Ch.844Flying Mother

“What was that…just now…?”

The entire Ordos was in an uproar of shock.

“…A dragon? There was a dragon living in the Barun River?!”

“What dragon! Did you not feel that evil energy just now? That was sorcery! Sorcery!”

The suddenly swirling river water had taken the form of a giant snake, shooting a black pillar of light toward the sky, then exploding with echoing thunder to rise as a cloud of steam.

For ordinary warriors unfamiliar with sorcery, it was truly a natural disaster like no other.

“Sorcery? This is Ordos! How…!”

“Is this the time for such talk? Enemy attack! Look at the sky!”

“Birds…? No, no! That’s a carriage! A winged carriage flying through the sky!”

The warriors looking up at the sky shouted in panic.

Perhaps unfamiliar with the concept of ships, they mistook the airship for a carriage, but that didn’t lessen the shock. A flying carriage was something one would only imagine in fairy tales in my homeland.

So that was… Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage?

A pumpkin carriage that rose high into the sky by a witch’s spell, then crashed like a comet with an evil laugh into the king’s palace, massacring the royalty and nobility.

It was quite an impressive fairy tale where the protagonist earned the title Cinderella (ash-covered) after walking out of a meteor-like inferno covered in human ashes.

The revenge scene where she poured molten glass over the witch who had deceived her and then shattered her to death was considered one of the most memorable scenes among fairy tales due to its catharsis.

…My thoughts are wandering. Anyway, my point was that neither ships nor carriages were originally made to fly.

Not only was such a thing flying properly, but it was approaching the airspace above Ordos. The warriors could only be confused and bewildered by a situation they had never imagined even in their dreams.

I almost wished I could bombard them too, making them cry like children from shock and fear, but unfortunately that wasn’t possible under the circumstances.

“…Can’t we fire just one more shot? Just one would be enough…”

Perhaps she was taken with the power of artillery fire she had experienced for the first time.

Lacy’s cheeks were slightly redder than usual, and her fever-bright blue eyes were filled with a longing for carpet bombing that she herself hadn’t fully recognized.

“Not now, later. Let’s stick to the plan for now.”

Feeling like I’d taught a pure child some bad fire play, I turned my head slightly and cleared my throat as I rejected her request.

Lacy couldn’t hide her disappointment but stepped back slightly, indicating she wouldn’t object.

My meaning wasn’t that we shouldn’t bombard or bomb at all, but rather to postpone until an appropriate moment, so she had nothing to argue against.

“Alright. Then… Demian? I’m counting on you. You’re taking the lead.”

I turned to Demian and pointed at the imperial palace of Ordos.

It would take about thirty seconds for the airship to cross over the palisade and reach the airspace above the palace.

The perfect distance to begin our assault operation.

—-

“Leave it to me.”

Demian nodded as he gripped the hilt of the black iron greatsword he had prepared as a backup.

It seems he hadn’t forgotten my order to use other swords instead of the holy sword in front of others, unless facing a strong enemy he couldn’t defeat without it.

It was necessary. Being such a high-performance sword, using it unconsciously could lead to over-reliance on the sword’s capabilities, potentially slowing the growth of one’s own skills.

What’s the point of the protagonist becoming a sword stand rather than a hero?

Moreover, using the holy sword near Lacy risked her discovering the sword’s true identity.

Unlike Juwaiyeuz of Carlos the Great, which had taken the form of a longsword, the holy sword in Demian’s hands had transformed into a massive greatsword… but a saint is a saint after all.

Lacy might detect the divine power residing in the sword or recognize it as Juwaiyeuz just by seeing the holy sword’s abilities manifested by Demian.

That would be troublesome.

Even I couldn’t predict what reaction and consequences would follow if Lacy discovered that Demian had become the owner of the holy sword at this timing.

In the original story, Elpinel issued some kind of oracle saying that to save the ruined world, one must find the holy sword. Because of this, the moment Demian became the owner of the holy sword, Lacy’s affection skyrocketed, making her a romanceable heroine…

But perhaps because the world hasn’t reached that level of ruin yet, the Elpinel here, unlike the unusually talkative Astraea, has remained silent without issuing any proper oracle.

