* * *

The tense battle was over, but the Blue Blood Knight Order was far from recovered. Healing spells had temporarily boosted their strength, but the knights needed rest after the long battle. Mamil, who was in charge of the kingdom’s defense, was also unconscious.

However, the search for the Stone of Peace could not be postponed any longer, so the Scarlet Scales Knight Order, which was still relatively unscathed, was chosen to proceed first. It was a decision made by Cadel, who felt guilty about the battle.

“He said he was sure it was in this village.”

Cadel unfolded the tattered parchment, his expression serious. On the inside of the parchment that Admon had handed over, the location of the stone held by the Mainue Kingdom was written.

[I fought to protect countless lives, countless comforts, countless souls. My soul will remain still and watch over their happiness. Drink of my struggle in the deep, deep eternity].

From this inscription, it was unclear why the village in front of him, ‘Bene’, was the location of the sealing stone. Unlike the rest of the countries, however, the royal family of Mainue had found further evidence that the will of the Seven Knights was buried in Bene. This information came from Mamil’s deciphering of a spellbook that had been sealed with an intricate ritual.

‘A Stone of Peace buried in a rural village like this, I don’t know the criteria for such a location.’

The fact that the precious sealing stone was lying in a place with no one to protect it, even though there were no enemies nearby, gave Mamil an unnecessarily ominous feeling.

“Hmm, why did he write it in such a scrawl? Does it say to find it or not to find it?”

Lydon, who was now behind Cadel’s back, wrapped him in a hug and snatched the parchment from him. Cadel narrowed his eyes at the parchment, which was quickly out of sight.

“Give it back, Lydon. I haven’t memorized the words yet, and I need to find it as soon as possible.”

“Why are you looking at it, Cadel? I could find it. Don’t you trust me, darling?”

“That’s……!”

Cadel didn’t doubt it, but he didn’t have much hope that Lydon would be able to decipher the message. When Cadel trailed off, Lydon stepped aside with a pouty expression.

“I can do it, there’s no way I can’t find what the humans are looking for!”

He was not in a position to cater to Lydon’s whims. It would be better to placate him and take the parchment back. With that, Cadel swallowed a sigh and reached for the parchment, trying to cajole Lydon.

“I’ll find it!”

“Hey……! Lydon!”

In a flash, Lydon, who had transformed into a small fairy, stole the parchment and began to fly. For a moment, Cadel was dazed by his subordinate’s sudden soliloquy. Quickly regaining his composure, Cadel called out to his remaining subordinates.

“Get him!”

Cadel hadn’t thought much of the little fairy since he was always by his side, but the truth was, he could disappear whenever he wanted.

“Did you really have to resort to illusions, Sir Lydon? The look of disdain on Knight Commander’s face almost broke my heart.”

“How dare you play tricks using Commander’s face? Where are you, fairy? I’ll punch you right in the face when I find you.”

“I’ll give you some chocolate and you can stop playing and come down, Lydon. I don’t particularly want to catch you and rip your wings off.”

The members who were chasing Lydon on the orders of their commander were defenselessly caught in the illusion spell. Most of them, having suffered from Cadel’s contempt, criticism, and neglect, were barely able to escape the illusion spell and their anger towards Lydon was rapidly increasing.

Of all the members of the group who pursued Lydon so militantly, Yozen was the only one who hadn’t been subjected to the illusion. He calmly spread the dark energy.

“What do you think? Can you find him?”

“……He’s scattered his mana all over the village. He must have had my tracking in mind.”

Unless he’d implanted the dark energy beforehand, all Yozen needed to chase a specific target was their energy. By detecting their energy, he could determine their location. But Lydon already seemed to figure out Yozen’s method and scattered a fairly high concentration of mana around.

“Well, there are plenty of them……. Will it be hard to track?”

“Not impossible, it’ll just take some time.”

With that answer, Cadel sighed and plopped down in the shade of the tree next to Yozen. The village was silent, save for the angry shouts of his subordinates in the distance.

As soon as the kingdom realized that the Stone of Peace was buried in Bene, the villagers were temporarily relocated, so no one was allowed to stay until the search was complete except for the Scarlet Scales Knight Order, which was conducting an operation.

“…….”

Cadel leaned his head against the wooden pole and closed his eyes tightly. A village where only the Scarlet Scales Knight Order was present. He knew it wasn’t the time to be sentimental, but somehow it was comforting. He wanted to throw everything away, get a piece of land, and settle down in a small village.

‘……That would be fun.’

Lydon loved the ocean, so the estate would be right on the ocean. They’d need a spacious training yard since they couldn’t keep still, and an orchard for Yozen, who loved apples. For Garuel, he would need a place off the beaten path. Hopefully, there would be no nobles nearby to bump into, and it would be close to the small village where he could visit occasionally.

They could splash around in the water together, pick fruit from the orchard when they were hungry, and when they got bored of lying around all day, they could go into the village and explore. Just thinking about it, Cadel felt a rich sense of peace, and a smile spread across his face.

But the euphoria of his ascent was short-lived.

‘If I run away from the war, all the memories we’ve made will be lost.’

If the entire worldline disappeared, so would all the relationships he’d built with his subordinates. The system would seek out a new world, where…….

