Chapter 95

"We'll need to split off a force to send to the Argan region."

"If we're splitting, how much are we sending?"

Everyone was serious about it, and they were clearly weighting Lyssel's opinion heavily.

He was the commander here, and the highest-ranking among them.

Some of the unity probably came from the crisis itself, but Lyssel chalked it up to the fact that he'd been visibly active in the south.

The prejudice hadn't disappeared entirely, but the fear had eased some.

All of that was Iberin's doing.

The aversion to Lecashe had thinned just enough to get them this far.

"Argan is practically a wasteland by now. We need to get reinforcements there as fast as possible."

The lord whose territory bordered Argan was the one pressing hardest.

If the monsters got past Argan, he was next.

"Half of our force will go to Argan. I'll take volunteers first, and pull from the rest after that."

"Will you be going yourself, Your Highness?"

"I have to hold the forest. If something happens here while I'm gone, the damage could be even worse."

"Are that many monsters really coming out of the forest?"

"If you went personally, casualties would drop, surely."

The nobles were clearly hoping Lyssel would lead it himself.

They knew he doted on his wife, and they couldn't quite shake the suspicion that he was holding back because of the Grand Duchess.

The lords with the fire already on their feet felt it most sharply.

But none of them quite had the nerve to say it out loud, so they swallowed the words.

"Do you know how many times a day I go into that forest?"

"Sorry?"

"Used to be once. That was enough to clear the weaker monsters near the entrance. These days it isn't."

"Then this place is a danger zone too?"

"Of course. There's no spot more like a ticking bomb than this one."

Lyssel glanced at the clock and made an offer to the noble who looked ready to push back further.

"If you don't trust the call, come into the forest with me."

"Oh."

"Better to see it for yourself than have it explained to you piece by piece."

Only then did the noble let out a small breath.

"My apologies. I — I let thoughts of my own people get ahead of me."

"It happens."

A man who'd put it that openly wasn't lying.

Even after sending half the force to Argan, the rest would have to clear the forest.

Nobody was fool enough to lie when the lie was about to be exposed.

The noble bowed his head.

"For now, each of you take today's discussion back to your knight orders."

"Yes. Understood."

After that, they settled the housing questions and so on.

The number of people suddenly needing rooms had ballooned, and they were short.

---

The force going to Argan was assembled quickly.

It wasn't the kind of situation that left room to drag their feet.

A few nobles were going along to lead it.

The ones who'd been into the forest didn't push back at all on Lyssel staying behind.

This was likely going to be a long fight.

It wasn't only the south's problem.

"What about the west?"

"They say Duke Cherity went, but the situation is the worst it's been."

"Really?"

"Yes. The monsters are flooding in too fast to handle, by the sound of it."

"Can they hold with what they've got?"

They'd sent what they could, but the worry was real.

If the numbers were that high.

Pons reported on a few other matters and stepped out.

Iberin, who'd been keeping him company, asked carefully,

"Are you worried?"

"Worried…"

What worried Lyssel wasn't the nobles and knights who'd left.

If they were wiped out, the monsters would start working their way here.

If that happened, they wouldn't have enough men, and protecting Iberin would get harder. Realistically, nowhere on the continent would be safe.

"But however I look at it, emptying out the forest just isn't possible."

"Right."

The tangled cries of monsters rang out across the territory almost every day.

The people were on edge.

"If we could just figure out the cause."

No matter how he turned it over, there was no answer.

The Seed of Evil hasn't even bloomed — so why is this happening?

Going by Lyssel's condition, he didn't seem to be sensing anything wrong with the seed.

Iberin's head was a mess.

Is Rozelia's awakening really the cause? But then — why? A god's curse? Why would a god?

"Oh — right."

"What is it?"

"There's something I want to tell you, Iberin."

"What?"

"It's about my family."

He'd kept meaning to bring it up, but problem after problem had pushed it back.

"Your family?"

"Yes."

Iberin instinctively guessed what Lyssel wanted to say.

She'd just been thinking about the seed, but she played innocent and asked,

"Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if even what I think I know is accurate. Given what the emperors have done."

"…"

"Lecashe has protected the Forest of the World Tree for generations. We aren't the cursed beings the rumors make us out to be. We carry something called the Seed of Evil in our bodies, though, which has caused a few problems."

Listening to him, Iberin's chest tightened.

This man was trusting her with this — what could she give him back?

"That's the secret behind Lecashe's existence. Keeping the massive demonic energy in the Seed of Evil from breaking loose."

