"...Don't screw with us."
The former Count, appearing at an unexpected timing.
The soldiers' response to his words of "I've come to save you" was — predictably, rejection.
"Do you really think we'd trust you just because you're reaching out to us now?"
"Yeah. How many of us do you think have been jerked around by your selfishness, and how badly!"
On this point, it went beyond the question of trust. The one who had betrayed them first was, after all, the Count himself. Understanding this, the soldiers glared at him — and the Count...
"Hmm. Well, fine."
He nodded magnanimously, without showing the slightest concern.
"I won't pretend I care about you lot either. But these are the Archbishop's instructions. Whether you accept them is up to you — and frankly, I have no interest either way."
"...What?"
One of the captains voiced his confusion.
Because — this man was the sort who wore greed and pettiness as his clothing. He was not someone who could swallow rejection calmly. ...They wouldn't show loyalty to this Count even if they were turned upside down, but as a former master of sorts, they understood his personality well enough.
Judging by that impression, the Count's current attitude was deeply unsettling.
His words and demeanor now were... as if
someone
was making him
say it all.
"Still, you should at least hear me out. Ah, or would you rather try to forcibly remove me? ...If you even can, that is."
"..."
Whether unsettled by the eeriness, or recognizing that with the Count and his two clearly experienced Bloodline Magic-wielding escorts beside him, they couldn't hope to detain him —
The soldiers, left with no choice but to listen, were gazed upon with satisfaction by the Count's smug, superior expression before he spoke again.
"Very well. Then let me state the premise first — my proposal is for you all to join the Northern Alliance as well. Because... that man Ermes, and Third Princess Liliana, have betrayed you."
"...Where's the proof of that?"
"I have it, of course."
It wasn't that they fully trusted Ermes.
But simply, they were even less inclined to listen to the Count's words. Even as this defiance radiated from one of the captains, the Count delivered his unhurried rebuttal.
"Let me start with what happened after that arrogant Ermes dragged me down from my position. — After that, he came to see you and said something like, 'You don't have to trust me now. I'll prove it by delivering results in defending this place,' didn't he?"
"H-How—"
How did he know that? No — while it wasn't impossible to deduce from the current situation, that alone was far from proof. The soldiers thought quickly, but the Count pressed on before they could respond.
"And right after he said that, Northern Alliance soldiers came for a reconnaissance in force on this fortress, didn't they? A situation where you were all too exhausted to move, and only they could shine. — Right after he said he'd earn your trust through results,
the perfect
timing
to do someone
a favor."
"!"
He delivered the words with a venomous smile.
"Don't you think the timing was just a little too convenient?"
What that implied was clear.
"You're saying it was all staged — a false flag operation?"
"Exactly. And it was all directed by the Church. So does it make sense that I know all this?" The Count laughed — evilly, like a demon luring souls.
"Wh-Why would he go through all that trouble?!"
"Obviously, to take this territory efficiently. In truth, even the Church would have difficulty conquering this fortress if you dug in thoroughly. They couldn't afford to spend too much time, so they devised this little scheme. It's thanks to your brave fighting, so — well, you should be proud."
"Then why did he fight with us?!"
"Because he thought it would make you less suspicious. If you'd heard that he'd obediently handed over command, wouldn't you have found that even more suspicious?"
"When and how did he get involved with the Church?! There's no way—"
"There's always a way. Besides... the sister of the Frodite siblings, Nina von Frodite, and Ermes — they knew each other from the academy. I'd say that was more than enough of an opportunity for an 'invitation,' wouldn't you?"
He wove his narrative together.
As if to say he understood all of the soldiers' doubts, he provided consistent answers that gave shape to his twisted version of the truth.
And then.
"Then... why are we alive right now? If you'd been in the Church's pocket from the start, you would have made your move the day we entered this fortress."
As a captain moved to the next question, the Count nodded as if he'd been waiting for it.
"Because they've betrayed the Church too."
Twisting the facts once more.
"The original plan was for us to enter this fortress, stage a fake battle on the Church's orders, and then have soldiers infiltrate and take it while you slept. That's why I know the whole story.
