It had been a while since I used appearance-altering magic.
It had also been a while since I lived a life where I would barely rent a room for a few days, unable to properly unpack, only to suddenly leave for somewhere else.
Yet it felt as natural as if I had done it just yesterday.
Leaving the mansion, I departed the capital immediately with Xenon and Samuel, who had prepared a carriage in advance.
After traveling through the night, we arrived at Halli, a small city past the Lindea River. This was also where there had been reported sightings of a Dullahan.
"Just in case, please stay in the carriage. I'll go verify things again."
Xenon and Samuel briefly stepped away to confirm the information they had uncovered.
And now, I was waiting inside the carriage for the two of them.
The passersby seemed to have no particular interest in the carriage. As I rested my chin on my hand, taking in the scenery that was quaint beyond compare to the capital, Pallides, who sat across from me, spoke up.
"Do we not have to go back to that mansion anymore?"
I nodded toward the excited Pallides. She seemed to have found life in the mansion stifling, expressing joy with her entire being.
It wasn't just Pallides. The other Dullahans were also pleased by the fact that they no longer had to see the humans who had been rude to me.
Especially Minteh, whom Seiri had been watching carefully, looked truly relieved.
[I'm glad we got to see that guy sprawling on the ground like that at the end.]
I hadn't known because there was no separate report, but it seemed Seiri had made several attempts to catch Minteh secretly during that time.
Perhaps she wanted revenge on me for taking away her baby animals?
Seiri had set traps and bait, making quite a serious effort. If Minteh had been an ordinary cat, she might have been caught without anyone noticing.
Running into Seiri on the day we set fire to Roam and left was a coincidence. To be precise, it would be more accurate to say Seiri discovered us.
I don't know why she was awake in the middle of that night.
But the moment I found Seiri standing on the balcony, I thought this too was her fate.
[Hmph, trying to catch who, exactly?]
Minteh, who muttered coldly, raised her tail haughtily.
It was Minteh who had revealed her true form to threaten Seiri that night.
I thought Seiri might scream and cause a commotion, but perhaps she didn't have that kind of courage, as she simply fainted on the spot.
Since she didn't unnecessarily hold us back, it was welcome news for me.
"But they're later than expected."
I recalled the information Xenon and Samuel had provided. Rumors of a monster that could transform into animals. And the Dullahan.
This city was not so small that the appearance of a Dullahan wouldn't cause an uproar.
At the very least, there should have been dozens of witnesses, so if we had to search around this much, the Dullahan probably hadn't appeared within the city itself.
"Zigor, do you sense anything?"
Zigor, who could detect comrades more sensitively than the other Dullahans, sat on the open window frame.
[I don't particularly sense anything from here. Should Tristan and I look around, Boss?]
"There won't be any inside the city anyway. It'll be faster to move after the location is specified."
Two Dullahans remained.
It wasn't a situation where we could leisurely travel while searching for Dullahans as before. Because I had a clear destination to go to.
"We can't let Maxel lead his army and arrive at the Trebi mountain range first..."
I had also transcribed the contents of the prophecy Lilia wrote every night.
Subjugate the Belladia Valley and take credit for it. That was Lilia's prophecy. In other words, that was the flow of fate that the Birth desired.
What need was there for it to specifically be Belladia? The Belladia Castle there would be the objective.
God had a reason to want to eliminate that place.
'To prevent the last authority.'
...Perhaps the Dullahans' heads might be there.
I looked at my palm out of habit. After reclaiming the authority, the green light was fascinating, causing my gaze to keep drifting to it.
I was clenching and unclenching my fist as if trying to touch power that couldn't be touched, when familiar voices came from outside the window.
Looking up to confirm, I saw Xenon and Samuel, who had supposedly gone to meet the witness.
As they approached, I caught words like 'today' and 'immediately' in their conversation.
I watched Xenon and Samuel and thought.
'They must have found out something properly.'
Curiosity rose within me about what kind of fellow the Dullahan we would soon meet might be.
* * *
In the reception room of the Ruejak family mansion, Maxel, who had arrived after a long journey, heard about what happened in the capital without a moment to rest.
"This is someone's frame-up!"
Anger burst from Maxel's mouth.
The sudden explosion at the Crown Prince's palace was, naturally and without doubt, a fabricated event.
How could it not be? For the palace to collapse just as he left—if someone didn't intentionally attack it, thinking so would be the normal way of thinking, wouldn't it!
"Of course it's my brother's doing! Why doesn't Father investigate him!"
"W-well, the cause of the explosion hasn't been revealed yet..."
"He must have used magic or whatever to pull something off! Unable to figure out even that much, what salary do they think they're receiving!"
