The princess screamed in horror as she realized the gravity of this information.
She has heard of the brutality of the extremists among the church.
With their many followers and specialized soldiers, they would sometimes even interfere in politics.
If Earthgant, who was the only one antagonistic toward them, were to weaken while they were showing signs of executing a plan, there would be no one to stop them.
“However, what can you even do about this situation? How will you take responsibility for it? How will you solve it?”
The boy dared them to answer if they could, but he held no expectations.
“…I-Isn’t there something we can do, Princess?” Kite asked.
For the first time, this hero, who never listened to her, was asking her for help, but alas, she had no such solution to this problem.
This wasn’t Earthgant but a foreign country that they had barely any relationship with.
Not to mention, there were even more countries along the border.
Earthgant might have been a powerful nation that could be argued to be the top, but this far exceeded what power they had to interfere.
“I’ll do anything!”
“Isn’t there some method!?”
If they made everything public, they might be able to interfere by taking responsibility.
But then neither they nor Earthgant would be able to avoid criticism.
Who knew how that would affect the balance of power among the nations of this continent?
Steer the wrong course, and they may very well end up causing casualties on a continental scale just to protect this city.
Some countries might also become more ambitious as the major powers weaken.
Merchant houses that lose their connection to some countries might go under, and their workers might find themselves on the street.
Moreover, she was only the second princess, so she could neither steer the ship herself nor take responsibility.
In the worst case, she might even be executed before she could see the full consequences of her actions.
Should they abandon this town then?
This town that would conveniently be made to pay for their selfishness?
But even if no one else knew, this overwhelmingly powerful man knew the truth.
There was no way she could abandon it. If she was capable of something like that, then she would have never gone out on a trip in the first place.
After all, all she needed to do to renounce her rights to the throne was to commit a grave enough crime that the kingdom could not protect her.
It was because she could not choose such a cruel path that she left.
She could not abandon it. She did not want to abandon it. She was helpless.
But there was a way to protect the city temporarily.
If they were to stay here, they could protect against some of the horde of monster beasts and monsters that would attack.
The neighboring countries also won’t be able to attack while the princess of a major power is around. But even that could only last for so long.
They could stay they were just here on a trip, but if they were to stay too long, suspicion was bound to fall on them.
There would be no point in hiding this matter if they were to be associated with the disappearance of the Tenkorius.
How could they protect this city without revealing their crime?
The monsters, the neighboring nations, the people of Lillisto, the church, the world…
Solving any one of those problems would neglect the others.
They could not reveal the truth, they could not take responsibility for their sins, they could not solve the problem, and they could not think of a solution.
“Hey, princess! Isn’t there some kind of—”
“Shut up! I don’t know! I don’t know anything!!!”
Kite sincerely pleaded, but she responded as though she were throwing a tantrum.
However, of the people here, she was the one who looked like she wanted to cry the most.
She had learned the knowledge and decency of the royalty half-heartedly, so she couldn’t do anything.
Taking responsibility for this would just cause more problems.
She couldn’t make public anything. In fact, she couldn’t even apologize. Or rather, she shouldn’t apologize.
For doing so might satisfy her, but it would ultimately lead to everyone suffering.
The problem could even become global. How could she decide?
This was a problem far beyond her capabilities.
So of course, she had no idea what to do.
“How could it turn out like this!? All I wanted was to make my older sister the next king!”
That’s why she resisted as much as she could, but they stopped her from doing even that, so she ran away.
Alas, the fruit of her efforts to keep herself from being chosen was this.
“Hmph, so you were thinking for your country, people, family? What a noble thing you are then, but you know…”
“Ah.”
The boy pulled on her face and forced her to face him.
He wore an unnaturally tranquil expression, and his eyes seemed void of temperature.
Considering his claims until now, it wouldn’t be strange if he were angry at her.
But he held no expectations for her and so held no anger or compassion or hate.
There was no way to tell what he was thinking or how he felt or what he was going to do to her, and that sent chills down her back.
With a voice void of hate or temperature, he spoke to her, a woman who has lost completely as a mage and abused thoroughly as a princess.
“Know your place───bug with nothing but maggots in her brain. Don’t try and act like a person.”
In the end, he even denied her of her humanity.
Her eyes opened wide in surprise, but beyond that, she broke in mind and body.
She understood what he meant and could not deny nor accept his accusations.
All strength left her body, and even the light in her green eyes left.
If not for the boy holding her up by her hair, she would have likely collapsed limply too.
From how she repeatedly apologized with unfocused eyes, without a doubt, the princess was already a broken doll.
“Y-You don’t have to talk to her like that! The princess just wanted to make her older sister the king! There’s no need to call her a bug!”
Unable to stand that, Kite protested despite trembling from the sins he’s committed.
However, all he got in response was a calm voice of condemnation.
“But she is a bug… She can’t take responsibility for her offense or clean up her own mess. All she can do is cling to someone else who can fix the problem. What else do you call that?”
The boy said with contemptuous glare that made him tremble.
“A worm like this isn’t even worth crushing.”
Then the boy threw her away.
Kite was speechless.
The boy’s words cut him like a knife, and his frightened heart struggled to find strength.
“Listen well, worm. The most prolific murderer in the world is not the evil intention of man but his noble and good intentions. Just like you.”
She was already at the edge of the cliff, but the boy mercilessly pushed her off of it.
All of the events that happened recently flashed through Kite’s mind.
Because of his
“! Ahh, it was me, I!”
What was done was done. Now, he had to carry the sins and face all the problems he caused.
The actions he took because of the goodness of his heart now tormented him.
And it was all he could do to cry out in grief.
“Ahh, princess…” Kite said.
“…Kite-sama,” Lilisha said.
“I’m… Sorry…”
The boy had broken their master, and the hero now suffered because of a sin he committed because they let him run loose.
But all of this only happened because the maids underestimated everything.
“Hmm… I guess you guys are still fine since you can take the blame.”
For a moment, someone looked at them with envy and muttered that.
Then someone’s blood-stained arms and a pair of triangular ears responded.
“!?”
“Huh?”
“This presence!”
The expression on the maids simultaneously changed.
As expected of people who worked as royal guards.
Regardless of their present state, their brain reflexively prioritized their job as a royal guard.
“So he finally came…”
Was this the boy’s goal from the start?
The boy and the maids looked in the same direction.
A dense mass of presence approached from the foot of the mountain.
They were neither people nor monster beasts. They possessed too little life for that.
At the same time, there was also a presence clad in evil ki that made the maids grow tense.
“…I’ve just about finished warming up, so it was about time.”
But the unusual crescent moon smile near them made them unable to move.
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