Kyou kara Ma no Tsuku Jiyuugyou!

Right now I can’t complain that galloping on the horse will knock my b.u.t.t around.

Because “it’s best to prepare a spare horse”, I’m currently riding a horse on my own.

Saralegui is riding with Adalbert, to be more precise, I should say he’s tied onto Adalbert’s back. I’ve never seen such a depressed-looking piece of cargo. Seriously, I can’t believe that there are men in this world who don’t envy muscles.

To be honest, I’m really extremely pleased with myself right now. Although the danger isn’t over yet, and I’m still in a pinch, but having my vision back makes me feel as though there’s nothing I can’t do, as though there’s nothing in the world beyond my means.

I can ride a horse on my own, get away from the equestrian people who plan to kidnap the Seisakoku emperor for a ransom, solve the problem of the oasis’ water source, save Jason and Freddy, and in accordance with their wishes, help Venera—in other words Hazel, reach the royal tombs, make sure the Box is safe and then return to s.h.i.+n Makoku.

After that I’ll fulfill the promise I made my brother and return to Earth, return home.

The maseki in front of my chest heats up again after so long, too, so I believe everything will go smoothly.

“Yuuri.”

Still a little nervous being on horseback, I glance to my side, and see Conrad riding up to me. Although we’re on the run, his expression is very calm, and he’s smiling at goodness-knows-what.

“You’re riding well so high up, huh.”

“Are you trying to say ‘riding on a high’? Please spare me the cold jokes![1]”

“I’m not.”

It seems it’s been a long time since I saw Conrad’s gentle smile. How strange, not long ago we saw each other every day.

“While you were away, I practiced properly.”

“Is that so? Looks like you had a good teacher.”

I can’t say he’s lying, either.

“I feel as though just being able to see makes my riding skills fifty percent better.”

“Yuuri, about that…”

His tone sounds like he’s going to say something important, so I lean my body forward in order to hear him better, and at the same time I apply pressure with my thighs to make sure I don’t fall off.

“What is it?”

“Your soul…”

I never hear the rest of it, because Adalbert, in charge of the rear, issues a warning in a voice that can be heard clearly even during a game,

“The pursuers are here!”

“So soon!?”

“Because they’re equestrian people, as long as they go all out on their horses, they’re extremely fast.”

Wolfram catches up to us, the corners of his lips curling up. Under these circ.u.mstances, all he can do is smile strangely. Despite his angelic looks, he can also say something so mature. To think he can show a smile completely unlike his two brothers, saying such brave words.

Watching him grow up so quickly recently, I can’t help but feel panicked. If I keep a.s.suming he’s on the same level as me, one day I will surely be left behind in the dust.

I maintain my balance as I look behind me—as expected they’re right, although it’s only the size of a one yen coin, I can still see the speeding horses kicking up a cloud of dust in the distance.

With this it’s not too good to continue having Adalbert holding up the rear, once they take out weapons like crossbows, he’ll soon have to strike out. Saralegui, tied on his back, must now be experiencing a terror unlike any other before.

“Adalbert! Come over to the front!”

“Understood. I really don’t want to, but at the same time I don’t want anyone wetting themselves on my back.”

“I already used the toilet before we set off.”

Looks like he’s not that terrified after all.

Rus.h.i.+ng over to the front, Hazel’s steed raises its front legs majestically. Hazel Graves steers the brown mare to stand on its hind legs with her brilliant riding skills.

“BOYS!”

“What’s the matter!?”

“We have a situation in front!”

I focus my gaze and see a building about as tall as a hill in the distance. At first I thought it was a pyramid, but it’s not a simple pyramid shape, more like a slightly crooked mound, but its height and width are both several times that of j.a.panese ancient tombs. Maybe it’s the king’s or emperor’s family tombs, otherwise it’s seriously too huge to live in.

But the problem right now isn’t the tomb itself.

The danger isn’t the historical building, but the new power that had been long since waiting in place ahead of us. A large group of people stand in a horizontal line, probably not more than two hundred people in total, and they’re advancing onto us.

From this distance I can see the shadows of spears and axes on their backs, so I can deduce they’re soldiers. But they’re different from equestrian people hot on our tails, because there aren’t a lot of soldiers on horseback, most of them are foot soldiers. Although we can’t be sure if they’re friends or foes yet, or even completely unrelated to us, just a group we happened to stumble across, but we can’t still be sure of their true ident.i.ties—because their limbs are different from normal people.

