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"Then...."

"But, to protect Your Highness, with only that reason, it doesn't matter whether it's a palace guard or an attendant, I'll do it!"

"Eldein...."

The simple eyes that looked downward held Leerin's reflected figure.

She felt pained.

Because she noticed something that she wasn't willing to perceive.

No, she always knew. Though it was only a faint feeling, she understood what Eldein was thinking.

However....

"Eldein...."

At that time, what exactly did Leerin say? She poked at the fog in her heart, preparing to weave her words.

However, the sentence disappeared ambiguously.

"....What?"

She understood the atmosphere wasn't the same.

"....Your Highness?"

Leerin's change made Eldein show a surprised expression.

The change in the room was clearly obvious, but Eldein totally didn't feel it. Then, did that mean this wasn't caused by a Military Artist?

"Wu...."

The right eye under her blindfold began to hurt.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?"

The atmosphere was very quiet. But, something was happening.

Moreover, this something began with a form that Eldein also understood.

An explosion suddenly sounded from the other side of the window.

"Enemy attack?"

Eldein pulled out his Dite and assumed a stance. The light from the Dite restoration would leave the window through the gap, and in order to not let their enemy know their position, Eldein didn't immediately restore his Dite.

"It can't be, but it's unexpectedly so bright...."

The sounds of battle still continued. Eldein took a tablet-like object from his pocket, a Psychokinesis flake.

However, regardless of how Eldein stared at it, the flake didn't shine with the light of Psychokinesis received from its Psychokinesist.

"Communication has been cut."

After informing her of this, Eldein went near the windows to confirm the situation outside. Though the sounds of battle still continued, every time a noise rang out, the entire room would shake slightly, making them feel that the situation was gradually worsening.

"Damn!"

Eldein seemed to have the same feeling.

"Your Highness, please wait here, I will go confirm an evacuation route."

The other Military Artist guards hadn't come by. The sounds of battle drew closer step by step with an unhurried speed, as if knowing that this side would be in a panic and ridiculing that.

"Wait, Eldein."

"....Don't worry, I will definitely protect Your Highness."

The restless Eldein prepared to move. Leerin tried to stop him, but he didn't stop his pace.

"Wait!"

He left as Leerin called out, rushing out of the room.

"Eldein."

The figure that had disappeared from her vision left its afterimage in her left eye.... That kind of feeling wouldn't disappear. Moreover this afterimage refused to disappear as if it were a premonition.

"Why would you say that kind of thing?"

Her voice trembled.

Leerin had indeed accepted Eldein. Though she hadn't accepted him as a man, she still felt that she was very comfortable with him. Even if Eldein stayed by her, Leerin wouldn't feel uncomfortable, and could relax herself. Leerin had been crowned as a Eutnohl, and had become a member of the Three Royal Families. He was a temporary haven during this kind of intense change in her life environment.

He was like that, and had said such a thing.

"Isn't it impossible to get wrong that way?"

Leerin couldn't receive Eldein's words the wrong way.

Because, she had once spoken like that on her path.

"....It would be nice if I could have also been that slow."

Those kinds of words wouldn't work.

If they did work, wouldn't the person here not be Eldein, but Layfon instead?

"....What am I saying?"

This wasn't the problem. The outcome Leerin chose was the current situation.

Leerin was the one who didn't need Layfon.

"Eldein has already...."

His words went through her chest, staying there. Leerin obviously wanted to keep her heart from desiring others, and his words were filled with his feelings of giving up, strong enough to make one feel pained.

The feelings mixed inside slowly seeped into her heart.

The warm feelings of his attempt to give up felt tender, making her feel sad.

"Being so leisurely, is that because you aren't yet aware of things?"

"Huh?"

The voice that suddenly entered her ears made Leerin turn her head.

But, there was no one behind her.

"Was I too sensitive?"

There were no presences of anyone here.

The sounds of battle had become quieter. Had the battle ended, or was it entering a stalemate?

If it had already ended, which side had won?

"Are the people in the building okay?"

Just as she murmured this....

The door flew open, and the walls were destroyed.

A deep and intense sound rang out as the walls and things in the room scattered.

Afterwards, an extremely large object fell by Leerin's feet.

"Eldein!"

"....Ugh!"

