Chapter 53
Rex’s answer was rather disappointing to Duke.
He had expected some brilliant stratagem on the level of Zhuge Liang’s—something that would make him exclaim, “Aha!”—but the answer he received was merely a simple order to charge.
Perhaps Rex realized that he had taken the easy way out, because a sense of awkwardness came through his writing.
[Come to think of it, you were tied down on the southern and eastern fronts. It would be difficult for you to help directly.]
As though in compensation, Rex granted Duke several additional authorities.
[Come to think of it, I seem to have relied too heavily on your martial prowess. With this, you should be able to command in the field like me.]
Some of the permissions attached to Rex’s abilities took root in Duke.
Previously, he had only had enough authority to issue orders to the deputy commanders of the royal guard, but now Duke’s authority gave him the ability to communicate with people with whom temporary contracts had been formed in the field.
However, there was one thing Rex had overlooked.
‘I don’t know how to make contracts, though?’
Contract magic was as basic as telekinesis.
Clairvoyance, contract magic, telepathy, and so on.
They were abilities one learned as a matter of course if one had even the slightest intention of commanding.
But Duke had focused on other abilities and never learned how to make contracts.
Besides, because of his personality—he hated using his head—he had not learned it because he lacked the confidence to check for clauses like poison pills.
‘Uh··· hmm···’
Even so, saying, ‘I never learned even beginner magic, so this is a function I can’t use?’ would ruin his character.
In the end, Duke rolled his eyes inside his helmet and saluted as though nothing were wrong.
“I am grateful for your grace, my lord.”
In the end, all Duke had gained from Rex was some additional authority.
‘Can I save Hana with this?’
Duke’s thoughts grew complicated.
The first problem was that he did not know how to form a contract,
the second was that even after forming one, he did not know how to command anyone,
and the final problem was whether one could really resist something like fate so easily.
But nothing would change by worrying about it here, so he headed for Hana for the time being.
When Duke arrived at her tent, she had already finished preparing to depart.
She welcomed Duke while wearing a stylish black coat draped like a cloak, something she had not worn in a long time.
“Ah, Sir. You’re here. Please take good care of the front lines while I’m away···”
“It’s a trap.”
“Pardon?”
“Lord Rex and I have reached the same conclusion. The rebellion is a trap.”
“What do you mean all of a sudden···”
Duke immediately told her what he had heard from Rex.
Of course, Duke had understood none of it and was merely pointing out a few keywords that had remained in his mind.
Duke knew nothing about dual-crisis theory or revolutionary opportunity window theory.
He had not even properly memorized the names of the theories.
But while listening to Rex’s explanation, he had remembered two words so that he could at least pretend to be knowledgeable.
Public sentiment and oppression.
“Before the rebellion broke out, did anything like a famine or disaster occur in that region and cause public sentiment to become unsettled? Have you ever oppressed that region?”
He had calculated that if he merely pointed out those two words, clever Hana and her retainers would probably figure out the rest.
And Duke’s gamble had paid off.
“No. There were no such problems··· Ah, could that be it!”
Events could look different depending on one’s perspective.
There was a difference between looking for evidence after assuming it was a trap and surveying everything while assuming it was an ordinary rebellion.
She, too, was able to sense something unnatural.
“It wasn’t a rebellion; it was a trap to draw us out of the fortress.”
“They could also be trying to keep me tied down on the front lines.”
“Then what should we do?”
“What do you want to do?”
“Even so, I want to go. My people are there.”
As expected.
It was just as Duke had predicted.
She was no longer driven by a sense of responsibility, but her desire to put the people of her domain first had not disappeared.
Even knowing it was a trap, she chose to head for that city.
“If the mayor was taken hostage, I’ll rescue him. If the citizens were forced to rebel, then unless we eliminate whoever made them do it, they’ll be sacrificed.”
Only her objective had changed.
From suppressing the rebellion to rescuing the citizens.