At Maxel's indignant appearance, the aide who had reported the capital news wiped away cold sweat and averted his gaze.
The territory the Ruejak family managed was at the border. It was close to the Belladia mountain range but far from the capital.
Maxel, who wanted to lead private soldiers and achieve merit as soon as possible, had focused on traveling diligently, only learning of the capital incident upon arriving at the territory.
"An Undead controlling monsters woke the Empress? Is that really true?"
Lilia, who had been standing silently beside the fuming Maxel, interjected urgently.
With an expression of disbelief, she had asked several times. And the aide's answer remained the same.
"Yes. His Majesty the Emperor and the First Prince were present together at the scene. Also, the maids of the Empress's palace saw it from close by."
"...That makes no sense!"
The Empress hadn't fallen asleep due to medicine or magic. It was the work of a monster.
I didn't know what kind of monster it was, but in the dream Lilia had seen, there was no way to resolve that monster's attack. In the dream...
"Lilia, what exactly is going on here?"
Maxel frowned and asked at Lilia's bewildered appearance.
Having left the capital reassured after hearing the prophecy Lilia conveyed, he could only place responsibility on her.
"Surely Her Majesty was..."
Though she couldn't finish her sentence, conscious of the surrounding eyes, Lilia couldn't fail to understand what Maxel was trying to say.
Lilia looked back and forth between the aide and Maxel with a dismayed face, then seemed to think of something and her eyes lit up.
"It was a self-staged act from the beginning!"
"What?"
Lilia suddenly grabbed Maxel's arm as he frowned.
"If my sister is an Undead who can control monsters, everything is explained! So the attack from the start was a self-staged act! Since it was something she orchestrated, she would know how to resolve it!"
She spoke excitedly as if she had found the answer.
Maxel looked at such a Lilia with a distorted face, then first sent his aide out.
Only Maxel and Lilia remained in the reception room.
"...If that's true, why didn't you know that?"
"What?"
"Your prophecy was wrong."
As soon as Maxel's cold words ended, Lilia answered with a stern expression.
"My prophecy was not wrong, Your Highness."
"If it was according to your prophecy..."
"I told you that Her Majesty the Empress would collapse. I did not give a definitive answer about what came after."
What Lilia saw were the futures of a few key individuals and the situations they would face. And she had conveyed that future to Maxel.
The figures who held important weight within it were fixed, and in the case of his mother, the Empress, she barely appeared.
Perhaps she would occasionally bring about influential events by flaunting her undeniable status?
"It doesn't change much even if she woke up. Your Highness, I told you. You are the protagonist. The protagonist's story is not swayed by minor characters."
Lilia smiled. It was the gentle and soft smile she usually wore when soothing Maxel.
"Have you forgotten what His Majesty said? It's a golden opportunity to establish the authority of the imperial family. You shouldn't be swayed by the Undead anymore."
The more Heinry pushed him into a corner in a short period, the more Maxel came to rely on Lilia.
Regardless of how the attitudes of those around him changed, Lilia consistently told him that he would become a hero.
"Have you forgotten Count and Countess Ruejak who welcomed us?"
The anger he had felt at the aide's report gradually subsided. Maxel gradually regained his reason.
"Right, the palace can always be rebuilt."
Anyway, there was already a record of losing the roof once due to the wyvern. After that, he had been reluctant to use that palace, so rebuilding it anew at this opportunity might be better.
What did it matter, that palace. Only foolish ones would be caught up in visible phenomena and chatter.
"Anyway, once Your Highness subjugates the monsters, they'll change their attitude quickly. Perhaps they hatched this conspiracy to call Your Highness back to the capital out of fear of that."
Maxel nodded. As he listened quietly, Lilia's conjecture sounded quite plausible.
'If it's that coward who brought in external forces like the Temple and the Magic Tower only to hide himself in the back, he could do such a thing.'
The Emperor had accepted Maxel's bold declaration to take the lead in subjugating the monsters since they were coming down from the Trebi mountain range.
Could Heinry step forward for such a great and brave deed? He was a loser who couldn't even assert himself within the palace until just a few months ago.
Even if Heinry, out of jealousy and wariness of Maxel, had tried to block his progress with dark rumors, it wasn't surprising at all.
Maxel nodded.
At his appearance, Lilia's complexion brightened.
"This is all because the Empire is in chaos."
"That's right. It's because monsters dare to invade human lands. Your Highness must bring peace back to the Empire."
"I need to discuss the soldiers with Count Ruejak soon."
Maxel placed a light kiss on Lilia's forehead.
"Lilia, your prophetic ability will bring me fortune, so I will win."
At Maxel's determination, Lilia answered with a smile. A shy but trust-filled smile.