A tall, sharply rising spire.
If one continued endlessly inward past the vast spread of the castle walls, a magnificent castle revealed itself.
The soldiers they passed were disciplined, and the knights’ movements contained not a single wasted motion.
This was the king of the East.
This was the castle of Yon Torno.
* * *
“I am glad to see you safe. Please forgive my disloyalty in failing to come escort you personally.”
Reddish-brown hair.
A height and build comparable to Theordo’s.
Yon Torno was a man who called to mind a solid boulder.
“It’s all right, Uncle. Thank you for welcoming me.”
Sylvia had once again donned the mask of an imperial princess.
A lofty and elegant imperial princess.
“You must be weary from your long journey. I have prepared a place where you may rest comfortably.”
“It seems I’ll finally be able to properly tour the famed Torno Castle today.”
“I fear only that it may fall short of Your Highness’s discerning eye.”
After exchanging brief greetings with Sylvia, Yon Torno’s gaze moved to those around her.
The first person he saw was a knight who looked upright at a glance—Theordo.
“I am Theordo Ricart, a knight in service to Her Imperial Highness.”
At Theordo’s short and clear introduction, Yon Torno nodded.
“Sir Ricart. I have heard much about you. The East welcomes strong knights like yourself.”
“I am lacking in many ways when it comes to serving Her Highness.”
“I have heard of your rank, so you may leave humility at that.”
After saying so, he looked at Hio this time.
“……”
A brief silence followed.
It was likely because the gaudy attire of a mage had caught his eye first.
“……And you are?”
“I’m Hio Pavlenko.”
“Pavlenko…… My knowledge is limited, so I cannot say where that house is located.”
“It’s not a noble house, but a mage family. Though even that was more like adoption? Something along those lines.”
“……I see. Very well.”
That was the end of the conversation.
Yon Torno’s face remained expressionless throughout, but Hio, tempered by his long life as a mage, could tell.
This would be the last time Yon Torno sought him out.
* * *
“Uncle.”
Sylvia sat facing Margrave Yon Torno.
As if he were someone who had lost the very concept of expression, Yon Torno’s blank face remained unchanged.
She could not read what he was thinking.
For that reason, Sylvia did not speak in circles.
“I need your strength.”
To Sylvia, Yon Torno’s power was desperately needed.
For now, the two princes were unable to pay attention to Sylvia, but how long would that last?
There was no reason for them to leave behind the variable that was Sylvia, and if either of the two ascended the imperial throne, Sylvia’s future would rapidly grow dark.
“I am not asking you to help me blindly. There is a spy on the princes’ side. I cannot tell you their identity right now, but it is someone you would know as well, Uncle. That person is causing chaos on the battlefield……”
“Your Highness.”
Yon Torno, who had been listening silently, cut Sylvia off.
Such explanations had no meaning.
“I cannot raise troops immediately.”
“……Why not?”
“Is it not spring? It is the season when monsters run rampant in great numbers.”
The margrave’s enemy was not soldiers from another nation.
The Grandina Mountain Range that bordered his lands.
The countless monsters that might invade at any moment from that vast mountain range.
The margrave was the one defending the empire from them.
“And must we not hear the opinion of the Eastern Alliance as well?”
The force that bound the East tightly together.
The driving force that had allowed them to hold their ground without a single breach, despite being right below the Grandina Mountain Range.
That was the Eastern Noble Alliance.
Even at Yon Torno’s words, Sylvia calmly continued.
“The Eastern Alliance truly follows you, Uncle. With a single word from you, they will move.”
But what returned was a firm answer.
“Of course, that may be so. However, we must not do that. Your Highness.”
Yon Torno, who had kept the East steadfast for many long years, knew.
Rule without respect could not last long.
At the firm answer, Sylvia’s expression faltered.
“The nobles of the alliance…… would never agree to raising troops.”
What did they have to gain by agreeing to such an unfavorable gamble?
At this point, even if it were the imperial princess’s command, most of them would refuse to obey.
Didn’t everyone know Sylvia’s circumstances?
And after a brief silence, Yon Torno opened his mouth heavily toward her.
“……Your Highness.”
Did he wish to say such a thing?
The only daughter of his one and only sister. His only blood relative.
“I am truly sorry to say this.”
But precisely because of that, it was something he had to say.
“That is a problem Your Highness must resolve on your own.”
He did not expect her to possess a majesty that would make the nobles of the alliance marvel.
But she had to persuade them, at the very least, and that was something Sylvia herself absolutely had to do.
If she could not even persuade the Eastern Alliance, how could she rule a nation—and a vast empire at that?
“This is not due to any deficiency on Your Highness’s part. Who could possibly persuade the alliance in a situation like this? However, if you wish to win, Your Highness must be the one to accomplish it.”
Otherwise, there would be no meaning to any of it.
Yon Torno, hegemon of the East.
The countless forces under his command.
The tens of thousands of soldiers those forces commanded.
The loyal knight orders and awakened ones who followed him.
With a single word from Yon Torno, they would surely take up swords and grasp spears, gladly stepping onto the battlefield.
But…… what meaning would there be in that?
An imperial throne seized without one’s own ability would not last long anyway.
If that was the case, it was right not to begin at all.
“If you wish to flee, you may do so at any time. This was an unreasonable fight from the very beginning, was it not? No one will blame Your Highness.”
Those words hurt so much that Sylvia finally closed her eyes.
It had all been simply to survive.
Two half-brothers whose minds had been broken in some corner from birth.
Growing up wedged between them, Sylvia had realized only one thing.
—If this continues, I will surely die.
