156 - Chapter 9 Epilogue
――Around the time Lyell and his companions achieved their miraculous victory in Zain.
In Alamsars, two knights dispatched from Rohlfis were visiting Damian.
Damian Barre, who had received a letter of introduction from Lyell, is a genius known as one of the Seven Sages of the Academic City. A few screws were loose in his head, but that was precisely why he was one of the Seven Sages.
Every one of the successive Seven Sages had been a genius, yet each was a problematic individual. Damian was a pervert who conducted research claiming he wanted to create the ideal woman.
In the laboratory, maids wearing the same clothes and possessing the same face were cleaning and preparing tea for the two knights.
Damian sat on a sofa, received the letter, and picked up a small black plate.
"This is for you lot."
A maid—an automaton—took it and put the black plate in her pocket. Then, her red eyes began to flicker—.
"...There is data left behind by the sisters who were imprisoned in the labyrinth. The corruption is severe, and full analysis is impossible. Master, it seems that useless Monica touched upon a part of the labyrinth's secret in Beime."
Hearing this, the two knights looked surprised. However, Damian simply drank his tea.
"Is that so. I'm not interested anymore. After all, it has nothing to do with my research. However, this is troublesome."
The knights, surprised and then exasperated, sought clarification from Damian.
"Um, what do you mean by troublesome? Are you saying you cannot hand over the porter technology to us?"
Damian removed his glasses and rubbed the corners of his eyes.
"I'll teach you. To me, it's already outdated technology. I think if you give money to the academy, they'll teach you kindly and thoroughly. Though, the one who built the foundation for that was Lyell. It would have been faster to learn from him."
The two knights looked at each other, appearing troubled. They had never imagined that Lyell had developed it.
"Um, so what is the 'troublesome' part?"
Damian put his glasses back on and smiled.
"Lyell's younger sister, Ceres, is coming to Alamsars soon. No, it's truly troublesome. Truly troublesome... because her target is me."
What Lyell had written in the letter was the threat of Ceres. He had written to warn him, but there was nothing Damian could do about it.
Then, Damian stood up.
"Well, the necessary materials are more readily available in Beime than here, right? Besides, the academy has felt unpleasant lately. Come to think of it, was it after the academy's main members headed to Central? Ahahaha, it's just as Lyell said."
Damian began to laugh and then spoke to the two knights.
"Alright, let's flee. Number One, Two, Three... load the materials and we're going to Beime. These two are the guards."
The maids gripped their skirts, lifted them slightly, and bowed.
"Yes, Master. With this, we can also fulfill Monica's request."
Damian tilted his head.
"Request? Was I asked for something?"
The maid called Number One replied.
"The design of a humanoid combat golem, and the development of a golem utilizing an automaton core. The reward is ancient technology—our options. That incompetent woman. She told us to cooperate because she would give us duplicate options. We shall crush her with our polished coordination."
Damian put his hand to his chin.
"As expected of Lyell. It seems interesting things are happening. Right. Let's rely on Lyell's care. Alright, then let's prepare for departure immediately."
As Damian spoke, the maids began to move frantically within the laboratory.
"This goes into the large-scale porter for transport—"
"It is time to show our power."
"Hmm, we shall handle the basic design of the golem. Master, please develop the device to incorporate the core—"
The two knights who had come all the way to Alamsars could only watch in stunned silence as Damian decided to flee so quickly—.
――Beime East Guild.
There stood a pair clad in robes.
Light blue hair was visible from the hood of one of them.
The petite and slender girl was Adele Belgi. She was a seventeen-year-old girl who had drifted from Banseime to Darion, Alamsars, Central, and finally to Beime.
Standing as if to protect her from the surrounding wave of people was a tall young man. He carried a spear wrapped in cloth and had a sword at his waist.
With a physique and weaponry that made him look like a warrior at a glance, those around them avoided bumping into him.
His name was Maxim Danhel—a twenty-seven-year-old former vassal knight who had come to Beime protecting Adele, the daughter of the lord.
