Return (2)
Return (2)
The ruins of the ancient kingdom lay about half a day's ride by carriage from the capital.
Although the Great War had reduced them to rubble, excavations conducted after the Kingdom was founded had turned the site into one of the capital's popular tourist attractions.
For the past few years, though, with no visitors in sight, it had become little more than a lonely, crumbling ruin.
Yet now, after a long silence, visitors had finally arrived.
Two carriages stood parked nearby, and tents had been pitched. For the past few days, academy students had been surveying the ruins.
But as expected, they had found absolutely nothing, and the students looked utterly bored.
After wasting several days to no avail, they had lost all motivation to investigate further. Now they were simply gathered in front of the tents, passing the time with idle chatter.
"There really is absolutely nothing here. You must be bored too, Mirisa."
At Balea's question, Mirisa glanced around, then nodded in agreement.
"When we get back, I'm definitely going to give the person who recommended this place a piece of my mind. You should join me, Mirisa."
"Oh, no, I wouldn't go that far..."
"What does it matter if he's not even here? This is the perfect time to vent all our frustrations."
Mirisa looked troubled by Balea's playful urging.
"Still, there must be some reason. Young Lord Alex has never done anything without a purpose."
Interrupting Balea's teasing, the Princess spoke up. She had been busy wiping her sword.
"It's true. Though I haven't known him for long, he's certainly not the type to waste his time on pointless endeavors. Still, it did feel like he was in a bit of a hurry this time. He even backed out himself."
Though she agreed with the Princess, the Grand Archduchess also seemed to have her doubts about the whole affair.
"That's exactly my point! He sent us all the way out here, then slipped away on his own. More than anything, it's quite vexing that he didn't even bother to tell us why. If it weren't so dreadfully boring, I wouldn't have brought it up at all."
It was hard to tell whether she was grumbling out of sheer boredom or genuinely upset that he had left them in the dark.
Ultimately, it was all just idle gossip born of boredom.
As he watched the girls chat, Joachim leisurely surveyed his surroundings.
He was just as bored as they were, but he had no real complaints.
Even in ruins, the remnants of the Old Empire were a source of pride and pleasure to him as a citizen of the Tsar Empire, the true successor to that ancient regime.
Though their nation was already the strongest in the world, once the Tsar Empire surpassed the glory of the Old Empire, these ruins would undoubtedly be restored to their former splendor.
Getting a firsthand look at such a historic site only fueled Joachim's national pride.
As he passed the time in his own productive way, he spotted a rider galloping toward them in the distance.
The horse looked completely exhausted, and its rider, clad in leather armor, was covered in grime.
At least his gear, though worn and weathered, seemed sturdy and well-maintained.
Even to Joachim, the rider looked like a seasoned mercenary who had spent years surviving on the battlefield.
Joachim had only just noticed the rider when the Princess spotted him too. Soon, everyone had turned to watch the mercenary gallop toward them.
The mercenary was driving his mount at a frantic pace.
Without slowing as he neared the group, he yanked hard on the reins, bringing the beast to a sudden, jarring halt right in front of them.
"Whoa! Stop, you stubborn beast!"
He nearly tumbled out of the saddle, then rushed toward them.
While everyone stared at him in utter bewilderment, the man ignored the others entirely and marched straight up to Joachim.
"Heff, puff. Whew... I made it in time."
"Who sent you?"
Realizing the man had business with him, Joachim questioned the mercenary.
"Paula sent me."
There was absolutely no reason for Paula to send a mercenary to him.
The mercenary pulled a letter from his breast pocket and handed it to Joachim.
Joachim furrowed his brow.
She hadn't even sent a verbal message.
Excusing himself from the group, Joachim stepped a short distance away and broke the seal.
As he scanned the contents, his expression hardened into a mask.
The words written on the parchment defied common sense.
She was telling him to go into hiding, just in case? And what in the world did she mean by kidnapping someone in the capital?
The situation was utterly beyond his comprehension.
Regardless, Joachim was in no position to ignore Paula's warnings.
With a heavy sigh, he turned to the mercenary standing nearby.
"So, what exactly am I supposed to do?"
"I was told things have gone awry. You must escape with me immediately."
"Gone awry? Is Paula safe?"
"My apologies. I don't know the exact details myself."
Joachim nodded slowly.
He didn't know the specifics, but his brother had once mentioned how secretive and compartmentalized the Organization was.
Sighing once more, he returned to the group and politely excused himself.
"My apologies, everyone. It seems I must leave ahead of you. A matter of some urgency has arisen regarding Lady Paula, who was dispatched alongside me."
It wasn't a lie, and though vague, it was a perfectly reasonable excuse. The girls were curious, but none of them found his sudden departure suspicious.
"In that case, you must hurry."
"Don't worry about us. Go on ahead."
Instead, the group, led by the Princess and the Grand Archduchess, sent him off with warm concern.
While Joachim packed his belongings, Balea turned to the others.
"With Young Lord Joachim leaving too, we're down two people. Why don't we use this as an excuse to pack up and head back?"
At her blunt, decidedly un-noble way of putting it, the Princess and the Grand Archduchess shook their heads in amusement.
Yet neither of them disagreed with her suggestion.
Though they still had their servants and the Grand Archduchess's escort knights, it was impractical to continue the exploration with only the girls remaining.
The four girls exchanged glances and quickly agreed: they would end their trip here.
