Going back a short while in time, to when Kabajid stabbed himself and collapsed to the ground.

Despite knowing he was dying, he strangely felt no fear.

Instead, he was overcome with a sense of relief.

(Ahh……now, I can finally relax……the real me……)

As his strength faded from his body, Kabajid reflected on his life up until this point.

His mind was already hazy, but faint scenes of Japan still lingered around.

……Yes, not memories, but scenes.

He had no memory of living in Japan, but the scenes that crossed his mind every day carried a strange sense of nostalgia with them.

The cherry blossoms at Takato Castle Ruins Park, Nagano, left a particularly strong impression on him.

While there were other places from Japan that he saw, he had no idea where they were or what they were called.

Only the cherry blossoms stuck with him.

To be honest, he didn’t know what Nagano was, or if it was even the name of a country.

But even so, the castle ruins and eye catching cherry blossoms left a strong, indelible presence on his mind.

And, it was because of those scenes in his mind that Kabajid lost sense of his own reality.

It was like he was alive but had no idea why.

Like he was a puppet being controlled.

It was because he felt like a character in a story that he had no sense for life and no fear of death.

No, rather, you could even say he wished for death, if only to put an end to his current situation.

It was because he understood those feelings that he had led the punitive force to this battle.

Unlike Shurus, who held strong support from the Imperial Army and was a good fighter themselves, Kabajid was merely an ordinary member of the royal family.

Naturally, he had trained in self defense to a certain level and he had various magic items protecting him.

That was why Kabajid, who wasn’t a particularly brave person, had gone to the battlefield, because somewhere in his heart he wished to die.

(I don’t care if I die, I don’t care if I live. That was what I had though, but……thinking about it, maybe I did want to die after all?)

His cheek touched the cold ground.

Even as he felt that cold sensation, his mind was strangely clear.

It felt so clear that he wondered what he had been feeling up to this point.

He seemed to be floating into the sky……those were his thoughts as his consciousness gradually faded.

(I’m tired……yes, so tired, like my mind is floating away. This might the first time I’ve felt this sleepy since I was born into this world)

With his eyes half closed he could see a mage desperately casting healing magic on him.

But, it was no use.

The weapon he had stabbed himself with had been crafted by an exceptionally talented alchemist.

It had been made using extremely rare monster materials, which Kabajid had only been able to obtain with his efforts as the First Prince.

The dagger had then been imbued with a poison powerful enough to ignore the effects of most antidotes, in addition to its ability to hinder healing magic.

It was a magic weapon he had commissioned several years ago for the eventuality of his own death.

(Ah, this……isn’t as scary as I thought it would be. In fact, I even feel a sense of peace. I guess he really was skilled. After all, he had been crafting magic items for so many years……his skills……I’ll thank him when he also passes on. Would he be angry if I did that? Sad? That I didn’t die from old age? Maybe we can go get a drink together……)

Death seemed to draw close. Kabjid’s thoughts gradually dulled as his thinking became muddy.

I am finally going to die. As Kabajid thought that, he heard Shurus shouting something.

He also saw the nobles from the First Prince’s faction and Vihera, who had been his enemy just a few moments ago, looking at him with sad gazes.

(What……I suppose……I was quite……happy……after all……)

Although he could barely move his body, the corners of Kabajid’s lips curved up slightly……as his consciousness faded into darkness.

 

 

In the darkness, several lights could be seen, illuminating their surroundings.

However, they weren’t candles. They were simply balls of light.

There weren’t many, less than ten.

Then, suddenly, one of the lights went out.

「……Oh, another one gone. In less than thirty years too, that was completely unexpected.」

Someone muttered from the darkness, reading a book under the faint light.

Their gaze was directed to where a light had been a few seconds ago.

The lights served as a means to show the results of their research, yet one had faded unexpectedly quickly.

「Of the remaining lights, that one had been the highest quality. If the quality were raised further, would the completion time be proportionally shorter? ……An interesting thought, but I wonder.」

Thinking for a moment, they seemed to come up with an idea as they wrote some cryptic characters onto a nearby sheet of paper.

「Yes, if I use this constant to disperse the variable at the beginning of the formula……I see, this looks quite useful.」

Under the faint light……they simply wrote down whatever came to their mind.

There was no one else around, only themselves. Immersed in their own little world, satisfying their curiosity and thirst for knowledge.

 

 

At the end of the Bestir Empire’s civil war. Rei was recounting the events that had taken place at the punitive force’s camp to Mercurio and the others.

「I see. Kabajid took his own life……」

Mercurio muttered after hearing what had happened.

His words lacked his usual light hearted tone and was instead filled with sadness.

His life might have been threatened and Kabajid had been his enemy, but his death still saddened him.

He recalled the times he had played with Kabajid when he was little and closed his eyes as a sign of remembrance.

Everyone around him had saddened expressions as well, but none more so than Frizione.

