Chapter 564: Destination (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 564: Destination (4)
If Jerome was asking how I'd noticed, the answer was simple.
First, the two of them had been too quick to establish an antagonistic relationship.
"Try it, then. That execution you're so eager for."
"Wipe them out! Kill all of them other than their leader!"
We jumped straight into battle after a short exchange, and the village chief had cut and run with the rest of the monsters.
And then, the chase sequence happened.
"He's heading that way? All forces, change course!"
Oddly enough, as soon as I changed course, the main unit did the same. It was almost as if Jerome had been keeping a close eye on me. Of course, that was only a gut feeling, but even if he just noticed I was running in a different direction by coincidence, that didn't change the fact that it was odd that he followed me when he thought he had the chief in his sights.
Because if this was the same Jerome who always gave his all to the mission, the guy who just minutes before threatened this so-called "traitor" of a village chief...
Then he wouldn't have stopped chasing him down until his objective was complete.
...Well, at that point, all I had was a weird feeling about the situation.
The final nail in the coffin was when Jerome made that request of me.
"Could you perhaps take the lead?"
This was the guy who had put my safety above the success of the battle when I collapsed during the fight against the Wolf of Prophecy, Kashan. The same guy who would discard the precious lives of the people under his command for the sake of his mission.
Yet this very same guy was trying to get me to walk into potential danger?
After picking up on the fact that something was quite wrong and going through all the possibilities, I could see only one likely explanation. The issue was that I ended up being right.
"You and your people shouldn't have had any way of knowing that. It seems there are more rats than expected among these ranks."
Jerome turned his cold eyes on the soldiers around him. He seemed to believe that the reason I'd managed to clock that something was off was because I had a spy somewhere in his squadron. Well, that would help explain why I tried to run away during the chase, at least.
And by "your people," he's probably talking about Raven and Kaislan as well...
My suspicions were now confirmed.
With that, I began to puzzle over what the conversation between the village chief and Jerome could have entailed. It must have taken place on this island when everyone except the night patrol was asleep.
If my hypothesis was correct, those two met up and spoke in secret, and the chief had used the opportunity to make Jerome some sort of an offer. Something that Jerome Saintred had then decided was worth more to him than his mission.
"What was it? What did the village chief promise you that you changed sides overnight?" I demanded outright.
Jerome, however, wasn't inclined to be forthcoming. "This is where our conversation ends, Your Lordship. Now that I have given you your answer, take the lead and walk underground."
It wasn't a request or a suggestion. "I order you as your commander," he announced.
"And what if I say I don't want to?" I countered.
"I will take that as willful defiance of a royal decree."
To be honest, I was kind of stunned. There were close to two hundred witnesses present, and he wasn't even bothering to hide what he was doing.
He's confident he can keep this under wraps...
He probably did have plenty of methods for doing so available to him. Money, fame, honor, power... The number of levers the palace could pull was close to infinite, and if he happened to stumble across someone on whom none of those tricks worked, it wouldn't make much of a difference anyway.
In the end, he would get what he wanted, even if he had to resort to extremes.
I bit my lip, shooting a glance at my companions. They seemed to immediately pick up on my look
"Yandel, don't waste your time worrying about us. We're all already ready." Cold determination laced Amelia's words as she came forward to stand by my side.
"Even if you don't want to, you still need to be ready to fight if the situation calls for it. You were the one who told me that, right, Bjorn?"
Even Ainar, with her tanked Aggression, drew her weapon and stepped up behind me.
"I hadn't expected this to happen so soon..." Versyl admitted. Still, her resolve to take necessary action, no matter the consequences, made itself clear. "But this was always something we'd have to face eventually."
The one that I was most surprised about, however, was Myul Armin.
"We will fight beside you as well, Lord Baron. It is the only way to repay our debt to you," he boldly declared, seemingly unconcerned about being branded a traitor to the crown.
