Swamp Girl!

“All clear.”

At the rear of the mansion, I received a report from Leopard.

“…Got it.”

Even I could read the stiffness in my voice and expression.
The attack came the day after Chris’s disappearance. It had been timed to coincide with my return to the mansion.
I had summoned Leopard and the Elite Guard just in case, and they immediately proved useful. Still, my feelings hadn’t lightened.

The scene before my eyes resembled a small-scale battlefield. The figures of the fallen caught my eye.
Most of them were figures dressed in black. But I could pick out a good number of those wearing the dark green armor of the Elite Guard.

I was fully aware of the true strength of Leopard’s hand-raised forces.
Nonetheless, these casualties also served as a succinct testament to the attackers’ considerable ability.

However, while I could understand that from a logical standpoint, it was a far different story emotionally.

They’re like family to me.
There wasn’t a man among them that I didn’t know.
The ident.i.ties of the fallen soldiers, I knew each and every one. And now they were empty husks.
When I thought about that, the simple act of maintaining my expression was the best I could do.

At times like this, the commander, or perhaps their superiors in turn, can’t afford to expose any emotion. No matter how they want to conduct themselves, they have to accept casualties as a matter of course.
Why? Because the survivors and the fallen alike had seen it in such terms. That’s why I had to accept it with composure, for the sake of protecting their dignity.

But even that had its limits. If you want to call it my inexperience, then go ahead.

“The a.s.sailants were attached to the Seventh Division’s — ”

“I know.”

I interrupted Leopard as he continued.
These black-clothed people were agents from the dark side of the Empire, who didn’t officially exist. Members of the Seventh Division, which considered itself military in name only. To put it bluntly, they did most of the dirty work.
And there was a limited number of people with the authority to mobilize this force.
Only the General of the Imperial Army, or else the members of the Imperial Family.
Given the current circ.u.mstances, it wasn’t hard to imagine that my older brother Lucien had come up with an aggressive attack plan involving their mobilization.
In fact, I couldn’t imagine who else it might have been.

Why do this?

Though our goals were the same, my older brother had ultimately betrayed me.
And it had already been in motion at Basragate Fortress.
That’s why I should’ve kept my guard up…

I couldn’t suppress the anger I felt toward my own arrogance. I clenched my teeth so hard they creaked.

–

–

When it came down to it, my thoughts were too half-hearted.
Tetra’s Heart. Part of the Empire’s top-ranking officials were already aware of just how great a catastrophe it would bring down on the capital, or perhaps the entire empire, and the fact that there was still no solution to the problem. Of course, I was one of them.

However, no one knew when the day of reckoning would come.
No one knew when it would happen, only that it wasn’t now; nor was it possible to accurately predict the damage it would cause; given the circ.u.mstances, even among those in the know, the crisis lacked a certain sense of reality.

‘Better not to think too hard about it.’ In fact, that was sometimes the prevailing opinion.
Even I’d thought so. If not for this one thing, the Empire’s prosperity would have been a solid rock, free of any problems.

But a small doubt continued to nag at the people who knew, in no uncertain terms, of its presence in the capital.
The bomb would come to mind unexpectedly all the time.
It was Second Prince Lucien who was most proactively involved in matters regarding the threat it posed.
Facing the officials, including our father, who balked at even hearing the story, Lucien preached of the danger with a singleminded determination. In the process, he personally mobilized the Schola Magorum and put his counterplan into operation.

That’s why I also got on board when Lucien informed me of his solution while I was away on campaign.

His plan was simple.
To seal Tetra, using the girl I was currently sheltering as the vessel. I was to bring her back to the capital by any means necessary.

That was it.

Yes, to a certain extent, it was a realistic plan.
Because she was the very girl who had tested for a six-Attunement apt.i.tude in the past, and who had subsequently disappeared.

But that girl — for me, she was a complicated existence.

The girl who was once my childhood friend, who went missing, and who then returned with a completely different personality.

[Use] her to save the empire.

It was picking the lesser of two evils.
Speaking as a prince, or statesman, it was better to kill one to save the many — to sacrifice her.
It left no room for doubt.
So I accepted the task and devoted myself to bringing her back to the capital under an appropriate pretense. As if he’d seen through my conflicted heart, Lucien had added the postscript “There is also a way to save her”. Those words moved me with their kindness.

At first, she was just the girl who had the face of my childhood friend. But before long, I began to grow strongly conscious of her as herself. I was plagued by endless indecision.

The doubt always lingered in my heart.