‘Where a new Cadel Lytos will save the world.’

Since he was the 210th transmigrator, if he failed, there would surely be another. Putting aside all of these fundamental questions, a thought suddenly occurred to him: How did the system select and transport a transmigrator to another world?

‘If the new Cadel Lytos doesn’t meet my members, they will live a life of hurt that will never be repaid.’

And if the new Cadel Lytos did meet them, would he be able to treat them as individuals, not just as tools for his quest? Would the new Cadel Lytos be able to love them as much as he loved himself? If not, his subordinates of the new world would be doomed to a life of pain and loneliness. 

He couldn’t stand to watch his loved ones being sucked back into the cycle of pain. Cadel opened his eyes slowly and blankly looked up at the sky hidden by the leaves.

‘It’s been the same from beginning to end. My purpose as a transmigrator is to turn the war to victory, that’s all.’

What had changed was the magnitude of the despair of failure. Victory was meaningless unless it was certain. Doubt crept into his heart, but he had no choice but to endure it.

Barely swallowing the sigh that was building up inside him, Cadel turned his head. Yozen’s brow cracked as he sat upright, and Cadel reflexively reached out to smooth it down.

[I think I found it, darling! Quick, come here!]

Lydon’s excited voice echoed in the Knight Order’s head.

* * *

Lydon’s position was in front of an old well on the outskirts of the village. The small fairy perched on the edge of the well looked back at his comrades and smiled.

“I have a feeling, the Stone of Peace will be here.”

He looked quite confident. Cadel tilted his head, looking back and forth between the parchment and the well that was finally in his hands.

“Surely it must have something to do with water, given the words ‘still’ and ‘drink’, but…….”

The well was very deep and filled with water. It seemed too dangerous to rush down into. Cadel peered down into the bottomless well and gulped lightly. His worried face reflected on the calm surface.

“Why don’t we send down the one who can swim and has the best lung capacity?”

“Even with the best lung capacity, it would be dangerous at this depth, and if it’s true that there’s a Stone of Peace inside, it could trigger some strange trap while we’re trying to retrieve it.”

He was reluctant to send his subordinates down, but he couldn’t find anyone else right away. Not to mention his own lung capacity.

So Cadel hesitated, unable to get to the well.

“Maybe if we tie a rope down, we can get him out in case of emergency. This should be long enough.”

Garuel returned after a brief absence. In his hand was a long, sturdy rope of unknown origin.

“Isn’t this old rope? What if it breaks?”

Cadel fumbled with the rope, worried about its safety. Garuel looked down at him and gave him a small smile.

“Don’t worry too much, there won’t be any big problems. Everyone’s life is worth fighting for. There’s no one who would panic if an emergency were to occur.”

“……Okay, so who wants to get in?”

Everyone could swim, and everyone claimed to have the best lung capacity. Since everyone was so confident, it seemed like they could just send in anybody.

‘Should I send Van, who’s stronger? Or should I send the fastest Lumen…….? Yozen’s senses are sharper, so he’ll be able to navigate the sealing stone faster. ……Garuel’s breathing may be a little tricky, but he’ll be able to handle it.’

Each had their own advantages and disadvantages, making the choice surprisingly difficult. Then, in front of Cadel, Lydon flew in with a cheerful expression.

“I’ll go. I’ve got the location, and I’ll also get the rock.”

“……You? You can’t even fly in the water.”

“I’m a good swimmer.”

“You barely even tried to swim a few times.”

“I can still do it! Don’t you trust me, darling?”

It wasn’t that Cadel didn’t trust Lydon, it was just that it seemed much better to have the other guys go in. But explaining would only aggravate the fairy, who had already made up his mind.

‘Yeah, well. He was as good as a seal the first time he went into the ocean.’

It wasn’t like he couldn’t swim, and as long as the rope was securely tied, he’d be fine if something happened to him. Eventually, Cadel allowed Lydon in and put the rope in his hand. Van grabbed the other end and tied it securely to a nearby wooden pole.

“This rope is too thick for your body. Switch to humanoid form, Lydon.”

“If I go humanoid, I’ll be squeezed and uncomfortable. I’ll stay as I am.”

“No, no matter how…….”

Cadel tried to tie the rope around Lydon’s body, but the little fairy wouldn’t listen. He clutched the rope tightly, ignored Cadel’s pleas, and stepped into the well.

“Lydon!”

Cadel ran to the front of the well in alarm, but Lydon had already disappeared beneath the surface.

“It’ll be all right, Leader. I’m sure he’ll pull himself out.”

“With a little body like that, it’s going to take him forever to get to the bottom!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll dive in and get him if I have to. Worrying about Lydon is the most useless thing in the world.”

In the eyes of Lumen and the others, Lydon was a troublemaking brat who could get into trouble at the drop of a hat but was unjustly loved by Cadel. In Cadel’s eyes, on the other hand, Lydon was someone who could be hurt at the slightest distraction, someone who was as precious as gold and jade. The level of concern was different.

And not long after Lydon got it.

“Hmmm, could this be a sign for help? Or is it just that fairy writhing with excitement over finding the stone?”

The rope tied to the wooden pole pulled taut, and the leaves began to shake furiously.