The Returnee Wants Peace

Krrrrrrr!

Sparks flew in front of the Iron Mask’s outstretched palm.

The magical spear that collided with the shield surrounding his palm dissipated with a sharp noise.

It was an incredible display of control, but neither of the Emperor’s two knights even blinked.

“Sir Nox. Care to explain what you’re doing?”

“…”

“Don’t think about making excuses. I know what that is too.”

Lady Roshanak pointed at the red necklace hanging around the Iron Mask’s neck.

It was a large ruby necklace, looking so expensive that one wondered why they hadn’t noticed it before.

Just then.

“…Huh?”

The mercenary magician suddenly felt an odd light flowing from the necklace. He tried to turn his head but couldn’t.

A moment later.

Thud, he collapsed unconscious.

Rosha, glancing at the flower petals floating in the air, urged again.

“Do you have no intention of explaining why you’re doing this?”

“…Didn’t His Majesty tell you?”

A youthful voice. She hadn’t realized because she had only heard him mutter lowly until now, but it was a soft voice like a boy’s.

The content of his words was not soft at all, though.

“According to His Majesty’s orders, I plan to eliminate everyone here except for you and me.”

“…Are you in your right mind?”

“Why are you so angry?”

He seemed genuinely curious.

He had thought she would join in when he told her the plan, and he looked perplexed that she wasn’t.

“Ah, is it because of the Atica prince? If it really bothers you, we can spare the prince too.”

“…”

“More? More would be difficult… I’ll allow up to three people.”

“…Everyone.”

“Hm?”

“It’s meaningless unless it’s everyone.”

She replied informally since he spoke informally.

At Rosha’s response, Sir Nox examined her. Through the gaps in the iron mask, troubled blue eyes could be seen.

‘Koko said… he must be a successful case of the slime experiment.’

Otherwise, an ordinary human couldn’t handle such jumbled magical power, he said.

And in that process, Sir Nox must have lost something human.

If not, he wouldn’t fail to understand why she was angry now.

“…I don’t understand. His Majesty told me to get along well with you, so I was trying to accommodate your requests as much as possible, but this time I can’t. I’m sorry.”

As Sir Nox said this, a blade carrying the dim moonlight appeared silently behind him.

It was Nardil’s curved sword, and only when seeing his lemon-colored eyes shining in the darkness could one recognize his presence.

Though it must have been sudden in the night, Nardil was already perfectly prepared for battle.

However, it was already too late.

Magical power was heavily condensed in the air like clouds.

Finally, as if it had exceeded the limit, blue windows began to appear one after another.

Ding!

Time remaining until the sixth trial: 1 day 12 hours. Prepare for the trial!

Time remaining until the sixth trial: 3 hours…

Time remaining until the sixth trial: 5 minutes…

The sixth trial begins.

Goooo-

The air in the flower field where a strange current had been flowing ripped open as if paper was being torn.

A black rift was opening beneath the round full moon.

“Oh no…”

Moreover, the anomaly didn’t stop there.

The starlight, which had felt closer due to being midway up the mountain, gradually receded.

As the atmosphere resonated with an ominous vibration, and the flowers in the field became dizzyingly fragrant.

The roughly torn edges of the crevice began to widen.

Thud, thudthud-

Signs that the trial’s rift was about to burst.

Nardil, who had already seen a trial open on kingdom soil, muttered with a tense expression:

“What is this… Only the first trial burst open as soon as the rift appeared…”

“If magical power is supplied to a place where a trial is scheduled, the rift opens earlier than the scheduled time. Naturally, the bursting point is accelerated too.”

“…So you’re saying this fellow supplied magical power?”

“Probably.”

Though he had joined midway and didn’t know the exact circumstances, Nardil had quite sharply pinpointed the cause.

The Prince’s expression turned frighteningly fierce upon hearing her answer. The curved sword in his hand slowly pressed against Sir Nox’s neck.

But now was not the time for that.

Swish, swish-swish-

Something began to creep out of the rift.

It wasn’t clearly visible in the darkness, but it was a bundle of thick vines.

Side branches spread from the vine bundles stretching in all directions, and colorful flowers bloomed in profusion. The roots also quickly burrowed into the ground, establishing themselves.

The ‘demonic beast’ that emerged from the rift had the form of a giant plant.

“My goodness…”

“Oh, dear God…”

People who had barely managed to rush out with weapons despaired at the sight of its endlessly swelling body.

However, Nardil calmly looked at Rosha.

‘…I see why she was confident about this trial.’

Plants burn well.

And Rosha’s specialty is fire magic.

“…Good thing I prepared in advance.”

Rosha muttered softly and waved her hand, causing flames to rise with a whoosh, surrounding the flower field in a wide circle.

A domain of fire.

As if drawing a line not to be crossed, the rampaging flames caused the flowers that had been emitting a strong fragrance to shrink back.

The thick roots and vines that had been slowly expanding their territory also hesitated.

“Ooh…”

“We need fire. Prepare fire magic!”

“Light your weapons on fire!”

As the surroundings brightened, the magicians of the conquest party, freed from panic, prepared their magic. They looked at Rosha with eyes full of trust.

‘No wonder she was wandering around the flower field for so long this afternoon.’

‘That’s right. If Lady Roshanak is with us, this isn’t an impossible fight.’

Rosha was one of the few magical authorities at this point, and especially an expert who favored using fire magic.

The magicians who had learned fire magic from her over the past few days quickly regained their confidence.

However…

“Your Highness. I’ll leave that to you. This trial is in a ‘boss raid’ format, so we just need to defeat that one demonic beast.”

“But…”

“I don’t think I can take the front line.”

Rosha continued speaking while facing Sir Nox, who was staring blankly at her.

“A magician must face a magician.”

Given his impure intentions and the necklace of suggestion he possessed, someone had to deal with that fellow exclusively.

Nardil, who had received Koko (who was in deep sleep) along with some advice, soon nodded and began rallying people.

“Alright, go to the left!”

“Magicians to the rear! Form ranks!”

Leaving their shouts behind, Rosha quietly looked at Sir Nox. If she didn’t stop him here, the upcoming battle would become difficult.

Despite her determination, he seemed puzzled by this situation itself.

“So… you’re saying you want to fight me? Why?”

“Because you’ll kill them if I don’t.”

“Why does that matter?”

He genuinely seemed unable to understand.

“His Majesty knows that you are getting closer to the truth of the world. That’s why he told me to get along well with you if possible. It would be different if you interfere with His Majesty’s work, though.”

“…”

“Those people seem to be humans you’ve only known for a few days, are they important? Can’t we just leave them alone and get along well between us?”

Sir Nox tried desperately to persuade her in his own way.

Given his characteristics of having very limited human relationships, he might not want to lose the ‘friend’ the Emperor first introduced to him.

However, Rosha couldn’t compromise on this point.

-Rosha. When you’re conquering trials, you’ll face many crossroads of choice. There are many easy paths where you can move forward by sacrificing someone’s life. In fact, quite a few guilds bring ‘spare lives’ when entering trials.

-But if you keep choosing the second-best option, you’ll eventually lose your way. I only realized this after experiencing it, but don’t you do that.

-Don’t compromise when it comes to human lives.

These were the words of her swordsmanship master from her previous world. Rosha, pondering these words, quietly murmured:

“…You said earlier that you don’t understand.”

“That’s right.”

“Then I’ll make you understand.”