But they — how dare they! — the moment they secured you as high-quality manpower and the Third Princess as a righteous cause, they decided to turn against the Church! That's the process by which they came here, trying to earn your trust right now."
As if correcting a double-cross by pulling everything back to its original position.
Through two distortions, he arrived at an explanation that matched the current situation.
At first glance, the conclusion seemed unchanged from what they already believed.
But it wasn't. Something had definitively shifted — the soldiers' impression of Ermes and the others, now shaped by what seemed like a plausible chain of reasoning.
"And having laid all this out, I ask you —"
"Can you trust them?"
And from that, the trust — or lack thereof — in Ermes and his companions.
"Certainly, right now Ermes and his people are favorable toward you. You're indispensable in the fight against the Church, after all.
But think about it... they've already betrayed the Church once. So what guarantee is there that they won't betray you next when the situation changes?"
With extraordinary skill.
Using rhetoric that the old Count could never have managed, he sowed seeds of suspicion and distrust.
And then, as the finishing blow.
"First of all — what did you think when you saw Ermes?"
"Thought... how?"
"Were you not afraid? That fellow who treats the Bloodline Magic bestowed by the gods with reckless abandon, who even mixes them together in a display of sacrilege? And yet whose power is absurdly strong — a monster who acts without even fearing the gods themselves!"
He was, in fact, amplifying the very fears that one of the captains had expressed just moments ago.
"That man is drunk on power. He wields it at whim—awakening to political ambition, making the Third Princess his puppet, gathering pieces that move at his will, and trying to seize this country!
If his scheme succeeds, what then? With such an unfathomable being at the top, this country would become hell for everyone but him! There is nothing to be gained by following him. After hearing the Archbishop's words, I am certain of this."
And finally.
"Therefore, I relay the Archbishop's words to you as well. — 'If you join the Northern Alliance, your lives and those of your citizens will be guaranteed.' That is what he says."
He delivered these irresistibly sweet words of temptation.
"...Eh?"
"The Archbishop holds your fighting ability in high regard. Well, you did fight under my command, so that's only natural."
The Count's characteristically self-important words aside — the Archbishop's offer itself was nothing short of a godsend to them.
Leaving the murmuring soldiers aside, the Count finished speaking and returned to his usual demeanor.
"Well, as I said, whether you accept or not is your own business. I couldn't care less anymore. After all — the Archbishop told me I didn't need to recruit anyone; just making the offer would suffice. Now I'm finally being properly recognized with executive treatment! Ahahaha!"
After his hearty laugh, he turned his back on the soldiers as if he'd truly lost all interest.
And then, addressing the two escorts flanking him.
"Now, hurry and escort me out. Let's leave this dusty pla—"
"— I'm afraid I can't let you do that."
He froze.
"—"
Not something he had ever anticipated.
Standing before the Count and his two escorts — the Count, his expression oddly serene despite being in enemy territory — was Third Princess Liliana, her blue eyes glinting with hostility.
The Count instantly moved to order their elimination — but before he could.
"...I must thank Lady Lily."
Ermes appeared from behind Liliana.
"Perfect timing, former Count. Right when all of us were away on watch duty — and we'd sealed every infiltration route we knew of, but I never imagined there was a path like that. If Lady Lily hadn't sensed it, things could have gone badly."
In his hand, the jade tablet was already materialized.
Ermes fixed his gaze calmly on the Count.
"But we've caught your tail, safe and sound.
...I should thank you too, former Count. Thanks to letting you swim freely — we were able to squeeze out quite a lot."
Complete combat readiness, inside a house with no escape. The only exit was blocked by Ermes, who had already activated his magic.
— Completely checkmated. The only thing left was to run, but that final step had become infinitely distant.
"...You're joking."
The realization hit, and the Count broke into a cold sweat.
"The deal — the deal was different! You said I'd be completely safe, Archbishop! You said if I followed your instructions, I'd 'never be found'!"
"...I don't know what you were told."
Ermes spoke calmly, unflustered by the Count's transparent panic.
"I'm amazed anyone would swallow such an absurd story. Either the Archbishop's persuasion is that masterful, or you're just that foolish. ...Probably both, honestly. If anything, you probably just botched it on your own."
