The fall of the battleship turned out to be quite a significant help.
With the artillery support of the battleship, the Imperial Army’s advance had slowed due to the absence of the greatest firepower. Naturally, only Emperor Arthur III, his companions, and the Imperial Order of Knights who supported them directly entered Lutetia.
Thanks to this, most of the Velbur forces were engaged not in urban combat but in the defense of Lutetia. While there were bombs falling in the city, it didn’t turn into a total wreck like in the games.
And here was one point in favor: it was easy for the elite forces centered around the Emperor to slip towards the Papal State.
Since the Papal State had most of its military power hidden under Lutetia, they couldn’t properly stop the gathering of monsters led by the Emperor and his companions. As I remembered, the Emperor easily infiltrated the Papal State.
Well, during that process, there were some who died after seizing a train and a car… But, you know.
“Do you plan to use me as a hostage or something?”
“Let me remind you again, I have no intention of killing or harming you.”
Honestly, I wondered if it was Charlotte who couldn’t screw up and just let me go.
No, more importantly, it was Charlotte who followed us.
The group gathered here wasn’t large. Rena ultimately didn’t come out of her country to the Empire, and Jake and Roti built a friendship with me but prioritized defending their own territory.
Mia was protecting the Crowfield territory.
I haven’t even seen Sophia. Carolyn wasn’t a soldier, so she stayed at the academy, and Jennifer seemed to be heading to the battlefield, but I didn’t know exactly where she was.
Honestly, I felt uneasy. Even if one of them died, I wouldn’t even know that they had died.
I had kept moving forward, certain that this was a fantasy created by the Goddess, and even now, with countless sacrifices happening, I was worried that because of that slim chance, I wouldn’t be able to reach a ‘happy ending.’ If this world isn’t a fantasy and I’m being duped by the Goddess in double layers—
—No, it’s okay.
If that’s the case, I’ll just rewind time over and over again.
And the fewer people here with me in this world, the better. Because the Goddess seems to want to get rid of me. Until now, I’ve mitigated that threat by sticking close to beings stronger than me, but this is a battlefield, isn’t it?
With the battleship’s explosion, the likelihood of artillery fire above me had decreased. At the same time, since planes were dropping all over the place, the threats were lowered, but still, I felt uneasy.
“…”
In the end, the only ‘party’ here, who was silent amongst us, was Leo.
Me, Leo, Alice, Claire, Charlotte.
There were only five of us gathered like this.
“It would be much safer to return to the palace of Lutetia. I won’t insist on holding you back.”
“…”
As I said calmly, Charlotte shot me a glare. But her expression was one as if she didn’t know what to respond with.
Surely, she must have some lingering feelings buried beneath her consciousness.
In the end, Charlotte, who was trying to find some excuse, chose to keep her mouth shut and follow us.
The road we were traveling via carriage was so peaceful that it was hard to imagine we were in a nation at war. Well, it made sense since the means to fire artillery at this point had already fallen.
The monitor ship had headed to other countries. The firepower a single battleship could produce was about eight times that of a monitor ship. From the moment the battleship set its course to Lutetia, other artillery support was almost unnecessary.
We hadn’t targeted this area deliberately, but still, it was a relief.
Clatter, clatter, after a while of running, the carriage came to a stop.
The distance from Lutetia to the Papal State wasn’t that far. But that didn’t mean a carriage was faster than a train. We had indeed been on the road for quite a while.
Because the train had been hijacked, checkpoints were tightly packed around the nearby train tracks, which made it much more cumbersome.
Who would guess it would take two days to get here?
On the way, we found a family that had fled and stayed freely. The food was the bland, tasteless combat rations we brought. Even Charlotte, who would usually be horrified by bad food, silently stuffed her mouth with what we handed over.
“…There’s probably a reason we came this far, right?”
As Charlotte got off the carriage, she said that.
Typically, border-front villages have a certain scale, but the place we arrived at was devoid of such towns. It was merely a narrow pathway connecting everything.
