Lyle's Side
"Tenma... lost?"
Having received the report from the advance team members who had returned first, my thoughts ground to a halt at the shocking content. What snapped me back to my senses was the sound of someone nearby — Mother collapsing.
"Maria! Aina, get Maria to a bed!"
"Yes!"
Under normal circumstances, Aina would have been able to catch Mother before she fell, but Aina was clearly shaken after hearing the report as well. Kurif was too — no, Father and I were the same. From here on, we had to consciously keep our composure, or the worms hiding inside the lion's body within the kingdom would have their way with us.
"Kurif, summon Caesar and Zain immediately! And Din too — the one currently guarding Caesar!"
Father was calling his elder brothers, who were at separate locations for their respective duties, to share information and consolidate their opinions before the meeting.
We didn't know exactly when Jan and the others would return, but they had said they would arrive at the Royal Capital by tomorrow unless something extraordinary happened. So before the meeting, they should be able to consolidate the royal family's position.
For that purpose, Father added further:
"I know you're tired, but we will be holding you in our custody until Jan and the others return. You will be granted a degree of freedom, but contact with anyone outside — even family — will not be permitted."
He had the reporter detained.
The knight who had returned with the report was a member of the Royal Guard whose identity was clearly verified, but if by some chance he was connected to the Reformist Faction, there was no guarantee the Reformist Faction wouldn't launch an attack before the meeting.
Even if it was only as a precaution until Jan and the others returned, this must have been humiliating for a Royal Guard knight sworn to protect the royal family.
However, the knight who had returned with the report had apparently anticipated this would happen, as he showed no sign of dissatisfaction whatsoever and was escorted to an isolation room by other Royal Guard knights. But before he left the room,
"Has this information been conveyed to the Otteri family? And how is Merlin holding up?"
Father asked these questions. In response, the reporter replied,
"Lord Merlin appeared quite disheartened, but
tr
"...kept his composure. He apparently spoke directly to the Otteri family."
The reporter must have been familiar with what Lord Merlin was like after Tenma went missing fighting the Dragon Zombie.
Hearing that Lord Merlin was safe, I felt relieved for the time being.
If it wasn't just that Tenma had disappeared, but that Lord Merlin had also gone mad, the royal family could well be hurtling toward ruin.
That was just how influential the Otteri family had become to the current royal family.
"If possible, I'd like to keep Tenma's situation hidden, but... we're still in the middle of the war with the Empire, and since we entrusted an important operation to the Otteri family, I suppose we can't exactly keep the Reformist Faction in the dark about the results..."
As Father said, there was no one among the nobles in the Royal Capital who didn't know about Tenma fighting the Lich, and since requests for cooperation had been sent to various quarters, it was impossible to keep the outcome quiet.
However, sharing that information would not only alert the Reformist Faction — there was also a high chance that some nobles currently aligned with the royal family would defect.
As I was wrestling with this dilemma,
"Your Majesty, I heard you summoned us — what has happened?"
My older brothers arrived together.
Zain and Din also looked eager to hear the news, but they quietly waited for Father's words behind Caesar.
Upon hearing of Tenma's defeat and disappearance, the three of them panicked more than at any other point in their long acquaintance, temporarily losing all composure.
Father calmed the two of them down, then had them take their seats to discuss the way forward.
And just as they were about to begin their discussion,
"One moment, please — it appears someone has arrived... What? Your Majesty, Primera of the Otteri family is at the gate, requesting an audience with you."
"Show her in immediately!"
Someone had knocked at the door, and when Kurif went to attend to it, it turned out none other than Primera had come.
There had been no report of Lord Merlin returning to the Royal Capital, nor did it seem he had slipped back unnoticed and arrived together with Primera, so the reason for her visit was unclear — but they couldn't very well turn her away.
"Also, Caesar. Summon Isabella and have her join us here..."
"I will attend as well"
My father was about
to suggest
that Caesar call his sister-in-law, to avoid meeting in a room with only women and men present, but my mother, who had just returned, cut him off before he could finish.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes, it's perfectly fine. Aina, in place of Kurif, go receive her. Primera has a baby on the way, so she'll need a woman's help."
