The Plan Is Decided

As we began discussing the details of the plan, Ann was the first to speak. Perhaps because she was happy that Lady Milora had relied on her, she leaned forward enthusiastically.

“The plan I mentioned earlier—to make it look like I died when the carriage falls—is actually very easy if I’m a divine servant.”

“Right. You could escape into the divine domain before the fall.”

“Exactly. Divine Domain Interference returns you to the spot where you entered the domain. So even if the carriage falls, the place I return to should still be the top of the cliff.”

“In that case, the difficulty drops dramatically. The important things would be preventing anyone from opening the carriage door before it falls and moving the knights away from the crash site.”

Everyone nodded at Rebecca’s words, and the direction of the plan was decided.

“The hardest part will be bringing a monster there.”

“I’ll handle finding the monster!” Lady Milora said.

“I can help as well,” Lady Seremees added. “We simply need to find a monster capable of pushing the carriage off the cliff, correct?”

“Thank you very much. Then I’ll leave finding the monster to Lady Milora and Lady Seremees, and I’ll be the one to lure it over.”

Rebecca couldn’t communicate directly with the goddesses, so I was the only one who could do it. I’d have to find some excuse to leave the formation and enter the forest without raising suspicion.

“The carriage probably won’t stop at the top of the cliff… Maybe I could say I have a stomachache and go into the forest?”

“That could work. Should the carriage continue ahead?”

“That’s probably best. I’ll run through the forest without being noticed, provoke the monster, and then ask Lady Seremees where the carriage is so I can guide the monster there.”

Rebecca and Ann nodded at my explanation, but after a moment Rebecca frowned.

“Luca, you’re going to make sure no one finds out that you lured the monster, right?”

“Of course.”

“That means I’ll have to deal with the monster by myself.”

…She was right.

The knights couldn’t defeat the monster too quickly, so it would need to be strong. It would probably be large enough to push a carriage off a cliff as well.

Rebecca would have to face that alone.

“I should be able to regroup with you within a few minutes after luring the monster. Can you handle things until then?”

“Hmm… I’ll try, but I’m not very confident. My job would be to guide the monster to the carriage and defeat it after the carriage falls, right? I’m especially not confident about guiding the monster.”

Rebecca admitted that with a troubled expression. Ann then added something apologetically.

“If it’s alright for me to make one request… I’d like to save the horses as well.”

At Ann’s words, Rebecca’s expression turned slightly complicated at the thought of even more work. Lady Milora, however, smiled warmly.

“That’s a wonderful idea. Ann always thinks about making sure living things don’t lose their lives unnecessarily. She’s perfect as my servant.”

“…Thank you.”

Ann blushed slightly as she smiled shyly at Lady Milora. Lady Milora returned the smile with a bright expression.

But Ann soon replaced her happy expression with a thoughtful one.

“However, this increases Rebecca’s burden, so I’d like to find a way to reduce it.”

“Let’s see… In that case, why doesn’t Henriette carry a plant that monsters are attracted to? Since she’s a divine servant, she could keep the plant in the divine domain and take it out only at the right moment. Then Rebecca wouldn’t have to worry about guiding the monster.”

Lady Milora rested a hand on her chin and thought seriously before suddenly brightening with the idea.

“Lady Milora, that’s a brilliant plan.”

“So if the monster appears, all I have to do is cut the rope connecting the horses to the carriage, right?” Rebecca asked.

“Do you think you can manage that?”

“Yeah! I’ll pretend to fight the monster and do my best. If the carriage falls successfully, we can wait for Luca to return to defeat the monster. The other knights will probably help fight it too. And there’s even a chance the monster might fall with the carriage.”

That was true. Ideally, we’d lure something like a boar-type monster—something that couldn’t stop easily once it started charging.

With that, we had finalized the core of the plan to fake Ann’s death, and we all relaxed a little.

“If that part succeeds, the rest will depend on adapting to the situation,” I said.

“We’ll need to guide the knights somewhere else afterward, right?” Rebecca added. “Maybe suggest going to report to the imperial capital?”

“Yeah. Ann, what about you? We should probably decide where we’ll meet up afterward.”

Just as Ann was about to respond, Lady Seremees quietly raised her hand and spoke.

“I have a request regarding what happens after you save Henriette. It seems that the Empire… is planning to expand its territory by waging wars against neighboring nations one after another. If nothing is done, the flames of war will spread across this continent. So—”

Lady Seremees paused before continuing.

“I want you to restore the Empire to a normal state.”

Her words caused everyone to frown.

The Empire was planning something like that…?

It definitely needed to be stopped. But restoring the Empire to normal… was that something I could really do?