The Returnee Wants Peace

‘…Huh?’

When did he arrive? And what’s with those glasses?

He looked especially like a cold intellectual beauty today.

Though she thought she had gotten used to his good looks, this was a new side of him, so Rosha momentarily halted her steps.

“Is it that strange? I wore them because I need to look at text for a long time.”

Froy asked, fiddling with his glasses frame, having noticed her gaze.

His posture suggested he would take them off immediately if she said they looked strange, so Rosha answered rather carefully.

“No, they suit you well. But when did you get here?”

“About an hour ago. I needed to ask for the Young Count’s cooperation separately, and I thought I’d see you while I was at it.”

“Rosha, come here.”

Cedric interrupted their conversation with a gesture. Judging by his stern expression, Froy’s words just now must have rubbed him the wrong way.

Rosha herself didn’t think much of it.

‘It doesn’t seem like something to get angry about.’

Thought the one who had held hands with him repeatedly because of his ability.

“Young Count. I didn’t take you for someone so narrow-minded.”

“Never mind that, just continue what you were doing.”

She also surreptitiously observed the two men subtly grating on each other’s nerves.

Their relationship was a bit ambiguous.

Though there was quite a difference in status between a Duke and a Count, they were both graduates of the Imperial Academy, with Cedric being two years senior.

Cedric, an imperial aide, had been very wary of Froy at first, but now that Rosha and Froy were acting together, his attitude had softened somewhat.

Especially these days, as his doubts about the Emperor were growing daily.

‘That’s probably why Froy is showing those documents to Cedric too.’

That’s right. What they were looking at now were the books and documents they had swept up from the secret laboratory in the imperial palace at dawn yesterday.

The volume was so vast that they hadn’t found any meaningful passages yet, but.

Just the fact that it was evidence of secret experiments being conducted in the imperial palace made Cedric look increasingly troubled.

This intensified when Rosha told him what had happened at lunch today.

“A man who looks exactly like His Majesty the Emperor…”

Cedric, leaning back against the chair, fell silent. He seemed to have a lot on his mind.

Meanwhile, Rosha picked up an old piece of paper placed on the table in front of the sofa.

It was the illustration with the scribbled memo ‘Door to Paradise’ that she had seen before.

‘…Since it’s related to Hildor, I guess this door appeared in the sacred relic’s trial?’

That wasn’t the only question. Part of this marble door was prominently placed in the ‘mansion’ within Froy’s ability, wasn’t it?

‘I at least saw it in the sacred relic’s trial, but Froy said it was there originally when he created the mansion and that he didn’t know why it was there.’

It was perplexing.

It felt like looking at a big picture that couldn’t be completed because several puzzle pieces were missing.

However, it was clear that there was a fateful flow to the elements surrounding her.

“…”

In fact, Froy was having similar thoughts. Though about a different subject.

‘Roshanak Aper…’

Sometimes, strange memories surfaced when he looked at her.

It was a bizarre experience, as if lovingly gazing at her from someone else’s perspective, feeling like himself yet not himself.

If there was such a thing as a past life, would it be like this?

Moreover, the frequency of these memories was increasing the more time he spent with her.

‘…How strange.’

No matter which book he looked in, he couldn’t find any mention of such symptoms.

Wondering if she might have had similar experiences, he had asked Rosha, but she didn’t seem to have.

So he hesitated a bit more.

Because he couldn’t tell if the feelings he was experiencing now were genuine or not.

‘Who knows. It could be an unknown mental illness.’

His father wasn’t exactly normal in many ways either, so he thought it might be possible.

Whatever it was, until the nature of this condition became clear, Froy had decided not to tell her about the feelings he was experiencing.

…Of course, he couldn’t help the occasional revealing words or actions.

Even now.

“Look at this, Froy. There’s another illustration about paradise.”

Rosha, who had been casually flipping through a few books piled in front, had luckily found something.

Froy, who had been staring blankly at her rapidly fluttering eyelids, belatedly turned his gaze to the single sheet of paper she held up.

It was an illustration inserted between book pages, slightly different from the one they had discovered before.

“There’s something like tree roots drawn above the door to paradise. Above that is land where people live… I don’t know if it’s just because it’s a drawing, but their expressions don’t look very good.”

“You’re right…”

Looking at this picture alone, paradise seemed to be sucking the vitality out of the land where people lived.

Just as they were growing serious, having vaguely grasped the content of the picture, it happened.

Bang!

Suddenly the door opened and Cassis entered.

Since grandfather was in their domain, not the capital mansion, this meant all the people with the Aper name in this mansion were now gathered.

“Cassis. What kind of rude behavior is this when we have a guest?”

Cedric, already on edge with Froy in the room, sharply rebuked him. However, Cassis, not batting an eye, instead gestured towards the door for someone to come in.

The ones who entered were none other than the knights of Aper County.

“Huh?”

Rosha opened her eyes wide. Froy also prepared to use his ability at the sudden situation, but Cassis’s target wasn’t him.

“The Duke is exempt. This is a family matter.”

Cassis, who had started mixing in informal speech with Froy at some point, pointed somewhere with his fingers outstretched.

It was Cedric.

“First, grab him so he can’t escape.”

“Um, excuse us for a moment, young master.”

“We’re sorry! Please stay still!”

The hesitant knights approached Cedric in a polite movement. Cedric sighed softly as if he had anticipated something.

What’s going on all of a sudden?

* * *

The backyard of the Aper mansion.

On a pile of snow gathered by the servants, a familiar shrine was placed.

It was the shrine of the Guide God that Rosha had carved out of crystal before.

“Achoo!”

A white parrot was lying flat on his back on the miniature shrine, small enough for Berri to move alone.

Achoo! The bird, which shook his body slightly again, grumbled.

“Why is this god still whimpering without any news… Tsk, tsk.”

That’s right. Koko was waiting for the Guide God.

He had something to ask the god after hearing about ‘paradise’ last time.

However, the Guide God hadn’t shown itself at all since receiving a severe penalty for intervening in the third trial.

“I put the shrine outside for nothing. What a waste. Tch.”

It had been placed outside thinking the heavenly radio waves(?) might be better received.

Definitely not because of the snow slide.

Just then.

“No, why are you refusing? The item itself isn’t at fault, you know?”

The voice of the ill-mannered person living in this house was heard. It sounded like they were barely suppressing their anger.

Koko, who had been tilting his head in confusion, finally couldn’t contain his curiosity and decided to leave the shrine for a moment.

Flap-flap-

Flying up to the height of the third floor, Koko could see several people in a room towards the center.

The ill-mannered person’s voice was coming from there.

“In this harsh world, you haven’t even learned swordsmanship or magic separately. Then shouldn’t you at least have some special ability? No matter how smart you are, if you suddenly die to a passing monster, who will be responsible for this family in the future?”

“Cassis.”

“That’s why I’m telling you to just use it.”

The ill-mannered person infused mana into the object they were holding. Upon closer inspection, it was that sphere Rosha had won by coming first in the hunting competition!

But the moment a brilliant light burst forth from it…

“Huh?”

Koko noticed a faint silver light emanating from around Rosha’s legs in one corner of the room.

More precisely, it was coming from the ancient weapon called Hildor.

“…Well, would you look at that?”

A ‘ding’ mark appeared on Koko’s small head as he watched quietly.

Wait, this god? It doesn’t come when I call, but…