Episode 21

The long night ended, and the sun rose.

Van and the others, having gained a new goal, would part ways here with Skinny and the others, who were returning to the royal capital for the time being.

“See you, Luke. ……Don’t whine anymore.”

“When did I ever do that? But thank you, Skinny.”

Luke, the head of the squad, had made a different choice from Skinny and Nahal. As a knight, he might have been disqualified. Even so, he had decided to walk the path he believed in. Then all he had to do was face forward.

“Listen, all I taught you was the rough location of the ruins and how to get inside. I don’t know anything about what happens after you enter.”

“How to use necromancy is unknown too. There’s no guarantee you’ll get the information you want. ……But you’re still going, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. This time, I……”

He would stand beside his best friend. He would become a friend who could support Zeke in the truest sense. No matter what hardships awaited him, he would not stop. Even if the answer he desired was not there, he would not look away.

“It will be a long journey. Let us prepare properly before we go.”

“Sage-sama. Please take care of Luke.”

“Ho ho. Rather, I would like to ask that of you. ……Nahal-san, he often cuts corners, so please keep a close eye on him.”

The “he” Glanz referred to was likely Yorn, a regimental commander of the Mage Corps. It seemed questionable for a young person like Nahal to keep watch over a regimental commander, but it was complicated because Luke understood what Glanz wanted to say.

Skinny and Nahal rode away on their horses. Luke and the others watched them go. Their destinations were different, but their wish was the same. With the feelings entrusted to them in their hearts, they too aimed ahead.

“Once again, I look forward to working with you. I intend to do everything I can with all my strength.”

“How reliable.”

“Yes. ……I’m sure it will be all right. In the end, everyone should be able to smile.”

Everyone felt a strange sensation. There should have been many among them meeting for the first time, yet somehow it felt nostalgic. It felt as though they had reunited after a long time, or as if they had always been together since long ago. They felt as though there was something they could not put into words.

“……The one who wins in the end is me. Not the blonde. Eliminate.”

“Glanz-san. Does it get cold in the north after all?”

“Perhaps in the mornings and evenings, if not during the day.”

Van and Glanz spoke about the climate, almost cutting her off.

It was information Van, who had traveled to many regions as a peddler, was unlikely not to know. For Glanz, it was an unusually ordinary answer. The two engaged in small talk as if turning their eyes away from something.

“Van. I’m sure you have your thoughts about this, but I’m counting on you.”

“Hm? Yeah. ……Well, that’s how it is. Our goal is the same, so there’s no problem.”

Van’s group headed north.

“I received word from Tret. It seems he confirmed Samaris’s disappearance.”

“……That’s an oddly suggestive way to put it. Rare for you, boss.”

“He wasn’t seeing Samaris directly, after all. I got taken out early too. Anyway, why are you here? Every single time……”

Pariaach openly showed his disgust with an “ugh.” In the original plan, he should have faced the Third Princess and her Royal Guard Corps escorts, but then a sudden shock struck him. When he came to, he had been utterly crushed by his natural enemy, Zeke.

“I’ve only had two times, right? Dex too, and maybe Feluart? Then should the next one be rock-paper-scissors?”

“No good. You’d cheat. Tret’s the right choice, isn’t he?”

“Hey, don’t move the discussion along on your own. I’ll handle Lagias.”

While Dex and Pariaach wanted to avoid Zeke, Feluart wanted a duel. But Feluart would not even be an opponent for him. Because everyone, including Elzen, understood that, the role would never come around to him.

“Leave Lagias alone for now. No matter how much power he has, in the end, he is still within the rules.”

At Elzen’s statement, everyone closed their mouths.

“You lot will move next after the path leading to the Gate to the Otherworld appears. ……Prepare yourselves properly.”

Using Skinny’s information as a basis, Van and the others had traveled north through the Kingdom of Diabalet.

The information he had brought them about necromancy and the Shupilad had shocked Van and the others, while also giving them a chance to obtain precious clues. In order to answer the feelings entrusted to them, Van and the others had to keep going.

