Some knights ran away with the people.
“Get the people to the shelters immediately! This is Her Excellency’s order!”
Aldor shouted at those knights.
Only then did the knights come to their senses and move in unison, concentrating on evacuating the people.
Adele did not simply give orders, but also ran around with the knights, focusing on evacuating people.
Acrid smoke and black volcanic ash filled the sky, and the ground shook violently.
Many people were crushed by rubble as they tried to escape the building that could not withstand the earthquake.
“Help me! Please, please, someone help me!”
A mother whose child was crushed by a pile of rocks cried out in despair with a tearful face, but no one stepped forward as everyone was in a hurry to run away.
So, someone offered a helping hand to the woman in deep despair.
“Your Excellency!”
It was Adele.
The woman's eyes widened as Adele easily lifted and moved a large stone that looked like it would take three or four strong men to lift.
Adele placed the unconscious child in the arms of such a woman and ran off to find another place where her help was needed.
***
“Evacuate the elderly and children first!”
Perdes also ran around in all directions evacuating people.
When he found someone who was injured or otherwise incapacitated, he carried them on his back and ran.
“Those who are able-bodied, help carry the wounded!”
Since Perdes not only gave orders verbally but also set an example, people began to follow his orders one by one.
Although carriages and carts could have been used to transport the wounded more easily, they could not be used because the ground was shaking.
In the end, the only thing you can trust is a person's strong legs.
Fortunately, the magma did not erupt.
Although small fireballs occasionally erupted, no lava flowed to the ground.
People sighed in relief at that fact, but not Perdes.
'It's strange,'
According to his common sense, it was already time for the lava to erupt.
But instead of an explosion, only smoke was coming out, and upon closer inspection, the earthquake only occurred near the plaza, far from the volcano.
Is it possible that the volcano erupted not because of a simple natural disaster, but because of the red dragon's wrath?
“Then it makes no sense.”
If the red dragon was angry for some reason, it would have spewed lava even more mercilessly.
So Perdes, concluding that there must be another reason he was unaware of, looked towards the volcano.
Then, a familiar sight came into his sight.
“That man... is the Third Prince’s servant.”
Thanks to his extraordinary memory, which allows him to never forget a face once he has seen it, Perdes can recognize who the other person is immediately.
Of course, when the third Prince, Ian, married the young lady of the Marquis family and left the palace, that man also stepped down from his position as a servant, so he was no longer a servant.
But the fact that the man was close to Ian remained unchanged.
Was that man's name on the list of nobles who visited Duke Leopold's residence?
'There wasn't any.'
But while it was suspicious that the man was here, what was more suspicious was that he seemed to be going somewhere in a hurry.
You might think that they are simply running away because the volcano has erupted...
“...That direction is towards the volcano.”
If you weren't crazy, you wouldn't have run towards the volcano when it erupted.
'There is something.'
Perdes, who thought that it might have something to do with why the volcano suddenly erupted, quietly followed the man.
***
“Just now... what did you say?”
While I was frantically saving people, I heard the news and asked back in surprise.
“You can’t see Perdes?”
The reporter who told me the news nodded with a pale face.
The knights who came with him also had gloomy faces.
“He was with us just a moment ago, but then suddenly he disappeared.”
“Isn’t there anyone among you who saw where Lord Perdes went?”
“I’m sorry. We were all out of our minds...”
Wow, out of all these knights, not a single one saw Perdes disappear.
It was absurd, but I understood because I was in such a chaotic situation.
Yeah, I understood it in my head, but my heart didn't.
I was also worried that something might have gone wrong with Perdes.
Aldor realized the situation late and spoke quickly.
“I will release the knights right now and look for Lord Perdes.”
“...No. Please don’t do that.”
I would have liked to have told them to do so, but if we were to deploy our knights to find Perdes, we would not have enough manpower to evacuate the people safely.
“Let’s move forward with evacuating the people as our top priority, but additionally, let’s look for Lord Perdes.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
The knights who each took on their roles dispersed, and I, too, focused on evacuating the people, but I couldn't do it.
