Chapter 486: Report Meeting on What Happened in the Raven Kingdom

After confirming that the pillar of light had vanished, our party set off toward the Heine Frontier Count’s Territory. When I fully activated my “Search” skill to check, it seemed that we had successfully defeated the Bone Dragon.

With this, the Raven Kingdom should finally be able to catch a breath. From here on, they will probably focus on domestic reconstruction.

I’d like to tell Sister-in-law Daniela about that, but I’m scared she’ll press me with, “How do you even know that?” So I’ll keep quiet. I feel a little guilty about it.

“Julius, what’s beyond the Gate to Paradise?”

“I don’t think there’s anything there. It’s probably just a white void where even your soul gets dismantled and that’s the end.”

“Even the soul… That’s a terrifying place. I wonder why it’s called the Gate to Paradise?”

“Maybe because it’s a quiet world, free of hatred and fear? Of course, there’s probably no joy or fun either.”

When you die, all consciousness and everything else disappears. That’s likely the same for humans and monsters. Unless you reincarnate with your memories intact. Normally, I think even the memories would be dismantled and vanish.

As I was thinking that, it seemed Alex-niisan understood and nodded with his arms crossed.

“I see. In that case, it might really be a paradise.”

“But humans can’t enter the Gate to Paradise.”

Only the dead can pass through the Gate to Paradise. The living can’t enter at all. Whether that’s a form of salvation or something else—I don’t know either.

A few days later, the carriage safely arrived in the Heine Frontier Count’s Territory. We ended up spending more time in the Raven Kingdom than I had expected. I had sent letters, but they were probably still worried.

We arrived at the Count’s residence. The entire family was waiting in front of the mansion.

“Father, Mother, I’ve returned home.”

“Good work. I’ll hear the full story later. You must be tired from the long journey, right?”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

Following Alex-niisan’s lead, Sister-in-law Daniela and I also greeted them. Unfortunately, Cain-niisan and Sister-in-law Mika had already departed for the royal capital. I really wanted to properly greet them before heading to the academy.

“Rosalia, Mira, were you good while I was gone?”

“We were good! We were good, but you came back too late!”

“Kyu, kyu!”

Saying that, the two of them pressed their heads against me. It seemed they were super mad. I did write in my letter that I would be late, but apparently, that wasn’t enough for them.

I took the two of them and headed to the salon.

“Nero, you must be tired too, right? Leave this to the others and go get some rest. Lilie must have been worried too.”

“Thank you. I’ll do just that.”

After bowing, Nero left the room. The visit to the Raven Kingdom this time had involved the minimum number of people. So the burden on the servants, including Nero, must have been quite heavy. I need to make sure they rest properly. That includes Lionel as well.

While drinking tea in the salon, I listened to what had been happening in the Heine household. Apparently, nothing of note had occurred here. The only issue was when it became clear that I wouldn’t be coming back as expected—Sister-in-law Mika became terribly depressed, and it was quite the effort to cheer her up.

Fabienne had been told when I’d be returning to the Heine house, so she had taken the day off today out of consideration. She probably figured there were things I couldn’t talk to her about. She didn’t need to worry, though.

“Well then, let’s hear Alex’s report next. Most of it was written in the letter, but surely there were things you couldn’t include?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

As Alex-niisan glanced around meaningfully, the servants bowed and exited the salon. He probably didn’t intend to share everything that had happened in the Raven Kingdom, but he seemed ready to share a fair bit of information.

Rosalia isn’t a child forever, after all. It seems they’ve decided it’s time to start treating her as a proper member of the nobility. Perhaps sensing that something serious was starting, Rosalia’s expression turned stiff.

Thus, Alex-niisan’s report began.

“…And that’s the current situation in the Raven Kingdom. How much of this has reached you here?”

“Hmm. We received a report that a Bone Dragon appeared and is currently being dealt with. So we immediately sent knights and soldiers to the border. But it seems that was unnecessary.”

“I’m glad it turned out to be unnecessary. When we first heard from the capital, I was seriously thinking about calling you all back immediately.”

“I’m sorry for causing you worry.”

I’m sure the Heine’s house received more detailed reports than what the kingdom itself had. The kingdom had taken action too, but it seems they didn’t notice our involvement. Well, I guess that makes sense—we were acting independently after all.

“Daniela-sama, it might be better if you report to His Majesty the King as well.”

“You’re right. I suppose I should. But… I’m not sure how much I should actually tell him…”

“There’s no need to worry about that. I’ll take full responsibility and report to His Majesty myself. That way, there won’t be any suspicions.”

She’s probably right. The matter of the Holy Sword, the legendary armor, and the use of the full-heal elixir—there are too many classified details. We might even get summoned to the capital. I doubt even Sister-in-law Daniela expected things to turn out like this.

…And I’m the cause of all those “things,” by the way. Not even a “maybe”—it’s definitely all my fault. Looking only at the result, we managed to suppress the situation before it became a huge crisis, but when you examine it closely, I did some pretty outrageous stuff.

If Sister-in-law Daniela is going to reward me, I’d like her to pretend none of this ever happened. Though… that’s probably too much to hope for.