Chapter 74: The Unintended Alliance

The future had now changed drastically.

The Emperor Beltar would no longer die so meaninglessly as in the previous life.

He had found Eirene, and made it so, and she had promised to stay by the Emperor’s side while conducting the research she desired to her heart’s content.

As long as she remained, the Emperor’s health would be well for the time being.

On top of that, the relationship between Mother and Father had improved.

Though he hadn’t heard the details, he was told the two had met and had an honest conversation, slowly unraveling the misunderstandings built up between them over the years.

And what about Elliot and Noah?

The child, once merely living as an empty shell, had finally found freedom for his soul.

Now, like other children his age, he played and soon Noah would be brought to the Imperial Capital to be cared for with utmost devotion.

Everything was working out as desired.

Marquis Fabian.

Except for that man.

“Rohan, are you alright?”

On the road to Laolacis.

Retina spoke carefully.

“Hm? Why?”

They were riding in a carriage, having already passed through several territories after leaving the capital.

“It’s just… your expression hasn’t been good the whole time.”

“Has it?”

Rohan gave a bitter smile.

“Do you realize you haven’t spoken a word for two days straight?”

“……”

Had he really?

The revenge that had occupied the biggest place in his heart.

That his revenge had not yet been completed was, for Rohan, the worst possible scenario.

How could he show Marquis Fabian the most miserable end possible?

That was all Rohan could think about.

He finally looked up and gazed at his companions’ faces.

Even in Martin’s normally expressionless eyes, there was a hint of worry, and Retina’s face was no different.

“Why not just give up on this journey? I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with that man… His life is already over. Even if you leave him alone, he’ll die miserably.”

Unable to watch any longer, Retina offered her opinion.

And rightly so—since Fabian had disappeared, Rohan had not been himself.

At least, that’s how Retina saw it.

“This isn’t like you, Rohan.”

“……!”

At that single remark, Rohan’s eyes flashed.

‘Not like me,’ she said.

What was ‘like me’?

From the moment he’d opened his eyes again, he’d run for revenge.

But now that revenge had gone awry, he felt lost.

After gazing out the window for a while, Rohan quietly spoke.

“The reason I chose this path wasn’t simply for revenge. I thought all I had to do was finish off the Marquis. That everything terrible that would happen after, too, would end with him.”

Retina listened to his words in silence.

“But… I don’t think so anymore. Just finishing the Marquis won’t change the future completely… I only just realized that.”

“What do you mean, the future will change?”

“There’s something important I have to tell you both.”

When Rohan broached the subject, Martin and Retina focused intently.

Now was the time to be honest.

The coming future was far too uncertain to shoulder alone.

“I don’t know how many years from now it will be. But before long… a bloodstorm will sweep this continent.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your Highness.”

Both of their faces grew grave.

“I didn’t see everything after the war truly began, so I’m not sure, either.”

Rohan began to recount his past, laying bare the truth.

Being used by the Marquis as a puppet emperor, the deaths of his mother and father, and his own regression.

“So, from what I’ve seen so far, it’s hard to believe that the war was conducted by the Marquis alone.”

“There’s some clue in that Yubrita language, isn’t there?”

“Yeah. From the moment of my death to investigating the Marquis, that language kept appearing. Not to mention that mysterious power that made me fall from the spire.”

The two became alarmed and serious.

“To be honest, it’s hard to believe. Dying and returning to the past…”

Martin shook his head.

“But thinking about it, there were a lot of strange things. Like how suddenly Your Highness changed.”

He must have sensed something odd, but probably never asked.

That was Martin’s nature.

“But if what Your Highness says is all true… then just taking down the Marquis won’t end it.”

At his words, Rohan nodded.

“We have to find the true mastermind pulling the Marquis’s strings. I was his puppet… but maybe he was someone else’s puppet, too.”

“I see. So that’s it.”

Retina pressed her forehead.

“Now I get it. That’s why the World Tree called you.”

“Huh?”

“The World Tree is the guardian of balance. It protects the continent and values life. For the World Tree to call you—it can’t be for something small.”

“……!”

Could it be, it’s related to the war?

“I thought it was just because I regressed.”

“Of course, that’s hard to believe and it’s an impossible, extraordinary thing. But that’s a personal matter. The World Tree doesn’t get involved in personal affairs.”

Retina rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

“Maybe your regression was already determined. The words inscribed on the Lochtercia Tablet, the World Tree’s summons. Rather than lingering, how about heading to Silvaren now?”

“Laolacis?”

“If, as you say, the Marquis isn’t alone, it’s dangerous for just us to go. Let’s go and seek Nas’s help.”

“……”

They had left on a simple journey just to track down the Marquis.

“It’s connected to the Yubrita tongue, right? And there’s someone in Silvaren who can read those Yubrita letters.”

At Retina’s words, Rohan fiddled with his neck.

There hung the necklace Alcon had given him, and the ‘ring’ entrusted to him by Lucretia before his departure.