“I have to go.”
Hana’s unwavering eyes met Duke’s.
Seeing those eyes, Duke hesitated for a moment.
There was nothing wrong with upholding one’s convictions.
The bird he loved was one that flew across a sunny sky and sang beautifully.
He had long since abandoned the thought of locking her in a cage.
But if the place the bird wished to go was a barren wasteland where no fruit grew, Duke would have to tie up the bird’s legs and close the cage door.
“Even if you go there, that city is beyond your ability to save.”
“···What do you mean, Sir?”
“It isn’t that you lack ability. Even I cannot save that city.”
That was only natural···
“Salvation cannot reach those who are already dead.”
***
Duke barely managed to suppress the sigh that was about to escape.
Duke generally preferred to follow the flow of the original story.
That was partly because spoilers were a serious matter, but also because his goal was to ride Rex’s coattails.
The Rex of the original story had overcome countless hardships and reached a happy ending.
Since Duke was merely a man who had hitched a ride on Rex’s good fortune, he had tried to avoid distorting the flow too much.
But that time had now passed.
He refrained from giving spoilers for the sake of a happy ending, but if someone’s pointless death was destined to happen, then of course he had to prevent it.
Even if that meant the bird would be hurt as a result.
“That can’t be···”
“If you still doubt it, ask the person who brought you the information whether they ever saw even one of the citizens who started the rebellion eating a meal.”
She immediately summoned a retainer from the shadows and passed on Duke’s question.
The retainer, who had been listening to the conversation until just moments ago, cautiously shook their head.
“Come to think of it··· not a single one.”
Of course, since the rebellion was an urgent matter, they had not gone out of their way to observe restaurants or people eating.
But no matter how deeply they searched their memories, they had not seen a single person eating anything in the streets.
Not even in front of the food stalls.
Hana’s expression grew even darker.
Duke felt sorry for troubling her, but he had to say what needed to be said.
“The dead get no second chances. They are not the corpses you know. They cannot wave to you or smile at you.”
“Who would do this···”
“An imperial hero.”
“Pardon?”
Duke remembered one of the schools among the Empire’s Fifteen Heroes.
The Netherworld School.
Its practitioners specialized in necromantic magic that raised the dead.
It was also the school he had stomped into the ground with a great deal of personal spite when he was tearing the empire apart.
“Those I thought had been wiped out are still clinging to life.”
There had been far too many heroes during the age of the empire.
Even Duke could not have killed every one of the people numbering well into the triple digits while destroying the empire.
One of them must have survived and fabricated a rebellion by manipulating the citizens.
Duke was certain of it.
(Of course, calling it deduction would be embarrassing; it was merely posturing based on his knowledge of the original story.)
But Hana still seemed unable to accept that it was already too late and desperately denied the truth.
“But there’s no way we could have failed to distinguish Dead Walkers or ghouls.”
“The necromantic magic that exists in the world today is merely an inferior version of what existed during the empire.”
It was not only necromancy; all magic was an inferior version of what it had once been.
Offensive magic had lost firepower, defensive magic had become flimsier, and the other forms of magic had also lost much of their intricacy.
Necromancy was no exception.
Among the Fifteen Heroes, the Netherworld School had stood at the forefront of that magic, but after the school fell, its greedy disciples had taken the secret manuals and fled.
Naturally, since selfishness was the default setting of superhumans, each of them had kept those secrets to themselves.
As a result, most of the necromancers causing incidents throughout the world were self-taught and unrelated to that school.
“They aren’t Dead Walkers or ghouls. They are all living corpses.”
If one had to classify them, one might call them living dead.
Their flesh did not rot, maggots did not gather, and even if they had decayed, meaningless blood still flowed through those dead bodies.
Unlike other undead, they were nearly impossible to distinguish from the living because they were hardly any different from how they had been in life.
But they were unquestionably dead.