"Uhh... w-we... just... I don't know, so l-let's try and solve this peacefully first..."
On the other hand, Wyatt Hektz didn't seem to be nearly as loyal. Although to be fair, that was the reaction any normal person would have had in this situation.
Anyway, those on the palace's side seemed to waver once they realized they were now going to have to face me as an enemy.
"If what the baron said is true... is the count scheming with that monster...?"
"He probably has his reasons... but is sending the baron into danger like that really the right thing to do?"
"Wasn't our mission to retrieve the baron and return with him alive? This goes against that objective."
The achievements I had accrued, my fame as a hero and my position as a noble, and even the favorable reputation I had nurtured among the soldiers... Although those three factors combined weren't enough to get them to go against their commander, they at least drove a wedge in the party, creating a schism between the members. I could already see it in my mind's eye. Even if Jerome gave the order to kill me right now, their hesitation would stay their weapons.
Which would be the opening I needed. It was an opening as small as the eye of a needle for now, but from here on out, its size would depend on how I chose to proceed.
"I, Baron Bjorn Yandel, have this to say!" I lowered the shield I had raised defensively and shouted, "As a proud noble who supports the Royal House of Rafdonia, and as a warrior, I swear this on my honor! If it is for the good of the palace, I am not afraid of anything! Even giving my life!"
While shouting, I kept Misplaced Trust clenched firmly in my fist. Every time I spoke, it momentarily stopped ticking, but if I did a good enough job of hiding it, they wouldn't be able to notice at this distance.
"I am always ready to throw myself into danger for the glorious future of the royal family!" I let out a roar of (false) loyalty and then proceeded to top it off with a final masterstroke. "However! I do not know for sure if this is in service of the palace! Or if you are making the wrong decision while believing you are right!"
"I will take that as willful defiance of a royal decree."
To be honest, I was kind of stunned. There were close to two hundred witnesses present, and he wasn't even bothering to hide what he was doing.
He's confident he can keep this under wraps...
He probably did have plenty of methods for doing so available to him. Money, fame, honor, power... The number of levers the palace could pull was close to infinite, and if he happened to stumble across someone on whom none of those tricks worked, it wouldn't make much of a difference anyway.
In the end, he would get what he wanted, even if he had to resort to extremes.
I bit my lip, shooting a glance at my companions. They seemed to immediately pick up on my look
"Yandel, don't waste your time worrying about us. We're all already ready." Cold determination laced Amelia's words as she came forward to stand by my side.
"Even if you don't want to, you still need to be ready to fight if the situation calls for it. You were the one who told me that, right, Bjorn?"
Even Ainar, with her tanked Aggression, drew her weapon and stepped up behind me.
"I hadn't expected this to happen so soon..." Versyl admitted. Still, her resolve to take necessary action, no matter the consequences, made itself clear. "But this was always something we'd have to face eventually."
The one that I was most surprised about, however, was Myul Armin.
"We will fight beside you as well, Lord Baron. It is the only way to repay our debt to you," he boldly declared, seemingly unconcerned about being branded a traitor to the crown.
"Uhh... w-we... just... I don't know, so l-let's try and solve this peacefully first..."
On the other hand, Wyatt Hektz didn't seem to be nearly as loyal. Although to be fair, that was the reaction any normal person would have had in this situation.
Anyway, those on the palace's side seemed to waver once they realized they were now going to have to face me as an enemy.
"If what the baron said is true... is the count scheming with that monster...?"
"He probably has his reasons... but is sending the baron into danger like that really the right thing to do?"
"Wasn't our mission to retrieve the baron and return with him alive? This goes against that objective."
The achievements I had accrued, my fame as a hero and my position as a noble, and even the favorable reputation I had nurtured among the soldiers... Although those three factors combined weren't enough to get them to go against their commander, they at least drove a wedge in the party, creating a schism between the members. I could already see it in my mind's eye. Even if Jerome gave the order to kill me right now, their hesitation would stay their weapons.
