What had just happened?
That was the first thing Rei felt as he stared at the scene before him.
No, he understood what had occurred. Cabajid had taken responsibility for this civil strife with his own life.
But...
(What did Cabajid just say?)
Looking at Cabajid’s slumped figure on the ground—or more accurately, replaying the words that had leaked from his lips—Rei muttered to himself in a mental daze.
Rei found himself unable to move as he watched the people nearby rush toward Cabajid.
"Takato Castle Ruins Park." Those were the words Cabajid had uttered the moment he plunged the tip of that visibly poisonous purple dagger into his own abdomen.
Rei knew that name.
However, it wasn't a term he had learned in this world. It was a name Rei had seen on TV back when he was still in Japan.
It was famous as one of the premier spots in Japan for viewing cherry blossoms.
Because the blossoms there were so incredibly beautiful, the name of the place—Takato Castle Ruins Park in Nagano Prefecture—had been burned into Rei's memory.
Furthermore, cherry blossoms did not exist in this world.
Or rather, perhaps they did somewhere, but Rei had lived in Elgin for nearly two years and had never once seen a cherry tree.
Which meant...
"His Highness Cabajid! Why would you do this?! Quickly, is there no one here who can use recovery magic?!"
"No! His wounds are severe, but look at his symptoms—this isn't just an injury, it's poison! This dagger was laced with a lethal toxin!"
"Poison?! Then wait, I have a detoxification potion! Use this!"
"Thank you! ...Dammit, it’s not working! The toxin is so powerful even a high-grade potion won't touch it!"
"Curse it, where is the recovery mage?!"
"I'm... I'm here!"
"Good! Please, save His Highness Cabajid!"
The man in his thirties who came running toward Cabajid was famous for his usually mild-mannered personality.
Now, however, his gentle face was tight with grim determination as he reached out toward the collapsed prince and chanted an incantation.
"O Light, heal this man's wounds and grant him thy great mercy."
A white light emitted from the man's staff and touched Cabajid's wound.
"Light Healing."
The magic activated the moment the spell was completed.
But...
"No... how can this be..."
The wound on the abdomen of the already unconscious Cabajid certainly closed under the influence of the recovery magic.
However, in the very next instant, the exact same wound manifested again.
It was as if time itself were being rewound to the moment the injury occurred.
"What on earth is happening?!"
A noble watching the scene grabbed the man who had cast the magic.
Seeing the wound heal for a fleeting second only for it to revert to its original state as if nothing had happened likely pushed the noble into a state of panic.
Yet the recovery mage was equally unable to comprehend why this was happening.
Stationed at the Subjugation Army's Main Camp, this mage's skill was undeniably first-rate.
He was proficient enough that he could reattach a severed limb, provided the injury was fresh. If allowed to use rare materials, he could even regrow a lost hand or leg from scratch.
He was undoubtedly one of the top five recovery magic experts in the entire Bestia Empire.
For someone of his caliber to be unable to heal a mere stab wound to the abdomen was unthinkable.
Searching for a reason, his gaze fell upon the purple-bladed dagger lying on the ground.
Since there was nothing wrong with his own technique, this was the only possible explanation.
"It seems this dagger possesses an additional effect beyond the poison... most likely, a property that inhibits treatment."
The moment he muttered those words, a stir of horror ran through the crowd.
If the blade truly possessed a property that blocked healing, there was nothing they could do here.
With sophisticated facilities or rare specialized magic items, they might have stood a chance, but this was a battlefield, not a laboratory or a clinic.
Under these conditions, they were powerless.
Furthermore, the toxin ravaging Cabajid’s body was exceptionally potent...
"It’s no use."
The man who had been trying to prolong Cabajid's life with recovery magic silently shook his head.
Anyone present understood exactly what that gesture meant.
Namely... that the Flame of Life of the Bestia Empire's First Prince, Cabajid, had been extinguished.
"No... Big Brother Cabajid, why?! Why would you do this?!"