The pair were looking around in front of the East Guild.
Adele watched the adventurers with her green eyes. When she failed to find the person she was looking for among them, she let out a sigh.
"As I thought, it's impossible. There are too many people in Beime."
To the giving-up Adele, Maxim smiled.
"It cannot begin if you give up just after arriving, Adele-sama."
Then, Adele turned a smile toward Maxim and nodded. Maxim blushed, scratched his cheek with his fingertip, and averted his gaze.
"That's true. There's no mistake that he's here. I really want to find him... Lyell Walt, the former prodigy of the Walt family."
Adele's eyes narrowed.
Maxim also lightly adjusted the headband on his forehead. His long brown hair was held back by the headband in an all-back style, and he looked around with red eyes.
"Darion, Alamsars, Central... there's no shortage of topics. He might have become famous here as well."
As Maxim spoke and looked around, Adele looked down with her hand on her chin.
"I hope so. Annihilating a bandit group in Darion, breaking through the fortieth underground floor in Alamsars with the minimum number of people. The sibling confrontation in Central... I pray he truly is a good person."
However, Maxim added.
"There were many strange rumors, though. However, it's also possible he fled to Beime. What do you expect from such a fellow, Milady?"
Adele looked up at the sky. Her hood fell back, revealing her light blue hair.
"I don't know."
"'I don't know,' huh... well, I will accompany you until the end."
Though Maxim was exasperated, Adele spoke.
"My family went mad after meeting Ceres. They were supposed to have gone to Central to protest, but when they returned, they expressed a desire to participate in the civil war. They are clearly mad. I thought meeting him directly would be dangerous. That's why I came to Beime seeking clues..."
Adele turned her face toward Maxim.
"The knight who was Maxim's friend was also cut down. Someone who was one of the finest knights in Banseime was no match for him at all. It's like a fairy tale from three hundred years ago."
Adele, who spoke of it as a fairy tale, let out a sigh in front of the East branch and began to walk. Matching her small strides, Maxim also began to walk.
"I'm sorry to Maxim, but let's become adventurers in Beime. We'll search for information on Lyell Walt here."
For a knight, becoming an adventurer in Banseime meant falling from grace. However, Maxim smiled.
"If that is what Milady desires."
He smiled as he said so—.
"What the... 'The Condemning Holy Knight' or something like that!"
Inside the temple in the capital of Zain, I was slamming both arms down on the desk repeatedly in the room I had been given.
I had cut down the Knight Commander, and the war was about to reach a conclusion. It should have, but Eva had rushed in to me with a smile.
Eva, being a singer, told me the stories being recounted in the capital.
"There's 'The Blue Holy Knight,' 'The Holy Knight of Love,' and even 'The Guardian of Miracles.' By the way, there are two versions of the story where Selma-san and Aura-san are the heroines. A forbidden love with an age gap! It's a huge hit among middle-aged women! In Aura-san's case, it's a classic trope, so she's normally popular. After all, she defeated an army of twenty thousand in a war that started with only a hundred people."
Watching Eva, who was overjoyed and making V-signs, I held my head in both hands. Then, the next person to enter was Clara.
"Lyell-san, actually, there are a few things I want to ask."
"What?"
When I turned my exhausted face toward Clara, she held a memo.
"Your feelings when you decided to reclaim Zain, and the story about snapping your fingers during the negotiations in Rohlfis as if you knew a messenger was coming... it feels a bit like fiction, so please tell me in more detail. Also, please tell me the reason you decided to abandon the captured forts and attack the capital."
Clara, her eyes sparkling, was trying to listen to my story with utmost seriousness.
However, Eva interjected.
"Wait! What do you mean 'feels like fiction'! It's a splendid reason! He stood up to save the troubled Saint and the people of Rohlfis! Why are you trying to twist the facts just because it seems suspicious!"
Pressed by Eva, Clara pushed up her glasses with her finger, making them glint. It was a bit scary.