Which would be the opening I needed. It was an opening as small as the eye of a needle for now, but from here on out, its size would depend on how I chose to proceed.
"I, Baron Bjorn Yandel, have this to say!" I lowered the shield I had raised defensively and shouted, "As a proud noble who supports the Royal House of Rafdonia, and as a warrior, I swear this on my honor! If it is for the good of the palace, I am not afraid of anything! Even giving my life!"
While shouting, I kept Misplaced Trust clenched firmly in my fist. Every time I spoke, it momentarily stopped ticking, but if I did a good enough job of hiding it, they wouldn't be able to notice at this distance.
"I am always ready to throw myself into danger for the glorious future of the royal family!" I let out a roar of (false) loyalty and then proceeded to top it off with a final masterstroke. "However! I do not know for sure if this is in service of the palace! Or if you are making the wrong decision while believing you are right!"
My weapon of choice was a type of poison. A poison that would seep into everyone here and lead them down the road to destruction.
"You dare... call my loyalty to the royal family into question?" Jerome seethed.
"How can I not when you aren't giving me a proper explanation? Explain it so I can understand! Then I—Bjorn, son of Yandel—will go down there immediately! Even if you are only doing it to get rid of me!"
I was going to cling to him like a leech and drag him down with me if I had to.
The silence stretched on as Jerome Saintred stayed quiet, and suspicion began to fester among the other members of the expedition group.
And it seemed he'd noticed as well.
"Speak, Jerome Saintred!" I demanded. "What is down there, and what deal did you make with the village chief?"
He was slow to answer, but indignation lifted his voice into a shout as he said, "...I cannot reveal military secrets to you. However, know this. All of this is for the good of the royal family!"
"I can't trust that!"
He reared back. "Why not? Isn't Misplaced Trust active? You know for a fact that everything I have said is the truth—"
"You might just think this is for the good of the royal family and be wrong!"
That shut him up again.
All right. Judging by the look on his face, he'd probably start spilling some information if I kept pushing. If I could get in one more decisive rebuttal, swaying public opinion to my side here might not be impossible.
"Then speak! Explain how sending me down there is for the sake of the royal family!"
Operating under that logic, I put my loyalty on full display with another shout.
However, out of nowhere, I heard a voice in my head.
[...You're wrong. Opposing him here will only lead to a worse outcome.]
It was a gentle voice threaded with a sigh.
[You could have run away immediately. Why did you have to make everything so difficult...?]
Flash!
Just as I was wondering whose voice it was, a flash of silver blinded me and the world went dark.
***
[Bystander of Destiny has intervened.]
[With Sven Parav's Stigma as a medium, Star's Authority has been cast on you.]
[The Mark of the Star has been engraved deep into your skin. Your Divine Resistance stat has permanently increased by +100. All healing and positive effects cast on you by those under the authority of the Reatlas Church are reduced by half.]
[Be warned. If you are bestowed the power of a god one more time, your fragile mortal body will disintegrate...]
***
When I came to, I was still standing in the same place. No, to be more accurate, I was somehow staring at myself standing in the same place from a short distance away.
"Then speak! Explain how sending me down there is for the sake of the royal family!"
I was still shouting in Jerome's face, which flushed red like a hot kettle.
What the hell...?
For some reason, I was watching this unfold from a third-person perspective.
Watch closely. You will find the answers you seek. The voice I heard earlier spoke to me in my ear again the moment I asked myself what was going on.
My mind whirred, growing foggy. It felt like I was drunk. Maybe that was why? Somehow, the question faded from my mind until only the thought of following the voice's suggestion remained.
"Why can't you answer me? Maybe it's because you already know it too! That what you are trying to do here isn't for the good of the royal family at all!"
The longer I watched the scene play out, the worse the situation became.
I didn't stop talking, and the commander finally ended up snapping.
"How long do you plan on spitting in the face of the palace? You traitor!"
