episode_0278

Lien, the capital of the Lien Empire.

Like any other city, the capital of the empire was also a city built along a large river.

The empire is big.

So the capital of the empire is also large.

There is a river flowing not far from the Imperial Palace, and if you walk along its banks, you will come across the National Assembly Building.

After walking for about 30 minutes, you will reach the courthouse, and after walking another hour, you will reach the Public Safety Office, which is under the Ministry of Police.

Across the river is the National Tax Service, and if you go upstream, you find the Imperial Central Bank.

“Hero, how long are you going to keep walking? I’ve been lingering in the same spot for 3 hours already.”

Latera, who was walking holding Siron’s hand, grumbled.

She rarely felt tired thanks to the trick of becoming a spirit, but for some reason she walked briskly on her own two legs today.

The result is a complaint that the leg hurts. Siron lifted Latera up with his arms outstretched and carried her on his back.

“So, why didn’t you stay calm at the mansion?”

“How are you always at home? After the hero returned, I stayed at the mansion. I should go out a little and do that.”

“…let’s say so.”

Siron sighed at the obvious lie.

I wondered if the apostle of God, who considered good deeds as a virtue, was lying, but Siron was able to clearly see into her intentions.

Latera has not been using spirit form since returning from the imperial palace. Normally, she would just disappear and talk in her head, but ever since she began to suspect that Latera was ‘intentionally’ watching her every time she worked at night, her attitude had changed strangely.

“It’s not like that. I wanted to have a conversation alone with the warrior.”

“…”

I’ve never done this before, reading the flow of thoughts and changing the topic of conversation.

“Oh my goodness. That’s because the hero keeps doubting me!”

“It’s a reasonable doubt. He can read my thoughts clearly, and he hides it in a way that I don’t notice. How can I not be suspicious?”

Siron grumbled but approached the street vendor. After buying a donut sprinkled with a lot of sugar, he put down the latera and handed me one.

“…Because it’s all good. Don’t stick around while I do my business in the bathroom.”

“What on earth are you looking at me for?”

“What do you think?”

Siron sat down on the bench and continued speaking.

“I see you as a voyeuristic kid.”

“Oh, my goodness! No matter what!”

“Okay, so eat quietly without spilling.”

“No!”

Latera shouted and took a big bite of the donut. They were so delicious that the donuts I had purchased ran out in an instant.

“So, what do you want to talk about?”

Siron took out a handkerchief and wiped Latera’s mouth. When you could just say it in your head as usual, you are causing trouble by being stubborn for no reason.

“Will war really break out?”

Latera’s question was filled with caution.

It was not because eating sweets made him feel better, but because the anxiety in Siron’s mind did not go away.

Even before I left home, maybe even before that.

Since her anxiety did not go away even after confirming that the emperor was a woman, Latera had no choice but to look into Siron’s thoughts.

“Are you paying attention to what Lucia said?”

“There is that too.”

“Then?”

“…The hero’s soul keeps getting anxious. As if the coming destruction was not far away.”

It doesn’t say that there was an empire that burned down when you looked inside your head. Latera knew that Siron was uncomfortable with some of her abilities, and she didn’t want to ruin their relationship by saying it out loud.

That’s the reason why they don’t do spirit form and why they hug each other with their flesh.

“Have you seen the prophecy?”

Latera glanced at Siron and said.

“…What kind of prophecy is this when things are already so twisted?”

“What’s twisted?”

“……Destiny. The future I knew and the current situation are completely different.”

Siron chewed the donut and handed it to Latera as if he had no appetite.

“The emperor who I thought was a man was a woman, Lucia, who hated me to death, loved me, Siriel, who treated me like trash, became unable to live even a day without me, and neither my uncle nor my father died. ”

Neither Yuma nor the Heatwave Dragon died. In a situation like this, what use is his knowledge of ‘Reincarnated Swordsman’?

“Is that really true?”

Latera’s eyes widened. Aside from the fact that the emperor was not a man, it was hard to believe that Lucina and Siriel hated Siron more than their enemies.

“It’s still too early to be that surprised.”

Siron chuckled and roughly stroked Latera’s head.

“Would you believe me if I told you that there were many changes other than what I just said, and that Lucia ran away from home at Dawn Castle when she was 12?”

“No.”

” When Siriel was asking why I became the head of the small family, she got slapped by her uncle?”

“Not at all.”

“There is also a future in which Lucia, who has reached puberty, travels around the continent to find her identity, meets barbarians and participates in terrorism.”

“…That’s really crazy.”

