Edelmar, who was following closely behind, enveloped his sword with aura and swung it.
The aura, shaped like a crescent moon, flew towards the leading monster and struck it.
The monster’s body was split in half.
However, the black mana reattached the monster’s body.
“Hah. This is getting interesting.”
Instead of infusing his sword with aura, Ian stabbed Fragarach into his arm, where the black mana was concentrated.
As soon as Fragarach touched his arm, the black mana scattered.
But the moment Fragarach dropped, the black mana quickly gathered again.
“Hm. Looks like that didn’t work either?”
“It’s coming.”
Ian dodged the monster’s attack and swung Fragarach again.
But the black mana simply scattered and reformed again.
None of the attacks were effective.
“Freeze.”
Ian cast a spell, and the monster’s body froze.
“Did it work?”
Ian shook his head.
“It didn’t.”
As if to confirm Ian’s words, the frozen monster’s body began to twitch and move again.
“Hmm. So this monster is resistant to both physical and magical attacks. It’s just like a golem.”
“Ah.”
As Ian dodged an attack, he looked at Edelmar.
Edelmar, too, was looking at Ian with a surprised expression.
“Can you find the weak spot?”
“Yes.”
“Then you do the searching. I’ll hold it off.”
Nodding, Ian stepped back, and Edelmar stood against the charging monster.
“Scan.”
Golden mana spread from Ian’s body and passed through the monsters.
“The back of the neck.”
As Ian withdrew his magic and shouted, Edelmar quickly moved.
Using his sword as leverage, Edelmar leaped high and stabbed the back of the monster’s neck with the blade.
– Crack
With a sound like something breaking, the black mana scattered.
In an instant, the monster’s body disintegrated and collapsed.
“That’s it.”
“Yes.”
As Ian passed Edelmar, he ascended into the air.
Then he thrust Fragarach into the neck of the monster.
Just like with Edelmar, the sound of something breaking echoed, and the monster crumbled.
“Knights! Attack their necks, just like this!”
Hearing Ian’s shout, the knights, who had been watching in a daze, charged towards the monsters.
Once the weak points were attacked, the revived monsters were swiftly dealt with.
As the last monster fell, Edelmar approached, putting away his sword.
“Are you hurt?”
“Are you?”
Edelmar shrugged his shoulders.
“Do you think this is the end?”
“I don’t think so.”
The answer came immediately.
Ian looked at the monster’s corpse.
A monster related to the black mage who had appeared on the way to the capital.
Could this really be just a simple act of revenge?
Or could this be a scheme to turn Rose into a dark mage, just as we suspected?
“…We should get moving. If we delay any longer, we might have to camp for the night.”
“Let’s go.”
“Come this way.”
Ian cast a cleaning spell on both Edelmar and himself.
“Do you like things neat and tidy?”
“Of course, since you’ll be riding in the same carriage as Rose.”
At the comment that he wouldn’t have used the spell if not for Rose, Edelmar let out a small laugh.
***
“Claude.”
“The Lady is sleeping.”
A sleep spell had been cast on her, so even a loud noise wouldn’t wake her.
Ian nodded in understanding and opened the door, revealing Ermenia and Fenrex, both on high alert.
“Errr!”
Ermenia shouted, demanding to know why Ian had brought ‘that guy’ along.
Ignoring the rude spirit, Ian carefully took Rose from Fenrex’s arms.
She looked even more peaceful than when she naturally fell asleep, probably because of the sleep spell.
Edelmar, who had followed behind, glanced at Ermenia glaring at him and asked,
“What kind of spirit is that?”
“An illusion spirit.”
“Interesting.”
Edelmar reached out as if to touch the unusual creature.
“Errr!”
Ermenia shuddered as if repulsed and disappeared instantly.
“Doesn’t like being touched, huh?”
“Didn’t you know?”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen one so openly express dislike for me.”
Amused by the spirit’s reaction, Edelmar laughed.
‘What is wrong with this guy’s mental state?’
Ian shook his head in disbelief and looked out the window.
The sun was setting in the west, signaling that night was approaching.
“You’re not going to wake her?”
“No.”
Even though the sleep spell was still active, it had been a long time since she had slept so peacefully.
Since she was already asleep, it seemed best to let her rest and recover from her fatigue.
“Shall we have a chat then?”
“What do you want to talk about?”
Edelmar crossed his legs.
“I don’t think this is about revenge.”
Ian’s expression hardened.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because the monsters only attacked you.”
Edelmar maintained his smile as he continued.
“When we got off the carriage, I thought it was odd. Even while being attacked, they kept trying to get to the carriage. But the moment you appeared, they didn’t pay any attention to the carriage.”
“Isn’t that natural if it was revenge?”
Edelmar pointed to himself with his finger.
“The monsters completely ignored me.”
“Ah.”
“As far as I know, your involvement with the dark mage only goes back to the incident in the mountains.”
“I had already encountered them before that.”
Not only during the journey to the capital but also in the capital itself.
“That may be so, but if something had gone wrong back then, they wouldn’t be attacking you now. Don’t you agree?”
