Bonus chapter thanks to @Huy Le on Ko-fi!
I climbed over the barrier.
The harshly cold wind bit into my skin.
This cold alone made this place sufficiently torturous. Having to fend off monsters on top of it, it was no wonder it felt like a living hell.
“…Are you going to stay here?”
Selena, who was next to me, asked.
Her maid outfit was unnecessarily revealing. Naturally, it would be terribly cold in a place like this.
“Yes.”
“Weren’t you supposed to protect me? We’re outside a building, on top of a barrier that’s easy to get sniped from. You’re going to leave me in this dangerous place?”
“No, I will stay by your side.”
With that, Selena stood next to me.
Though she tried to hide it, I could see her body shivering uncontrollably.
Tsk, I clicked my tongue.
“Go and change. And from now on, wear something appropriate regardless of what it is.”
“This, this outfit is perfectly appropriate. It’s just not suitable for the season…,”
“Go on, then.”
Selena quickly nodded at my words and disappeared.
I sighed and checked the state of the barrier.
It wasn’t good. Like a beggar’s clothes, there were patches everywhere.
If there were no rocks, they used stones; if not stones, then wood; in a pinch, scraps of cloth or even trash were gathered and stuck on here and there.
…The Weaving had a ‘restoration’ function, didn’t it. It’s locked now, but leveling up might unlock it.
Of course, the monsters won’t wait for that, so until then, we have to fight with this unstable barrier in front of us.
“…Normally, it would collapse.”
In fact, Tyburn would be breached during Constel’s holiday period if one played the game ordinarily.
You’d learn this from stories told by Ainen and from newspapers.
The barrier would fall, Tyburn would be devastated, and only the emergency dispatch of Pros and Knights would barely manage to pull the front line back.
Although not all of Tyburn would collapse, a reduction in the area was inevitable.
Player Aster cannot stop this trend. Aster is a commoner, and coming to Tyburn forcibly would only result in him being used as a soldier. Even if he survives, he cannot make any significant changes.
However.
“……”
I saw beyond the barrier. Beyond the meadows and fields trampled by monsters, there lies a sacred forest that even the monsters outside cannot defile.
This sacred land, visible even to the eye right here. Not even 1 km away.
…Somewhere in that forest lies King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur.
Excalibur, a weapon of distinct performance and class even within this game, is so close because Tyburn is ‘intended to collapse’ in the first place.
As the front lines of Tyburn are pushed back by the monsters outside, Excalibur naturally becomes more distant.
Only after significantly enhancing the character’s abilities and barely pushing back the monsters outside do the players realize, ‘Excalibur was so close all along!’.
Even if they restart the game as Aster and come to Tyburn first, they end up just watching Tyburn collapse, realizing that’s how the game is designed.
“Not right now, though.”
I will reach that Excalibur during this vacation.
Although going now would only lead to a future where I’m slaughtered by monsters.
A thudding step was heard.
A step keeping a gentle yet precise rhythm. I guessed who it was.
“You’re here.”
Turning around, it was indeed Robert.
“Sir Robert.”
“Lord Frondier. What brings you to Tyburn this time?”
A question I’ve heard numerous times. But the question is so natural that I laughed.
“Well, it’s like vacation homework.”
“Coming to Tyburn as a vacation homework. Does Constel want to kill its students?”
Constel was being scolded instead of me.
“What about the other knights?”
“Still on standby. Well, they’re chattering away.”
They must still be mocking me.
After all, if I had heard from someone else that no one dies in this Tyburn, I might have laughed too.
“Sir Robert is truly polite. He has used honorifics with me ever since we first met.”
“I learned it from my superior. Since she always uses honorifics, I seem to have picked it up too.”
Does he mean Empress Philly by superior?
…But Philly’s honorifics are not meant to be ‘polite.’
“Why did you come here, Sir Robert?”
“I am a knight. I simply follow orders.”
“You follow orders without knowing the reason?”
“By following orders, you naturally come to understand.”
Truly loyal. I can fully understand why Philly keeps him around.
I smiled bitterly.
“It would be nice if other knights were like Sir Robert.”
“They and I are not much different. It’s just that this place is too harsh.”
I half agreed with Robert’s words. As I’ve said before, in such an environment, it might be better to be moderately mad.
However, a harsh environment only reveals a person’s true nature.
Not all knights have the same attitude as Robert. They may seem that way when they are part of the knight order and even think of themselves in that light.
But in this extreme environment, when they are no longer part of the knight order but individuals, they are nothing but humans.
“Let’s go inside. The barrier is too cold when it’s not the time for battle. And there’s also a schedule today.”
“A schedule?”
That reminded me, I hadn’t seen Ludwig, who had sent me to the barracks. I thought he must have sent me to the waiting room because of the monsters.
If it’s not because of the monsters, then why gather the knights in the waiting room?
“Didn’t you know? The princess is coming for inspection.”
“…The princess?”
There’s only one princess now.
The eldest daughter was deprived of her position, and the second daughter would be busy succeeding the throne.
“…You don’t mean her.”
“Her?”
“I was talking to myself.”
