Samuel seemed quite dissatisfied with my decision.
"Must we really go secretly like this?"
It didn't seem to be simply because he too had to participate in a rather ridiculous act for my sake, who was merely pretending to be a squire.
Ever since Xenon mentioned the Magic Tower's guarantee, Samuel occasionally suggested wielding the Temple's authority.
Perhaps he wanted to help in his own way, but sadly, the Temple's authority was something I was already putting to good use without the Temple having to step forward.
Otherwise... unless they announced that Durahan was a divine apostle, there wasn't much to be gained officially from a Temple that had already branded him as rampant evil.
"It would be safer to simply declare an official subjugation and go."
"Subjugation? You mean lead a monster subjugation? Me?"
"Naturally as a deception...."
"And where would we get monster corpses for this deception?"
Samuel hesitated and fell silent. After glancing at him, I turned my head indifferently.
I was checking the mirror to ensure the appearance-altering magic tool was working properly when Samuel, who had been quietly watching me prepare, spoke in a resigned voice.
"What is the reason we must depart right now?"
"Today, Father dragged Frigian to the Kendall Baron's house. Mother took Seiri to meet Maxel. Could there be a better day than this?"
"There is one more person."
"Lilia Roam?"
When I glanced toward Samuel through the mirror, I saw him standing with stiff lips.
"My, Sir Samuel."
Letting out a deflated laugh, I hid the appearance-altering magic tool inside my clothes.
"I'm going out to see her."
* * *
The location of the monster attack was the Lindea River.
There was a warp gate across the river, so it was a place many people passed through ordinarily, but on the day of the incident, the road was controlled all day due to the imperial family's procession.
And now, soldiers and investigators dispatched from the imperial palace were scattered everywhere for the incident investigation.
Of course, this posed no threat to me. I was Samuel's squire, and Samuel was a famous holy knight.
"This is an unprecedented attack, so the Temple needs to clearly grasp the situation."
"This is an issue for the imperial family...."
"If it's an unknown monster, the Temple must also conduct verification work."
Samuel's status was certainly useful. Thanks to it, we could easily enter the incident site.
Moreover, everyone only paid attention to Samuel and showed no particular interest in me, the squire. Thanks to that, I could freely roam the riverside.
The river surface, bathed in sunlight, sparkled beautifully. Perhaps because the weather was good, moving just a little away from people made it incredibly peaceful.
After confirming that Samuel was doing an excellent job of attracting attention, I slowly moved my feet.
A narrow path leading down under the bridge came into view.
『There were unusually many ducks in the river.』
As Heinri said, there were many ducks. As I went down the narrow path and reached the wet gravel bed, the quacking cries were heard as clear conversation.
[Swim over here.]
[Mom, mom!]
[Move your legs more strongly!]
[Sigh, my wings are so sore.]
Peaceful and ordinary conversations were heard indiscriminately. I approached the river close enough that my toes got wet, then bent my waist to carefully survey the surroundings.
The river up close was still peaceful. It was calm, no different from what I had seen from above.
"Hm?"
I, who had been gazing at the sparkling water surface, tilted my head.
It was natural for sunlight to reflect brightly off the water. But what was the reason for the water surface even in the shaded area under the bridge to sparkle?
[Hello!]
I, who had been blankly staring at the river surface, came to my senses with a start. I didn't know when it had approached, but a baby duck was bobbing near me.
I, who had been staring at the duck, calmly parted my lips.
"Hello."
[Wow, you answered my greeting!]
The baby duck flapped its wings. I could see small water droplets jumping into the air.
"Do you live in this river?"
[We arrived last week!]
"Oh, really?"
Then it would have been here during the attack as well? I completely crouched down and met eyes with the baby duck.
[You won't throw stones at me?]
"I won't. Why do you ask that?"
[You guys always throw stones at us! You laugh every time we fly up!]
The baby duck's voice was innocent.
[But I still can't fly well. So please don't throw stones.]
The Lindea riverside was usually counted as a place with beautiful scenery. The sight of flocks of birds rising in such a fine landscape usually added to the atmosphere.
Suddenly, Heinri's words came to mind. There were unusually many ducks, and one of the attendants during the movement had thrown stones.
Perhaps someone, intending to present a beautiful scene to the empress who would be in the carriage, had done such a thing without much thought.
"I just came down because I had something to ask."
The moment I took a step toward the baby duck, something flapped in from afar.
[Get away from our baby!]
