Chapter 387 - Episode 6: To Morandine
In July, it was decided to go to Morandine. It's to subjugate the Gigant occupying the ruins thought to be related to the Ancient Priestess.
The members in charge of the investigation gathered all together for the first time. It's a formation where five of the seven heroes are missing, but with the participation of James-sama and Roberts-sama, plus the former hero Price-sama, the Morandine side was apparently pleased.
To Morandine, we will pass through the east of the mountain. Up to the border, we used a combination of the bowl and Teleport. From the border, it's a carriage with an escort. We passed through the place where we fought a swarm of Revenants. On a round hill that is clearly an artificial object, a stone monument stands to mourn the war dead and the Revenants who turned to soil. Ten thousand Revenants and four thousand Morandine soldiers were sacrificed. The hill was apparently built by gathering the soil that the Revenants turned into.
When I said I wanted to offer a funeral service at the stone monument, they readily stopped the carriage.
When I climbed the hill and went near the stone monument, there were several ghosts. The sun is still high. I don't think it's a time when wild ghosts can be seen, but it might be that I've become able to see them because I became a Bishop.
"They do not seem to be evil spirits."
Price-sama says.
I asked the escorts to clear the area, and the four priests—Price-sama, Harris-sama, Sianya, and I—examine the surroundings of the stone monument.
"Can Jeanne see them?"
Harris-sama and Sianya are looking around. Both are Bishops but they don't seem to see them.
"Three in front of the stone monument. One behind. Another one is approaching from the foot. Everyone is a man wearing chain mail. Their posture is strange as if their necks are broken and tilted, and they have terrible injuries on their faces."
When I called out Fiona and had her talk to them, they were indeed those who lost their lives in the battle against the Revenants. They apparently cannot understand why on earth they ended up being killed by Revenants.
"I shall explain to them. Are there others?"
Price-sama says, and Fiona interprets.
Apparently, there are more than a hundred. Most of them are those who died at a relatively early stage of the battle and seem to be unable to grasp the situation at all. Usually, they are inside the hill... or rather, it's a large mound... and they come out when it becomes night. At first, there were more. After the battle ended, most safely ascended through the prayers centered around the Priestess and the ceremony of establishing the stone monument, but those with strong doubts remained. In the meantime, the number of those wandering around the vicinity gradually increased, and there are about a hundred remaining now. It's unknown what happened to the ghosts who left the mound.
We decided to have them gather at Fiona's call. Once they gathered, Price-sama explained.
"The first thing I wish to convey is that thanks to everyone's courageous struggle, the citizens of Morandine can live in peace, and the Royal Family is also safe."
Price-sama conveys feelings of gratitude and conveys that the war ended safely. And he explained the cause of the battle, saying, "Actually, it was like this," and there are several who are glowing. They must be angry. If it weren't for Price-sama's first words, they might have become evil spirits.
The glowing ones are also visible to Harris-sama and Sianya, and although they don't speak, they follow them with their eyes from one end to the other. Perhaps surprised by the large number, Sianya is covering her mouth with her hand.
"Thanks to everyone's struggle, we were able to buy time. As a result, the Morandine army, together with the allied forces of Finis, Northern Gram, and Medioland, succeeded in having all the Revenants ascend. Truly, thank you for your hard work."
He is bowing deeply.
After that, he conveyed that while they continued to stay in camp to check the nobles of eastern Engrio after the alliance with Engrio was broken, the three countries of Medioland, Regnentes, and Sertoria defeated the Engrio army. The war reached its end. And he conveyed that the King abdicated and a new King was enthroned.
Fortunately, they seemed to be convinced and said they wanted to ascend. I had Fiona return to the crystal, and the four priests performed the prayer of ascension and were able to safely send them to the Goddess's side.
"I am concerned about what happened to those who wandered out, but we cannot do more than this now. As for the rest, let us inform the Morandine Royal Capital Great Archbishop and leave it to him."
Price-sama said, and although it was simple, the ritual ended.
When we told the knights of the escort the sequence of events, they all thanked us.
"Jeanne has established friendships with various ghosts, starting with Fiona. That might be why she could see them even during the day."
Price-sama said. In short, it's a matter of being used to it.
The journey in the specially made carriage continued, and on the third day after leaving the checkpoint, we arrived at the Royal Capital.
The Royal Capital is a town in the middle of a plain, with a river on the east side. They had dug a moat drawing water from that river and circled a city wall on the inside.
