Chapter 104

Forgotten Truth (2)

The county had only just taken its first step toward recovery. Still, I had established the overall framework and systems.

But the trip to the royal capital would take at least a month. That meant I would be absent for at least that long, so I needed to shore things up further to ensure everything would proceed smoothly without me.

"Was there anything you didn't understand in what I just explained?"

At my question, Bernard, the head steward, sank deep into thought. Then he nodded.

"I understood everything."

A few questions confirmed that he really did. Bernard was quite dependable, but...

'I've never gotten a single affinity notification for him.'

Come to think of it, Bernard was the only one whose affinity had never appeared. And when I really thought about it, I knew nothing about him.

Father had brought him here. Father had appointed him head steward.

I had no information from my previous life, either. I didn't even know whether Bernard had been alive during the war. I hadn't been particularly interested, and he hadn't been important enough to investigate. Hell, I'd even forgotten his name.

In short, all I knew about Bernard was that he was a stickler for principles.

'I can't tell what's going on inside his head.'

Like Isolde, he was utterly inscrutable. Yet even Isolde, inscrutable as she was, had triggered an affinity notification.

'Hmm.'

Suddenly curious, I activated Predatory Instincts[S]. Information about Bernard appeared before my eyes.

==<Character Information>==

Name : Bernard Neville

Classification : Kingdom Animalia, Class Mammalia, Family Hominidae, Human

Sex : Male

Age : 38

Traits : Versatility[G]

... Nothing particularly remarkable. He did have one trait, Versatility[G]—

◆Versatility[G]

: The user possesses excellent situational judgment and adaptability, allowing them to adeptly resolve problems in a variety of circumstances. Although attaining exceptional expertise in a particular field is difficult, their comprehensive problem-solving ability enables them to immediately analyze problems and propose the best solutions.

The rank was [G], for Grand. This was the first time I'd encountered it. Special abilities used a different ranking system from biological evolutionary abilities, which ranged from F to S. As such, there were several new ranks I didn't know.

From the looks of it, this was one rank above Adlan's Perceptiveness (Sense)[R] and one below Unique[U]. That put the revised order at Rare[R] < Grand[G] < Unique[U] < Epic[E] < Legend[L] < Myth[M] < Primal[P].

True to its Grand designation, it was a talent that granted proficiency in many areas. As the description noted, however, it made becoming an expert in any one field difficult. But for a head steward serving as the lord's representative, it was an excellent talent.

That explained why Father had trusted him despite his youth. It also explained how he had understood every instruction I'd just given him.

'Hmm.'

For now, that was all Predatory Instincts[S] could tell me. I tried Find Weakness[U] just in case, but it wasn't much help. In other words, I still had no idea why his affinity notifications never appeared...

"I will see that everything proceeds without issue."

... In so many ways, Bernard was impossible to read.

* * *

In the middle of the snowy plain, tents stood quietly amid the biting winds. Cold assailed them from every direction, but smoke from the fires inside rose in white plumes, thawing the chill.

Outside those tents, the Vister recruits writhed half-buried in the snow.

"U-uuugh...!"

"Aaaagh!"

They were undergoing field training, not basic training. Field training was a tactical endurance regimen modeled on actual combat situations.

"Haaagh...! Haaagh...!"

"I-I think I'm going to die...!"

Even for Visters, it was nothing short of hell.

Still, perhaps because these Visters had spent practically every day brawling...

'They're holding up pretty well.'

They were enduring field training that even veteran soldiers dreaded.

In fact, field training was exhausting even for the instructors running it. That was why they usually dumped the job on their subordinates, but...

"Welcome, Lord Adrian."

Kai wasn't just supervising the field training. He was participating in it alongside them. Yet he was perfectly fine. He wasn't even breathing hard.

'He's practically a lich.'

He truly deserved the name. A check with Predatory Instincts[S] confirmed as much.

His breakthrough to a fully fledged Master, combined with Seraphia's successful recovery, had produced a synergy that strengthened his Immortal Link[E].

Before, he had been a "zombie" who merely stayed alive despite his body being destroyed. Now, he had advanced to something like a "vampire," capable of recovering from fatal wounds. Fortunately(?), it wasn't enough to raise the ability's rank.

But at this rate of growth? Becoming a lich was only a matter of time. No, why stop at a lich? ... He might well surpass one.

