Succession Round 2, Lord Ransel. (8)

15.

Another year passed after leaving Porland.

Marigold turned twenty in the meantime.

“It’s hot! The sand is hot!”

“It’ll be a little better if you walk fast.”

“Ouch! Ouch, ouch!”

“Such a fuss.”

A week in the Ritten Desert, connecting the central and western parts of the continent.

“Firefly. This is a firefly. Hmm… when you catch it, it’s just a bug.”

“What were you expecting?”

“I imagined something cuter… it’s just a bug.”

“This is cute enough. Compared to ugly bugs, anyway.”

A day in the village where fireflies are raised, also known as the Shining Forest.

“Haaah…”

“Nice…”

“It’s nice indeed…”

“I would come more often if it were closer.”

“I even want to keep it at home…”

“It’s too humid for that.”

“You always say that.”

A week in a volcanic area where natural hot springs gush out.

“Take off all your clothes.”

“Pardon?!”

“Hurry, unless you want to freeze to death.”

“I, I like your proactive side too, Lancel.”

“What are you talking about.”

A mountain range they barely crossed after camping for two days due to a blizzard.

“You are the hero of our village!”

“The hero who saved my daughter!”

“Engrave Mary and Lancel’s names on the monument!”

Four days of being treated like heroes after lending strength to a small village suffering from barbarians.

“Lancel.”

A day with Marigold, who turned to look at Lancel on a hill where flowers bloomed, as spring returned to the land.

“Lancel!”

“Lancel.”

“…Lancel.”

“Hehehe, Lancel!”

‘The Demon King…?’

Was this really a journey to find the Demon King?

Lancel felt that the Demon King was somehow fading away amidst the memories he was making with Marigold.

“Demon King! According to prophecy, a being who will one day appear and destroy this continent!”

“Demon King? If there is such a thing, wouldn’t it be our region’s lord? He imposes taxes every time we scoop a dipper from the well, it’s truly terrifying. Damn it!”

“Demon King or whatever, just bring out some food. I’m starving.”

Come to think of it, it was a bit ironic to expect someone among the rural folk of this continent to know about the Demon King, whom even Lancel, who had lived for hundreds of years, didn’t know well.

At best, the Demon King was a being who appeared in ancient myths, and all that was known was the abstract story that he was a terrifying being who would turn this continent upside down. That was the Demon King.

The villagers called the occasional epidemic the Demon King.

The farmer pulling weeds in the wheat field said that the one who summoned the locust swarms was the Demon King.

The Mercenaries who rode in the carriage said that the imperial nobles who tried to save money by driving them to their deaths after using them to their heart’s content were the Demon Kings.

Anyway, everything bad was the Demon King’s doing.

How could one find such a metaphysical being?

Looking back, it was just a journey with Marigold.

“It’s a bit disappointing.”

Marigold muttered.

“They say the Anemone Flower Field can only be seen in this season, what a shame if it withers already.”

“It was incredibly vast, as rumored.”

“Ugh, I wish we had come sooner…”

Watching the endless flower field on a sunset hill, Marigold looked regretful.

The flowers decorating her tied-up hair gradually flew away in the wind as time passed.

“We can always come again next time, right?”

He said, placing his hand on the top of Marigold’s head. She smiled back without saying a word.

“……?”

Marigold always felt regret at the end of a journey. Even though there were plenty of opportunities to visit again.

‘Is it a lack of experience as a Regressor? Later on, she’ll see it so often that she’ll get tired of it…’

Lancel found it a little strange how Marigold savored every moment. It was a tendency he, who had lived a long life, had unknowingly lost.

Just because they were the same Regressor didn’t mean they were the same person.

He didn’t know for sure.

“Shall we get going?”

“Yes.”

==========

—Imperial Calendar 822, July 4th. Weather cloudy and occasional rain.

—On a day when summer was approaching, Marigold finally returned to her homeland. The place where all her happiness resided, the place where all her sorrows lay dormant. Marigold has returned to her beloved homeland.

※Although no one who remembers her remains, the Land of the Marigold County welcomes her as it was back then. Dignity UP! Morality, Faith, Condition Down.

==========

Marigold’s hometown, reached after a year and several months since the start of the journey.

“Blonde hair and green eyes!”

As soon as they entered the village, a member of the Militia rushed up to them.

“Are you also a woman who has come to ask Your Highness the Prince for a night!”

Before he could finish speaking, Lancel’s kick struck the militiaman’s chest.

“Ugh!”

16.

“Daring to attack the Militia guarding the village…!”

The fallen militiaman tried to get up in a hurry.

“Ugh!”

Before he could, Lancel’s foot flew in again, causing him to roll backward several times on the ground.

“Who’s spouting nonsense for the fiancé next to him to hear? Who’s asking whom for a night?”

“W-wait, I didn’t know! I didn’t know! I didn’t know she was your fiancée!”

The militiaman cowered as Lancel tried to use violence again.

The Prince and Marigold. Lancel in the past had also tried to connect the two, but now it was horrifying.

