‘He’s strong, too.’
How did he manage to climb such a high wall so easily with his bare hands?
[Grrrr.......]
Whitey bared his teeth at the dead man who had reached the top of the wall in the blink of an eye.
As Whitey crouched as though ready to attack at any moment, Ceres stretched out a hand toward the dead man.
[Graa......!]
Flash!
The dead man did not even get the chance to properly swing a hand at Ceres before crumbling into dust and disappearing while still clinging to the wall.
Ceres had used her power to turn back time on the dead man.
[Huh? Ceres?]
Jubelios spotted Ceres and came over in an instant.
Only then did the soldiers atop the wall notice Ceres’s presence, and they could not hide their surprise. Since when had someone been standing there?
More than anything, it was the first time the soldiers had ever seen the terrifying Fire Spirit King approach someone so familiarly.
They had watched the Fire Spirit King in action countless times while guarding the wall, but aside from Herion, the head of his household, they had never once seen him converse with anyone else.
[You idiots! You think an attack like that is going to work?!]
[Get the hell over there right now! You’re in the way, so move!]
...They had often heard him roaring things like that, though.
[What brings you here?]
“Nothing. I was just curious about how things were going.”
Jubelios settled onto Ceres’s shoulder and clicked his tongue as he watched yet another seemingly endless wave of the dead approaching.
“Where’s Herion?”
[She’s busy with a patient who could die at any moment.]
With Herion occupied, Jubelios had come out alone today to deal with the dead.
“You don’t know either, do you? What’s causing all this.”
Ceres asked without taking her eyes off the dead.
[This is the first time I’ve ever encountered anything like it.]
“Hmm.”
She had wondered whether the dead rising and wandering around like this might have something to do with curse magic, but Eliet had said it was a form of magic even he had never seen before.
Apparently, it was not an ordinary curse. No one could accurately determine what was happening.
“Here comes another one.”
[You bastards!]
No sooner had Ceres spoken than Jubelios shot toward the dead again.
As he did, he glanced at the wolf cub nestled in Ceres’s arms.
Why don’t you help a little?
...His gaze seemed to say.
Whip!
Whitey promptly looked away and burrowed even deeper into Ceres’s arms.
[...You insolent little brat.]
Youngsters these days!
Grumbling incessantly to himself, Jubelios vented his frustration by repeatedly hurling enormous flames at the dead.
***
“What about the casualties?”
“Thanks to the help of the head of House Ellesia, the damage has decreased significantly.”
“The Fire Spirit King truly is remarkable.”
A sigh escaped Emperor Debrica as he listened to Crown Prince Aseraian’s report. Perhaps they could finally breathe a little easier now.
Everyone had been unable to lower their guard since the recent incident of the dead awakening.
They still had not even discovered what was causing the dead to rise, while the casualties continued to increase.
People had been horrified to see that those who were attacked and killed by the dead also transformed into the same kind of monsters.
More than anything, everyone was becoming exhausted by a battle with no end in sight.
Still, they were gradually learning the habits and attack patterns of the dead, and the situation was beginning to stabilize to some extent.
On top of that, the Fire Spirit King had been a tremendous help by dealing with the dead every night.
“The Magic Tower says they will soon finish installing the fire magic circles as well.”
Fire was the only known means of destroying the dead, against whom no other attacks seemed to work.
Because of that, Cheion, the Master of the Magic Tower, had been installing fire magic circles throughout the area outside the capital.
They were magic circles designed to automatically erupt into flames whenever the dead approached. Apparently, development had taken some time because they had to be designed so that they would not react at all to living humans or other living creatures.
“Yes. At least that is fortunate.”
Once the magic circles were installed, it seemed the immediate crisis would finally be under control.
Emperor Debrica nodded repeatedly before turning his gaze toward Princess Nailia, who was quietly drinking tea off to one side.
“How are you finding the work at the trading company?”
At his question, Princess Nailia set down her teacup and gave a slight nod.
“It’s fun.”
