Samuel brushed his hand across the back of his neck. His skin, sticky with cold sweat, bore no scars whatsoever.
Today's nightmare was about having his head cut off.
"Is this a divine revelation?"
He had never seen the gods deliver revelations in this manner.
The High Priestess who directly received oracles claimed to hear the voice of the divine. There were times when messages came in the form of dreams, but in those cases, the dreams were vivid and clearly remembered.
Something that vanished leaving only vague sensations like this couldn't possibly be a divine revelation.
Then what in the world was this?
Samuel turned his gaze to the distant sky. Breathing in the cold air, his mind—still clouded with drowsiness—gradually became clear.
Trying to lie down again wouldn't help him sleep. It might be better to leave earlier than planned.
His gaze naturally fixed on one direction. Tow the place where he believed Anelli would be.
It was a vague sensation, but it always proved accurate. This kind of inexplicable feeling was something he'd never experienced before.
He was sensitive to divine power and often detected things, but the presence he felt from Anelli was somewhat different from that.
Being able to find her this precisely—perhaps it was because finding her was his destiny. That was just his speculation.
No, actually, there was no need to explain it with such a grandiose word as destiny.
These nightmares had started in earnest after Anelli's resurrection, so perhaps his connection with her ran deeper than he thought.
He closed the window. Anelli moved in ways that were impossible to predict, so if he slacked off even slightly, she would soon be far away.
That was why he had to move several times more diligently than she did.
* * *
Faint dawn light seeped in through the curtainless window.
It wasn't bright enough to wake me. What woke me was the sound of tapping on the window. I raised my heavy body and opened the window in a half-dazed state.
Cold dawn air rushed against my face.
[Captain?]
As soon as I opened the window, an unfamiliar man's voice reached my ears.
[Ah, finally I meet the Captain! This is so moving!]
I yawned as I stared blankly at the empty air. Nearby, I could see dew forming on the weeds.
Right on time.
[I've awaited this meeting with the Captain so much! I, Tristan, am simply overwhelmed with emotion!]
As I rubbed my eyes and tried to close the window, an urgent voice followed.
[Wait, wait! Captain!]
"What, aren't you coming in?"
If I opened it, they should hurry up and come in.
I mumbled with sleep still in my voice, wondering if it came across properly, when something flew in from outside with a buzzing sound.
[Captain, may I offer my greetings?]
"Sure."
After yawning largely once more, I closed the window. As I rubbed my cold forearms, black smoke began to rise from the center of the room.
The black smoke rose to the ceiling, and then the head of a dark horse appeared first.
Wait, hold on.
"Get off the horse quickly...!"
[Whoops!]
Oh no. Already too late.
Along with a thunderous scream came a crashing sound from above. Dust and some wood fragments rained down from above.
[Ugh, I've shown you an embarrassing sight.]
The moment the heavy armor settled on the floor, another sound of something breaking came from below.
Wait, Nadav transformed just fine earlier. Why is this one so clumsy?
"Stop breaking things."
I'll end up waking everyone in this house at this rate.
[Ugh, my apologies. It's been so long since I returned to my original form that I miscalculated.]
Durahan scratched at hair that wasn't even there on the back of his head and bowed. The room was a bit damaged, but thanks to that, I was completely awake.
[Tristan, the eleventh knight who wanders searching for his lost head, offers his greetings.]
Tristan, wearing heavy armor, knelt on one knee with a solemn voice. With a thud, the wooden floor sank in.
Thank goodness this is the first floor. At least I don't have to worry about falling through a hole in the floor.
Looking at the floor with mixed feelings, I cleared my throat and adjusted my voice, which had been stuck from sleep. Then I carefully examined Durahan.
"So you're the Durahan who used hornets to find me, right?"
[Yes, that's correct! I couldn't move directly due to circumstances, so I borrowed the power of others. But now that I've met the Captain, I can fulfill my role!]
"I see. But did you properly end things with the queen bee?"
[Huh?]
"One hornet kept complaining that because of you, the whole colony almost got caught up in a romantic dispute."
She even kept lamenting about it late into the night while I listened.
In the end, even when I pushed her to leave, she wouldn't go and just kept complaining about her lot in life. It was so exhausting.
At my question, Tristan stiffened and fell silent for a while. Then he cautiously spoke up.
[I did obtain some cooperation, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it a romantic dispute...]
Bang!