"Hah! Traitor! I am not going against the command of the king. I am only questioning your judgment—"
"Hah! Do you really think I don't know? You're nothing but a traitor acting like Bjorn, son of Yandel!"
"...What?"
When Jerome said that, the eyes of the other me went wide with surprise. Since this was my own face I was reading, it wasn't difficult for me to figure out what I was thinking. I was probably scared that my identity as an evil spirit had been revealed.
"I was suspicious of you from the moment we met, but I've become certain since arriving on this island. You are the man who operated under the name of Iron Mask decades ago in Noark."
"Uh..."
"You must've been ordered by Noark to become a spy, posing as a barbarian who just recently came of age to infiltrate Rafdonia. I bet that during those two years and six months, you disappeared for that 'special mission' of yours, you simply returned home."
"Uhhh..."
"Yet still, you stand there and dare to speak lies about the palace? I don't know how you're suppressing the effects of Misplaced Trust..."
"Suppressing? I'm not—"
"Then hold it so we can see it! There, look! It stops every time you talk!"
It was game over from there.
"If this means handing over a traitor like you and bringing prosperity to the palace, then I would do it a hundred times—no, a thousand times over. What are you all doing? Arrest this wicked traitor! If anyone tries to help him, treat them as traitors as well and kill them! I, Jerome Saintred, will take full responsibility for whatever happens here!"
The lies I was spreading through Misplaced Trust had been clocked, and before I could give anything resembling a proper explanation, Jerome immediately gave the order to attack.
"Everyone, get behind me!"
With the Hektz Clan and Armin Adventurer Group now out of the picture, the members of Clan Anabada readied themselves to take a final stand as time stuttered to a stop.
"What happens after this...?" I breathed, the words leaving my mouth unbidden.
That mysterious voice answered me again. Three of your precious companions die. And then things progress to the future I showed that child.
Only then did I finally realize whose voice this was. This was the Goddess of the Stars, who oversaw fate—Reatlas. I was an atheist communing with a real god in a faraway world, but this revelation didn't have as much of a spiritual impact as I thought it might. There was only one thing that mattered right now.
"Then what should I have done? It was obvious that he was trying to set me up. Should I have just gone down there like he ordered without arguing?"
I wanted an answer. Just as other people looked to god when they were driven into a corner, I sought an answer from this god.
I told you. Watch until the end.
With that, time in the frozen world began to move backward.
My weapon of choice was a type of poison. A poison that would seep into everyone here and lead them down the road to destruction.
"You dare... call my loyalty to the royal family into question?" Jerome seethed.
"How can I not when you aren't giving me a proper explanation? Explain it so I can understand! Then I—Bjorn, son of Yandel—will go down there immediately! Even if you are only doing it to get rid of me!"
I was going to cling to him like a leech and drag him down with me if I had to.
The silence stretched on as Jerome Saintred stayed quiet, and suspicion began to fester among the other members of the expedition group.
And it seemed he'd noticed as well.
"Speak, Jerome Saintred!" I demanded. "What is down there, and what deal did you make with the village chief?"
He was slow to answer, but indignation lifted his voice into a shout as he said, "...I cannot reveal military secrets to you. However, know this. All of this is for the good of the royal family!"
"I can't trust that!"
He reared back. "Why not? Isn't Misplaced Trust active? You know for a fact that everything I have said is the truth—"
"You might just think this is for the good of the royal family and be wrong!"
That shut him up again.
All right. Judging by the look on his face, he'd probably start spilling some information if I kept pushing. If I could get in one more decisive rebuttal, swaying public opinion to my side here might not be impossible.
"Then speak! Explain how sending me down there is for the sake of the royal family!"
Operating under that logic, I put my loyalty on full display with another shout.
However, out of nowhere, I heard a voice in my head.
[...You're wrong. Opposing him here will only lead to a worse outcome.]
It was a gentle voice threaded with a sigh.
