“What do you mean?”
Riana had just left the count’s mansion.
The moment she emerged, the first thing she did was shout at her subordinate.
“How did our people disappear?”
“Well… those personnel have yet to return.”
He said that three paladins who had been carrying out a mission still had not returned.
Riana closed her eyes at her subordinate’s report.
It was now late afternoon.
Soon the sun would set, and early evening would arrive.
The others who had gone out to gather information had already returned long ago.
And yet there were still people who had not come back.
“Could it simply be that they’re late? These things can happen while carrying out a mission.”
She wanted to place her hopes on that possibility.
After all, missions did not end neatly at a fixed time.
If some problem arose, a mission could be delayed.
But if that were the case, they surely would have mentioned it somehow, through some channel.
“Was there no separate message from them?”
At Riana’s question, the subordinate gave a slight nod.
“Ha….”
At that sight, she was at least somewhat relieved.
The problem was that her relief did not last long.
“Actually, a letter arrived a little while ago. It was sent by the Adventurers’ Guild…”
“The Adventurers’ Guild?”
She quickly snatched the letter her subordinate took from his breast pocket.
Then she tore it open and immediately checked its contents.
“……”
The contents were simple.
Along with a brief explanation regarding the current state of the Seil Kingdom, it said that they would investigate the mountain range.
A simple map was enclosed as well, marking the location of the dungeon they were heading toward.
“This situation is not good.”
Judging from the current circumstances, the three missing paladins had sent her a letter before climbing the mountain range.
And now, by the time she had received the letter, at least several hours had passed.
Yet there was still no word from them?
It was by no means a good sign.
“We’ll think while moving.”
What they needed now was quick judgment and time.
Riana hurried into the carriage.
At present, Riana was disguised as a merchant, and the paladins around her were disguised as adventurers escorting a merchant caravan.
Because of that, the carriage was not in particularly good condition.
“Move as quickly as possible.”
The carriage slowly began to move.
Inside the moving carriage, Riana pressed a hand to her head.
‘Things have gone wrong.’
Even if only temporarily, she currently held the position of vice-captain of the paladin order.
Before that, she had even served as the captain’s adjutant.
Thanks to this, the church’s trust in her was deep, and they had entrusted her with an important mission this time.
But what would happen if she failed to manage her members and failed the mission as well?
She would certainly be dismissed.
The problem was that it would not end with dismissal.
‘If this happens, my standing is finished.’
She had grown up watching the church since childhood, devoted herself to it, and blindly followed its words.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that her life was the church itself.
But because of this incident, there was a high chance that all her efforts until now would come to nothing.
‘That alone can never happen.’
Riana continued thinking, trying to find a way to break through the current situation.
While Riana was lost in thought, the carriage arrived at their base before she knew it.
The place was already filled with paladins who had returned after completing their missions.
But the three had still not come back and remained missing.
Now it was time to choose.
Whether to search for the missing personnel.
Or leave them be and continue the mission.
Of course, choosing the latter from the start was out of the question.
If she did, it would become a terrible move, along with controversy over her qualifications as vice-captain.
In the end, there was only one choice.
‘I must find the missing ones first.’
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that they had left an accurate record of their movements.
If they had merely said they were heading to the mountain range, rather than leaving a map, even Riana might have given up from the start.
That was how vast the mountain range was.
It might have been different if they could reveal their identities as paladins and fully arm themselves, but their current adventurer equipment was utterly insufficient.
That did not mean they could immediately go searching for them, either.
Everything needed a justifiable reason, and even in simple actions, one had to prioritize the benefits to be gained.
Riana sank into thought once more.
The three paladins who had disappeared.
They had headed for the mountain range.
The letter they had sent clearly stated the current state of the Seil Kingdom.
What stood out most in it was the fact that the royal family had strictly forbidden entry into the mountain range.
‘What is it?’
Riana focused on the ban on entering the mountain range.
Why had the royal family blocked off the mountains?
‘Monsters?’
Riana shook her head.
