The Returnee Wants Peace

It was a deep, dignified voice she was hearing for the first time, though mixed with anger.

Cassis’s heated voice followed immediately.

“I’ve told you three times that it’s confidential and I can’t say, Commander.”

“Confidential? As you say, I am the commander of the conquest party responsible for this trial, isn’t it strange that there are things I don’t know about here?”

“Why doesn’t it make sense? Even Her Majesty the Emperor doesn’t know exactly.”

“But Her Majesty is a wise prophet. She’s different from us who can’t know without hearing directly.”

A verbal battle where neither side would back down.

Cassis seemed to be getting more and more annoyed, but it was still a tremendous improvement compared to before.

‘In the past, he would have burst out in anger with a flushed face and stormed out.’

Was it because he had grown older?

Now, it was quite impressive to see him trying to stay in his seat and communicate somehow.

But that too had its limits.

“Are you really going to be like this? Even though my sister also has the same ultimate goal of protecting this place as us, receiving such suspicion doesn’t make me feel… very good?”

“I think it’s a reasonable request, but are you threatening the commander now? If you keep not telling us about this ‘important business’, I’ll have no choice but to treat it as insubordination.”

Should I intervene?

She pondered for a moment at the intensifying conversation, but it was extremely ambiguous.

Rosha had no intention of telling them about the plan either.

To disclose this operation, a concealment curtain to avoid the gods’ eyes was essential.

However, using the curtain too often would obviously raise suspicion, and moreover, since Hajin’s existence would have to be revealed as well…

‘It’s better not to say anything.’

Confidential information is more advantageous when fewer people know about it.

Haah. She had come out of the tent feeling unsettled because of the Guide God, and now this.

As she was standing stuck to the outside of the tent, unable to do this or that, it was then.

“I’m coming in!”

Along with a booming voice, the sound of the tent flap on the opposite side suddenly opening was heard.

It was opened so forcefully that the dull noise of the winter cloth flapping reached her ears for a moment.

“What’s that?”

She could feel Koko, docile in her grasp, tilting his head.

What was happening became clear immediately.

“I am Count Ainbert, commander of the Barcel Duchy. Given that this area where the trial is opening is the border region between the Empire and the Duchy, shouldn’t you share with us how things are going on your side?”

“Well, I told you everything yesterday.”

“Are you sure there are no changes at all? If you say this and then our soldiers die because of a strategy that changed afterwards…”

“That won’t happen.”

Now, years after the advent of the massive calamity called trials, all countries in this land had agreed to form an alliance to respond to the calamity.

However, the attitude of the Barcel Duchy commander, who belonged to the alliance, was quite rude.

Sensing this, Cassis also subtly helped the imperial commander in his reply.

“Do we have to tell you again about a strategy we both know? Right after the blue window appears indicating the trial is starting, except for the infiltration team at the front line, the conquest party will deal with the demonic beasts coming out of the lake while waiting for the next signal. And then…”

As if they had never argued, the commander and Cassis implicitly began to cooperate.

Considering Cassis’s temperament that she had known until now, this was quite surprising.

By the way…

“That fellow from the Duchy has no manners.”

“Indeed.”

Why is he acting like that?

Though she didn’t know anything about this Count Ainbert, he gave off a strong feeling of being uncooperative.

Fortunately, he seemed to have nothing more to say in the face of the joint attack from the imperial commander and Cassis, and he soon withdrew without any particular gain.

“We have quite a good informant on our side. If you had any funny ideas, you should be careful.”

He left muttering like this.

Why on earth was he acting like that?

Just as she was about to ponder, suddenly a low voice came from behind.

“It’s definitely strange, isn’t it?”

“!!!”

Rosha, who swallowed her scream with superhuman will, stumbled towards the tent.

Fortunately, it was Froy who supported her back with his hand, saving her from the potential disaster of being caught eavesdropping.

“Are you alright? I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“W-when did you come?”

“Just now. Your parrot was looking at me, so I thought you knew I had arrived.”

The man who had helped her up slowly removed his hand. Her heart was beating fast, probably from the surprise.

“It seems you felt something strange too. Seeing as you came to eavesdrop on this tent.”

That’s not it. I just came here.

Not knowing her thoughts, Froy continued speaking while looking towards the tent.

“I’ve been looking into that person claiming to be the commander of the Barcel Duchy. More precisely, about a mercenary who is said to have been acting with him for several months.”

“Why the mercenary?”

“As a result of interrogating the captured magician, it seems another of his companions is active near the duchy. It appears highly likely to be that mercenary.”

Whether the magician had a lot of information or not, new contents kept flowing out no matter how much they dug.

Rosha, who had been quietly listening to his explanation, asked:

“Then couldn’t we ask Prince Nardil?”

“…Prince Nardil? Why him?”

“The Barcel Duchy is next to the Kingdom of Atica, right? Wouldn’t the prince know a bit more about the duchy?”

The Barcel Duchy was the country that had conflicted with Rosha when she became the ‘target’ during the third trial that opened previously. They had put out a large bounty to capture her.

As she was recalling that incident, Froy’s expression seemed somewhat dissatisfied.

“…Are you going to be like that?”

“What?”

What did I do?

As she stared blankly, the man who had been quietly meeting her gaze eventually sighed openly.

“Never mind. What can I expect from someone who doesn’t even properly tell me when they’re having a hard time?”

“Having a hard time? Me?”

“Yes. Your expression is definitely different from usual. It’s no use denying it.”

Rosha, who had been puzzled for a moment, soon realized it might be because of her conversation with the Guide God.

Although she had decided to follow her heart, the weight contained in the story itself must have been heavy enough to show on her expression.

‘I think I could tell Froy…’

But as she was hesitating because there was no concealment curtain, Froy lightly touched the corner of her mouth with his fingertip and said:

“This part is a bit lower than usual. The corners of your eyes are subtly different too. I’m usually the type of person who needs to know everything to be satisfied, but if you don’t want to, you don’t have to tell me.”

“…I’m sorry. The situation right now is…”

“Don’t apologize either. The only thing you should be sorry for is getting hurt. Understand?”

“…Says the one who got injured with twisted blood flow from reckless actions.”

“That’s that and this is this.”

At his silent insistence that it wasn’t the same, Rosha nodded quietly. It was true, after all.

Froy, showing a faint smile at her response, murmured quietly:

“Since you’ve promised, I too will do my duty. And…”

He raised his head smoothly and looked somewhere. His gaze was directed towards Count Ainbert, who was now leaving the tent and moving away.

“…Be careful of that person too. I definitely have a bad feeling about him.”

* * *

Unlike Froy who spoke as if something would happen right away, nothing happened for several days.

The combatants who would participate in the conquest party gathered one after another through the spatial gates, and the tents around the lake filled up one by one, creating a sea of people.

Just as hope that this trial could be resolved without any major problems was filling the area around the lake like a cloud.

One major issue occurred.

Ding!

Incineration Proposal: You know that a trial will start soon in a nearby lake. You also know that a strange race called ‘merpeople’ have made their home and live at the bottom of the lake.

When the trial starts, it’s obvious they will turn into demonic beasts and attack, so how about ‘incinerating’ the bottom of the lake in advance?

Reward: Trial difficulty decreases to ‘Easy’

*Due to the influence of Hardmode, if the quest fails, the trial difficulty will increase to ‘Despair’ level.

*Depending on certain conditions being met, choice quests may occur during the trial.

Rosha quickly read the blue window that appeared before her eyes with a cheerful notification sound and thought:

‘This… the content is a bit different from what I know.’