The Third One

The Margrave of Restno’s territory.

Having exchanged doc.u.ments at his castle, I smiled and gestured for a handshake.

But the answer to that was the margrave’s sour expression of grit teeth. The reason was simple.

He spoke to me.

“Blaeubeigh and Pa.r.s.elena are safe, I a.s.sume?”

A threatening voice. And the eyes of the surrounding knights were filled with malice. Negotiations with the heir taken hostage the surrounding situation taking a favorable wind, the margrave had no choice but to sigh.

After kid… saving the two of them, the Margrave had faithfully made a protest to Centralle. And from his son in Centralle came a letter that showed he didn’t particularily seem to care.

It was more than certain he had been charmed by Celes, and the relations with surrounding lords was turning dubious. Because he had protested to Centralle. Wouldn’t the army and the Walt House invade? Those sorts of rumors spread.

“Please rest at ease. Even like this, I’m a man who keeps promises.”

“Says the kidnapping traitor to his homeland.”

His words weren’t mistaken. I had put Faunbeux to work on the continent’s west, and they were to invade Bahnseim. Now that I’d slathered mud on the relations of the Margrave, and the lords he was supposed to be cooperating with…

He didn’t have many options.

Milleia-san spoke as if she was an evil empress.

『That’s wrong. The one who abandoned Lyle was Bahnseim. How cruel to call him a traitor.』

The Fifth to her.

『Well, whether Lyle has an excuse, no matter how you look at it, what he’s doing is terrible. Of course the Margrave would be angry.』

I turned my eyes outside the window, and there was quilin-form May. On her back were Pa.r.s.elena-san and Blaeubeigh-kun.

“Grandpa!”

“Blaeubeigh!”

Personally throwing open the window in a hurry, the Margrave was looking at Blaeubeigh-kun rather than the large divine beast outside. The surrounding knights looked between the window and me.

“She’s a precious comrade of mine, so rest at ease. Don’t even think of capturing her. Lest the chances of cooperation slip away.”

On my words, they swallowed their spit. The Margrave’s path to survaval had already been left with nothing but a.s.sisting me.

Thinking of the country’s situation, eventually Celes would… no, even now, Celes was needlessly expending the national power. It didn’t seem she cared it was tightening the noose around her neck.

The Margrave turned from the window to me.

“Certainly, it’s as you promised. You’ve returned my grandson, and daughter-in-law. When the time comes, Resno will move as promised. But in regards to the territory.”

I nodded.

“I shall have them prepare it. Please deal with the matter when you meet with Faunbeux.”

Margrave Resno, upon hearing that.

“That’s all well and good, but any poor moves, and Centralle will notice, won’t it?”

I put the doc.u.ments I received into an envelope, and carefully tucked them away.

“It’s alright. The preparations will be in order before Centralle moves.”

Right. The preparations were already underway.

–

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–

… The southwest of the continent.

Stationed there were the representative n.o.bles of Bahnseim, the Walt House’s territory.

At this point, they were a complete enemy territory, and the ones who dropped by that land Lyle couldn’t return to were Novem’s party.

A hood over her head, Miranda looked around with a little wonder.

“We’re not going into the city, I see. If it’s to gather information, wouldn’t there be best?”

Wearing a similar hood, Novem took in the scenery she could see from the carriage. The town they had arrived at was the Feudal Walt House’s origin point, where the Founder through the Third Generation Head had lived their lives.

“… There are too many who’d know my face in the main cities. This is a vital point to the Walt House, so perhaps we’ll be able to gather considerable information here.”

From atop the carriage, Eva removed her hood, and looked outside.

“This is a good place. The atmosphere isn’t bad. Since it was the Walt House’s territory, I thought it would be more serious.”

The army of the Walt House rampaging through the country…

Surely the territory’s interior had been brainwashed by Celes, and turned to a horrid state, she thought. Novem looked down.

“This is an important place. They didn’t let Celes-sama lay hands on it.”

Miranda reacted to her words.

