A fluffy bed and a blanket so soft it seemed it could melt.
A pillow that sank deeply around the head.
For Hamelot, it was a bed he was experiencing for the first time in his life, yet it failed to move him as much as he had thought.
Because his head was completely stuffed with other thoughts.
‘The Royal Knights……’
Claire’s appearance seen during the day.
The golden lion emblem she had pulled out calmly.
Because of it, the area before the castle gate had fallen silent for a moment.
Knights and soldiers revealing their awe without reserve.
Had Claire been from Hibernia rather than the Empire, they looked ready to kneel on one knee.
‘She’s insane……’
How dazzling had Claire’s back been as she walked on, accepting everyone’s awe as if it were only natural.
The splendid life of a hero, something he had only vaguely imagined in his youth.
The thrill of witnessing it directly before his eyes.
Riding on that radiance, he had not only entered the city immediately but also met right away with a priest of Lifiue, who was said to be so difficult to meet.
He had even faintly heard that the priest was one of the bishops of Talasa capable of using divine power.
Even while such an esteemed priest used divine power to cleanse the remaining energy and bestowed blessings, Hamelot’s head had been filled with nothing but thoughts of Claire.
Just what had it been.
What did that golden, glittering emblem symbolize to be so oppressive and make his heart pound?
Everyone had made way in surprise, and of course, the high priest as well.
— The Count sends his deepest regrets that he could not greet you personally, and has prepared an evening banquet in your honor. If possible, please be sure to attend…….
Could even the lord ruling this massive city be treating her so cautiously?
He could learn the answer at the evening banquet.
A banquet hall so splendid it made one’s eyes widen.
Colors of all kinds never before encountered in his life.
A feast of food captivating all five senses.
But Hamelot had merely picked at his food before grabbing a passing maid to ask.
He asked what the Royal Knights were.
The answer returned had been extremely long and verbose, but equally shocking.
Summarized:
“The strongest order of knights in the world.”
What a blissful resonance.
Muttering the words he had repeated over and over once again, he pulled the blanket up to his chin.
“The Royal Knights.”
The Verden Empire, hegemon of the continent.
An order of seven knights who followed only the command of the Empire’s Emperor.
And one of them was none other than his young master, Claire.
His goal had finally become clear.
Knight? Holy Knight?
With a Royal Knight right beside him, how could he be moved by such things?
When he had before him someone everyone revered and admired.
And so, from today, Hamelot’s goal was one.
“The Royal Knights.”
Even if he were a moth leaping into a flame.
Even if he flew endlessly toward his goal and his body burned away.
His goal was one.
“……Claire.”
To stand proudly by her side.
To one day look upon the same place, experience the same world, and be of help.
That was his goal.
* * *
Having toured the entire city of Talasa over the course of a day, Claire immediately sought out the lord and spoke.
“It is excessive.”
If asked what was excessive, it was the divinity.
It was a phenomenon born from not knowing the proper way to handle the situation.
“Abyss monsters instinctively possess strong hostility toward divine power. Because it is their most fatal weakness.”
“I am well aware of that. However, our enemy is not merely monsters, is it? We did this to stop the invasion of that dark energy…… Perhaps you have another method, Sir Knight…….”
“There is no need to protect the entire area like this.”
The method by which the great city of Talasa protected its city and citizens was simple and certain.
Spreading a massive divine barrier over the entire city.
And thereby completely blocking the entry of the energy itself.
That was why the high priests capable of using divine power were busy without rest day and night.
“What do you mean, there is no need to protect everything……?”
“Meticulously purify only those entering and leaving the city, and withdraw the barrier. If you maintain a barrier of this size, the priests will not be able to endure it.”
“But then will we not be unable to stop that dark energy? If such energy enters and causes ordinary humans to die of fever, and kills even the soil and plants, will that not be a great disaster?”
Thanks to information about Abyss energy spreading widely starting from the Empire, the lord of Talasa knew as well.
How terrifying that cursed thing was. That preventing the spread of that energy was more important than the monsters themselves.
“It is fine. The concentration of the energy is not at such a dense level. Even if a person is infected, they can survive if purified within a few days, and the same goes for soil and plants. The symptoms are clear, so if the priests move immediately upon confirming contamination, there will be no problem at all.”
Meaning there was no need to adhere to the current method of not letting even a single grain of energy inside.
At Claire’s explanation, the Count of Talasa widened his eyes and asked several times.
“Truly…… you say it is alright to do so?”
Claire’s words were no different from hope.
Not knowing what to do, the priests had been covering the entire city, but as Claire said, this was a method that could not last long.
Unless one was a Saintess at the main cathedral, no matter how high a priest, wrapping an entire great city in divine power was an extreme torment to body and mind.
“Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
He was overjoyed.
“I shall follow your advice at once. If there is anything inconvenient or anything you desire during your stay, please speak of it at any time.”