The report had said Jeanne and Aura were there too, so surely there were enough hands — but perhaps it was because having Aina go would better impress upon Primera that she was my mother's guest.
"Your Majesty, Lady Maria. I have brought Lady Primera."
"Mm, you may enter."
After a while, when Aina returned, tension shot through us all. We didn't know why Primera had come, but since she was here, we had no choice but to speak about Tenma. In that regard, my father and mother may have been far more nervous than me or my brothers.
"For this sudden visit, I apologize—"
"Remain seated… More importantly, there is something I must tell you, Primera…"
Primera, perhaps because her due date was near, was seated in a wheelchair, which Jeanne pushed as they entered the room. She attempted to rise from the wheelchair to perform a courtier's bow to my father (having relinquished her noble status, she was technically a former courtier), but my father stopped her and told her to stay in her chair.
And so, he was about to tell Primera about Tenma, but—
"That
thing
I
want
to
tell you—
...and
— isn't that about Tenma?"
Those words, spoken by Primera in the brief moment of Father's hesitation, left Father—no, left all of us—practically breathless with shock.
"Lady Ootori, could it be that Lord Merlin has returned?"
Caesar, my elder brother, was the first to regain his composure and asked Primera the most likely possibility, but... she shook her head with a look that said "just as expected."
"No, Grandfather hasn't returned yet. However, it was around yesterday evening, I believe, when Slarin suddenly began to panic. After calming him down and asking the reason, he said he had sensed that something had happened to Tenma."
If this had been an ordinary Slime, people might have laughed it off as nonsense, but Slarin was clearly an extraordinary existence—even to someone like me, who knew little about Tamers. And more than anything, since I had witnessed Slarin communicating his will through gestures even to those who weren't his master, setting aside the question of how he had sensed the change in Tenma's condition, it was a story that made perfect sense.
"I'm not like Tenma—I can't understand everything Slarin wants to say, so I don't know exactly what happened to him. But I wanted to learn the details, and Grandfather's return was uncertain, so I thought Your Majesty might know something, and I shamelessly barged in."
She called it barging in, but given that the Ootori family stood as allies of the royal family in this war, and considering our usual relationship, it wasn't exactly strange. Well,
A
former
noble
like Primera showing up without prior notice was surprising, but given the circumstances, an unannounced visit was understandable.
"Very well, since you already know this much, I won't hide anything... but brace yourselves. We only just received the report ourselves, so there's much we don't know, but it appears that Tenma engaged in battle with a new enemy force and was defeated, and is now missing. Lord Merlin is reportedly safe, but there are reports that Tenma sustained severe injuries... and whether he is alive or dead remains unknown."
"Is... is that so..."
Upon hearing Father's words, Primera slumped back in her wheelchair as though all the strength had drained from her body. However,
"So, regarding Tenma's
res-
cue,
how far is the royal family willing to go—
"Your coopera—"
"—tion—"
"...could we count on it?"
She looked the king straight in the eye and formally requested his cooperation in rescuing Tenma.
"You know where Tenma is?!"
"The one who knows isn't me—it's Slarin. And apparently it's not the exact location, just the general area... Would it be all right if I bring Slarin here?"
"By all means!"
The king granted her request almost reflexively, and Slarin, who had risen onto the table together with the queen, was immediately bombarded with questions.
"Your Majesty, even for Slarin, that many questions fired off one after another is hard to keep up with. Please take a moment to calm down."
The elder brother Cesare gently reined the king in, and once the king (and queen) had composed themselves and asked again, Slarin began answering with gestures.
"Then there's no mistake—Tenma was taken alive, correct?"
At the king's question, Slarin bounced its body vertically—this meant yes; if no, it would wave a tentacle side to side.
"Slarin, where was Tenma taken?"
The queen's question, Slarin paused briefly, then pointed a tentacle in a certain direction. It couldn't tell exactly where, but it still remembered the general direction. And it could also vaguely sense that Tenma hadn't moved—hadn't gone far—for a while now.
"Kurif, bring me a map of the entire kingdom."
"Understood."
