Perhaps it's because the fortress of Garouamalia is built of stone, but the air feels very cold.

　Even though I was just sitting still in the room, the cold air still stung my cheeks. I sucked the chilled air into my lungs and let it out into the air in a big sigh. A white mist appeared and then slowly disappeared.

　I can't do this. I've reached my limit. I can't stay in this room.

　I wish I had some ale to warm me up, but the china on the table doesn't give me a drop of moisture when I turn it upside down. How long am I to be confined in this room where all I can give is cold air?

　At first, it was Largd-Anne, one of Saint Mattia's hands, who made that strange suggestion.

　--Hero, could you please stay in your room for a while?

　I'm not sure what to say, but I'm sure you'll understand.

　The fact that I ran away from Garou Amalia without telling anyone during the fall of the mercenary city of Belle Fain caused a certain amount of commotion. Of course, I don't know the details of the incident itself, but I've heard that even Mattia's expression changed. In Belle Fain, I didn't see such an expression on her face.

　Anne said that she didn't want anyone else to try to do the same thing.

　It doesn't matter what kind of lawlessness you do, as long as you do it well. If that happens, of course, there will be no organization. The end result will be that the organization will be eaten up somewhere. As I have never been a member of any organization, I am not familiar with this feeling.

　That's why they want me to take the form of a house arrest. It's not that I have anything to do. I nodded my head lightly, thinking that the request to stay in my room would not be a big problem, although it would be a tight squeeze. Perhaps that was a mistake.

　I didn't think I'd be able to get enough alcohol. Of course, in the name of house arrest, I couldn't give him alcohol easily. But at least allow me to chew tobacco.

　As I slumped my shoulders again and let out a breath, a white mist twisted in the air. Maybe I should just go to sleep. I'm sure the time will pass more quickly that way. Just as I was thinking this, I heard the sound of a knock at the door.

Hero, may I have a moment of your time?

　At the same time as the sound, a voice was heard in the room. Just by the way he called out, I could guess who the person standing in front of the door was. In this vast world, there is only one person who would call me a hero.

"Yes, of course. It would be great if you could bring me a bottle of wine or ale if you can.

　The door creaked as it opened. At the other end of the door was Largd-Anne.

　The tone of the voice itself is the same as usual, but the dark circles under the eyes indicate that the body has been put under a lot of strain.

　I see that, as usual, there is no increase in the number of people who can perform political duties.

　There are only a few people who can run an organization in a heraldic religion that respects knowledge. I've heard that Anne, as Mattia's single hand, is burdened with more political duties than you can imagine for someone of her small stature.

　Her eyes narrowed. I felt a little bit of a bad feeling running through my fingers. I wondered why she, who must be carrying such a heavy responsibility, would take the trouble to visit me, who was under house arrest.

　If she wanted to get rid of her house arrest or to make sure I hadn't escaped, she could just send any soldier she could find. But why?

I'm afraid I don't have any alcohol for you, hero. But I do have a souvenir for you.

　But Anne didn't have any in her hand. Her lips and cheeks contorted, her eyebrows turned up. She stroked her chin with her fingertips, prompting Anne to continue.

The High Priestess has moved her fingertips. In the Kingdom of the Garleist, the mobilization of troops is proceeding at a feverish pace in this cold weather.

　My heart palpitated at the words Ann had just spoken. I felt as if my blood, which had been buried in the cold air and had not even tried to move, had suddenly awakened.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, they're insane. Of all times, at a time when I can't even sleep well without a drink?

　Anne replied. She bites the edge of her lip and narrows her eyes.

　It's early. Much sooner than I had imagined. I thought the Daishonin would start preparing his troops when they could at least feel a little more warmth in their hands.

　It is very difficult and expensive to march in the cold season, especially when the earth is covered with white. You will need warm clothes to keep yourself warm, and you will run out of alcohol much faster than in normal times. If you run out of those, there is no way that the morale of the swordsmen and mercenaries gathered for the war will last, let alone the well-trained elite. Moreover, if they were slowed down by the snow, they would eat up their rations in vain.

　Of course, it is not that there have been no cases of marching into the cold season. But even so, it is certainly not the time to fight.

I'm sure you're not the only one who has a problem with this. "Hero...

"Okay, I don't know what I can do, but should I go with you?

　I'm not sure what I can do, but I'll go with you." The way Anne was ending her sentence made me realize that I was also feeling impatient. I felt as if my organs were twisting themselves.

　However, if this was the case, I could understand why Ann was acting as her own messenger.

　Most people would not be calm if they heard that the Great Patriarch is preparing to cut off their own heads. If the information were to spread, it would certainly cause unnecessary confusion. Of course, it is the same for me that I cannot remain calm.

　After all, the heraldic religion was once defeated by the Great Saints and its roots have been stopped.

　Thus, the saint Mattia ended her life using the underground temple as her coffin. That is the truth of what happened and the inevitable end.



　I bit down on my back teeth. I felt my cold fingertips heat up slightly.

　No. Not that, not that. I don't want to follow the same line of history as before. If the heraldry accepts the same cruel end, even if the process is different, then it's no wonder I've met the same end, even if the process is different.

　It is not strange to return to the end of the journey where you did not gain any of that dignity, power, or even your loved ones. Oh, I'll not have that, I'll not have that, no matter what. I don't care if you call me low. I don't care if you mock me as a dwarf.

　But I don't ever want to go back to the time when I gave up everything with nothing in my hands. That's my honest, untrue feeling. Words from the depths of my heart. Sobs of the soul.

　If the existence of heraldry follows the same path as before, I will surely be bound to something again. I had such a premonition somewhere in my mind.

　Hanging the treasured sword at my waist, I prepared to leave the room. Just as I was preparing to leave the room, I heard Ann's voice shaking in my ears again.

"Sir Hero, no, Master Lugis. You do not need to attend the meeting.

　It was not the usual voice that echoed around the room. It was a voice with a low pitch that seemed to be crawling on the ground. It was Anne's voice, or at least it was a voice I didn't remember hearing.