“Next, it’s our turn.”

“……Yeah.”

The sun had set, and the world was wrapped in dark night.

They continued traveling by carriage during the day and rested in turns at night. As they made camp, something that could be called the basics of travel, they advanced toward their destination.

Currently, Luke and Van were in charge of watching the fire.

“……”

“……”

The two quietly watched the crackling campfire. There was no conversation, nor did they meet each other’s eyes. It was not exactly a hostile atmosphere…… but it was not a friendly relationship either.

Their relationship had become complicated over one person named Zeke.

“……Are you used to camping like this?”

“The Knight Order goes on expeditions, after all. And then there was my time as an adventurer.”

A world where monsters lived, far from human territory. There were always a certain number of people who suffered mentally from unfamiliar camping, but they had no such problem. They had abundant practical experience.

“……”

“……”

The conversation did not continue. Van felt uncomfortable in the awkward atmosphere, while Luke maintained a poker face. Their personalities showed in that contrast.

“There’s no need to force yourself to talk. I like quiet air too.”

“……That won’t do, though.”

In the end, it had ended in an ambiguous form, but the two had fought something like a duel. He would not say they had staked their lives, but they had fought with all their strength. Van’s thinking was that it would be strange not to feel anything.

“……I don’t regret turning my sword against him. I don’t intend to apologize for that either.”

“That seems to be the case……”

“But.”

Van, who had kept averting his gaze, met Luke’s eyes for the first time.

“I understand now that forcing my thinking onto others was wrong. You were right. I was a brat throwing a tantrum. —I’m sorry.”

Van lowered his head. Not vaguely, but properly. Seeing that, Luke’s eyes widened.

“What brought this on all of a sudden?”

“If I had something on my mind, I wanted to make it clear. Like that knight.”

That knight. The knight Van referred to was probably Skinny. Seeing Skinny, embarrassed yet properly putting his thoughts into words, might have made Van feel something as well.

“I’ll do things the way I think best. So you act for what you believe in too. —He’s your best friend, right?”

“Van. ……It seems I slightly misunderstood you.”

A smile naturally spilled across Luke’s face. The heavy atmosphere began to change little by little.

“I was in the wrong too. That mock battle was immature of me.”

“……You really do have a nasty personality.”

Van and Luke laughed together. The gap separating the two had definitely been filled.

“Tell me about him.”

“Sure. What should I start with?”

Before they knew it, dawn had drawn close.

The northernmost edge of the Kingdom of Diabalet. A plain bordering the frontier, with a somewhat lonely atmosphere.

There were no people, nor any monsters or animals. Was there something there that living creatures instinctively avoided? In a place no one approached, one person appeared.

(I’m pretty sure it was around here.)

Relying on his knowledge of the game, Hiroto had reached the Hidden-World Ruins. Though he was wanted, he had not clashed with the Knight Order. The previous battle might still have been affecting them.

(Well, whatever. More importantly……)

Seen from the outside, there was no entrance, nor even any ruins to be found.

In the original work, the path to the underground ruins appeared in response to a collaborator of the Shupilad. Naturally, Hiroto did not have that collaborator. Then what would he do?

The scenery in his vision switched in an instant.

Cool air flowed around him, and faintly glowing ore jutted out from the walls. Through teleportation magic, Hiroto had moved inside the ruins.

Many thoughts came to him upon seeing the same scenery as the game, but now was not the time for that. He continued down the stairs leading deep underground and arrived in a wide space. In the game, he had thought it was a battle point, but in the end, nothing happened there except a conversation event. He now remembered how anticlimactic it had felt at the time.

(I was sure it would be a boss fight, though……)

That common development had not occurred in the original work. So he had assumed the same would be true in this world too. —Even though he should have understood that games and reality were different.

(A monster presence?!)

At the same time as the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to shake, a magic circle appeared. What emerged was a gigantic dead dragon without flesh. It shook its massive body, made only of bones, and let out a roar.

(So they’ve got intruder countermeasures perfectly set up. Damn it.)