Cesare quickly had Kurif bring a map, and when they cross-referenced it with the direction Slarin was pointing...
"Your Majesty, if the woman who took Tenma in this direction were to settle somewhere, Seigen would be the most likely candidate."
Seigen was determined to be the top candidate for where the woman was staying. Din also listed several other possibilities, but none seemed more likely than Seigen, and the conclusion was that rather than heading somewhere else entirely, she would probably try to go as far away as possible in that direction.
"If she's hiding in Seigen, there's a good chance the woman is in a dungeon..."
If what Your Majesty said was correct and the woman had hidden herself in a dungeon, finding her would be considerably more difficult. After all, Seigen's underground levels easily exceeded a hundred floors when including the newly discovered dungeons, and depending on the floor, some areas rivaled or even surpassed Seigen in size. If they headed there with no particular plan, it could take years just to find her—no, decades, possibly even centuries depending on the circumstances.
"Your Majesty, as of this day, I wish to relinquish my position as Captain of the Royal Guard and resign from the Knights' Order."
Din's sudden declaration left me, my brothers, Primera and the others, and even Aina and Kurif all stunned.
"Your resolve is firm, then?"
"Yes! I know it is a poor way to end things after so many years of service, and for that I am truly sorry, but..."
"Very well. I grant your leave. Your service until now... I have been grateful for it, as a friend. From here on, do as Din sees fit."
"Thank you... Lord Alex."
After bowing to Your Majesty, Din turned toward Primera.
"Lady Ōtori, please allow me to go and rescue Tenma."
"Thank... you... so much..."
Losing Din would be a blow to the royal family, but there were capable successors in training, so the overall level of the guard shouldn't drop dramatically.
"Aina, you too—resign your post as a maid of the royal family and go with Din."
Primera had already been tearfully choking on her words at Din's and Your Majesty's remarks, but Mother's addition left her even more stunned. Well, I was just as surprised myself.
"Yes, Lady Maria. Thank you for everything you have done for me."
Aina, on the other hand, didn't seem the least bit surprised. Then again, when you thought about it, the two of them were engaged—if one of them was leaving the royal family, it made sense for the other to follow. Besides, no matter how Din might be the strongest knight in the kingdom, the opponent who had defeated and kidnapped Tenma couldn't have emerged unscathed. It would surely be a life-or-death battle, and more likely than not one where the odds were stacked against them. Perhaps that was why Din wanted Aina by his side until the very last moment.
"Also, Your Majesty, I have one impertinent request. I would like permission to have Jin of the Dawn Sword accompany us. Of course, whether he actually comes along will ultimately depend on his own wishes, but..."
"He is indeed familiar with Seigen's dungeons and would be a welcome addition to the force, but the Dawn Sword serves under the Grand Duke and holds an important post there. I could write a letter to the Grand Duke explaining the reasons, but I cannot simply poach him over his head. Therefore, it would be best for Din to make the request directly. Well, given the circumstances, I doubt your uncle would refuse."
If it was Uncle, he would agree without a moment's hesitation. It was partly because he was Merlin's grandson, but also because he doted on Tenma as if the boy were his own grandchild... probably more than he had doted on me at the same age. However—
"Din, is it only Jin you plan to bring along? Jeanne... would be impossible, but Edgar and Sigurd would surely be plenty of fighting strength, wouldn't they?"
When I asked what was on my mind, it turned out that while they might be useful in a fight, considering the serious injuries Chris had sustained, the two of them were only slightly stronger than him at best—and what's more, they had no experience in dungeons. Far from being an asset, they could easily end up dragging the group down.
"Also, from the Ototori family, most likely... or rather, it's almost certain that Lord Merlin will participate as well."
When Din looked at Primera as if to say "That's how it is, right?",
"He hasn't returned yet, so I can't say for certain, but knowing my grandfather, I'm sure he'd insist on joining. On top of that, Slarin and Shiromaru would be coming as well."
It seemed that if the royal family's cooperation proved inadequate, Primera had been prepared to take nearly all of the Ototori family's remaining fighting forces and go rescue Tenma herself.