Although it didn’t mean the Papal State, which had developed compactly in this narrow land, wasn’t visible.
“That is correct.”
The ‘machines’ hadn’t activated yet. Well, it still lacked ‘parts.’
I stared at the spire of the cathedral in the distance for a while and then took a deep breath.
“Let’s go.”
And I said that in one breath.
*
Round and round, and ultimately here.
“Hah, hah…”
There were still those who hadn’t fallen yet.
Was it because the Emperor couldn’t use the power after completing his declaration, or perhaps this Emperor thought a bit differently? Maybe it was because he conserved some energy after hitting the underground of Lutetia before coming here.
After all, there was a gryphon there. Though it wasn’t a being that could exert full power, since I had warned ahead about who would control that gryphon, there seemed to have been no major damage.
Among the knights who hadn’t fallen were faces I recognized.
“Sophia.”
A voice came from behind. Charlotte’s gaze turned around with surprise.
That much was understandable. Sophia’s skills were undeniably impressive, but she was hardly a knight known throughout the world.
No, to be more precise, the knights of the Papal State are unlikely to be known globally. They operate while trying to keep their faces hidden as much as possible.
Claire’s words surprised Sophia for a moment, but soon she regained her posture.
Not just Sophia, but Verati was here too. Both were injured here and there, but still standing. There were a few more knights like that, but they likely wouldn’t last much longer.
“I’m a little late. Did you meet a friend?”
With a fatherly voice as if waiting for his daughter back home, the Emperor spoke to me.
I walked silently towards him.
I could hear a gasp from behind me.
Claire and Alice would trust me. But what about Charlotte?
Unfortunately, there was no longer a way to persuade Charlotte.
“Father.”
I slowly approached the Emperor and spoke.
“Yes, my daughter.”
“…”
Step by step, as I climbed—
I raised my hand.
Bang!
Once, someone had crafted reinforced armor, so hiding a gun under a slightly loose sleeve was doable.
Slash!
My arm got severed. Not just cut by a sword, but literally chopped off and fell down.
The one to move first was Lucas.
Good.
*
However, before I rewound time again, I found myself back in my original state.
Turning my gaze back, Claire looked at me with wide eyes, surprised.
It seemed Claire was the one who rewound time.
Well, I somewhat anticipated it. Just as I hoped the protagonist and heroines from the original story wouldn’t die, Claire must have hoped the same for me.
And thanks to that, I could be certain of one thing.
Even if I were to get my head chopped off in one shot, as long as Claire was here, I could keep trying again and again.
I smiled at Claire, then turned my head back to move forward.
Again and again, and again.
*
“Cough, hehehe…”
It was the first time I heard the Emperor laugh like this.
How defeated he must have felt.
If a plan he had prepared his whole life was really already meant to fail.
I looked towards Lucas. Sitting on the ground bleeding, he looked up at me with an expression of incomprehension.
After all, it must be hard for someone with no discernible talents to comprehend how someone like him could shoot me with a wretched ability.
But no matter how incompetent a criminal, repeating something countless times can lead to a successful outcome.
The sound of swords clashing rang out.
“Hm, has the situation already reached its conclusion?”
“You don’t need to be too disheartened. You’ll see the spectacle you’ve been waiting for shortly.”
Responding to the words of the Sword Saint, who had entered the cathedral a bit late, that’s what I said.
Leo had been staring at me with wide eyes, not saying a word until now, and Claire and Alice were also readying their swords alongside Charlotte, yet remained immobilized.
Especially, Claire’s breathing was rough… I feel sorry for putting her in this situation.
Even if Bella swung her sword, stopping the situation was impossible since the Sword Saint had already arrived.
“May I ask one thing?”
Amidst everyone lost in thought, the Emperor opened his mouth.
“What are you? What on earth are you?”
“…”
I glanced down at the Emperor, pondered for a moment, then opened my mouth.
“At least, I am not the Goddess. I have no intention of becoming that.”
“I see.”
At my words, the Emperor only shrugged his shoulders and chuckled again.
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