"It is to leave a record for future generations! If I don't write down the details properly, you people will refine it into a completely different story!"
"It's not about the facts! It's fine for there to be a hero who moves without calculation! It's fine for him to be an idiot who can't calculate profit and loss! That's what a hero is!"
"No. Absolutely not!"
As I extended my right hand, wondering whether to intervene in their argument, I heard the voices of the successive heads of the family laughing loudly from the jewel.
The Third Generation was already delighted upon hearing my epithet.
『The Condemning Holy Knight!! How cool!!』
The Fourth Generation said.
『The Blue Holy Knight and the Holy Knight of Love... as expected, it's a Holy Knight theme. Lucky you, Lyell... now you're a famous person with an epithet. Work will come flooding in from now on!』
――He was overjoyed at the prospect of future money-making.
The Fifth Generation said.
『He's better than the idiot sons we've had or the Burdened Lyell, right? But, 'Condemning'... why is it that an epithet that's too decent sounds worse?』
The Seventh Generation, while suppressing his laughter.
『I-It's not bad... pfft! But the Guardian of Miracles, is it? Even though it's not a miracle, but a difference in what has been accumulated. Well, it's interesting, so I'll adopt it.』
(These guys are enjoying this. Just as usual!)
Amidst my feelings of irritation, I let out a sigh and sat in the chair. Then, Eva and Clara looked at me.
"W-What?"
Eva spoke with a serious expression.
"Hey, Lyell... which epithet do you prefer? I want to tell my kin to spread it centered around that one. It'll be confusing if there are too many."
Clara added.
"Unification is important. Lyell-san, 'The Blue Holy Knight,' 'The Condemning Holy Knight,' 'The Holy Knight of Love,' 'The Guardian of Miracles'... and there's also 'The Holy Knight of the Saint'? The last one appears in narratives themed around love and romance. The partners are Selma-san and Aura-san."
I shouted while looking at their faces.
"Rejected! I don't like any of them! If you think of an epithet I'm satisfied with, I'll use it!"
Then, the Third Generation's voice came from within the jewel.
『You're an idiot, Lyell... these things are decided by what others call you. You should choose a safe epithet while you still can.』
(...Even though there isn't a single safe one?)
Watching Eva and Clara argue over which of my epithets was best, I held my head.
――Inside the temple of Zain.
There stood the statue of the final goddess—the seventh goddess. Novem was looking up at the goddess, who was based on the arbitrary image created by the believers.
Beside her was Shannon, who was helping, while Miranda, Aria, and Monica were doing other work.
Mei had gone to deliver a letter to Rohlfis, so Shannon was the only one who could help Novem.
Because it was an important place, shrine maidens had also been dispatched to perform cleaning.
"...Why am I the one cleaning? Just when I thought I'd been used as a decoy, I was shoved into a porter and then brought out only to clean the temple... I think I'd absolutely be forgiven if I protested this poor treatment."
Shannon, voicing her complaints, was wiping a long bench with a rag. She wanted to warn Novem, whose hands had stopped, but since Novem had already finished her work, she couldn't say anything.
When Shannon looked at Novem gazing up at the statue of the goddess, she was slightly surprised. It was incomparable to when it was Lyell, but there was a slight fluctuation in her magical power.
This was Novem, who usually had no fluctuations.
Shannon's eyes could not see, but she possessed a special skill to see magical power. Because of that, Shannon could act as if she could see.
(Is she... angry? No, she looks sad...)
As she watched Novem, her lips moved.
"Calling us... gods... why do people..."
Hearing the fragmented voice, Shannon became frightened and resumed her work. Then, Novem spoke to Shannon.
Moreover, she had crouched beside her without Shannon noticing, matching the height of Shannon's gaze.
"Shannon-chan."
"Y-Yes!"
At Shannon's high-pitched voice, the gazes of the surrounding shrine maidens gathered. However, thinking she was just being scolded again, the shrine maidens resumed their work.
