Uninvited Guest (4)
There was room for interpretation on why the enemy had come, but their actions made it easy enough to infer.
"They're here protesting, demanding we hand over the money."
"Is that really it...?"
"Yes, Mother."
I leisurely sliced the meat while watching the two Masters hurl words at each other across the fifty-meter-high castle walls.
[Do you know of the atrocities you've committed!]
[They happened on imperial soil.]
[You crossed into imperial territory!!]
[The Red Wasteland is neutral ground, though.]
The voices transmitted by the projection stone were the conversation between the two Masters.
[Then you clean up what you cut down!!]
[If it rolled toward the Empire, they should've handled it.]
[Aaaargh! You bloodthirsty brute! Get down here right now! I'll teach you some manners today!!]
[The old man's got a lot to say.]
"Kuh...!"
A laugh escaped me at Father's irritated mutter.
"Grey."
"Ah, sorry."
I'd been thinking the same thing, so it figured Father felt it too.
"From the sound of it, we don't need to worry. They'll back off by morning anyway."
"Morning...?"
"Yes. They're just here to vent before cleaning up the orc corpses and heading back."
Claydoll Marquis showing up in person was a bit unexpected, but if he'd stepped up as Father's counterpart, it wasn't all that strange. He could buy enough time for five thousand soldiers to retreat safely against Father.
"Butler. Turn off the projection stone's sound. Father'll ignore Claydoll Marquis anyway, and listening to the enemy chatter is just annoying."
"Y-Young Master...?"
Operating the projection stone was the butler's job; I couldn't just fiddle with it right now.
"Grey. We should keep the sound on, shouldn't we?"
Mother quietly pointed at the battlefield illuminated by the projection stone.
"All I hear is that old man's yelling and the soldiers badmouthing the kingdom."
"Still."
"Understood. I'll just block my ears then."
White noise wasn't so bad.
"Lady Mente?"
"Yeah."
"If anything happens while you're on watch, wake me up."
"On watch? I'll just stay awake."
Lady Mente smiled wryly and glanced at the other knights with her eyes.
It wasn't a signal for me to notice; it was just a reflexive jab at the absurd situation.
Would knights from another house—or even Morgania—follow Father's orders and enter this place?
If Lady Mente had Claydoll Marquis's bulk, or even Robert's build, the knights here would've been on high alert.
But look. The family knights weren't even registering her presence.
Part of it was that she wasn't wearing a sword, but mostly it was like they could suppress her instantly if she tried anything.
Because of Father's orders? No. They were just underestimating her.
A petite girl like her got dismissed.
But I couldn't call them out on it now.
"Lady Mente. Want me to take over watch later?"
"Sir..."
"I'm Robert, escort to the young master."
"No need."
"No, I insist. I need a break too, right? Don't I, Young Master?"
Robert was the only one really looking out for Lady Mente, it seemed. What a good guy.
"Do that. Lady Mente, switch with Sir Robert later. Or sleep first if you want."
"...Thanks for the consideration."
Lady Mente backed down. If something happened later, her stepping in would handle it to some extent.
'As long as no Master-level shows up.'
That'd be a natural disaster beyond my control. If it came to that, we'd just hold out until Father returned.
"Then we'll sleep easy?"
"S-Sleep?"
"Yep. Little brother. Good kids go to bed early and wake up early."
I cleared away my empty plate, rinsed my mouth, leaned back on the sofa, and closed my eyes.
"Don't worry the adults. Kids should just sleep—that's how you help."
"......."
No matter the stares around me, I shut my eyes and focused on the mana in the meat, vegetables, and sauce.
'Absorb.'
It was less mana than a pinch of salt in the whole meal, but I condensed it so it wouldn't dissipate from my body.
"Grey...? W-Wait, are you actually sleeping?"
"......."
I was absorbing mana, but dozing off like this wouldn't be a problem. Lady Mente and Robert were here, plus plenty of other knights.
And above all, this wasn't an ordinary mansion.
'By the pact with Nostrum, in the name of Gibraltar.'
Hummm.
It was working fine.
