The boy, Rigon, woke up late in the evening after half a day had passed.
“Ummm… Sister?”
After crying for a long time even during the day, when his younger brother woke up, she burst into tears again.
As soon as he got up with a puzzled face, he hugged her and comforted her.
Reef explained to him, who had no memory of what occurred, what had happened at the stadium.
His expression distorted, then his eyes widened as if in surprise, and after hearing all the explanations with various expressions on his face, the first thing he did was to thank me.
“Thank you. That, uh…”
“It’s Ron.”
“Oh, Sir Ron. Thank you so much for saving my sister and I. I, really…”
Rigon, who was trying to get out of bed, staggered like he was dizzy, and then collapsed back down.
“Don’t move. Lay back quickly.”
Reef hurriedly laid him back.
“It’s still a long way before your body returned to normal. It’s not just because of how you rampaged earlier, but your body was already in a debilitating state from the beginning.”
Gulpiro clicked his tongue and said with help.
“I used the most effective potion out of all the things in my hand, even so, for the time being, don’t move and take it easy.”
“Yes, I am also very grateful to Mr. Pleon.”
The situation was cleared up, and the story shifted back to the future direction.
“How do you plan to treat these children?”
At Gulpiro’s question, I looked at the siblings.
First, the situation I was in right now was serious without even thinking about it.
The death of a Lord was a major event that would turn the whole of Calderic upside down, and the person who killed him was not a person from another faction, but the same Lord.
In the in-game setting, there had been only two instances of a Lord dying at the hands of another Lord in Calderic’s history. That’s what I remembered.
And the two Lords who carried out the tragedy were both purged.
One was at the place where all the Lords were gathered because of an emergency call, and the other escaped, but was eventually caught by the Overlord and killed directly by her.
This was also a fork in the road presented to me.
Return to the Seventh Lord’s territory or escape.
But, in fact, I couldn’t choose the latter even if I thought about it.
Because that would be really turning the whole of Calderic into an enemy, one of the four major powers of the continent.
Aside from them tracking me, would I be able to solve the many difficulties ahead of me as planned?
And above all, it’s so irresponsible.
If I escaped like this, the rest of those who were related to me would of course be in big trouble.
Even in the capital of the Seventh Lord’s territory, there was the Alkimas workshop. I was not sure what the Overlord would do to them.
In the end, the only option left was to return to the territory.
If we go back to the territory at this rate, an emergency call would probably be sent immediately.
To convene all Lords by the authority of the Overlord when such a critical situation arose.
And I, too, will have to respond to the call as a half-sinner.
I have no choice but to go.
I didn’t know how things would go in the future. Maybe I would really die.
But there was nothing to think about.
First, I would obey the call and speak with the Overlord.
At least it was best to resolve everything there.
First, I explained to the siblings. Because they needed to know what’s going on.
That I was the Seventh Lord of Calderic, the death of the Sixth Lord, and roughly what would happen next.
Rigon opened his mouth as he listened to the story, probably feeling the scale was too big, and Reef gulped with a stiff face.
“…So you too are moving with me to my territory.”
Even if my situation was precarious right now, it would have been the safest for both of them to be by my side.
I thought about taking them away with Asher, but it would be useless if things went wrong during the emergency call, anyway.
Fortunately, the two of them did not show any resentment or rejection at my words.
“No matter what, I have received a grace that cannot be repaid. Whatever you want, I will gladly follow your word.”
Reef said so, and Rigon agreed.
I stared intently at Rigon.
Anyway, thinking about it again, it was really absurd.
When I first found out her name was Reef, I immediately thought of Refrigon, but I dismissed it as just a coincidence.
But then, it turned out that her younger brother, this innocent-looking boy, was Refrigon…
I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.
In the end, was this the cause of that unknown memory?
To rescue and secure a boy who would fall into the future and become Refrigon.
...Ah, I don’t know. This issue was not something that could be resolved by simply thinking about it.
I shook my head and said to Reef.
“For now, both of you have to eat.”
Not only Rigon but also Reef, who had been awake for a while, ate nothing because she had been watching her brother.
I asked Baros to prepare dinner.
But Reef put aside her portion and tried to feed Rigon with soup first. It was such a terrible sisterly love.
Eventually, after Rigon took the soup bowl and started eating it himself, she also ate her own.
Gulpiro asked, watching me from the table outside the room.
“When are we going to leave?”
“When Rigon’s condition is restored to a certain extent.”