"Slarin, who can sense Tenma's location through mysterious abilities, and Shiromaru, who can track by scent. Both are more than capable as fighters in their own right, but beyond that, I'd like to have some Golems that can serve as walls... as sacrificial pieces. The more we have the better, but bring too many and we'd start worrying about the Ototori estate's defenses back in the Royal Capital, so roughly a hundred per person should do."
"As for the Golems, we've prepared a thousand as a precaution. However, none of them are oversized like Percival."
"Rather, that makes it easier to deploy them without holding back."
Preparing a thousand Golems — something even the royal family would struggle to amass on their own — was typical of the Ototori family's resources. But if the report was accurate, even a thousand Golems might only buy a small amount of time. That was precisely why Din had, from the very beginning,
used the words
"sacrificial
pieces."
Besides, since oversized Golems were considerably larger than standard ones, coordinating with them inside the confined spaces of a dungeon would prove difficult.
"Then, Lady Ototori, let's make preparations to depart immediately."
"I'll see to it. Your Majesty, if you'll excuse us."
"Mm. Din, I'm counting on you."
"Aina, do try to show your face once in a while."
Even though Din was my father's retainer and captain of the royal guard, I knew I'd miss having him around — he'd been at my side since the day I was born. But I'd long had the feeling that Din would eventually distance himself from the royal family, so this was simply happening a little sooner than expected. Besides, Din would come back alive, bring Tenma safely home, and show us that cheerful face of his — so this wasn't a final farewell. Though by the time that happened, Aina might have one more person to worry about.
Lyle's Side — End
Din's Side
"Shiromaru! Lord Merlin is in this direction!"
After regrouping with Primera and getting our preparations in order at the Otteri residence, I headed for the security force camp set up outside the Royal Capital. When I arrived, instead of identifying myself as part of the Imperial Guard, I raised the Otteri family crest and requested an audience with the Grand Duke. I was let through without any particular fuss. They probably figured I'd been sent as a proxy to handle some Otteri-related business, given my connection to Tenma.
The Grand Duke seemed to think the same thing — at first he received me as "Din, Captain of the Imperial Guard," but when I explained the reason and told him I was now "Din of the Otteri family," he was quite taken aback. Well, he had a good laugh about it afterward, though.
He was surprised again when I told him that Tenma had been defeated and captured, but since Tenma was still alive, I explained that I wanted to borrow Jin for the rescue mission, and he immediately summoned Jin. While Jin was on his way, I made sure to ask the Grand Duke never to frame this as an order, but rather to let Jin decide for himself. Partly because this was a request relayed from the Royal Family through the Grand Duke's house, and partly because it was a mission where there was no guarantee he'd make it back alive — but after hearing the explanation, Jin made up his mind without a moment's hesitation.
At that time, I had also called for the other members of the Dawn Sword besides Jin, so Jin quickly greeted his companions on the spot and they held a briefing on the mission. That was when I learned that Jin had difficulty traveling by horse (technically he could ride to some extent, but he had no experience with urgent, fast-paced rides like this and felt anxious about long stretches). So we decided that I would primarily travel with my horse and Shiromaru, while Jin would wait inside Slarin or the Dimension Bag. Jin looked apologetic about this, but forcing him onto a horse and risking an injury would have been far worse.
After that, we regrouped with Lord Merlin, who was on his way back to the Royal Capital, explained the situation, and set off toward Seigen, leaving the security force camp behind.
"...Woof!"
Shiromaru paused for a moment in response to my question (during which time he was sniffing the air), then let out a bark while running and adjusted his angle slightly. However, the direction he chose was quite rough terrain, and my horse risked injuring its legs on it. So I decided to go inside Slarin along with my horse and take a breather.
"Welcome back. Here's some tea and a light snack."
"Ah, thanks."
I took the tea and bread from Jin and gulped them down, and I started to feel the fatigue setting in.
"Din, why don't you lie down for a bit? I may not be able to handle a long stretch, but I can ride a horse well enough."
"Yeah, I'll take you up on that. I've already told Shiromaru to call us when we're past the rough terrain, so if I don't wake up by then, wake me and take over."