'Father couldn't have left so carefree without this.'
Like the gate's magitech barrier, the mansion had magic circles installed inside.
A magical barrier activatable only by Gibraltar blood.
Father had taught me how to trigger it on the fly before leaving.
Otherwise, the one standing on the walls now might've been me instead.
"......."
"Looks like Grey's asleep. ...We'll watch for an hour, and if nothing changes, we'll put the kids back to bed."
Mother gave orders to the knights and servants, fiddling with the projection stone.
"Malcolm. Mute the sound and dim the brightness as much as possible."
"Yes, Madam."
Whiiiing.
The mana stone's flicker faded from my eyelids, letting me focus deeper on the mana.
'Grow fast.'
War was on, and there was much to do.
"......."
A ten-year-old kid's body had limits, even with mental fortitude.
So.
'Better sleep now and wake if something pops at dawn.'
I let the sleepiness take me without resistance.
'This is nice.'
Kid body meant crashing right after eating was no big deal.
* * *
I dreamed.
Realizing it's a dream while dreaming is tough for most, but it was fairly familiar to me.
'Been a while.'
Not Gibraltar—a new place.
The vast hall, bigger than the royal palace's banquet room, was filled with young men and women.
Correction: kids.
All pre-twenty, seventeen to nineteen—right before adulthood.
They wore uniforms, the giveaway. White shirts, black coats. Different colors per person.
Status and rank shown by pattern colors at a glance.
'Familiar uniform.'
'Still looks like hell.'
Whose brilliant idea was this?
Let commoners in too, "anyone can learn," then uniform them for "equality"—but divide by color.
'The incompetent king's.'
A unique feature no other academy had.
The Empire built this academy in the capital for "harmony" with the kingdom, but the incompetent king's meddling was indescribable.
It was already a divisive ploy under education's guise; his actions poured fuel on it.
Noble vs. noble hierarchies.
Pre-adult political factions.
Noble-commoner resentment and strife.
In the midst of it, I'd spent three hellish years here.
"That's Grey Gibraltar, right?"
Not quite.
No lunatic would assault the margrave's heir.
"To the glorious sword of the kingdom, toiling in the gorge for us. Heh heh heh."
Just their prejudice made it hell.
—Gibraltar will forever be the sword for the entire kingdom.
They forced goodwill on me.
Loyalty to the royals.
Service to the kingdom.
Sacrifice blood and life, endure any insult, overcome it all.
'Disgusting humans.'
When Gibraltar bled, they sweated in baths.
When we rolled in corpse-strewn dirt, they rolled in gold-sheeted beds.
Gibraltar served the kingdom loyally for five hundred years.
Maybe Father's treason was to end that legacy in his generation.
I was always grateful for that.
Even as traitors.
He burned the thorn-crowned laurels, ensuring no inheritance for kids and descendants.
Someday, a knight to die for us.
Bloodline forever sacrificing for the kingdom.
Breed watchdogs to bark and bite the Empire.
"Hey, hey. Isn't this the young master of a 'count' family?"
"Ha, damn it."
I'd thought it lucid and stayed put, but my consciousness awakened in the nightmare.
"Pellowood Roland, Marquis."
"What? Haha! Calling me marquis. You lost your mind?"
"Sorry. Since you died without making it, I can only call you that in my dreams."
"Ha, haha... What nonsense."
The blond, blue-eyed youth in academy uniform, hair slicked back—Pellowood Roland.
Pretty-boy gigolo look, but nobler than anyone.
Eldest son of famed Roland Marquis house, same age as me, but our futures diverged.
"The knight of a fallen kingdom sees only bright futures ahead."
"Fallen? Sure, the kingdom looks that way! But I'm different. I believe this country will change!"
This Pellowood was from my academy memories.
"Nostrum forever! The five-hundred-year dynasty lasts millennia! Hahaha!"
He'd said that then, so he'd dismiss anything I said now as drivel and stick to his script.
"Me as marquis, you as count! Twin chariots leading the kingdom anew!"
"Margrave is marquis rank."
"R-Really? Isn't margrave a count?!"