If monsters had appeared, it would have been normal to issue a subjugation order, not a ban on entry.
The same applied to a monster wave.
And yet, because of this incident, even adventurers had been forbidden from entering.
If it had been related to monsters, they would have tried to make use of adventurers more than anyone else.
But the royal family had not done so.
As if they were trying to hide something that must not be discovered.
‘…Hide?’
In that instant, something flashed through her mind.
A thought suddenly came to her, as though scattered pieces of a puzzle were coming together.
It had been strange from the beginning.
To the Seil Kingdom, the mountain range was an important terrain.
And yet they had sealed it off?
‘If they were hiding something, what were they trying to hide?’
Resources?
No.
That, too, would be similar to the reason with the monsters earlier.
As she pondered, one puzzle piece surfaced in Riana’s mind.
What if the paladins and priests who had gone missing until now truly were connected to the Seil Kingdom?
“……”
It was a chilling assumption.
Until now, it had merely been the church’s claim, meant to pressure the Seil Kingdom.
But what if it was true?
This might be something the Seil Kingdom had done in order to cover it up somehow.
A chill ran down her spine.
But at the same time, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
‘This may actually become an opportunity.’
The subordinates who had climbed the mountain range had likely thought this far as well.
If so, things became simple.
What if something had happened to the subordinates who had gone on this mission?
The church’s voice would grow even louder.
And if she handled this incident well, she might be able to neutralize the Seil Kingdom itself.
That was what it meant to touch the church.
The truth did not matter.
After all, it was as good as if she held the key to this mystery in her hand.
No matter what objections the royal family raised, it would be over if their side struck first.
All they had to do was cling to the question of why entry into the mountain range had been prohibited.
No matter the process, she would surely be able to find the answer to all these mysteries.
Once her thoughts reached this point, her next action was swift.
“Everyone, assemble!”
It was time to go search for the missing personnel.
* * *
“The next important thing in serving Master is martial strength.”
Celia said, raising one finger.
“If Mr. Maru does not have the strength to guard Master, then you are useless.”
“Clack!”
Maru nodded as well.
Maru was indeed learning a great deal after coming here.
As expected, Celia was not the chief administrator for nothing.
“Then shall we try a real battle? As it happens, one group will be coming to search for their missing comrades.”
The three adventurers Celia had dealt with using charm.
In truth, they were paladins who had infiltrated the Seil Kingdom.
Knowing that fact, Celia also predicted that they would soon come searching for their missing companions.
“But Mr. Maru, you are far too vulnerable to divine power. In other words, your compatibility against paladins is extremely poor.”
Maru was an undead monster, and his compatibility with paladins was terrible.
It might have been different if Maru’s grade had been 5-star, but at present, he was 4-star.
No matter how he fought with the demonic sword, it would be difficult if several paladins rushed him at once.
“Don’t worry. We happen to have something suitable.”
As if something had occurred to her, Celia called the skeleton knight beside her.
“Bring Mr. Death Knight here.”
* * *
Darkness comes quickly in the mountains.
The early evening sunlight barely seeped through the trees, stretching shadows long, and the forest gradually began to be engulfed in darkness.
And there were those who wandered through the forest as they faced that darkness.
They were the paladins of the church.
The sunlight filtering through the trees added a glimmer to the swords they held.
Seen from afar, they looked like stars shining in the darkness.
“……”
However, this forest was strangely quiet.
In this place, which should normally have been filled with the sounds of nature, there was no birdsong, no whisper of wind, no chirping of insects.
That silence filled them with great unease.
The trees seemed to hide their voices without a word, and the paladins turned their gazes as they felt an unknowable gaze from somewhere.
“Vice-captain, wouldn’t it be better to come when daylight breaks?”
In a place filled with darkness like this, their movements were restricted.
No matter how they used divine power to create light, at best, it could only drive away the surrounding darkness.
That was why the suggestion just now was reasonable.
They should withdraw for now and come back once dawn broke.
Of course, Riana knew that as well.
