Ch.291Chapter 291 – Dream of the Half-Demon Swordsman

After exchanging a few heated words with Domestica and successfully getting her to accept our demands,

We arrived at the resistance army’s mountain camp late at night, as Sia had suggested.

With Domestica accompanying us, we weren’t shot at with arrows like before. Instead, Archery herself came out to welcome us.

“If you need anything at all, please let me know.”

“You’ve suddenly become so polite.”

I was a bit taken aback by her change in attitude, considering she had been quick to shoot arrows at us earlier and seemed somewhat irritable.

Archery responded with sincerity.

“You helped us when the Emiris Order attacked earlier. Thanks to you, casualties were minimized.”

After saying this, Archery bowed her head to me and continued.

“I didn’t have a chance to say this earlier due to the chaos, but I, Archery, would like to express my sincere gratitude. Please let me know if you need anything.”

“I’ll do that.”

I found Archery’s intense gaze a bit uncomfortable.

Following her guidance as we exchanged these words, we came upon a fairly large tent.

It was located right next to where Domestica was staying.

“Please use it freely. I’ve already heard from Domestica, but I thought there might be problems if we didn’t provide proper accommodations for our guests.”

“Problems?”

Ive asked curiously.

Archery answered with a gentle demeanor.

“First, our overall attitude toward guests would be questioned. An army that treats guests poorly doesn’t attract people.”

“I see.”

Ive nodded in understanding.

However, Archery seemed to think this explanation wasn’t sufficient. She glanced around briefly, then lowered her voice and added:

“And truthfully, it’s also meant to divert attention.”

“Divert attention?”

“…We’re being cautious in case certain officers try to cause trouble for us or make unreasonable demands of you.”

“You mean that well-built man we saw earlier.”

Archery didn’t answer.

Her silence was confirmation enough, so I quietly nodded.

Then Archery spoke as if making an excuse, and also as if trying to persuade me:

“…Not everyone in the resistance army is a righteous person loyal to the royal family. Rather, I should say there are more ambitious individuals who simply share a common enemy.”

“I imagine so.”

Florence and the kingdom were currently in a state of great turmoil.

It was easy to predict that there would be more people driven by ambition and desire than by a sense of justice and loyalty, especially since the situation could drastically change depending on how powerful individuals acted at critical moments.

‘And that must be why Princess Gabriella has her eye on us.’

Her position must be quite unstable if she was willing to trade another princess’s belongings to secure forces she could trust.

Of course, now that Beatrice had offered to exchange herself for the ship, the princess would find it harder to cling to us, but…

‘She still won’t give up so easily.’

Although we had already coordinated with Domestica before coming here, it was easy to see that the princess still wanted to bring us into her fold.

And sure enough, Archery carefully approached me.

“…It would be truly reassuring if someone with your remarkable skills would join Princess Gabriella…”

“We decline.”

Before I could answer, Ive stepped in front of me protectively and responded.

Looking at her for a moment, I stepped forward slightly and said:

“We’ve already made our position clear to Domestica.”

“I understand. Please excuse my presumption.”

Archery immediately backed down.

I couldn’t tell if she had asked despite knowing it would be difficult, or if she thought there would be more opportunities later.

“By the way, you probably haven’t eaten yet. What would you like to do? We’re willing to provide food as thanks for your help.”

“A place to sleep and rest is enough. We’ll take care of ourselves.”

Sia stepped forward and declined the offer.

Soon Archery left us, saying we were free to use fire as needed.

“I’ll go ask the soldiers if there’s any news from the reconnaissance team.”

“Can you contact Beatrice?”

Domestica nodded slightly at my question.

“Yes… Though I’ve heard there are some issues with real-time communication due to security concerns.”

“I see.”

Beatrice had used a crystal ball to communicate with the magic tower, but it seemed they were using something different here.

From the mention of security, it appeared to be a device with certain limitations.

‘So they have communication tools for military use.’

I was curious about what kind of device it might be, but for some reason I had a mental image of a military-colored metal box with repeated numbers in its name, which brought up some unpleasant memories, so I decided not to think about it further.

“Kei, why are you shaking?”

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

It seemed I had been trembling slightly, perhaps as a reaction to unwanted memories trying to surface.

I quickly reassured the worried Sera, Ive, and Chris.

Domestica watched with a bitter smile.

“Still, since you’re looking for her, I’ll make sure to tell her to come meet you.”

“Please do. And, I’m sorry.”

“Not at all.”

Domestica smiled and said:

“…I should apologize too, for trying to forcibly involve you in our problems.”

When Domestica had traveled with us, I had noticed her trying to keep her distance, indicating she didn’t want to drag us in.

That’s why we were able to persuade her relatively quickly and proceed according to Sia’s plan.

“I appreciate your kindness.”

“Please rest well.”

With those words, Domestica quietly left us.

After watching her for a moment, Sia turned to us and spoke softly:

“By the way, it seems that even though they’re soldiers under the same flag, they’re not united internally.”

“You can tell?”

“Of course. I’ve led armies before, after all.”

