And so, thanks to Katia's efforts at the very least—
The Third Princess's faction had succeeded in preventing Ermes from being defeated, thereby avoiding the loss of the one person connected to every possible path to victory.
Or so it seemed.
But even this—they refused to allow. As if they had foreseen this outcome, as if to say it would not be permitted.
With timing that was far too perfect. At the exact moment Katia went to find Ermes.
Another fatal incident was sweeping through the fortress.
"—!"
It was Toa, Knight Commander of the Northern Harvist territory, who sensed that presence.
A subtle difference in the air. An irregularity that only someone who had spent years here could perceive.
In other words... the presence of an intruder.
Instantly, his consciousness shifted to battle-ready. He sensed a presence nearby, prepared to strike the moment it appeared before him, and had just finished perfecting his stance—when.
"...How ironic, isn't it?"
He couldn't move.
Every action he might take was sealed the instant the intruder appeared before him.
"Knight Commander Toa. The proud guardian of the North, whom everyone living here respects, who has protected this land from the threat of Monsters for so many years."
Because that was the kind of magic it was.
A spell that exerted a tremendous effect in exchange for terribly troublesome conditions.
"It doesn't work on the soldiers of the Alliance. It doesn't work on Big Brother anymore, either. That Archbishop is helpless no matter how he struggles. None of my current 'enemies' are affected by it—"
Toa. Because he was someone everyone respected, he fulfilled those conditions.
"—Because it *will* work on you. Toa."
And so the intruder appeared, a heartbreakingly lovely figure with silver hair drifting behind her.
"...I'm sorry. This is the only way I can do this."
"You— of Fhloit—!"
She faced her immobilized target without mercy. The sword in her hand swung down.
◆
After several dozen minutes of rest, Ermes awakened.
Fatigue still clung heavily to him, but he had recovered just enough to move through the day.
He felt a twinge of embarrassment at how easily he had fallen asleep, yet offered his thanks nonetheless, and returned inside the fortress alongside Katia—at that very moment, he sensed something amiss.
The reason was the fortress's great hall.
Flanking the central passage where Ermes and Katia had just entered—on the right stood the soldiers of the Harvist domain. And on the left... Sara, Yurugen, and Albert, the three of them. A short distance away, Knight Commander Toa.
The wide, empty space between them perfectly mirrored the psychological chasm dividing the two sides.
"...What... is going on?"
Katia, who had been nestled close to Ermes, spoke in a daze at the obvious state of emergency.
At the same time, as if that murmur had been noticed—the soldiers' gazes turned in unison toward them.
A sharp intake of breath.
What those stares held was... something far more unsettling, far more dissatisfied, far more distrustful than anything from the day before.
Katia froze under the weight of those gazes, unable to comprehend what was happening, and then—
"What the hell is this?"
Sara caught both her own group and Ermes's group in her view at once.
One of the soldiers' squad leaders—the same one who had objected on the first day—raised his voice.
"
Your
negligence!
Three squad leaders and soldiers were beaten half to death! By that—Frodite's sister, no less!"
Ermes and Katia asked for the details once more.
As it turned out, it seemed Nyina had infiltrated from the sector Albert was currently responsible for guarding—and attacked the soldiers, just as they had said.
After that, she had also clashed with Knight Commander Toa. The effect of her magic had apparently been weak, and Toa had managed to counterattack and force a retreat—but Toa herself had still sustained considerable wounds. And more than that, over a dozen soldiers and three squad leaders had been seriously injured.
"...I'm sorry."
Albert apologized with a somber expression, but—honestly, Ermes considered this to be unavoidable.
The fortress's design was complex. With their current numbers, trying to guard against infiltration perfectly would inevitably leave them short-handed, creating spots where surveillance was lax. It couldn't be blamed on Albert alone.
That was precisely why what they needed to consider was—
how the
opponent had
managed to
infiltrate
perfectly.
A complex design meant it should have been equally troublesome for the infiltrating side. It wouldn't be strange if that former Count understood the fortress's structure... but even so, that didn't explain how they had found every gap in the security and slipped through perfectly.
That kind of feat should have been impossible without a complete understanding of their security network. Yet the enemy had managed it, and Ermes couldn't help but sense the presence of some unknown card in their opponent's hand.
...But. Contemplating that would have to wait. Because—
"Hey, won't you say something?!"
Their comrades had been hurt without mercy. The soldiers were glaring at them with faces twisted by fury and distrust — dealing with the soldiers had to be the top priority.
Ermes released Kataea's shoulder and stepped forward.
Despite being somewhat cowed by his quiet pressure — the captain himself began speaking in a tone loaded with anger.
"Hey, you. You said it, didn't you? That you'd prove it — that you could protect this place."
"...Yes."
"Well, you didn't protect a damn thing, did you?"
It was an entirely justified accusation.
On that matter, Ermes agreed. But — he knew that saying anything now would only make things worse, so he kept silent.