Morandine, as a result of fighting an unexpected encounter battle with Revenants in the previous war, suffered many losses amidst the fear that they might be destroyed. As a result, they broke off with the Ruined Town, which was the cause of falling into such a battle, and also dissolved the alliance with Engrio. In a sense, the King abdicated in a form of taking responsibility, and the Boy King was enthroned. He is still a minor who just turned eleven. Just as the Headmistress predicted, there seem to be various people around him, and among them, the family of the Former King of Septanaquila seems troublesome.
"I heard the Former King of Septanaquila has the Boy King under his thumb."
It's Gwyn-sama. He is the very person who destroyed Septanaquila.
"While the former Morandine King is voluntarily confining himself, he is apparently instructing him in the way of a King."
It's Eowyn-sama. For Septanaquila, he is a descendant of a great traitor who betrayed his own country, and in the previous war, he teamed up with Finis and divided his own territory.
"For someone who abandoned his own country and fled to speak of the way of a King, he's got quite a nerve."
James-sama, who ignored the alliance, snorts and laughs.
It's full of potential trouble from the start.
The audience itself ended simply. Although a boy, the opponent is a King. It ended with just a greeting in response to the Prime Minister's introduction. No priests other than Price-sama were introduced. As if he couldn't help himself, Eowyn-sama introduced me.
"Everyone, thank you very much for coming. The details will be explained by the Archbishop of the Royal Capital Great Church, so please head there."
The Prime Minister closed it, and it was an abrupt exit. The Boy King was just nodding. He only said one thing to Edward-sama: "I'm counting on you."
"That's quite harsh."
Gwyn-sama is smiling wryly.
Especially for the three princes—James-sama, Gwyn-sama, and Eowyn-sama—they probably thought they were being retaliated against by the Former King of Septanaquila, who is pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Even so, it's strange.
"Originally, was it not a request from the Royal Family?"
When I asked James-sama, the reply was "No."
"It's a request from the church. The Royal Family does not know about the altar and thinks it's just monster extermination."
What on earth does that mean?
"Morandine is special. Politics and religion are completely separate."
"Is the Royal Family's religion different?"
"No, it's the same. However, the church does not involve itself in politics at all, and in exchange, it does not cooperate with the Royal Family. This request is from the Medioland Royal Capital Great Church. Therefore, the Royal Family knows that we are coming, but they only know that the purpose is to respond to the church's request."
James-sama explained. Of course, that's only outwardly, and they are actually connected behind the scenes. Though, it's doubtful whether the Boy King knows the information obtained through that connection.
Originally, because of the alliance with Engrio, the church, which opposed the alliance with the Royal Family that honored a pagan deity, took the attitude of parting ways, and they compromised. Since then, regardless of what kind of people they are or what their purpose is, the Royal Family's guests are handled only by the Royal Family, and the church's guests only by the church. Now the alliance with Engrio is dissolved, but diplomatic relations themselves remain. The change in the system cannot keep up. It's probably also troublesome to change the sequence of ceremonies and such. Even now, the outward attitude apparently hasn't changed.
This time, since royalty from five countries are participating, they apparently came to report to the Royal Family just that they have arrived.
It's quite complicated.
"Even so, normally you'd call out to each person. It was only to Edward."
Gwyn-sama is holding a grudge. To make matters worse, Edward-sama is the youngest.
"No, the Prime Minister introduced us starting from the north. Since I was the last one from the southernmost part, he just summarized it."
Perhaps knowing it's a weak excuse, he looked away when everyone looked at him.
"Edward. I don't hate that part of you."
When Gwyn-sama reached out his hand to his shoulder and bumped it with his fist, Edward-sama laughed and lightly tilted his head.
"We are fine. I cannot forgive the Prime Minister who did not introduce Jeanne-sama to the King."
It's Eowyn-sama. Although it's become a routine, please spare me. Harris-sama and Sianya weren't introduced either.
"Eowyn-sama. It is better for Jeanne not to appear on the formal stage of politics too much. Because wicked people will approach her."
"U-Um. You're right."
As expected of Price-sama. He silenced Eowyn-sama in an instant and winked at me.
"More than that, it's the two standing as Royal Guards on the left and right of the King. The one on the right is the second son of the Former King of Septanaquila, and the one on the left I judge to be the heir who married into a great noble family from the Engrio Royal Family."
"Engrio? James, is that true?"