But liches, alongside death knights, were the highest tier of undead. The only being with immortality surpassing a lich's was the Sovereign of Immortality. In other words, Kai had the potential to reach Sovereign level...

'Is he insane?'

The man was an absolute lunatic.

Just as I was surpassing the Predator of my previous life, Kai was surpassing the Legion Commander of Bitter Cold. The one saving grace was that killing Seraphia would put an end to his immortality, but...

'Ian, you bastard.'

Ian's whereabouts remained unknown. What would happen to Seraphia remained equally uncertain.

... Anyway.

Looking around, I saw the recruits enjoying the brief respite my arrival had brought. They sat in the snow, catching their breath and wiping away sweat, all while dreading the training that might resume at any moment.

'They're just like the guys in the special task force.'

Memories of my days in the allied army came flooding back, drawing a chuckle from me.

"Kai, I don't know if you've heard—"

I told him about my trip to the kingdom's capital. He listened intently and nodded.

"Then I will prepare as well."

He started walking away, apparently intending to prepare for the journey.

"Kai, you're staying here."

The instant I finished speaking, he stopped dead.

"... What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. Kai, you're to remain in the county."

"I cannot accept that."

He answered without hesitation, unwavering resolve in his blue-opal eyes.

"I must escort Lady Seraphia on the journey to the capital."

Kai was determined to come even if it killed him. Well, I'd expected as much. The lunatic lived and died for Seraphia, after all. That wasn't a figure of speech. It was literally how Immortal Link[E] worked.

"If you leave, who will command the recruits staying behind?"

"The instructors at Whitewolf Castle—"

"Do you think the castle's instructors and soldiers can keep them under control?"

There were a staggering 2,132 recruits. Their sheer numbers were overwhelming. On top of that, they had been Visters. They had submitted to me for now, but it was too early to say they were genuinely loyal.

In other words, what would happen if I left? No one knew how they might turn. Frankly, even a rebellion wouldn't be surprising. Wasn't that how the lawless city of Violess had come into being?

The circumstances were somewhat different, of course. But Whitewolf county could still become a new lawless city.

"Kai, you're the only one who can protect the county while I'm gone."

That was why he absolutely had to stay. Now that he had become a fully fledged Master, he was more than capable of commanding and controlling thousands of Visters.

"... Even so."

His voice wavered. Conflict briefly surfaced in his blue-opal eyes. Then he lowered his head and remained silent for a long time.

He was clearly agonizing over it. Still, his sense of responsibility was as strong as his loyalty. Of course, it could never outweigh that loyalty.

"It's simply a different way of protecting her. Kai, keep the home Seraphia will return to safe."

"... Understood."

At last, he nodded, his voice low.

Seeing things like this, honestly... Affinity at [Trust] or whatever the hell else meant nothing. For Kai, Seraphia came before everything.

'Does he like her that much?'

Was it simple loyalty? Or did he cherish her personally? Or had those two feelings become so tangled that even he couldn't tell exactly what he felt?

I used Find Weakness[U], but... it wasn't much help. I still couldn't understand why he was so utterly obsessed with her...

"Please take good care of Lady Seraphia."

... In a different way, Kai was just as impossible to read.

* * *

A week flew by. The appointed day of departure for the capital was suddenly upon them.

Off to one side, the carriage horses chewed hay while soldiers checked the wheels once more. Preparations for the long journey were in full swing.

'At last!'

Seraphia hadn't been able to contain her excitement.

A journey to the capital, just her and Adrian. Strictly speaking, the maids and soldiers would be coming too, but... Anyway!

'I'm so nervous!!'

She took a deep breath. Even so, her head was already filled with all sorts of imagined scenarios.

'Will he find me annoying if I talk too much?'

Perhaps she should go for the quiet type instead. Adrian might be unable to bear the awkward silence and speak first.

Then there would be the conversations that naturally followed inside the carriage. The curious tension whenever their eyes met. And what if she grew tired from the long journey, dozed off, and accidentally leaned against his shoulder...?

'Wh-what would I do then!!'

Her cheeks flushed with excitement and anticipation, and her chest burned with exhilaration. She steadied her breathing, trying to calm herself, but her fingertips kept fidgeting with her clothes.

She felt certain she could grow closer to Adrian by the end of this journey. Even if she couldn't completely change his mind about leaving the family, she could at least make him reconsider.

Soon, the bustle around her began to subside. The soldiers and maids had finished their preparations and stood quietly, seemingly waiting for the order to depart. Just then—

'Oh! He's here!'

