It was a bit unsettling, but Remember was undeniably a great butler.
I packed my luggage that the butler had secretly and quickly prepared for me, put on my travel robe, and went down the stairs of the mansion.
When I arrived at the first floor, Remember, who was waiting at the entrance holding the reins of a horse, handed me arrows and a bow with a rubber ball instead of a point along with the reins. I accepted it silently.
If you suddenly used a bow and arrow, you're going to be in a lot of trouble from now on.
As expected, it was when I had just gotten on the horse.
"Cooouuunt!!"
"I heard you're leaving? You're leaving us behind?!"
"Isn't it too much for you to leave without even saying goodbye!!"
"No, more than that, I heard that His Majesty is taking charge of us again. Can't you at least prevent that?!"
Guys dressed in white knightly uniforms were rushing in from afar.
...Let's bounce.
That's rabid dogs. I don't even want to imagine being bitten by a rabid dog.
I quickly kicked the horse in the side. Since the front door was already open, there was no difficulty in escaping.
Thank you Remember!
But they were not ones to give up here.
I left the city smoothly and was running through the fields when, as expected, I began to hear the sound of several horses' hooves behind me.
"Coooouunt!"
"Stand there!"
"If we stop obediently now, there will be no bloodshed!"
"Get the fuck out of here, you crazy people!!"
A thick layer of dust rose from behind. I screamed inwardly at the sight that resembled a puffy cloud.
Those crazy people! What was Lien doing? Your lord was now in danger!
"You guys! Don't you stop right now?!"
"...Ah."
She was there. They just didn't listen.
I looked behind me with a tired expression as I saw the horses chasing me with fearsome force at a little distance from the stampeding herd of horses.
I touch the quiver of arrows I packed a little while ago. From there, I took out an arrow.
I put an arrow on the bowstring, and without slowing down the running speed, I turned my upper body and aimed at the head of the horse running in front.
Since there was a rubber ball instead of an arrowhead, there shouldn't be any problem. If I wasn't careful, the guy above might fall off the horse, but considering how monster-like they were, I don't think it was that dangerous.
Either they will avoid danger on their own, or other people would take care of it.
"Count!! I don't like the Emperor or the imperial palace! I'm scared of both His Majesty and the general!"
Who was that guy going to kill along with him?
'Oops, I made a mistake!'
I tried to hit the horse's head, but I ended up hitting the guy's forehead!
The head of the guy who could have been accused of insulting the imperial family was thrown back. The hand that was tightly holding the reins suddenly loosened and the body fell to the side. It was a dizzying situation where he could have been trampled by the hooves of a horse coming right behind him, but there was a hand who lifted him up before he fell to the ground.
"Wow! Gotcha!"
"Oh, nice!"
"Haha..."
"Haha..."
"...It's disgusting, so why don't you get up now?"
"Do you think I like being on your lap?! Get out of the way! I'll take the reins!"
While one side was having a sweet relationship(?), the other side was in chaos.
The path of a horse that lost its owner became entangled with that of other horses.
Sometimes it got caught in front of a good horse running in a straight line, and sometimes it collided with another horse and fell, so it was natural for the other horses following to fall at the same time.
"Gyaaaaa!!"
"Whoo! I dodged it!"
"Did you see? My falling technique skills?"
On the floor, those who landed safely were proudly avoiding those who fall on top of them, shouting, "Idiots, I'm going first!"
"Ugh!"
The other guys holding the reins jumped over them and continued to chase me.
If it were the guys I knew, the moment one of them fell, they wouldn't have been able to think of any other way and they would all have fallen together, but to be able to react like that...?!
Of course, it was only a small part of it, but still. What on earth did the imperial palace teach them?
I was glad Remember brought plenty of arrows.
Praising the deacon's excellent preparation, I pulled the string again.
***
Deon Hardt secretly received royal orders and left the Count's residence.