"Dammit — damn it all, to get caught at the very last step! Hey — take out Ermes! What are you guards even for?!"
He tried to order his escorts — but then recoiled in horror.
Because... they were already down. Before Ermes had appeared here, they'd already been struck down by the ambush magic he'd launched from the darkness, their consciousness severed and their bodies sprawled on the ground.
His baseless confidence stripped away, stranded in enemy territory, every source of his former arrogance peeled clean — the Count...
"Ah— No — stay away, don't come near — DON'T COME NEAR!"
He apparently tried to resist with his own Bloodline Magic in the end, but naturally, such a thing had no effect on Ermes.
He was subdued swiftly and without incident, and carried away by Katia and the others who arrived moments later.
(...Well, he was definitely just a disposable pawn.)
A few minutes later.
After securing the Count in a more heavily guarded location, Ermes analyzed the situation internally.
He had a fairly good idea of what had been planted in the soldiers' minds. But if that was the case, he realized, it would be even more dangerous to carelessly reveal information going forward.
The ongoing analysis of the "unfathomable technique." Through the business with letting the Count swim, he intuited that they were now one step away from completion.
Once that was settled, and trust with the soldiers was established — then they could finally launch their counteroffensive.
— That was what he'd been thinking, but.
"...What happened to the Count?"
Returning to the original location, Ermes and Liliana faced the squad captains.
The very first question thrown at him made Ermes tilt his head slightly.
"I've locked him away again in a place he can't easily escape from. What about it—"
He answered honestly, without deception. But then.
"— Didn't you kill him to silence him?"
An outrageously aggressive suspicion.
Brought by a different captain.
"...Eh?"
Ermes' eyes widened slightly as he looked at the captains.
There was... far stronger than before.
Fear — fear of Ermes himself, planted by the Archbishop's words and delivered through the Count's mouth.
Another captain spoke.
"U-Um, Lord Ermes."
"Yes?"
"Are you... someone who betrayed the Church?"
"...I don't know what you've been told, but that's not the case."
"Th-Then! Why are you helping us?! What's your motive?!"
"I believe I explained at the beginning... As a vassal of Lady Lily, it's my duty to put down the Northern Rebellion."
"S-So what?!"
Ermes was telling nothing but the truth.
But — to them.
To those who had been shown the worst of noble corruption time and time again, it sounded like the flimsiest of excuses.
"No way! Someone with such powerful magic doing something like — acting like 'just a good person'?! That doesn't—"
"C-Calm down."
Fortunately, another captain stopped them before the words could create a fatal rift.
But...
The gazes upon Ermes — he could read the fear and dread in their eyes.
Ermes' strategy of "letting the Count swim to see what he'd do" had been, in its own way, a success. It had provided a major clue to the enemy's hand and brought them significantly closer to being ready for a counteroffensive.
...But the risk he'd swallowed to achieve that — the uncertainty generated by the Count's movements — Archbishop Johann had harvested every last bit of it.
Through the perfect instrument of fear and distrust toward Ermes.
That evening, Ermes realized that anything further he said would only backfire.
Restraining the clearly upset Liliana, he left the scene.
◆
"...Why?"
After that confrontation, having completed the watch rotation procedures, Liliana and the others returned to their temporary quarters.
While others were already preparing for bed... Liliana, unable to sleep, stepped outside and murmured in a daze.
What lingered in her mind — clinging there stubbornly — were the soldiers' expressions from earlier.
"Master tried so hard. He fought with everything he had to repel the Northern Alliance, doing everything he could to protect this place...!"
Suspicion, distrust, suspicion, and anxiety.
Expressions like they were looking at a monster.
"Why does everyone... make that kind of face?!"
The injustice of her beloved master's tireless efforts going unrecognized.
That was harder to bear than anything affecting her personally, and she twisted her delicate features to the brink of tears and screamed.
The words had overflowed from within her — they weren't meant for anyone to hear.
But — this time, someone was there to pick them up and offer an answer.
"...Because they're afraid."
A quiet voice came from beside her.
She flinched, turning her head — and her eyes widened at the unexpected figure standing there.
"...Albert?"
He was the person in the party she was least familiar with.