The closer we got to the capital, the larger it grew inside me.
Is it a sure thing, this method Lucien mentioned for saving her?
What started out as simple words of atonement became increasingly suspect to me.
They were no more than a balm for my conscience to begin with. More and more, I doubted their veracity.
Why? Because I was fully aware that they simply served as an excuse.

I have to protect her.
I have to protect the empire.

Public and personal. Which is the one I can’t afford to prioritize?
Reason says to prioritize the Empire. Emotion says, ‘Prioritize her.’

As if he’d foreseen that conflict, Lucien had even gone after my life.
At least there was no question that he was up to something. And without the slightest pang of conscience, either.
He was far and away more cool-headed than me. His behavior strengthened my suspicions all the more.
She isn’t going to survive, is she?

Thinking about it now, I couldn’t help but feel that my decision to bring her all the way to the capital in the end was a self-indulgent thing.
That decision was:

[I’m going to get things straight with Lucien. And if she becomes a sacrifice, I’ll protect her.]

It was that sort of thing.

–

–

But considering the current situation, that simply came off as too half-hearted, too naïve. There was no getting around that.
I didn’t hesitate to label Lucien’s actions abnormal; they clearly were. His aggressive strategy utilizing the shadow agency had just skirted civil war.
No matter how I looked at it, those methods were too far removed from the objective of saving the capital.
Lucien was after something else.
So my instincts were telling me.

All three of the commanding officers. Vyde, then Rupert, who’d managed to join us in the nick of time, were standing shoulder to shoulder with Leopard in a line facing me. They awaited their next instructions.

“…Rendezvous with Regnum as soon as possible,”

I ordered them, after a few moments’ thought.

I knew that Chris had come into contact with Tetra’s Heart once. Moreover, I heard from Regnum’s report that an individual named Arcteur had rescued her.

That’s why I’d been evaluating the risk in making contact with Chris, but for things to escalate to an attack on this large scale, I’d changed my mind — even that line of thinking was too naïve.
Even if I were to disregard my feelings, I couldn’t afford to let Lucien s.n.a.t.c.h Chris away.

Until now, I’d been too indecisive. I had no intention of compounding that mistake.

I’ll protect her. I’ll protect Chris. Even if I have to destroy the capital to keep that promise.

“Yes!”

Without a word of misgivings, the three people before me briskly signaled their understanding.
Again, I had to think: What reliable men. But this wasn’t the time to leisurely indulge in sentiment.
Each of them began to put their troops in order. No one had an eye to spare for the scattered corpses.
I didn’t give a d.a.m.n about the enemy, but my heart ached to leave the bodies of my men in that state.
But there was nothing I could do for them right now.

“My lord…”

Waiting impatiently for the reshuffling to finish, I heard Karen’s voice calling me.
When I turned to look, the maids of the mansion were standing side by side, watching me from a distance. But the reliable Head Maid was nowhere to be seen.
Upon noticing, I asked Karen,

“Karen, what happened to Allie?”

“During the earlier disturbance, the Head Maid suddenly went somewhere.”

“Allie did?”

I was taken aback by those unexpected words.
It was difficult to imagine Allie abandoning her post to run off somewhere.
For some reason, I had an ugly premonition.

“Lord Leon!”

However, I couldn’t pursue it any further right now.
Just as I was about to issue Karen holding orders, I head a voice calling me from a distance.
I recognized it right away, and I looked at its owner as my earlier foreboding deepened.

“Regnum…!”

It was Regnum, who was supposed to be with Chris.
He was coming toward me in an all-out sprint — unusual, considering his usual self. Several people followed behind him: a parade of familiar faces, but I noticed that Chris wasn’t among them.

“…Lord Leon, Chris has been abducted.”

Without waiting for his ragged panting to slow, without adding in a shred of apology, he got right to the point.

For a moment, my vision was dyed a deep red.

It was no more than a hallucination, but I could tell that my grip on reason had slipped that far.
Fighting back the urge to punch Regnum, I asked,

“What happened?”

Regnum’s summary was brief, but it was full of unwelcome surprises nonetheless.

— Allie. When?

I understood that Tetra was manipulating her, but even so, it was too preposterous.
I felt as if everything was slipping out of my grasp.

I won’t allow it.

The hand I was staring at vacantly, I clenched into a fist.

“The situation has changed. We’re going to the castle. To Tetra’s Heart.”

“No, please wait, Prince Leon.”

Right now, I’ll do what I can.
Once I decided, I issued instructions to head for the place where she was sure to be, but a large, middle-aged man who had followed Regnum here held me back.

Suppressing my irritation, I glared at him slightly.

“…You are?”

“Arcteur Vanburke, at your service. We met once, long ago.”

