“Captain! Captain!”

It was Allen. And behind him, the voices of other subordinates could be heard.

“Captain, where are you? You’re not dead, are you? Even if you’re dead, please answer, Captain. At least let us find your body. We need to have a funeral, Captain!”

“That bastard.”

Eric muttered low in embarrassment.

Even with the Zero Knights here, the Second Knights should have some dignity.

Anyway, that guy’s mouth never seems to rest for a moment.

“Oh, our Captain. Dying without even getting married, what a shame-. Should we perform an exorcism, he really has terrible luck, what sin did he commit in his past life-. No, wait. It was the sister-in-law who committed sins in her past life. I wonder what’s wrong with our sister-in-law now.”

“Vice-Captain, please shut your mouth. If the Captain hears this, he’ll really die.”

“Hey, can’t you see how worried I am right now?”

“Weren’t you just mocking him?”

Allen grinned at his subordinate’s dumbfounded expression.

“Oh, is it that obvious?”

“Are you really not worried?”

“Worrying about that guy is less likely than worrying about getting struck by lightning and dying.”

“You’re right. He really might get struck by lightning and die.”

“Huh?”

Allen turned his head in the direction his subordinate was pointing.

“Ah, Captain! You’re alive! I was so worried-”

Thwack.

Eric immediately struck Allen’s back as he ran over.

“That I was. Ouch.”

“You, just wait until we get back. This time I’ll definitely throw you in the brig.”

“Eh? Is that how you talk to a junior who was worried about you?”

“Shut up. Everything you said echoed and I heard it all. I’m really embarrassed.”

“How anxious must I have been to say such nonsense? You really don’t appreciate me.”

“Enough, what about the priest? Did you bring him?”

“Yes. Here.”

“Hello, Captain. Oh my.”

The priest, who exchanged greetings with Kibu through eye contact, let out a sigh upon seeing Eric.

“You’ve been through a rough time, haven’t you? Shall I take a look?”

“Check them first, rather than me.”

“Pardon?”

Eric pointed towards Alicia and Noah.

“Check them first. Then we’ll withdraw immediately.”

“Ah, yes.”

The priest looked at Eric’s wounds with a disgruntled expression, then moved towards Alicia and Noah.

“Allen, scout the surroundings a bit. See if there’s anything useful. Kibu will support you.”

“Understood.”

“Oh, right. Kibu. How many demon corpses are there? The priest will need to purify them.”

“I gave up counting, but roughly several dozen.”

“Then that’s not nearly enough, is it? We’ll need to dispatch a unit of priests. I’ll go around and check for now.”

“Do that.”

After sending Allen, Kibu, and a few subordinates, Eric looked around.

Although it had improved since people were bustling about compared to when they first arrived, the atmosphere still felt oddly desolate and heavy in contrast to the bright scenery.

[This is the timeline separator]

Eric put Alicia in the carriage that was waiting to take her back.

“Aren’t you riding together?”

Alicia asked hastily as Eric was about to close the door.

“I’m taking a different carriage. I have a lot of confidential matters to discuss with those guys on the way.”

“But you’re badly injured. Can’t the work talk wait until later?”

“I’d like to, but I’m curious about what happened while I was gone. You understand, right?”

“…I do.”

After all, Alicia wasn’t the type to patiently hold back her work-related curiosity either.

With demons and mages appearing, it was an emergency situation, and Eric would clearly be busy again in the future.

So she had wanted to be with Eric at least on the way back.

“I told them to go straight to the Lancaster estate. For now, go back and get some rest. We’ll see each other later.”

Eric closed the carriage door, leaving Alicia reluctantly nodding.

Then he boarded the carriage where Noah and the priest were already seated.

“Are you sending Lady Lancaster back alone?”

“I’m sending her straight home.”

“Ah.”

Eric leaned back, frowning.

His wounds started throbbing madly, then began to burn as if he had a fever.

“Captain. Are you alright? You don’t look well.”

The priest asked with concern.

“……”

“Captain?”

Noah half-raised his body and moved closer to Eric, but there was no response.

“Captain!”

[This is the timeline separator]

“Alicia. I brought some food.”

Alicia, who had been lying in bed, weakly opened her eyes at Chase’s voice.

Chase put down the tray on the bed table as their eyes met.

“Can you get up?”

“I don’t want to eat.”

“Alicia.”

Chase sighed and sat down in the chair.

After staring at Alicia, who had closed her eyes again, for a moment, he spoke.

“About what you asked last time.”

“Did you find out? How’s Eric? Has he woken up?”

Alicia suddenly sat up before Chase could finish speaking.

Her eyes quickly sparkled with anticipation.

Chase felt hurt by her sudden change.

‘This is really too much.’

Chase inwardly resented Alicia as he pulled the tray on the bed table closer.

“Eat this first.”

“I’ll eat later.”

“You still need to eat. You’ll collapse at this rate.”

Alicia’s eyes and face were bright red from how much she had cried.

She looked pitifully gaunt, having lost so much weight over the past few days.

Hearing she wasn’t eating well, Chase had brought up a meal, but Alicia, who actually needed to eat, didn’t even glance at the food.

