Published at 22nd of January 2020 4:11 pm

Volume 2, Prologue II: —We Must Advance to the Worry Filled Future

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

He had taken much upon himself.

Other people’s joy, their sadness…

Love. Hatred. Life. Death.

“……”

Shouldering it all was agonizing.

It was distressing, heartbreaking…

If he made a single mistaken command, an enormous amount of people would die, or live, or be saddened, or laugh.

He couldn’t not decide. To save the right, the left had to die. To save the left, the right had to die.

He was constantly chased by choices. Now, which lives were more important? Which lives were less important? Each and every decision caused people sadness, no matter which choice he made…

Even so, he shouldered it all calmly.

Ironically, that resembled her, whom he’d sent off to the next world when he was still just a child.

No matter how painful, how sad, how tough things got, she was calm like she wasn’t sad at all…

---

Sion was in his office reading various reports on the events that occured during his visit to Nelpha. First up was the detailed reports of Roland’s nobility’s movements while he was away as written by Lord Newbull and Calne.

Second was the report on the results of Froaude’s activity in Nelpha.

Lastly was something he’d had Claugh look into in secret while he was gone: the details on Miran Froaude’s personal history…

But that ended up being absolutely meaningless. No matter how much he looked, he couldn’t find any information on Miran Froaude before he became Marquess Froaude’s son…

Perhaps it was better to say that everyone who knew Froaude before then had been killed…

Killing that amount of people was nigh unbelievable.

For example, take the orphanage he must have been in. It would take killing not only the superintendent, but all the other students… Murdering every last one of them, without the cause ever being known.

There was suddenly a knock at his office’s door.

“It is Miran Froaude. I have brought additional reports regarding your visit to Nelpha.” Froaude said. He sounded polite as always, his emotions concealed… no, it was more like his emotions had already died.

“Enter,” Sion ordered. Froaude did so.

He didn’t look up at him. Sion just continued reading the report on Froaude’s past.

In the end, Claugh had been unable to find out any information on Froaude’s birth. There wasn’t anything on his former full name, either. At the end, Claugh had written with finality: ‘Miran Froaude is extremely dangerous. Prompt dismissal is recommended.’

Sion raised his head when he finished reading to Froaude, who had brought him more documents. When his eyes met Froaude’s cold ones, he smiled faintly.

“How was my personal history?”

“……”

Why did he know that? Sion wanted to ask him, but he held himself back. Froaude was that type of man. Sion took a casual expression. “Mm. Does me looking into your past rub you the wrong way?”

“No, it’s only natural. You are this country’s king, after all. You must carefully screen the people by your side.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Sion said. He tossed Claugh’s report at Froaude. “Read the last line.”

Froaude did so. “Haha. Extremely dangerous. Prompt dismissal is recommended… is it,” he said. He looked like he got a kick out of that. “So what do you intend to do?”

Sion shrugged and spoke easily. “You worked fantastically well in Nelpha. Why should I have to dismiss you?”

Froaude looked like that entertained him even more. “You are truly a strange person.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you.”

“…If it were me, I would promptly deal with personnel this dangerous.”

“That so? But I’ll use you. Using things for as long as I can is my principle,” Sion said bluntly. Usually, if a subordinate heard their commander say such a thing, their loyalty would be shot from then on.

“That is true. That’s why I wouldn’t become king. You are a better vessel for the task. I shall serve you as long as you wish for it,” Froaude said. He sounded satisfied… and then smiled, a devil’s smile that nobody wished for.

Sion had to take people like this in on the path he was on. He’d turn his own flesh into a demon’s if that’s what it took as long as it helped create a world without war, without madness, one where people could be raised smiling. As long as it helped fulfill that faraway promise he’d made with her.

Even if he got nothing in return himself…

Sion didn’t respond to Froaude’s words. “So what’s this additional information on Nelpha about?”

Froaude nodded, then presented the documents to him. Sion skimmed them until something caught his eye.

Seeing that Toale Nelphi would eventually become an obstacle to the Roland Empire, Miran Froaude raided his manor. However, unexpected obstacles stood in his way. Though he was able to wound his opponents, in the end his mission failed.

Sion recalled Ryner’s evasiveness when he said that Ferris wasn’t coming down because she didn’t feel well.

In the end she’d heard them talking behind her back and sent them flying, but…

They’d encountered Froaude.

Indirectly as it may be… he couldn’t let himself be the cause of Ryner and Ferris being murdered, right?

He thought about it. Forced a smile and shook his head. They’d merely crossed paths. He just had to warn Froaude to not act without telling Sion about his intentions first.

He’d just give Froaude a warning to step off.

“……”

Without requesting anything of Froaude or rising from his chair, Sion’s thoughts wrapped back around.

He would sacrifice anything for the sake of the promise he’d made with her in that far off, distant past.

