Chapter 5 - Tangled Threads Don't Unravel
"Here's the Hero..."
The knight who muttered this suddenly flinched and his eyes widened.
"The Hero?!"
"What is it?"
Another knight, pushing past his shoulder, checked the scene and was equally shocked.
"H-how is the Hero alive?!"
The Hero they found, Clay, was not as everyone knew him.
He wasn't a corpse.
He was standing there, perfectly alive.
"That, that's?!"
And another figure the knights discovered.
It was Beatrice, the Dragonkin, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's army.
"Be-Beatrice!"
As the one who recognized her shouted, the remaining knights, recognizing her belatedly, also shrieked in shock.
"Be-Beatrice?!"
"She was missing?!"
"Why is one of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings here...!"
Amidst the commotion, Lilien, the captain of the Royal Guard and their commander, climbed the dune and looked down.
'This can't be...!'
The Hero, Clay, was truly alive.
That alone was an unbelievable situation, but Beatrice, who had been missing, was with him too.
"Form battle formation!"
Lilien urgently shouted at the startled knights.
"It's Beatrice, one of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings! Don't act rashly; wait for my command!"
"..."
Beatrice, hearing her shout, stood expressionless and silent.
Then, she leaned her head closer to Clay and whispered.
"Wait a moment."
She took a step.
Not towards the Primordial Flame, but towards the knights.
"Beatrice?"
Clay looked back at her with a stunned expression.
Beatrice had already spread her wings of fire behind her back.
"How foolish, servants of Iser."
She spoke to Lilien and her knights.
"You should have just passed by if you found me."
"Silence!"
Lilien, who had been flustered, shouted loudly to maintain her composure.
"You, a mere accomplice of the Demon King's army, dare utter the name of great Iser!"
"Dare?"
Beatrice looked at Lilien with dragon eyes filled with magic.
Lilien instantly lost her balance and stumbled.
"Gah?!"
"You're the one who dares to speak my name, Beatrice, without proper respect, aren't you, running wild without knowing your place?"
"Y-you bastard!"
Lilien broke out in a cold sweat.
'As expected, she's strong.'
Beatrice, among the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings, was known as the only being capable of fighting one-on-one against the Demon King or the Hero, regardless of victory or defeat.
Only Iser's elite knights, who lived solely for combat, or the Guardian Knights dispatched by the Holy State Alliance, could contend with the Four Heavenly Kings.
'But I, too, am a sword-wielder.'
The skill required for protecting Tia was by no means inferior.
In fact, it was considered among the best in Iser.
Of course, Lilien also knew that Tia had chosen her not primarily for her skill, but because she seemed most likely to follow her commands.
However, she never took her position by the Empress of Iser lightly.
Shing!
Her sword was drawn from its scabbard at her hip.
"Beatrice! I will subdue you and take back the Hero—no, the criminal Clay!"
"That's a strange thing to say."
Beatrice spoke with an expression that conveyed no threat from Lilien's gripped sword.
"Clay is already dead. You confirmed that yourselves, didn't you?"
"That's..."
"Did you come to find his corpse?"
Beatrice tilted her head.
"Did the Empress order you to give him a proper re-burial after killing him?"
"You fiend!"
"In that case, I certainly can't hand him over."
Casting a cold gaze, Beatrice declared.
"I picked up the corpse of Clay, the hero."
"What...?"
Did she pick up the corpse and resurrect him as an undead?
If so, was that truly Clay's soul?
Lilien couldn't help but be confused.
"You've committed something unforgivable!"
Even if she didn't know exactly what happened, she could conclude that Beatrice had defied the natural order.
Lilien pointed her sword at her.
"I will pass judgment on that action here and now!"
『Do it.』
Beatrice's Dragon Speech pressed down on Lilien's shoulders.
『If you think you can survive, go ahead.』
"C-Captain!"
The knights, startled by the overwhelming presence, shouted at Lilien.
"There are only 12 of us!"
"If we face her without preparation, we'll be annihilated!"
"Silence!"
Lilien snapped at the knights, who were clearly showing their fear.
"Are you saying we should tell them we lost Clay's corpse to Beatrice and just came back?!"
