Chapter 7: The Reason for the Deployment

A knight of the Lion’s Holy Office answered Estelle.

“Yes, ma’am! We are being sent there as reinforcements for the region!”

That was why they had gone to the trouble of meeting in midair.

The people moving back and forth between the ships were busy exchanging all manner of information.

“How has the Lion’s Holy Office fared in my absence? I trust everyone has continued training without slacking off.”

One of the knights stepped forward to answer on behalf of the others.

He was the huge, powerfully built knight who had often crossed swords with Ren whenever the boy visited the Lion’s Holy Office to train.

Even a man like him stiffened with long-forgotten tension before Estelle.

“Of course, Your Excellency. In fact, lately we have had reason to train even harder than before—as though our lives depended on it.”

“Do not tell me you committed some blunder before a member of the imperial family.”

The air around Estelle changed.

The knights of the Lion’s Holy Office were exceptionally loyal to the imperial family, but Estelle’s devotion ran deeper still.

Fearing that one of her subordinates might have disgraced himself, she infused her voice with intimidating force.

The knight swallowed beneath the pressure, then immediately explained the truth. There was nothing to conceal.

“Nothing of the sort occurred. We merely realized how inadequate our strength was when confronted with new talent.”

“New talent?”

He told her about Ren Ashton and Licia Clausel, who had begun visiting the Lion’s Holy Office through an introduction from Ulysses Ignat.

The knight knew both of them well and could describe their abilities in detail.

By the time he finished, Estelle had become interested not only in Licia, but in Ren as well.

“I already knew of the White Saint, but you claim that the boy possesses even greater talent?”

“Yes, Your Excellency. I believe you would understand the moment you saw him.”

Another knight then added:

“Lord Ren is already a Swordmaster. Last summer, he fought beside His Highness the Third Prince and distinguished himself during the Great Clock Tower incident. The day he becomes a Sword Saint may not be far away.”

“The boy who became Prince Radius’s friend? I have heard rumors of him…”

Thinking about Ren Ashton, Estelle turned toward the direction of her beloved homeland, Leomel.

Still, she exhaled and reminded herself that she could judge him only after seeing him in person.

Estelle placed a hand on the shoulder of the subordinate who would travel to the Martell Continent in her stead.

“You have told me something interesting. I leave the rest to you.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

After offering those words of encouragement, Estelle began her journey home to the country she loved.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Estelle reached her homeland the following evening.

Returning home for the first time in several years stirred countless emotions within her. The sight of her country through the magic ship’s window filled her chest with an almost uncontrollable warmth.

The military craft carrying her landed at a military magic-ship port on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital. From there, she boarded a magic train that ran along a dedicated line to a station near the Lion’s Holy Office.

After leaving the train, however, she did not go to the Lion’s Holy Office. Instead, she headed for the Imperial Castle.

As soon as she arrived, she was granted an audience with the emperor.

The sky was poised between evening and night.

After receiving the emperor’s thanks for her service, Estelle asked about the incident in Elendil the previous summer.

The emperor told her to ask Radius instead.

Considering the true reason for her long deployment, that would be more convenient.

When Estelle left the audience chamber after meeting the emperor, she found Radius leaning against a wall outside.

“Your Highness Radius! It has been far too long!”

His figure stood out against the corridor’s black marble, which closely resembled the interior of the Lion’s Holy Office.

Hearing her voice, Radius pushed away from the wall and walked toward her as she approached.

Estelle hurriedly tried to kneel on one knee, but when Radius told her to stand at ease, she merely straightened her posture.

“I told you to stand at ease…”

“This is an easy posture for me. Please forgive me.”

“Good grief. You truly have not changed.”

“Naturally. I have not changed in the slightest since the day Your Highness Radius was born.”

Radius gave Estelle’s shoulder a light pat.

Seeing him before her so soon after returning to the capital made Estelle tremble with joy.

“I could ask for no one more dependable. You have rendered truly distinguished service. For someone who loves Leomel as deeply as you do, such a long deployment must have weighed on you.”

“Not at all. There could be no greater honor than receiving a secret mission from His Majesty and Your Highness.”

“…I am sorry. Still, I hear your mission produced results.”

“Yes. I have already submitted a written report to His Majesty. I had hoped to report to Your Highness as well.”

As though by prior agreement, the two began walking together.

The crimson evening light filtering through the windows grew darker as they went.