“Didn’t let her lay hands, eh? That must be quite important. But is this place really that important? I’ll admit it’s a large town, but…”

Speaking to the House’s current scale, it wasn’t a major point. Not vital for communications either.

It was for that sake the Fourth had moved the manor.

Novem spoke.

“To the provincial n.o.ble Walt House, it all started here. You say that isn’t important?”

Miranda took her eyes off of Novem, and looked around.

“And so dear Novem will treat it as the holy land. Got it, got it.”

She spewed some sarcasm, but Novem didn’t deny it. It wasn’t only Novem. To the Forxuz House, this place was without a doubt, the holy land.

(The land they met the Walt House once more… no, that person’s bloodline. A person of the Walt House who succeeded his will… the land they met Basil-sama.)

The carriage stopped, and Novem’s party dismounted to look over the town.

And Novem led Miranda and Eva along, and began to walk. What lay at the end of their trail was a graveyard.

Among the numerous lots of tombstones, a separately prepared plot held the names Basil… Cra.s.sel, Dewey, Sleigh… the gravestones marking the names of the Walt House’s heads.

Novem removed her hood, and made a praying gesture.

“Dear heads of history. Lyle-sama has grown into a human strong as you were. The Walt House is in good hands. This Novem shall certainly make him ruler of the continent. He shall rule, and reclaim a strong world for humans.”

The words of her heart close to a vow, with her own desires mixed in. Did they reach the ancestors sleeping under the stone…

–

–

–

Once LYLE had disappeared from that room of memories, Celes had stopped popping out.

It no longer showed anything to revive the ancestors’ traumas, and when the door was opened, it instantly linked to the bedroom I had been imprisoned.

With the absence of that pervy brat who voiced his desire for me to line up the female camp and equip them with garters, it felt lonely.

The room felt a little wider.

I had entered my own room of memories on invite from Milleia-san, but I had never asked what we would be doing there.

“Milleia-san, what are we here for? And Lyle’s phrasing implied the next time would be the last one.”

Milleia-san looked over her room, and touched her fingertips to a dusty heirloom. Tracing her finger across it, her finger turned white from the dust.

『LYLE.』

“Yes?”

My name called, I tried to approach, but I suddenly retreated back.

What Milleia-san had approached with and turned to me was a gun. It had a bayonet attacked, a single-shot pistol capable of close quarter combat.

“… How dangerous.”

When I said that, she tucked the gun into her sleeve, and smiled.

『Good reaction. If you’ve mastered your body to such a level, the possibility exists. I panicked when LYLE abandoned his duty, but if that’s how it is, we can move on.』

Saying that, Milleia-san swung her left hand to the side. The room’s insides were dyed gray, and the scenery changed.

Once its color had returned… it was a place I didn’t know, or a scene from my faded memory… an unknown view expanded around.

Milleia-san looked at me, and spoke.

『The third one would be me… Milleia, Lyle.』

She had called herself a guide, but it seems she was the final charge. Hearing that, I thought of her disappearing as well. But unlike the first Septem-san, she was a difficult foe like LYLE.

I thought she wouldn’t disappear so easily, yet some part of me felt relief at that fact.

『… Rather than that conflicted look on your face, I’d preferred it if you were obediently surprised. But my role is the same. There is a truth you have to lern no matter what.』

Trying to make it so she couldn’t see through my thoughts, I asked.

“What is it?”

『Perhaps you already noticed, but the one who defeated Agrissa… the Septem of three hundred years ago wasn’t anyone of the Bahnseim House.』

“… That is… I wonder.”

How did the Bahnseim House defeat Agrissa? To add onto that, there was a surprising scarcity of records of the time. Before the Bahnseim Kingdom, there was the Sentra.s.s Kingdom that dominated the continent.

One of the provincial n.o.bles of Centra.s.s, the Bahnseim House, saved the continent from Agrissa’s rule, and took a seat on the throne. After that, the other feudal lords went independent, and the continent was never unified as it was three hundred years ago.