Duke Stave Illuster, who heard this news through an informant during the conversation, glanced at the other person.
He suddenly heard the information in front of him. If his prediction was correct, his reaction will probably be right now...
"You said it was Deon Hardt. I guess we can use this opportunity to find out where he is going."
Also.
"I'll have to add four people."
"We cannot afford to cause trouble to you, Your Excellency. Since we have been indebted to you so far, we will assign someone from our side this time."
The Duke's eyes widened at the intended reaction. Sinister purple eyes were hiding behind the eyelids.
"I'm sorry. I don't remember doing anything worth talking about."
"Now that you say that, I have nothing to say. Anyway... I was getting on your nerves a little while ago. Can I ask how you got that wound on your neck?"
"Ah."
He reflexively touched my bandaged neck.
"It's nothing. I have a child who was a bit irritable."
"Do you have a nephew?"
"Well, I'm talking about what you said earlier."
A topic that was not nutritious. There was no reason to continue. The Duke blatantly changed the topic.
The other person was not particularly interested, so he obediently followed the changed topic.
"Ah, you mean the story about the Emperor declaring the conquest of the continent? I don't dare doubt Your Excellency, but I still have to ask you why."
"..."
"Why are you telling me not to move?"
The man sitting across from the Duke asked, adjusting his posture as if he would listen if he told him the reason.
As if he was not the leader of the Revolutionary Army for nothing, the solemn atmosphere characteristic of a person leading people dominated the room.
The kind of atmosphere he was familiar with from the Emperor.
The Duke, who narrowed his eyes at the very atmosphere he could not achieve even if he tried hard, soon smiled and began to speak in a soft voice.
As if he was trying to regain the initiative he had lost, the Duke's unique atmosphere began to gradually encroach on the entire room.
"The Revolutionary Army must not move in earnest until the Emperor has taken half the continent."
"Why on earth...!"
"When war is ripe. When the Emperor can no longer stop the war at will, that is the right time."
The position of leader of the Revolutionary Army was not something that could be held by a fool. The man, Daniel, kept his mouth shut.
By the time the Empire has consumed half of the continent, other kingdoms will have already moved on. Even if they were slow to make a decision and stayed still, the situation would have started to move at that point. Because they must have felt threatened. There was no way they could just ignore this situation. This meant that even if the Emperor was satisfied and wanted to step down, he would not be able to do so easily.
In order to replenish the troops lost in the previous war, the Emperor will draw most of the troops except the minimum troops to protect it from various places, including the imperial palace.
At that time, even if Revolutionary forces ran rampant within the Empire, they would not be easily suppressed. Because there wouldn't be enough people to stop them.
"...As expected of you, Duke. Please excuse me."
Daniel, convinced, took a step back and Stave moved immediately.
There must be a few Revolutionary members following Deon Hardt by now. It would be nice if it ended well like this, but the Emperor wouldn't let it be that easy.
'Did you say he was leaving now? No matter what, flies will be attracted to him. Take care of them and come back. Instead of chasing after Honorary Count Hardt, you should just kill the flies and come back.'
He did not induce the Revolutionary Army to move for no reason. The Revolutionary Army that followed Deon Hardt would soon die.
He felt sorry for the soon-to-be-dead Revolutionary soldiers, but there was no grand reason for doing such a meaningless act.
What he was aiming for is none other than screwing over the Emperor.
'I'd be quite upset if the person I sent to clean up didn't come back.'
Dead or alive? If he lived, he would have betrayed him, so even if he was rejected, if he died, he would have died after completing the matter, or he would have died before that, etc.
The Duke grinned, thinking of the Emperor who was quite upset, and gave an order to Cruel.
'If you follow the traces of the Revolutionary Army, there will be someone who received orders to watch over Deon Hardt. Kill him. And if you are in a position to chase after Deon Hardt, check where he is going and then return.'
Splatter!
