No matter how preoccupied I was with searching for the Emperor, I didn't even notice someone approaching right behind me.
It was my fault for letting my guard down in the middle of enemy territory, but it also meant that the enemy was hiding their presence well.
That means he is a person of considerable skill.
The moment my opponent grabbed my left arm, I pulled out my sword and stabbed him.
Then, the opponent let go of my arm and quickly stepped back.
The robe he was wearing fluttered with his quick movements, revealing a bit of silver hair.
Silver hair? No way?
“Sir Aldor?”
“...”
The other person didn't answer, but it sounded positive to me.
“Sir Aldor, is that right? Answer me, Sir Aldor.”
As I approached, the opponent backed away and kept his distance.
Why, why are you distancing yourself from me?
You said you would protect me and that you would be my knight and stay by my side for the rest of my life.
“Why...!”
“Adele!”
I was about to let out what I had been holding back since I heard that Sir Aldor had disappeared when I heard Perdes' voice not far away.
While I was looking in that direction for a moment, the other person quickly disappeared.
Where did you go?
I looked around in confusion, but I couldn't see the opponent anywhere. There wasn't even a trace left, so it was impossible to chase after him.
“Isn’t that Sir Aldor?”
Yes, that man is clearly not Sir Aldor.
If it were Sir Aldor, he wouldn't have run away.
Even if he had been unable to say anything because of Diabolos, he would have shown me his face.
But that silver hair was definitely Sir Aldor's.
"Ha..."
My head was so complicated that I thought it would burst as I tried to accept a situation that I couldn't understand at all. I leaned against the wall, holding my temples that were throbbing, and I saw Perdes running towards me from the other side.
Perdes, who had come running in one stride, took a moment to catch his breath and then became angry.
“What if you go alone without the knights? I was worried something might happen!”
"...I saw Sir Aldor.”
“Yeah. Of course, Sir... What?”
“Sir Aldor was here.”
Perdes, who heard me muttering as if talking to myself, looked around in surprise. However, he too could not find any trace of Sir Aldor and asked me again.
“Was that guy really here?”
“...I’m not sure. I just saw silver hair poking out from between the robes.”
"Yes?"
Perdes thought for a moment, then said to me.
“While looking for the Emperor, we must also look for that man.”
Yes, that's right. We have to find the Emperor.
I remembered for a moment that I had forgotten that I might have seen Sir Aldor and immediately ordered the Knights of Leopold to find the Emperor.
At the same time, I wanted to order Aldor to be found, but I did not say anything because I wanted to hide the fact that he might have joined the Emperor's side.
“By the way, you said you saw something strange in the basement here. Where is it? If you don’t want to look again, I can go in alone.”
“No. Let’s go in together.”
While the knights searched for the Emperor, I went down to the cellar in question with Perdes.
But the basement was spotless. There was no trace of anything having been there.
“This can’t be happening.”
A very embarrassed Perdes waved his hands and explained to me.
“It was definitely here. There was a shell and a magic circle that looked exactly like the Emperor’s.”
“I believe you.”
Yeah, I didn't think Perdes was lying.
Perhaps the Emperor found out I was coming and got rid of it.
It was strange that it was so clean for something like that.
If it had been cleaned up in a hurry, there should have been at least a small trace left, but there wasn't even that.
As I continued to look around to see if there were any traces I hadn't noticed, Perdes took the Dragon Fairy out of his coat pocket.
“Did you keep carrying that around with you?”
It's the size of a fist, so it can fit in your pocket, but it must have been a bit cumbersome to carry around all the time.
"Shhhh."
Perdes gestured for silence, then spoke to the dragon.
“Yes, I can hear you.”
I don't think he's talking to me.
By the way, the Dragon Fairy is awake!
That means that Byblos has been contacted.
I wanted to hear what Byblos had to say, but unfortunately, I couldn't hear it.
I couldn't ask Perdes because I felt like it would be an unnecessary interruption to the conversation.
Instead, let us stare at him, Perdes said to Byblos.
“Since it’s just her and me here, you can speak through the fairy’s mouth.”
[Yes.]
The fairy moved her mouth and spoke the voice of Byblos. It was like seeing a magical messenger bird.
"Hello."