Ian sighed inwardly.
Edelmar’s reasoning was flawless; there was nothing to refute.
As Ian’s expression grew more rigid, Edelmar tilted his head.
“Shall I tell you the conclusion I’ve come to?”
“…Go ahead.”
“The dark mages want you dead. And the reason is…”
Edelmar pointed his long finger at Rose, who was in Ian’s arms.
“Isn’t it because of her?”
Edelmar’s eyes gleamed.
***
Despite moving as fast as possible after the monster attack, they couldn’t avoid camping for the night.
While the knights were setting up camp and lighting the fire, Ian laid Rose down on the carriage seat.
“Fenrex, change into your wolf form and stay beside Rose.”
“Why?”
“Wolves have higher body temperatures.”
Fenrex grumbled for a moment but soon transformed into a wolf and lay down beside Rose.
As soon as she felt the warmth, Rose instinctively hugged Fenrex in her sleep.
After tucking the blanket around Rose, Ian stepped outside the carriage.
He walked over to Edelmar, who was leaning against a tree next to the carriage.
“Are you ready to give me an answer?”
Ian sighed deeply.
“It’s not that I don’t want to answer. It’s just that I only figured it out today.”
“Today?”
“I thought the reason the dark mages were targeting me in the mountains was because of Count Kale’s orders.”
Edelmar, who had already heard this from Ian, nodded.
“And today you realized something else?”
“The monster only targeted me, as you saw. It doesn’t seem like revenge.”
“That’s right.”
“I’ve also had my suspicions.”
“Suspicions?”
Ian nodded.
“The dark mage who appeared in the mountains didn’t attack Rose. Instead, they let her escape.”
If the dark mage was after Count Kale’s title, they would have needed to kill both Ian and Rose.
But the dark mage only targeted Ian specifically.
It couldn’t be that Rose was spared just because she was young or powerless, given how intent the two mages were on killing Ian.
“What are the chances Rose is connected to the dark mages?”
Ian looked at Edelmar with a bewildered expression.
“Did you forget that Rose is a spirit summoner?”
“Ah.”
A mage, whether practicing dark or light magic, could not form a contract with a spirit.
The reason was that the magic circles possessed by mages were not made of pure mana.
Only those with pure mana could form contracts with spirits.
“So, you don’t know why the dark mages are after Rose either?”
“I don’t know.”
Even though Ian knew the original story, this was something he couldn’t figure out.
If he had known, the first thing he would have done was capture Count Kale and interrogate him about his connection to the dark mages.
Edelmar pointed towards the carriage, guarded by the knights.
“He’s not involved, is he?”
Ian nodded.
“That guy doesn’t know anything. All he does is drink and gamble.”
“Hm.”
If the dark mages were targeting Rose, it would make sense.
But the dark mages weren’t after the child.
They were solely focused on killing Ian.
Almost as if Rose was meant to take Ian’s place.
Ian and Edelmar remained silent, staring at the campfire.
Suddenly, Yan appeared out of thin air.
“Grand Duke.”
“What’s the matter?”
Instead of answering, Yan handed over a small piece of paper.
After reading the small letters written on the paper, Edelmar called Ian.
“You should take a look at this.”
Ian took the paper from him.
[Silver Bell entering the palace. Request for the Little Sun.]
‘Silver Bell likely refers to Yekhaterina. But entering the palace? And what’s this Little Sun?’
Edelmar clicked his tongue.
“The Crystal Palace is where the Emperor’s most cherished princess resides.”
“……..”
“It seems Silver Bell is up to something.”
Ian paused, deep in thought.
Yekhaterina.
Up until now, he had only considered her a clever heroine.
He had assumed her sudden appearance was due to him disrupting the original flow of events…
But her connection to the Crown Prince, today’s ambush, and the unexpected mention of entering the Crystal Palace made him reconsider.
‘Could Yekhaterina be connected to the dark mages?’
Ian glanced sideways at Edelmar.
While he could protect Rose in the townhouse, protecting her in the Imperial Palace was another matter.
Someone with enough authority to shield Rose from the Crown Prince was needed in the palace. And there was only one such person.
Grand Duke Edelmar, the Emperor’s brother and the Crown Prince’s uncle.
If Edelmar could protect Rose in the palace, even the Crown Prince wouldn’t dare harm her.
But in order to ask Edelmar to protect Rose, Ian would have to explain why they needed to be wary of Yekhaterina and the Crown Prince.
‘How should I start explaining all of this?’
The flow of the world, his possession of this body, and the ultimate fate he had seen for Rose—all of it needed explaining.
He could tell Edelmar everything, but would Edelmar believe him?
‘The Constellations.’
Ian thought of the Constellations, the divine beings who had always guided him in the right direction.
But even now, the Constellations remained silent.
“What are you thinking about?”
Edelmar asked as he watched Ian stare intently at the paper with a serious expression.
“I need to tell you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“Please hand it over.”
Edelmar nodded towards Yan, who was standing behind him.
Yan bowed and vanished.
Ian took a deep breath before speaking again.
“Let’s take a walk.”