Despite his rustic air, the man quickly introduced himself in accordance with etiquette.

— This man is Arcteur?

The man who rescued Chris, or so I heard. Now that he was before me like this, the complex feelings that bubbled up at the thought came as a shock, even to me.
For instance: what exactly is his relationship with Chris?
‘How disgraceful,’ I thought, with a self-deprecating smile.

“I see. You have an opinion to share, right? Let’s hear it. I’d appreciate it if you kept it short.”

I pushed him on, deliberately brushing past his words about having met me once in the past.
We might have met before somewhere, certainly, but that wasn’t important right now.

“Pardon my presumptuousness, but would it not generate unnecessary chaos to head to the castle with the Elite Guard’s combat power on display like this? As awe-inspiring as it is, it may also be mistaken as an act of rebellion against His Majesty the Emperor. A certain degree of restraint might be advisable.”

It certainly was as he said.
But naturally, it wasn’t like I hadn’t considered it myself. If I led an army to the castle, there was a high chance that it would cause a misunderstanding. Even if I brought charges of rebellion down on my head, it was only to be expected.

But this wasn’t the time to be considering such things.
Rather, it was being mindful of them that got us into the situation we were in now. The other side had already set its aggressive strategy into motion. Then, I was going to respond with full force.

And I would protect Chris. The rest, I’d leave for later.

“Then would I be right in saying you have some thoughts about it?”

But contrary to my feelings, I sighed quietly and prodded Arcteur.
I was in a rush, but I couldn’t afford to be impatient.

Nonetheless, this man saved Chris once. For now, I should put my faith in him.
It was hard to imagine that he’d stop me without having something in mind.

“Yes. Storming the castle like this is far too much of a risk. Therefore, I will take a select few with me and [fly] to the Heart. Earlier, there was some kind of disruption about the place that made teleportation impossible, but now, it seems that it won’t pose a problem. Something must have happened, but if you’re in a hurry, this method is a sure bet.”

“I see…”

Upon hearing his proposal, I remembered the ident.i.ty of the man before me.
It’s true, we did meet once in the past.
We’d done little more than pa.s.s by each other, but… Arcteur Vanburke.
Hailed as a genius, the previous head of the Schola Magorum. That, I was sure of.

That’s why he was familiar with [Chris], and why he knew about the Heart, too.
So that’s how it was. His suggested magical approach had reminded me.

“If that’s the plan, young master, please leave it to us,”

counseled Leopard. He’d finished reorganizing his forces and begun listening to the conversation from the side. Since when, I didn’t know.

But of course, it was advice I couldn’t comply with.

It wasn’t that I was utterly against the idea of leaving it to others. It was too late for such considerations.
But I had to go.
I had to protect Chris with my own hands.

“Pardon my impoliteness, but I would ask that Lord Leon come as well.”

Before I could make my declaration, Arcteur faced Leopard and me and said so, clearly.

“Let’s hear your reasoning,”

I said, quickly moving the conversation along before it could develop into an argument. Looking like Arcteur had taken the wind out of his sails, Leopard leveled an obviously hostile gaze at him. But right now, time was precious.

“Earlier, I sensed a large-scale fluctuation in magical power in the direction of the castle. I am certain it was the release of Tetra’s seal. In other words, I believe Tetra has already taken Chris.”

Arcteur was composed and unhesitant, despite the nasty glare, but he predicted the worst-case scenario.
He chose to phrase it as ‘taken’, but, in other words, Tetra had hijacked Chris.

What the h.e.l.l is this…!

Railing at myself out for letting the attack throw me off balance, I somehow managed to keep my temper.

“However! …That does not necessarily mean that there’s no chance at all. This is an uncertain method, and awfully sentimental, but I think that because you’re special to Chris, won’t you be able to save her?”

As if to slap some sense into me as I teetered on the edge of collapse, Arc continued in somewhat disorganized fast-talk.
His suggestion — dressed up with the words ‘uncertain’ and ‘method’ — was a proposal so hackneyed it was downright ridiculous.

But for me, it was all too attractive. I wanted to believe it could work. My feelings were on the verge of agreeing.
That seemed dangerous.

“…Regnum. What do you think?”

Deliberately, I directed the conversation toward Regnum. Under the circ.u.mstances, the man’s logical thinking would be useful.
The act agitated Leopard, even Arcteur, but I held them in check with my eyes.

“…As I already reported yesterday, she is not Christopher Carson. Then what exactly did we meet? Would that not make her Christine Rouelle Felmiran? I also believe that to be incorrect. Though the ent.i.ty we encountered possesses a definite sentience, no one knows what her exact nature is, among similar questions.”