I said hello, feeling like I should make sure he knew I was there, and Byblos snorted.
[What the hell. I almost died because of some guy who got stuck in a time rift.]
“A gap in time?”
[Yes. There is a time barrier here, and the flow of time is completely different from the outside.]
That's right.
[So I was forcibly creating a time rift to investigate, but a strange guy came into the barrier and interfered, so my mental power was disrupted, and I almost got trapped in the rift.]
“Does that mean that someone other than the Great Sage entered the Duke’s basement?”
[Probably so.]
No way. Of all the people left in Duke Leopold's mansion, only Hannes could enter the basement.
Surely, he wouldn't have gone into the basement and disturbed Byblos.
Then who is it? Who went into the basement?
[I don't know who it is, but it's a pretty strong guy.]
Byblos spoke with unusual nervousness.
[Damn it. I better get out of here. Or I'll get locked up... ]
The Dragon Fairy stopped talking and closed his mouth. His eyes closed slowly.
“Wait a minute! Please wait a moment!”
I called out to Byblos urgently, but the dragon's eyes were already closed. This meant that communication was cut off.
“Byblos, Byblos!”
Perdes called him several times, but his eyes wouldn't open. Perdes looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“What is going on?”
I shook my head.
“I don’t know. But I’m sure something happened at Duke Leopold’s residence.”
Is it my wish that it has something to do with the Emperor?
“Could it be that the Emperor has gone to Duke Leopold’s residence?”
Perdes must have had the same thought, as he spoke cautiously.
“If it’s someone so powerful that Lord Byblos is nervous, then it means he’s not human, and there’s a good chance that the Emperor isn’t human either.”
“Yes.”
Besides, seeing as he went into the basement means he was after the items there, and no matter how much I think about it, the only person who would do something like that is the Emperor.
Did the Emperor really go to Duke Leopold's residence?
Is the Emperor trampling on my mansion, my precious mansion, with his shoes?
“We must return to the Duke’s residence immediately, immediately!”
Even though I said this, I knew better than anyone that going back right away was impossible.
Even if you go as fast as you can, it takes three days to get from the capital to Duke Leopold's residence.
Three days would have been enough time for the Emperor to destroy not only Duke Leopold's residence but also Leopold's entire estate.
“That’s not possible. That’s not possible...!”
“Calm down, Adele.”
Unlike me, who was still in shock, Perdes spoke calmly.
“Calm down. I’ll take you to Duke Leopold’s residence soon.”
“...Not too late?”
"Yes."
Why are you answering so definitively?
I looked at Perdes, puzzled.
Then, Perdes smiled brightly, took out his mana pen, and began drawing a magic circle on the floor.
I don't know anything about magic circles, but I could tell just from their appearance that they were extremely difficult and complex.
“What are you drawing?”
“Teleport magic circle.”
“Huh? It can only travel a short distance.”
“The magic circle known to humans is like that, but this is different because it is a magic circle passed down directly from a dragon.”
If you're talking about dragons, you're probably talking about Byblos.
There was something else I wanted to ask Perdes, but he was so focused on drawing the magic circle that I kept quiet for fear of disturbing him.
“Okay, that’s it.”
Finally, Perdes completed the magic circle and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“I’m a little worried that it might work properly since it only works with the mana in the mana pen... If it doesn’t work, I’ll bring the puras rolling around the palace and put them here.”
Pura. At those words, my gaze naturally turned to the sword hanging on my waist.
“If you put in about ten of them, you won’t run out of mana.”
“...Let’s just start from the beginning.”
"Yes?"
“Where should I put it?”
When Perdes looked bewildered and pointed to the center of the magic circle, I put the sword I was holding there.
Then, the large Pura embedded in the sword hilt began to emit a red light.
The magic circle sparkled with the same light as Pura, resonating with it.
“Is this enough?”
“Enough! I’ll activate the magic circle right now!”
As Perdes hurriedly climbed onto the magic circle and muttered something, the red light grew stronger, and soon, the area in front of my eyes turned bright red.
How long must I have floundered in that bright red space where I could not see anything, let alone hear Perdes' voice?
“...I succeeded.”
As a low sigh was heard, the once bright red world gradually became darker.
