Benjamin twisted the blade as he stabbed. As he twisted his wrist, the power became even more fierce.

It was intense killing intent. The murderous aura swirled as if trying to tear each other apart.

The blade was desperate to slice the throat of the one before it.

“Damn it.”

Tatante tilted his neck back and bit his lip.

“Your sword aura resembles its master, with a nasty temperament. I can’t tell where it’ll strike. If you aim for my neck now…! But targeting vital points is too much, isn’t it!”

Tatante grimaced and swung his sword. The blades glanced off each other, scraping the backs of the swords.

The sword backs scraped roughly as they slid past each other.

Benjamin twisted his wrist and struck down hard. There were no fancy techniques. He just brought it down heavily with loud thuds.

“You’re not someone who can’t dodge it.”

“I’m about to return to my country, are you trying to leave sword marks on my body now?”

Knowing each other well, they didn’t hesitate to aim for vital points. Tatante spoke with a grumble.

“Your aura has sharpened in the past few years.”

If the servants of Taran saw this, they would scold him for being a madman dueling with real swords against the emperor of another country, but what could he do?

“Your sword has become one that kills people. Deploying assassin techniques efficiently, aiming to stab vital points in one stroke, I wonder if you’re the same person I knew. It’s clearly different from the sword that used to slay monsters. You didn’t just sit on the throne easily. Seems you went through some hardships to ascend the throne.”

The blade grazed Tatante’s cheek. Tatante touched his cheek and wiped away the bloodstained skin.

“If you keep provoking me, next time it’ll be my neck.”

“At this point, it wouldn’t be difficult to cut off your neck.”

The killing intent that cut through flesh seemed like it could take each other’s lives at any moment. That heartless fellow silently aimed only for his neck.

“Your sword aura has become sloppier than before. Have you been slacking off for the past five years?”

“Taran is a country surrounded by border zones. Do you think I’ve just been playing around? Even though fighting monsters is different, when you say such things, it makes me feel useless again.”

Benjamin kicked Tatante in the stomach and clicked his tongue.

“Your head is empty again.”

Raw sword aura spread in all directions. Even Tatante was taken aback by the killing intent that seemed to tear flesh to shreds.

“You’re such a harsh fellow.”

“I’ve been telling you from before that your side is always open, but you never fix it. Are you deliberately leaving it open, asking to be stabbed? Your arm to shoulder is open. Should I slash your side and cut off your shoulder blade for you to come to your senses?”

Benjamin jabbed Tatante’s side with the back of his sword.

“I told you to guard your right shoulder properly.”

“I always feel your swordsmanship is vicious and cruel. I’ve often seen you go wild like a stray dog when hunting monsters, but you’re quite brutal too.”

The intense killing intent felt like being pierced to the bone with an iron skewer. Tatante shook out his training clothes and got to the point.

“…As I was passing near the Poputa coast, I felt the nearby monsters had become more violent. Also, when I cut off a kraken’s tentacle, it was tough like cutting rubber. They seem to have mutated. Border zone monsters often transform and change, but you should look into it a bit. With the recent commotion at the imperial palace too, it seems…”

“Is it their active period?”

Benjamin clicked his tongue as he brushed back his short hair.

“If the poison is getting stronger, it means they’ve entered their active period.”

“I’ll have to form an extermination unit soon.”

“There are signs of gaps widening in the border zone, and poison infiltration has noticeably worsened. Be careful of those creatures.”

Border zone monsters periodically repeat active and recovery periods, and this poison gets stronger as the active period approaches.

For the past five years, it was the recovery period, so the monsters’ poison was relatively weak.

Because of this, the monster hunting cycle was loosely set, but when the recovery period ends, things change.

Five years have passed. The active period will start soon.

During this active period, they repeatedly transform and become more beast-like.

“Recently, the monsters’ movements have been ominous.”

“From the looks of things outside, the border zone must be even more challenging.”

Monsters are drawn to poison, and poison originates from black magic. When black magic was driven out of this land, all monsters were driven underground, and that balance had been maintained until now. But lately, those creatures have been crawling on the surface.

“It’s disturbing.”

Benjamin cracked his neck as he dodged the sword aura.

“…Have you abandoned all sense of dignity?”

“If I don’t do this much, how else would I ever beat you?”

Benjamin kicked Tatante in the stomach and roughly struck down his sword.

It was a blade as sharp as a snake. The sharp striking blade was full of murderous intent, as if poison was smeared on its tip.

His sword tip stopped a moment later.

“Charlotte.”

Benjamin withdrew his killing intent.

[This is the timeline separator]

Charlotte stared blankly at the two before her.

“You seem to trust.”

There is a belief that those sword tips will not take each other’s lives.

The sword aura scratching the cheek is fierce. It feels like it’s stabbing and tearing the skin.

As Charlotte touched her cheek, her skin felt raw.

Even from far away, the killing intent pierces the skin. If the servants saw this, they would be shocked.

“It’s fierce. I should leave.”

“Let’s go.”

Just as she was about to turn away, a shadow loomed over her head.

“You should speak up if you’ve come.”

A familiar scent wafted over. The arm wrapping around her shoulder was heavy.

As she tilted her head back, Benjamin was standing beside her. Beads of cold sweat had formed on his forehead. As he wiped them away with the back of his hand, another presence approached and stood nearby.