Rather, he seemed to deliberately keep his distance from her. Or rather — in a group where everyone's sense of personal space was somewhat off, he was perhaps the most "normal" vassal in his demeanor.
That was precisely why his approach was surprising. But more than that, it was his words that prompted her to ask for more.
"My apologies. ...It's a topic I'm personally familiar with."
Albert offered a proper apology for the intrusion, then continued.
"Having an incomprehensibly powerful being nearby — that fact is more terrifying to ordinary people than they could ever imagine."
"But — Master has been protecting the people of the North faithfully!"
"Yes. ...And yet, it doesn't matter. — 'You never know when they'll bare their teeth.' 'If they do, there's nothing you can do about it.' As long as that fear exists, people cannot simply accept such a being."
To put it simply, it was like having a man-eating tiger in your room.
No matter how many guarantees there were that it wouldn't attack, no matter how sturdy the cage —
As long as a being existed who could easily kill you and whose nature was unfathomable, people could never truly feel at ease.
Liliana understood this, but... she was struck by Albert's tone and pressed further.
"Is that... from your own experience?"
"...I'm embarrassed to admit it. I once harbored the same impression of Ermes. That's why I understand. The fear — and at the same time, the ease with which one's thoughts drift toward 'then eliminate them before they eliminate you.'"
"That—!"
It was.
For them, a devastatingly cruel vision of the future.
"Especially that man... he has a tendency to overlook everyone around him in favor of those he's close to. He's the type to pour his energy into honing his craft, pursuing progress, walking his own path.
That's precisely why he's hard to understand... and so, the moment you look away, he'll fly off somewhere no one has ever reached."
"...Th-That..."
And in the end, he would gain no one's understanding.
Alone, with no one to lean on, no one to follow.
Flying into uncharted territory, in solitude.
That existence... matched the image of the Bloodline Witch she knew only through legends.
"...Ah."
And there, Liliana realized.
The situation Ermes was currently in. Isolated by Archbishop Johann's hand. The result of no one being able to stop it, driving him further and further —
That was surely the path the Sky Witch, Rose, had walked.
Liliana didn't know much about Rose. But she knew she was Ermes' master and Yurugen's friend, and as a former member of the royal family, she possessed more knowledge than the average person.
That was precisely why she understood — this intuition was almost certainly correct.
And right now, Ermes.
Her master was being forced down the same path.
Being pushed toward elimination by those who wished it so.
Then.
As his disciple — her course of action was clear.
"...I won't allow it."
"Your Highness?"
Her voice, now carrying a quiet resolve unlike anything before.
Noticing the shift, Albert looked at her questioningly, but Liliana gazed straight ahead and declared.
"I will not... let my master be alone."
Hadn't he taught her?
That being protected wasn't enough. That she had to move on her own to seize what she wanted.
She'd made that resolve, achieved a small measure of progress...
...but after that, she'd been unable to do anything more, forever frustrated by her own helplessness.
Then now — now was the time to find the courage to take flight once more.
And above all.
Her revered master. The master to whom she'd devoted her heart, her magic, and her future.
To have him fly away from her — absolutely, absolutely not.
She burned that fiercest of feelings within her heart.
"...Thank you, Albert."
She turned to face him — a boy who was unremarkable but sincere.
He lacked ability, probably... but that was precisely what gave him a unique perspective. She offered him her gratitude.
He truly was worthy of being chosen by Yurugen, after all.
And furthermore.
"Thanks to you... I can finally see where I need to go."
At the same time, she gained clarity on what had been troubling her for so long.
She'd been swept along, fleeing the Royal Capital, declaring her intent to reclaim the throne.
...But she hadn't known what to aim for or where to go as someone who desired that seat.
Now, light had finally shone upon that path as well.
She still didn't know exactly what to do. There was still far too much she lacked.
But... at least for the very next step, she would no longer hesitate.
Albert, who had been stunned by her vague-sounding declaration... quickly seemed to grasp the meaning. He offered a quiet, proper bow of a loyal vassal.
She thanked him once more, then returned to her room with a renewed sense of purpose.
And so.
To keep him from being alone. To change this country.
— The future king sets out.