“It was in spring two years ago that Your Highness first consulted me, was it not?”

“Yes. Several months earlier, the incident in the Baldor Mountains had given me much to consider. The central question was whether the Demon King cult had bared its fangs only at our country—or whether its reach extended elsewhere.”

“And just then, a conveniently timed request for reinforcements arrived from the Holy Land.”

Radius nodded.

He spoke while recalling the circumstances of that time.

“We could earn their gratitude and, to a small extent, demonstrate our strength.”

“But that was not the true objective.”

Estelle’s immediate response revealed why someone of her stature had remained away from her homeland for almost two years.

A secret known to only a handful of people lay behind the deployment.

“His Majesty and Your Highness entrusted me with a secret mission for a particular purpose. I left my homeland and, following those orders, investigated a great many things.”

The secret mission was an investigation.

Officially, she had led knights of the Lion’s Holy Office as a reinforcement force, and they had indeed assisted with humanitarian relief in conflict zones.

But that alone did not explain why she had spent two years away from home.

Estelle had another, far more important duty.

She had been ordered to determine whether the Demon King cult was involved in the fighting across the disputed regions and to gather any information she could about the cult.

At times, Estelle had traveled alone across the Martell Continent in pursuit of leads.

That was the principal reason a woman of her position had remained away from Leomel for nearly two years.

Naturally, the more strength Leomel retained to protect the imperial family and the capital, the better. Estelle had initially harbored reservations about such a long mission for that very reason, but Leomel had a Sword King.

If a crisis arose that even the Sword King could not handle, Estelle’s presence would likely make no difference.

Of course, the emperor and Radius had struggled with the decision as well.

No matter how important the investigation was, sending someone of Estelle’s caliber away from the country for two years had not been an easy choice.

Yet the mission’s importance was precisely why Estelle had been the right person for it.

Her next words seemed to prove that judgment correct.

“After continuing my investigation across the Martell Continent, I obtained information about individuals believed to be senior officers of the Demon King cult.”

That result alone justified dispatching her.

It proved that Leomel did not underestimate the Demon King cult, and no one could object if her findings demonstrated the value of the secret mission.

“As expected of you, Estelle. Your reports reached us regularly, but I cannot express how eagerly I have awaited the chance to hear this from you directly.”

“Yes, Your Highness! Those words alone make every risk to my life worthwhile.”

They also possessed information obtained from Lenidus, who had attacked the Great Clock Tower in Elendil the previous summer.

His interrogation revealed that the Demon King cult had assaulted a certain temple and stolen Elfen’s Tears, the sacred relic kept there.

Lenidus also said that he and the other cultists had acted under someone they called the Cult Leader.

That information had been shared with Estelle even while she was on the distant Martell Continent.

“Please look at this.”

Estelle drew a sheet of parchment from inside her military uniform.

As Radius accepted it and began reading, Estelle continued.

“How did you arrive at this man’s name?”

“Every conclusion here is based on information obtained from members of the Demon King cult.”

“You fought them, then.”

“Yes. They were apparently operating in the conflict zones as well, and I encountered them several times during my investigation. They were no match for my sword.”

Estelle had clashed with members of the Demon King cult many times, yet completed every battle without suffering a single wound.

By interrogating captured enemies and collecting scraps of information from their belongings over almost two years, she had eventually traced the cult to one particular man.

“I believe that man is the Cult Leader.”

“According to legend, he was once one of the Demon King’s closest retainers. And now we have learned that he survived.”

“There is no definitive record of his death. The records say only that he disappeared at the same time the Demon King died.”

“True,” Radius murmured, staring at the parchment as they walked.

Estelle followed half a step behind and spoke while watching him.

“Your Highness, do you remember the temple that was attacked?”

“I do. What of it?”

“I managed to meet an adventurer who had visited that temple. According to the adventurer, two close attendants stood beside the person believed to be the Cult Leader.”

“Lenidus never mentioned that. Do you have any information about those two people’s appearances?”

“I am afraid not. Both the people in the Holy Land and the adventurers who witnessed the attack said that the suspected Cult Leader and his two attendants wore robes and masks that concealed their faces.”

When Estelle apologized, Radius told her not to worry.

“Learning the Cult Leader’s name and race is already enough.”

Ren, meanwhile, had once acted on his own initiative to share what he knew about the Demon King cult.

