The Returnee Wants Peace

The young man with silver hair and blue eyes nodded again.

Not just once, but several times.

Looking at his eyes, which seemed entranced by something, Rosha thought:

‘…Did he really understand?’

She couldn’t be sure. Wondering if he might be nodding falsely, she peered into his eyes, but there was no wavering.

Sir Nox added in a low, slow tone:

“Since you seem to dislike it, I won’t kill them.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. I’ll continue not to, so in return, be friends with me.”

“…”

Making such a childish request over a morally obvious proposition.

Still, it was fortunate to have drawn at least this much of an answer from someone who had tried to kill innocent people.

‘Since it would be difficult to deal with Sir Nox unless he openly goes against the Emperor.’

She wasn’t sure how his attitude might change later, but for now, at least at this moment, it seemed okay.

Still, unable to let her guard down, she was resolving to keep an eye on him for the time being when suddenly.

“Um…”

Feeling sudden gazes, she turned around.

The people who should have been attacking the demonic beast were standing in place, staring blankly at her.

It would be dangerous if they got distracted, so why were they doing that…

“Huh?”

Had the demonic beast stopped already?

The stems and roots that had been relentlessly attacking in all directions had ceased moving, and the orange flowers that had been scattering toxic seeds were drooping, facing the ground.

The cause was the demon’s body, charred black like charcoal.

In the center of the ‘body’ formed by numerous bundles of vines.

Inside a hole that seemed to have been pierced by something hot, faintly glittering powder could be seen.

It was the remains of a magic stone.

‘Tsk… I did carelessly throw the last attack towards the demonic beast.’

…No way.

Did I do that?

* * *

“Your luck was incredibly good.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Without knowing the location in advance, the chance of destroying a magic stone of such a huge demonic beast is really like getting struck by lightning. That fellow probably didn’t expect to go down so easily either. Ah, lift that part up a bit more!”

As Rosha lifted the thick stem with magic at Koko’s words, she thought.

‘I didn’t expect to resolve the trial like this.’

Although she had cleared many trials before, there had never been a case where a carelessly thrown grand magic shattered the magic stone held by a boss-level demonic beast.

Since she would never use grand magic carelessly in the first place, it was something that would never happen again.

“To make a house-sized demonic beast like that with just one spell… It’s unbelievable.”

“She really is an amazing person.”

“I came up from the eastern part so I didn’t know, but now I understand why people in the capital praise her.”

The conquest party members standing at a distance murmured.

Regardless of that.

“…When you’re this lucky, you should buy a lottery ticket.”

It was a shame that there was no lottery in this world.

Just then, Nardil, who had approached nearby, pulled out an arm-thick stem that she had been lifting with magic and said:

“Any results?”

“Ah, no. Nothing special.”

“Same here. I never expected the trial to end like this… Though it’s something to be grateful for, of course.”

“…Haha.”

Originally, the ‘boss raid’ of the sixth trial consisted of 3 gates in total, with the size of the demonic beast gradually decreasing as the gates progressed.

At the end, the demonic beast would crumble like weathering, and reward items would appear, but this time, because it died so early on, it was taking some time to weather.

Rosha, unable to wait even for that, was busy searching for rewards.

“By the way, why did you fight with Sir Nox just now?”

Nardil, who was helping her, asked while glancing back. There, Nox had already picked up and put on the iron mask that had been blown off.

“…There was a reason. There are many ears listening, so I’ll tell you later.”

“If you say so. But that fellow’s face looked exactly like the Empire’s Emperor… Could it be what I’m thinking?”

Judging by how his voice suddenly lowered, he seemed to have misunderstood Nox as the Emperor’s illegitimate child. Some of the conquest party members had already seen his face and were secretly whispering.

Rosha smiled awkwardly and pondered.

‘What should I say? The Emperor’s experiment subject?’

It was ridiculous that saying he was an illegitimate child might be better.

Just then.

Swish-

Something small and white fell gently from the sky.

Someone who saw it muttered:

“Oh? It’s snow.”