I've been woken up from short stretches of sleep countless times during the Order's missions, so I don't think there's any risk of me being unable to wake up, but since Jin was being so considerate, I figured I might as well take advantage of it.
As I was lying there thinking that,
"Din, I can see what looks like Lord Merlin's group up ahead!"
It seemed I had fallen sound asleep at some point. Maybe I'd been more mentally exhausted than I'd realized.
"Have they spotted us?"
"No. Since it's just me and Shiromaru, they might get overly cautious, so I'm holding back at a distance for now."
"Right, that makes sense... Alright, I'll take the lead. Jin, follow behind me! Shiromaru, I'll have you go inside for now."
Since I had no idea what state Jeanne and the others were in, it would be better for me to take the lead and display the Otteri family banner to avoid startling them. If they saw Shiromaru, who was a Monster, things could easily spiral into chaos and put us in a dangerous situation.
After sending Shiromaru back, I led Jin toward the unit. At first, the approaching strangers seemed wary of the two of us, but when they noticed the Otteri family banner carried by several of the knights, they guided me to where Jeanne was.
Jeanne looked surprised to see me, but quickly explained what had happened and bowed her head in apology. It seemed she believed I had come all this way because she had failed the mission. I relayed that His Majesty did not consider this mission a failure—the target Lich had been defeated by Tenma, and the unidentified woman who suddenly appeared was judged to be a separate matter altogether. After hearing that reasoning, Jeanne wore a complicated expression.
She had been looking dejected, but as we talked she seemed to regain some composure, eventually realizing I hadn't come all this way just to explain that. She asked me what my purpose was, but before answering, I asked where Merlin was.
I was told Merlin was with the wounded soldiers moving together in the rear from where we currently were, so I decided to head there with Jeanne.
"Merlin!"
"Hm? Oh, Jin... what are you doing all the way out here?"
Merlin was riding in a carriage, looking considerably downcast—though not quite as badly as in the old days. Also lying in the carriage was Chris, who had been reported to be in a critical condition.
"Aye, Chris was saved just in time by my magic and Tenma's medicine. She hasn't regained consciousness yet, but the worst is behind her. However... I couldn't remove the wounds on her face and body. Most likely..."
Merlin trailed off there. She probably wanted to say, "Tenma could have healed them."
"Merlin, actually, we didn't come here to pick you up. We're on our way to get Tenma back."
"...What did you say?"
The gloomy atmosphere that had surrounded Merlin vanished in an instant, and a murderous pressure radiated outward from the carriage, causing the nearby horses to stir and whinny.
"Please listen calmly. It turns out Slarin can roughly pinpoint where Tenma is, and based on that information, we've been in pursuit."
"Then where is Tenma right now!"
"We're not certain yet, so this is only our best guess, but in the direction Slarin sensed Tenma, the most likely place where the woman who abducted him could hide him would be the dungeon at Seigen."
"Then let's go! We're getting Tenma back!"
Merlin shot up into the sky, but—
"Wait! The enemy is strong enough to have defeated Tenma! At the very least, we need to fight as one!"
I just barely managed to grab her foot and stop her in time.
"You're right... My apologies. I lost my cool."
That can't be helped. However, the distance to Seigen is still considerable, and there's a real possibility the woman could escape. With that in mind, I hate to ask this of you, Merlin, but we'd like you to transport us to Seigen."
The plan was for Merlin to fly to Seigen while carrying the Dimension Bag with all of us inside. With flight magic, we'd reach Seigen in two days from here at most. However, if Merlin flew nonstop, she'd be too drained to fight if something came up. So during her rest breaks, I or Shiromaru (plus Slarin) would take over the traveling, keeping our movement as continuous as possible while heading for Seigen.
"Hmm, to fight that woman at close to full strength, Din's plan is probably the best option. Very well! Let's get into the Dimension Bag right away!"
Merlin started trying to stuff us into the Dimension Bag by force, so before we were completely crammed in—
"If Slarin senses Tenma moving, we stop right there and regroup! Let's come up with a new plan at that point!"
"Mm, understood! Now hurry up and get in!"
After passing along that much, Merlin nodded and proceeded to stuff me into the bag.
Din's Side — End