The Northern Anomaly
After Commander Meryl finished her account, a brief silence settled over everyone. Then, as if to break it, Riel spoke up.
"It's just like a Fairy's Prank."
"Fairies?"
Princess Yuril reacted at once to Riel's words. I looked at Riel as well.
Fairies.
They were beings treated as divine apostles who served and followed the World Tree Yggdrasil... weren't they?
In truth, even the original novel had never gone into much detail about fairies. All I remembered was that the World Tree Church called them apostles of the gods and worshipped them too. That was why Riel's mention of a Fairy's Prank stuck with me so strongly.
When every gaze in the room turned toward her, Riel flinched — then spoke anyway.
"Y-yes! I-it's... a story from a fairy tale I read when I was little."
According to Riel, fairies were curious creatures who loved playing tricks on people. Among those tricks were ones that robbed a person of their sense of direction, or showed them illusions, until they wandered hopelessly lost. It was a favorite prank of theirs. They would laugh themselves sick watching people panic as they stumbled in circles, unable to find their way.
There were other stories too — feeding people fake food so they never felt full no matter how much they ate, making them trip, scrambling their very perception of the world. All manner of mischief.
"So there was a tale like that. It does sound rather similar, I must say."
Princess Yuril nodded. Then the female knight standing beside her, Meryl, spoke up.
"A Fairy's Prank, though... I don't believe I've ever heard that story before."
"Ah, that might actually be only natural."
The one who answered Meryl's question was none other than Eve.
"The World Tree Church designated that fairy-tale book as forbidden. Something about it tarnishing the fairies' image, I believe."
"Ah, I see..."
"Sister, then the book I read when I was little..."
Riel said it with a slightly uneasy look. Eve smiled as she answered.
"We hardly need to concern ourselves with whatever books the Church decides to ban, now do we?"
House Ignis had been on poor terms with the Church since the previous generation. The late Duke Ignis had disliked everything the Church spearheaded so thoroughly that he would take the lead in doing whatever they tried to suppress. When it came to books they had banned outright, he would go out of his way to buy them up and collect them.
Well, that had soured relations with the Church beyond any hope of repair — but the current Duke Ignis, taking after his father, found the Church equally distasteful, so it wasn't a problem. And among those collected books, apparently, had been the fairy tale Riel had read.
"What a fascinating story. I'll be sure to remember it," Princess Yuril said with a smile.
In any case, after that, the royal family also found Duke Ignis's whereabouts suspicious, and planned to cast a search net across the entire kingdom. Duchess Ignis, who was presumed to have been traveling with the Duke, and their son Andrew were likewise missing without a trace.
As for the situation in the duchy, now that Eve Ignis had resolved to actively settle her family's affairs, Princess Aine herself would be intervening directly. The chaos at House Ignis would be brought to order — but Riel's parents and older brother remained without so much as a lead.
Still, if the royal family deployed a search across the entire kingdom, I believed they would surely be found before long.
...Assuming they were still unharmed until then.
Once the discussion with Princess Yuril concluded, Princess Aine addressed us.
"Eve and I will handle the ducal house's problems one way or another."
"Yes."
"Riel Ignis. I know you must be worried about your family as well, but leave what comes after to us."
"I understand."
Riel nodded. Princess Aine looked at me, grinned, and gave a small nod of her own. I nodded back. She then stepped aside with Commander Garrett, and Eve came forward.
Eve looked at Riel, smiled gently, and said,
"You're still students, so leave the rest to us adults and do your best at the Academy."
"Sister..."
"Riel... it might already be too late, but your sister will take care of this. I promise..."
"Okay..."
Eve pulled Riel into a tight hug once more. Behind them, Princess Aine and Commander Garrett watched with smiles. I felt a smile tugging at the corners of my own mouth as well.
"I'll ask you once more to look after Riel, so she can enjoy her time at the Academy."
"Of course. Don't worry."
"We plan to leave the county tomorrow, return to the capital, and then head straight for the duchy."
"Straight there?"
"Yes. With our family's situation as it is, I want to get the household in order quickly and join the search myself."
Worry clouded Eve's eyes.
"Understood. If there's any progress..."
"Yes. I'll send word."
The next day, Her Highness and her party departed Ventus County by morning carriage. Riel and I still had three days of holiday left, and since Riel had promised to return together with Emilia, we stayed behind in the county.
"Let's go over there next!!"
Riel and I were at the market inside the fortress. It happened to be the weekend, so the weekend market was packed and bustling.
"Blood of mine... is the crimson girl always like this...?"
Kino, who had been dragged along after being caught practicing poses in the garden, was trailing behind us with an utterly exhausted look on his face. Phyllis stood waiting beside him.
"No, honestly, I'm pretty surprised myself."
Even granting that she had gotten better, I hadn't expected her to have improved enough to act this lively in a place this crowded. Had coming all the way out to this distant region been that much of a change of pace for her...?
Riel was smiling brightly, happily browsing the stalls. There was something that didn't sit quite right with me — but seeing her smile that brightly, I figured it was probably fine.