That’s right. It was snowing.

As if all the snow that couldn’t fall due to the trial was trying to fall at once, the snowflakes quickly grew larger.

It was heavy snow.

“…Snow on a flower field.”

It was an exotic yet romantic sight.

Rosha and Nardil, pausing their work for a moment, appreciated the spectacle before them.

The flowers, the demonic beast’s corpse, those who died during the battle.

All were quietly put to sleep on the earth, covered by a thick blanket of heavily falling snow.

The dark battle had ended, and day was gradually breaking.

“Looks like morning is coming.”

“Indeed it is.”

The conquest party members, who had been sprawled here and there like vagrants after the battle ended, also gazed blankly at the scene unfolding before them.

Although there were those who died, time still flows, and we must continue to live.

Everyone seemed to feel this proposition in their hearts.

Suddenly, she thought of Froy. Wondering if there might be any unread messages in the notebook, she checked, but there was no new writing.

What could Froy be doing?

Just as she was casually recalling his face.

“My ladyyyy!”

Along with the sound of hoofbeats, a familiar voice was heard from somewhere.

Turning her head, she saw a knight on horseback rushing urgently towards her.

Confirming that he was a knight of House Aper, Rosha hurriedly moved. Somehow, an ominous feeling crossed her mind.

The man, who had dismounted as if almost falling off, quickly ran to her.

“Huff, huff.”

“What’s the matter, to be in such a…”

“It’s terrible, my lady. Young master Cedric…!”

After catching his breath once, he continued in an agitated tone:

“Young master Cedric is in critical condition!”

“…What?”

Rosha’s expression hardened.

* * *

At Count Aper’s mansion in the capital.

Berri, who was tidying up the room of the absent master, shrieked when she saw Rosha suddenly appear:

“Oh my, Miss?! When did you return? Goodness, how could you walk in the snow without an umbrella?”

“Just a moment.”

Rosha had no time to humor Berri’s fussing.

With trembling hands, she grabbed the doorknob and dashed out of the room.

‘It’s fortunate I could borrow Froy’s ability for a moment.’

Queen Arzhena’s necklace, received as a reward for the third trial.

That necklace, which allowed the use of others’ abilities, contained Froy’s ability, and thanks to it, she could move directly to her room.

‘Cedric…’

Cedric, seven years older than Rosha, was like another parent to her. Completely different from Cassis, who was only a year apart.

That’s why she had to return immediately upon hearing that Cedric was in critical condition.

She didn’t want to miss the chance to treat him, just in case.

“Huh? Lady Roshanak?”

“Oh! You can’t go in!”

Seeing the knights guarding Cedric’s room door and controlling entry, it seemed there had been his orders.

But there’s a way to get past things like this.

Yah, body slam!

“Ouch!”

“Hey, you’re just unnecessarily strong!”

“Hey, man! Don’t put your hands on the young lady carelessly!”

The knight who had instinctively pushed Rosha’s shoulder hesitated at her cry.

Not missing that opening, Rosha quickly broke through the defense and went inside.

Bang!

As she quickly pushed her body through the door gap, a faint smell of blood came from inside.

“…Ah.”

Cedric was lying weakly on the bed.

Rosha hurriedly approached to check his condition. No matter how severe the injury, it would be fine as long as he wasn’t dead yet.

If it was an injury beyond help, she was planning to steal an elixir from the Emperor’s secret storage if necessary.

But…

“Rosha? Why are you here so early? What about the trial? Did you come in the middle of it?”

Cedric, raising his upper body, looked perfectly fine.

No, did he really use an elixir?

Looking at him with bewildered eyes, she turned her head towards where the strong smell of blood was coming from.

Focused on Cedric, she hadn’t noticed, but Froy was sitting askew on the sofa there.

“…You’ve come?”

Though he casually greeted her and seemed to have no major injuries on the surface, his complexion was quite pale.

Just in case, she touched his shoulder which looked particularly uncomfortable, and he flinched and let out a groan.

“Are, are you okay?”

What’s going on here?