His words could be considered almost philosophical in nature.

Yes, Chris definitely wasn’t Christopher Carson. I received that report at the mansion, behind closed doors.
The individual known as Christopher Carson was a separate ent.i.ty, and one that was still alive.
That report gave me an incredible shock. It was something I could never tell Chris about.

However, it seemed inappropriate to be going over it again right now.

“Regnum…! That kind of unrelated talk — ”

burst out Leopard, who seemed to be unable to take any more. I forestalled him with a hand.
I nodded at Regnum, whose eyes were looking straight at me, and prompted him to go on.

“Lord Leon, what value do you place on such an uncertain thing?”

That was his conclusion.
It was just as he said. In the end, what was she — Chris? By confirming the continued existence of her supposed true ident.i.ty, Regnum had invalidated that consciousness, that alleged possessing spirit.

If so, then what exactly was she?

Was it [Chris], with an error in the transcription of her memories?
No, it wasn’t her. Chris had clearly rejected the flickering memories returning to her as wrong. I could only imagine what [Chris] thought of me when she lost herself ten years ago, but this much, I knew.
It was the ant.i.thesis of good will, of that I had no doubt.
And she had definitely rejected those feelings.

She had shown me that when she stabbed herself with the knife that day.

At that point, it suddenly dawned on me.
That’s right.
She’d shown me. Her will, which she would gamble her own life for.

” — One I would gamble my life for.”

And to Regnum, to everyone listening, I clearly declared what value she held for me.

She might be uncertain. She might be something beyond my understanding.
But that would hold true for anyone.
The existence of will. The location of the heart.
I’ve never understood those things. They’re impossible for anyone to prove. So when it comes to what exactly she is, I don’t give a d.a.m.n.

What matters here is what she means to me.
That, and that alone.

In that the case, I can say it loud and clear.
For me, the girl I touched at the riverbank, under the elm tree, at the mansion, and on the castle balcony, is someone that can never be replaced.
Someone that I absolutely cannot afford to lose. No matter what.

So even though I’m putting my life on the line, I have no regrets.

I don’t know where her soul is now. But even so, if something remains of it, no matter how slight, I will find her.
— Without fail.

“I’m going to save Chris. Now, immediately. Arcteur. Can we get going?”

I suspected that it would come down to the same thing as saving the capital.
But I chose not to say it.
This was purely out of ego. Something I wanted to do — no more, no less. So I wouldn’t think of anything else right now. What was truly precious to me?
I didn’t want to lie about that, not now.

“Yes, at once. I ask that you select your personnel. There will be six of us, including me.”

I immediately looked at my surroundings.

“Leopard. You stay here and organize the corps to be ready on standby. Vyde, Rupert, with me.”

“Yes–!”

The three people I called accepted my orders without the need for me to repeat myself.
I needed Leopard preparing for unforeseen events. Though I said ‘Without fail’, I had to prepare for the worst case scenario.

Vyde and Rupert were indispensable. Whatever happened after our arrival, if these two were with me, we’d manage somehow.

“Lord Leon!”

The last two people.
I was about to decide on Regnum, or maybe Irene. Then two from Arcteur’s batch of arrivals, who hadn’t made their presence known until now, came to the front and addressed me.

Aira and Palmira.

Their eyes looked at me, pleading. Understanding what those gazes were trying to say, I nodded.

“Yeah, I’d like for you two to come as well.”

In practice, their selection was close to useless in terms of combat.
But my objective wasn’t combat.

It was saving Chris.

That being the case, having been with her the longest, these two would be helpful.

What I was trying to do wasn’t entirely clear.
Nevertheless, if something might change by having the two of them there, then that was what I should do.

And there was no mistake — they’d called out to me because of those same feelings.

“Thank you very much!”

Aira expressed her grat.i.tude. Beside her, Palmira lowered her head.
With this, we had our six.
Preparations complete.

“Arcteur. I’m counting on you.”

“Understood. Now then — before we fly, I’ll give you this.”

While he was talking, Arcteur held out that black object to me. Though I was suspicious, I accepted it nonetheless.

This was —

“That will be our trump card this round.”

He didn’t say anything about how to use it.
But I understood.
It’d been used once before my very eyes. There was no way I’d forget.

“With that, we’ll be on our way — ジ”

A short magical invocation. Then, Arcteur’s high speed casting.
Before long, a golden wall materialized.

“Let’s go.”

I’ll save her, without fail. No more will be stolen from her.
Telling myself that above all else, I leapt into the wall.