* * *
Aten arrived in Tyburn leading the royal knight order.
Though it seemed excessive to protect just one person, it was natural for Tyburn.
“Princess Aten, you should go back now. This place is too dangerous. Monsters could break through the barrier at any time.”
A knight standing by her side spoke in a serious tone.
“If the barrier is unstable and results in monsters breaking through, causing greater damage, then it’s only natural for royalty to inspect the situation.”
Aten had thought that, even if not during this vacation, she would need to visit Tyburn at some point.
Unlike Yeranhes, which is guarded by Enfer, Tyburn, even though it’s also in the north, was the most unstable corner of the empire.
While Frondier was the trigger, Aten’s concern for the residents of Tyburn was sincere.
“…Understood. Let’s then head to the lodging. The horses are tired as well.”
The journey was not easy.
If it was just for travel, a carriage would be better, but if one considers battle, it’s much better to bring horses.
Unlike carriages, horses need food, rest, and are sensitive to temperature. In other words, they feel the same discomfort as humans do.
They came a long distance from the center. The horses were tired, and so were the knights.
“Indeed. It was quite a rough march.”
As she spoke, Aten looked around at the assembly, examining the faces of the knights.
“You all have worked hard. There are few who would ride a horse from the center here…?”
Then she stopped.
In the corner of Aten’s view, a horse was clattering along by itself.
At first, she thought one of the knights had strayed. But that wasn’t the case. The horse was not wearing armor, and the person on it was not in armor either, just ordinary clothes.
“…??”
The horse continued clattering along, passing by Aten’s left side. Its appearance was so bizarre that not only Aten but all the knights were captivated.
“…Hmm, must be a traveler. It seems like the person on top is sleeping.”
“Yes, seems like it.”
As the knight said, the woman on the horse had her face buried in the horse’s neck, breathing evenly.
As the woman mounted on the horse had her face buried in the horse’s neck, breathing gently, the figure and silhouette seemed vaguely familiar─
“…Hmm? Are we there yet? Since I’ve woken up, we must be, right?”
The person on the horse slowly raised herself up.
Pink hair, green eyes. Despite the disheveled hair and dust, her face was beautiful and equally coquettish.
“…Sybil?”
Aten called out the name unconsciously.
The woman with pink hair absentmindedly turned her gaze towards Aten, her eyes widening.
“Oh my, Aten! Wow, what a surprise! Why are you here? How did you get here? Wow, that’s really amazing!”
“…That’s exactly what I wanted to ask you, without missing a single detail.”
Sybil Forte.
A girl favored by destiny, had come to Tyburn.
* * *
“Ahaha, you really startled me.”
Sybil let out a breath as if to ease the tension inside a lodging.
The moment she thoughtlessly attempted to approach Aten, she had to face the spears thrust by the knights.
Although Aten intervened, it completely woke her up from her drowsiness.
“That’s right, I forgot. Aten is a princess. I acted without thinking, out of habit from our time in Constel.”
“I’m sorry. The knights acted out of concern for me.”
“No, it was my fault.”
“…If we happen to meet in an official setting, try to, if possible, avoid putting yourself in danger, Miss Sybil.”
“Yep yep. I’ll make sure to behave properly.”
Sybil nodded with a bright expression.
The two were currently in a room Aten had borrowed within the lodging. Since other knights were around, they couldn’t speak freely, thus only the two of them were in the room.
“Ah, I see. Because of the inspection. Aten really does have a lot on her plate.”
“…Why are you here, Miss Sybil?”
Aten hadn’t expected Sybil to come here at all. Nobody from Constel would have.
That she would do something as absurd as coming for ‘training’ in a place like Frondier…
“Hm? I came because of Frondier.”
“…!”
Sybil answered plainly, which slightly surprised Aten.
Aten had definitely come to Tyburn for an inspection, and that was her main objective.
At that moment, somehow, she had a feeling that she couldn’t be as straightforward as Sybil.
“No, don’t get me wrong. I just came because I was worried about him, as a friend.”
“Is that so? Did you come all the way to Tyburn from the Capital just because you were worried…?”
“Isn’t that guy hilarious? Suddenly going to Tyburn during the break. How could I have heard it from him first when it’s faster to hear it through rumors?”
“… I heard it through rumors too. I think Lady Elodie would be the only one who heard it first.”
“Oh, yeah! Elodie! He told her personally but not me. Well, I guess the problem is that news travels too fast!”
Sybil bobbed her head as she said that. Aten gulped without realizing it.
She felt like she needed to change the subject.
“So, how did you manage to come here? It couldn’t have been an easy journey.”
“Well, somehow? I received a lot of help? Maybe I just got lucky?”
Sybil’s answer sounded like she was just beating around the bush, but she was actually being honest.
Most of the things that Sybil wants, she usually gets through coincidence and luck.
“I borrowed a ‘Casian’ from Constel. It’s really smart. It feels like it’s following me around.”
“… You borrowed a Casian? Just like that?”
“Yeah? They just let me borrow it?”
“….”
It shouldn’t be possible, Aten thought, but her opponent was Sybil.
That alone was enough for Aten to accept it somehow.