When my vision returned to normal, I saw Leopold's residence, shrouded in pitch-black darkness.
It was my fault for letting my guard down in the middle of enemy territory, but it also meant that the enemy was hiding their presence well.
That means he is a person of considerable skill.
The moment my opponent grabbed my left arm, I pulled out my sword and stabbed him.
Then, the opponent let go of my arm and quickly stepped back.
The robe he was wearing fluttered with his quick movements, revealing a bit of silver hair.
Silver hair? No way?
“Sir Aldor?”
“...”
The other person didn't answer, but it sounded positive to me.
“Sir Aldor, is that right? Answer me, Sir Aldor.”
As I approached, the opponent backed away and kept his distance.
Why, why are you distancing yourself from me?
You said you would protect me and that you would be my knight and stay by my side for the rest of my life.
“Why...!”
“Adele!”
I was about to let out what I had been holding back since I heard that Sir Aldor had disappeared when I heard Perdes' voice not far away.
While I was looking in that direction for a moment, the other person quickly disappeared.
Where did you go?
I looked around in confusion, but I couldn't see the opponent anywhere. There wasn't even a trace left, so it was impossible to chase after him.
“Isn’t that Sir Aldor?”
Yes, that man is clearly not Sir Aldor.
If it were Sir Aldor, he wouldn't have run away.
Even if he had been unable to say anything because of Diabolos, he would have shown me his face.
But that silver hair was definitely Sir Aldor's.
"Ha..."
My head was so complicated that I thought it would burst as I tried to accept a situation that I couldn't understand at all. I leaned against the wall, holding my temples that were throbbing, and I saw Perdes running towards me from the other side.
Perdes, who had come running in one stride, took a moment to catch his breath and then became angry.
“What if you go alone without the knights? I was worried something might happen!”
"...I saw Sir Aldor.”
“Yeah. Of course, Sir... What?”
“Sir Aldor was here.”
Perdes, who heard me muttering as if talking to myself, looked around in surprise. However, he too could not find any trace of Sir Aldor and asked me again.
“Was that guy really here?”
“...I’m not sure. I just saw silver hair poking out from between the robes.”
"Yes?"
Perdes thought for a moment, then said to me.
“While looking for the Emperor, we must also look for that man.”
Yes, that's right. We have to find the Emperor.
I remembered for a moment that I had forgotten that I might have seen Sir Aldor and immediately ordered the Knights of Leopold to find the Emperor.
At the same time, I wanted to order Aldor to be found, but I did not say anything because I wanted to hide the fact that he might have joined the Emperor's side.
“By the way, you said you saw something strange in the basement here. Where is it? If you don’t want to look again, I can go in alone.”
“No. Let’s go in together.”
While the knights searched for the Emperor, I went down to the cellar in question with Perdes.
But the basement was spotless. There was no trace of anything having been there.
“This can’t be happening.”
A very embarrassed Perdes waved his hands and explained to me.
“It was definitely here. There was a shell and a magic circle that looked exactly like the Emperor’s.”
“I believe you.”
Yeah, I didn't think Perdes was lying.
Perhaps the Emperor found out I was coming and got rid of it.
It was strange that it was so clean for something like that.
If it had been cleaned up in a hurry, there should have been at least a small trace left, but there wasn't even that.
As I continued to look around to see if there were any traces I hadn't noticed, Perdes took the Dragon Fairy out of his coat pocket.
“Did you keep carrying that around with you?”
It's the size of a fist, so it can fit in your pocket, but it must have been a bit cumbersome to carry around all the time.
"Shhhh."
Perdes gestured for silence, then spoke to the dragon.
“Yes, I can hear you.”
I don't think he's talking to me.
By the way, the Dragon Fairy is awake!
That means that Byblos has been contacted.
I wanted to hear what Byblos had to say, but unfortunately, I couldn't hear it.
I couldn't ask Perdes because I felt like it would be an unnecessary interruption to the conversation.
Instead, let us stare at him, Perdes said to Byblos.
“Since it’s just her and me here, you can speak through the fairy’s mouth.”
[Yes.]
The fairy moved her mouth and spoke the voice of Byblos. It was like seeing a magical messenger bird.
"Hello."
I said hello, feeling like I should make sure he knew I was there, and Byblos snorted.
