Hilde's judgment was correct. The vampires who had passed us once failed to find us. Without even imagining we were inside their encirclement, they merely scanned the distant areas roughly.
Though we hadn't gone further than them, that didn't matter much. The misconception that this area had already been searched was actually protecting me and Hilde.
Eventually, the presences lingering nearby disappeared. Baron Zenryu had acknowledged his defeat and temporarily withdrawn.
"Have they given up already? Vampires sure lack persistence~."
"He probably hasn't given up. Since finding us alone is impossible, he'll try to coordinate with other vampires ruling the nearby area. Of course, ultimately he will give up. He'll hear news of Sir Du Lahan."
The payoff from planting that bait is finally showing. To coordinate, they need to share information, and naturally they'll hear the news. I even gave them the cue.
"It took a while, but it went as I said, right? We shook him off in just two days."
"It's too early to feel relieved. They weren't a pursuit team but administrators guarding the checkpoint, right? If Tirkanjaka sent a pursuit team directly, there would be at least one Elder. We might be able to hide, but crossing the border without conflict would be impossible."
Hilde seemed displeased with me letting my guard down, so she shoved cold reality in my face. As I fell silent with the path ahead looking bleak, Hilde poked me and laughed.
"Come on~. Why that expression all of a sudden? 'I' won't be fooled anymore."
"About what?"
"Father, you haven't revealed all your cards yet, have you? Now that we've come this far, please lay it all out and tell me. We all know you didn't escape thoughtlessly!"
"…."
Uh, about that.
Honestly, I have no plan. Well, saying absolutely none is a bit much, but it's a part I can't control.
"Father?"
"Ah, yes yes. Th-th-th-that."
Hey, regressor. What are you doing and where? You said a great tidal disaster would happen during this night tide. The time for the night tide has passed, so why is there no reaction in the country?!
You even came earlier to warn about the great tidal disaster! If you came all the way to the principality, you should've come to find me, or provoked Tir unintentionally to draw attention! If not that, then do something! Where did you go that there's complete silence?!
Hilde, unaware of my burning anxiety, smiled at the corner of her lips.
"Pretending otherwise. You have a method, don't you?"
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"Y-yes, of course."
"Could it be what 'I' was thinking?"
What? She had something in mind? If she had something like that, she should've told me earlier. Just to get some inspiration, I lightly read Hilde's thoughts.
'Father is the King of Humanity. The organizations seeking that are the Holy Emperor's Court and the Lord of All Things. Of the two, the Lord of All Things is friendlier to the King of Humanity, but~. I thought you'd call Shei since Shei is nearby. But it doesn't seem like you're sending a signal to either side?'
...Right. Even Hilde thinks so, but apparently the regressor doesn't. Hmph, hmph. Not that I particularly miss the regressor or anything! I'm just waiting for the regressor to cluelessly go to Tir, draw all the aggro, and then run away!
Anyway, it's a part I can't do anything about right now. I cleared my throat and answered.
"Something... similar. If it's beyond our power, we'd need help."
"I'll look forward to it~."
Hilde's smile weighs heavily on me. Her baseless faith in the King of Humanity is truly awkward. She claims to have been an intelligence agency, is it okay for her to trust me that much? Doubt me a little.
...No, in a situation where Hilde is the only one I can rely on, it would be troublesome if Hilde doubted me too.
"Hah. Should I just cross the mountain."
With the path ahead looking bleak, a gamble now flickers in my mind. I slowly turned my head and looked beyond the hill.
The Fog Principality, situated between mountains and sea, rises higher toward the west. The inclination is quite distinct, so from the highlands below is clearly visible, and without relying on bushes and trees, one cannot hide. The reason Hilde and I insisted on passing through the checkpoint was precisely this. Crossing the border without being spotted by anyone is impossible.
However, higher than the outpost. If we cross the mountain beyond the ridge? It would definitely be less visible to human eyes.
"Did you say cross the mountain?"
...Only to human eyes, that is.
"I just said it. How can we cross when there are tigers perfectly fine there."
Not all mountains have tigers. But tigers are definitely in the mountains. That alone is reason enough not to go into the mountains.
And if you climb high on the mountain, you'll inevitably be noticeable from below as well. It just adds another threat. I turned my head without any lingering attachment.
'You brushed it off roughly, but you wouldn't mention it without reason. Father, you have a way to cross the mountain safely, don't you?'
Uh-oh. No I don't. I mentioned it because I was genuinely at a loss.
'A way to deceive beasts' ears and noses? Hmm, no. As the King of Humanity, it wouldn't be that simple, right? Perhaps it's related to what happened in the first year, the catalyst for humanity becoming the dominant species on earth~.'
What's that about? I have no knowledge of this? Tell me too. Don't be the only one who knows my story!
However, no matter how much I searched through Hilde's thoughts, it was all just vaguely heard stories. As a half-formed Holy Sword Division, she hardly knows the inside story. Come to think of it, that's obvious. It would be stranger if there was information about me that even I didn't know....