“When?”

“…Recently, when I was a bit more hot-blooded.”

I sensed Sia was lying slightly, but decided not to press the issue.

She cleared her throat and quietly pointed to a corner.

“There seems to be one command structure, but the atmosphere suggests they’re actually divided into two groups.”

I could see what looked like an invisible wall between better-dressed soldiers and those who weren’t, with the two groups keeping their distance from each other.

The better-dressed ones seemed to be wearing uniforms similar to those of Count Rizolkobu’s elite guards.

“Two factions within a single command structure.”

In this case, it was easy to guess what was happening.

The overall leader would be Count Rizolkobu, but internally they were divided into two factions: the Count’s and Lord Archery’s.

Since Archery seemed loyal to Princess Gabriella, it might be a division between the Count’s faction and the princess’s faction.

From Archery’s earlier comments, there might even be more divisions.

“Having too many heads doesn’t seem beneficial.”

“Of course not. These are people who might otherwise be fighting each other, barely cooperating because of a common enemy.”

“It’ll be interesting when the common enemy disappears or is about to disappear.”

Gigas and Vanilla added their thoughts to my comment.

“This place must be in a precarious balancing act too.”

It seemed likely that there would be frequent attempts to eliminate rival factions by deliberately putting them in dangerous situations.

If so, the resistance army was probably a more turbulent organization than I had thought.

‘I’m worried about Beatrice.’

I thought about how Beatrice must be struggling in the midst of all this.

Though knowing her personality, she probably wouldn’t just endure it but would be engaging in her own machinations.

In fact, that was what I suspected was happening now.

‘I sensed magic similar to Beatrice’s from Count Rizolkobu.’

Seeing that made me wonder if Beatrice might have deliberately orchestrated the attack on the Count.

I’d need to hear the truth from her directly, but I didn’t think I was wrong.

‘Political warfare, huh.’

Thinking it was all quite troublesome, I shook my head.

I just wanted to extract Beatrice quickly and avoid getting any more involved in the resistance army’s affairs.

“Kei?”

“…I’m fine. More importantly, we need to figure out the night watch.”

Even though we came here to rest, we still needed to set up a night watch in case of emergencies.

I began selecting people for the watch, planning to exclude those who seemed extremely fatigued.

+

After catching some sleep, my eyes opened on their own.

‘It’s my shift.’

For some reason, the person before me hadn’t come to wake me up.

I usually woke up on my own, but we would normally at least see each other’s faces during the handover.

Finding it strange, I got up from the room in the carriage, gathered my weapons, and quietly went outside.

Looking around as I approached the tent entrance, I saw Sia, who had been on watch before me, waving at me.

“I forgot to wake you up.”

“You should go in and rest. What were you doing?”

Sia thought for a moment, then showed me what she was holding.

It was a very worn book, and she quietly said:

“It’s a fairy tale about the legend of a hero.”

“A fairy tale?”

“Yes. A storyteller gave it to me when I was young.”

Sia explained, sounding slightly defensive.

Finding this unexpected, I sat down beside her.

Looking at the book, I commented quietly:

“It’s very worn.”

It looked like it had been read many times.

There were signs it had been repaired, suggesting the pages and cover had been damaged at some point.

Looking at the somewhat clumsily repaired parts and the well-fixed sections, Sia smiled and said:

“I’ve carried it with me since I was young and read it whenever I had the chance. So the book couldn’t hold up and got damaged in various places.”

“And you repaired it each time?”

“Yes. I somehow managed to get glue to stick it back together, put on a new leather cover…”

Sia grinned as she looked at the book.

“…It’s a book I’ve carried around, repairing it all this time.”

“A hero of reversal that’s been with you.”

I didn’t know Sia’s exact age, but if she’d had it since childhood, this book must be quite old.

Sia agreed with a smile:

“That’s a good way to put it. Yes, this book is a hero of reversal.”

Sia looked at the book with delight and said:

“…It’s a book that has always guided me through difficult and sad times. It has always kept me from losing sight of my dream.”

“Dream?”

“Yes. A dream.”

Sia wore a briefly joyful expression.

Then she grinned and said:

“I’m too alert right now. Would you like to chat for a while?”

“Sure.”

I sat down next to Sia.

She opened the book to show me, and I had to squint my eyes.

“…I can’t recognize these letters.”

“Ah, I see you only know the common continental language.”

Sia laughed and said:

“It’s understandable. These characters are from a period not long after the hero’s era.”

“…How old are you really?”

“Young at heart.”

I decided against teasing her with “Whatever you say, grandma,” because Sia was smiling while making a fist.

“The demon realm is… lacking in everything, depleting, cold, and desolate… but still.”

Sia looked down at the book with a nostalgic expression and said:

“Thanks to this book, I can proudly say I was able to have a dream.”

“What kind of dream?”

“…This is a bit embarrassing… but to sum it up.”

Sia smiled shyly and said:

“A world without violence or discrimination, where everyone can be happy… I wanted to work toward creating a peaceful world.”