Even if he got nothing in return himself… even if it was the lives of his friends.

Sion grimaced as he thought those words.

This time they’d just happened to meet in passing. But what about next time?

If the right side was Ryner and Ferris and the left was his country, then…

Which choice should he take?

His thoughts led him there, then Sion shook his head. “How stupid.”

He couldn’t think like that. He couldn’t make a mistake like that. There was no problem. But no matter how many times he told himself that, his expression remained harsh.

Right then, there was another knock at the door. Sion looked up at it. “Mm?”

“It’s Major Rahel Miller of the Taboo Hunters here for the direct assignment from Your Majesty regarding Lieutenant Milk Callaud…”

Sion’s harsh expression mellowed out. He smiled, satisfied like a child who was thinking of his next prank. “Alright, enter.”

---

Several days later.

A plain room very different from that of the gaudy royal court’s rooms was overcome with a gloomy atmosphere. Milk Callaud stood at attention.

(Uu… I wonder why the Major’s making such a tart face?)

She looked at Miller with timid eyes. His arms were folded, his expression tart. He was still in the first part of his thirties, but his face was deeply wrinkled from making such intense expressions. He moved briskly, and his bitter, tart expression made him look older than he really was. Of course, that adult appeal of his did make him popular among the female non-commissioned officers… but that didn’t click for Milk, who was still only sixteen and had no romantic experience.

(Aw… He’s definitely mad… I’m starting to wonder if I remembered to brush my teeth after I ate or if I should stop having midnight snacks altogether… Ah, but that cake was really tasty… I wasn’t allowed to have sweets even once in the Callaud house because I was supposed to be working on my body, so it was my first time eating cake. Eheheh. The people in the Taboo Hunter dorms are really kind. They’re so nice to me, a lady who suddenly became a lieutenant and doesn’t know anything yet. ♡)

Milk made herself happy just like that.

She hadn’t realized that they were making fun of her…

Then again, even if someone told her that she’d wave her hands around happily. She was the type who experienced great joy at even the most trivial of things. It was the first time the Taboo Hunter troops had seen someone who could smile at anything from the get go…

She was sixteen. Daughter of a noble. There weren’t a lot of girls like that in the army. To top it off, she’d gotten an unprecedented promotion to lieutenant. Even so, she easily cleared people’s envy away, and had managed to become very popular.

That was what was so amazing about Milk. Because of her honesty and her special type of charisma, she was extremely well-liked by her troops, giving them the ability to work past their own limitations.

Well, it wasn’t like Milk was actually aware of that, though…

Instead, she was thinking of the cake’s flavor. Remembering its taste put her in high spirits, and a “mmm,” escaped her.

(Wait! What if that cake is why the Major is in a bad mood!? R… right, a soldier’s body is what makes them useful… he’s mad because I ate cake…)

Milk hung her head as she reflected on her actions.

Seeing that, Miller sighed deeply… again. “There could be no other reason why I called you here.”

“Y-yes,” Milk replied nervously.

“Hm. As you know, your mission from here on out has been decided.”

“Huh? Mission…? You mean it isn’t about the cake?”

“Cake? What’re you talking about?”

“Er… ah, um… well… a, ahaha. It’s nothing, sir. I never ate any cake. Really,” Milk said, waving her hands around frantically.

Miller watched her, puzzled, then sighed… again. “So can I get back to the point?”

Milk nodded.

“We all get orders soon after coming here from above regarding hunting dangerous taboo breakers - those who have left Roland’s territory without prior authorization.”

Milk’s expression turned serious. “Hunting taboo breakers… in other words, killing them…? Or apprehending them?”

“Mm. That’s your duty. You ascertain your opponent, and apprehend them if you can apprehend them… and if that’s impossible, then you eliminate them.”

Eliminate. Miller said that so easily.

That was the kind of place this was. A place where they hunted their former countrymen and apprehended or otherwise killed them.

So they were hated, looked down on, despised.

“……”

Milk cast her sad eyes downwards.

But Miller continued, unconcerned. “Any other questions?”

“Um… will I know about who the taboo breakers really are?” Milk asked timidly.

“What would it change?”

“Um… well,” Milk hesitated.

Miller sighed softly so she wouldn’t notice, then looked at Milk with an expression a little different than before. A little kinder. “Lieutenant Callaud. People who flee the Roland Empire each have their own reason for doing so. They aren’t people who have no reason to live.”

“R-right,” Milk said, surprised at Miller’s sudden words, and nodded.

“But at the same time, letting the other countries learn how to use Roland’s magic is the same as letting them know the Roland Empire’s weak point,” Miller continued. “It’s giving them an opportunity. It’s creating the possibility for war. If that happened, many people would die… do you understand? War is a wretched thing. Many people’s lives are stolen for no reason at all. I… I don’t want to see that.”

