Washing, changing clothes, and spending hours just to look presentable—it's been a while since I've done this.
Even though I came to the Imperial Palace empty-handed, I didn't feel lacking in anything. Moreover, these conveniences didn't feel unfamiliar to me at all. While I might dislike people, I certainly appreciated the convenience of the situation.
Replacing my travel clothes with an appropriately formal dress, and tidying up my hair that I had left neglected, I ended up looking quite presentable.
The maids who skillfully tended to my hair even in these poor conditions kept exclaiming in admiration. Yet every time they saw the scar on my neck, they flinched and tried their best to avert their gaze.
No matter how I looked at it, the maids' reactions were normal. The imperial family must all be crazy.
Though they tried not to show it, the maids were afraid of me. However, apart from their fear, they insisted on being exceedingly loyal servants.
"You're going to see the Dullahan? Going so suddenly would be too dangerous, wouldn't it?"
"Didn't you hear why that monster has become docile?"
"W-well, the Lady is a noble resurrected one chosen by a god whom we couldn't possibly dare to imagine, but..."
"The Lady is an honored guest of the Imperial Palace, so we must always ensure your safety."
Ignoring the maids trailing behind me, I strode forward. I already knew the geography of the Imperial Palace, so I didn't need a guide.
The maids who were likely sent to monitor me followed reluctantly. Not only that, a knight who claimed to be temporarily assigned as my escort insisted on accompanying us as well.
The crowd that swarmed as soon as I stepped outside was annoying, but in the end, they couldn't block my path.
Since I kept asserting the will of god, it would have been difficult for them to recklessly stop me.
The Dullahan was imprisoned in an iron cage placed in the open space in front of the black tower. A barrier was cast with magic at a distance from the iron bars, and soldiers stood guard in a double layer around it.
"The Lady?"
The soldiers guarding the iron cage recognized me and straightened their posture in surprise.
"I've come to see the Dullahan."
"I apologize, but His Majesty has ordered that no one approach the monster..."
"The god who resurrected me."
I cut off the soldier's words indifferently and lifted my chin slightly.
"Says to meet that Dullahan quickly. Do you intend to block the will of god?"
"B-but..."
"If you block a resurrected one and the empire incurs the wrath of god, how do you plan to bear that burden?"
The soldier, with a bewildered face sweating cold sweat, reluctantly stepped aside. When I volunteered to stay inside the barrier with the Dullahan while I conducted my business, the mages who were anxious about having to remove the barrier quickly nodded in agreement.
Their barrier not only blocks the Dullahan but also blocks sound.
They probably don't think I'll be conversing with the Dullahan, so they likely won't perceive any problem.
I could feel everyone's gazes gathering. Even if sound was blocked, it didn't hide my appearance, so everyone was watching with curious eyes.
The maids and escort knight waited a short distance away, and I stood alone before the iron cage. The barrier that had been briefly lifted immediately wrapped around me again, forming a semicircle.
The Dullahan trapped in the iron cage didn't seem interested in the commotion around him. When I took a few more steps closer, he reacted by shrugging his shoulders.
[Captain!]
Crouched inside the iron cage, he was enormously huge. Among the Dullahans I had collected, Nadav was the most well-built, but this Dullahan had a much larger and heavier physique than Nadav.
With a build like that running rampant, the Imperial Palace would have to accept enormous damage. It was only natural for them to feel grateful to me for calming this Dullahan.
"It must have been suffocating. You've suffered a lot being locked up."
[Captain... I believed you would come.]
The emotional Dullahan twisted his body this way and that, apparently wanting to properly kneel before me. However, it wasn't easy to position himself in the narrow iron cage.
Eventually, he greeted me with his upper body awkwardly bowed.
[The third knight who wanders searching for his lost head, Bark, pays his respects.]
"Bark."
[Please give your order. I will exterminate all those wicked god's puppets!]
"Yes, I'll give you an order. Never start a fight first."
[Yes, right now I'll destroy those... Huh?]
Bark, who had been acting like he would break the iron cage at any moment, made a bewildered sound. It seems this Dullahan is a bit aggressive.
"You can transform too, right? What can you transform into?"
[Ah, I can transform into a great black bear.]
If it were something like a small bird or a bumblebee, it would have been easier, but a black bear? It's better than a Dullahan appearing in the Imperial Palace, but a black bear would still be just as conspicuous.
I was inwardly disappointed when Bark asked in a booming voice.
[Shall I transform right now and break the iron cage with my front paws?]
"No. Absolutely don't do that."
When I answered firmly, Bark's shoulders slumped down. Even without words, it was clearly visible that his spirit was crushed. Why does this one keep wanting to fight?
"There's nothing good about revealing your transformed appearance, and causing unnecessary conflict isn't good either, so wait. As soon as I find a way out, I'll come get you."
