Chapter 125
－POV: Commander of the First Knight Order, Emperus Kingdom－
A knight who had gone to investigate the forest brought word that the Fifth Knight Order had been wiped out.
I'd expected as much.
I let out a sigh.
Near where the Fifth Knight Order had been, there were two empty cages.
They were probably the cages that had held the slaves they had brought with them.
Considering their reactions so far, they shouldn't have killed the slaves,
Then where had the slaves gone?
Had they fled into the forest?
But many of the slaves were already broken in spirit.
Would they really leave just because the cages were open?
...I can't figure it out no matter how much I think about it.
The king hasn't been seen since then.
The mages have also been seen less often.
I've been investigating what they're doing, but I can't get any information.
Those mages are tight-lipped, after all.
No wonder they're called the king's last bastion.
What should I... How should I proceed?
The king will never admit defeat.
He'll surely try to win, no matter how many sacrifices it takes, until he is the last person left in this country.
But the outcome has already been decided.
No matter what we do, we can't win against the forest.
...The difference in power is simply too great.
I want to at least prevent my men from dying in vain.
But...
I sigh.
It feels as if nothing we do will make any difference.
We drew the forest's wrath, and that wrath has been unleashed.
This country received warning after warning, but it did not stop.
Is it already too late?
...
An unnatural tension hangs over the castle.
Everyone is afraid, not knowing when it might be attacked.
There was no warning, whether it was the lightning or this incident.
They were attacked without even seeing the enemy.
You can't expect them not to be afraid.
It seems quite a few have fled.
A considerable amount of panic has spread among the knights as well.
The Fifth Knight Order had been especially brutal, and wasn't well-liked.
But every knight acknowledged how strong they were.
This time, fear also drove many knights to root for them.
It's a little pathetic of me, but I thought they would somehow take care of things.
Then, before we knew it, word came that they had all been wiped out.
The deaths of men the knights had believed were strong
made them keenly aware of just how formidable the enemy was.
Even though we're knights, we've never been attacked by an enemy before.
That's because no country had ever attacked the Emperus Kingdom.
Given that this was their first time encountering an enemy, perhaps it's enough that they haven't fled.
My steps are heavy as I head to the commanders' meeting.
There'll be no result even if we discuss it.
I look out the window.
Summer is drawing to a close.
A slightly cool breeze blows, making it a wonderfully calm day for this time of year.
At first glance, it seems nothing has changed from before.
That peaceful...
No... It only looked peaceful. In truth, we'd been invading the forest all along.
This is... what we deserve.
My great-grandfather left a diary that described the forest as it once was.
I remember reading it in secret as a child.
It said that gentle breezes blew, the trees of the forest swayed, and the forest bestowed its blessings upon the people.
When I read that he had even seen the kings of the forest on occasion, I envied him.
I wanted to see them.
When I was young, this country had already begun invading the forest, so we couldn't speak of it.
...
When I enter the meeting room, all the commanders and deputy commanders of the knight orders have grim expressions.
...Looks like my friend will be joining us from today as well.
I suppose having more allies is for the best now that the Fifth is gone.
The meeting will now begin.
Tension fills the room at my subordinate's voice.
The report on the investigation of the site where the Fifth Knight Order was wiped out begins.
The search for survivors from the knight order turns up nothing.
The search for the roughly two hundred missing child slaves also turns up nothing.
However, many small footprints were found, so there is a chance the slaves are still alive.
Their whereabouts are unknown for now.
Finally, there is the report on the recovery of the bodies.
Many people look puzzled when they hear the number.
I ask the commander of the Second Knight Order, who is giving the report, to confirm that the number isn't a mistake.
Number of mage corpses: 0.
Number of knight corpses: 64.
There should have been 35 mages, and 121 members of the Fifth Knight Order in total.
That is the full number of bodies.
They may have been eaten by monsters, but...
Ninety-two corpses have disappeared... That's too many.
Did they disappear into the forest?