"You let the Count slip in. You've been fending off the Northern Alliance's assaults, sure, but you haven't managed a single effective counterstrike. And now you let Frondite's sister not only break in but actually attack — and our comrades got hurt because of it! — And what's more!"
Continuing, the captain... laid out yet another reason for his distrust.
"— Why
is it that
none of you got hurt
?"
"...Huh?"
"I'm asking you. Frondite's sister is your natural enemy too, right? Then why weren't you targeted? Why is it that only we took the damage while you lot got off unscathed?"
"That's..."
"And another thing! All three captains who got taken down — they were the ones who opposed siding with you until the very end!"
"!"
The truth that had been revealed.
On top of that, the knowledge they already shared — that Nina and Ermes and the others were already known to them.
Putting those pieces together... the worst possible theory had taken shape over on their side.
"Hey. That stuff the Earl said before — about you lot betraying the church and hiding out here... that's actually true, isn't it?"
"—Why would you think that?"
"Because then everything adds up! And that means Froditte's little sister is one of your spies, right?! So this time, you used her — someone who outwardly looked like our enemy — to 'take out anyone who opposed you'! If you'd done it with your own hands, we'd never have trusted you!"
It was far too forceful.
And yet the soldiers were leveling their suspicion at them, armed with a chain of reasoning that somehow held together from end to end.
Why Nina had taken such an action — he could roughly piece together the reason almost immediately, but now was not the time to say it. Speaking up would only invite deeper distrust. That much was clear.
So, as it stood... he had no words.
The logic was far too convenient — as if it had been orchestrated from the very start — and it was chipping away at whatever trust remained.
It was a fact that they were incompatible with the church, and a fact that Nina's sympathies likely leaned their way. That was precisely why the soldiers believed the lie. They were being ensnared by the seeds of doubt the other side had so carefully prepared.
"So you just eliminate anyone who gets in your way without a second thought and run things however you like — that's your way of doing things?! You're no different from that Earl!"
"Hey, that's going too far—"
"Commander, stay out of this."
Toa's words, meant to rein them in, fell on deaf ears right now.
"You wouldn't understand — you've got Bloodline Magic just like them! You don't know what it's like for the ones who don't have it... We've watched comrades get trampled, used up, and crushed by those who do, treated like we weren't even human the same as them!!"
"—"
...The seeds of their distrust.
Perhaps they hadn't just begun.
A country where magic decided everything. Humans who possessed Bloodline Magic were treated as a perfect privileged class, and everything was justified by the magic they were born with — and precisely because of that, those who didn't possess it were not treated as human, a fact that neither they nor those around them denied.
That was the soul-deep scream of those who had been cast as 'the oppressed' by the distortions this system had bred. The divide now lying before Ermes and the others was a legacy of negativity this country had accumulated over centuries of tyranny.
"You're the same — the same as every noble who came before! You don't treat us as human, you see us as nothing but something disposable! Us, the people of this land, everything about us!"
"That's right — how could we ever trust you!"
"If anything, you're even worse than them, because you've got unbelievable power that's even more dangerous!"
Surely this was a resentment that would have erupted eventually even without the incident with Nyyna. Now it crashed toward them, every last ounce of it, utterly without mercy.
Every single soldier wore a gaze full of hostility. Even the captain — the one who had been saved by Ermes first, the one who had been the most favorable toward them — now harbored distrust in his eyes.
"…Hey, I'm begging you."
Struck by a weight heavier than they had imagined, Ermes and the others were rendered speechless. It was the captain himself who addressed them in their silence. His words came out like something spat on the ground… yet somewhere within them, there was a plea.
"You've got that kind of power, don't you? Incredible, unbelievable magic.
Then fulfill your duty. Protect everything — every last bit of it — properly, completely! If you can't do that, no one can trust you, no one can feel safe!"
"…"
"Because as long as you can't — I can never think of you as any better than the Church! So prove it to us. And if you can't, then just —!"
And then.
In the very instant the captain was about to release the words that would make the rift between them irreversible—
"— Please, stop!!"
A voice rang out — beautiful, yet anguished.
It was the high-pitched cry of a small child, even younger than every person present. The piercing sound made every person in the hall fall silent for a moment, all eyes turning to a single point in the room.
Running toward them from that spot, her vivid red hair trailing behind her, was a small girl.
Her delicate features were twisted with grief, her little limbs pumping desperately as she ran. She planted herself between Ermes and the soldiers and spread her thin arms as wide as they would go.
"...Please stop. — If you wish to speak, then I will listen."
It was during the escape from the Royal Capital.
Just as if forming a mirror image of that moment — when Ermes had rescued her from the encirclement of soldiers from countless organizations.
Now, the girl who had been saved back then was extending her hand to save him in return.
Those azure eyes harbored fear... yet within them shone a resolute, unwavering light.
Liliana Yosef von Yustia stood before Ermes.
Next chapter, coming soon!