His information was extremely limited, especially because the places where the cult would appear could no longer be predicted. Nearly everything he knew had already been shared with Ulysses during the Baldor Mountains incident.

“Once we have organized this information, we must tell Ren and Ulysses as well.”

Ren knew that the Demon King cult had a figure called the Cult Leader and had shared that fact. The character appeared near the end of Legend of the Seven Heroes II, which was why Ren had reacted so strongly when Lenidus mentioned the title during the previous summer’s incident.

However, the Cult Leader Ren had seen in the game had also concealed his appearance, just as Estelle reported. Ren had therefore been able to tell them only that such a leader existed. The man’s name and race, and the existence of two senior officers serving him, would all be new information to Ren.

“Estelle, I arranged for ingredients from your homeland of Drake and fruit from Mount Osloes to be delivered to your residence. Enjoy them with your husband.”

“Truly? May I?”

“I will reward you properly in other ways as well, but consider this a beginning. I still have several matters to discuss, so give me a little more of your time.”

He wanted to finish the remaining discussion over tea.

As Radius continued walking beside Estelle, a thought escaped his lips.

“…Things are going to become busy.”

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

After their conversation, Radius returned to his room to read the report.

Estelle continued through the castle, but a member of the Imperial Guard called her back to the audience chamber. There, the emperor gave her new orders and issued one strict command before she left.

No one was to learn the details of the new mission—not Radius, and not even the empress.

Estelle found the assignment peculiar, but answered the emperor, “Leave it to me.”

“His Majesty has entrusted me with another unusual mission.”

She murmured those words to herself as she walked away from the audience chamber.

Night deepened.

After leaving the Imperial Castle, Estelle looked up at the star-filled sky and began the long-awaited journey back to her own residence.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

It was shortly after dawn, while the sky was still dim.

“Good morning. Have you come to train with the sword again before attending the academy?”

A knight standing before the Lion’s Holy Office addressed Ren.

“Good morning. I have come to impose on you again today.”

“Ha! You are hardly imposing on us. Your presence keeps us on our toes, Lord Ren. By the way, is the saint not with you?”

“Lady Licia has work to handle for House Clausel. She will make it to class, but she cannot attend the morning training.”

Ren bowed to the knight and continued inside.

As always, he trained until sweat poured from him.

For several hours, he honed his sword against the black-clad knights. Even after one consecutive bout after another, Ren continued swinging while breathing heavily.

Before long, some of the grown men began admitting defeat first.

“Haa… haa…”

“I-I yield…”

Several knights left the center of the training floor and sank to the ground.

Yet no one could fairly call them weaklings defeated by a child.

Ren was growing at a genuinely inhuman pace. Even the gifted knights of the Lion’s Holy Office found the boy continuing to surpass them.

“Lord Ren has seemed even more driven than usual lately.”

“I heard the Lion King Grand Festival is partly responsible. Once the committee work begins, he will have fewer days when he can come after school, so he is trying to visit as often as possible early in the morning.”

“S-so that is why…”

Ahead of the knights’ gazes, Ren remained wholly focused on swinging his sword.

(More—)

He trained until he was ready to collapse.

Ren was completely absorbed in his sword, scattering sweat as he exerted every ounce of strength he possessed, when voices rang out nearby.

“I-is that really her?!”

“W-when did she return?!”

The knights started in alarm, and those sitting on the ground hurried to their feet.

The training grounds spread across the basement beneath a vast atrium. One knight after another straightened as they noticed the figure standing high above.

Every voice fell silent.

Even the knight facing Ren stopped and looked up into the atrium.

Ren mistook that pause for a signal that his opponent had yielded.

“Please continue. I can still fight.”

He spoke eagerly and waited for the next challenger.

(I have to work even harder if I want to become a Sword Saint.)

He kept swinging, steadily refining his Mantle.

Ren was intent on obtaining a new combat Art through that training when a woman’s voice reached him.

“According to the teachings of Elfen, an unyielding spirit is one of the greatest virtues. When joined with overwhelming strength, people call it valor.”

The woman’s voice descended from far above Ren.

Its power alone made him look up into the atrium without thinking.

“It seems there is a remarkably spirited boy in my Lion’s Holy Office.”

She stood above him.

The embodiment of ferocity looked down upon them from the upper level of the atrium.

Ren’s eyes widened, and he drew a sharp breath.

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