Author: Himezaki Shiu	Original Source: Syosetu
Translator: Jiro	English Source: Re:Library

Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

“Having said that, it seemed that even the heroes themselves understood the importance of spirits. Which is also why they’d instructed the people to free you.”

“It’s exactly as the Ancient Dragon said.”

“Yes. They likely wanted to borrow the spirits’ powers to stabilize the kingdoms and then take care of things themselves. Even if this took some years, it wouldn’t seem like much to an Ancient Dragon.”

In the end, the nation-building process turned out to be more complicated than they had expected. But even so, they’d done a good job despite not being professionals.

“One of the heroes’ miscalculations was their inability to stabilize six countries during their lifetime. But you can’t blame them for that, given that the Nigel Kingdom was going against them. So the world, having lost its deterrence, did not release the spirits but continued to use their power.”

“I see…”

“At first, there were talks to let you go. However, those who had grown used to depending on the spirits kept delaying it. They justified it with excuses like, ‘It’s still fine,’ ‘Just a little longer,’ or ‘Only for this generation.’ and so on.”

I found that very human of them, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but think how miserable the spirits must have felt. No wonder Lullus wore such a frightening expression.

“Would you like to ask anything else? Before you do, I’m just letting you know that I don’t know if I can answer any more than this.”
“No, it’s alright. Thank you very much.”
“So, shall we move?”
“Where are we going?”
“Nigel, or so I’d like. We’re first going to take a look at the state of Fraus. I doubt we’ll meet the heroes, but I want to see how the kingdom is faring and maybe meet the princess.”

I didn’t particularly have any plans about meeting the princess, but I was at least curious about what she might be thinking now that the world was on the verge of collapse.

◇◇◇

The royal capital of Fraus, which I hadn’t visited in a long time, felt oddly restless. On the surface, life appeared normal, but beneath it all, it was like something was happening behind the scenes, something shady. There was a crack in the earth, even if it was at the outskirts of the capital, so I supposed that kind of tension was inevitable.

Part of the wall had collapsed because of it, after all. But what truly made me happy, personally, was that the barrier surrounding the noble sector had vanished.

The real reason for the city’s anxious atmosphere seemed to stem from a growing distrust of the royal family. Apparently, the last natural disaster was believed to have happened because the royals disobeyed God.

Under normal circumstances, anyone saying such a thing would’ve been mocked as a fool, or worse, executed for blasphemy if a soldier heard it. But lately, things have started to change. Crops had become less abundant and lost their taste. The forests had grown barren. The rivers were now polluted. People had begun to sense that something was deeply wrong.

And then came that disaster. Amid the chaos, it wouldn’t take much for someone to point a finger at the royal family and for others to follow suit. Of course, there was no hard evidence.

But that’s when the bloody sword appeared. The blood had long since dried, but the horror brought about by the blade was still palpable. It had been discovered in a village that had once been wiped out by the demon tribe.

Although it was just a common sword, it was the kind typically used by humans and Beastmen; it was rare for the Demons to wield something like that. A sword of the same make was even sold in the royal capital of Fraus. So the rumors started. The royal family must be responsible.

The current disaster had to be their fault. There was no proof, of course, but if people could be made to believe it, that was victory enough. It reminded me of scenes I’d often seen in Japan.

“Then again, Fraus was very careless dropping that bloody sword there.”
“You’re joking, aren’t you?” Lullus asked.
“Of course I am. I made it because I thought it would be something I could use, but I never thought it’d produce such an outcome. Did you see the square? It was being displayed as the sword that had killed innocent people.”
“I think it’s in bad taste, but… seems to be effective.”

It had all happened recently, after all. When you came face-to-face with something like that, something beyond what words could explain, you could really feel it. I know I did. If someone showed you a bloody sword and made you think you were next, there’s no way you could ignore it.

“Now that we know what the town looks like, let’s head to the royal castle. If the princess were here, I’m sure she would’ve noticed all this activity and come up with a way to handle it.”
“You have a point.”

Even so, I couldn’t shake the feeling that if the princess had actually been here, she would’ve taken action long before things got this bad. From what I’d heard, the story had spread at an alarming pace over just the past few days.

◇◇◇

When I entered the royal castle, I found out the princess wasn’t there. Apparently, she had gone to the frontlines to raise the army’s morale¹, which had likely taken a hit after the recent disaster.

It seemed she was quite popular; her presence would lift spirits. Though if you asked me, the morale of the heroes was probably already down the drain.

Mostly because Takuma had died. Honestly, it felt right. He’d been under some strange kind of magic, and if that caused rapid growth, it wouldn’t be surprising if it pushed him right into the death zone.

Speaking of Takuma, he had been the first one to bully me, yet I hadn’t cared about it. But hearing about his death now felt oddly good. Somewhat refreshing, even.

I’d heard that Takuma’s death caused chaos among the others; Ichinari, for example, had started marching like a maniac. I wondered what was going on. Ichinari had always seemed like he was teetering on the edge mentally. Maybe he finally snapped. Or maybe he was just trying to stay sane by tearing through his enemies.

That said, Topersion wasn’t around, the castle was chaotic, and many of the people inside clearly didn’t know how the castle town was laid out. As for those who did, their focus was entirely on one thing, how to get out and escape.

And the ones who knew how to escape were the lower-ranked individuals, those who regularly traveled between the castle and the town.

The rest were people who seemed to understand how the castle town functioned and were making good use of that knowledge. I had a feeling they were following someone’s lead, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint who it was. Honestly, I hadn’t planned on going to see him. But for some reason, he had become a central figure in all of this, so I figured maybe I should.

My former classmate, that is.

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