...Wait a minute.
Then doesn't that mean a proper Holy Sword Division or a Saintess could know? Information about me that even I don't know? But when I read the thoughts of the Saintess of Foresight, Yuel, and the Saintess of Steel, Perel, I didn't get any significant information either....
Something's strange. Even Hilde, my own child, knows there's something. Then someone must know the details. If not a Saintess, then who exactly?
Or does a realm exist that I can't read? Like the regressor's memories of previous cycles?
A question suddenly arose, but there's no way to resolve it. To find out, I need to escape the principality first.
Please, let something tie down the Elders, or at least Vladmir's feet.
***
The great tidal disaster had arrived. If the humans who would go out to forage during the night tide hadn't been driven back beforehand, the casualties would have been quite large. Even after sweeping the beach, the tsunami still had enough force to reach the village with civilian houses. Even the villages built at a sufficient distance to prepare for the capricious sea disasters were submerged, becoming sea reefs.
"Is this all?"
However, Vladmir tilted his head even after seeing this sight. The scale was much smaller than the fuss that had been made.
Vladmir walked, stepping through the squelching mud. Seawater is the amniotic fluid of the Earth Mother. Salty water containing tiny creatures invisible to the eye. For vampires who develop disruptions in their blood arts even from mere flowing water, seawater with a salinity greater than blood is a practical terror.
Twit melts like a lump of salt the moment it touches, and Yailing also loses control of blood arts and leaks blood energy if not focusing. If it's an Ein, they can endure sufficiently... but that's only when facing 'seawater.' If sea beasts carried by the currents attack, they can't handle them with imperfect blood arts.
That's why Vladmir didn't participate in the beloved daughter pursuit operation. Even if he had participated by the Progenitor's order, he wouldn't have moved so actively. A father must be threatening to the man approaching his daughter, but gentle to the man leaving. The more his daughter tries to hold on, the more so.
Vladmir was personally inspecting the flood-damaged area, bringing humans and vampires. Why an Elder like him was doing menial work, the reason soon became clear.
"Huh? Why is there a sail here...."
A worker who saw a strange object buried in the sand approached the sail. Every time he stepped on the sand, something leaf-like twitched. The moment the worker felt something strange, the sand suddenly sucked in, and something burst out of the sand.
"Waaagh!"
As a bizarre mouth loomed over the panicked human's head. A large greatsword flew and pierced the mysterious shadow.
What burst out of the sand was a flat fish with a similar color. The large fish with fins specialized for moving on land was flopping in pain with its mouth opening and closing. A mouth large enough to fit a human head made a sound like flint striking. Whether it was suffering from the outside air, or angry at having its meal interrupted, was unknown.
"I, I survived...."
Vladmir's Ein, Count Dricle, emphasized once again to the relieved worker.
"Stay alert! This is no ordinary night tide! Now that all sorts of things have been swept in from the distant sea, all sorts of dangerous creatures are lying in wait nearby! If you see something strange, throw the harpoon in your hand before approaching!"
The workers steeled their resolve and raised their harpoons overhead. The workers who considered themselves experienced foragers threw harpoons at crevices between rocks or holes in the mud.
There were some sea beasts that had survived, but most were carcasses. In particular, conches and crabs that were quite dangerous on land were mostly dead with their shells broken. Vladmir observed the traces of broken crustacean shells and suddenly spoke.
"Kabila."
"Don't call me so casually with that shameless face, traitor!"
Kabila answered with a sharp attitude.
Regarding Vladmir's rebellion, or more precisely, that he didn't make the Progenitor abandon the heart, Kabila still harbored resentment toward him.
But that was neither Vladmir's concern nor his business. Vladmir ignored Kabila's defiance and spoke.
"What kind of tsunami is this?"
"What kind of tsunami is there? When seawater sweeps in, it's just a tsunami. I didn't know you were the sentimental type to watch waves and name them one by one."
"Did the island whale break through the strait it was guarding? Did the cloud manta strike the sea with its wing fin? If not that, is it just a tsunami with no reason at all?"
Emotions are emotions, and work is work. When Vladmir asked emotionlessly, Kabila clicked her tongue but answered obediently.
"I don't know. This one's strange."
"What's strange about it?"
"The cloud mantas' rampages have increased. It's a pattern occasionally seen before night tides, but lately it's been especially noisy. Waves crashing day after day, it was so noisy."
"The reason?"
Kabila answered irritably.
"How should I know what's happening in the distant sea? I'm already busy enough with sister's affairs!"
"That is your job."
"Hmph! Then you should have paid some attention normally! You showed no interest for the longest time, and now that something happens, you come and press me!"
"That is my job."
"Aack!"
Kabila threw a fit and kicked the half-collapsed civilian house. Bang, the wall weakened by the tsunami crumbled, and from that large crack, a giant pupil appeared.