“I’ll eat later. Tell me first.”

At Alicia’s plea, Chase let out a small sigh and sat down in the chair.

“Did you get any sleep?”

“Chase.”

Alicia’s voice was desperate.

Tears welled up in her eyes, thinking there must still be no good news since he wasn’t telling her anything despite her pleas.

“Haven’t you heard anything? Is he still not awake?”

Eric, who had lost consciousness while returning from the northern temple ruins, was immediately transported to the Grand Temple.

Alicia, who had gone straight back to the Lancaster estate in a different carriage, didn’t know about the situation at the time and only learned the circumstances the next day from the butler of the Russell estate.

Too shocked, she tried contacting various people but couldn’t hear anything other than that Eric’s condition wasn’t very good.

Allen was unavailable due to emergency duty in Eric’s place, and Prince William only said he was improving without giving details.

The Duke and Duchess just comforted Alicia saying not to worry since it wasn’t the first time Eric had been badly injured, but they didn’t know the details either.

So she had asked Chase.

Knowing he had been having frequent meetings with the Grand Temple recently due to negotiations with the Valois Empire, she had asked him to inquire about Eric’s condition while he was there.

“Chase, please.”

“He still hasn’t woken up. But they said he’s recovered a lot.”

“Still?”

Alicia’s voice trembled. Chase quickly added, trying to reassure her.

“The problem isn’t the wounds, but that he was contaminated by the demon’s magic. That’s why visitors aren’t allowed either. But the Grand Priest is personally treating him, and they said he’s much better than at first, so he’ll wake up soon.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s true. So don’t worry.”

“Okay……”

Alicia could do nothing but wait here.

Visits were impossible since it was related to demons.

Of course, she was relieved to hear the Grand Priest was personally in charge, but she still wanted to see with her own eyes.

“It’s my fault.”

“Alicia.”

“I should have noticed sooner.”

She had foolishly believed Eric when he said he was fine, even though she had seen with her own eyes how badly he was injured.

She thought he was really okay since he was worried about her when she had merely twisted her ankle.

No, she shouldn’t have created a situation where he could get hurt in the first place.

“I shouldn’t have asked to go to the festival.”

“……”

“I should have just waited at home like usual.”

“It’s not your fault.”

It was really difficult for Chase to see Alicia with tears now streaming down her face.

In Chase’s memory, Alicia was always so strong.

He had known Alicia since childhood, but how many times had he seen her cry like this?

Had he ever seen her cry except when she was very young?

‘I really want to cry too.’

Chase sighed as he continued offering words of comfort that may not even be comforting.

Then he hugged the sobbing Alicia and patted her back to console her.

‘You must feel like you’re dying right now. I really feel like I’m dying too. I feel like I’m dying even when that person is by your side. I don’t know what to do because I feel like I’m dying even when that person isn’t by your side.’

[This is the timeline separator]

The investigation of the northern temple ruins was assigned to Lord Edinburgh’s First Knights.

Since it was an uninhabited area anyway, control itself wasn’t difficult, and being close to the capital, it wasn’t too hard to mobilize personnel and supplies.

There were concerns about remaining demons, but fortunately there were no traces of newly manifested magic, and no more demons appeared.

“The priests have arrived.”

“Hm. Form teams of one priest, one divine arts user, and two knights each.”

“Yes, sir.”

Soon the priests, divine arts users, and knights divided into teams and began dispersing to their assigned areas.

And Lord Edinburgh was planning to head towards the inner part of the temple ruins as per Alicia’s statement.

“Captain. We’re ready.”

“What about the priest and divine arts user?”

“They’re on standby. We can depart immediately on your order.”

“Then let’s go now.”

Lord Edinburgh began moving towards the inner temple with the priest and divine arts user.

Alicia had been very cooperative with the investigation, providing detailed descriptions even of the temple’s interior, allowing them to draw a map based on her statement.

“It’s just as Lady Lancaster said.”

“It was good that we brought the map.”

“Is that it over there?”

“Yes.”

They arrived at the place where Alicia and Eric had been lying.

Soon the divine arts users began casting tracking spells to search for traces.

“As expected, very strong traces of magic remain here.”

“I see. Is it because of the barrier?”

“That’s a possibility, but something feels a bit off.”

“How so?”

“I’m not sure.”

Lord Edinburgh instructed the divine arts user, who had answered with a troubled expression, to investigate further, and looked around the area.

Then the scattered cloths on the ground caught his eye.

Those blood-soaked cloths seemed to show just how severely Eric had been wounded at the time.

“It’s a miracle he’s alive.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing. How are the other areas?”

“This spot has the strongest traces. There’s almost nothing in other places.”

“Then there’s no need to stay here any longer.”

Lord Edinburgh moved away with the priest and divine arts user.

When they came back outside, a subordinate ran over urgently.

“Captain!”

“What is it?”

“You need to come see this.”

Lord Edinburgh hurried over, following his anxious subordinate.

Lord Edinburgh’s face hardened as he confirmed the location the subordinate had led him to.

“What is this?”