That was why she had struggled as quietly as she could, and the great card she had obtained was Yon Torno.
But this was the limit.
With what the imperial princess possessed, nothing could be resolved.
Anything beyond this was surely impossible.
How in the world was she supposed to persuade the Eastern Alliance?
No one would listen to the imperial princess’s words.
It was currently the season when monsters ran rampant, and in such a situation, no fool would leave their territory empty and raise troops.
It was not Sylvia’s fault.
A fate decided from birth.
The prevailing tide and flow were as they were, and there was no possible way to overturn them.
Yon Torno said to Sylvia,
“Rest. If you tell me at any time, I will have everything prepared so you may depart.”
He was telling her to simply run away.
* * *
He climbed the castle wall and stared blankly at the scenery outside.
“……What a view.”
A tall mountain pierced through the clouds.
Mountain ranges stretched out on either side of it like castle walls.
It was the Grandina Mountain Range.
It had been quite a splendid mountain range even in the game, but seeing it directly with his own eyes, its majesty was on another level.
As Hio stood there spacing out, passing soldiers glanced at him.
“What’s that? Did someone call for a clown?”
“Shh, watch your mouth. That man came out of the guest annex for distinguished visitors.”
“Huh? A clown did?”
“Hey, hey! He’ll hear you.”
Using the familiar mockery as music, Hio admired the stunning view of nature while rotating his circle.
‘Shout.’
Shout, the third 2nd Circle spell he had learned in spare moments on the road to the East.
It was magic that simply amplified the voice, serving as a kind of microphone.
‘I don’t know if there’ll be any use for it.’
Compared to Shield or Vampiric Touch, the structure and distribution of its pattern were simple, so he had chosen it third and learned it quickly.
He had registered it as a skill, but he had not yet confirmed what kind of effect it had.
There were far too many eyes watching.
A skill effect that made one’s voice louder becoming flashy……
He honestly could not predict what kind of nonsense it would pull.
‘Well, I’ll check that next time. For now……’
There were too many things to think about.
He must not stop thinking.
He had to predict what lay ahead and move accordingly.
Hio had already judged Silvert’s gamble to be worth taking and joined in, and the road remaining ahead was nothing but rough.
‘Can Sylvia persuade Yon Torno?’
No matter how he considered it from various angles, the conclusion he ultimately reached was negative.
The possibility was far too slim, and Hio’s brow furrowed deeply.
“This is annoying.”
The words he had surely muttered quietly—this is annoying—rang out abnormally loudly with the aid of magic.
The Shout spell was still active.
“Agh!”
“S-sorry!”
Startled by the sudden loud voice, a soldier hurriedly backed away.
‘……The effect is certain, at least.’
Turning his attention away from the two soldiers who were scurrying off as though they had something to feel guilty about, he calmed the mana in his circle and fell back into thought.
He expected Sylvia to fail to persuade Yon Torno.
If so, what was the reason?
‘The monster wave is the problem……’
An event that could only be experienced in the East.
Something like an annual event that came every spring.
Of course, that itself was not the issue.
The monsters that surged in like waves had never once crossed Yon Torno’s castle.
‘The problem is that it has to be this timing. A monster wave isn’t a joke.’
This was reality, not a game.
There were many factors to consider.
Fight a full-blown war against monsters, then immediately move out and march all the way to the capital?
Wasn’t that far too unrealistic?
“Hmm…… If this goes well, I feel like I could make a huge score.”
In Ventile, hunting monsters did not grant any particular benefits.
Despite that, why had Torno Castle’s monster wave been popular among players?
Needless to say, it was because of fame and achievements.
In fact, the achievements were probably the bigger reason than the fame.
It was an event where rewards were given depending on how much one contributed to the castle’s defense.
The monsters of this world were not very strong.
The story would be a bit different if one entered the depths of Grandina, but most of them were crude things that relied on sheer numbers to win.
The difficulty was not tremendously high, so the rewards were only useful to beginners and intermediate players.
Still, if he played it right, he felt like he could use his skills and rake in a large achievement reward……
“This damned nonviolence.”
This cursed nonviolence that always blocked Hio’s path.
“Would it be better to build up Patience again?”
The thought occurred to him that he should just shut his eyes and commit violence.
It would hurt terribly to have the nearly 400 Patience he had built up reset, but he might gain achievement rewards.
And if they could stop the monster wave quickly without major damage, wouldn’t that help Sylvia persuade Yon Torno as well?
“Even so, it’s too much of a waste……”
From the standpoint of someone who had accumulated Patience, 400 was by no means a small number.
The pain he had endured in the process was one thing, but the bigger issue was that there were not many opportunities to build Patience in the first place.
‘That’s a problem too, but…… what should I do about Sylvia?’
Patience, the monster wave, persuading Yon Torno, and so on—his head already felt like it would burst, but in truth, the most important issue was something else.
The energy of death that filled Sylvia’s body.
The most important thing was surely to save her by somehow drawing it out or making her expend it.
Even if she persuaded Yon Torno and won the war of imperial succession, what would be the point if Sylvia herself died?
“Isn’t there some way?”
The words he muttered to himself were a question directed at Purnell.
—……
But for some reason, Purnell was quiet.
It was rare for this talkative ghost to be silent.
Whenever Hio was lost in thought, he would invariably appear and toss out a word or two, yet now he was unusually quiet.
“Purnell?”
Hio called several times, but no answer came back.
Just as he was about to worry that something might have happened to Purnell’s main body in the Magic Tower……
Purnell’s voice rang out.
—Rejoice.
That voice, somehow filled with exultation, echoed in his head.
—I have found a clue.
Hio sprang up from his seat.