“I understand.”

Miller nodded. “Then I’ll ask again. What would knowing who the taboo breakers really are change? What if you’re sympathetic? Would you be able to kill them?”

“W-well…”

“That’s the kind of duty we have. It’s dirty work that people don’t like doing. But it’s also work that someone needs to do. Now then, you have a choice.”

“A… choice?” Milk asked.

Miller took two papers from the desk’s drawer and offered them to Milk. “The one on the left is a document outlining your assignment. If you accept it, your work starts at once. But the one on the right is a request to transfer assignments. The higher ups wanted to give you that opportunity beforehand. If you ask for a change in assignment, you can take a better position. So what will you choose? It’s your life. Nobody will laugh at you, no matter which choice you make. The deadline is tomorrow. Think careful—”

Milk took the left document without hesitation. She did so casually, not troubled in the slightest.

Miller studied her. “Are you really okay with that? Your decision is final. It’s dirty work where you have to kill your former comrades. It’s a different path than the one the noble Callaud family wants you to take, right? Are you really okay with that? Think it through a little m—”

Milk smiled broadly. “I don’t need to think about it. I’ve already decided. I’m grateful for your concern, Major, but… I’ll be alright. I’ve already turned death into life once before!”

“…What?” Miller said. It came out without thinking at her unclear words.

Milk looked like she was reminiscing for a moment, then smiled happily. “I was dead once, see. No… it’s that when the Callaud family bought me, I felt like my soul had been killed. But… a boy there brought me back to life. I didn’t care about if I lived anymore… and I didn’t really understand where I was either… just that it was a place that was truly overflowing with death thanks to the war. Maybe I really did die…”

She paused for a moment before continuing.

“But, but! If I lived, I definitely wanted it to be in Roland. Because I want to protect the country he’s in. I want to protect the country I met him in. Without knowing it, I came to want to protect the same Roland that you and the others are protecting. People smile, laugh, and do their best in this country. I want to protect that. I don’t mind if I get hurt if it keeps a war from breaking out and making everyone sad. So I’ll be proud to call myself a Taboo Hunter!”

What a thing to say. Miller gazed at her sharply. She suddenly became flustered.

“…W, wow, that sure was a remarkable thing for me to say…! Ah, I’m s-sorry. I don’t mean to exaggerate. I’ve really just come to love the people here, and the cake was so delicious… a, ah, wait, I didn’t mean that! I didn’t eat any cake! Really!”

And so, she lost her composure all by herself as Miller stared at her with those harsh eyes of his…

“Lieutenant Callaud!” Miller bellowed.

“Huh!? Y-yes?” Milk said, forcefully stopping her nervous fidgeting.

“Welcome. Welcome to the Taboo Hunters. We’re expecting good things out of your service.”

Milk’s expression turned serious. “I’ll do my best to fulfill those expectations!”

“Dismissed. Go prepare for your assignment.”

“Yes, sir,” Milk said. With that, she left the room.

A few seconds after Milk left, Miller disheveled his hair and spoke. “Hey. Luke, Lach, Lear, Moe. Get in here. Lieutenant Callaud already left.”

There were two doors into the room. Four men came in opposite to where Milk left. Among them was the tallest and lankiest of the bunch, a white haired man in his mid twenties named Luke, who was currently bawling. “Uu… She’s such a good kid, isn’t she?”

Lach and Moe were both moved to tears, too. Traces of boyhood could still be seen on their faces. “I was so moved…”

“Me too.”

Last but not least was Lear, a cool guy who was passing a handkerchief to Luke. “She’s certainly an unusually heroic girl.”

“Yeah. We have to protect her.”

The four men nodded together.

Miller watched them in astonishment. “You guys understand that she’s gonna more or less be your boss, right?”

Luke nodded. “I understand. Nothing bad will ever happen to that good kid. We’ll raise her responsibly. Isn’t that right, everyone?”

“Yes, sir!”

With that, they all shuffled over to the door to where the girl they’d soon call Captain Milk had left through.

“I’m telling you, she’s going to be your boss,” Miller said, holding his head in his hands and sighing for the umpteenth time today. “What in the world are these guys misunderstanding?”

That was the start of Milk Callaud’s long journey…

---

Far away, in Nelpha rather than Roland, Ryner had no way of knowing those events…

He was continuing his research as always with that mellow, unmotivated face of his.

“Ah~ I’m sleepy, this is such a pain… Hey, I’m begging you so let me sleep for a—”

Ferris’ sword was at Ryner’s neck in an instant. “No. How long do you intend to make us stay here? There’s always a possibility of other people coming after the Heroic Relics, especially after what happened recently. Hurry up and finish your research quickly so we can leave.”

