“Dammit, I can’t believe the Knights are coming here. To think we would end up as the remaining troops separated by the Bishop.”
“…Maybe the Bishop thought this through and separated us for a reason. It hurts my heart, but since the Knights don’t kill people, we can always rescue those trapped in prison later.”
A staircase made of stone bricks.
As they walked quietly up the stairs, several troops in uniquely patterned armor were making their way.
With expressions filled with sorrow, they looked like they were lamenting.
“The Bishop has been captured too. So what are we supposed to do now?”
“No need to despair just yet.”
However, the two cultist, seemingly their temporary leaders, spoke while leading the tearful believers.
“…All we need to do is manifest the interrogator in this world. Then our barren lives will finally come to an end.”
“…Right, we can’t give up already. If it truly comes to that, we can always ask another Bishop for help.”
They murmured quietly, vowing to achieve their goal as they escaped the underground space.
#
While the White Mask and I were watching them, Muyun took it upon herself to dash towards the Knights and report everything.
Under the Deputy Director’s orders, about twenty Knights came down, beginning to load numerous people lying on the ground into a strangely shaped cart.
The cart had large hooks attached to the wheels, and on the opposite side of where you would pull it was a flat piece of wood.
“Hm? This is a new design. If you try to pull a regular cart on stairs, it would certainly be a nightmarish experience, wouldn’t it? So, the standards for Rondan’s stairs must have been unified from the very beginning, which is why they manufactured the wheels accordingly.”
Aha, I see now.
Come to think of it, all the stairs did seem to look the same.
I had been walking the stairs unconsciously, but I gathered some interesting information in the process.
As I watched the Knights transporting or hauling the cultists for a while, I discovered a girl who had collapsed.
“…What should we do with her?”
“We should haul her too. Just leaving her here won’t solve anything.”
If it were up to me, I would want to take her with me.
Well, if it comes to that, I could always say that I’d handle the interrogation myself, so it should be fine.
For now, I grabbed her wrist to carry her.
“…!”
Suddenly, the girl I thought had fainted sharply pulled away from my grip and distanced herself from me.
Could it be she was pretending to be unconscious?
Was she waiting for her chance to escape?
Sweat started to trickle down my back as I realized I had let the most crucial person slip away due to my carelessness.
What the girl did next left both the White Mask and me in shock.
“…Wait!”
Even at my shout, the girl acted without hesitation.
She struck her own wrist repeatedly with her fist.
The part of her that the girl was attacking had some strange mark that resembled an inscription.
I rushed over to stop her, but by the time I managed to intervene, the mark had already become bruised and deformed.
Pshuuuk.
With a sound akin to air escaping from a balloon, her body began to disperse like dust, starting from her head.
“What the…”
The White Mask also expressed shock upon witnessing this scene.
Even as I reached out to grab the girl’s vanishing body, my hand merely passed through her, and I was unable to do anything.
This was the reason the girls mentioned by Agartha suddenly vanished.
I was now able to understand it right here and now.
“…I never imagined such an extreme cult existed.”
The White Mask said that and went off to assist the Knights.
But watching this unfold left me with an uneasy feeling, and I felt compelled to verify things immediately.
“Master, may I leave for an urgent task?”
“Do as you wish. Just call for me if you need something later.”
Having received permission from the White Mask, I dashed off toward the branch.
This girl shared too many similarities with Asti.
Lia, related to the same Outcast Gods.
The red aura I had seen at the altar.
And above all, the pale-skinned Interrogator who had half-manifested.
I had to see it with my own eyes right now.
Otherwise, I felt that my anxiety would only grow.
As soon as I reached the branch, I headed straight for my room.
Panting as I opened the door.
“Welcome, Master.”
Asti stood perfectly fine.
But for some reason, overlapping her appearance with the girl I had just seen caused my mind to sketch a scenario of Asti disappearing.
I shook my head to dispel the hallucination and rushed to Asti, seizing her arm.
“Ugh.”
Perhaps it was due to my rough actions, but Asti gasped in surprise.
I hurriedly checked around her wrists, wondering if there might be any marks around her joints, rolling up her sleeves to look.
When I finally checked all around her arms, I realized…
…There was nothing.
Unlike the girl, Asti had no such markings.
It crossed my mind that perhaps she might have an inscription in a different area, but I couldn’t check that.
Still, knowing that there were no visible signs gave me a sense of relief, and my legs gave way as I sagged.
