Chapter 16
The cold moonlight rippled, then was soon swallowed by the darkness.
When the fresh breeze of late spring swept across the wheat fields awaiting harvest, the wheat accepted the wind with its entire body and danced.
Vieta and Fulcare concealed themselves in the wheat field and approached the hut.
While Fulcare deciphered the magic circles whose locations were impossible to discern, etched here and there across the wheat field and elsewhere, Vieta involuntarily wrinkled her nose at the acrid smell seeping in on the wind.
Only after disabling three magic circles could they sneak into the back of the hut.
“Are these clothes?”
Vieta held up a charred scrap of cloth from a pit dug near the hut.
“There seem to be more than one or two outfits.”
“What the hell are these guys doing?”
Vieta shook her head, unsettled by the pits gaping open here and there.
Now that they had confirmed an enemy was hiding inside, there was no need to hesitate.
Vieta drew the dagger from her waist and drove it into the ground.
An incomprehensible incantation spilled from Vieta’s lips, and a red magic circle began to form around the dagger.
The instant the final stroke of the magic circle was drawn, countless red threads rippled in the air, and Vieta’s body vanished in an instant.
Bang!
The ground where Vieta had been standing caved in, and the hut’s ceiling collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Soon afterward, a massive golden barrier descended silently from the air and sealed off the area.
“Then shall we take our time waiting?”
Using a magic circle as a chair, Fulcare floated in midair and looked down below.
The rat fleeing from Vieta was his to deal with.
*
Several layers of defensive walls stood in Vieta’s way, but they were torn apart with ease at the mere reach of her hand.
The inside was far larger than the outside suggested—a specialty of elves who built their homes inside trees.
“Intruder!”
The enemies burst out of the darkness with a booming cry.
There were three of them: one with pointed ears and two humans with their hoods pulled low.
Seeing the enemies charging at her in a group, Vieta lowered her stance and swept her dagger upward from below.
Though it was only a small dagger the size of her palm, the force surging through it was enough to crush an enemy’s flesh and bones in an instant.
“Ugh.”
One.
Bright red blood spurted along a long, straight line across his chest.
Guided by the enemy’s presence relayed through the red thread, Vieta spun around and cleaved another man’s upper body diagonally.
“Ghk!”
With a clang, the light armor protecting his neck blocked Vieta’s dagger, but she applied a little more force, and the iron armor split apart like shattered ice.
That makes two.
Finally, she tripped him, knocked him down, and crushed his chest beneath her heel.
With a crunch, she felt his ribs break.
The man pinned beneath Vieta’s foot trembled in all four limbs, then went limp.
“What are you waiting for? Keep coming.”
Having dispatched three people in an instant, Vieta reached a hand toward the air.
At her gesture, a sphere of light that had streamed in through the gaping ceiling rushed forward and illuminated the interior.
More than ten people had surrounded Vieta in the darkness.
Perhaps because they had witnessed the first three die so helplessly, they merely glared at Vieta with their weapons in hand.
“What are you hesitating about now? Didn’t you cause this much trouble knowing you’d have to face the consequences?”
“Fine! I’ll kill you!”
Provoked by Vieta, a large man raised a massive sword and charged at her.
He possessed a speed ill-suited to his heavy build.
Boom—
The man closed the distance in an instant, then brought his greatsword down at Vieta with all his strength.
The heavy greatsword split the floor, sending dust that had accumulated there for a long time billowing into the air.
Not a single movement could be seen through the storm of dust.
Then, just as the dust seemed to be slowly settling, the giant holding the greatsword gradually tilted to one side.
With a crash, the giant fell to the floor, his arm already chopped into pieces.
Blood poured nonstop from the severed arm, soaking the floor.
While everyone was thrown into confusion by the unexpected turn of events, Vieta sat atop the greatsword embedded in the floor, resting her chin on her hand.
“He’s not much, after all.”
“Don’t retreat!”
“It’s only one woman! Don’t be afraid!”
Enraged by Vieta’s mockery, the enemies charged at her all at once.
“That was fairly sharp. What a shame.”
When she blocked an attack aimed at her flank, she sensed a suspicious current of air behind her.
Vieta tilted her head to the side, and an axe flying through the air buried itself in the face of the man who had attacked her flank.
“Kek!”
In the blink of an eye, Vieta spun around, slit the throat of the man behind her who had raised his sword, then slashed in a long sweep, driving back the enemies closing in from all sides.
“Who threw that axe?”
When the enemies faltered before Vieta’s fierce assault, a searing heat began to rise.
It was an attack from the mage waiting in the rear.
Vieta swung her dagger and split the fireball flying toward her in one stroke.
The fireball burst apart into fragments, scorching the enemies’ bodies all around it.
“Aaaaargh!”
The enemies began screaming from the pain of their tender flesh being burned.
While the enemies milled about in confusion, Vieta silently picked up the axe embedded in a corpse and threw it at the mage.
“Ghk!”
With the flames as cover, Vieta dodged the attacks raining down on her and killed the enemies one by one, each with a single strike. Brief flashes of steel. Intermittent screams. Amid it all, Vieta stood dressed in red.