No matter how high the name of the Royal Knights, it was rare for a great noble of another country to go this far.
Because the Royal Knights were an order that had laid down even titles and power, loyal only to the Emperor.
But was this not a time of war?
Especially in the case of Hibernia, which had become the target of all Abyss monsters, even a great city could collapse overnight without it being strange at all.
The lord of Talasa knew how great the help of a single Royal Knight was in such a situation.
Moreover, was not Claire’s reliability certain, having participated over ten times in the expeditions called the demonic realm and raised her fame?
And so, the Count of Talasa smiled pleasantly and endeavored to make Claire stay in Talasa even a little longer, but…
There was hardly any need for that.
“A large-scale attack will come before long.”
“A large-scale attack…… you say?”
This was Claire’s true business here.
“On the way here, I continuously sighted those of the unnamed 66th floor…… that is, the demonic beasts of the demonic realm.”
The Abyss monsters that had attacked Hamelot’s village.
Those things were moving in groups toward Talasa.
They might already be surrounding the area in great numbers.
Their specialty was patience and cunning.
The divine power was the problem.
The divine barrier that had been wrapped around the entire city to block Abyss energy.
There was no way they had not sensed it, and it was clear they were lurking nearby waiting for their chance.
Waiting for more people to gather.
And thus awaiting the moment to unleash their pent-up rage and kill everyone at once.
“What should we…… what must we do.”
Claire was certain they would attack, and eventually concluded to remain in Talasa for a few more days until that moment came.
Talasa was the greatest city in the western region of Hibernia.
If Talasa fell, the entire western region of Hibernia would quickly collapse, and its influence would clearly spread throughout the kingdom.
After all, supporting Hibernia was the will of Emperor Sylvia and the command of Vitalianus…….
Even if Hio were alive, he would surely have done the same.
For it was none other than he who had taught that only the divine was the weakness of the abyss and the path to resist it.
Finishing the meeting, Claire turned her steps, which had been headed to look outside the castle, toward Hamelot’s room.
Since he was a child she had personally saved and brought here, should she not treat him as a traveling companion while they were together?
Well, while he went around annoyingly calling her Master, Master, at least she did not feel that terrible sensation of being alone.
She supposed that could be considered repayment for that.
Having met Hamelot and told him she would be staying a few more days, and even explained the reason, Hamelot conveyed unexpected words.
“I want to go with you too, Master!”
Words spat out while showing with his whole body the resolution that he knew what answer he would hear but would never back down.
Claire met such an attitude from Hamelot with her usual expressionless face.
“No.”
“I am a proper skill user too…….”
“If you follow, I will worry about you and prioritize protecting you over others. That means the number of people I can save will decrease. It means those who could have lived might die because you followed.”
“…….”
They were words to cut down Hamelot’s childish request in one stroke, but…
“I am not saying this without thinking.”
Hamelot did not back down.
Even desperation faintly seeped through him.
“I won’t follow onto the battlefield. If possible, I’ll just watch from afar. It’s fine if you don’t protect me. As you saw in the village back then, I am confident in running and hiding on my own.”
A few more exchanges passed after that, but neither backed down.
However, Hamelot’s will to follow Claire was greater than Claire’s will to shake him off.
“……I will absolutely not take you to the battlefield.”
“Huh? Then that means you’ll take me everywhere else!”
“……First, after protecting Talasa from the attack.”
“Waaaah!”
In the end, the connection between the two was able to continue.
What could have ended with her merely escorting him to the city became a journey with no known end.
A connection that would grow stronger by an unknown amount.
Watching Hamelot jumping for joy, Claire’s memory swept through the past of several years ago.
Hio, who had been trying to leave the village, and Claire standing before such a Hio.
Why had she been unable to speak more earnestly like this child?
If she had been together with him from then on, could she not have understood Hio better?
Could she not have grown stronger?
And thus, could she not have realized what Hio was thinking at the time and protected him?
Might Hio…… be by her side now?
Memory became contemplation, contemplation became regret, regret became self-reproach, and self-reproach soon became pain that stirred her heart.
“……Master?”
“Don’t be too happy. If you become more of a burden than I think, I’ll go alone. You’ll have to get stronger quickly.”
“Yes! Don’t worry!”
* * *
As expected, the attack occurred within a few days.
A night where even the moonlight was hidden.
The ones surrounding the city began charging from all directions simultaneously.
Bodies resembling weasels, with long snouts sharp as needles.
Their charging speed was so fast they could not be seen with the eye, and by the time the sound of splitting wind reached the ear, that sharp beak would already be lodged in the throat.
With hundreds of such creatures assaulting the city from all directions, had it been a normal situation, the city of Talasa would have fallen in an instant.
But Talasa had Claire.
Having experienced them directly on the 66th floor, knowing the creatures that had tormented the expedition without rest day and night, she knew that if she could just stop their charge once, they could be neutralized more easily than expected.
