Fools (1)
Gilbert’s Point of View
Alice collapsed. I’m not surprised. She said she was just going to sleep before she fell. I’m impressed that she can sleep well on the battlefield, but she’s severely overworked in the first place.
She spread a high-level barrier around the Royal Capital, used a forbidden technique of reviving the dead, and while still tired, she assembled a weapon I had never seen before with Lord Grantz, and went out to the battlefield to burn monsters alive. Even our Father would have collapsed.
She did not seem to have any injuries. She just looked tired and asleep, so her complexion was bad, but her sleeping face was calm.
The monsters were already running wild. I don’t know if she did it on purpose, but it seems that most of the leaders have died with that magic attack.
The monsters must have understood as well. That attacking here would only result in their own deaths.
“Your Highness.”
Alicia, Alice’s maid and bodyguard, spoke to me while holding Alice. Normally it would be my job to hold my sleeping sister, but for now, only Alicia and our Mother can touch Alice while she sleeps. If anyone else touches her, she will thrash around in her sleep. It’s frustrating, but I can’t touch her when she’s asleep either. Oh, I digress.
“What is it?”
“Just how powerful is the strength that Her Highness seeks?”
“That’s what I want to know.”
She is already more than strong enough, but she is not satisfied at all. I don’t know if it’s good to say that she has a strong desire for improvement, or if we should scold her for seeking too much.
All I can say is that Alice has already become a separate existence from other magicians. A brain that effortlessly produces advanced magic tools with the power of magic. I’m also worried. In the future, it will be even harder to silence the men who flock around her.
Really, even though they can’t beat me, they’re not going to give up on my precious sister away.
Two days have passed since then. Alice hadn’t woken up yet. I’m a little worried. But her complexion was gradually improving. According to the doctor, she just overworked herself. She was a little weak, but it seemed to be at a level that could be cured with rest.
We are still staying in Ostland. The airship is broken, and we can’t go home. Father is supposed to arrive at noon and we are waiting for him. Apparently, even Father and his party didn’t expect the monsters to be defeated in just one day and were quite surprised. The truth is that without their leaders, they couldn’t coordinate and were afraid of Alice, so nearly 200,000 of them scattered off the battlefield. The Knights’ Order is very busy sending knights and soldiers to nearby towns and villages right away because of the damage caused by the escaped monsters.
Mostly, the remaining monsters are ordinary monsters. They are divided into small groups, so there should be a way to deal with them.
“Alicia, take a break.”
“I’m fine. I have to take care of Her Highness, and I’m having a bad feeling. The spirits are also materializing.”
Indeed, I also had a fishy feeling. The reason why the situation has deteriorated so far was easily found when investigated.
The church, along with church knights and church officials, fled before the Stampede broke out.
It takes a lot of effort to heal injured people without the church, which has many users of healing magic, and if injured people cannot be healed immediately, soldiers and knights who can fight cannot return to the battlefield with injured. Church knights… well, they would probably be useful as combat power. They’re said to be incredibly annoying, though.
As a result, anger towards the church among the citizens of Ostland seems to have been ignited. Churches and other religious places were being set on fire all over the place. It doesn’t matter because it’s their own fault, but it’s rare for spirits to materialize like this. And they were taking up positions around Alice to protect her without moving.
“Indeed… this room is also… being watched.”
“Yes. It seems that some people do not intend to let us go home. However, I think the soldiers outside are okay.”
The entrance was guarded by powerful people trusted by the king of Ostland. They wouldn’t dare lay a hand on Alice or give orders to us.
“Outside… they never get bored, do they? All those men flocking around Alice should just die.”
Outside there were citizens who admire Alice coming under the guise of visiting her sickbed. The miracle performed by Alice spread throughout the Royal Capital in an instant. There were also some who showed anger because their family members did not come back to life, but there is a limit to the number of people who can be revived even with Alice’s magic. And according to her own words, if too much time passes, the soul ascends to heaven. Then it can no longer be revived. All she could do was to revive people whose souls have not been stripped away. That’s what she said.
Basically, even if one person comes back to life, it’s a miraculous revival magic. Alice, who performed this on more than 100 people, was already becoming a new faith to replace the church. It seems that the theory of the Holy Maiden will prevail in this country as well. The girl in question, though, she insists that she is just a scientist.
“If that’s the case, wouldn’t Your Highness have to die too?”
“You’re telling me. I’m fine with it. There’s no brother who wouldn’t be infatuated with such a cute sister.”
Alicia is a former party member of our Father and a member of the legendary adventurer party. She is also our family regardless of her birth. On the surface, she is a subordinate, but Alice also recognizes her as a sister. When no one is looking, we talk normally.
“Hmm? It’s noisy outside.”
“Get away from the window!”
Alicia pulled my arm and pulled me away from the window as an arrow flew through the broken glass.
It was noisy outside. Clearly different from before. I could hear shouting and the sound of metal clashing. Alicia and I immediately took up our weapons. The metal used in Alice’s armor also liquefied and becomes slime-like… what is this slime!
“That’s Her Highness’ magical life form, so please don’t attack it. It’s one scary fella.”
She doesn’t let her guard down. As expected of my sister, she even created something incomprehensible.
“We are the Sacred Knights!! We have come to welcome the Holy Maiden. Hand over the Holy Maiden obediently!!”
“We are guarding this country’s benefactor by Royal command. We cannot obey your demands.”
The knights outside seemed to be fighting with church knights. This is bad. There is no escape route. It’s dangerous, but we should go outside. If necessary, Alicia can take Alice and flee. We called out to the guards outside and went outside. They hesitated but let us out smoothly because they seemed to know our strength. They couldn’t lay a hand on us or give orders to us since we are not under the same leadership.
“What do you want? There’s a limit to rudeness. Is the Empire keeping monkeys or something?”
“Don’t get carried away, you small country’s prince! We have come to welcome the Holy Maiden by order of the Church. His Holiness the Pope has praised her achievements this time as astonishing.”