Sia’s face turned slightly red.

And she murmured softly:

“…The kind of world the hero in the fairy tale created.”

“That’s a big dream.”

“Don’t you think it’s foolish?”

I thought about Sia’s question for a moment.

Honestly, it was a foolish dream, but…

“I think it’s nice. World peace.”

I couldn’t see anything wrong with it.

“Isn’t it too unrealistic?”

“Dreams can be unrealistic. I probably once thought I wanted to become the ruler of the country I lived in.”

“…Why can’t you say that with certainty?”

That’s because my fragmented memories make it uncertain.

Still, I was sure I had such an unrealistic dream when I was very young.

I probably gave up later when my thinking matured and I learned how much money, connections, and impressive credentials would be needed to achieve it.

But dreaming is free. And:

“They say you should aim high with your dreams so you can at least achieve something close to them.”

Remembering the saying about always setting big goals, I spoke honestly.

Sia blinked slightly, then grinned and said self-deprecatingly:

“Don’t you still think it’s a foolish dream?”

“I heard somewhere that the world is changed by fools, countless fools at that.”

“Fools? Not geniuses?”

Sia was curious, so I grinned and explained:

“Listen. Say there’s a genius who can perceive everything. Let’s say they can predict what results and ripple effects their actions will have. Then they’d calculate how to control those influences, what not to touch, and so on. Wouldn’t that lead to overthinking?”

Sia quietly looked at me.

I continued in a joking manner:

“And wouldn’t that make it more complicated to act? Since they know what effects their actions will have, they’d be constantly careful, making changes conservatively, unable to touch certain things… Wouldn’t they run out of lifespan before making any real change? It would be fortunate if they didn’t give up before that.”

“That seems like an oversimplification, but let’s go with it. But how do fools change the world?”

Sia asked curiously.

I answered quietly:

“A fool just charges ahead. They push through even when others say it can’t be done.”

“Let’s hope they don’t produce strange results.”

“True. Probably ninety-nine out of a hundred, or even ninety-nine out of a hundred, will produce strange results.”

I continued:

“But one in a hundred, maybe one in a thousand, might hit exactly the right spot.”

“I see.”

“Of course, being fools, they’d have charged in recklessly. There would be aftereffects and cleanup would take time.”

I smiled at Sia.

“But wouldn’t the world have changed in the process? Because one fool has stirred up the core, making it difficult to return to how things were.”

“So that’s why you say countless fools change the world.”

“Yes.”

Looking at Sia, I said:

“No matter how big and unrealistic, isn’t it important to just charge in first? Like a fool. I think if you move and charge in instead of calculating and worrying about everything, you can change something.”

Sia quietly looked at me.

I spoke softly to her:

“So, it’s okay to have a foolish dream. I think dreams should be big, and you need to charge in like a fool to achieve them.”

“So that’s what you wanted to say.”

Sia looked at me for a moment.

Then she smiled slightly and said:

“You probably don’t get called smart very often.”

“That’s a bit harsh.”

I’ve received most of the education I should have, after all.

It’s just that my fragmented memories make me forget a lot.

While I was grumbling to myself, Sia, now looking somewhat refreshed, spoke to me:

“I wish I had met you earlier.”

“Before Ferrarius?”

“Alb… no, even before that. I mean when I first met my current companions.”

Sia smiled and said:

“…When I didn’t doubt my foolish dream so much, and when my companions were just beginning to gather.”

She looked at me with eyes that seemed both nostalgic and somehow brighter.

Then with a playful expression, she said:

“But then again, you probably weren’t even born yet.”

“How old are you really?”

Sia didn’t answer.

Perhaps trying to change the subject, she carefully addressed me:

“Listen, Kei.”

“Yes?”

“If, perhaps, when all your business is finished. When all your problems are resolved.”

I looked at Sia.

With a serious face, she asked:

“Would you then become a fool who helps with my foolish dream?”

“Directly asking me to be a fool is a bit much, don’t you think?”

I grumbled lightly.

“But since you’ve helped me too…”

I quietly answered her question:

“As far as I’m able, I’ll help you.”

It was a somewhat cowardly answer.

But Sia seemed satisfied and smiled lightly.

“That’s enough.”

Soon Sia got up from her seat with a small smile.

“I’m getting tired now. I’m going in to sleep. Take care of yourself. If you’re not feeling well, switch with someone else right away.”

“I will.”

I nodded lightly in response.

Sia continued:

“I understand you want to let the other women rest more, but don’t forget that you need rest too. Especially with your lifespan issue.”

“I got it.”

“And sort out your thoughts about Beatrice clearly. Why you want to get her back, why you want to help her. You should decide for yourself and say it.”

“Right.”

“Oh, and cherish those young ladies too. I’m not saying you treat them carelessly, but they worry about your health more than anyone. Understand?”

“Of course.”

I responded calmly to Sia’s nagging.

She sounds just like a grandmother.

“What are you thinking right now?”

“That you sound just like a grandmother with all this nagging.”

“Hahaha.”

I immediately got a smack on my back.