"What's your evidence?"
Leonardo calmly asked again.
"I overheard the guards talking while on reconnaissance… They said, 'We took it from the prisoners,' and then buried something in the ground. I retrieved it after they left."
What Raul held out was a small fragment of stone, small enough to be covered by a palm. Along the surface, scratched with a sharp metal tool, was an engraved symbol.
'This is…'
A marking that closely resembled the sign we had left behind for Natalie—a symbol used within the First Field Army.
Leonardo scanned the overlapping circle and angular square before replying evenly.
"It's a request for support from the Shield Unit."
"Yes. It must be Paulo."
The news that those who questioned Leovald's sudden death were either imprisoned in the underground cells of the royal castle or reassigned to distant posts—cutting off all contact—was mentioned early in the narrative.
I had vaguely assumed they were still in the capital, but seeing this, that no longer seems to be the case.
"The guards called them prisoners, right?"
"Yeah. Their speech was muffled by their helmets, but I'm sure of it."
Raul, his face now filled with restless urgency, pressed on.
"You even knew what Dame Natalie was up to. Can't you figure out what kind of state these guys are in? They're nothing like Dame Natalie or me—they're just muscle-headed fools… If not for the calamity, they'd be back in their hometowns, plowing fields and raising kids."
Unlike Raul, who had quickly fled, or Natalie, who had evaded pursuit and even begun researching monsters, the fate of the rest of the field army—who had openly defied orders—was all too predictable.
Just as I hesitated to answer, a string of text appeared before my eyes.
[A new scenario note has been assigned!]
Take 1. Vernis Mountain Quarry (Night/Outside).
A chilling wind sweeps through the massive canyon. Under the watchful eyes of the guards, prisoners stumble out, collapsing from exhaustion.
Shield Soldier Paulo: "Stay with me!"
Paulo roughly shakes his comrade's shoulder, trying to wake him and call for help, but the guards ignore him.
Guard: (Checking the sack) "Is this all you've harvested?"
The guard inspects the sack filled with dragon bones and walks away.
Take 2. Vernis Mountain Quarry – Temporary Prison (Night/Outside).
The remnants of the First Field Army murmur anxiously among themselves.
Field Soldier 1: "We can't last much longer. The poison is wearing us down too fast."
Field Soldier 2: "What are they even planning to do with dragon bones?"
Field Soldier 1: (Gloomily) "At this rate, we're all going to die here… just like the commander…"
Shield Soldier Paulo: "The commander isn't dead! More importantly, was anyone awake last night?"
No one answers.
Shield Soldier Paulo: (Scratching his head, inner monologue) "That's strange… I swear I heard wagon wheels."
Main Character: Shield Soldier Paulo
Scenario Clear Condition: [Paulo and the First Field Army must extract dragon bones from the quarry.]
Ha.
'I knew something was off. The dragon bones were tainted with poison, yet they managed to harvest enough to forge them into swords… That had been bothering me.'
I had suspected that Godric might have used brainwashed labour, but it seemed he had found an even more efficient method. As I furrowed my brows, Raul pressed me.
"What? What is it? Do you know something?"
"…The First Field Army is here, in the Vernis Mountains. They're being used as royal prisoners to mine dragon bones."
"Dragon bones?"
Seeing Raul's confusion, I explained what had happened during the opening ceremony—how King Godric had distributed dragonbone swords to every noble who participated in the subjugation campaign. When Raul saw the pitch-black sword Leonardo had shown, his expression darkened.
"This is made from those bones?"
Vittorio, who had been sitting quietly, added,
"I didn't notice it before, but up close… this thing feels wrong."
I carefully observed the expressions of Leonardo, Raul, and Vittorio. All of them were discerners—chosen, according to the original texts, for their heightened sensitivity to the poison of the Evil Dragon.
Yet instead of the sharp, unmistakable discomfort they should have felt when detecting such a presence, there was only a vague sense of uncertainty. Among them, Leonardo seemed to be experiencing the strongest aversion.
As for Raul, it didn't seem like he had truly sensed anything. His reaction was likely more personal—anger over the fact that Paulo and his comrades had been forced to mine the bones.
"That mine… where exactly is it?"
The scenario note had only provided a simple reference: Vernis Mountain Quarry. But that didn't mean it was impossible to deduce its location.
Godric had stationed us in the north.
It made sense from his perspective. Keeping the First Field Army and Leonardo as far apart as possible was a logical move. Splitting up potential allies was one of the most fundamental strategies in warfare. And the high-risk zone where we had been deployed? That was what they called the Dragon's Tail.
Then the quarry must be…
"Give me the map."
Leonardo spread out a map of the Vernis Mountains on the table. The mountain range, shaped like a reclining dragon, stretched before us. I focused on the farthest point from the Dragon's Tail—the southernmost region.
The part that corresponded to the Dragon's Maw.
The slight gap in the terrain formed a shape almost exactly like a canyon.
