Having confirmed the change in Samuel's expression, I reflexively turned to look at the Dullahans.
My thought was that if anything warranted Samuel's reaction, it would be combat with the Dullahans.
Whether不幸 or fortunate, the Dullahans appeared peaceful at a glance. They were chattering away in a petty war of words, and no one seemed to have regained their head.
But hadn't Palides also pretended otherwise after regaining his head?
"Is there any knight who remembers something about this place?"
At my question, everyone looked at each other with bewildered eyes. Even Morí.
[Morí.]
[Um... I, I'm sorry, Captain. As far as I know, there's no knight who fought a traitor here...]
Had I been too sensitive about Samuel's reaction?
I tilted my head and examined Samuel's expression. Samuel's gaze was fixed on the burned food storage.
He wouldn't be spacing out like that without reason.
"It seems they used this land as a shared garden. There were burnt farming tools remaining inside the storage."
Xenon, who had looked around a bit more, reached his own conclusion.
Given the large scale within the castle, this much farming would have been necessary for self-sufficiency.
Since they were people living in hiding, they might have preferred farming in a safe place even if narrow rather than wandering outside the castle walls.
Anyway, if it had nothing to do with the Dullahans, there was no need to linger.
I turned without hesitation. Or rather, I tried to turn.
"...When did that appear?"
"Exactly."
I stared blankly at something sticking its head out from inside the burned storage. It was also glaring at us with wary eyes.
With brown skin and a mole-like appearance, but unlike a mole, it was a small dwarf monster standing on two legs.
With white eyes flashing as it glared at me, it was a hobgoblin.
[Karuk, intruders.]
A raspy voice like phlegm rang out.
"It doesn't seem to like us very much."
"Yeah, I understood that accurately."
As far as I knew, hobgoblins mainly settle in ruins abandoned by humans.
Since Belladia Castle had been empty, it was practically no different from a ruin, so it wasn't strange for hobgoblins to have made this their territory.
"But Lady Anelli. Did you know?"
Without taking his eyes off the hobgoblin, Xenon carefully spoke.
"Hobgoblins originally live in groups."
The hobgoblin, which had been sticking its head out and staring sharply, crept outside. It wasn't alone.
Not only from the storage, but heads popped out from the surrounding ground, and they revealed themselves from beneath the debris as well.
"Those things are omnivorous, you know? They eat humans too."
Xenon said quickly with a pale face and subtly grabbed my sleeve.
"Can't we resolve this through dialogue?"
"You're going to be the future master of the Magic Tower, what are you so afraid of?"
"Their insides are so petty that once they make an enemy, the entire group will pursue you until they die. Things like that are best left untouched."
[Intruders, intruders!]
[Grrr.]
At the appearance of hobgoblins crawling out, the Dullahans sharply raised their energy.
The knights who had been in animal form returned to their threatening true Dullahan forms.
[To dare not recognize the lord of the castle!]
The enraged Bark roared with a booming voice. Rather than being frightened by the shout, the hobgoblins rolled their eyes cunningly and slowly kept their distance while observing us.
Some even tore their lips to the sides as if mocking us.
[There are more of them than expected.]
Minté, standing beside Bark, muttered in an annoyed voice. As Minté said, there were more hobgoblins hidden than expected.
[Perhaps there are still more hidden ones.]
Soana, who calmly flew up to the sky to survey the surroundings, said.
The castle was large, and what we had explored was only a portion. In a situation where we didn't know how many of these hobgoblins were hidden....
"We could just ignore them and enter the inner castle."
Xenon gently suggested as if noticing my concern.
"We can set up a barrier with magic to prevent approach. Looking at it, there seems to be only one path connected to the inner castle."
As Xenon said, the path up to the inner castle was just one uphill road passing by the well.
If it was Xenon's magic, making that single road into a dead end wouldn't be difficult to achieve.
"If you don't touch us, we won't touch you."
I first attempted conversation with the hobgoblin. The hobgoblin tilted its head and listened to my voice.
"If you back away from there, we'll leave this place soon."
[Kyaruruk!]
An unpleasant crying sound flowed out. The glistening eyes still rolled cunningly, and sticky saliva dripped between parted lips.
[Food.]
[Intruders, food!]
[Our territory!]
"What are they saying?"
Xenon, looking at the hobgoblins making phlegm sounds with a sour expression, whispered in a low voice.
