57

Inner bailey of Lonelybirch Castle.

Edmure, the lord, had come out to meet Rupert upon hearing of his arrival.

His wife, the lady of the house, and his two sons were with him.

“Welcome. Young master!”

“It’s been a while. Lord Edmure.”

Rupert and the lord greeted each other with a hug rather than a handshake, suggesting some closeness between them.

After a moment, Rupert turned his head and offered greetings to the lady as well.

“Congratulations on your recovery, madam.”

“Thank you, young master.”

The woman, the guest of honor for the festival, faintly smiled and thanked Rupert.

“It’s all thanks to Glenval’s grand lord.”

“I appreciate you saying so.”

Just as Rupert smiled in response, it happened.

Edmure tilted his head in puzzlement and asked.

“It’s obvious you came to join the festival… but who is that behind you?”

“Ah.”

Only then did Rupert glance back, as if remembering, and look at Hamel.

He then spoke as if it were nothing.

“They are a priest who accompanied me on the road and his party.”

“A priest, eh. Ha ha. Welcome. Where do you hail from?”

Hamel stepped forward and removed his hood.

Silver hair and blue eyes glittered under the sun as he revealed himself.

“……”

Not only the lord’s family and soldiers, but even Rupert—who had never seen Hamel without his hood—fell silent for a moment.

Receiving everyone’s gaze, Hamel slowly spoke.

“My name is Hamel Saint Gilmore. I am the lord of Haidern and a priest of the order.”

“Saint…!”

“Oh my…”

The surrounding people and knights suddenly reacted with surprise.

Rupert, too, widened his eyes in astonishment as he looked at Hamel.

As for Hamel and his companions…

They were bewildered by the unexpected reaction.

“What is this?”

Hamel tilted his head, puzzled by a response he’d never encountered, and asked the lord.

“Do you know me?”

“Of course. Aren’t you the most famous hero these days?”

“…Me?”

When Hamel asked again, Rupert interjected.

“So you were the new saint who destroyed a supreme-class demon. Why didn’t you say so?”

“Ah,”

Only then did Hamel realize what was going on.

It seemed his story had spread like a hero’s tale.

“I didn’t realize my story had spread like this.”

Hamel answered calmly.

He wondered why it had happened and soon came to accept it.

Come to think of it, it was quite a tale people would like.

A new saint had appeared after years.

It would be strange if people weren’t interested.

And stories of heroes who fight monsters are always popular.

“You really didn’t know. Then you haven’t heard the songs about you. They’re quite good.”

“…Songs, you say?”

The lord asked with a smile, and Hamel’s expression hardened as he asked back.

Not finishing there, one of the sons ran up to Hamel, held out his hand, and asked.

“Wow, are you really Lord Hamel? The one who supposedly took the Magic Tower recently?”

“I didn’t exactly take the Magic Tower…”

Hamel, embarrassed, shook hands with the wide-eyed boy.

How far had the story spread?

As he wondered whether to be pleased, the lord asked again.

“So, my lord, what brings you here?”

The lord’s manner toward Hamel had changed a little.

His face, now more polite, was full of goodwill.

Hamel, who had hesitated, slowly spoke.

“I’m on my way to Sturnhelm for business, but I stopped by because there’s a festival.”

“…?”

Rupert looked at Hamel with an expression of disbelief.

He knew Hamel’s real reason for being here.

In fact, the reactions of the party weren’t much different.

Everyone tilted their heads, seeing that he hadn’t even brought up the demon story.

But no one dared to interrupt the lords who were in conversation.

The lord, hearing Hamel’s answer, smiled broadly and extended his hand.

“If such a famous hero graces our estate’s festival, nothing could please us more. We’ll make room in the castle—stay as long as you like.”

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Let’s not stand here talking—everyone, come inside.”

The lord spread his arms and led the people into the inner bailey.

Rupert gave Hamel a strange look, stepped closer, and whispered.

“What are you thinking?”

“Tell the knights to keep quiet and come to my room in a little while.”

