Chapter 151: Norb's Pilgrimage
◆Norb ◆
“Lady Megurielna, this will be the last village.”
The one who announced that was Lord Baharun, one of Princess Megurielna‘s guards.
He is someone who has acted as a guard since Princess Megurielna was young.
Not a public guard, but someone who picked us up and dropped us off when traveling between the village we lived in and the Royal Capital.
“Thank you for your hard work, Baharun.”
“Your words are wasted on me.”
I feel a sense of incongruity at behavior unthinkable for the usual Meguri, but this is normal for her true self as Princess Megurielna, isn’t it.
Princess Megurielna‘s circumstance is one where even her words must be restricted so her identity isn’t revealed.
Knowing what her end will be, indignation wells up in me wondering if her freedom must be taken away to this extent.
“It’s okay, Norb.”
Sensing my state of mind, Princess Megurielna floats a small smile.
Even though it should be my job to wipe away her anxiety like that.
“Princess Megurielna, it may be modest, but let us have as luxurious a meal as possible in this village. There are sweets among the food we bought in the town we stopped at earlier too.”
We can do at least that much.
Because we don’t know how much proper food we can get once we enter the Rotten Earth.
“Thank you, Norb. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Because something of this level is all I can do.”
“…Pfft, giggle.”
Suddenly, Princess Megurielna lets out a small laugh.
“Princess Megurielna!?”
“Because Norb, you’re acting like a stranger.”
“N-No, that is because the current Princess Megurielna is royalty, so I must use language appropriate for a vassal.”
“Even though normal is fine.”
“I cannot do that!”
“Fufu, Norb is stiff.”
“Because that is my role.”
In this situation, there’s no way I… I can speak normally all by myself!
“It is perfectly fine for the Princess to act normally too, you know?”
The one who said that was former Count Russell, who is accompanying us as a guard.
He is also famous as one of the kingdom’s leading master swordsmen.
“Indeed. After all, the only ones here are us old geezers with little time left.”
“Hey hey, young Lord Norb is here too, you know?”
“Oh, then Lord Norb has joined the ranks of us geezers too!”
“That’s wrong, surely.”
” ” ” “Hahahahaha” ” ” “
Those laughing happily like that were everyone who accompanied us as Princess Megurielna‘s guards, same as former Count Russell.
Former Commander Ibuka who retired from the Royal Guard Knight Order, Honorary Baron Albrea who is the former Head Court Magician, and furthermore former Viscount Bren who experienced many battles at a fort along the border.
All of them are individuals with first-class combat skills, and they repelled monster and bandit attacks without any danger at all on the journey so far.
They were active in their respective fields until very recently, but they retired from the front lines to participate as guards for Princess Megurielna‘s ritual.
The Rotten Earth purification ritual performed by Princess Megurielna is a top-secret project.
Therefore, the ritual guards must also be trustworthy individuals.
And not just trustworthy, but their abilities must be first-class to reach the deepest part of the danger zone.
I can’t help but think it’s quite a luxurious story to treat such capable individuals as disposable for a one-way journey from which they can never return.
They are all individuals who received orders from His Majesty the King, but there is no tragic feeling of heading to a place of death on their faces.
On the contrary, there is almost an air of going out for a little stroll.
“Are you all not afraid? Where we are heading is the deepest part of the Rotten Earth, a place of death from which we cannot return alive, you know?”
At their excessively natural behavior, I couldn’t help but ask.
Are you not afraid.
But they laugh off my question.
“We have already lived as we pleased, after all.”
“Umu, I have left the rest to my son, so I have no regrets.”
“If the destination is the deepest part of that Rotten Earth, it should be fitting as the stage for a final adventure. I am a former A-rank adventurer, after all.”
Honorary Baron Albrea floats a smile as if nostalgic for the past.
“Nonsense, your A-rank was like a souvenir right before retirement, wasn’t it?”
“Haha, even so, it should be more effective against the monsters of the Rotten Earth than your sword.”
“Talk all you want, just be careful your stamina doesn’t run out before your magic power.”
Although the content is exchanging sarcasm, their tone is more like exchanging banter rather than hating each other.
“Well, you know. If our final role in life serves the country, it means it’s not such a bad end. Do not mind it too much.”
From their words and gazes, I could sense their consideration for us who are heading to a place of death at a young age.
“We have arrived at the village.”
When Lord Baharun, who hadn’t joined the conversation until now, called out from the driver’s seat, the carriage slowly stopped.
“We will stay in this village for today. Though, there is no place like an inn, so we will probably have to borrow the village chief’s house.”
Announcing that, former Viscount Bren went ahead alone to the village chief’s house.
“Then I suppose we wait here until Bren returns.”
Stepping off the carriage, I secretly stretch my body.
As expected, continuing to ride in a swaying carriage is quite tough.
Because it’s a top-secret mission, we can’t ride in a very luxurious carriage either.
“Haa, it would have been easier if we could fly.”
“Then Baharun and the others wouldn’t be able to follow.”
Princess Megurielna, who was continuing to act as a princess, was also stretching her body, having gotten stiff as expected.
Currently she is acting as a princess, but what she is wearing is neither a dress nor armor; if anything, it resembles the attire used in church rituals.