“Right? Now I don’t believe it either. But,”

But this is an undeniable truth. The future that Shiron knows is all about the ‘reincarnation sword’ he experienced.

[Sileia’s Champion Yoru]

As it was a story from the third expansion pack, the connection between the stories was a bit off, but there were aspects that made sense when looking at Lucia’s origins.

“Lucia’s past life, Kylie, is from the Sileiian nomads. If it doesn’t belong to Prien or the Empire, then I have no choice but to have feelings for it.”

“…If you are Sileia, are you referring to the barbarians you met in the sewer back then?”

“Okay. It was only a little, but I thought Lucia’s heart was shaken by seeing her compatriots from the past.”

Latera breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness. Because Kylie loves the warrior.”

“… Even if you don’t necessarily love me, you’ve already gone to the academy. There is no possibility of joining that other side even if you think of your friends.”

Siron looked across the flowing river.

I saw a magnificent building built in neo-Gothic style, which was the Imperial Academy where Lucia had recently graduated.

I didn’t think Lucia would have done well at the academy, but seeing her friends who graduated first come to congratulate her made me feel like I was worried for no reason.

“But I still can’t believe it.”

Latera sucked her finger with a complicated expression.

” That kind Lucia is participating in a terrorist attack that takes the lives of citizens hostage… Although she may be a bit vicious, Lucia is not the kind of person who would cause harm to innocent people.”

“What if they are not innocent?”

Siron turned his head and looked at the people passing by.

It’s a cold winter, but if you look at the people walking along the road, there isn’t a single gloomy corner. Each person was holding food in their arms or holding a favorite food such as a cigarette in their mouth.

“Even though it is the capital of an empire, don’t you think it’s a bit strange? People’s faces are full of leisure, and there are no traces of the slums found in other cities.”

“…Isn’t it because the empire has such great national power?”

“Oh… You don’t answer that it’s the grace of the Lord?”

“What do you think of me?”

Latera looked dumbfounded.

“It’s difficult to compare me with those kind of religious idiots! Angels are the ones closest to the truth of the world and the first to hear the voice of the Lord. I am different from the idiots who sell the name of the Lord to turn their eyes away from the darkness of the world!”

“Uh, yes.”

“I will tell you now. Even though I look like this, I am a much higher being than the people who gather together and praise me as a saint, right? I can give you protection, and I can also give you divine power! Also… I’m good at detecting lies!”

“Okay, you’re so handsome, so wipe your mouth.”

Siron wiped Latera’s mouth as she spoke passionately. Perhaps because she didn’t like being treated like a child, Latera pushed away the handkerchief and licked her lips.

“…What is the real reason? Could it be that there was a sin so great that Kylie’s heart would be touched?”

“Similar.”

Siron looked at Latera with a sour expression.

“It was hundreds of years ago, but when the empire was established, many countries existed under the mountain range.”

“Aha, the empire destroyed those countries? It’s such an obvious story.”

“If that were the case, would the barbarians still be terrorizing the empire?”

Siron sighed, saying that it was not such a simple matter.

“The problem is that Kylie is a warrior from humble origins.”

“…Why?”

Latera said with wide eyes. Siron smiled and tilted his head.

“Think about it. The warrior is said to be an uncivilized barbarian who has no culture or letters of his own.”

“…Sileia had both culture and language.”

” Let’s look at it from the perspective of the countries that led the alliance. From barbarians who do not farm, hunt wild beasts and sell by-products, a hero who saves humanity was born?”

“It must have hurt your pride.”

Although he pitied the Silean people, Latera also understood the people’s position at the time.

To deny it, there was something condescending about her just now, calling her an angel.

“Still, Kylie wasn’t born in the Empire, right? If the work had been going on for hundreds of years, it wouldn’t have been surprising if a statue of Kylie was erected in the middle of the empire.”

“Was it because of conscience or lack of ability?”

Currently, the only thing that has been erased is that Kylie’s birth date was Sileia.

“Too much time passed, so I may have quit midway.”

“…”

“Similarly, the people of Silea don’t know why they are fighting the empire.”

“……Why them?”

“Time passed so long, I kept moving from place to place and forgot about it. Because they needed bread now rather than in the past.”

This is a fact that will not change no matter how much you twist fate. The past before Siron intervened could not be changed no matter what one did.

“Wouldn’t they keep attacking?”

Now that the troops had been dispersed through the punitive system, it was the right time.

Siron turned his neck and looked to the side. There were police officers gathered in groups of twos and threes smoking cigarettes leisurely.

There is a saying in the empire that if you are strong enough, you will become a knight, and if you do not reach that level, you will become a police officer.

Siron was truly worried about their safety.