"Lord Anelli, what is the meaning of this!"
[Is that Tristan! Captain! You must not be swayed by Tristan's appearance!]
[To burst into the Captain's bedroom without warning! Is this how I raised you, Tristan!]
[An intruder? Are you alright, brave human?]
The door burst open and noisy voices poured in.
Xenon, who rushed into the room first, discovered the Durahan kneeling before me and recoiled in horror.
And Jigor and Nadav, in their animal forms, recognized Tristan and unleashed a torrent of words.
Even though I only half-listened because they were so fast, I could understand what they were saying. They were chastising Tristan for maintaining promiscuous romantic relationships even after becoming a Durahan.
And amidst this commotion, Neshi calmly assessed the situation and spoke to me with complete composure.
[If it's not dangerous, I'm going back to sleep.]
"...Yeah, go ahead and sleep more."
The embarrassment was all mine.
By the time the situation was somewhat sorted out, it was already bright daylight.
And in the process of sorting things out, I learned information I wasn't particularly curious about—that Tristan had maintained somewhat open romantic relationships in life thanks to his handsome appearance.
It seemed that as these Durahans met their comrades, their past memories were reviving.
Thanks to that, instead of just vaguely saying the Captain would restore their light, they were now recalling their past anecdotes bit by bit.
At this point, gathering all ten Durahans seemed better than wandering around searching for materials with no idea where to even begin.
If I gathered all ten quickly, perhaps they'd remember why they made me their Captain in the first place.
"Can insects enter the subspace too?"
"...I'll ask."
Xenon, with his gaunt face, nodded without finding any particular fault. If I'd known he'd cooperate like this, I should have been honest from the start.
"Just one hornet, right? You're not planning to bring the whole colony, are? Or put in an entire hive?"
"Yeah. He said he parted well with the queen bee."
"Parted... I see. A Durahan who's capable in many ways, indeed."
I think so too.
Listening carefully, it wasn't just one colony—he'd gone back and forth between multiple queen bees, and fights broke out in the process.
Tristan, in his transformed state, seemed to be quite popular among the hornets.
Nadav and Jigor expressed relief that Tristan didn't have his head.
No matter how handsome he was, I didn't think I'd be swayed, but given how dramatic their reactions were, I was a bit curious.
To want to find his head because I was curious about a Durahan's appearance. I felt a bit self-deprecating about my motivation, but well...
Just having the thought cross my mind, even briefly, that I might help find his head was probably a good thing for the Durahans.
"Ah, and about the repair costs for the house."
"Not enough?"
"No, it's too much."
"Just tell them to keep the change."
"Yes, I figured you'd say that."
The owner was horrified seeing the damaged lodging, but quickly softened at the money pouch I presented. Xenon, who criticized my materialistic ways, looked dismayed at the sight, but seemed relieved that we could pass without major incident.
I don't know why he keeps doubting despite having seen the power of gold coins several times already.
After resolving issues like the lodging repair costs and Tristan's sudden joining, we were finally able to leave the lodging around midday.
Tristan, being a hornet, apparently had almost no monster aura to speak of, so there was no need for special measures.
Jigor, who had been preparing to tease Tristan as a ribbon-man, lamented with regret, and Tristan also regretted not having ribbons tied to his cute torso.
I felt this every time a new Durahan appeared—I couldn't even imagine how much worse the next one would be. It was terrifying.
"By the way, the city is quite noisy. It wasn't like this yesterday."
"Did another monster appear last night?"
But if that were the case, the citizens' expressions wouldn't be this bright.
Feeling uneasy, I glanced around briefly and saw Tristan in his hornet form hanging above Jigor's head.
With this size, he was perfect for hovering among people and secretly listening to conversations.
"Tristan, can you collect what the people around here are talking about?"
[You've given me my first order! I, Tristan, am ready to carry out the Captain's orders with all my heart and might!]
"We're going to the flower farm outside the city. Gather information and come find us there."
[Yes, understood!]
With a vigorous sound, Tristan moved his wings with all his might. A black dot wavered before my eyes before flying off somewhere.
[If my wings were intact, I would have done even better! Please give me the task next time, Captain!]
Jigor fluffed his fur and shouted, trembling with indignation. Nadav scolded Jigor, telling him to stop letting his fur be pulled by claws.
'I think even if Jigor's wings were healthy, I would have assigned this task to Tristan.'
No need to tell him that, though.