『The important one wasn’t the Bahnseim’s. Well, granted they had a few wise rulers among them, they were generally ones to cause more problems around. Even for me, without thinking hard about it, I have nothing but detestable remembrance of them, so I don’t really care.』

Absolutely no loyalty to royalty. Well, to feudal lords, anyone would want the authority of the crown, and any chivalrous devotion was second to second. You could also say they’d lower their heads to any authority that would recognize their rule as correct.

『Do you remember Tressy? At that time, the Divine Best whale… the white whale was there, right? Recall the words she spoke.』

Come to think of it, she did say something when we took Tressy down. And her atmosphere was one as if she knew of three hundred years pa.s.sed.

“Something of a hero who bore my name… but I didn’t hear the specifics.”

On my words, Milleia-san smiled.

『… Lyle, to tell you the truth, there’s something that came to mind when you said you’d get the continent in your hands. As I thought, I’d returned to the hands of my owner. Do you believe in fate, Lyle?』

I didn’t know what she was talking about, so I tilted my head. She went on.

『For three hundred years… the throne lent to Bahnseim. Take it back. From the start that belonged to the Walt House. Preventing the mere mention of it, Bahnseim who stole the Walt House’s achievements, the time has come for you to get it all back.』

I gulped in surprise, and sought confirmation from her.

“Um, you mean to say…”

『The Walt House… there was a young man, the heir to that name. He truly was a person, simply strong man. An age where if you couldn’t use magic, there weren’t any Magic Tools to use. Without even a gem in his hands, the hero who challenged Agrissa with nothing but a simple body-strengthening Skill.』

In the surrounding scene, a number of tents were prepared, and it looked as if war was to start.

In that place, a young man walked up with a loud voice.

『Yo, Novem, you doing fine? Properly eating and sleeping?』

Gahahaha, the youth raising a hearty laugh was tall, with a large sword draped over his back. it wasn’t a lump of Iron like the First used, a true two-handed longsword.

And the young man called Novem was a man of slender features? Appearance-wise, you could take him for female too.

『I can hear you, you don’t have to be so loud Lyle.』

Lyle… now where have I heard that name before.

『Sorry about that. We’re going to go on the offense. I’m so overflowing with energy, I can’t help it.』

The rough young man drew his sword, and lightly swung it around. That Novem… watched over it. Breathing out a sigh, he looked a little happy.

Milleia spoke.

『… That man is of the Forxuz House. A clan with talent in Magic, is hot it became. Imperial n.o.bles with Count standing at the time.』

Hearing the Forxuz House were Counts, I was surprised once more.

“Then what… no, I should hear this out first.”

Milleia-san nodded, and the two young men ontinued their conversation.

『By the way, Lyle, you talked it out with Count Bahnseim, right? He’s a guy I wouldn’t really want on the front lones.』

My ancestors put away his sword, and shrugged his shoulders.

『He didn’t want to hear it from a lowly knight house heir like me. Well, I’m just satisfied he’s putting out soldiers.』

The man of the Forxuz House narrowed his eyes.

『They’ll be a bad influence on the soldiers you gathered yourself. Put a stop to it. wWe decided we would fight alongside you, Lyle. That Bahnseim who watches on, and jumps in at the good point to take the achievements… I hate that man.』

『Don’t be like that, Novem. We’ve a.s.sembled the troops and supplies. All that’s left is to jump into the capital, and knock that Agrissa hag down a peg, right. I’ve decided I’ll be the first one to pound a fist into her face, but I’ll concede the second blow onwards.』

The youth of the Forxuz House gave a bitter smile.

『Well you’re the same as ever. Even like that, Agrissa is well versed in martial arts and magic. She isn’t an easy foe.』

There, my ancestor raised a smile like the First’s, and declared.

『That doesn’t matter. Get close and strike! That’s all it takes. Once it’s all over, let’s get a drink. You’ve really stuck with me the longest.』

The Forxuz House man laughed a little sadly.

『… I feel sorry for your wife, so I’ll refrain. She’s got a child in her stomach, right?』

There, the scene turned gray.

Milleia-san turned to me, and spoke.

『Lyle, are you prepared to learn it all?』