“Hey, you… even if you say that, it’s not like I can rush this. If I did I’d start overlooking things and sending us on the wrong track,” Ryner said.

As you can see, they were bickering just like always.

Ryner ended up staying up all night researching. By the next day, he was falling asleep at his books when suddenly…

“Iris puuuuunnnncccchhhh!!”

“Gyaaaaaahhhh!!”

In the end, Ferris and Iris had decided to take turns monitoring him. After four days of absolutely no sleep, Ryner was at his limit. But the second he started to drift off a sword was at his throat. At this rate he’d end up dying of exhaustion…

“Finally! I finally did it! I’m done!” Ryner yelled when it was over, tears of joy streaming down his face. He fell asleep right then and there with a thud.

“Mm. Iris,” Ferris said through chomps at her dango. “Go tell Sion that we’re leaving now.”

“Okay! I’ll see you later then, Sister, Beast!” Iris said and jumped right out the third floor window.

“…Hey, d-did you just say we’re leaving now? You’re joking, right?”

“Mm. The only joke here is your face,” Ferris said easily. “Hurry, we’re leaving.”

“…Are you… a demon? I’m really gonna die if I move now… please—”

Ferris unsheathed her sword, cutting Ryner’s words off. But Ryner didn’t stand down.

“I’m at my limit. I can’t walk one step until I’ve gotten some sleep.”

“Mm. If you want to sleep that badly, then I’ll let you sleep for all eterni—”

“Why’d you come to that conclusion!? Ah, geez, I don’t care! Come on, let’s fight!”

“Then come.”

And so Ryner and Ferris - despite feeling like they’d already done this very thing before - glared at each other…

Several minutes later.

Ryner was looking even more dejected than before. He lay in hiding in the thickets of Toale’s garden along with Ferris. They watched from the bushes as the children ran around playing.

“Hey, Ferris. Do you think he’ll really become this country’s king? That guy who used those shadow monsters was saying he would.”

“Who knows,” Ferris said bluntly. “That depends on Toale.”

“Hey, if you say it like that then the conversation’s gonna end.”

“Mm? What, did you want to talk to me?”

Ryner forced a ‘I’m so sick of you’ face. “No, it’s just that… if we don’t talk, I’ll fall asleep… and I know you won’t let me do that. If it were me, I wouldn’t wanna be king. It’s too much of a pain. I mean, just look at Sion. He has to shoulder all sorts of horrible things… He has to worry about stuff all the time… does that look fun to you?”

“You’re right. But only he himself can decide to become king or not. He needs time.”

“Wow, that sounded pretty cool just now… That’s how it is, huh?”

“Yeah. That’s how it is,” Ferris said and nodded.

Ryner’s eyes narrowed sadly as he gazed at Toale and his siblings as they enjoyed playing together. “Things will become… more and more of a pain for him, huh…”

Ferris stood. “We should be going,” she said and set out.

Ryner turned back to her. “Hey, Ferris. Do you seriously think it’s okay to leave without saying goodbye? They did so much for us…”

“We can’t say goodbye because they did so much for us,” Ferris said without turning around. “I don’t want to have to give them any monetary compensation.”

Ryner smiled, tired, then stood and followed her. “Is that seriously your reasoning? Aren’t you just in a hurry because you’re worried about that Froaude guy coming back? It seems like his target changed to me halfway through, after all… and if we don’t tell Toale we’re leaving, that guy won’t be able to find out where we’re going through them. That’s why you wanna leave in secret. Am I wrong?”

Ferris shook her head easily. “No, I just wanted to experiment and see how long you’d live without sleep…”

“Hey!”

“I was joking.”

“Liar! That was you true aim all along, wasn’t it!?”

“Mm. What made you realize?”

“Don’t agree to that so easily!” Ryner said, but then quickly gave it up. “Well, whatever. That sort of thing’s fine too,” he said and continued on after her with tired steps.

Ferris looked like she wanted to say something, too, but stopped before she got the first word out and fell into thought.

And then…

“…Ryner.”

“Mm?”

“The wounds on my back are much better now. They’re hardly a hindrance now. Though I likely would have healed faster if not for your sloppy treatment,” Ferris said in her usual disconnected, monotonous voice.

Ryner’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to be thankful…!?”

“…Why should I pay thanks to the likes of you?” Ferris said coldly.

“Hey, you…”

But Ferris’ expression had changed faintly. She was just barely smiling.

“I’m glad,” Ryner said.

“Mm.” For some reason, Ferris averted her eyes, looking up at the sky instead.

It was a completely cloudless day. They couldn’t ask for better weather for their departure. Ryner was dizzy from lack of sleep, but… he’d make it another day.

Ryner yawned one big yawn, then spoke. “Now where should we go?”

A map of Nelpha spread wide inside his mind.

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