Blood dripped down the blade of her dagger.
There were no more attacks flying toward her.
It took Vieta only about five minutes to finish off the enemies.
“Pin, Pedrable!”
Once the situation was more or less under control, Vieta shouted the words she had agreed on with her comrades long ago.
Until all the hostages were rescued—and until the Empire’s investigators arrived—she could not let her guard down for even a moment.
At her call, Fulcare slipped into the hut.
“Captain, you certainly danced with that sword.”
The scene was truly grisly, but Fulcare’s eyes remained indifferent.
Vieta said nothing and swung her blade to shake off the blood. Even without an explanation from her, the archmage would take care of everything that remained.
“First, I need to put out the fire. Then I’ll open the way underground for you.”
Fulcare seemed to have sensed the faint presence coming from underground as well.
“None of them got away, right?”
“I caught a few.”
With a satisfied smile, the archmage summoned water from thin air.
***
“…Is this a good thing?”
A short distance from the hut, Vieta sat on the dirt. Screams continued to ring out from the hut where she had caused such a commotion.
“Ful, did you get kicked out too?”
Fulcare approached Vieta’s side. He, too, wore an awkward expression.
“Still, it’s a relief that we weren’t too late.”
“That’s thanks to your magic. You worked hard.”
Vieta let out a deep breath and rested her head on Fulcare’s shoulder.
“Aah!”
The screams coming from the hut continued to grow louder.
They were such agonized screams that Vieta and Fulcare fell silent as well.
They needed to hurry and investigate the scene, but Simaril was giving birth inside the hut.
After Vieta found Simaril and soothed her, Simaril suddenly clutched her stomach and cried out in pain.
Vieta was flustered, not knowing what was happening, when the elderly elf beside her took Simaril from her, saying that the baby seemed ready to come out now that the mother had relaxed after being reassured.
All their work came to a halt because of Simaril’s sudden labor.
“What will happen to those elves now?”
The elves were filthy and disheveled, but they did not seem to have been harmed.
“Who knows? They’re victims, so the Empire will protect them for now, then either return them to the World Tree or figure something else out.”
“…Iseria isn’t involved, is she?”
“Of course not.”
Fulcare took a cigarette from inside his clothes and took a deep drag. Vieta did not care for the smoke, but she continued leaning against Fulcare.
“Is there anything else you’re curious about?”
“This sort of thing is your specialty, or Ro’s, isn’t it? If we wait, someone will tell us.”
Perhaps all one could do was what one did best.
That was what Vieta thought.
“But at least tell me when things get hard. Don’t suffer in silence. And don’t overdo it.”
“I didn’t know the captain could say things like that.”
Vieta gave Fulcare a sidelong look as he chuckled.
***
The next day, Blanc headed to the Imperial Palace’s small garden with the Consort.
Just as he had expected, the Consort wanted to take Blanc to a tea party with the Empress.
After the formal greetings in which they asked after each other’s well-being, their pointed conversation began to heat up. Wineglasses rolled across the table, and the white cloth draped over its elegant surface gradually turned red.
“Please say that one more time, Consort.”
The Empress’s hands were trembling.
“I said that I am happy simply having my children by my side.”
On the surface, it sounded like the words of an ordinary mother who loved her children, but to the Empress, who had lost her only child, the Crown Prince, barely a month ago, they meant something entirely different.
“Of course, it is also important to properly teach one’s children, as a mother.”
It had begun when the Empress brought up Prince Charles’s rampage at the restaurant.
“Compared to Your Majesty, I am woefully lacking, but I can only apologize that this happened because I tried to consider my children’s feelings first.”
When the Consort looked lovingly at Blanc, seated beside her, the Empress’s face began to turn white with rage.
The Consort even mentioned that Crown Prince Garvin had fled the palace after quarreling with the Empress and then fallen to his death, without batting an eye.
“Consort, I’ll see how long you can keep wagging that hateful tongue.”
The Empress rose from her seat with a terrifyingly cold expression.
The Consort had gained the upper hand in this private meeting.
“How tedious and boring.”
The Consort laid her face on the damp tablecloth.
Her delicate nape showed between her luxuriant brown hair.
“I heard it from Charles. He said you were the one who stopped that commotion that day.”
….”
The Consort’s gentle, flesh-toned eyes held boundless benevolence. But Blanc was not foolish enough to miss the meaning hidden within them.
The Consort was angry at Blanc for humiliating Charles.
“…You may leave now.”
A tool that had served its purpose was discarded. Now that the Empress was gone, the Consort had no further use for Blanc.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
Blanc quietly rose from his seat. After that day, the relationship between mother and son had become irreparably strained, and no excuses were necessary.
“Come to think of it, I hear you’ve recently started seeing a woman.”
Blanc had just begun to leave the greenhouse when the Consort spoke.
“As a mother, I shall pray that woman remains safe, for my child’s happiness.”
It was an obvious provocation, but Blanc had changed too much to react to every provocation.
“Thank you, Mother.”
Without waiting to hear the Consort’s reply, Blanc headed straight for the garden entrance.