Chapter 204

“The precious magic stone was moved with heavy security and settled on the ground.”

Surrounding it was a massive magic circle. Other mages worked together to implement what Emelia had studied.

Among them was Yuri.

“To be honest, I can’t say there’s no chance of failure at all.”

It was something I had already heard, but Emelia reiterated.

“After all, we couldn’t create a gate in the middle of the city. Who knows what might be on the other side?”

But we couldn’t conduct the research outside. The magic stone had already been nearly stolen once before.

Oh, just to add, the holy relic I handed over instead of the magic stone is still under research. Unfortunately, proving its principles is much more difficult than proving magic itself… No, it’s said there’s almost no starting point.

What a divine power, the research director remarked with a chuckle.

Holy relics lay scattered around here as well. I had continuously created various ones over time.

All the weapons and ammunition held by the soldiers were blessed by priests, and the swords wielded by the Inquisition Knight Order surrounding me were all ones I had blessed personally. Each of them would fit right into a museum as holy relics.

Emelia gave me a light nod and headed towards where the mages were gathered. Glaria, Paina, Pertia, Yuri— they were all there.

“……”

Ria gently reached out and brushed her hand against mine.

It eased my heart just a little.

Somewhat distanced from us were Siyoon, the hunters, and a few priests. It seemed the judgment was made that if the enemy struck, it would be better to spread out and dilute their forces. Our side couldn’t be considered large either.

“……It’s starting.”

I muttered quietly.

The giant magic circle drawn on the ground began to glow. Interestingly, the color of the light was black. It was a hue that couldn’t exist naturally, as if darkness itself were moving.

The black light soon produced a real substance that slowly veered into the center of the magic circle.

And then, a tall door rose up above.

It could only be called a ‘door.’ A typical gate appears like the surface of a mercury-filled lake, but this one lacked such rippling. Perhaps due to being man-made, it was a perfectly upright rectangle.

It was tall, but not so much that something couldn’t enter through it.

“……”

Click.

The knights gripped their swords in apparent tension. The soldiers raised their rifles.

For those who remembered the gate incident, or even those who’d simply seen something burst forth from a gate in a video, this was expected behavior.

However, despite that, there was no sign of anything emerging from the opposite side.

We couldn’t see what lay beyond. It was all the more frightening because of that.

“……Advance.”

As pre-discussed, the Knight Order moved forward. Ria and I, being escorted, also began to walk slowly ahead.

Ria’s father walked with a group of hunters somewhat distanced from the Knight Order, while Siyoon’s group walked beyond that.

As we reached near the gate, the mages guarding the area joined us.

“There’s no need to be too afraid. We’ve crossed gates many times, right?”

I nodded at Ria’s words.

I took a deep breath.

The previously motionless surface rippled each time someone entered it.

As if those who went before were sinking into it.

Slowly, the surface moved closer to me and soon swallowed me whole.

There was no need to hold my breath, just like when I crossed other gates.

On the other side— there was nothing.

The ground felt slightly softer, but that was all.

“……”

We walked in silence for a while.

The surroundings were more spacious than I expected. Perhaps this was the place where the gate had been located.

“Ria, by any chance—”

“I know.”

Before I could finish my sentence, Glaria swiftly moved.

She approached a knight walking nearby and whispered something in his ear, causing him to break from the lineup and move quickly.

Soon after, that knight returned leading Glaria to join us here.

Of course, Davi followed behind Glaria, looking as white as a sheet.

“Glaria, is this the original place where the gate was?”

“……Yes, it seems so.”

Glaria appeared to recognize the place immediately with just the sparse space and forest surrounding it.

“But you mean the enemy is just going to leave us alone?”

“It’s a bit far from the royal castle. Plus, this forest belongs to the royal family, so other elves can’t easily enter… Above all, there’s no path in.”

But even so, it felt a bit strange.

Even if it belonged to the royal family, they had driven off the royal family, right? So it should be theirs now?

“They probably didn’t think a gate would appear here.”