Gwyn-sama is surprised. It's apparently Seldic's second son. The other princes seemed to have noticed, as they nodded lightly. No, Edward-sama is confirming it with Sianya.
"It seems it's true that Morandine has three factions: the pro-Engrio faction, the pro-Former Septanaquila faction, and the conservative faction."
"Umu. Was the alliance with Engrio not dissolved?"
"The military alliance was. However, they did not exile Seldic's son. It's likely to prevent the defection of the pro-Engrio faction, which has close economic ties. As expected, it's better to stop trusting Morandine completely. In that sense, it's better to just be intimate with the church this time. It would be troublesome if they said they'd have those two participate."
"I-I see."
James-sama is explaining to Gwyn-sama. I heard that Finis is particularly ignorant of the situation in the central part of the island. Because protecting the land of their ancestors is the first priority. In that regard, Northern Gram and Medioland, which border Morandine, must be observing well.
When we go to the Royal Capital Great Church, Price-sama comes to the front. We received a welcome from the Archbishop in the guest room, and there was an explanation about the ruins where the Gigant is settled.
"The forest with the building that seems to be the ruins you are looking for is in the hills in the center of the peninsula southeast of the capital. And on the top of the hill, there was a small shrine managed by the church. When the Demon Lord was resurrected last time, the Gigant led a unit of the Demon Lord's army and attacked and occupied that shrine. We did not consider that shrine or the ruins to be such important facilities. Therefore, we designated the area as a demon realm and made it off-limits."
Demon Lord's army remnants. It's not a place to go with a small unit.
"Rest assured. Although it's called the Demon Lord's army, currently, other monsters seem to have retreated to the so-called demon realms where monsters have lived since ancient times. The reason is unknown, but only the Gigant and a small unit of monsters remain in the ruins."
"How did you confirm the current situation?"
"The scout of the person we requested to reconnoiter has confirmed it."
Hmm. The problem is only the commander Gigant, and the subordinates are few. Did he organize the Demon Lord's army because he was asked by the Demon Lord?
"Then, if we defeat that Gigant, what do you intend to do?"
"As you may have already noticed, that area is actually church land. If the shrine or ruins are damaged, we must repair them as necessary to pass them on to posterity."
Because it is a land of non-taxation and non-entry, the Royal Family cannot interfere... accurately, they do not interfere.
"We thought about gathering priests with experience in monster extermination to take it back, but without a vanguard, that is also difficult. The Royal Family apparently suffered considerable damage from fighting the large army of Revenants in the previous war. I hear they are currently rebuilding the army. Also, as I mentioned earlier, we did not consider them to be such valuable ruins."
What on earth are we investigating? He asked.
Price-sama, who was responding, gave a brief explanation. Of course, he doesn't talk about the Black Stones or the secret books. He was explaining it as part of an investigation related to the prevention of the Demon Lord's resurrection. If he says there is a Vow of Silence and he cannot speak of the details, a church priest cannot ask further.
In the end, the Archbishop only introduced the secretary who would be the contact person for the future and remained at merely expressing his non-involvement in silence.
Cooperation regarding the investigation cannot be obtained, but James-sama and Price-sama seem to think that is better.
"Well, let's just be thankful that they can arrange a guide and lodging and food."
Price-sama said after the meeting with the Archbishop ended, in the inn that became the lodging on the outskirts of the Royal Capital; that probably represents their mutual relationship.
The next morning, we depart for the investigation.
When we were about to board the carriage the church prepared, twenty knights arrived.
"By order of the Prime Minister, we have been assigned to be your escort."
The captain is an elderly man. His equipment has a sense of being well-used and is a rugged thing with little decoration.
"James-sama, Eowyn-sama, and Gwyn-sama. It has been a long time."
"Oh, is it not Sir Edgar? Have you been well?"
He greeted the three princes and then introduced himself. He is one of the influential nobles and apparently one of the staff of the Kingdom's army. In the previous war, he was apparently commanding the defense against the Revenants. In other words, James-sama and the others are also life-savers.
"At the Royal Palace, I could not even greet you all, my great benefactors; I am truly sorry. I hear you are heading to the ruins where the Gigant is. Although few in number, I shall take on the duty of your escort."
I heard that the forest is included in Sir Edgar's territory. The ones who dispatched scouts to probe the surroundings are also this person's subordinates.
"It's reassuring if you are here, Sir. We're counting on you."
And so, the party protected by twenty knights left the Royal Capital and entered a certain fortress surrounded by wasteland.