"…"

"And when I die, it'll probably fall on Ether to carry."

"…"

"Iberin. Say something, please."

"Lyssel."

The sound forced its way out of her tight throat.

"Yes."

"That must have been hard."

He'd laid everything out, and she was caught by the feeling that she had to do the same.

Whether he'd believe her was a question — but precisely because it was Lyssel, she felt he might.

Iberin chewed her lip, then said,

"I have a secret too."

"Really?"

"Yes. But I'm still a little afraid to say it."

The fact that she wasn't really Iberin but someone else wasn't all of it.

Could Lyssel handle the shock of finding out this was the inside of a novel?

"I really am scared."

Lyssel's eyes had gone wide for a moment; then he pulled her into his arms.

"It's all right. I can wait for as long as it takes you to tell me. You're going to stay by my side."

"Of course. Once everything's settled, I'll tell you. I promise."

"It's okay if you never tell me. As long as it isn't that you don't love me."

"What."

"On second thought, if it was that, then absolutely don't tell me."

"Pft."

When Iberin laughed in spite of herself, only then did Lyssel look reassured — she's smiling.

"You've even learned to joke."

"Which means stop apologizing."

"Hmph. Anyway — thank you for telling me. You must have agonized over whether to say it."

"I did. But once you knew, Iberin, everything felt all right. More than all right."

"But — Lyssel."

"Yes?"

A hypothesis surfaced in her head.

"How is the seed right now? Can you feel what state it's in?"

"Yes. Same as always."

"I see. Then — is there a way to purify the seed?"

If it could be purified before it bloomed at death.

"There's no god."

"What if there were?"

No matter how she turned it, this was the only answer she could land on.

Rozelia's awakening was a key piece in this too.

"Do you know something?"

"…"

Ten years from now, the god awoke through Rozelia.

In exchange, Lyssel and Ether died.

That was how the original went.

"Honestly — ever since that tremor in the forest, I've been wondering if that's when these changes started."

"Tremor?"

The name of the forgotten god she'd let slip without thinking — Demedeto.

What if the god had stirred awake because of that?

"That has to be it."

The more she spoke, the more the pieces clicked.

Monsters were beings that carried demonic energy.

And now they were pouring out in a frenzy, attacking people.

What if it was to escape the presence of a god stirring back to life?

Up to that point she'd been instinctively reaching for curse, but this fit better.

"What made you think of that?"

"That's my secret."

"Ah. Then I won't ask."

The instant she said it, Lyssel closed his mouth.

Just as that maybe was beginning to form in her —

Knock, knock — and Pons's voice came through, urgent.

"Your Highness, the temple is here."

"What? The temple?"

Neither Lyssel nor Iberin had expected that, and both of their brows knit.

Lyssel opened the door and asked,

"What's all this, out of nowhere?"

"They didn't say much. Just that His Majesty sent them. The high priest himself has come, and he's asking to see Your Highness."

"Hh. Rozelia?"

"He hasn't run into her. We've already tucked her out of sight of the priests."

A visit out of nowhere.

Iberin couldn't quite hide the small flare of irritation underneath.

There wasn't a single thing about this she liked.

"I'd better go."

If the high priest had come in person, some level of decorum was required.

In the end, Lyssel reluctantly got to his feet.

"All right. I'll go find Rozelia."

The priests couldn't be allowed to meet Rozelia.

It would've been one thing before, but Rozelia had now awakened at least half of her holy power.

There was no way temple priests would miss that signature.

---

Pons had given Rozelia a storeroom no one was likely to wander into. It was damp and gloomy, but with the priests around, there wasn't much choice.

"Rozel!"

"Mommy!"

Ether and Kal were with her.

The children also seemed thrown by how abruptly all of it had happened, and they were pressed close to Rozelia.

"Lady Iberin."

Rozelia, in particular, looked on the edge of tears.

"You okay?"

"Yes, we didn't run into them."

"You'll be fine if you stay hidden well."

"Mm-hm…"

Rozelia glanced around and ducked her head.

A child who was always confident, looking that small — it was a first.

Her memories of living in the temple must have been pretty awful.

"When are the priests going to leave?"

"They hate demonic energy, so they'll go quickly. I'm not sure yet why they came."

She didn't think they were going to stay long.

The priests of the temple, citing the diligent cultivation of their virtue, ordinarily wouldn't so much as glance at Lecashe.

When Lyssel had gone to the capital to ask for help, he'd had water dumped on him — that was about as bad as it got.