“Then it must be too late… Don’t you have to go home in a hurry?”
I shook my head.
Nothing would change even if I hurried up, so it didn’t matter.
Three days passed like that.
During my stay in the store, I could feel the occasional glances from outside, but that was all.
Meanwhile, Rigon’s condition was restored quickly enough to move on his own.
He was still emaciated, but his complexion improved to the extent that it was incomparable to when he had just woken up.
We have to move soon.
It’s time to return to the Seventh Lord’s territory.
***
Burkhorn, the capital of Enrock.
After a considerable amount of time had passed, the carriage arrived at the castle.
Although I had returned after more than half a year, there was no particular feeling of returning home.
It hadn’t been that long since I stayed here in the first place.
The first person to greet me at the castle gate was Floto, the butler.
He, who had always maintained a good poker face, seemed a little nervous.
Not only that, but the atmosphere of the knights standing in line were also the same, and the reason was obvious.
“Who came to the castle?”
“...Yes, the Knights of the Overlord’s Castle visited just recently.”
It seemed that the news had already reached the Overlord.
There was no reason to think that the response was quick.
I didn’t act in a hurry, and the Overlord must have had enough time to understand the situation.
I also brought Gulpiro and the siblings into the castle.
And I spent my time casually.
Because if I wait, there would be a reaction from the other side soon, so there was nothing I could do.
In the meantime, I could feel the eyes constantly watching me from far away places around the castle.
I didn’t care because it was obvious that it was a watcher sent by the Overlord Castle. I might leave the castle, so they monitored me.
Then after about a half an hour had passed.
Kkiiig!
I got up from my seat and looked out the window at the faint sound in the distance.
Three huge creatures flying towards the castle from the other side of the sky came into view. It was a wyvern.
And the people who were on it…
'They’re here.'
I went out of the room and said to Asher, who was at the door.
“Take the siblings and Gulpiro and wait in the castle. And if you hear bad news, do as I said.”
She looked like she had a lot to say, but then nodded her head with a firm face.
“...All right.”
I left her and went downstairs to the atrium.
The butler immediately approached me in the cool atmosphere outside and spoke to me.
“They said they came to deliver the Overlord’s message.”
Soon after, three people appeared in the hall.
A dwarf, a man wearing a robe, and a knight.
I stood face to face with them and looked at them in turn.
There was a chilly atmosphere in the central hall.
[Lv. 96]
[Lv. 89]
The two were familiar faces.
The First Lord, the Wiseman and chief of staff, Dayphon.
[Lv. 95]
And the knight in black armor standing on the right is probably…
He’s the leader of the Black Star Order.
Their leader, Kradiel.
If the Chief of Staff was the Overlord’s left arm, he was the Overlord’s right arm and the most powerful knight in Calderic.
Unlike the Lords, the Knights of Black Star were loyal to the Overlord and only obeyed her orders.
“The Overlord has declared an emergency call, Seventh Lord.”
The Wiseman, armed with armor and a sword that emits a subtle five-color brilliance, spoke first.
“I don’t think you don’t know the reason, so I’ll start by checking the facts. Are you the Seventh Lord who fought the Sixth Lord in Mahea City and killed him in the end?”
There was no point in denying it, so I nodded my head.
“Yes.”
“Why did you kill the Sixth Lord?
“It doesn’t seem necessary to say that now.”
“Can I take that word as a meaning of obediently complying with the summons?”
The Wiseman asked with sullen eyes. A force field roared like a haze around his armor.
The leader of Black Star also gently squeezed the hand that was on the hilt of the sword.
A chilly yet suffocating tension permeated the hall.
I sat quietly facing them, then opened my mouth.
“Yes.”
If that wasn’t the case in the first place, would I even return here?
And that would have been well known to all three of them.
Then the chief of staff came forward and said:
“I heard that you saved a human brother and sister from Actipol’s gladiator match. If it has anything to do with them….”
“I’m the only one going.”
I cut off the conversation adamantly.
He looked back at Wiseman with a stiff face, and the other nodded.
“Okay. Then we’ll go straight to Overlord Castle.”
Had all the other Lords gathered by now?
I was curious about that, but I didn’t have to ask, because I would find out soon anyway.
I looked at the chief of staff.
Returning to the castle right away, it was obvious that he would use his teleportation skill. As expected, he walked out first.
“Come to my side. I’ll teleport you.”
I walked over to the three of them and stood there.
Soon, with a huge flow of magical power, the surrounding field of vision was distorted.