Schuls screamed, slamming his fist into the earth.
Schuls had always felt a sense of enigma—an inscrutable quality—emanating from Cabajid.
But even so, they were brothers of the same blood, and they had come this far together as the heads of the Subjugation Army.
The shock of such a person throwing away his life so easily was immense, and to Schuls's own surprise, tears began to stream down his face.
"Big Brother Cabajid..."
It wasn't just Schuls; Vihera felt a similar weight.
However, perhaps because she recognized that Cabajid’s life would likely have been forfeit anyway after losing such a massive civil strife, or perhaps because the sense of enigma she felt from him was even stronger than what Schuls had perceived, Vihera did not feel profound sorrow.
Even so, the fact remained that they were blood relatives, and she shook her head slightly.
"Lady Vihera, in any case, the fighting will not end unless you declare that His Highness Cabajid took responsibility for the defeat with his own life... and that this internal strife has concluded in our victory."
"...You're right. It’s a tragedy, but this is war. Big Brother Schuls."
At Vihera's call, Schuls, who had been crouching on the ground, stood up.
After casting one final glance at Cabajid's corpse, he turned his gaze toward the nearby nobles.
"The war is over. Inform every front of our defeat and order all units still engaged to cease combat immediately. Also, prepare to offer our formal surrender to Mercurio."
"Yes, sir!"
At Schuls's command, several nobles replied swiftly and moved into action.
While some nobles of the First Prince Faction remained in a daze, unable to accept that their lord was dead, most were already moving to carry out Schuls's orders.
The First Prince Faction had always attracted capable nobles. For that reason, once they set themselves in motion, their response was rapid.
While these exchanges took place on the Subjugation Army's side, movements began on the Mercurio Army's side as well.
Vihera ordered Tilleul to send messengers to each front to inform them of the surrender and bring the fighting to a close.
And then...
"Rei, can I have a word?"
Rei, who had been standing in a daze, returned to reality at Vihera's voice and nodded.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Could you go to our Main Camp and act as a messenger to tell them of our victory? I've sent runners to stop the local fighting, but we need the Main Camp to issue a formal ceasefire order to the entire army. Besides, from here, there are sectors where it would be faster to send orders directly from the Main Camp than for me to reach them from here."
"...I see, that makes sense. I'll head over there right away."
"Yes, please. ...Rei, is something wrong?"
Even during their brief exchange, she must have realized that something was slightly off with Rei’s demeanor. Vihera asked with genuine concern, but Rei shook his head to signal that it was nothing.
"If we're sending a ceasefire messenger, the sooner the better, right? Well, I'm heading out first."
Leaving only those words behind, Rei straddled Seto's back and took to the sky without waiting for Vihera's reply.
Right now, he simply wanted time to think. With that thought in mind, Rei flew through the air, feeling only a small pang of guilt toward Vihera.
"Guruuu?"
Rei stroked the neck of Seto, who had turned its head back with a worried look.
"It's nothing, don't worry. For now, just take us to the Main Camp."
"Guruuuuuuu!"
At Rei’s words, Seto let out a loud cry that echoed across the plains and surged forward through the sky.
Seeing the Gryphon overhead, the soldiers still fighting on the ground paused for a moment; it was worth noting that combat temporarily ceased purely at the sight of them.
(What Cabajid said was clearly a reference to a famous cherry blossom spot in Japan. Does that mean Cabajid was originally Japanese? At the very least, there's definitely a connection. Did he transmigrate to Elgin for some reason, just like Takumu Suzunose, the Arithmetician of the Zephyle Clan? ...No, that doesn't fit.)
Rei immediately rejected the first thought that came to mind.
Cabajid's appearance was that of a handsome man perfectly befitting imperial royalty.
At the very least, he did not look Japanese.
More importantly, Cabajid was a prince of the Bestia Empire. That meant he was the biological son of Emperor Trajist.
As such, it was obvious that he wasn't in this world in the same manner as Takumu Suzunose.