He fell on the ground, and his surroundings were gradually dyed in a red circle. His right arm was broken, and fresh blood continuously flowed out. His forehead had also been split, and the blood that seeped out of the wound gradually turned his face crimson.

"Get a hold of yourself!"

Leerin took out her handkerchief to wipe the wound on Eldein's forehead, and looked around for something to tie the wound on his right arm.

"Your Highness, please escape...."

Eldein had received a deep wound, but the wound wouldn't cause him to die quickly.

In the end he should be all right. Leerin relaxed her breath. At that moment, a man walked into the room from the big hole in the wall.

That man was probably about forty years old, very tall, with a large build. If thick hair and a wild nature were added on to Minse's body, he would turn into approximately that kind of man.

In other words, this man was very similar to Minse. Having grown to resemble him meant that this man had the blood of a royal family.

"We haven't seen each other since the first time you made a public appearance at the banquet, Your Highness."

The man who stepped into the room with a leisurely pace stared at Leerin with undisguised contempt.

"You are.... Terios?"

Leerin remembered that this name had arisen in a topic before.

"I wouldn't have thought that you unexpectedly remembered me. It's truly an honor, Your Highness."

Though the man's way of speaking was extremely respectful, his attitude towards Leerin was full of contempt.

"Please escape. Terios-sama, he, is a bit strange.... the tight guard, he could unexpectedly single-handedly-" Eldein painfully spoke. Just then, his expression suddenly changed drastically.

"Guh!"

"Eldein!"

After spitting a large amount of blood from his mouth, Eldein lost consciousness, falling to the ground unmoving.

"It seems like his organs suffered damage. If he isn't treated quickly, his life might be in danger."

"You...."

Eldein had just said he was alone.

"Do you want to kill me?"

"Correct."

Facing Leerin's question, Terios almost unhesitantly nodded his head.

"Her Majesty is the strongest Military Artist in history, and we have become accustomed to her wayward behavior. But, just because we have decided that it doesn't mean she can do whatever she wants."

"....Does it displease you that much that I am a successor to the throne?"

"Did you truly grow up in Grendan?"

The opponent said this with an unexpected expression.

"In this battle-filled city, if the ruler doesn't stand on top of the Military Artists, then what should be done? The ruler must be a Military Artist. Other than those who can become everyone's shield, other than a leader who can stand in front of anyone, who else can lead Grendan?"

Terios said this in respectful words, but with a scornful tone. His purpose for asking this was to let Leerin say the obvious answer.

Terios felt that the obvious answer was the answer useful to him.

However, Leerin didn't think that it was so obvious.

"....If you think like that, does it mean that you want the throne of this city?"

"No, I don't. But, as long as you die, the throne will be given to the one most deserving of it."

"....No, you already want the throne."

After confirming that the unconscious Eldein was breathing, Leerin stood up.

"After acquiring that kind of strength, you begin to be unable to constrain your ambitions."

To be able to single-handedly deal with the guards protecting the mansion, and in such a short time.

Regardless of how strong a Military Artist he was, he couldn't have done this.

As long as he didn't have the power of a Heaven's Blade successor.

"What did you do for this strength?"

"....Ha, haha. You really dare to talk, little girl."

After being criticized by Leerin, Terios laughed.

He dropped his polite facade, in fact an extremely rude mask, showing his unruly true face.

"It's true. If I kill you, the Rivanes elders will push me forwards as the next successor to the throne. Thanks to Claribel leaving home like an idiot, I was able to become the head of the Ronsmier family, and then the next successor to Grendan's throne."

"Is that position so fascinating?"

"Isn't that normal?"

Ahh, it was as expected. Leerin saw Terios' greedy face and understood the entire situation. Minse who was her uncle was that kind of person, and had thought like that once before.

But, if it were like this, it conflicted with the thing Alsheyra and the others worried about.

Such a life-threatening crisis shouldn't have appeared in front of Leerin.

So, she feared the situation was like this.

Terios, and other people related to the royal family, knew nothing at all, other than a very small number of people. They didn't know what kind of being Grendan was, and didn't know the function of the Three Royal Families, nor did they know what waited ahead.

So by now, there were still people who would cause unrest with this kind of greedy expression.

Then, someone had utilized this.

"Who gave you that power?"