While the girls reached their lighthearted decision, Joachim finished packing and mounted the horse the mercenary had brought.
Joachim frowned as he felt the horse trembling beneath him.
"Is this the only horse you have?"
"Do not worry, Young Lord. It runs much better than it looks."
He had been questioning the beast's stamina, but the mercenary seemed to have taken it as a doubt about its speed.
Either way, there were clearly no other options.
The two bid farewell to the girls, who were already beginning to pack, and set off immediately.
With Joachim on its back, the laden horse broke into a gallop, while the mercenary ran alongside on foot.
As the girls watched, they initially headed in the direction of the capital.
Once they were safely out of sight, they planned to turn north.
After riding for a good while, the two finally veered north as planned.
According to the mercenary, they would lie low at a safe house in the northern territory, assess the situation, and then slip back into the Empire.
Joachim was deeply frustrated by his ruined study-abroad experience, and his disdain for the incompetent organization only grew.
Yet for now, he had no choice but to rely on their help. The mercenary guiding him belonged to the Organization, and their destination was one of its safe houses.
As they sped northward, they suddenly spotted a lone figure standing in the middle of the road ahead.
"Huh? Why is he here? He's supposed to be in the capital. Does he have something to tell us?"
Joachim tilted his head in confusion as he recognized the figure, but the mercenary running beside him went pale and whipped out a crossbow.
Panting heavily, the mercenary asked Joachim,
"Hah... Is that a student you know?"
The figure waiting ahead was indeed clad in the Royal Academy uniform.
"Of course I do. He's probably my closest friend at the academy. We're in the same group, but he stayed behind in the capital to handle some business..."
"Hah, hah... Is he strong, by any chance? Around your level, Young Lord?"
"He's far stronger than me. Honestly, he's probably stronger than the imperial royal knights."
"Damn it!"
The mercenary cursed under his breath, forgetting all about his exhaustion.
He raised his crossbow, aimed at the student, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"Hey, what are you doing?!"
Clang!
Joachim's startled shout was instantly drowned out by the sharp metallic ring of the bolt being deflected by a blade.
"Run, Young Lord! I'll buy you some time! If you escape, head straight to the safe house I told you about!"
It was doubtful whether his words even registered.
The figure, who had been standing perfectly still, suddenly sprinted toward them.
Only then did Joachim fully grasp the situation.
He didn't know what had happened in the capital, but it was clear that his newly made friend was here to block his escape to the Empire.
Despite the mercenary's frantic urge to flee, Joachim dismounted.
Run away from him? In his short life, that was the most absurd suggestion he had ever heard.
Then again, drawing his own sword right now would be just as foolish.
There was no way he could win. Throughout the second semester, the gap between their skills had only grown wider.
Judging by the duel in which Alex had utterly crushed the freshman, that gap had undoubtedly widened into an abyss.
Joachim was fiercely proud of his empire and held little respect for this kingdom, but he could not deny the terrifying prowess of the man charging toward him.
Even so, as a cadet of the Empire's knighthood, he could not bring himself to show his back to an enemy.
Even if the odds were stacked against him, there might still be a one-in-a-thousand chance.
He was determined to fight with everything he had until the very end.
"Very well! Young Lord Alex! Come at me!"
As Joachim let out his spirited battle cry, Alex's blade flashed toward him.
After Joachim's departure, the servants worked diligently to pack up, and the remaining girls soon finished getting ready to leave.
Once they departed, the ruins would return to their quiet, desolate state.
With that thought in mind, they all took one last look at the ancient site.
The ruins of the fallen Old Empire.
An empire that, despite leaving behind so many physical remnants, had strangely vanished from history, leaving almost no cultural trace.
Lost in thought as they gazed at the stone structures, the girls snapped out of their reverie when the servants announced that the carriages were ready. They began walking over.
Yet it seemed it was still too early for silence to reclaim the ruins.
New visitors had arrived.
It was a troop of dozens of mounted knights.
Bearing the banner of the Royal Knights and clad in armor emblazoned with the order's crest, the Kingdom's finest warriors had ridden out to these ruins.
"Whoa! Whoa!"
The knights brought their mounts to a halt right in front of the carriages the students had arrived in.
The girls stared at the sudden arrivals, their eyes wide with surprise.
"The Royal Knights..."
Surrounded by dozens of towering, heavily armored men, the girls couldn't help but feel utterly intimidated.
Balea, the Princess, and the Grand Archduchess managed to maintain their composure, but Mirisa's face had already drained of all color.
Given the knights' massive builds, the steeds they rode were no ordinary beasts either.
They were handpicked, exceptionally powerful, massive warhorses. Yet among their ranks was a knight so colossal that he made even those giant steeds look small.
That knight, who stood a full head taller than the others, was the first to dismount. He stepped back respectfully.
The senior knight leading the troop then rode forward.
The senior knight's expression as he looked down at the girls was grim.
His eyes flickered with deep unease.
He flinched, repeatedly fighting the urge to look over his shoulder.
But he steeled his resolve and gritted his teeth.
"Criminal Joachim von Schirach, step forward! You are under arrest by royal decree!"
He bellowed, his voice echoing across the ruins as he glared at the girls and the surrounding area.
"Anyone who harbors him or obstructs justice will be executed on the spot! Joachim, show yourself immediately!"
He roared, but no one answered.
It was still early spring. Only a cold, biting wind swept through the silent ruins.