“May the light of healing reach the empire. We meet again. You’re awake early this morning.”

“It’s good to see you, little Taran.”

Tatante adjusted his scabbard and tidied up his training clothes. He groaned as he looked at his tattered training clothes.

“I lost again this time.”

“I keep telling you your side is open, but you never fix it.”

“Taran warriors are brave people who charge in prepared to be stabbed by swords. But your blade doesn’t heal… Thanks to that, I always lose. It’s not like you use poison, but when stabbed by your blade, the body becomes sluggish and slow. I don’t want to be stabbed because it’s unpleasant. Live with less killing intent.”

As Charlotte blinked her eyes, Tatante explained on her behalf.

“We are close friends.”

Tatante met Charlotte’s eyes with a subtle gaze.

“Are you alright after being touched by the killing intent?”

“I’m not so weak-minded. Also, His Majesty quickly contained it, so I was fine.”

Benjamin spoke as he sheathed his sword.

“We should end the training here. Are you leaving for Taran in the morning?”

“Once everyone is ready…”

“That should be fine. They’re already prepared to leave over there, aren’t they the Taran servants?”

The servants were coming this way, looking aghast.

“Those guys have no trust in their superiors at all.”

Benjamin looked down at Charlotte as he stroked her hair. He spoke while adequately blocking Tatante’s view.

“He’s a black-hearted fellow, so there’s no need to get close.”

“Don’t forget I can hear you from behind.”

The groans of the Taran servants grew louder.

“We should leave early in the morning. If we depart now, we should pass Poputa coast by this evening. We’ll have to say our farewells here since we’re leaving in a hurry.”

“Are you taking that route again?”

“As I always say, that route shortens the distance by two days.”

It was troublesome to cross two extra days by sea because of the monsters. Unless we tear off their legs and chew them like octopus tentacles.

“Please take good care of the returning beast as well. It’s a child born on the day Your Majesty ascended the throne. Taran is a country that believes in fate. If this child came here, there must surely be a reason for this fate.”

“Thank you.”

“Tsk. Though its temper is nasty, it should be fine as long as it follows its master well.”

A white ball of fur poked its head out from under their feet and wagged its tail.

“…It’s telling me to get lost. We should say our farewells here.”

The farewells with the Taran delegation were exchanged here.

They put aside formalities, and now it was time to part ways.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

Tatante, as the representative of the delegation, showed his final respects.

[This is the timeline separator]

Tatante clicked his tongue after finishing all preparations to leave.

His gaze fell on the imperial palace.

“It’s strange how there’s not a single change in expression. I wonder where that indifference comes from. The recent monster incident was buried as if nothing happened, and internal discord has been completely blocked. Managing thoroughly so that no noise leaks out is quite skillful.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“The Empress.”

“…What rudeness is this, without even using an honorific?”

The servants of Taran grew more worried by the day.

“Don’t forget you are in the heart of the imperial palace. As the representative of the delegation, maintain decorum and dignity.”

“I say this because it’s strange. Isn’t it too strange? Returning beasts are arrogant creatures. They are not easily tamed, and are especially absolute in power. The purer the bloodline, the more they are drawn to strong bloodlines, and wolf returning beasts in particular have strong self-awareness. Yet the master chosen by such a returning beast seems too weak.”

“She is not of a weak disposition.”

“She looks weak to my eyes.”

“That may be so. It’s unexpected that it chose the Empress’s side rather than the Emperor’s.”

It was a returning beast born when the young Emperor ascended the throne.

“This fate is fate, if you can call it fate.”

Returning beasts choose their own masters. I think I know why it chose that woman.

“I couldn’t believe it when I heard about the royal marriage, how embarrassing.”

“…Pardon?”

“Didn’t you feel it?”

Tatante recalled the Empress he encountered in the banquet hall.

She had dark red hair and wore a red ceremonial robe.

She was a woman like a deep red sunset.

“The two of them resemble each other.”

Annoyingly, their essences resembled each other.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Your Majesty. Did you go out again without attendants?”

The head servant fretted as he followed close to the Emperor. It was common for the Emperor, who was sensitive to presence, to go out alone, but the delegation had not yet fully departed.

“Did you visit the training grounds?”

“I always go at dawn, why are you making such a fuss?”

“Because you went out without attendants, Your Majesty.”

Benjamin looked down at the head servant as he wiped away sweat with a dry towel.

“Are you going to keep this up?”

“I apologize.”

The head servant immediately closed his mouth. There were areas the servants dared not cross.

“Shall I bring some warm tea?”

Charlotte shook her head as she took off her outer coat. The head lady-in-waiting received the coat while glancing at Benjamin.

“Bring it to the bedroom.”

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

“You shouldn’t do that when your body is cold.”

Though the young Emperor had ascended the throne and fully grasped the authority of the imperial palace, he was different by the Empress’s side. The servants felt this most closely.

As they entered the bedroom, a wave of heat hit them. Charlotte murmured as she brushed back her long hair.

“It’s warm.”

“You’re too insensitive… I had them pay special attention to the brazier fire because you’ve always been sensitive to the cold at night, but I guess you didn’t know since you never go out at dawn.”

Shortly after, the head lady-in-waiting brought in tea.

News that the Taran delegation had all departed was also delivered.