He now understood that no battle occurred in the game because they had entered the ruins through the proper method.

Now that he had awakened it, he had to deal with it. Hiroto had business beyond this point.

“I don’t have a hobby of slaughtering corpses, though.”

“O-Ogyoyoooooooooooooo!”

“According to Skinny’s story, I think it should be around here.”

Luke spread out the map and checked their surroundings. They had reached this place by relying on the information obtained from Skinny and the residents of the nearby towns, but there was nothing that looked like ruins.

“The Hidden-World Ruins, is it…… What a remarkably apt name.”

Glanz observed the surroundings with interest.

If one put the scenery visible to the eye into words, there was certainly nothing there. But from beneath their feet, he could feel the flow of air.

“Luke. Let’s try it.”

“Yeah. How about this?”

What Luke took out was a single talisman. Skinny’s mana had been imbued into the charm, which incorporated a magic formula that used a sword blade.

The ground shook. The earth cracked, and stairs that appeared to be artificial structures emerged. The path leading underground felt as though it was inviting Van and the others in.

“Is this telling us to come inside?”

“I sense a strange presence. Is this necromancy?”

“……If we don’t know, we just go forward.”

As Ciel said, they somehow understood that it was not normal. Was it instinct as living beings? It might have been the sensation of avoiding death.

Everyone exchanged looks. They wanted to turn back, but that would gain them nothing. This world was not kind enough to let them obtain only convenient results without any risk.

“……Let’s go. That’s why we came all the way here.”

Prompted by Van’s words, they stepped underground. —Then a voice out of place echoed as if to block them.

“Bravo! I had no idea it worked that way!”

Startled by the voice, everyone turned around. There stood a young man wearing the uniform of the Royal Guard Corps, applauding Van and the others.

“……I feel like I’ve seen this before.”

“The person inside the gray robe? But that outfit is……”

The young man lifted one leg high and spun around on the spot. Van and the others were bewildered by his suspicious movements.

“……Aaron-san.”

“You were not here by coincidence, were you? What is your goal?”

“It’s been a while, Lady Ciel and Miss Selen. Since the disappearance case on the outskirts of the royal capital, perhaps?”

Was he pretending that the recent contact with the intelligence organization had never happened? Aaron behaved as though this was merely a reunion after a long time, or perhaps even their first meeting.

“We are in a hurry.”

“You don’t need to be so wary. Knight of Light-kun. ……Today, I am even more serious than usual.”

His way of speaking was frivolous, but the atmosphere changed all at once.

“I know about the situation in Samaris too. ……Her Highness and the Royal Guard Corps were in that land. ……In other words, my superior and my colleagues.”

The Third Princess, Arnica von Diabalet.

She had visited Samaris with Baccus, the captain of the Royal Guard Corps, and the others in order to attend the ceremony. If things had gone according to schedule, she should have returned to the royal capital, but there had been no contact, and her whereabouts could not be grasped. According to Aaron, there was an uproar in the royal capital.

“As a member of the Royal Guard Corps, it is only natural to worry for Her Highness’s safety. That is why I came here.”

“I don’t understand. What connection does that princess have to this place?”

“A natural reaction. ……This is a ruin left behind by necromancers of the past, is it not? Clutching at straws, I reached this place.”

He explained that he had coordinated with the other Royal Guards and pursued the whereabouts of Arnica and Baccus, but they had obtained no information whatsoever.

As the worst-case scenario, that everyone who had been in Samaris had died, crossed his mind, Aaron said he had heard about necromancy from a certain source.

“I too have various positions. I can no longer overlook his tyranny. The situation is serious.”

“You mean you want to reveal the truth through necromancy. Then our thinking is the same. ……What do we do, Glanz-san?”

“There is no reason to refuse. ……Besides, the more people who can move, the better.”

Glanz narrowed his eyes and looked toward the entrance to the ruins.

Seeing his agreement, everyone nodded. For some reason, Aaron looked down on them from above, as if it had been a good decision.

“Please. Lend us your strength.”

“—Yes, of course.”