Enduring the nausea rising from just hearing the sound, I answered.
"They said no."
Although they weren't making clear sentences, judging by those eyes shining cunningly, their intelligence didn't seem low at all. They also seemed fearless.
To talk about prey so matter-of-factly even with Dullahans in front of them, they had to be considered truly bold.
Thinking it had become troublesome, I clicked my tongue softly, and Samuel, who had been quietly watching the hobgoblins, spoke firmly.
"We must kill them."
"What?"
"Those are things that deserve to die."
"Hobgoblins?"
Had the Temple designated hobgoblins as harmful monsters?
Certainly, if they were monsters that ate humans, they could be designated as harmful.
But the basis for Samuel saying that right now didn't seem to be the Temple's rules.
Rather... couldn't it be related to that reaction when he was looking at the food storage earlier?
"Do you know what those are?"
Samuel, who had already drawn his sword, answered while raising divine power.
"They are Followers of Birth."
"...What?"
Surprised by the unexpected answer, my eyes went round, and he glanced at me. In his calm eyes, faint guilt and self-deprecation could be seen.
"I was the one who opened the castle gates for them."
Samuel, who had looked at me for a moment, turned back to the hobgoblins.
"And they destroyed this place. Setting fire to that storage and poisoning the well."
Perhaps recalling that time, Samuel's face briefly frowned.
"The Followers of Birth were hobgoblins?"
"Of course they didn't look like that from the beginning, but I think they survived like that in twisted providence. How could only the immaculate ones wait to gain rest through the last authority?"
At those words, the ghosts I had met at the monastery came to mind. Those ghosts said they were traces of Birth but desired rest.
"Due to the failure of the authority, the two gods lost the power to control the world. They are Followers of Birth who were abandoned by my god and have waited for rest for a long time. Just like...."
Samuel, who paused briefly, finished his words in a slightly smaller voice.
"The Knights of the Round Table in the form of Dullahans."
I frowned. Very strangely, it felt like Samuel was slightly, envying the Dullahans.
Envy, what a ridiculous emotion. Samuel had no reason or qualification to have such feelings.
I shook off the useless thoughts that had arisen and asked again.
"If they desire rest, why are they attacking?"
My coming to Belladia Castle like this was all to exercise the last authority. So if they desired rest, they should naturally cooperate.
They should be bowing in gratitude and laying out a flower path before me, yet they look at me with those impure eyes?
"That's because a long time would have driven them mad. Now they're just monsters with only instinct remaining."
But my Dullahans were all perfectly fine, weren't they?
...Except Dasha.
As if guessing the thought I hadn't voiced, Samuel added calmly.
"The reason Dullahans lost their heads was so they could sleep without going mad for a long time. Didn't you see last night that those who regained their heads can't hold out for long?"
Mentioning Palides, whom I had been trying not to think about, my mood rapidly sank.
I firmly closed my lips and turned my gaze forward. Hobgoblins. So they were Followers of Birth.
Then even if it's troublesome, I should kill them all? But when would I find and kill them all? Should I just sweep them away at once with wide-range magic?
If I did that, the buildings that were still intact would all be ruined. I didn't want that, but... it would be better to sweep them away at once than to make a fuss finding them one by one.
"I don't know if this will help with your decision."
While I was hesitating and fiddling with the magic tool bracelet, Samuel spoke again.
"There is a knight who was defeated because he couldn't fight properly against me, as he was busy blocking those things."
I instinctively understood that Samuel was speaking of the Dullahan who would regain his head next.
A knight somewhere not far from here whom I would soon part with.
Just as I was about to ask who it was—
[A~h, we~'ve a~rri~ved~!]
A thunderous voice rang from the sky.
Surprised by the all-too-familiar voice, I looked up with a dazed expression.
In the sky, which looked particularly high and clear because it had rained the day before, something large was flying.
"Huh...!"
Xenon, who looked up following me, made an absurd expression.
Even Samuel, who had been rambling about the past with a serious face, looked at the sky with disbelief at this very moment.
[It's so~ fa~r a~way~!]
[Brother, brother! Let's go together~!]
[We need to move fast~! We need to arrive first and take a good nest, don't we~!]
I stood with my mouth open, blankly watching the sky, when Zigor exclaimed with a brightened face.
[Those are the birds that helped me, Captain~!]
...Uh, yeah.
I see that too.
But why are you appearing here?