I kept looking around, wondering if Perdes was nearby.
I flinched just by looking at someone with a similar build to him and checked his face.
But Perdes was nowhere to be found.
Where the hell are you?
Are you okay?
Surely, there's nothing wrong with it?
The feeling of anxiety that had been creeping up from the tips of my toes slowly began to strangle me.
My breathing became difficult and my vision became blurry.
My mouth was dry and my legs were shaking, but I gritted my teeth and held on because there were still so many people who needed my help.
How much time has passed like that?
The earthquakes that seemed to shake the world have subsided and the loud noises have disappeared.
The pitch-black smoke that had been continuously pouring out from the vent began to gradually subside.
If lava had erupted, it would have been a hellish mess, but fortunately, it was not.
I felt relieved, but at the same time, I was holding onto another worry that I had put aside for a moment and hurriedly asked a nearby knight.
“Did you find Lord Perdes?”
“Huh? Oh, no. I couldn’t find him... What happened to Perdes?”
The knight, unaware of Perdes' disappearance, asked in bewilderment.
Since I didn't have the time or energy to explain everything in detail, I just skipped through the knights and found the one that had reported to me that Perdes had disappeared.
“Did you find Perdes?”
The knight who had just put the injured man down lowered his face gloomily.
“I’m sorry, Your Excellency.”
So you couldn't find it.
For a moment, I felt a terrible sensation, as if the ground I was standing on was collapsing.
An ominous aura that had been strangling my neck enveloped my entire body, and my vision darkened.
I have to find him.
I had to find him.
As I was rushing out of the shelter, Sir Aldor grabbed my arm.
“Your Excellency! It is still dangerous outside, so you must not go out!”
“...Let go.”
"Your Excellency!"
“If it’s Perdes, the knights and I will go out and look for him. So...!”
“I told you to let go!”
“No.”
He usually listened to me as if he had no choice when I said things like that, but this time he didn't give in.
I had to go find Perdes quickly, but I was frustrated and resentful of him for being so stubborn.
I was about to shake it off, feeling it was a waste of time to argue with him, when someone opened the door to the shelter and came in, coughing dryly.
“Knock knock. It’s a little cold, maybe because there’s no sun. Knock knock, knock knock.”
It was Perdes.
As soon as I saw his face, I ran to him and threw myself into his arms.
“Huh, huh?”
Then as if in a panic, Perdes froze and took a step back.
I closed the gap between us again and buried my head in his arms.
The thumping sound of his heart reminded me again that he was safe.
“Haa, I’m glad you’re safe. I’m really, really glad...”
As I muttered with a deep sigh of relief, my stiff body relaxed.
Perdes picked me up, smiled, and brushed away my disheveled hair.
“I guess you were very worried.”
“...”
“I’m sorry for disappearing without saying anything.”
“...If you know, that’s enough.”
When I answered in a loud voice, the laughter became louder.
Perdes apologized again and hugged me tightly.
***
Not only was the inauguration ceremony not completed due to the sudden disaster, but Leopold's Duchy also suffered great damage.
Although the casualties were not as great as expected, they were not nonexistent.
Many people are grieving the loss of beloved family members and friends.
Many people lost their homes and jobs due to the earthquake, and crops were destroyed by volcanic ash.
People who had been forced to stay in shelters until their homes were restored gathered in small groups and talked about what had happened that day.
“It was really horrible. When the sky turned black with a loud noise, I thought I was going to die.”
“That’s right, that’s right. If the lava had erupted, I would have really died.”
“I feel the same way. Oh my, really. It’s horrible to even think about.”
“But why did the volcano suddenly erupt?”
Someone suddenly asked a question.
“This volcano is different from other volcanoes because it is the volcano where the red dragon sleeps. So I heard it’s safe as long as you don’t upset the dragon.”
“That’s right. I heard that story from my grandfather too.”
“Does that mean who provoked the Red Dragon?”
Who the hell would do such a crazy thing?
As we discussed and shared what we each knew, we came to one conclusion.
The conclusion is that the person who provoked the Red Dragon was none other than Adele Leopold.
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