(Then, is he like me? But by whose hand? In my case, Zephyle caught my soul just as I had died in my old world, all for the sake of his Beast Magic.)
Thinking that far, Rei suddenly realized he hadn't let Seto eat any Magic Stones lately.
Specifically, Magic Stones from unknown monsters that would allow the Gryphon to learn new skills.
(No, stay focused. It's not about that; it's about Cabajid. If a soul from Japan crossed over to Elgin and possessed the body of the First Prince... if he went through a process similar to how I possessed this body, then it would explain the words. But then, why would he choose death? If he came to this world the same way I did, he must have died at least once already. If so, you'd think he would want to live...)
While Rei puzzled over the mystery, Seto flapped its powerful wings and cut through the air.
As a Gryphon, Seto's travel speed far surpassed even that of a Wyvern. They arrived at the Mercurio Army Main Camp from the Subjugation Army's lines in no time at all.
"Guruu?"
Snapped out of his thoughts by Seto's cry, Rei hurriedly looked down at the ground.
Below, he could see numerous soldiers shielding their eyes and looking up at the sky from the Mercurio Army Main Camp.
"Seto, descend."
"Guruuuuuuu!"
Seto gave a short cry in response, banked its wings, and glided down toward the earth.
The soldiers on the ground tensed for a moment at the sight of the beast, but they quickly relaxed.
Even knowing it was Seto in the sky, the instinctive fear of a Gryphon was hard to shake.
...Of course, once they confirmed it was definitely Seto, many of them were eager to dote on it.
"Captain Rei, good work out there."
"Yeah. I have an urgent report. Please tell Theoreme and Mercurio I've arrived."
"Yes, sir!"
Watching one of the soldiers run off, Rei lightly patted Seto's back.
Seto understood what Rei wanted with just that small gesture. It moved to a spot where it wouldn't be in the way and lay down.
As Seto closed its eyes and began to purr, several nearby soldiers watched with visible affection.
Gazing at the familiar sight, Rei's mind drifted back to his earlier questions.
(The reason Cabajid wanted to die. The most likely reason... was he unable to adapt to this world, which is incomparably more inconvenient than life in Japan? I could understand that if he were born as a commoner, but Cabajid was royalty. With the use of Magic Items, his quality of life could have been equal to—or even better than—Japan.)
Unlike Rei, who had been dropped into Elgin without any backing, Cabajid would have suffered almost no physical inconveniences in his daily life.
(Then again, coming from Japan, maybe he found the rigid, managed life of a royal to be suffocating... could it be that?)
Even for Rei, who had lived as an ordinary commoner in Japan, if he were asked if he wanted to live with every single second of his life managed and scrutinized, he would likely decline.
Eating when he liked, taking whatever requests he liked, and sleeping when he liked.
The lifestyle of an adventurer had already become an inseparable part of Rei’s identity.
(But even so, would that drive a person to seek death? It feels like a weak motive.)
Rei stared at the ground, trapped in a state of being half-convinced but half-unsatisfied, when he suddenly sensed someone approaching.
He looked up and saw the soldier from earlier returning.
"Lord Rei, His Highness Mercurio will see you now. This way, please."
"Understood."
Exchanging brief words, Rei headed toward the command tent.
Inside were the familiar faces: Mercurio, the figurehead of the army; Theoreme, the man who practically ran the rebellion; and Siance, his loyal lieutenant. There were also several other nobles present.
The reason there were so few nobles currently in the tent was likely because most were still leading their troops on the battlefield.
"So, Rei. What is your report? Since you, our most vital combat asset, have come all this way, I assume there is a significant reason?"
Rei nodded at Theoreme’s question and began to speak.
"The Subjugation Army has offered an unconditional surrender. Furthermore, the First Prince Cabajid has committed suicide, stating that he is taking responsibility with his own life. We tried to save him, but..."
The sight of Rei silently shaking his head told them everything they needed to know. The effort had been in vain.