“…Very well.”

Rupert scowled at the commanding tone but complied.

He assumed Hamel had a reason for not revealing his true intent to the lord.

And his assumption was correct.

‘Things are really tangled.’

Hamel closed his eyes tightly in silence.

He had suspected it, just in case.

It would be strange if the lord knew nothing while a demon ran rampant throughout the domain.

So he considered the possibility that someone close to the lord might be controlled by the demon.

However…

‘But… I didn’t expect the entire castle to be wearing pendants…’

Of course, he didn’t think all of them were Vinea’s minions.

He had thought he only needed to watch out for a few people, but this made things very complicated.

He had no idea whom to suspect.

Hamel clenched his fists.

He had to steel himself.

From now on, he was stepping not into a lord’s castle but into the jaws of a beast.

---

“This is serious.”

Daniel frowned and crossed his arms.

Rena, as always, looked like she had no thoughts at all.

And Ono…

“What are you doing? Pack up. Running away is the answer here.”

He was quick to want to cut things off and leave.

“Mr. Ono, please wait a moment.”

“‘Wait a moment’ my ass. You want us all to die together?”

Ono leapt up and yelled at Hamel’s objection.

“…!”

Startled by his own shout, Ono quickly lowered his voice and continued berating them.

“Old habits die hard, eh? Here we go again. Why are you always so hell-bent on throwing your life away…?”

“I’m just…”

“It was just the other day we almost all died because of a single puppet of Vinea. If we do what you say, this city would now be…”

Ono couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

But Hamel, and everyone here, understood what he meant.

“Yes. This estate has probably already reached a state beyond recovery.”

One out of every ten people is a puppet?

It’s already nothing less than Vinea’s vast breeding ground.

If Vinea wished, she could exterminate the entire domain within an hour.

The reason she hasn’t done it is to convert as many people as possible into her minions.

“That’s why we must catch Vinea now more than ever.”

Conversely, it meant there was still a chance to stop her.

If they could catch her now, they might at least prevent total annihilation.

Hamel’s resolve was firm.

Judging by the state of those wearing pendants, none of them seemed to be in an early stage yet.

But what if they were Trents who had already taken on human guises like old women?

What if, as Hamel suspected, the pendants were inducing hallucinations?

If so, there would be only one solution.

Kill the host, Vinea.

Although those turned into Trents couldn’t be saved, at least the infected or still-normal citizens of the domain could be.

For the sake of the countless people of this domain, Hamel could not back down.

And the others shared that resolve.

“If you’re going to do that, I’ll stay too.”

“Me too.”

Daniel and Rena answered as if they’d been waiting to say so.

They then turned to look at Ono.

“…!”

Ono held his head as if a headache had struck.

After a moment.

He sighed and said.

“…Damn it. Fine, this is the sort of business it is. All right, let’s die together.”

Ono flopped back onto the bed as if he no longer cared.

Daniel and Rena, watching this, both snorted with laughter.

A determined yet warm atmosphere flowed between them.

At that moment, Hamel raised his hand with a somewhat puzzled expression and spoke.

“Running away was never an option to begin with…”

“…What do you mean by that?”

The deep emotion shattered in an instant.

Ono asked with a bitter expression.

Hamel shrugged and answered.

“If we try to run now, Vinea will surely pursue us. I already revealed my identity earlier. We’ll be caught before we can leave the domain, and in the worst case we’ll be forced to fight Vinea herself.”

This very castle is a trap.

Running wasn’t a way to survive here.

“We cannot avoid a fight.”

“…”

“Then it’s better to fight from a prepared position.”

“Prepared?”

“Yes.”

Hamel nodded.

First, they needed information.

Where Vinea’s core body was hiding.

Why the festival was being held.

How involved the lord was.

“Is there a way?”

Hamel nodded at Daniel’s question and replied.

“It might not be such an unfavorable fight, perhaps.”

In less than a month, the entire domain had fallen into Vinea’s hands.

