“It’s better to leave as soon as possible!” whoosh
I said this at the place where the ‘Special Forces’ had gathered.
“But that doesn’t mean we can just rush in without any preparation.” thud
Everyone nodded at my words.
After talking to the King yesterday, I met with the people I had spoken with that day to share the news. Fortunately, I didn’t have to climb the roof again to meet Charlotte. As the saying goes, “Parents always win over their children,” it seemed the King of Velbur couldn’t break Charlotte’s stubbornness either. That night, Charlotte came to my room, and like the others, she could hear the decisions that had been made.
After that, I actually got a good night’s sleep. I wasn’t just wasting time meditating; it was a real, proper rest.
Not that I needed it, but since I had worked late into the night before, I think I fell asleep almost as soon as I hit the bed. I woke up to find it was morning, even though the sun hadn’t fully set yet.
With a refreshed mind compared to the day before, I called in the candidates for the Special Forces.
Alice and Charlotte.
Leo and Claire.
Mia.
Jake and Roti.
And Rena and Sophia too.
With me included, that made ten who had entered beneath Lutetia.
These were people I had personally chosen. People I could trust to have my back—people I needed to protect until the end.
And there were volunteers to add to this list.
First, there was Jennifer Winterfield and Carolyn Northwood.
Jennifer was a veteran who had already proven her skills on the battlefield numerous times. She was much younger than you’d typically expect from a veteran, but no one could diminish her abilities.
Honestly, to an outsider, Jennifer alone felt more reliable than all nine following me combined.
Carolyn, on the other hand, lacked real combat experience. At least, she had never used magic against people—she was a noble’s housekeeper.
But that didn’t mean her abilities disappeared. If we think based on the original story, Carolyn was as useful a character as Mia. She felt more specialized in healing magic compared to Mia, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t go on the offense either.
So, the addition of these two wasn’t too surprising to me. In the original work, they were already characters that could be used in the offense, so I would have found it more surprising if they hadn’t offered to join.
Ada decided to stay back and find ways to support us. Furthermore, even if we leave, most of the common students would remain in Lutetia. If all the faculty were to leave, there wouldn’t be a single adult to control and protect those kids.
“C-Can I volunteer too?”
But there were a few applicants I found ‘unexpected.’
First was Lily Baker.
A common student from Roti’s class.
In fact, there were a few other common party members in the original work besides Lily Baker. Each had their own backgrounds and some were pretty interesting characters. Some even created tension in the story by clashing with other noble party members.
…I originally aimed to take a bit more time to get close to everyone slowly, but the story was flying by so fast that I couldn’t even have proper conversations with some kids.
To be honest, there were so many ‘party members’ that many characters became ‘air’ in the main story excluding their individual stories in the original. Especially since the protagonist Leo was a noble class character, common class characters found it difficult to appear prominently in the main story.
Moreover, by the time I had progressed the part I played, the story had been centered around the ‘Fanggriffon’ more than anything else.
“…I’ll decide based on the situation.”
So, I told Lily Baker that for now.
There were a few other kids around Lily besides her; they were likely common class students who were friends with her. Among them, I could see some characters that could be used as party members in the original.
I wanted to save all the important characters and see a proper happy ending.
That was my goal after coming here and confirming my abilities.
If so, it would have been better to gather the ‘party members’ I hadn’t had the chance to get close to yet—but—
—to be honest, even with me included, just ten was overwhelming.
And now that Carolyn and Jennifer were tagging along, my coverage area had also widened too much.
At least, since there wasn’t an all-out war being fought between the Empire and the Kingdom, it was unlikely for shells to drop where we are. Though I can’t say we could be considered perfectly safe as we were outside of their sight.
“If you need assistance, please make sure to request help. However, unless the number of people entering there isn’t too great, forcibly increasing the numbers might actually make things more dangerous.”
I spoke to Lily Baker, who looked deflated at my words, in a comforting tone.
If a large army were to enter, it might actually be safer to blend in, but currently, that just wasn’t the case.
Since we were entering in small numbers, it was more important to gather a small group that surely matched well together.
And, I had a certain conviction.
In the original, the ‘death of a party member’ was a device that emphasized the tragedy of the story by thrusting the protagonist into an uncontrollable, disastrous fate.
If this world were to follow the ‘original,’ then the common class kids who hadn’t really interacted with us probably wouldn’t have a reason to die.
And the ones with death ‘flags’ were all noble class kids. In the original, no matter what, I couldn’t send all the characters with those flags off together, but in this ‘world,’ it was different.
So those kids should be relatively safe even if they were separated from us.
“Got it. Then I’ll be preparing to support you from the back.”
Lily seemed to feel a little more at ease with my words.
Lily’s gaze briefly turned towards Roti.
Did that mean she was close with Roti?
…These were kids I hadn’t managed to get close to this time, but after this battle ends, there would still be three more years ahead. Who knows, maybe we could get closer during that time if no one drops out.
“Thank you.”
I nodded seriously as I said that, and the common kids gathered with Lily showed expressions of both disappointment and relief as they stepped back.
“Ahem.”
And one person had been waiting for me to finish talking with the others.
His hair had turned completely white, his face lined with wrinkles typical of old age, and his beard… Oh, at least he had somewhat trimmed it. Still bushy, but much tidier compared to when he lived in the mountains.
If you just looked at his face, he had the perfect elderly visage, but his back was completely straight. The lack of a hunchback typical of elderly people made him stand tall like an unyielding fortress.
Despite being an old man, his shoulders were broad and his body under the clothes looked strong.
Sword Saint Frederick.
In this situation— no, because of this situation, the swordsman had a menacing smile on his face.
“…Are you looking forward to this?”
He didn’t ask if I was going to go. For one, it’s not like he would listen to “please don’t go.”
Even when I tried to persuade him in the mountains, he only responded after hearing, “There are those stronger than you.” While he had a title like ‘Swordsman’ to his name, he was actually someone who moved ‘strictly by interest.’
Not that he was childish or anything, but…
“Is that ‘Lucas’ kid inside?”
“I can’t say for sure, but when it comes to possibilities, I think it’s very likely. Besides, there should be the Emperor’s other children gathered inside too.”
After the Emperor disappeared, I hadn’t received any contact from any of the ‘Emperor’s children.’ Moreover, there were no movements from them either.
There was no way the Emperor went in there ‘alone.’ He must have brought in key troops capable of penetrating to the center.
And those key leaders would be the Emperor’s children.
“I see.”
Frederick nodded, as if satisfied with my words.
…Somehow, I felt like this person would charge right into that pillar of light despite the risks. Ultimately, as human bodies can’t continue moving once they’ve received serious burns, I couldn’t picture this person collapsing in my mind.
So, this is what they mean by the Sword Saint.
Even I, who knew that there would be someone who would take him down in the original, could still feel that way every time I saw him.
“Anyway, I’ve lived long enough, so if there’s something worth risking my life for in the end, I might as well give it a shot. After all, there’s not much time left to lose.”
As the Sword Saint said this with a grin… Hmm, there’s no other way to put it other than to say he looked ‘like a Sword Saint.’
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