Chapter 747
Dark Alliance, Dresden Kingdom territory, southern front.
Yona had been summoned into a military tent.
“Thank you for coming, Yona.”
And before him, a middle-aged man stood with fingers interlaced, welcoming him.
“To think that the famous 7th Legion Commander would come over here, it’s reassuring.”
“I look forward to working with you.”
The supreme commander of the southern front, a veteran of countless wars, a veteran among veterans, Tragan Jedward.
He spread out a map and began to speak.
“To explain the current situation, priests who caught the scent of the Sealed Letter have swarmed in. Battles have already broken out in five places.”
He pointed his command stick at various points on the map.
“Our role is simple. To transport the Sealed Letter safely to Roke Island.”
“Is it the real Sealed Letter?”
Richard asked indifferently, and Tragan snapped his fingers with a smiling face.
“No need for long words, I’ll show you directly.”
Then soldiers wheeled in a cart into the tent. Richard’s eyes changed the moment he saw the object placed on it.
It was unmistakably genuine, exuding a sinister aura for anyone to see. Even being near it caused cloth to wither and colors of objects to fade.
“This great weapon to end the long war, the ‘Sealed Letter’, is entrusted to us. That’s why you and the 7th Legion were summoned.”
“A most important mission.”
“A very troublesome one.”
Tragan pinched the bridge of his nose with his index and middle finger.
“You do know the Holy Federation bastards blocked teleportation to Roke Island, don’t you? Pointless. Because of its alien magic, teleportation using rune language itself is impossible. Naturally, it can’t be put into subspace either. Crude as it may be, we have no choice but to carry it in a carriage.”
“Hmm.”
“We will guard the Sealed Letter like an iron wall while moving. Alliance forces are steadily gathering here. With their protection, if we break through the naval blockade and deliver the Sealed Letter to Roke Island, it will be the victory of our Dark Alliance.”
Richard nodded as though he understood.
“However.”
“?”
Tragan shifted his chair a little closer to Richard.
“At this decisive moment before such an important mission in this long war, strange rumors about you have been circulating.”
Richard brushed his hair back with a tired expression.
“There are plenty of bad rumors about me, what of it.”
“They say you made contact with the Saint of Miracles at Bahila Fiefdom.”
Richard’s movement halted.
“While volunteering at an orphanage, wasn’t it? Ah, that could happen. In this mad world, such a thing is hardly more than a minor incident. But unfortunately, your actions afterward left grounds for suspicion.”
Tragan interlaced his fingers.
“They say you abandoned the Saint of Miracles before your eyes, retreating while driving back your own troops.”
“....…”
“It would have been better had the incident ended as an incident, and you fought as you should. It seems the higher-ups are speaking about you, who let slip a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Richard scratched his head roughly and replied in irritation.
“I don’t fight wars without a chance of victory. At the orphanage, our troops were fewer than theirs, and I hadn’t brought many Ancient Undead with me, so there was no need to fight. That’s all.”
“Is that truly all?”
“Yes.”
Tragan brushed his thick fingers across each other.
“Of course, I believe you, but you know, don’t you? That the imagination of elders, old enough to be senile, is unpleasantly abundant.”
“....…”
“There’s an order requiring an ideological inspection of you, the one entrusted with transporting the Sealed Letter. But I’d rather not go that far.”
Shff—
He slid over a sheet of paper.
“It’s troublesome, but write a report for the higher-ups. Describe in detail why you had no choice but to make that decision at the time.”
“....…”
“And then, let’s move the Sealed Letter together, make a great achievement, and end this war in victory for the Alliance.”
Tap, tap.
Tragan patted Richard on the shoulder and left the tent.
Richard, staring at the statement of reasons in silence, soon let out a long sigh and sat down.
“Damn it.”
Scratch—
He picked up a quill and began writing the report.
Still, considering that this was a command from the old men of Roke Island, it was fortunate that Tragan’s discretion allowed it to end with just this much.
<The disguised Saint of Miracles and I merely happened to be at the same place, not once did we exchange words.>
The moment he ended that paragraph, it surfaced in his mind.
—What a wonderful name, Richard!
Her voice.
The air of that day.
The temperature of that day.
Her smile, gently laughing as she spoke, came alive like life itself, flickering before his eyes.
“Damn it.”
Richard pulled himself out of his thoughts and continued writing.
<During volunteer work, I took care of the orphans. I cooked meals, cleaned, and played with the children.>
As he described the volunteer work, he remembered again.
The day he rode with her on the spirit dragons to the sea.
—But today, just this one day that went astray, was the most special and shining day in a life I’ve lived the same way all along.
Her face, speaking with a smile, was clearer than anything else.
Richard set down his quill for a moment and leaned back his head.
“Hoo.”
His mind was complicated.
* * *
After Richard left, only the report and quill remained in the tent.
And into it, Tragan entered.
“....…”
Tragan did not even look at the written report, but instead gazed at the quill Richard had touched. Then he turned his head.
“Is this enough, spirit summoner?”
Sssrrr—!
From the floor, a strange magic different from Darkness rose and gathered, forming the shape of a man. A man draped in a black cloak.