That fact implied one thing.

Vinea was manipulating people from somewhere within the lord’s castle.

Even a high-ranking demon couldn’t accomplish that without using the lord’s authority.

It would have been troublesome if they didn’t know where the fiend was hiding.

But if the core was inside the castle, Hamel had a way to identify it.

Though Rena and the others would have to do some work.

As he was thinking that.

Ono looked at Hamel in disbelief and asked.

“Do you know how large the gap in combat power is?”

“Yes, I know.”

“No? You don’t seem to know—you actually think a fight is possible!”

They couldn’t measure the enemy’s numbers.

In the worst case, they’d have to face the domain’s entire army and knights, and all of Vinea’s minions, the Trents.

Perhaps even the domain’s citizens might turn hostile toward their party.

The normal course would be to escape somehow, then return with a full knightly force and burn the entire domain.

But Hamel had something to rely on.

“Still, we have Sir Rupert and his knights.”

They were the only force that wasn’t the enemy.

Rupert and his knights.

Their numbers far outmatched those of the domain’s knights.

Their strength could be compared to that of the entire Lonelybirch estate.

If they could bring Rupert to their side, the task would become much easier.

“He doesn’t seem to trust a word we say, though…”

Ono muttered that discontentedly, when—

Knock knock.

“It’s me.”

The person they’d been waiting for arrived at the room.

“Please come in.”

Daniel, who had been standing guard at the door, opened it.

Rupert entered, eyeing Daniel oddly in his full plate armor.

After scanning the armed party, Rupert looked at Hamel and asked.

“Are you going to war at this hour?”

“No.”

Hamel shook his head and answered calmly.

“We’re already in the middle of the enemy camp, though.”

“…So this is about that demon called Vinea or whatever from before.”

“Listen carefully, Sir Rupert. This estate is already no different from a graveyard.”

“What do you mean…”

“Lord Edmure and his family are under suspicion.”

Rupert frowned at Hamel’s words.

“Poor joke, priest. Lord Edmure is just and honorable, and his family are all devout.”

Even with Rupert’s reaction, Hamel did not stop.

He continued to explain his observations.

“The pendants they wear around their necks are the same items I mentioned earlier. When you came here, did you see how many of the domain’s people were wearing pendants?”

“Calm down, priest. You seem a bit agitated.”

Rupert looked at Hamel as if he were mad.

It wasn’t an incomprehensible reaction.

So Hamel didn’t expect them to take his side.

There was only one thing Hamel had to request.

“Do not touch any of the fruit—or rather, any of the food—served by Lord Edmure. Also, keep a constant watch in shifts in the rooms.”

“…”

Rupert stared at him intently for a moment upon hearing Hamel’s request.

After confirming it wasn’t a joke, Rupert shook his head and sighed.

“I’m disappointed. To think the famed hero is such a fanatic.”

“I’m not some hero.”

“Is that so? From where I stand, you seem very taken with playing the hero.”

Rupert looked at Hamel again with scorn and grabbed the door handle.

As he was about to leave, he paused and turned back to Hamel.

“Do you want to convince me?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t have the knack for discerning truth by words alone. Enter tomorrow’s sword tournament. Prove it with skill.”

“…You mean the sword tournament?”

A sword tournament in such an urgent situation.

Hamel flinched briefly at the unexpected proposal.

Rupert read his reaction and sneered.

“Yes. Nothing proves the weight of your words like skill. This is the north, after all.”

“…‘Glenval speaks with the sword.’”

Hamel muttered Glenval’s old saying that had come to mind.

Rupert, with a serious face, tapped his chest in reply.

“Glenval speaks with the sword. Wager your house’s name and defeat me—then I’ll believe you.”

With that, Rupert left the room.

Ono, watching him go, let out a deep sigh and muttered.

“Really. Not a comrade—just a dead weight.”

“…”

Hamel couldn’t find a rebuttal and fell silent.

An awkward silence hovered in the room.

It seemed this matter would be far more arduous than expected.