Chapter 891

‘From what I heard from others, Kiole successfully rescued the Crown Prince and escaped that day.’

After the barrier Yuder had cast broke, Kiole was fortunately discovered by Kanna and her party who happened to be passing by, and managed to escape the temple with them. Since Yuder hadn’t seen Kanna after waking up two weeks later, he couldn’t know exactly what had happened then, but he’d heard from Kishiar that Kiole had later sent a letter to Duke Diarca. Thanks to that letter, House Diarca had immediately backed off from their attempt to attack the Cavalry.

And now—

As Yuder calmly recalled the information, the voice of Kiole, full of outrage when they met on the day of the hailstorm, suddenly came to mind.

‘I’ll contact you again in about a week! Of course, that’s after I get out of the grasp of that arrogant Duke Hern! I’ll catch those con artists myself, so just know that!.......’

Mm... right. That was back when the Sage ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) was still alive. When Yuder told Kiole to leave House Hern with the Crown Prince as soon as he returned and report everything to his father, the guy had responded with that line.

‘As expected... not a single thing he said back then actually happened.’

“Are you talking about how you said you’d contact me again on the day of the hailstorm?”

As Yuder organized his thoughts and opened his mouth, Kiole’s face brightened slightly.

“Yeah, that!”

“You said you’d contact me in a week, but it’s been way longer than that now.”

“That’s your fault, so why are you blaming me?! You were in a coma or whatever, and then even after I heard you’d woken up, you weren’t doing anything outside, so I had no choice but to come all the way here myself!”

Kiole shouted back, looking aggrieved.

He was as arrogant as ever, but he’d cared enough to at least check on the news that Yuder had awakened, and even had the courage to come to the branch in person. Even if he’d disguised his face in a ridiculous way, he still came. That alone was something.

Yuder looked at the anxious Kiole and tilted his head.

“Anyway, got it. Come with me.”

“W-Where are we going?”

“You came to see me, didn’t you? No matter what you look like, I can’t just talk to you out here.”

“What? What’s wrong with the way I look?!”

“Do you really not know?”

Just the fact that he was walking around with a hat and scarf hiding his face already looked suspicious as hell. On top of that, everything was unnecessarily luxurious, and the colors and patterns were so absurdly flamboyant. It didn’t feel like he was trying not to stand out—it was more like a clueless rich noble with insane taste. Whether that worked in Kiole’s favor or not... Yuder couldn’t be sure.

If they stood around talking dressed like that, they’d only draw more attention. It was better to hurry into the branch and find a quiet place.

Kiole grumbled something under his breath, clearly dissatisfied, but flinched and followed behind when Yuder glanced his way. It wasn’t long before they entered a hallway with heavy foot traffic, and familiar faces began to greet Yuder one by one.

“Yuder. I heard you supervised the new recruits' training earlier? Just finished now?”

“If you’re going to eat, want to join us?”

Everyone showed interest only in Yuder, not sparing even a glance at the one following him. Yet Kiole kept his head low like a guilty man, shoulders hunched, fidgeting with his scarf and hat. His extreme nervousness was palpable.

“No, I can’t right now.”

“Why? Ah, you’ve got a guest?”

“......”

“Alright then, can’t be helped! Let’s go!”

The members who’d invited him for a meal cheerfully backed off and disappeared. After that, many others greeted Yuder in passing. At first, Kiole had looked around nervously, but as time passed and no one paid him any attention, he gradually began to relax. His hunched back straightened, and the twitchiness faded.

Sticking close behind Yuder, he darted his eyes around, taking in his surroundings—until he wasn’t watching where he was going and nearly tripped over the edge of a stair step. If Yuder hadn’t used the power of the earth to steady him, he’d have face-planted hard.

“Can you pay attention?”

“Huff...”

“What’s so fascinating? It’s just a place where people live, like anywhere else.”

Yuder hadn’t expected a real answer. So when Kiole replied a moment later, he was surprisingly taken aback.

“...There are still so many people wrapped in bandages, but the atmosphere’s so bright.”