"What are you saying? This power is one I gained myself."

"........"

"What? What are you looking at?"

Terios showed a doubtful expression as if he knew nothing.

"....You didn't see Her Majesty and Lintence here, did you?"

"Are you bluffing? Even if you're a successor to the throne, you couldn't have Heaven's Blades acting as your guards. More importantly, why would Her Majesty visit here?"

He hadn't noticed.

"You should withdraw, you're being used. If you stay your hand early, I can still act as if this commotion didn't happen."

"....What is this, a plea for mercy?"

"Perhaps you really have this kind of ambition. But, this situation is the outcome of you being used by someone. I think it's best if you calm down and leave."

"You're only a normal person, and you can do nothing in this situation. But, I really can't stand your attitude. Is this the attitude of someone who was named as the successor to the throne?"

It seemed that Leerin's manner of response had only made Terios feel displeased.

"Enough.... go die."

Terios raised a hand. Light gathered at his fingertip, and killing intent congregated in front of Leerin's forehead.

"If you want to hate something, hate the fate that Her Majesty gave you."

Apparently this was Terios' style of giving comforting words to those who would die.

The Kei that had gathered at his fingertip shot out.

Terios was completely convinced, and had no doubts.

Leerin's skull would shatter, becoming a miserable corpse.

This would serve as a warning to the Queen, and would let her understand the significance of Grendan's throne.

The throne was to be given to a Military Artist. He had to correct Alsheyra's folly of trying to let a normal person sit on the throne, and show the correct way to the people.

The one who would show this was himself.

The next King would be himself.

"....Do you think you can live longer than I or Her Majesty?"

The sight of a man who was intoxicated with his reasons was disgusting. Leerin thought this in her heart while shattering the other party's fantasy.

The Kei that Terios shot out burst without even a sound before Leerin's eyes.

"Wha!"

Terios was very surprised.

Leerin who he thought was only a normal person had unexpectedly blocked the Kei burst, so he obviously would be surprised.

"What did you do!?"

Terios shouted while backing away quickly. He passed through the big hole that he had broken, arriving in the corridor. Though he felt that the person standing in front of him was a normal person, he still immediately took action to respond to this inexplicable situation.

"I remember that Eldein praised you. You should be a good Military Artist, as he said."

Was it Leerin becoming a successor to the throne that had made Terios feel angry, and then perceive his own ambitions?

"You.. aren't a normal person?"

"....No, I'm only a normal person, nothing more."

"I won't be tricked by you again. ....Ah, Alsheyra. By now, is she planning to net the dangerous elements within the royal families?"

"....What are you saying?"

"No, I understand. You aren't Herder's illegitimate child, but a fake that Alsheyra prepared. Making the fake the successor to the throne, to uncover the potential opposition to Alsheyra in the royal families, that's her ruse."

Leerin silently shook her head.

This person wasn't living in reality.

He was a person living in his desired dreamscape of seizing the throne. Had he become this way after Leerin became a successor to the Throne, or had he become like this after obtaining that strength? Regardless, the person standing in front of Leerin was living in a dream.

"....No, The one not living in reality is myself."

If he didn't know the truth, then the situation surrounding Leerin and the others should be even further from reality.

But, in Grendan, the situation surrounding Leerin and the others was reality, and Terios' thoughts were but a fantasy.

"Hahahaha. Yes, that's how it is, I've been set up, huh, Alsheyra!"

Terios laughed loudly, howling, Kei spilling from his body.

"I don't have time to fantasize with you."

"No, you must stay, stay till the end!"

Terios restored his Dite. It was a poleaxe with a long handle.

Just raising it up high produced a strong wind raging through the room.

Eldein who was fallen by her feet was gradually pushed away by the wind, but Leerin stood still without moving at all, only her hair being blown by the wind.

"Before this power, even the Queen cannot face me."

"As expected, you're not looking at reality."

Terios closed the distance, sweeping the raised poleaxe horizontally. It was a poleaxe that could easily tear through Leerin's body.

Leerin's left hand moved. Before the high-speed movement that Terios produced, the movement of her hand seemed far too slow.

However, that hand moved as Leerin was just about to be cut in two, and with a shockwave she crushed the top of the poleaxe blade, blocking it.