She didn't stop at just looking around, either. She shopped, snacked, and thoroughly enjoyed herself. Well, I had been enjoying my long-overdue return home too, but somehow it felt like Riel was having even more fun than I was.
"Come to think of it, blood of mine."
"Hm?"
"Is it truly all right that you have not gone to see Astar?"
"Ah."
"He did seem to be awaiting the hour of your reunion with no small amount of anticipation."
Kino's words jogged my memory. I had promised to spar with Astar when I came home.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen him all day... Where on earth is Astar?"
"Young Master Astar is in his room."
...His room?
I looked at Phyllis after her reply.
"Was that guy ever the type to stay quietly in his room...?"
"No. He is unable to rise on account of muscle soreness."
Oh my god.
I'd just have to see him next time.
We had finished looking around the market and were about to head back to the mansion when a voice called out behind me.
"Young Master Kyou!"
I turned, and a middle-aged man whose hair had begun to gray was running toward us. It was Ralph, one of the mansion's servants.
"Ralph, what's going on?"
"The Count is calling for you!"
Father?
Seeing Ralph drenched in sweat from running, I sensed something was wrong. I left Riel and Kino with Phyllis and ran for the mansion.
In the Count's office, Father was gathering his armor and equipment with a grave expression on his face.
"Father, you called for me?"
"Kyou. I'm sorry to ask this of you when you came home to rest, but there's something I need you to do."
So something really had happened. Father finished putting on his armor, even taking up his helmet, and approached me.
"The monsters have started running wild."
"But Princess Aine already completed a subjugation, didn't she...?"
"She did. But they've suddenly started rampaging again. There's even information that monsters from outside the north are mixed in among them."
If something was going to explode, it had exploded in spectacular fashion.
"I've issued evacuation warnings to the surrounding villages, and we'll open the fortress gates to take in the refugees."
"That's the right call."
"However, we need someone to guide the refugees from the indigenous villages in the forest."
"......"
Father took one of the swords hanging on the wall and handed it to me.
"The indigenous villages may be small, but their people are precious subjects of our domain. I'll assign you a detachment of soldiers — guide them to the fortress."
"Yes! Leave it to me. You be careful too, Father."
When I came out fully armored, I explained the situation to a startled Riel, then prepared to lead the soldiers out of the fortress. She was so worried she even tried to follow, but I stopped her.
"It's not that far, so don't worry. Wait here in the fortress where it's safe."
Riel didn't look convinced, but thanks to Phyllis and Kino helping me persuade her, she backed down. As I headed out through the fortress gates, her voice rang out behind me.
Even from a distance, her voice carried clearly. I waved in reply and set out.
The indigenous villages in the forest consisted of two small settlements. Even combined, their residents numbered a little over a hundred.
I had already arrived at the first village, explained the situation to the residents, and instructed them to prepare for evacuation. I split off a few soldiers to join the ones already stationed there and hold the village for the time being, then moved on to the next settlement with the remaining troops.
The next village was farther away, so the plan was to bring the refugees from there back to this one, join up with everyone, and then move together.
Along the way, we did encounter monsters. Fortunately, the ones that had entered the forest were few in number, and the soldiers handled them calmly enough that we could take them down without a single casualty.
But the monsters' condition was strange, no matter how I looked at it. It was as if they had lost their reason and fled all the way north, chased by something terrifying.
At first I kept my guard up, thinking something might be pursuing them — but behind the monsters that came charging at us as if in flight, there was nothing at all.
Swallowing down a nameless unease, I arrived at the second village.
"Halt. Identify yourselves."
At the voice of the soldier standing watch at the village entrance, I stepped forward.
"Kyou Ventus. The monsters have been behaving strangely, and an evacuation advisory has been issued to all residents of the county. I've come to protect and guide the villagers."
"The eldest young master? Please wait a moment."
The sentry disappeared through the gate, and a man who appeared to be the guard captain came out.
"Young Master! Welcome!"
"Right. You've already heard the situation, I take it?"
"Yes, sir! As it happens, the Silver Wolf warriors had already sensed something was wrong, so we were in the middle of preparing to evacuate!"
"Sharp instincts, as you'd expect from beastfolk."
Come to think of it, this was a Silver Wolf Tribe village. Beastfolk were shunned by humans, but the northern natives had lived alongside them since ancient times, and House Ventus was no different. There was even a saying that if beastfolk wanted to live in peace without discrimination, they should grow strong and settle in the north.
Following the guard captain into the village, I saw dozens of Silver Wolf beastfolk packing their belongings for the evacuation. The warriors were gathering their weapons and talking with the soldiers, while the non-combatants — women, children, and the elderly — were mainly packing the luggage.
Then a startled voice came from behind me.
"Huh? Kyou...?"
I knew that voice. I had heard it just yesterday, in fact.
"Emilia Silvrate. So this was your home village."
There stood Emilia Silvrate, her wolf ears — which she usually hid under a large hat — still uncovered, her tail out, a look of surprise on her face.