Novem was smiling. As usual, there was no fluctuation in her magical power. There was too little of it.
"It'll be lunch once this is finished, so let's do our best until then."
"...U-Uh-huh."
Shannon could only nod.
(She didn't notice? Thank goodness.)
Just as she thought that, Novem added one word.
"Also, forget the words you heard from me just now. They were words with no particular meaning."
Having been warned, Shannon nodded over and over again—.
――The royal castle of Rohlfis.
Mei was meeting with Alette and Rombolt in a room.
When she handed over the letter she held, Rombolt put his hand to his mouth with a surprised expression. Alette, becoming curious, asked for an explanation.
"Chancellor, what is the situation in Zain?"
Then, Rombolt wiped his sweat and handed the letter to Alette. Upon receiving it, Alette's eyes widened as she read the contents.
"With only... only a hundred people, he reclaimed Zain. Did he really do it?"
To Alette, who was looking back and forth between the letter and Mei repeatedly, Mei said.
"That's what I'm telling you. Lyell took Zain. And he said to come check if you'll move as promised."
As if uninterested, Mei was munching on sweets on the table.
Rombolt said.
"...Are we to attack and destroy Selva? Right now, we could forcibly organize the coalition of nations we promised. Even without going as far as destroying them."
At that remark, Mei popped the last sweet into her mouth and swallowed.
"That was the plan from the start, wasn't it? Besides, it was that Selva who started it. Come to think of it, the people who attacked Lyell were from Selva, right? Keep your promise."
Mei spoke like a child, but Alette said.
"Do you understand what it means to attack and destroy..."
Mei simply tilted her head.
"The boss just changes, right?"
Mei was a Kirin, and it could not be said that her thinking was close to that of a human. She viewed war as little more than a territorial dispute.
And Lyell's opinion was the opinion of the Fifth Generation, Fredericks.
Mei owed a debt of gratitude to Fredericks for saving her life.
"If you don't move, Lyell might act alone. But if that happens, I don't know what will happen from then on."
To the two of them, it sounded as if he could conquer Selva even alone. In fact, Lyell had won in Zain with a small force.
That capability was likely terrifying to Rombolt.
"I will bring it to the council. I cannot give an answer immediately."
Mei stood up and headed toward the window. Despite being in a high place in the royal castle, she leaned out the window with a nonchalant face and looked back.
Finally—.
"Well then, I'll go tell Lyell that you're having a meeting."
Saying that, she flew out.
The two who watched Mei's back thought that no matter how many times they saw it, they could not understand her—.
――Monica, who was cleaning, was observing the surrounding situation.
Destruction caused by magic, and dirty floors.
Several days had passed since she began cleaning those, and Monica thought.
"Why must I work so hard when I can't even take care of that chicken coward? Lately, I haven't been able to take care of the chicken coward. I have no motivation."
Even though she cleaned without motivation, she was, as expected, a high-performance maid-type automaton.
She made the surroundings cleaner and cleaner.
"Even though I worked so hard. I worked so hard this time..."
The dissatisfied Monica seemed very disappointed that she could not be by Lyell's side. Then, Aura was walking down the hallway.
Surrounded by shrine maidens, she was accompanied by Crate, the Vice Commander of the Holy Knights.
"Hello, Monica-san. It's a beautiful day today as well."
Crate, with a stifling smile, greeted Monica with an expression that said he was currently at the peak of happiness. Then, a shrine maiden cautioned Crate.
"Vice Commander-sama, you must not greet others while moving. Others must clear the way for the Saint-sama to pass."
"Is that so? How tedious."
Then, Aura, who let out a sigh, waved her hand.
"No more of that from now on. I'm going to destroy everything and rebuild it anyway, so I'll make new rules. Write down the necessary things later."
Aura, commanding the shrine maidens, sounded like a Saint, regardless of her tone. She was wearing clothes that showed the lines of her body, which Monica had made.
Behind her was Remis, who was handcuffed.
"Oh, are you departing already?"
Aura nodded.