[Ah, then does that mean you've retrieved the key?]
"Key?"
[Yes! When I opened my eyes and the key was gone, I was very surprised, but as expected, Captain found it immediately!]
A key... what is that about?
As I looked at Bark in confusion, he hesitated.
[...You didn't find it?]
"No."
[Aah...]
Bark, who had been sighing, continued in a determined voice.
[I should have guarded it better. I apologize. Failing to properly fulfill the heavy duty of protecting the castle's key... if the key falls into the hands of the Agent of Birth, everything will end.]
"Bark."
[So even now, I should break this iron cage and immediately...!]
"Bark."
The black smoke that had been rising from Bark's body subsided again. I could see a faint relief crossing the faces of the soldiers outside the barrier who had been pointing their swords this way.
Goodness, I almost caused another fight.
"Did you already forget my order?"
[S-sorry. But Captain, losing the key was my responsibility, so I will retrieve it.]
Whatever this key is, it seems like he absolutely won't leave this Imperial Palace without it. Crossing my arms and thinking for a moment, I spoke calmly.
"Taking responsibility for a subordinate's mistake is a captain's job, so leave that to me and just stay quiet. Quietly. Don't fight."
[Captain...!]
The moved Dullahan bowed his upper body forward. If he had a head, he would have wailed dramatically.
Did he understand the instruction not to fight, right?
[As you command, Captain, I will wait here!]
"Good. Then now explain what that key is. I need to know what it is to find it."
[That is the castle's key!]
"So I'm asking what that is."
[It's the key to Belladia Castle!]
"Belladia Castle... where is that again?"
I was about to reflexively ask back when I stopped.
Belladia. Don't tell me it's the Belladia Valley in the Trebi Mountain Range? The very place where the castle of the twelve sinners is said to exist?
'Now I can't just ignore it and leave.'
Pressing my brow with my fingertips as I sank into thought, I nodded for now.
"Don't worry about the key, and you just... get some sleep."
[Huh? But!]
"Behave as quietly as possible. So they can see that you become calm when you meet me."
[But Captain!]
At Bark's continued attempts to argue, I frowned without realizing it. Other Dullahans accepted orders appropriately, so why does this one keep adding objections?
"Are you not going to listen to my orders?"
[No, that's not it! I can't lie down!]
The criticism that was about to snap out got stuck in my throat. In the brief moment I paused, Bark quickly continued.
[Even if I'm a monster, locking me in such a narrow iron cage... those guys are ignorant and evil people who don't know how to respect life!]
"...."
[If I'm going to sleep, there should be space to lie down! Honestly, my legs are too numb!]
I learned the unnecessary new fact that Dullahans sometimes get numb legs too. At a loss for words, I pursed my lips for a moment before answering calmly.
"I'll have them change to a wider iron cage."
[Thank you! But Captain, I have some bad sleeping habits... please consider that too. And I can't sleep when it's noisy, so please tell them to be quiet too...]
"...Alright."
Right, this is my karma. My karma.
* * *
After taking care of Bark's requests and returning, I encountered a servant who had brought a message from the Emperor.
The content was simple. To praise the god who protected the imperial family and to express gratitude to the resurrected one chosen by that god, a grand banquet would be held, so please stay until that period.
This was a different event from the dinner I mentioned earlier in front of the knight and mages. In short, it was an announcement that 'the resurrected one saved the imperial family' would be broadcast throughout the entire empire.
It's not that I couldn't refuse, but now that there was something I needed to find in this Imperial Palace, there was no reason to decline.
"Tell them I will attend."
"His Majesty will be greatly pleased."
After indifferently sending away the servant who was praising me with all sorts of adjectives, saying it was a wise choice, I was finally left alone in my room. With some time remaining until the dinner, I slumped in my chair and sank into thought.
The unidentified warp gate installed in Febrin Monastery being connected to the Imperial Palace probably wasn't a coincidence.
It must be related to the fact that one of the twelve knights was in this Imperial Palace, and that knight was guarding the key to Belladia Castle.
The female voice I heard when the warp gate activated came to mind.
'To fulfill unfinished duty, stopped time flows,' she had said.
And she said it was caused by the thread of fate. What the thread of fate points to would be the 'Agent of Birth.'
To summarize, doesn't this mean that because the Agent of Birth appeared, the Agent of Death also appeared again?
Additionally, to properly conclude the authority that wasn't finished long, long ago.
Regardless of not remembering, the circumstances clearly indicate that I am the Agent of Death. If so, this means I had some connection to the thread of fate without knowing it.
'Thread of fate... Agent of Birth...'
A life lived as if everything is already decided.
I know one person who lives such a life.
That child who acted as if everyone in the world was on her side. That child who confidently predicted that I would die alone, as if all the future was already determined.
Lillia Roam. Was it you?