[What the hell. I almost died because of some guy who got stuck in a time rift.]
“A gap in time?”
[Yes. There is a time barrier here, and the flow of time is completely different from the outside.]
That's right.
[So I was forcibly creating a time rift to investigate, but a strange guy came into the barrier and interfered, so my mental power was disrupted, and I almost got trapped in the rift.]
“Does that mean that someone other than the Great Sage entered the Duke’s basement?”
[Probably so.]
No way. Of all the people left in Duke Leopold's mansion, only Hannes could enter the basement.
Surely, he wouldn't have gone into the basement and disturbed Byblos.
Then who is it? Who went into the basement?
[I don't know who it is, but it's a pretty strong guy.]
Byblos spoke with unusual nervousness.
[Damn it. I better get out of here. Or I'll get locked up... ]
The Dragon Fairy stopped talking and closed his mouth. His eyes closed slowly.
“Wait a minute! Please wait a moment!”
I called out to Byblos urgently, but the dragon's eyes were already closed. This meant that communication was cut off.
“Byblos, Byblos!”
Perdes called him several times, but his eyes wouldn't open. Perdes looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“What is going on?”
I shook my head.
“I don’t know. But I’m sure something happened at Duke Leopold’s residence.”
Is it my wish that it has something to do with the Emperor?
“Could it be that the Emperor has gone to Duke Leopold’s residence?”
Perdes must have had the same thought, as he spoke cautiously.
“If it’s someone so powerful that Lord Byblos is nervous, then it means he’s not human, and there’s a good chance that the Emperor isn’t human either.”
“Yes.”
Besides, seeing as he went into the basement means he was after the items there, and no matter how much I think about it, the only person who would do something like that is the Emperor.
Did the Emperor really go to Duke Leopold's residence?
Is the Emperor trampling on my mansion, my precious mansion, with his shoes?
“We must return to the Duke’s residence immediately, immediately!”
Even though I said this, I knew better than anyone that going back right away was impossible.
Even if you go as fast as you can, it takes three days to get from the capital to Duke Leopold's residence.
Three days would have been enough time for the Emperor to destroy not only Duke Leopold's residence but also Leopold's entire estate.
“That’s not possible. That’s not possible...!”
“Calm down, Adele.”
Unlike me, who was still in shock, Perdes spoke calmly.
“Calm down. I’ll take you to Duke Leopold’s residence soon.”
“...Not too late?”
"Yes."
Why are you answering so definitively?
I looked at Perdes, puzzled.
Then, Perdes smiled brightly, took out his mana pen, and began drawing a magic circle on the floor.
I don't know anything about magic circles, but I could tell just from their appearance that they were extremely difficult and complex.
“What are you drawing?”
“Teleport magic circle.”
“Huh? It can only travel a short distance.”
“The magic circle known to humans is like that, but this is different because it is a magic circle passed down directly from a dragon.”
If you're talking about dragons, you're probably talking about Byblos.
There was something else I wanted to ask Perdes, but he was so focused on drawing the magic circle that I kept quiet for fear of disturbing him.
“Okay, that’s it.”
Finally, Perdes completed the magic circle and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“I’m a little worried that it might work properly since it only works with the mana in the mana pen... If it doesn’t work, I’ll bring the puras rolling around the palace and put them here.”
Pura. At those words, my gaze naturally turned to the sword hanging on my waist.
“If you put in about ten of them, you won’t run out of mana.”
“...Let’s just start from the beginning.”
"Yes?"
“Where should I put it?”
When Perdes looked bewildered and pointed to the center of the magic circle, I put the sword I was holding there.
Then, the large Pura embedded in the sword hilt began to emit a red light.
The magic circle sparkled with the same light as Pura, resonating with it.
“Is this enough?”
“Enough! I’ll activate the magic circle right now!”
As Perdes hurriedly climbed onto the magic circle and muttered something, the red light grew stronger, and soon, the area in front of my eyes turned bright red.
How long must I have floundered in that bright red space where I could not see anything, let alone hear Perdes' voice?
“...I succeeded.”
As a low sigh was heard, the once bright red world gradually became darker.
When my vision returned to normal, I saw Leopold's residence, shrouded in pitch-black darkness.
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