“What?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“It’s weird. Back in the Imperial Guard, after returning from monster suppression training, everyone would be walking on eggshells around the injured—you’d barely dare to breathe. But here, everyone seems so cheerful.”

At first, Yuder thought he was just picking a fight, but Kiole’s expression looked genuinely confused, like he couldn’t make sense of it. Yuder was silent for a moment, then decided to give a proper answer.

“Because they know that sulking won’t make anything better. And besides, we didn’t do such a poor job to be sulking in the first place.”

As he spoke, a strange feeling came over him. He, too, had thought everything they did on the day of the hailstorm was a failure. And yet now, here he was, saying this so calmly in front of Kiole.

But it was also true.

Feeling like a failure and sulking about it wouldn’t make the next task go any better. And while maybe Yuder personally had his regrets, the Cavalry as a whole hadn’t performed poorly enough to sulk. There were injuries, yes, but no fatalities or critical conditions. And in exchange for those injuries, they’d successfully protected Sharloin—almost miraculously so. Knowing that, none of the wounded were bitter or irritable. On the contrary, they wore their injuries with pride. Because they’d held Yuder up, he could now stand here in one piece and say these words.

He’d thought he’d already come to terms with everything after waking up and talking with Kishiar and the others—but responding like this to Kiole, a third party, gave him an entirely different feeling.

And Kiole, too, stayed silent with an uncharacteristically thoughtful expression. It was almost suspicious how seriously he seemed to be considering Yuder’s words, like he might not really be the Kiole da Diarca they knew.

“Come in here. No one will come by for a while.”

Yuder opened the door to an empty drawing room, checked the inside, and led Kiole in. Only then did Kiole take off his scarf and hat with a sigh.

“Whew.”

“So, where are you staying now? Still with House Hern?”

Since Duke Hern had died on the day of the hailstorm, Kiole no longer had a reason to avoid the estate. And with Mayra on their side now and things still busy, there probably hadn’t been much reason to move lodgings either. That’s what Yuder figured—but the answer he got was unexpected.

“Hmm... no. I’m staying at the Imperial Guard dormitory, where I was supposed to be in the first place. His Highness the Crown Prince is with me, too.”

“Really?”

“Lady Mayra said if I was uncomfortable staying, it was fine to leave—she’d understand. But since His Highness is with me, I couldn’t just go.”

Yuder narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Kiole.

“Are you really Kiole da Diarca? You’re not brainwashed or something?”

“What the hell kind of nonsense is that?!”

“Just making sure.”

“...But actually, yeah—I did come here to talk about something related to that. The brainwashing thing.”

“What?”

Yuder frowned at the unexpected turn. Kiole, eyes down and fists clenched on his knees, hesitated before exhaling deeply.

“I heard that scammer bastard died on the day of the hailstorm. Is that true?”

“I didn’t see the body myself, but yes. It’s certain.”

By the time Yuder woke up, the Sage’s corpse—horribly mutilated by Diemon—had long since been taken care of.

“Then why... why hasn’t His Highness’s behavior changed at all?”

“What do you mean his behavior hasn’t changed? Be specific.”

Kiole lifted his head and met Yuder’s gaze. Strangely, his eyes looked softer, more serious, as if he’d let something go. Slowly, he began to speak.

“I mean exactly that. After waking up from the hailstorm, His Highness is still searching for that scammer. We told him everything—that man’s crimes, how he died, everything we learned from outside sources—but he doesn’t believe it.”

“......”

“He keeps insisting we have to rescue the Sage. Says this is all a trap meant to frame him. Damn it... the guy who brainwashed him is dead, so why is he still like this? You must know something.”

Though cut short with a sigh, the expression Kiole wore while talking about the Crown Prince’s condition was grim and dark. Yuder saw an emotion in his eyes he hadn’t seen before.

Gone was the Kiole who’d mindlessly shouted and fretted for the sake of the Crown Prince and his own reputation.

Now, he looked genuinely defeated.