[You could have run away immediately. Why did you have to make everything so difficult...?]
Flash!
Just as I was wondering whose voice it was, a flash of silver blinded me and the world went dark.
***
[Bystander of Destiny has intervened.]
[With Sven Parav's Stigma as a medium, Star's Authority has been cast on you.]
[The Mark of the Star has been engraved deep into your skin. Your Divine Resistance stat has permanently increased by +100. All healing and positive effects cast on you by those under the authority of the Reatlas Church are reduced by half.]
[Be warned. If you are bestowed the power of a god one more time, your fragile mortal body will disintegrate...]
***
When I came to, I was still standing in the same place. No, to be more accurate, I was somehow staring at myself standing in the same place from a short distance away.
"Then speak! Explain how sending me down there is for the sake of the royal family!"
I was still shouting in Jerome's face, which flushed red like a hot kettle.
What the hell...?
For some reason, I was watching this unfold from a third-person perspective.
Watch closely. You will find the answers you seek. The voice I heard earlier spoke to me in my ear again the moment I asked myself what was going on.
My mind whirred, growing foggy. It felt like I was drunk. Maybe that was why? Somehow, the question faded from my mind until only the thought of following the voice's suggestion remained.
"Why can't you answer me? Maybe it's because you already know it too! That what you are trying to do here isn't for the good of the royal family at all!"
The longer I watched the scene play out, the worse the situation became.
I didn't stop talking, and the commander finally ended up snapping.
"How long do you plan on spitting in the face of the palace? You traitor!"
"Hah! Traitor! I am not going against the command of the king. I am only questioning your judgment—"
"Hah! Do you really think I don't know? You're nothing but a traitor acting like Bjorn, son of Yandel!"
"...What?"
When Jerome said that, the eyes of the other me went wide with surprise. Since this was my own face I was reading, it wasn't difficult for me to figure out what I was thinking. I was probably scared that my identity as an evil spirit had been revealed.
"I was suspicious of you from the moment we met, but I've become certain since arriving on this island. You are the man who operated under the name of Iron Mask decades ago in Noark."
"Uh..."
"You must've been ordered by Noark to become a spy, posing as a barbarian who just recently came of age to infiltrate Rafdonia. I bet that during those two years and six months, you disappeared for that 'special mission' of yours, you simply returned home."
"Uhhh..."
"Yet still, you stand there and dare to speak lies about the palace? I don't know how you're suppressing the effects of Misplaced Trust..."
"Suppressing? I'm not—"
"Then hold it so we can see it! There, look! It stops every time you talk!"
It was game over from there.
"If this means handing over a traitor like you and bringing prosperity to the palace, then I would do it a hundred times—no, a thousand times over. What are you all doing? Arrest this wicked traitor! If anyone tries to help him, treat them as traitors as well and kill them! I, Jerome Saintred, will take full responsibility for whatever happens here!"
The lies I was spreading through Misplaced Trust had been clocked, and before I could give anything resembling a proper explanation, Jerome immediately gave the order to attack.
"Everyone, get behind me!"
With the Hektz Clan and Armin Adventurer Group now out of the picture, the members of Clan Anabada readied themselves to take a final stand as time stuttered to a stop.
"What happens after this...?" I breathed, the words leaving my mouth unbidden.
That mysterious voice answered me again. Three of your precious companions die. And then things progress to the future I showed that child.
Only then did I finally realize whose voice this was. This was the Goddess of the Stars, who oversaw fate—Reatlas. I was an atheist communing with a real god in a faraway world, but this revelation didn't have as much of a spiritual impact as I thought it might. There was only one thing that mattered right now.
"Then what should I have done? It was obvious that he was trying to set me up. Should I have just gone down there like he ordered without arguing?"
I wanted an answer. Just as other people looked to god when they were driven into a corner, I sought an answer from this god.
I told you. Watch until the end.
With that, time in the frozen world began to move backward.