She knew of the attack and knew their weakness.
Then was there any reason she could not stop them?
Claire created flames that guarded the west and south of the city alone, so all remaining forces concentrated on the north and east, repelling the attack without great damage.
“Truly, thank you! The Empire must not be in a good situation either, yet to come all the way to a distant foreign country and show such feats!”
It was only natural that the lord’s laughter did not cease.
“You are, without a doubt, the hero of Talasa, no! The hero of the continent!”
Not only the lord but also the other nobles at his side, of course.
Knights and soldiers who witnessed the power that blocked the west and south of the city alone conveyed their gratitude to Claire with even greater awe.
The city’s residents, even the refugees who had to watch the battle with anxious hearts from right before their eyes, all joined voices in praising Claire.
“The hero of Talasa!”
“You are the hero of the Holy Kingdom!”
Claire had no choice but to turn her back on such praise and flee the city as if escaping.
Because she was no hero, and she lacked the strength and ability to be one.
Compared to the true hero she knew, she was utterly lacking—if anything, a sinner who had let a hero die.
Claire refused the lord’s banquet and all the gifts from the nobles and residents, and left Talasa with Hamelot in tow.
- Bear this in mind.
Vitalianus’s words repeated in her head, tightening around her heart like shackles.
- You are Hio Pavlenko’s final contingency.
* * *
After leaving Talasa, the two headed for the capital.
They did not take the fastest road from Talasa to the capital. Along the way, they passed through numerous villages and cities, saving countless people and defending villages and cities as they traveled.
Of course, far more people, cities, and villages than those they saved had already been horribly ruined, tainted by the energy of the Abyss, and turned into lands of death, cities of death.
As Hamelot spent quite a long time with Claire, he came to learn several things.
First of all.
Claire did not eat.
To be precise, she could not eat anything she herself considered delicious.
This was the reason she had refused every invitation to dine with nobles and every gift of food the residents tried to share with her.
“Master… please eat.”
Calling it a meal was generous. It was some sort of lump made by grinding up weeds.
Naturally, its taste and nutrition had to be dreadful.
Even in the small village where Hamelot had lived, they had not eaten things like this.
How could a person live on something that could hardly be called food, and barely manage to eat it only once a day at that?
So even Hamelot could not help hesitating as he offered such a thing as a meal, but what choice was there?
Any other ordinary food, anything besides this, Claire’s body simply would not accept.
Even if she ate well in front of Hamelot, the moment he turned away, she would vomit it all back up.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
Claire parted her red lips slightly and put the weed-like lump that could scarcely be called food into her mouth.
If her body had not been strengthened to handle immense skills and mana, she would never have endured it.
That was why she had been so thin and pallid from the moment he met her.
What on earth was the reason?
What was it—what kind of feeling was it—that made even eating seem like a luxury her body rejected?
On the other hand, warm meat had been placed before Hamelot.
The reason Claire, who had obstinately refused every gift, had begun to accept even a little after Hamelot joined her—
was to make sure that Hamelot, at least, ate proper food.
Naturally, Hamelot insisted that he would eat the same thing as Claire, but this time Claire was far more unyielding.
For someone in the midst of growing to eat the same thing as her? Absolutely not, she said.
Once things reached that point, Hamelot would all but glare at the food placed before him.
Why was he still so young?
Why was he so short, when would he gain strength, and when would he become strong?
Such thoughts welled up within him, so he aggressively picked up the food before him and crammed it down until he reached his limit.
He deliberately refused to taste it, swallowing without even chewing, eating like a madman so he could grow even a day faster and protect Claire.
And so was born the strange mealtime of Claire, picking at and barely swallowing bits of weeds, and Hamelot, cramming down every last bit of the food set before him.
Besides that, there were several other things he learned about Claire.
That she found being called a hero extremely uncomfortable.
That she could hardly fall asleep and spent almost every night with her eyes open.
That despite being in such a state, she never once grew irritated, and instead was considerate toward him—which made him think that in the past, she must have been an exceptionally kind and beautiful person.
He was able to learn many things, but the truly important things remained unknown even up to the moment they arrived at the capital of Hibernia, at the royal castle.
How had Claire ended up in her current state?
Why had she lost her heart, tormented herself, and driven herself so relentlessly?
What feelings did she live with each day?
He was curious, but he hesitated to ask.
Because somehow, the moment he asked, it felt as if there would be no turning back.
Because it felt as if Claire, who was barely holding on, might collapse in an instant.
Even when Claire arrived at the royal castle, met many high-ranking nobles and high-ranking priests, and even exchanged greetings with the Saintess said to be the noblest person in the world, as if they knew each other, Hamelot could not ask those questions.
And then it began.
“…The 70th floor of the Gate has fallen.”
The true hell.
The terrible war leading toward destruction.