This is a sacred vestment used in the ritual to quell the Rotten Earth, and it seems quite rare materials are used to increase the ritual’s success rate.
Even so, the villagers’ behavior is strange.
In the villages we stopped by so far, the village people would be wary of unfamiliar travelers and gather their eyes on us, but there is none of that in this village.
Rather, it feels like they don’t even have the leeway to care about us.
While I was wondering about the state of the village like that, former Viscount Bren returned.
“I have reached an agreement with the village chief. We will be allowed to borrow rooms in the village chief’s house.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Lord Bren.”
However, former Viscount Bren had a somewhat suspicious look on his face.
“Did something happen?”
“No, things have become a bit strange.”
” “Strange?” “
When Princess Megurielna and I tilted our heads, former Baron Bren told us a rumor he heard from the village chief.
“You already know that this village is the closest village to the Rotten Earth, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
“Also because of such a location, this village apparently regularly checks if stray monsters that slipped out of the Rotten Earth are prowling around, or how close the poisonous swamp’s erosion has gotten to the village.”
That explanation was understandable.
Since the Rotten Earth erodes surrounding lands, they must flee before the village is swallowed, after all.
“But a few days ago, the Rotten Earth suddenly vanished, apparently.”
” “Vanished!?” “
“What does… that mean?”
“Literally, the poisonous swamp disappeared and returned to the original earth, apparently. In an instant, without any warning.”
” “…” “
Hearing that story, Princess Megurielna and I look at each other’s faces.
Even without words, the only face popping into each other’s minds is one person’s face.
( Rex? )
( Is it Rex? )
“Is that unmistakably true?”
As if to make sure, Princess Megurielna confirms with former Baron Bren.
“Yes, several villagers went to confirm, but they say it’s unmistakable. The poisonous swamp disappeared from the place where the Rotten Earth was always visible, and the Rotten Earth vanished up to beyond the horizon, apparently.”
“How far did the villagers confirm?”
“Because they are just commoners to the bitter end. They didn’t go very far from the village, apparently.
But even so, they say the figure of the Rotten Earth has definitely become invisible.”
Then, as expected, the face that comes to mind is Rex‘s face.
Does this mean that after we left the mansion, Rex did something about the Rotten Earth with some intention?
“However, there is one thing that bothers me.”
“Something that bothers you?”
“Yes, when the Rotten Earth vanished, the villagers say they saw a Goddess.”
” “Goddess?” “
We looked at each other’s faces again.
( Huh? Not Rex? )
( Isn’t it Rex? )
“Apparently, when a Goddess who fluttered down from the sky descended upon the Rotten Earth, she erased the Rotten Earth along with a divine light.”
“Divine light… is it?”
What does this mean?
Being a woman means it doesn’t seem to be Rex, but even so, I can’t imagine any other human being able to do something about the Rotten Earth that the country couldn’t do anything about for hundreds of years.
“Then… could it be the Holy Maiden?”
“Holy Maiden?”
“Yes, in the Holy Theocracy where the church’s headquarters is located, there is Lady Foka who was certified as a Holy Maiden. Lady Foka is also an S-rank adventurer, so perhaps she exercised some new Holy Magic developed by the church and purified the Rotten Earth.”
“The church’s S-rank adventurer… Baharun, what do you think?”
Princess Megurielna seeks Lord Baharun‘s opinion.
To her, he is someone close to a father… or rather a grandfather, after all.
“Let me see, if the Goddess in question is a church affiliate, it’s unthinkable that they wouldn’t consult with the country. And if that were the case, I believe they would delay the schedule for Princess Megurielna to go on pilgrimage.”
Certainly, Lord Baharun‘s thought is not wrong.
If the church found a way to do something about the Rotten Earth, Princess Megurielna could have remained as adventurer Meguri even now.
“Then, the conceivable thing is that the means proposed by the church lacked reliability, and it was thought of as something on the level of ‘it would be good if it luckily succeeded’.”
Former Commander Ibuka, who led the Royal Guard Knight Order, speculates that perhaps because he was at the center of the country, he didn’t convey it to us based on the thoughts of His Majesty the King and the bureaucrats.
“True. There’s no point in going out of the way to tell us a method with a low probability of success and giving us false hope.”
Everyone else seems to have reached a similar conclusion.
It was at that moment.
Suddenly, a dazzling light surged from the distance.
“Wh-What!?”
” ” ” ” “!” ” ” ” “
While we were surprised by the radiance resembling the morning sun, Lord Baharun and the others drew their swords and immediately surrounded Princess Megurielna to protect her while staying vigilant of the surroundings.
“It’s the Goddess! The Goddess’s light!”
” ” ” “Goddeeeesss!!” ” ” ” “
And the villagers around us were prostrating themselves toward the light.
“Is that, the Goddess’s light…?”
Apparently that light is the light of the Goddess in question.
“…Let’s go.”
The one who said that was Princess Megurielna.
“Princess…”
“I don’t know what is happening. But it is certain that something involving the Rotten Earth is happening.”
Certainly, the light was occurring in the direction where the Rotten Earth we plan to head to is located.
“Then we must go confirm. As one who came to quell the Rotten Earth, what is happening…”
The expression of Princess Megurielna who announced that did not look like the face of the talkative princess during the journey, but rather the face of the quiet adventurer Meguri I know well.