"Wha!"

The shockwave burst out before Leerin's eyes, but Eldein had already been pushed behind her by the wind, and did not suffer the shockwave.

"You.... How!"

"You're already useless."

Leefin poured strength into her left hand that was suppressing the poleaxe.

With that, everything ended.

Cracks appeared in the poleaxe. The cracks widened in an instant, spreading to the haft of the poleaxe. However, they did not stop there, continuing to break through Terios' arm.

"Kuh, uwah, what is this!"

"........"

"You! What's going on, what.... is this?"

"Just returning your move."

Deliberately speaking these words with a cold tone, Leerin added the last push.

"Guah!"

Yelling out, Terios was already using all his strength.

After adding a final push, the advancing of the cracks sped up, and in an instant covered Terios' entire body.

Light shone from under the cracks. The flowing Kei that circulated through the poleaxe and Terios' body could be seen from under the cracks.

"Disappear."

Leerin proclaimed.

Light overflowed from Terios' body.

The spilling light covered the entire room, blocking the entire field of vision.

"........"

Afterwards, as the light dispersed, the figure of Terios fallen in the corridor appeared. His appearance collapsed on the floor with his right arm bent and broken was similar to that of Eldein, who was fallen beside Leerin.

◇

A strong Kei flow suddenly emanated from the residence.

"! Who is it?"

Though she wanted to get closer to the residence, her feet wouldn't move. She wanted to use her senses, but she couldn't feel anything. Just then, the presence of a strong Kei suddenly came from that place. Alsheyra and Lintence were taken aback, and then felt incomparably surprised.

"....I have no impressions of this Kei."

Lintence murmured.

The Kei was so great that the opponent was on the level of a Heaven's Blade.

But, if it were a Heaven's Blade successor, the two would obviously remember all of their Kei presences, so it had to be someone other than a Heaven's Blade successor. However, the Queen and the Heaven's Blades couldn't not know of such a person.

"What's going on, how unsettling."

It wasn't only this intriguing situation that made him feel unsettled. Rather than a strange sense of a mysterious situation that was completely incomprehensible, the impatience of obviously knowing but being unable to understand was stronger.

Therefore, this situation shouldn't have been caused only by the people in the Rivanes family taking action to assassinate Leerin.

But in that case, they couldn't explain that Kei.

No, perhaps they could explain it.

"Could it be...."

Not only this situation, but also the Kei flow, gave them the impatient feeling of knowing but being unable to understand.

Then, shouldn't Alsheyra be able to recognize this Kei?

"But, how could...."

A speculation floated in her mind. However, Alsheyra couldn't confirm that speculation.

"....Kanaris, what's going on?"

Alsheyra didn't want to look at the answer that had appeared in her mind, so she turned to ask Kanaris.

"I cannot say, I can't...."

Kanaris shook her head bitterly. This kind of response didn't look like it had been produced from her feelings or relations with the Rivanes family.

Alsheyra couldn't miss that.

Therefore, the truth was as Alsheyra had thought.

"Hey...."

Lintence's voice interrupted her tense emotions.

"If you thought of something, tell us, I'm also beginning to feel bad about this situation."

"Lin........"

"Everyone moving here and there secretly, where do they think the battlefield will be in the end? What do they think their fangs exist for? Isn't it solved if we just completely crush all of the useless bugs crawling around being hindrances?"

"The situation isn't that simple."

Lintence had come to Grendan to look for battles. It would be tough to explain the things that happened here to him.

"Is it to win against fate? Then what? I don't have the slightest interest in the victory they have prepared. A battle that can't be won and a battle destined to be won have completely different meanings."

"That's true, but...."

But, this was a battle they couldn't lose. What was bet on this battlefield was not only the lives of the fighters, nor only the fates of the citizens that the Military Artists always were burdened by on the battlefield.

It was the world, all of the Regios of the world.

All of the people who lived in them.

These lives had all been bet on the upcoming war.

"....Are you someone who would bet your life for a stranger?"

"Saying that is going a bit far. But, I don't care about those strangers, but I want to protect the people living here, so I naturally just.... that's how things are, right?"

She had diverged. Though her heart thought so, Alsheyra didn't pull the topic back.

Because to Lintence, this was a topic that he couldn't help but ask.