Lilien wasn't being reckless now.
'Her Majesty has lost her clarity!'
She didn't know how Tia's twisted disposition would change because of this incident.
Lilien gripped her sword tightly.
"We will secure Clay, no matter what. Everyone, draw your swords!"
At her command, the knights reluctantly raised their swords.
Seeing them, Beatrice smiled.
"So, you've chosen that path."
Whoosh!
Suddenly, she soared into the sky.
"It would be a mistake to believe I would simply walk on the ground and contend with you."
Her wings flared even brighter, scorching a fierce, blazing image onto the knights' eyes.
"I, Beatrice, have received the call of a pitiful soul today, so I choose not to turn a blind eye."
Lilien and the knights couldn't understand what she was saying.
As it instilled even greater fear in them, Beatrice finally raised her arms into the air and swung them downwards.
Kwoooom!
The explosion that erupted in the air descended upon Lilien and the knights like a falling curtain.
***
"It's taking a long time."
Iser Imperial Palace.
Tia, the Empress of Iser, muttered as she sat in a chair at a table in the garden.
Seeing her, the Imperial Staff standing beside her said, "The Captain of the Royal Guard has gone in person, so perhaps they will soon complete their mission and return."
"Perhaps."
Tia stared blankly at the scenery beyond the table, letting out a dry breath.
"When will the Imperial Knights who went on the monster extermination expedition return?"
"The Holy State Alliance has not yet provided a schedule."
Bang!
Tia slammed her hand down on the table.
The teacup on the table overturned.
Drip, drip.
The spilled tea flowed down onto the floor beneath the table.
The staff member, flustered, cleared the teacup and summoned the nearby maids.
Even as the maids cleaned the table, Tia did not erase the displeasure from her face.
"Inform the Holy State Alliance. Tell them to recall the Iser Imperial Knights immediately."
"Yes? B-but, Your Majesty."
"Whose staff are you?"
Tia's gaze sharpened, glaring at the staff member.
"You wouldn't be the Holy State Alliance's staff, would you?"
"Ahem."
The staff member, pressed by her intensity, cleared his throat but still offered advice for her sake.
"Your, Your Majesty. The Holy State Alliance is exerting all its efforts to deal with the remaining monsters. As they have designated this a holy war, forcefully recalling the Imperial Knights could instill hostility in them."
"Is that so? How frightening."
Tia replied dryly.
"I listened to all their words because I was afraid of that. Truly, all of them."
"Your Majesty..."
"You may leave."
After dismissing the maids who had finished tidying the table, Tia rested her arms on the table and buried her face in them.
And she said nothing more.
'Phew, I'm going crazy.'
The staff member stroked his white beard, a sigh replacing his breath.
'The Holy State Alliance, they're going too far.'
It hadn't been long since they forced her to execute the hero.
But to call upon the Imperial Knights of various nations to participate in their holy war, there were even rumors that they would soon demand tribute.
If that were true, Iser would only suffer losses.
'Not being able to resist properly is a big problem.'
Due to religious issues, Iser's citizens, too, relied excessively on the Holy State Alliance, especially their leading nation, the Holy Kratia.
That fanaticism had prevented them from feeling even a trace of reluctance in executing the hero.
'No matter how strong the evidence was...'
The execution was too swift.
The Holy State Alliance had even dispatched overseers to ensure Tia didn't side with the hero.
In essence, the Holy State Alliance intended to supervise the execution.
It was an act of ensuring the process was carried out correctly.
'The problem is Her Majesty.'
There was no way for them to deal with the Holy State Alliance from their side anyway.
heir influence over the continent was too vast.
So, for now, Tia had to get a grip.
But after being forced to fulfill her duties as empress on all fronts and abandoning the hero, she couldn't easily return to normal.
It was highly likely that she hadn't expected herself to be affected this much.
But everything must be lost to truly understand.
Tia was on the verge of succumbing to the madness of loss.
'I need to bring back Archmage Yuru from the Blue Magic Tower again.'
He thought he had to stabilize Tia, even if it meant relying on the knowledge of the magic tower.
But he didn't realize.
That Yuru and Tia should never meet again.