Adrian emerged from Whitewolf Castle and walked past her. Seraphia hurried after him with quick little steps. Just as she was about to climb into the carriage with him...

"What are you doing?"

Adrian suddenly frowned.

"Why are you getting in here?"

"Pardon...? Well—"

"Take the one in front."

"Huh? The one in front...?"

Turning to look ahead, she saw another carriage. A separate carriage, some distance from Adrian's.

"Th-that carriage?"

"Yes."

"I'm not riding with you, Brother?"

"We don't have time."

Adrian shut the carriage door.

"Ah...! Oh..."

All the excitement she'd built up shattered.

Lips pressed tightly together, she walked away, trying to seem untroubled.

Her carriage stood far from Adrian's. Somehow, the distance felt even greater.

"..."

Before she knew it, her small shoulders had slumped.

* * *

Inside the rattling carriage, we weren't moving particularly fast.

'An Aether Carriage would have been nice.'

An Aether Carriage was a vehicle powered by aether rather than horses. With its far superior speed, it could reach the capital in two days.

That wasn't all. Optimized storage space for supplies. Automatic repairs through internal magic circuits. Barriers and shock absorbers that activated instantly in emergencies, and more. Aether Carriages offered a variety of convenient features and military applications.

They were one of the key reasons Supply Command had been able to keep supplies flowing without interruption. Unfortunately, building one was impossible at present. Not only did the technology not exist yet, but construction required an advanced understanding of magical engineering.

That was why even in the allied army of my previous life, only one person had been able to build them: the allied army's hero, the Blacksmith.

Anyway, I turned away from the slowly receding scenery of the county and sank into thought. If this invitation to court society had come about through imperial influence and the Sovereign of Darkness's intervention...

"There's no information I can obtain right now."

I didn't know why Queen Marceline had invited Seraphia. Nor did I know what she intended to do by inviting her. But I could understand why the queen had been bought off by the empire.

"She must have joined hands with the empire to bring Leon down."

The truth was, Leon wasn't Queen Marceline's son. He was the son of a royal mistress. A concubine's child, in common terms.

The Kingdom of Battenberg practiced monogamy. The royal family, however, had to ensure the continuation of its line, so it sometimes kept concubines known as royal mistresses.

Even then, they were merely "officially acknowledged lovers." They weren't formally recognized as the monarch's wives or family. As such, a concubine's child couldn't become heir to the throne, but—

"Leon was simply too exceptional."

The allied army's assessment of Leon alone said enough:

["Had Ian not existed, Leon would have become the allied army's Supreme Commander."]

Granted, Leon's fighting prowess wasn't particularly impressive. He fell short of even the other heroes, let alone Ian. But his outstanding leadership had earned him the position of field commander in the allied army. His abilities were the real thing.

Concubine's son or not, he still carried the king's blood. To bring someone like Leon down?

"She would have had no choice but to join hands with the empire."

The empire would have provided the queen with enormous funds through the Dark Merchant Company. In exchange, she would have turned a blind eye to its activities.

That was how Leon had lost his place in the royal succession in my previous life. And although the empire had ultimately torn Battenberg apart and brought about its downfall...

"The Sovereign of Darkness made everyone forget the truth."

The truth had merely been lost to oblivion. But not this time. Now, I could resist the Authority of Oblivion.

What was that saying about crisis being opportunity?

"If I can just make Leon crown prince..."

The future would look completely different.

Leon, the Lion of the Allied Army. If I could put power in his hands, he could become a game changer who would completely reshape the future.

It would begin with this journey to the capital. With a tiny flutter of a butterfly's wings.

"Time to make some preparations of my own."

There was a chance I would encounter the Sovereign of Darkness in the capital. Then there was the high society gathering hosted by Queen Marceline. Heading in without any information was, in a sense, like sticking my head into a dragon's maw. But that was fine.

At this point in the past I'd returned to, before the Emperor began moving in earnest, rare monsters still lived in the wild across the continent.

Fluidization, an ability that reduced bodily friction to enable swift, smooth movement. Night vision that allowed its user to see clearly even in pitch darkness. Stealth that concealed the user by blending perfectly into the surrounding environment, and more.

"Let's see..."

Retracing the memories of my previous life, I began listing, one by one, the monsters with rare abilities I would consume with Predation[S+] on the journey to the capital.