! Every time you keep chattering like that, I'll add 10 more laps, so shut your mouths and run!"
Rien, who had sharply yelled to shut the knights up, sighed and looked up at the hazy sky.
The dark sky, looking like it could pour rain at any moment, seemed to represent her heart, making her feel even more gloomy.
Rien let out a deep sigh once more and lowered her head. Her clear eyes, as if she had never been gloomy, shone with determination and solemnity.
The reason her lord had left without a single word of farewell was because she was that untrustworthy.
Therefore.......
'Until the day we meet again, I will become a knight more worthy of trust.'
A knight's firm vow, which no one would hear, silently scattered into the empty air.
* * *
The Salvation Church had collapsed. There was no salvation.
Siia sat down before the empty lot where only burnt remnants remained, staring blankly into the void. As if drawing the image of the Salvation Church when it was still intact, her eyes were clouded over.
Plop. Pit-pat.
Cold raindrops struck her body. The rain, which had been falling drop by drop, soon became a downpour, lashing her entire body fiercely as if to tell her to come to her senses.
Even in the torrential rain, which was no different from a drenching, Siia could not easily regain her senses. Because the Salvation Church was meant to be her first and last sanctuary.
A world existed where they steadily provided warm bread and clean water, and where you didn't have to be wary of those around you.
It felt like a brief, warm dream. If only it had been a dream, if only it were so, it would have been better. But the wreckage before her eyes told her it was not a dream, leaving Siia in even greater despair.
Because now, she could no longer even dream.
She didn't want to do anything.
She wished she could just die like this.
Into the view of a child who had let go of everything, someone's legs came to a stop.
"Siia."
"......."
"How long are you going to stay like this."
"......."
"......Please, Siia."
Just answer me, at least.
A voice that sounded like it was being wrung out flowed out, pleading.
Seeing Siia, who remained silent in response, Paul clenched the hem of his clothes near his thighs with a darkened expression and then released it.
Immense regret washed over him. He shouldn't have introduced her to the Salvation Church back then.
Perhaps it would have been best to just live normally, as they always had. Such meaningless assumptions circled his mind several times.
'......No, it isn't.'
Those Murderer Knight Order bastards, no—Deon Hart, no—the Emperor...!
That's right, if only it weren't for the Emperor. If he hadn't interfered needlessly, the current situation wouldn't have happened.
In the end, the Emperor was the problem.
It was the problem of the high and mighty who clumsily meddled without knowing anything about the slums.
Anger settled in Paul's eyes. The emotion of anger deepened, turning into fierce hatred, and it soon hardened coldly, carrying a certain sense of mission.
"I've joined the Revolutionary Army."