"Yes. You're treated as dead in Zain, and you're exiled from the country. I'll let you keep a certain amount of assets, though."
Aura could not kill Remis, and the same was true for Selma. The Saint is a decoration. Aura and Selma, who knew this, could not do something heartless.
However, she could not be left in Zain.
Although the opposition had already been crushed, there was no guarantee that Remis would not rise up next. Therefore, it was exile.
"How kind. Well, you probably can't kill that chicken coward either. Since you're kind to women. ...I wish you'd only be kind to me."
Aura looked at Monica, who was speaking her true feelings, with exasperation. Then, one of the shrine maidens spoke.
"To say such things to Lyell-sama, the Knight Commander... it is rude to the Holy Knight of Love!"
Then, Monica looked delighted.
"Oh, I'd like to hear more about that. The chicken coward is the Holy Knight of Love? Is that somehow typical of the chicken coward, or is it completely unexpected... please tell me more?"
Leaving Monica to press the shrine maiden, Aura began to walk.
"Come on, let's go."
Then, Remis spoke.
"I'll definitely make you regret this. I hated Rohlfis for killing my father, but now it's different... I hate you the most."
To Remis's words, Aura maintained a composed attitude.
"I see."
She ended it with a single word—.
――Inside the jewel.
The Third Generation was looking up at three weapons floating above the round table.
One was a greatsword.
Another was a bow.
The last was a halberd.
He reached out toward the silver weapons, but the Third Generation could not touch them. It was as if they knew who their master was.
The Fourth Generation looked at the chairs arranged around the round table.
『The number has decreased.』
The Fifth Generation looked down.
『It has.』
The Seventh Generation looked at the doors on the wall of the circular room. The entrances to the rooms of memory were now five.
『The number of doors is also five. They've decreased... hm?』
Five...
The Third Generation stood up from his chair and looked at the newly appeared door. The chair in front of the door belonged to Lyell.
『Now... no, it's already been a year. I suppose it wouldn't be strange for it to appear.』
Lyell's room of memory was born, and silence dominated the interior of the jewel.
Then, the Third Generation spoke.
『...Shall we take a little peek?』
Then the Fourth Generation stood up and pushed up his glasses with his finger.
『Are you curious? It can't be helped.』
The Fifth Generation also stood up.
『No, you're just as keen as anyone.』
The Seventh Generation, being closest to the door, was the first to arrive.
『Then, after you.』
Then, the Third Generation said.
『Ah, that's unfair!』
As he hurriedly tried to run after being beaten to it, the Seventh Generation opened the door and immediately closed it. Approaching in wonder, the Seventh Generation shook his head.
『I didn't think it would be tiring to be here...』
The Fourth Generation approached the door.
『What are you doing. Honestly... look, there's nothing... hm? Why!!』
The Fourth Generation, who had opened the door laughing, closed it immediately with ragged breath. Then, he muttered.
『Impossible. Why. Besides, this is Lyell's room of memory. There's no way they've met.』
The Fifth Generation, also curious, opened the door. Then, he closed it slowly and tilted his head.
『Strange. This isn't my room...』
The Third Generation could not understand. Therefore, he opened the door himself.
Then, the scene inside the mansion where the Third Generation once lived spread out before him.
『...Eh?』
And a boy who noticed the door had opened waved his hand at the Third Generation.
『Slay, today is Grandma's stew. It's a bit thick, but drink it without complaining. If you say it tastes bad, Grandma will be sad.』
Seeing the smile of the small boy, the Third Generation slammed the door shut.
The Third Generation's breathing became erratic.
『...Why is Brother Dewey... why... this isn't my room of memory. Besides, I have no such memory... I shouldn't have.』
The one there was the Third Generation's older brother, the boy who had died, Dewey.
He was moving before his eyes as if he were truly alive. It was not a video of predetermined actions within a memory.
Panicking, the Third Generation stepped back and looked at the doors.
The Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Generations... the four of them stood stunned before Lyell's room of memory—.