In such circumstances, if the owner of Juwaiyeuz appeared, Lacy wouldn’t elevate Demian as a hero destined to save the world as in the original story. Instead, she might suspect some connection to the imperial family.

Like mistaking Demian for a distant descendant of Carlos the Great.

While the qualification to be recognized as the owner of a holy sword had nothing to do with bloodline, people in this world generally believed such qualifications were passed down through bloodlines. Like my oath sword, Durandal.

I had made good use of that misconception. Wasn’t I able to deceive Knut into believing he was of Dane royal blood just by giving him Dainsleif?

The problem was that if Lacy held such a misconception, Demian’s position would become extremely awkward.

A descendant of imperial blood who recovered Carlos’s sword and was recognized as its owner?

And his own capabilities had reached the realm of heroes before the age of twenty?

Anyone would see this as emperor material.

While Leopold was also an impeccable figure as emperor, so there wouldn’t be calls to replace him, there could easily be arguments that Demian should be named heir to the throne, just in case.

Lord Wien would have a fit over such a claim, and Leopold wouldn’t accept it, but… how Lacy would react would only be known when the time came.

And that’s not all.

Even if Lacy didn’t mistake Demian for royalty, problems would still abound.

Since no oracle had been issued warning that the world might be destroyed by monsters, Lacy would likely focus on her desire to exterminate other races rather than the monster problem, which she would see as manageable through subjugation.

Rather than focusing on subjugating monsters and apostles as Demian’s party member, she might ask for his help to accelerate her plan to exterminate other races.

She might claim that destroying other races was the divine mission of the one who wielded Juwaiyeuz.

…This was an unwelcome development for me.

While the issue of other races was something that needed to be resolved… defending against their invasions was one thing, but actively advancing into their territories was something to be avoided if possible.

Reducing their power enough to discourage them from starting wars might be acceptable, but to drive entire races to the brink of extinction as Lacy wished would require humans to accept considerable casualties as well.

What need was there for that? Even if we didn’t attack them directly, they would eventually die in large numbers anyway in the face of the increasingly powerful monster offensives.

Unless other races and monsters were allies, which they weren’t—they were enemies just the same—waging a great war to destroy other races would ultimately only make monsters and apostles smile.

Despite my own hatred for Werebeasts and elves, this was why I couldn’t actively support Lacy’s claims.

Moreover, even if her affection soared just because he was the owner of the holy sword, as in the original story, that would be problematic too. I couldn’t even guess how Millia would react in that case.

Surely she wouldn’t shoot Lacy dead… but who knows?

In my memory, if you chose the harem route without eliminating Millia, a corrupted Millia would almost 100% of the time appear as an enemy.

For these reasons, I had no intention of revealing to Lacy that Demian had obtained the holy sword.

Not yet, at least.

—-

– Whoosh!

Drawing his black iron greatsword with a stylish motion, Demian jumped off the airship’s deck and spread his white wings wide.

As we had discussed beforehand, he would lead the assault on the imperial palace to create an opening for the others to descend.

Only Demian and I could survive a descent from this height without a parachute.

If the others tried to imitate this, they would fall helplessly and expose their inner flesh through their skin, so to deploy them to Ordos, we needed to lower the airship to a somewhat dangerous altitude.

“What is that now!”

“A bird…? No, it’s a person! A westerner with wings is attacking—”

– CRASH!

That’s why we needed to send Demian as the vanguard to shake up the enemy lines.

So that the attacks from warriors and sorcerers that should have been directed at the airship would momentarily focus on the human pigeon who had just split the palace’s main gate in half.

Meanwhile, the rest of our group would lower anchor chains from the descended airship, using them like ropes to descend.

Originally, not just Demian but I too should have taken the lead to create chaos… but I had more urgent matters to attend to, so I had no choice but to send Demian ahead first.