"Right. In terms of the results, we're only protecting the world. Queen, what I cannot allow is the people who put the ones who will do these things to one side, and obstinately give these kinds of missions to others, creating these kinds of fates."

"........"

Lintence had also perceived something, so he had said something like this.

Was the situation really like that?

If even Lintence had that kind of feeling, then the situation really was like that.

The person who gave off that Kei was only an individual.

That was definitely not the energy given off by an assassin.

"....In the end, we're only people who can't arrive at the end."

Kanaris murmured this. It wasn't meant for anyone in particular, only talking to herself, a lament aimed at her own powerless feeling.

"The power that Military Artists possess isn't that important in the end. Compared to the being that must truly guide, they're just beings that can be replaced anytime. Before that, destructive power is only a strength of that degree. The true importance is hidden within the factor of Military Artists, and then that important person also...."

Leerin.

What was she currently looking at in that residence?

◇

In the room that had returned to calmness, Leerin gazed at her own hand.

She was shaking.

It was after the recent battle. She was bathed in her own killing intent.

Also, her own hand had taken a life.

The oncoming event that she wasn't used to made Leerin's heart grow cold, and struck fear into her heart.

"From this kind of thing, how can I...."

She tightly gripped her shaking hand, squeezing this sentence out word by word. On this road, there were more terrifying things waiting for her, and she definitely couldn't get scared by them.

"Nn - If I could, I would want to see that performance again."

"....Who are you?"

The female voice sounded again. Leerin held back her feelings of wanting to check whether Eldein was safe, looking for the owner of that voice.

But, as expected, there were no human presences to be found in the room.

"I'm an insider."

"Huh?"

The voice came from close by, and Leerin looked over there.

Unwittingly, on the table in front of the sofa was a cat.

After meeting Leerin's gaze, the cat tamely meowed.

It was a black cat, with a body of splendid fur and clear blue eyes. His forehead was inlaid with a blue sapphire, looking as if it had three eyes.

In the area surrounding the sapphire grew white fur. Had it received some serious injury?

"....It couldn't be."

Leerin had no recollections of this cat. It wasn't this room's pet, and Leerin had never heard of any people nearby raising this kind of cat.

This cat had appeared here in this juncture, meaning....

"Correct, I am the cat in front of you."

"....You, what are you in the first place?"

The voice wasn't from the cat's mouth, but came from a different place. However, what was making the sound could only be the cat.

"....That is Erumi Rigzario."

A new sound came across.

But, this was a voice that she knew.

"Saya?"

The black-clothed maiden lightly walked in from the big hole in the wall.

"Aah, it's been a long time. Is it okay for you not to be sleeping?"

"Since what has befallen this place, I haven't even entered sleep once."

"Ah, that crisis-sensing ability."

"Saya....?"

The black-clothed maiden and the cat. Leerin looked back and forth between them.

"For the most part, this is a companion."

"Ahahah, you understand, huh."

Saya's introduction made the cat make laughing sounds.

"But, I'm truly your comrade. I have no reason to be your enemy, and more importantly, the amount of time I fought with her is far longer than yours."

"She is with the moon and I.... also one of the people that Airen picked up from the old world, someone who also developed the Regios."

"Meaning...."

The first time she had met Saya, she had once told the truth to her.

"Right, Rigzario."

Leerin thought of it. In the words that Saya had spoken to her, this name had appeared.

"The one who created Subspace.... this world."

"Correct."

Only her voice was definite. The cat was still like a cat, moving from the table to the sofa and curling up into a ball. The situation of the appearance not matching the language would make an onlooker feel dizzy.

"....Also the person who created the problem."

"Saying it like that is okay too."

If that person hadn't created the Subspace machine, the situation wouldn't have turned into this.

"But, if I didn't create it, what would the situation have become? What is for sure is that Leerin Eutnohl or Leerin Marfes wouldn't exist. Moreover this world couldn't exist, and obviously the environment you grew up in wouldn't exist. Do you know of reincarnation? Roughly speaking, the meaning is that your soul endlessly circulates, becoming various different forms. But even so, you can't say for sure that your consciousness would be Leerin. In other words, you wouldn't be yourself."

"........"

"It's because I created the Subspace machine that you are here, so it's no u-->>

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