“Could it be… the revived group…”

Right now isn’t the time to call them such a cute name. Those guys are all dead people, they’re the accursed undead that attacked us back before we entered the underground tunnel.

We have no choice but stop the horses, and our pursuers may also have realized that their messiah is with us. In that case, if things get bad all we can do is ask Adalbert for help…

“Your Majesty, maybe this is just me.”

Hazel asks in a careful tone unlike her, as though there’s something she finds hard to say.

“That cold case ahead of us, I keep feeling as though I’ve seen it before.”

“What cold case…”

Only after she says that, do I see ‘that’ opposite us, and start disbelieving my own eyes. I have indeed seen it, my vision capturing the image and sending it to my brain, which then quickly a.n.a.lyses the image. But I can’t believe that the answer I get is correct, so I start wondering if my eyes that just recovered are problematic.

I refuse to believe that what my eyes see is an illusion.

Wolfram’s low murmur to himself gives me a confirmatory answer.

“Gurrier…”

It can’t be, right?

“It can’t be.”

How could it be.

Gurrier Josak is obviously there… I don’t want to keep remembering, grabbing my throat with my left hand, my fingers grappling my neck tightly.

“Josak is still alive.”

If that’s true, even if there’s a stone stuck there, I still want to squeeze a sound out of my painful throat. I don’t know whether the words I hear next are Conrad’s, or my own.

“If it really is him, then that before was an illusion, and, my, hypothesis…”

“No, it’s exactly as Your Majesty said.”

Right now, Lord Weller seems absolutely polite and humble.

“It can’t be!”

Although his tone sounds very heartless, but he probably noticed long ago.

The man that looks like Josak rides a red horse in the middle of the group. He’s wearing different things from when we were separated, his body wrapped in a grey cloak that’s easily mixed up with the sand, something the equestrian people commonly wear. He’s not wearing the hood, so his orange hair flies in the wind, and the distance is too far for us to see his eyes clearly.

Is it the blue I’m familiar with? Or a scarier color? Or some other emotionless color?

In front of the man’s horse, there’s something that looks like a mountain of rags. Having noticed our gazes in him, he carelessly tosses the item over. The black object lands in the sand with a thump.

The object wrapped in rags slumps on the soft sand.

It has limbs, and the back of that black-haired head is facing us.

There’s also something that seems like gla.s.s on his finger, sparkling in the sunlight. Although his shoulders twitch a little, they stop immediately. That person is alive, at the very least he’s still alive now.

His head moves slowly, the black hair rubbing against the ground, it seems like he wants to raise his face, but he can’t so it’s buried back into the sand. He doesn’t groan, and I can’t hear any breathing sounds.

But I know who he is. All from a glance of his forehead, and those eyes with the same color as mine, I know.

“…Murata?”

He doesn’t hear me.

“W-why… Josak…”

My body reacts one step faster than my mind. I can’t control myself at all.

“Hold on a second!”

“How do you expect me to wait! Murata—”

Conrad holds me back by putting his hands under my armpits, preventing me from jumping off the horse.

“I will definitely save him, so please hold on a second.”

“How will you save him!?”

“No matter what methods I use, I will definitely save him.”

“But!”

Saralegui walks over to where we’re arguing, his steps unsteady, it was probably Adalbert who let him down. His face and neck look even fairer under the desert sun, and then he asks something completely meaningless in a happy tone.

“Yuuri, do you remember the contents of the deal?”

“Ah!? At a time like this, what are you talking about! It’s obvious now isn’t the time to discuss that!”

“Listen!”

The powerful order makes me shut up.

“I said before I wanted a certain person’s life, right? Looks like it’s exactly as I expected. I’ve decided.”

“I already said it’s not the time to discuss that.”

“But not your life, mine. You have to let me leave this country safely.”

“Eh, why…”

Saralegui’s golden eyes, sparkle like a cat forced into a corner. But even though he’s been forced into a corner, there isn’t a hint of despair in his eyes. The corners of his lips even lift into a fearless smile, my first time seeing such a smile on him.

“Because the situation has changed.”

His gaze goes over Josak, looking at someone in the back. A slender body wrapped in a hooded cloak rides a white horse in the flying yellow sand, that appearance alone a world’s difference from the surrounding soldiers. Suddenly, my pinky starts heating up again, the pale pink ring tightening harder and harder, but not to the point of pain.

“Why?”

A strong gust of wind blows up the hood hiding that face.

The same hair, the same face, the same figure.

“Yels.h.i.+…”

The young Emperor of Seisakoku, Yels.h.i.+, smiles with the same golden eyes as his older brother.