“Take care of your fiancée. There are quite a few guys in this area looking for that hair and eye color these days.”

Lancel and Marigold exchanged glances.

“My hair color?”

“Ah, that’s right!”

Blonde hair and emerald eyes.

It wasn’t a rare trait. It was a fairly common appearance among the northern bloodline of the continent. One could even say it was ordinary.

“His Highness the First Prince is looking for a woman who looks exactly like that.”

The First Prince.

‘Delphi Aaron Phrygia?’

Lancel didn’t have good memories of him. He was the one who pierced Marigold’s heart in the previous regression. He had paid him back more than enough, but he still didn’t feel relieved.

“The Prince isn’t someone who has nothing to do, why would he look for a country woman who looks like that to spend a night with? Even a passing dog wouldn’t believe such nonsense. Those people can choose any woman they want and keep them by their side.”

The militiaman lost his words at Lancel’s voice.

“I, I didn’t spread the rumor, why are you doing this to me.”

“It’s because you’re talking nonsense.”

When he took a stance as if to kick him again, the militiaman hurriedly turned around and ran away.

“Where did this nonsense come from?”

“I-it’s a strange rumor.”

Marigold said with an awkward reaction and grabbed Lancel’s arm.

“Shall we get a place to stay first, Lancel?”

The same thing happened at the village inn.

“Blonde hair! Green eyes!”

“What!”

“It’s real!”

“She was still here!”

Not just one person, but a group.

The noisy inn was suddenly filled with people who stood up and looked at Marigold.

The atmosphere only calmed down after he knocked down two or three men who approached without knowing what was going on.

“Ugh!”

“M-my shoulder… my shoulder…!”

Several thugs groaned around the shattered pieces of the table.

“Here, this should cover the cost of breaking a table.”

Lancel approached the innkeeper and handed him five silver coins. His tearful face brightened up.

“Ahem. You seem to be travelers, so don’t think too strangely. There’s just a plague going around in this area that makes people go crazy when they see a woman with blonde hair and green eyes.”

“The plague is quite novel… Is it because of the rumor that they can have a relationship with the Prince?”

“You’ve already heard about it. I guess you wouldn’t have come this far without knowing.”

“Give me a beer too!”

“I’ll give you beer for free. I received enough silver coins, so that’s the least I can do.”

He gave Marigold a thumbs up at her order.

“I don’t believe it, but there are quite a few people who believe that rumor. There are even crazy people who are trying to kidnap women and take them away.”

He handed over the beer with the food and quietly sat down next to Lancel.

“Shh. Listen carefully, I’m saying this for your fiancée.”

He suddenly lowered his voice.

“There are over a thousand knights and Mercenaries who have come to this area. They’re all here under His Highness the Prince’s orders.”

The innkeeper looked around and opened his mouth again.

“From what I’ve seen, there aren’t many gentlemen. The knights and Mercenaries are just blinded by the reward. If your precious fiancée catches the eye of those guys…”

The innkeeper trailed off, as if to say that he didn’t need to express the rest.

“By the way, they say that the women who are taken to the Prince are sent far away to the Imperial Capital. It’ll take at least several years to see them again. I’m just saying this in case something bad happens to you generous young people, so listen carefully.”

Lancel looked at the retreating innkeeper and pondered the meaning of his words.

‘The First Prince is looking for Marigold.’

There was no other reason for him to do this.

‘…How did he know?’

This was the first time this had happened in dozens of regressions.

In the first place, Marigold was a dead person.

Eleven years ago, when she was 10 years old, she had already disappeared in flames along with her family… or so it was set.

Of course, the imperial family had no reason to look for her. Until they knew that she was alive and well, sipping beer.

‘If Marigold is caught by the First Prince…’

He already knew the result.

The First Prince intended to finish Marigold off with his own hands.

“We need to get out of here quickly.”

Lancel decided to leave this area as soon as tonight was over.

.

.

.

“This.”

“Tea?”

That evening, Lancel took a sip of the tea that Marigold handed him. It had a familiar scent. As if he had tasted it somewhere before.

“How is it?”

“I don’t know.”

Marigold opened her mouth again to Lancel, who was trying to remember.

“It’s Dobern Regional Specialty Tea.”

“Ah.”

He had been tricked.

That day, Lancel fell into a deep sleep again.

When he opened his eyes, he saw an empty inn room.

“Mary?”

His voice echoed in the empty room. Had she just gone out for a while? That thought soon disappeared.

All of Marigold’s belongings, backpack, armor, and even the pouch she used to carry salt and spices, were gone.

All that was left was a single note.

==========

—Don’t look for me.

—To my Lancel.

—From ‘Marigold Curtain Marigold’.

==========

Her true name was engraved there.

Not the fake name of Mary, but the name she used when she lived as the daughter of the Marigold County.

“…I knew something was strange.”

He crumpled the note in his hand. A cheap wedding ring sparkled on his ring finger.

“I won’t forgive you, Marigold.”

Don’t think this will end with just a flick on the forehead this time.

Lancel began to grind his teeth.