Chapter 104 (1/2)

Chapter 104

Only a day after he regained consciousness, Vincent chose to return to the royal capital. Even though he had the option of staying in the hospital for a while longer, he decided against it.

His doctor insisted that he needed more rest, but Vincent’s decision was firm and unshakable.

After all, he was the leader of the saint knight order. Considering his position and responsibilities, it was probably very problematic for him to leave the order for many days without giving any prior notice. It was easy to imagine the state of chaos that the knight order was currently stuck in, with their leader missing. Which was why Harold had no intention to stop Vincent from leaving.

【”By the way, what do you intend to do from here on out?”]

【”That’s none of your business.”]

Harold tried to say “there is something I have to do”, but, as usual, his words did not get through the filter of his mouth. If possible, Harold wanted to start a collaboration with Vincent, but Vincent would most likely not agree before confirming that Harold’s words were true.

It was simply impossible to get the knight order to make a move based on mere words and circumstantial evidence.

In the previous night’s talk, the group had come to the temporary conclusion that the only reason Vincent had been brainwashed was that he had the strength to defeat Harold, who was planning to thwart Justus’ plan.

It was going to be a great help for Harold if he could get Vincent and Cody to confirm whether that conclusion had actually hit the nail on the head, after their return to the royal capital. However, it looked like there was not enough time left to focus on those worries.

【”….I’ll give you one advice.”]

【”I’m listening.”]

【”You should send a number of your men to Travis, and you should do it fast.”]

【”Why?”]

Harold’s words were probably extremely strange from Vincent’s perspective.

Travis was a peaceful city, far away from the royal capital. It was built on a land that penetrated in the sea towards the south. On top of that, there was a line of mountains that covered the west and the north side, leaving only the road on the east side open, and even that open side was a mountainous area, with a steep cliff at its edge. This geographical position granted Travis the title of “natural fortress”.

It was not doing as great as the port city, Delfit, but it was still quite prosperous trade-wise, and it was popular for being a beautiful sightseeing area. It also had better public order than other cities. It did not feel like there was any particular need to dispatch the knight order in that natural place.

However, the fact that the place was difficult to attack made it so that it usually was not exposed to any particular danger. Moreover, the same things that made it hard to attack it would also make it hard to escape from it in case of an emergency or an invasion. That would be especially true if the narrow roads near the cliff towards the east were blocked. Then, there would only be two paths of escape left; by using boats and going through the sea, or by crossing over the mountain range at the north and the west.

With only these two options available, many people would fail to escape fast enough. That was what had happened in the original story.

【”Sooner or later, that place is going to turn into hell on earth.”]

The reason this had happened in the story was due to a monster invasion and to the original Harold’s act of violence.

In the original story, the monster invasion happened to occur while Harold had been staying in the city, but instead of trying to obstruct said invasion, he had chosen to escape. However, as previously mentioned, there were few paths of escape available in Travis, so Harold used the locals as sacrifices. He started fires all over town, spreading chaos everywhere, which had simultaneously increased the number of casualties and delayed the monsters’ attacks.

Is was an extremely despicable display.

Of course, the current Harold had no intent to do such a thing. That being said, if he did not intervene at all, it was very likely that Travis would be overrun by monsters just like in the original story.

In the story, Liners and his party arrived one step too late in Travis and witnessed a picture of hell, before they proceeded to eliminate the remaining monsters. Letting things happen that way would likely mean letting many victims accumulate, and the monsters’ numbers were in the tens of thousands.

The exact numbers weren’t quite clear, but the monsters’ army’s scale was still enormous, and it was unrealistic to expect a party of six to defeat an army of even only ten thousand. Therefore, it was necessary to decrease the number of monsters as much as possible before the invasion could begin.

Hence the need for the knight order to stay on standby in Travis. If the monsters attacked, the knights would be able to immediately react and to evacuate the civilians. At the same time, it was also necessary to guide Liner and his party to Travis so that they would be there in time for the monster invasion.

With the support of Furieri from the shadows, things would go smoothly for the team… probably. Harold did not know the exact date and time of the invasion and it was going to be problematic if Liner and the others intervened too late or too early. Some very precise adjustments would need to be made, depending on the situation.

Therefore, Harold intended to make a request to Elu; “Once you get my signal, you need to get Liner and the others to rush to Travis”. Harold felt apologetic as he was aware that this would be an unreasonable request, but he needed Elu to do it one way or another.

For emergencies, Harold also intended to use Furieri’s funds to prepare a ship for the evacuations, but even with that, it would still take Travis’ residents several hours to escape. During that time, Liner, his party and the knight order were going to have to hold back the monsters.

【”…I understand. I will keep your advice in mind.”]

This answer was enough for now. Given VIncent’s personality, he would probably not ignore a matter that he was informed about in advance.

In the end, Harold left Vincent without adding a single word. He did not have any time to spare, there was something he wanted to do without delay.

For that purpose, he was waiting for Elu to get in touch with him, however….

【”Are you thinking of something, Harold?”]

While Harold was worrying about what he was going to do, his thoughts were interrupted by Cody. Harold had figured Cody surely had already left towards the royal capital with Vincent, but it apparently was not the case.

【”… Why the hell are you still here?”]

【”Well, there is a little something I have to do.”]

【”I see. I’m leaving.”]

【”Hold on, hold on!”]

Harold tried to leave but Cody blocked the way. It seemed like the thing he had to do was related to Harold.

【”I don’t have any time to waste accompanying you.”]

【”Don’t say that, I just have a favor to ask.”]

Unlike his usual self, Cody sounded serious, which prompted Harold to halt his steps.

Harold had absolutely no idea what it was that Cody would want to ask of him at this particular time. In other words, it was very likely that this was going to lead to a development that was not in the original story.

Well, at this point, one more new development would not change much, but given that Cody was going to stand by the side of the protagonist, this could be worthy of some worry. Putting aside whether Harold was going to accept the request or not, it was better for him to at least listen to it for the time being.

【”…Speak quick.”]

He said, with the resolve to take on any troublesome matter that would arise from this.

However, Cody’s next words were completely beyond any of Harold’s expectations.

【”That sword that drains your life, can you lend it to me?”]

◇

Her heart was numb.

【”I will cover you.『Water Fan』”]

Her emotions had dried out.

【”The way things are going, we’re not going to make any progress.”]

Be it the blue sky, the green vegetation, the streets that gave way to the light of the sun, or even the sight of fresh blood…

【”I’m starting my incantation.”]

Everything had become dull.

【”…『Wind Burst』”]

It felt as if……

【”I am sorry for being violent, but please stay asleep there for a little while.”]

It felt as if she had become detached from the rest of the world.

(Was I always such an empty person?)  She wondered. She never thought that she would lose so much of her own self by giving up on her love for Harold and on her determination to support him.

Right now, Erica could not even ridicule herself for her choices anymore. And that made her feel even weaker.

【”You saved me there, Erica…”]

Although Francis said so with a smile, his smile was somewhat unnatural.