“It is sufficient.”
He stood up and began to cast a curse on the quill Richard had touched. Tragan sat down heavily as he spoke.
“During wartime, impersonating orders from the higher-ups is quite a serious crime.”
“Even if it becomes a problem, since it was to weed out a traitor, the higher-ups will understand.”
The man removed his hand from the cursed quill.
“And you yourself saw it, did you not, Commander-in-Chief.”
“Yes.”
Before coming here, at the Bahila Fiefdom where Richard had stayed in his tent.
The man had shown Tragan the items there.
<How to stop the war> <The reasons this war must end>
Richard wasn’t thinking about winning the war, but rather researching ways to stop it. Various books, critiques, even notes filled with his writings.
“He has been moved by the Saint of Miracles, and in the end, he will betray the Dark Alliance.”
The cursed quill lifted into the air, dancing above the blank paper.
“Before that, we must move first. For the better future of the Alliance.”
* * *
Anna too, had come to the Dresden Kingdom southern front where Richard was.
The Holy Federation had not yet assembled a large-scale army. They organized guerrilla forces at the platoon level, launching attacks on any Dark Alliance troops retreating from the southern front.
Since no one knew who was carrying the Sealed Letter, only relentless offensives could be the answer. Anna too had no choice but to move frantically, following the other priests.
“....…”
That night.
After countless battles, Anna, who hadn’t had a proper moment of sleep, finally managed to close her eyes for a while. Even then, it was only on the ground, camping with a blanket before a dead campfire.
But her mind was too restless for sleep. In the night, when even the comrade standing guard was nodding off from exhaustion, Anna took his place, watching the surroundings.
‘What is he doing now?’
As Anna lifted her eyes to the night sky, Richard’s face came to mind.
Rustle—
Swish—
She heard the bushes around her shake.
A wild beast? Or an enemy?
Anna carefully rose and turned toward the direction of the sound.
And then.
‘Ah!’
It was unmistakably a ‘Spirit Dragon’.
The very Spirit Dragon Richard had used when he first showed her the sea.
The Spirit Dragon gazed at Anna, then turned its back. As if urging her to follow, it repeatedly glanced back and moved forward.
‘……Richard?’
Anna hastily followed the Spirit Dragon. After crossing the forest and traveling quite far, the Spirit Dragon finally stopped.
“Ah, hello. What’s the matter? Did Richard send you?”
The Spirit Dragon rubbed its ear with its foot, then gestured at the ground with its head. When Anna looked, there lay a letter.
The moment Anna picked up the letter, the Spirit Dragon melted into the air and disappeared.
“Ah.”
Her heart began pounding fast.
Anna checked again that no one was around, then carefully unfolded the letter.
“……!”
She covered her mouth in awe. It was truly a letter from Richard.
She took out the seashell necklace she had treasured, on which Richard’s handwriting was carved. The script on the shell and the handwriting on the letter matched exactly. Though written hastily in a rushed scrawl, it was unmistakably Richard’s.
She focused and read the letter.
—I intend to destroy the Sealed Letter, and end this unreasonable war. Will you join me?
The letter specified a date and location for their meeting.
Anna folded the letter carefully, then began walking.
Of course, it was not in the direction of her comrades’ campsite.
* * *
At the same time.
With Israfil’s help, Simon and Lete crossed over via a teleportation magic circle.
Because the distance was so great, they hadn’t arrived at the southern front where Richard and Anna were in a single leap.
They should have taken another teleportation circle from here, but since it was too heavily guarded, they decided to ride horses to the front instead.
“By the way.”
Lete struck up a conversation.
“If history goes as it did, soon the ‘Betrayal of the Legion’ incident will occur, won’t it.”
“That’s right.”
“It’s just a thought, so don’t get angry. But if—”
Lete’s tone grew serious.
“If we could prevent the Betrayal of the Legion, and save Miss Anna and Richard, what would you say.”
“....…”
Of course, Simon had thought about that as well.
The greatest obstacle in his life was the Betrayal of the Legion itself.
Even though it had happened twenty-two years ago, people still shuddered at the mention of it, still hating the 7th Legion.
If it hadn’t happened, perhaps he would now be at Keyzen, living proudly as a Legion Commander.
His father would no longer need to live in hiding, his mother’s honor would be restored.
He would have inherited his father’s army and Ancient Undead intact, and would not need to conceal his identity from friends or those around him. Above all, the pain and hardship the two of them had to endure during the Betrayal of the Legion would have been spared.
To say he had not once wished to change the past would have been a lie. Simon closed his eyes tightly.
“Every human has regrets. If I could, I too would change a bad past. But we didn’t come here to change the past, we came to protect the future.”
Simon turned his head.
“I believe that even regret, sorrow, and despair are trials we need in order to move forward. Because of those hardships, we are who we are now. The Betrayal of the Legion must happen.”
Lete silently nodded, lowering his eyelids.
“A fine thought.”
No further words were exchanged.
The two fixed solemn expressions on their faces, galloping toward the place where the incident would unfold.
Soon, a historical event that would change the fate of the continent was about to occur.
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