“Master, you look troubled.”
Asti said, sitting down to meet my gaze.
She gently brushed my cheek with her hand as she did.
Yes.
It was indeed a painful moment.
A very painful moment to think someone might leave me again.
“If you’re in such pain, let me help.”
Yes, I was in such pain…
Huh?
Wait, what do you mean by ‘help’?
“Hey, hey, hey! Stop!”
“What?”
If I had stayed lost in my own thoughts for just a moment longer, I would have witnessed something truly inappropriate.
She suddenly began to untie her clothing!
“What are you doing?!”
“…You forcibly grabbed me, and seeing you with such a sorrowful expression, I wondered if this is what you desired.”
“Well, it’s certainly an easily misinterpreted situation, but, anyway, that’s not it!”
…What kind of teaching must she have undergone for such thoughts to cross her mind?
Yes, it must be due to someone that caused this little girl to think this way.
Sigh.
I placed my hand on Asti’s head, scratching it gently as she looked at me with a puzzled expression.
That girl must have been influenced by that Interrogator.
But Asti was different from that girl.
While the girl seemed to be putting her life on the line to fulfill her duty.
Asti still retained a hint of resistance within her.
Even when she first attacked me, not having controlled Lia was proof of that.
“Master, have you eaten?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Shall I prepare a meal for you?”
“If you could, I would appreciate it.”
While we conversed normally, I could see the emotionless yet poignant expression I had witnessed during the battle with the Dragon Slayer.
As I was about to say something in response to that expression, I decided to simply smile and let it go.
As long as you were alright.
That’s how I felt.
#
After finishing the meal, I made my way to the Knights’ headquarters, and it seemed they had sorted out most of the captured individuals. Aside from a few cultist women throwing tantrums, the Knights were engaged in quiet conversations around.
Feeling guilty about not being able to help out more, I wandered around, wondering if there was anything left to do.
“Hey! Who is this! Is it the legendary Tanton-senpai who crushed the Outsiders this time?!”
“The hero has arrived!”
The cheers and praise of the Knights surrounded me.
I was caught off guard by their sudden enthusiasm.
“Salute to Tanton-senpai!”
Their salutes overwhelmed me, and I felt a dizzying sensation at their reactions.
“Enough, enough!”
Despite calling out in embarrassment, it seemed there’s a saying that being recognized feels good.
My self-esteem surged at the realization that even the other Knights, who only remembered Deputy Director, the White Mask, and Muyun, were acknowledging me.
“Ah, you’ve come.”
I spotted the Deputy Director and the Knight Commander outside as I approached them and saluted.
The Deputy Director greeted me with a warm smile and returned the salute.
“Yes, Deputy Director. It seems the job is already done, and I feel quite bad for not being able to assist.”
“No, just resolving this incident is a significant achievement in itself.”
“But what about Muyun and the White Mask…?”
“Muyun was told to go back, and the White Mask went off to check the rails on her own.”
“?”
So she really was a train enthusiast and left right away.
Being able to engage in a natural conversation with the Deputy Director, I noticed the Knight Commander was holding something.
Wait, what is that?
“Oh, aren’t you going to eat this?”
“Commander, you shouldn’t touch that….”
The Deputy Director quickly urged the Knight Commander not to peek inside, but the Commander had already opened it and peeked one eye inside.
“Guuh.”
“Commander!!!!”
…She succumbed to the Outcast God’s mental attack and ‘died.’
How unfortunate that she had to look inside that bottle.
The Deputy Director, in shock, carried the Knight Commander and said to me,
“Tanton, for now, the Princess has been waiting to see you. Since there is still time left, how about you go up?”
“The P-princess is waiting for me?”
What, again?
What on earth does she want from me this time?
“Well, it’s nothing much. She simply wishes to bestow you a reward.”
“A reward….”
Did she feel guilty for constantly rejecting her offers?
…Imagining what could happen if I defied a royal decree was unsettling, so perhaps I should accept it this time.
“Understood. I shall head up right away.”
“Very well, I must attend to the Commander for now.”
…As I looked at the Knight Commander, who still seemed somewhat out of it, I shook my head.
I couldn’t fathom what kind of affliction she must be under to be like this.
Well then, I guess I should head up again.
This time, it looked like the people who had guided me before were busy, so I’d have to walk this path alone.
#
After entering the Princess’s chambers,
“…?”
I saw the Princess leaning against my shoulder on a plush sofa.
…Why am I in this position?
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