Frizione had joined Mercurio because she had wanted to stop the brothers from fighting each other.

And, if that was impossible, to at least minimise the losses where possible.

And yet, Kabajid……her brother’s death, was an outcome she expected and hoped to avoid.

「No……Kabajid……why, he didn’t have to die. Why, why……」

Frizione was unable to voice any more words.

She didn’t shed any tears, as a princess of the Bestir Empire, she couldn’t do that in public.

She would do that on her own……when everything was over.

「Mercurio, the punitive force has already surrendered. Call off the battle.」

「……You’re right. There’s no point in any further fighting. It would only be a waste of life. Theorem.」

「Yes! I will send messengers to stop the fighting immediately.」

Understanding what Mercurio meant when his name was called, Theorem immediately issued orders to his subordinates as messengers were dispatched to all fronts.

That said, the central battle front had basically been annihilated by Vihera and Set’s attacks on the right wing had caused significant casualties to Shuru’s cavalry, forcing them to fall back to regroup.

As for the left wing, the commander there, Pelfiel, had been captured by Rei, destroying the punitive force’s chain of command. They were barely able to hold their own against the Demon Soldiers at this point in time.

No real fighting was taking place on any front.

And, with the punitive force’s rearguard being the first to get the order to cease fighting, due to their proximity to their main camp, the chaos finally started to subside.

「……So, what are you going to do now, Rei?」

「What am I going to do? Well, nothing in particular that I can think of right now.」

To be honest, Rei wanted to think about Kabajid a little more deeply.

However, he had no real clues as what Kabajid could have known, only guesses upon guesses.

「I see. In that case, could I ask you to guard us as we go over? Even if Shurus and his men surrender, we’ll need to have a proper discussion about what to do next. Even if my sister is there, she’s not good at this kind of work……and besides.」

Mercurio glanced over at the depressed Frizione.

While he didn’t adore Frizione as much as he did Vihera, she was still his sister by blood.

Though he still had his reservations regarding her role in his initial house arrest, Mercurio still believe that she should be able to say her goodbyes to Kabajid.

But, knowing that, Rei was a little puzzled.

「There’s no need to go through the battlefield to get there, right? We’ve won, so can’t we just let them come to us?」

「You’re right. I thought that would be fine at first too, but there are a lot of high ranking nobles on the other side. It would take then a long time to get here. It would just be faster to go there ourselves, showing that we too have the courage and strength to make our own way through the battlefield.」

As Mercurio said that, Theorem, who was still giving orders to his subordinates, seemed to want to say something before giving up.

It was still dangerous on the battlefield, but with Rei and Set by Mercurio’s side, he figured that it would be fine as long as someone like Noiz didn’t attack.

「I see, okay……」

Thinking about it for a moment, Rei nodded as he decided that he didn’t have anything urgent to do although the civil war was effectively over.

He did also have the thought that he might not be able to receive his post-war reward, or receive reduced rewards, were Mercurio to die now due to some unforeseen reason.

(He’s done well up to now, I guess I do have high hopes for him.)

That was what Rei thought as he nodded back.

「I understand, should we go immediately?」

「Of course not. I still need to give various orders. ……Right, maybe you can come back in 30 minutes?」

「Okay, 30 minutes then.」

With all that said, Rei was about to leave when……

「Rei.」

A voice called out to him from behind.

He turned to Thereom, who had been the one to speak.

What could he have to say at such a busy time? Rei wondered as he responded.

「What’s wrong?」

「……Rhodes was brought in shortly before you arrived.」

「I see.」

Rei thought back to when he had fought Rhodes while guarding Frizione’s troops.

Rhodes seemed to have lost all emotion and will of his own.

Who had defeated Rhodes while he was in that state? Curious, he asked.

「So, who defeated Rhodes? He wasn’t just strong, his healing……no, regeneration ability would have made him extremely troublesome to deal with. To do so safely, it was Vihera I assume?」

Vihera’s Magic Palm struck the target internally rather than externally.

Maybe that would have made it easier to incapacitate Rhodes compared to normal attacks?

As Rei asked, Theorem shook his head with a complicated expression.

「It’s true that Vihera-sama was the one who ordered Rhodes to be brought here, but it seems no fighting took place. He seems to have just staggered over, losing consciousness the moment he saw Vihera-sama. Fortunately, there were no casualties.」

「……Is that so.」

As Rei said that, a thought crossed his mind, Rhodes’ extraordinary regeneration ability.

With such magic items being used, it was only to be expected that there would be abnormalities.

He had already lost his sense of will, a state similar to being brainwashed, but there must have been other side effects as well.

「I got it, I’ll go check up on him. Thank you for telling me.」

「Yeah.」

With that brief exchange, Theorem went back to giving orders on how to deal with things after their victory.

Rei soon left after giving a quick glance at Mercurio and the nobles, who were discussing among themselves.

[Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]