Since the Revolutionary Army was being killed in an ongoing manner, it was not difficult to find the 'man who was watching his back'. Cruel, who killed the masked men as instructed by the Duke, raised his head.
As a result, the blood that splattered on his cheek rolled down his jaw line and fell on the ground, but his gaze remained unwavering and focused on one place.
In the distance, Deon could be seen walking into the forest after returning the horse he rode.
Was it because he was afraid that traces would remain?
Cruel, who had been staring at his back for a while, stepped into the forest just before Deon disappeared between the trees. With just enough distance for Deon to come into view, Cruel also disappeared between the trees of the forest.
...
Cruel came out of the forest.
The same attitude and expression as usual. Green eyes, with a look that didn't show what he was thinking, glanced back at the forest he came from.
And for a moment, Cruel turned around. He found a horse that was tied up some distance away, mounted it, and ran towards the place he needs to return to.
Perhaps because autumn had arrived, the wind became sharper and hit him harshly.
***
"You're here. Did you handle your work well?"
"Yes."
"So did you find out where Deon Hardt was headed?"
"..."
"..."
"...By the time I finished the job, Deon Hardt had already left. I'm sorry."
***
"He left."
"Huh."
"He left."
"He abandoned us."
"I even have a bruise on my forehead!"
"Looking at your mouth, it looks like you have some time to spare. Let's add 10 more laps of the training ground."
"Ah, Sir Lien!!"
"We're going to die!"
"Noisy! If you keep talking like that, I'll add 10 more laps, so shut up and run!"
Lien, who spoke fiercely to silence the knights, sighed and looked up at the cloudy sky.
The dark sky, which looks like it was going to rain at any moment, seemed to represent her feelings, making it even more depressing.
Lien sighed again and lowered her head. The two clear eyes, as if they had been depressed for a while, were filled with solemnity and shone resolutely.
The reason her lord left without saying a word of greeting was because she was so untrustworthy.
So...
'I will become a more trustworthy knight until the day we meet again.'
The firm resolve of a knight that no one could hear was scattered silently in the air.
***
The Salvation Church collapsed. There was no salvation.
Sheia sat down in front of the empty lot that had burned down, leaving only the remains, and stared into space in confusion. Her eyes were blurry, as if unseeing.
Tuk. Tuk tuk tuk.
Cold raindrops hit her body. The rain that fell one or two drops soon became a torrential downpour, hitting her entire body violently, as if to remind her to come to her senses.
Even in a downpour that felt like a torrential downpour, Sheia could not easily come to her senses. Because the Salvation Church was going to be her first and only place she belonged.
There existed a world where warm bread and clean water were provided consistently and people did not have to be wary of those around them.
She felt like she had a warm dream for a moment. It would have been better if it had been a dream. Sheia couldn't help but despair even more because the remnants in front of her were showing her that it was not a dream.
Because now she couldn't even dream.
She didn't want to do anything.
She wished she could just die like this. A child who had let go of everything saw someone's legs stopping in front of her.
"Sheia."
"..."
"How long will you be like this?"
"..."
"...Please, Sheia."
Please at least give me an answer.
A squeezing voice came out as if pleading.
Looking at Sheia, who was still silent, Paul squeezed and released her collar with a dark expression.
An overwhelming feeling of regret came over him. At that time, the Salvation Church should not have been introduced.
It might have been best to just live life as usual. Such meaningless assumptions ran through his mind again and again.
'...No, no.'
Those bastards the Murderous Knights, Deon Hardt, the Emperor...!
Yes, if it weren't for the Emperor. If he hadn't meddled, the current situation wouldn't have happened.
In the end, the Emperor was the problem.The problem was high-ranking people who clumsily intervened without knowing anything about the slums.
Anger bloomed in Paul's eyes. The anger grew deeper and turned into fierce hatred, which soon became cold and hardened with a sense of duty as he spoke to Sheia.
"I joined the Revolutionary Army."