After safely escorting Cedric and Ariana out of the forest, Rosinante made straight for the tournament grounds.
He was confident Riersha wouldn’t have wandered from her spot.
Of all the hunts to have something go wrong.
His brow furrowed.
The Arachrene family had supplied the magical beasts, so they couldn’t escape responsibility entirely. Which meant they had to at least demonstrate every effort to minimize the damage already done.
That’s probably why the young lord is looking for Miss Riersha, too.
If a beast broke out of the forest and into the surrounding area, it would be catastrophic. Riersha, however, could wrap the entire forest in a barrier. She was the only one who could.
Sure enough.
The moment he arrived at the tournament grounds, a familiar silhouette came into view. Rosinante quickened his pace toward her, relief rising in his chest — and then he stopped.
He muttered under his breath.
“What on earth are those two doing here…?”
The displeasure in his voice was unmistakable.
He picked up his pace again.
“Miss Riersha. There you are. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Oh! Rosinante!!”
Riersha shot to her feet from her chair.
She had been waiting patiently, sustained by nothing but her faith that Pernoa would handle things inside Knoum Forest. That faith had not been broken — he had sent his man here to find her.
The worry that had clouded her face softened considerably.
“Mm, I’m not hurt anywhere.”
“That’s a relief. Truly.”
“…Mm. But what happened in the forest?”
“I’ll explain on the way back. …Though first — who are these individuals?”
Rosinante turned to look at the two boys flanking Riersha as though only now noticing them, his expression perfectly neutral. Prince Isierd on one side was already enough — but there was also some slick-looking boy clinging to her other side like a barnacle.
“My name is Yuta. I’m with the Willias family.”
Rosinante’s eyes moved over the boy called Yuta in a swift, thorough sweep, his smile touching only his lips. Yuta shifted awkwardly under the scrutiny, looking a little nervous.
“Might I ask why both of you are here? Prince Isierd, in particular — shouldn’t you have evacuated to the imperial palace some time ago?”
“The transfer gate broke down, apparently.”
Riersha answered on his behalf, and the cool expression in Rosinante’s eyes warmed slightly.
“I see.”
With that, he turned his back completely on both boys, as if he had no further business with them.
“The young lord is asking for you urgently, Miss Riersha.”
“For me?”
“Yes. He asked that I relay this to you the moment I found you.”
What could Pernoa have to say that was so urgent he would send someone all the way here?
Riersha tilted her head in confusion. Rosinante answered with an expression of absolute seriousness.
“His instructions are for you to raise a barrier over the entirety of Knoum Forest, Miss Riersha.”
⁂
Inside Knoum Forest.
Johannes was using his ability to track where the magical beasts had disappeared to, tracing their movements one by one. Milia had already mapped out the forest’s full terrain, but that alone wasn’t enough.
The beasts were growing at a far faster rate than anticipated, and their speed was increasing accordingly.
If things continued like this, the worst case scenario was becoming very real.
The beasts might actually break out of the forest.
Fortunately, most of the nobles who had entered had brought their own escort knights, so there wasn’t too much cause for alarm on that front. Imperial knights were also stationed throughout the forest.
“You still haven’t managed to locate where the beasts went?! …The imperial family trusted the Arachrene house with this. This is disgraceful. Truly disgraceful.”
“Watch what you say. How is it our fault the magic formation malfunctioned?”
Johannes cast a weary sidelong glance at the two people bickering beside him.
The man who had barged into the forest had introduced himself as the commander of the Imperial First Knight Order. And the things coming out of his mouth had been nothing short of absurd.
“Effective immediately, I will be assuming command of this forest on behalf of the Imperial Knight Order.”
He had to have known that everything occurring in this forest fell under Pernoa’s jurisdiction — and yet he had said it with a perfectly straight face. Then he had proceeded to meddle in everything.
“Where exactly have the beasts disappeared to?”
“…We’re tracking them now. We’ve already captured eight, so it should be resolved shortly.”
“How does a beast even escape the formation in the first place? …Was the formation deliberately made weak?”
“Excuse me?”
That last question, from Imperial Knight Commander Bahamut, finally pushed Milia’s patience past its limit. Her brow snapped together in irritation.
She already had more than enough to deal with without this.
How does someone this useless end up with this much authority?
She shot Johannes a look that plainly said: do something.
Johannes, who had been standing off to the side doing an admirable impression of a disinterested bystander, exhaled heavily.
He stepped forward in Milia’s place. Bahamut flinched and took a step back.
Unlike Milia, who was shorter than him —
Why is this man so tall?
Johannes had a dark, pallid complexion and a broad build that inspired unease without any effort on his part.
Johannes spoke quietly.
“A full report will reach the Imperial Knight Order once the matter is resolved. Please wait until then.”
“That’s not what I’m asking about.”
“Then what are you asking?”
“I’m asking where the young lord of Arachrene is, and why it’s only subordinates like you who’ve been left in this forest.”
“…”
“All that reputation, and the Arachrene house turns out to be no different from any other noble family.”
Bahamut muttered it just under his breath. Then he threw out the one question that would silence both of them.
“And if the beasts reach the civilian settlements and cause damage — what then?”
“…That’s—”
“If there are casualties in the settlements, how do you intend to take responsibility?! The newspapers will have an absolute field day. Don’t you know how sensitive important people are about their public image?”
That was, in truth, the real reason Bahamut had come to the forest himself.
If this incident leaked out and ended up in the imperial papers —
The incompetence of the Imperial Knight Order would inevitably come under the spotlight as well.
That, above all else, had to be prevented.
Because my name will definitely be mentioned.
Which meant the story of how Bahamut had been installed as knight commander through connections and not merit would spread across the entire empire — and there would be no escaping the family’s humiliation.
No matter what, I have to pin this entirely on the incompetence of the Arachrene house.
To do that, he needed command of the forest right now.
The framing writes itself: I gave the correct orders, but the Arachrene house’s incompetence made it impossible to prevent the disaster.
And realistically, it was only a matter of time before the beasts reached the settlements.
Bahamut was just beginning to smirk when Johannes’s expression sharpened, his eyes cutting straight through every one of those calculations.
“It sounds as though you intend to place all the blame on the Arachrene family. Am I correct?”
“Well. I haven’t said anything of the sort. Besides, that’s for the world to judge, isn’t it?”
Bahamut shrugged with magnificent shamelessness.
That was when Johannes let out a quiet, almost amused exhale and looked up at the sky.
“I’m afraid that won’t be happening.”
“…What?”
“It seems our young lady will be putting a stop to all of this.”
“What do you mean by—”
Bahamut trailed off, genuinely baffled.
Johannes pointed upward, as if to say: see for yourself.
Bahamut followed the gesture and lifted his head.
His eyes went wide.
“What is… is this a barrier?”
“Yes, it is.”
Milia let out a loud cheer and nodded vigorously.
Right on time, Riersha had deployed her ability across the entire forest.
With one crisis averted, Milia snapped her gaze back to Bahamut, her expression turning sharp and unforgiving.
“Now then — I trust the Imperial Knight Order will see to clearing the beasts in their assigned sectors.”
“…!”
“Surely a knight commander isn’t going to tell me he can’t handle a few magical beasts?”
The color drained entirely from Bahamut’s face.