But Glaria’s answer was rather straightforward.

“……It wouldn’t be impossible.”

Right.

The gate isn’t about ‘destroying’ something.

Whether we block it from this side or the other, it’s about using magic to ‘seal’ it. Of course, if it’s sealed from one side, the passageway closes off, making that method extremely effective.

However, if that’s the case, then the management on this side is essential to ensure the gate doesn’t reopen—

“……Ah.”

And then it clicked for me.

“Yes.”

Glaria replied in a somewhat subdued voice.

“Perhaps, there was no ‘need’ for it. Meaning, there was no one wishing to reopen the gate.”

Only one member of royalty had escaped.

Davi wasn’t royalty and was in a position where she wasn’t even treated like a person.

If there were beings who could potentially bring those two back, they would either deeply pledge allegiance to the royal family or be the royal family itself.

If the enemy had thoroughly eliminated all those beings, then there would be no reason to concern themselves with this place.

“……Alright.”

Not that I felt good about it, but I said it anyway.

“We need to monitor the situation. Glaria, will you assist me?”

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

As I spoke, Glaria replied with a stiff expression.

It was the angriest face I had seen on Glaria up until now.

*

First, we established a base. The command center was set up again so we could escape quickly in case of an emergency, and more people arrived.

All sorts of equipment came in, including large devices capable of passing through the gate. There were quite a few of those.

Among them were things that could clearly be called ‘cannons.’ Things like towed artillery or howitzers.

Normally, it wouldn’t be right for me to stand at the front facing the enemy.

As a commander, that wouldn’t be ethical to say, but this act is seen in the church as a sort of religious holy war. After all, I am one of the people in the midst of that.

But that’s also why I couldn’t fall behind.

When those who went ahead encountered formidable magic power, I would be the one capable of protecting them.

In the end, we reached a compromise, positioning fire-supporting weapons as close to the edge of the forest as possible and left the Knight Order standing by.

Anna and Mari stayed at the headquarters, while Siyoon, Yuri, Glaria, and Davi joined us.

And also Berena from the Inquisition Knight Order.

“……Alright. Let’s go just as far as we can see the royal castle. According to Glaria, there’s a symbol at the royal castle, so that’ll be enough to verify.”

The borders in this world are often looser than those in our world. If a country could perfectly project military power across all its borders, then the borders would be clear, but many countries can’t do so.

The Elf Kingdom was one of them.

And even if they had nearly eliminated the enemy, a year is quite a short time to stabilize the domestic political turmoil. Not only around the royal castle but also the dissent among the local lords had to be considered.

The means of transport we chose was a car.

With large wheels— no, it was an overall huge military vehicle. It could probably withstand rifles carried by infantry.

A few of those lined up.

Sure, it would make noise when moving, but we couldn’t walk 20 kilometers there and back.

By the way, I would probably lose my sanity on the way back.

Exiting the forest revealed the literal plain.

There was nothing but flat ground stretching out, void of even distant mountains, just dense trees beyond the plain.

“There are no trees around the royal castle. They cleared them out hundreds of years ago. Even if elves are born in the forest.”

…Well, humans have done the same.

The royal castle could be seen without going too far.

We had deliberately chosen a darker time, but still, the magically illuminated royal castle shone very distinctly in the distance.

Red.

And black.

The colors of the flags lining the castle walls were like that.

“……The red is for the duke’s family. To be honest, I’m not even sure if they are loyalists.”

Glaria had literally been ‘swept up’ in things.

“But yes, referring to the duke’s family makes sense. They were a family with very great ambitions.”

“And the black?”

“……I’m sorry. I don’t really know. The red flag clearly bears the duke’s family symbol, but the black flag… has nothing.”

“Originally, what flag was there?”

“It was white, of course. That’s the color of the power bestowed by the deity we believe in.”

We all fell silent.

With no additional information to gather, we turned back immediately.

The black symbol.

A color that contrasts perfectly with white.

No one present would be unaware of what that meant.