They did not breathe, they did not eat, and above all, they had no souls.
“They are empty shells moved by mana. They have no concept of passing into the afterlife, either.”
At Duke’s cold pronouncement, Hana lightly bit her lip.
Duke’s gaze shifted to her hands.
Her fist, clad in a black glove, was trembling.
She managed to speak.
“Why are you telling me this··· now?”
“Sneria. Your conviction is noble, but for that very reason, I cannot simply watch your life be wasted.”
“You seem accustomed to it, Sir.”
“I’ve seen it often. Far too often···”
Of course, that was a lie.
Duke had never held an ideal as noble as hers in his heart, nor had he ever formed any particularly precious bonds.
That was why this sort of situation was not especially familiar to him.
But saying otherwise in the middle of trying to persuade her would make the atmosphere strange, so he simply went along with it.
“So answer carefully. Is there any reason you must go to that city?”
At Duke’s question, she did not answer at once; when she did, her voice trembled.
“Then I must go all the more.”
To honor the souls of those who had died unjustly.
“For those who trusted and followed me, I must prove that they were not wrong to do so.”
Duke silently looked into her eyes.
Since the day they had held that exchange, her eyes had been clearer than ever.
What moved her now was not responsibility, but her own will.
She was moving for a conviction she had to protect, even if it meant death or injury.
Just like his former self, back when he had trained while risking his life.
(Of course, even Duke knew it was rude to compare himself to her.)
Duke did not stop her. He could not.
He was the one who had made her like that, so how could he stop her?
He could only trust her and wait.
He would support the path she and her other retainers wished to take.
“I understand. Then I’ll guard this place. But before that···”
Duke remembered the temporary contract he had received from Rex.
“Take this before you go.”
Duke manipulated Rex’s interface abilities, trying somehow to form a temporary contract.
‘Uh··· Is this right?’
After fumbling with a contract-magic formula he had picked up somewhere and awkwardly navigating the unfamiliar screen, he somehow created a crude temporary contract with Hana and her retainers.
‘Oh. It worked.’
The retainers stared into empty space and marveled, calling it a firefly spirit.
“Lord Rex can use magic like this, too.”
“I think I understand why the Providence Domain’s forces moved as though they were one.”
However, Hana’s reaction was strange, unlike that of the retainers.
She reddened the tips of her ears and spoke.
“I’ve confirmed it, Sir.”
“Hmm. This is only a simplified version, in any case.”
“Yes. It’s simplified.”
“When you return, I may consider making a formal one as well.”
Whoosh!
Her face flushed bright red.
“Pardon? Pardon? Isn’t that too soon?”
“I thought ten years was enough time for us to know each other. Was I the only one who thought so?”
“No, Sir! I accept···”
“Don’t give me a definite answer yet.”
‘Why does this feel like I’m setting a flag?’
Saying that he would formally make a ‘cooperation’ contract before heading into the enemy’s trap felt like setting a death flag, didn’t it?
As someone who had also spent a great deal of time on battlefields, she seemed to understand Duke’s intentions.
“Yes. It does feel rather ominous to answer here.”
She nodded and buttoned her coat.
“Sir. I’ll be back.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
.
.
.
Meanwhile. Rex was in his office.
A clear and cheerful ding! sounded in his system.
“Huh?”
<Congratulations! Hero Duke Urwick and Hero Hana Sneria are engaged!>
Rex checked the system and exclaimed in admiration.
“Wow. As expected···”
Then he remembered the chronicler who must be somewhere beyond the wall and muttered to himself.
‘As expected, the romantic Middle Ages. They just go all in without a backup plan. No, wait. Is Duke just that much of a man?’
Rex manipulated the system and confirmed the functions unlocked by the two’s engagement.
‘Hmm··· I should send them a house as a congratulatory gift.’
With a lord’s authority, one mansion should not be difficult to provide.
Rex continued manipulating the system, sincerely cheering Duke on.