'Didn't the scenario note just mention a canyon?'
"You said you saw wagon tracks, didn't you, Sir Raul? It seems likely that the people in that carriage were taken near where the First Field Army is being held. Can you check—did the tracks lead south?"
Raul retraced his memory before nodding.
"They were a bit scattered, but… yeah, they did."
It was still just a probability, but the quarry was most likely in the south. The real question was what kind of situation the captives were in.
'Did 'offering them up' really mean offering them to Godric? Or was it…'
"If we head north tomorrow, it'll take several more days to return to the central outpost," Leonardo remarked, scanning the map. At that, Raul volunteered immediately.
"I'll break away from the group and scout the south. Let me go."
With the party already setting off for a high-risk zone, letting Raul split off was a concern. But if we wanted to confirm the quarry's location and plan a rescue, it was a necessary risk.
"The area around the quarry is probably heavily guarded. Are you sure about this?"
"I already slipped past the royal trackers alone. Don't underestimate me. And for reconnaissance, moving solo is an advantage."
He wasn't the type to back down just because I tried to stop him.
When Godric set a trap for the First Field Army, Raul had been the only one to escape. But I knew the truth—he hadn't run away from the start. He had tried to stop his comrades from outright defying orders, to convince them to flee together. He had admitted it himself before, that he had failed to persuade them.
No matter how much he pretended otherwise, he clearly cared about his comrades. The way he had longed for them all this time made that obvious.
Though, knowing him, a big part of this was also "I can't be the only one who has to see this mess."
With permission finally granted, Raul began making a copy of the Vernis Mountain map. Even this map had been provided by the royal side, so if Raul marked any deliberately hidden areas during his scouting, it would be valuable later.
Meanwhile, Vittorio took advantage of his status as a growing child, pretending to be extra hungry while secretly stashing away some of Raul's rations. Leonardo accompanied him, leaving me alone with Raul for a moment.
I left him with a warning.
"Watch the skies."
"What?"
Act 3 unfolds across the entire Vernis Mountain range. And Godric's gaze can appear from anywhere. He may not be omnipotent, but as a writer, he is nearly omniscient.
I let my smile fade, aiming to look like a messenger of the divine as I repeated myself.
"Just as I can sit here and know what's happening to Sir Paulo, wouldn't it make sense for someone to be watching everything from a thousand miles away?"
"…"
[The
Raul slowly nodded, his face betraying confusion as if he had just encountered something strange. After a moment of silence, he added,
"…There's one thing I'm curious about. If you're truly an apostle for the commander, then why did the commander have to die? With all your abilities, couldn't you have stopped this from happening before it all started?"
I thought about that. If only. If everything could have gone smoothly without incident.
"The order is the opposite, actually. If trials hadn't come for Leo, I wouldn't have been needed here."
If that were the case, I wouldn't have been necessary in this world at all. The writers had called me in, as a dramatic move, to guard the body of Leovald and the original texts, an entity from beyond the stage.
My purpose arose from the crisis they were cornered in. Had Leovald continued to live a life true to the original texts, we would have never crossed paths.
Raul, unable to grasp this entirely, asked again.
"Then, you're really here just for the commander? What if…
When all these troublesome matters come to an end, what happens to you?"
His words brought back something I had been avoiding for a long time.
The first main scenario that had been given to me. The world is a stage, and all humans are actors—if I survive in this world, they promised me a special reward for completing the ending.
[Ending Achievement Bonus: ???]
[In case of failure, your existence will be erased.]
I still don't know what that reward actually is. But there remains a faint memory that the writers promised me something. If that reward means averting my death and returning to real life, it would likely be something akin to a return.
Now that my concern about the scenario's weight has vanished, the true meaning of that failure has become clear.
When the weight was just 0.02%, I thought it simply meant fading away due to a low presence.
'But it wasn't that simple.'
In fact, perhaps it meant my self-destruction as a final move against Godric, taking the original text and Leovald's body with me to ensure the world's end.
I wonder if the writers ever anticipated that I'd become this attached to Leo? It's not that they had bad intentions, but it's clear that the author prioritizes Leovald as the protagonist.
I shrugged lightly in response, not engaging much, but Raul shook his head.
"Seriously, you're so suspicious. I don't get why the commander keeps you around."
"Me? What exactly do you mean?"
I laughed lightly, trying to shift the atmosphere, but Raul shot me a bewildered look and retorted,
"What's suspicious? From head to toe, everything about you."
With a sigh, he added,
"You… don't seem like someone who's meant to stick around here. Sometimes, you really feel like you're from another world. So, just hypothetically speaking, if you ever plan to leave, you might want to be careful."
"Careful about what?"
"That guy hasn't really had much experience with loss, you know? If he ever loses something he's held onto for the first time in his life, it'll drive him insane."
Raul scrunched his nose, not making the subject clear.
"…Just be careful."
His tone almost seemed like he was feeling sorry for me.