"Not in current Nostrum."
Dream or not, words were pointless.
I'd thought the first regression day a dream too, but Pellowood here proved this was one.
"You die. Going to rescue your brother the hostage."
"......."
"As captain of the 'Conquistador' ghost knights for the fallen kingdom's revival, charging the emperor—and killed by him."
This guy died in the future.
"Thanks for showing up in my dream anyway. Been wanting to vent about later stuff to someone."
"......Hahaha!!"
"Why laugh? I said you die."
"Isn't that death itself glorious?!"
Pellowood didn't flinch, raising his orange juice glass with a beaming smile.
"My loyalty unchanged in your future proves my path is right!"
"No talking sense."
Déjà vu hit. Maybe I'd regressed to first-year academy, not age ten.
"Fine, this: In this life, will you side with the Empire and sell out the country too?"
The dream world—or my subconscious—spoke through Pellowood.
"If you want what you crave, siding with the emperor's easiest, right?"
"True."
"Then you're the enemy."
"Roland's tricky, but not unbeatable."
"Hahaha! Then..."
Pellowood pointed his glass toward the hall.
"You plan to oppose her too?"
"........"
Step, step.
She descended the central stairs on the red carpet.
"Ah."
Wait. I'd thought I was lucid, but suddenly I stood before the princess.
"Princess?"
"Grey."
The princess called me.
"Even in a dream, I figured you'd know."
"......No wonder Pellowood greeted first."
"Yes."
The princess nodded blankly at me.
"Princess. Are you the princess my consciousness created?"
"Yes."
"So, this is dangerous?"
"Yes."
"...Then, wow. Truly, thank you. Really."
I pulled her hand and kissed its back.
"Still, since we met, I had to greet you properly. Princess."
"Grey."
The princess lifted the kissed hand to cup my chin.
"Be careful."
She leaned in close, whispering.
"......or else."
Her last words didn't reach me.
* * *
"......."
Quiet.
Opening my eyes, Father's study ceiling greeted me.
"......."
I scanned around. Mother slept hugging Letar; knights stood watch behind.
Maids on duty dozed; I quickly checked the room.
"Lady Mente?"
"Awake?"
Lady Mente, staring silently at the quiet projection stone beside me, greeted in a hushed voice.
"Sleep more. It's four a.m."
"Four...?"
"Battlefield's the same. Enemy too. Yawn. Eight hours unchanged."
The projection showed a still scene. Father atop the walls, soldiers aiming cannons at the gate—frozen.
"......."
And missing.
"Where's Noir?"
Noir was gone.
"Oh. Noir? Went to the bathroom with the butler and a knight."
"......."
No bathroom in the study. And no Malcolm.
"......Haaa."
Noir, you damn kid.
'Shit.'
If awake, I'd have said piss in a bucket. But the escort knight?
"Who went? Know him?"
"Sir Balrak, I think."
"Hm..."
Sir Balrak was reliable. Not Robert-level, but skilled enough—
'Why that damn dream.'
Worried too much?
'Pellowood showing up makes it worse.'
Trauma from the emperor manifesting as nightmare? Or—
Groooowl—
Urgent footsteps.
Bam—!
The door burst open.
"H-Help...!"
Butler Malcolm stumbled in, blood streaming from his head.
"Master Noir—"
Thud.
He collapsed mid-sentence.
Red blood pooled beneath him.
"KyaAAAAAHHH—!!"
The maid's scream rang like an alarm bell, familiar stench assaulting my nose.
Through the open door, acrid yet faint scent mixed with blood, seeping into my lungs.
"Ha."
Fortunate in misfortune.
'Not the worst I imagined.'
At least not friendly fire.
Worst—correction. Better than that.
"In the name of Gibraltar."
I checked the knife in my pocket.
"Seal the mansion."
Thump.
My heart lurched. The magic circle recognized the blood in my veins, activating the barrier instantly.
"W-What is this...?"
"What are you doing? Knights."
I snapped orders at the stunned knights.
"If you don't wanna die, find the bastard who attacked my brother. Now—!"