She knew that this was not a suitable time to carry out a mission.
“We’ll go only as far as the place marked on this map, then return.”
But obsession and urgency paralyzed her reason.
Even if only temporarily, she was the one leading the paladins as vice-captain.
In other words, in the current situation, her words and actions were law.
In the end, they continued forward according to her will.
And before long, they reached the vicinity of the place marked on the map.
It was about time the dungeon came into view.
They searched their surroundings and advanced even more slowly.
A short while later, beings appeared, breaking the forest’s quiet silence.
Clatter—clatter—
From beyond the darkness, the sound of bones knocking together drew gradually closer.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
Riana shouted in a loud voice.
While everyone remained on guard, their figures were revealed by the very faint light filtering down between the trees.
“Skeletons…?”
Skeletons, nothing but gaunt bones, were rushing toward them with rusted swords in one hand.
They were not high-ranking monsters, but the very lowest among the skeleton types: skeleton soldiers.
There were five of them.
The tense atmosphere from just moments ago relaxed all at once.
Some laughed at the sight of the skeleton soldiers, while others let out sighs of relief.
“What? There are only things like that here?”
Relief that only 1-star monsters had appeared in a place they had thought eerie.
At the same time, the fact that mere 1-star skeleton soldiers had come out to face them seemed absurd and laughable to them.
But Riana clicked her tongue softly as she watched the scene.
“We’re not even in the dungeon yet…”
Monsters had appeared even though this was not a dungeon.
Of course, monsters lived in places other than dungeons as well.
In particular, undead monsters like those could naturally arise in places overflowing with the aura of death, so it was not completely strange.
But this was a forest in the mountain range.
‘Is it simply coincidence?’
Riana glanced around.
No matter how she looked, she saw no reason skeletons would arise here.
“Die!”
“To think mere undead would block our path—wipe them out!”
Her subordinates charged toward the skeleton soldiers that had appeared.
Normally, they should have examined the situation carefully, but because the monsters were so weak, everyone became excited and swung their swords.
They were all paladins.
As they infused divine power into their swords and swung them, the skeletons began to crumble with faint flashes of light.
But that lasted only a moment.
“Huh? Why are so many coming out!”
There were too many monsters—far too many.
At first, there had been five.
Next, ten skeletons appeared.
And when they dealt with them all, this time fifteen more appeared.
“Tch.”
Riana frowned.
Of course.
These undead were by no means beings that had appeared naturally.
There had to be a monster somewhere controlling them.
“We’re being toyed with.”
It was surely observing the current situation, watching how they responded.
She raised her sword.
Then, pouring her current irritation into her voice, she shouted loudly.
“Goddess, grant your faithful servant who follows you the power to purify those unholy beings. [Holy Purification]!”
A pure white light began to burst from the sword Riana held.
And that pure white light shot toward the skeleton soldiers.
A great radiance covered the forest.
A moment later, the light slowly faded, and no skeletons remained there.
“Form ranks and continue advancing!”
Their position had already been discovered.
Even if they retreated here, they would only suffer more damage.
In cases like this, it was better simply to eliminate the source of the threat.
Moreover, their opponent was undead.
No matter how poor their equipment was, as paladins, they should be able to deal with them well enough.
Riana and the paladins slowly advanced with their swords raised.
Fortunately, no additional monsters came in the meantime.
‘Could that be the end?’
If it ended like this, that would be fortunate.
The atmosphere of the mountain range was certainly strange, and if she worded things well, she could connect it to the Seil Kingdom.
“Vice-captain! There is something over there!”
One of the paladins at the front shouted.
At his cry, Riana also turned her head in that direction.
“!”
At the same time, she was shocked.
A being different from the skeletons they had seen until now was standing there.
It was a skeleton black knight, its entire body dyed black.
But that was not the problem.
“Wh-what is that…!”
An evil aura was emanating from the sword it held.
And what it was wearing was also a problem.
“…A maid outfit?”
It was a skeleton black knight wearing a maid outfit and holding a demonic sword in one hand.