A large duck made a threatening cry. The mother duck, which looked like it would fly at me with its beak at any moment, inserted itself between me and the baby duck.
[Mom, I was saying hello to that human!]
[Hello? You can't say hello with humans. It's dangerous, so let's go quickly!]
"Hey, I just have a few things to ask."
When I subtly interjected into their conversation, the mother duck startled and flapped its wings. Then, much more water droplets splashed than when the baby duck did.
With a large amount of water droplets jumping into the air, I could confirm it more clearly.
The water of this river was glowing.
"...."
I, who had been gazing at the river water with subtle eyes, slowly dipped my hand.
In the water that should have been transparent, a faint green light wrapped around my hand. Surprised, I quickly pulled my hand out, but no trace could be found.
Naturally, there was no particular feeling in my hand either.
"Hey, duck."
I, who had tried clenching and unclenching my fist a couple of times with my wet hand, gazed at the duck.
The mother duck, hiding its baby behind it, was glaring at me with eyes full of wariness.
[What? Are you calling me? How can a human speak to me?]
"I want to ask if you know anything about humans passing over this bridge being attacked by a monster a while ago."
[Attack?]
The duck, which muttered curiously, tilted its head. I, who had been staring at such a duck, narrowed my eyes.
This wasn't it. I needed to change the question.
"By any chance, did Durahan appear in this river?"
The duck stiffened and looked at me. Seeing the completely tense duck, I became certain.
"Durahan who can transform into animals?"
[How do you know him?]
That day, Nadab must have sensed his comrade's aura. That was surely why he ran off, leaving Xenon behind.
But then what about the black shadow and power that was said to have attacked the empress's party? Was that the doing of a corrupted fairy as Xenon said?
Or had this newly appeared Knight of the Round Table... perhaps regained some power in this river where the goddess's power was faintly detected?
"I came to meet him."
Whether it realized that my interest lay only in Durahan, the duck relaxed a bit more and answered.
[He's not here. He avenged us and left.]
"Where to?"
[To the forest.]
Crossing the bridge, there was immediately the forest. It was designated as a controlled area due to the monster attack, though.
"Do you happen to know why he went to the forest?"
[Well... he said he had to go somewhere.]
The mother duck couldn't explain anything more than that. Originally, it was enough that it had explained this much, so I said thank you and stood up.
The forest was designated as a controlled area, but fortunately, the imperial family wasn't conducting search operations yet. This was because the content regarding the subjugation force hadn't been agreed upon.
'For now, they're probably just blocking entry to prevent additional damage.'
While Samuel attracted people's attention, it would be sufficiently possible for me alone to enter the forest.
Having made up my mind, I was about to quickly turn around when I suddenly stopped.
"By any chance, what animal did that Durahan transform into?"
The mother duck, which had been attending to the whining baby duck, glanced at me and replied nonchalantly.
[Snake.]
* * *
Freci flashed his eyes fiercely inside his helmet.
He only found out today that the target used an appearance-altering magic tool. Thanks to that, he had missed the trail before, but with today's pursuit, he intended to make up for all previous mistakes.
However, approaching the target was not easy because of the holy knight standing firmly on the bridge.
Despite their efforts to disguise themselves as soldiers and investigators, they could only watch from afar and click their tongues.
The only fortunate thing was that they had the target in sight.
The target's movement range wasn't large, and at most, it had just played in the water a bit under the bridge and come up. Otherwise, it was merely lingering around the holy knight, pretending to be an ill-fitting squire.
But an opportunity would surely come.
Freci didn't think the target had come this far just to get some fresh air. Naturally, it wouldn't have come to play in the water or watch ducks either.
The area around the bridge was relatively bustling with investigators and soldiers, but moving just a little away from here, human presence disappeared.
So if that target let its guard down and acted carelessly, it might end up alone.
If it carelessly wandered around the site of the monster attack and had an accident, wouldn't that also become the monster's doing?
Of course, there were those who believed the target was carrying out a divine mission to defeat monsters, but Freci didn't believe it at all.
He knew 'the person who truly received a divine mission.' She, who possessed the ability to see the future clearly, should be said to have received a divine mission, shouldn't she?
And she had said. The target would not exist in the future.
Just then, the target was seen quietly crossing the bridge while avoiding the soldiers' eyes.
Freci quickly signaled his subordinates. The subordinates cleverly blocked others' views so the target could completely cross to the other side of the bridge.
The target finally entered the forest alone.
This was the moment Freci had been waiting for.