Well, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Unlike before, the current Demian wouldn’t just die if I was a little late.

So I should just focus on what I needed to do.

“I’m going too! Millia and Lacy, stay here and guard the ship. The rest of you, descend when you see an opportunity!”

Without waiting for a response from my companions, I immediately jumped over the railing and threw myself into the void.

Something that took priority over assaulting the palace. The grave-robbing task of digging up the Empress’s tomb and collecting her remains.

Killing the father and digging up the mother’s grave. Thinking about it, I couldn’t help but laugh at how unfilial I was being.

Well, they were Hersella’s parents, not mine, so for me it was just an additional troublesome task.

‘…So, where do I need to go?’

[To the front left. Do you see something like a small forest and clearing? My mother’s grave is there.]

Enjoying the rushing wind that swept through my clothes, I turned my head in the direction Hersella indicated.

Northeast part of the city. In a remote space set apart, a small forest tinged with fallen leaves stood alone. Though obscured by dense branches, something like a burial mound was occasionally glimpsed in the middle.

Alright, so that’s the place.

“Kenaz!”

– Whoosh!

I shot flames from beneath my feet and behind my back to slow my descent, propelling myself toward the forest.

It took about 3 seconds to reach the center of the forest. Looking down at the clearing below and the burial mound standing alone in the middle, I gradually lowered my altitude and landed on the clearing.

[…Mother.]

Seeing the burial mound through my eyes, Hersella murmured in a tone that seemed deeply emotional. Her voice was so low it could be mistaken for sobbing. What a filial daughter.

Unlike Hersella, who was showing her one-sided filial piety and barely suppressing her emotional surge, I was just breathing a sigh of relief inwardly.

To be honest, though I hadn’t said it out loud, I had been worried that the grave of the mother of the most unfilial daughter in Ka’har might not have remained intact… but surprisingly, the burial mound itself was preserved.

It was truly fortunate.

If there had been a dung pit instead of a burial mound here, there would have been no way to stop Hersella from rampaging and threatening to kill all of Ka’har in her unprecedented fury.

‘I’m digging it up.’

[Wait, at least pay respects first…]

Tsk. Right, since I’m digging up her mother’s grave, I should at least show that much courtesy.

I bowed twice and paid my respects, then dug up Imelia’s grave, retrieved the wooden coffin inside, and took flight again.

I considered opening the coffin lid once, but a body buried for nearly ten years wouldn’t be in a pleasant state, so for Hersella’s mental health, I decided against it.

Judging by the weight of the coffin and the rattling sound from inside whenever it shook, it was certain that remains were contained within, so there was no need to check.

Just then, the airship had come quite close, apparently in the process of lowering our companions, so it didn’t take long to transfer the coffin to the interior of the airship.

It was somewhat troublesome to adjust the output of the flames, worried that the wooden coffin might burn from the heat of the Karma fire.

“You’ve returned, Lord Astika.”

“Ah, Haschal!”

As I extinguished the flames and climbed onto the deck, Lacy turned toward me with a smile as she blocked warriors’ arrows with a weakly deployed holy barrier. Millia, who had been continuously shooting arrows beside her, also waved her hand in welcome.

“Millia, please move this coffin to my room. I need to go back down.”

“Okay, got it.”

“You successfully recovered your mother’s coffin. That’s good.”

After handing Imelia’s coffin to Millia, Lacy looked at the wooden coffin with a face that combined joy and reverence, bowing her head as if paying respect.

As the direct descendant of Rotholandus of the Great’s Twelve Knights and a pure imperial citizen unlike me, it was only natural for Lacy to show joy and respect to Imelia’s coffin, given her character.

“So can we start bombing now?”

…Though that might not be the only reason.

“…I’ll signal when it’s needed, so please be patient until then.”

I firmly shook my head, then leaped off the deck again, throwing myself overboard.

– Whoosh!

The flames of Karma fire I expelled with all my might pushed my falling body toward the imperial palace.