‘Perhaps.’

He might find a big clue in Silvaren.

“If that’s the case…”

Just then.

“Wait.”

Retina’s long ears perked up sharply.

“Someone’s coming.”

She flung open the carriage door and leapt out, even as it sped along.

“Hey, stop! Stop the carriage!”

Martin banged urgently on the carriage wall, and soon it ground to a halt.

Retina was already far ahead.

Her eyes sharply scanned the edge of the forest.

“Who’s there? Come out.”

She whispered, taking a defensive stance.

And at that moment, slicing through darkness and wind, a figure emerged from the woods.

A robe of intermingled blue and black, footsteps silent as breath.

His presence felt out of place.

Like a shadow seeping in, the man raised his hand before Retina could even draw her sword.

“Enough. I haven’t come to fight.”

His voice was low and calm, but those who heard it could only be surprised.

“…Shakan?”

At the name from Retina’s lips, Rohan and Martin’s eyes widened as well.

“How?”

“Isn’t that man supposed to be in the Imperial Prison?”

“If he escaped, he should’ve just run away—why follow us here?”

Retina pressed sharply, and Shakan bowed his head slightly.

“Well…”

He hesitated for a moment.

“Since I don’t have an employer anymore, I thought I might as well tell you.”

“Tell us? Tell us what?”

“Kazin Fabian—information about that man.”

“Ha.”

Retina let out a short, scoffing laugh and ran a hand through her hair.

“And why would you do that?”

“Hm? Aren’t you curious? Why I—”

“You tried to kill us. You’re our enemy. Why would I trust a word you say?”

Retina drew her sword.

Martin drew his as well.

Srrng!

“Just die.”

“W-wait!”

As both of them brandished their swords, ready to attack at any moment, the flustered Shakan waved his hands and leapt far back.

“You do know that man is using a strange power, right?”

“What?”

Rohan and Retina’s gazes met.

***

“…so, yeah, I found it weird, too. I saw him kill someone using those incomprehensible characters.”

“And why are you telling us now?”

At Rohan’s question, Shakan ruffled his hair furiously.

“Because that bastard dumped me and ran! This is betrayal!”

“…Heh.”

“And he didn’t even give me the human title he promised! After all I did for him!”

At that, Retina’s eyes narrowed.

“Don’t tell me, you worked for Marquis Fabian all for a measly human title? Why?”

An Elfrian.

And not just any, but such a powerful Elfrian warrior—why would he serve a human just for a title? It didn’t add up.

“…You’re the one who smashed it all.”

“What?”

“The Plate of Destiny! You shattered it all! Thanks to you, I’ll be a bachelor for life!”

“……”

A brief silence passed.

“Wait, are you saying you lost your Elfrian status and were planning to marry a human woman as a human?”

Retina let out a long sigh.

“This is crazy.”

In the end, Shakan had been driven down a strange path all because she herself had broken one Plate of Destiny.

“All that, for a mate.”

“For a mate? Maybe for you it’s ‘all that.’ But not for me. My dream since childhood was to live like my parents.”

Shakan pouted his lips.

“Ugh, stop with the whining already!”

Retina flicked Shakan’s protruding lips, sending him tumbling.

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you, sis? Do you hate me that much?”

“Don’t call me sis! You pointed a sword at me and now this!”

“D-don’t come closer! I said I was sorry about that, didn’t I?”

Shakan, on the verge of tears.

“…What are they doing?”

“Who knows.”

In this absurd situation.

Rohan and Martin, suddenly spectators, blinked in disbelief.

‘A human title, huh.’

In his previous life, Shakan had worked under Marquis Fabian as well.

But as far as he could recall, even after the Marquis seized all power, he’d never given a title to an Elfrian.

Most likely, Shakan…

‘Was used until the end.’

Just like me.

Perhaps that’s why he felt a strange kinship.

He didn’t know how things had turned out for Shakan.

Maybe, as Shakan said, he’d fallen victim to that strange power as well.

Or maybe something else had happened, and he’d returned to Silvaren.

“Shakan. If you don’t have anywhere else to go, why not come with us?”

At Rohan’s sudden suggestion, the two Elfrians’ eyes went round.

“Rohan, are you serious?”

“Really?”

Of course, their expressions couldn’t have been more different.

“He’s the guy who tried to kill you. And you’re going to bring him with us?”

“We’re headed to Silvaren anyway. We might as well go together. Besides, with you here, what’s the worry?”

“I promise—I absolutely won’t cause any harm. Really!”

Shakan’s face brightened.

“But on one condition.”

Rohan smiled slyly.

“On the way to Silvaren, you have to tell me everything you saw and heard about the Marquis. Every last thing.”

“Of course! If it’s to catch that bastard, I’ll help with anything.”

His reason for working under the Marquis may have been absurd, but to him, it was a matter of importance.

“Alright, come with us.”

And so—

The group of three became four.