“...I see.”
A faint smile appeared on Emperor Debrica’s lips at his daughter’s answer. He, too, had clearly noticed how much she had changed recently.
Unlike before, her eyes were unmistakably full of life. The perpetually hollow expression she had worn no matter what she was doing was nowhere to be seen anymore.
‘It must all be thanks to that child.’
He had already heard that Harua, the former Duke of Schweiz, had transferred the capital branch of the Ren Trading Company to Ceres.
The entire Empire had been abuzz over the matter for quite some time, so naturally the Emperor could not have remained unaware of it. There was no one who did not know the value of the Ren Trading Company.
After all, the Ren Trading Company was the most influential commercial organization in the Empire... no, on the entire continent.
People even joked that the Ren Trading Company fed half the people living on the continent.
So when it was revealed that the capital branch of the Empire, which could practically be called the heart of such an organization, had been handed over to a completely unexpected person who was not even related to Harua by blood, no one could hide their astonishment.
‘And what was even more surprising.......’
Ceres had entrusted the management of that branch to Princess Nailia.
When Emperor Debrica first heard about it, he could not hide his bewilderment.
To entrust such an enormous branch to Nailia, a girl who had never received any professional training in business whatsoever.
‘But.......’
His doubts did not last long. Despite this being her first time doing anything of the sort, Nailia was managing the trading company far better than expected, steadily drawing up plans not only for the iron mine she had recently acquired, but also for several other new ventures.
“We’re also planning to begin selling the new medicine developed by House Ellesia soon.”
More than anything, Emperor Debrica was immensely pleased to see such a bright expression on his daughter’s face.
Why had he never thought to ask Nailia what she wanted to do?
“By the way.”
“......?”
“Those strawberries.......”
“.......”
Princess Nailia had been staring at Emperor Debrica, wondering what he was about to say, but the moment the word strawberries left his mouth, she subtly averted her gaze.
“Are there really none left?”
“Yes, I already ate them all.”
Still avoiding his gaze, Princess Nailia answered quickly before adding,
“Brother received some last time too.”
She redirected Emperor Debrica’s burning gaze toward her brother, Crown Prince Aseraian.
“Ha ha, I ate all of mine as well.”
“Hmm. Really?”
“Of course. Why would I lie about something like this?”
At the sight of Crown Prince Aseraian firmly nodding with his eyes curved into a pleasant smile, Emperor Debrica smacked his lips in disappointment.
Not long ago, Princess Nailia had personally brought him some strawberries.
Emperor Debrica had tilted his head at the sight of the tiny plate, not even enough to fill a proper dish, with only a few strawberries on it.
Why had the Princess herself brought something like this instead of having a maid do it?
But the moment Emperor Debrica put a strawberry into his mouth, he emptied the entire plate in no time.
They were the most delicious fruit he had ever tasted.
He had casually asked Ceres about the strawberries when she visited the Imperial Palace recently.......
‘You’ll have to get in line.’
‘Line?’
‘Yes. Too many people have been asking for them lately. The waiting list is pretty long.’
‘.......’
‘Would you like to get in line?’
Naturally, he had said that he would, but his turn had yet to come, so he had not tasted the strawberries again since.
‘Liar.’
Princess Nailia stared at Crown Prince Aseraian in disbelief.
She had seen him ask Brother Cheion to cast preservation magic on the strawberries so he could store them.
He was eating just one a day, rationing them with absurd care, yet he claimed he had eaten them all?
‘You’re hardly in a position to blame me, are you?’
Meeting Princess Nailia’s accusing gaze, Crown Prince Aseraian smiled and stared pointedly back at her.
You had that same preservation magic cast on yours too. I know perfectly well you still have some left in your room.
“.......”
“.......”
The two exchanged glances for a moment before firmly sealing their lips.
They had silently agreed to keep each other’s secret.
Neither of them had any intention of surrendering the few strawberries they had left.
Even if the person trying to take them was their own father, the Emperor.
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