Golden Experience

Ernesto was in a hurry.

A group of Krall ruins located in the southern part of the Kingdom of Paere.

I'm glad I managed to contain it.

Fortunately, I was able to find a shrine (dust) that seems to be the heart of the ruins.

However, the door of the shrine could not be opened in any way.

Almost there.

If only this door could be opened.

That way Ernesto can gain control of everything.

"Still can't open the door!

"Ha, sorry!

I know how the Beasts unleashed the ruins once.

Otherwise, the giant semi-human and semi-beast monsters reported by the Third Knights would not have been born.

Eliza said the same thing. That was a mistake caused by the foolishness of the Beasts.

Even such a foolish beast was able to open the ruins.

There is no reason not to be a better species, the High Elves.

"Your Majesty"

"Mm, did you come up with any good ideas, Eliza?"

"It's not so much a plan, but it's also open to the Beasts. What we need to open this door is not wisdom or ingenuity, but purely physical switches or something.

Maybe there was something like a switch somewhere else in the ruins, and by activating it, we were able to open it up. "

"Well, that makes sense...."

That would convince me that it was opened by stupid beasts. I mean, it's a coincidence.

However, if it is a coincidence, it is difficult to deliberately open it.

As Eliza said, if there is a switch somewhere, it can't be opened unless you know where it is.

We have to rely on coincidences more than we know where they are, but intentionally attempting to do so requires a huge number of attempts. In this case, we are searching the site of the ruins.

"Your Majesty, this area is already entirely under our control. The evicted Knights of the Pairee also retreated north.

And it is the friendly Oral that protects the nearest city. You can say there's no danger around here.

Your Majesty's protection is at the mercy of one Eliza, and the other knights will not be scattered in the search for the door switch. "

That's how I saw Eliza with her chest up.

I don't think I can protect Ernest with this thin arm.

In fact, Ernest seems to be even stronger.

But there is certainly something dangerous, as Eliza says, and there will be no problem without the knights.

And now I don't have a chance to talk to Eliza slowly.

Achieving the goal is also current, and it is not bad to discuss one future thing here.

"All right, all right.

- Knights! Orders! From now on, my guard will be suspended and all knights will be mobilized to explore the ruins! Looking for a switch to open this door or something like that! If you find it, you can report it, so activate it anyway! I've been waiting here forever, so if anything changes in the door, we'll see!

The knights, who at first showed difficulty in leaving their master, Ernesto, also scattered throughout the ruins by repeating their orders over and over.

That way, you won't be disturbed in your conversation with Eliza.

─ ─ Did you go?

"Yes, I hope this finds you."

I see. By the way, Eliza.... "

"Yes, what is it?"

I get nervous when I try to say it.

I've never said anything like this in a serious way.

If it's a joke conversation, I've whispered many times in the castle town hall.

"If you release the power of this ruin... What would you do if I could be king of spirits"

"What do I do? Of course, if His Majesty is able to become the Spirit King, I will still serve His Majesty.... What if you give me some time...?

"No, that's not it! Well, I guess so. Eliza is a high elf."

"Yes, of course."

"Neither do I. That I can be the Spirit King means that even Eliza can do that. Didn't I?"

"I... I don't know if it's actually going to be that time, but maybe it's not possible..."

"As you know, nobles in our country are only allowed to marry nobles in our country. This is because children of high elves are only born from high elves."

"That's right. This seems to be similar in other countries."

"If so, yes. If I were to become a Spirit King, I would also need a Spirit King's spouse to have my son born as a Spirit King."

"... in theory, maybe so."

"It's about you being smart. As you all know, in order to bring true prosperity to the Kingdom of Portree, we need another female Spirit King, or Spirit Queen, to say the least.

I give you this Lady Spirit... "

"Ah! Your Majesty!

Suddenly Eliza threw me out.

Because it was an unexpected event, I put on my buttocks even in bad looks.

I wonder if Eliza was illuminated by what Ernesto had predicted.

Think of it that way, and look at Eliza's face that poked at him, and his face was stained bright red.

However, this is not because it is red.

The red thing on Eliza's face was blood.

It's still a bloodbath.

Blood splashes appeared to be flying from under Eliza's face, and splashes were scattered from bottom to top.

The source of that blood is the chest.

Eliza's chest was stained with blood and turned black ─ ─ No, it wasn't blood that looked black.

Eliza had a hole in her chest.

And from there, a friendly amount of blood was erupting, and Eliza's body and face were dyed red.

"Ila ─ ─ Isa......?

"... hey... ah... Oh, my goodness...."

To that extent, Eliza rang her throat with a plump, watery sound and fell on her back.

"Eliza, ahhh!

Ernest rushed to Eliza, who fell down in a hurry, holding her upper body.

"Eliza, Eliza!

Eliza wasn't breathing anymore.

It must have been because he was struck by a highly penetrating heart attack.

Immediately before this anomaly, Eliza pushed Ernesto.

This meant that Ernest would have received it.

Eliza took it instead and fell.

I remembered when I was told my father was dead.

The next thing I remember, my brother was told he was dead.

And then, a long time ago, when my mother fell.

All the people that Ernest cares about leave Ernest behind.

Why?

What the hell did Ernest do?

And who made Eliza suffer like this?

"─ ─ Yay, I took it off!

"─ ─ What should I do! There's only one!

appeared from the bushes.

Perhaps these are the people who targeted Ernest and took Eliza's life.

Look at that abominable man with a groaning eye.

"I failed the ambush, but I can't help it. Wealth tells us that the King transformed into the Raid Boss, but if this King Sama hadn't been using the ruins to target it, we'd still be able to do something about it!

"Right. Conversely, if you miss now, you'll never get another chance!

"Ugh, let's do it!

"Oops!

There are ten or more thieves coming out of the bushes one after the other.

It is astonishing that this number has sneaked through the knights exploring the ruins and reached this location.

Even if Ernest mobilized the Knights, finding this shrine took a long time.

How did these people find this place?

You think I found this place by accident as a result of avoiding the knights?

Impossible. Such an ambush would not be possible without knowing precisely the detailed map around this site, and the location of this shrine.

No, I don't care about that.

The important thing is that these people have Eliza.

And now he's appearing in front of Ernest.

Surely there are no knights now.

But Ernesto and I are high elves.

I'm not going to be late for those mercenaries.

"─ ─ You guys......! I won't forgive you, I won't forgive you! Whoa whoa whoa whoa!

"Hah... hah... hah..."

Ernest was fleeing the Krall ruins with his very own body.

The Gentiles' mercenaries were more powerful than I could have imagined. There's no way to fight that number alone.

Even the shrine, which was the most important goal, was abandoned and ran away into ruins and trees, so it was full.

He managed to join several knights at the ruins, and while retreating, he made contact with the other knights and gained time by stopping them.

After a while, all the knights who noticed the anomaly will gather at the shrine.

As long as the Knights of the Guards are not dead, it is clear that Ernest is safe. If there is no Ernest around the shrine, and Gentile mercenaries are hanging around, then the Knights of the Kimikaze will give priority to clearing around the shrine first.

Until then, all you have to do is gather the knights around the ruins and see how they are and return to the shrine.

That way, we can recover that painful looking Eliza.

A few hours later, Ernest was returning to the shrine.

The Gentiles have already been eliminated by the Knights. We have received reports that at least 10 Gentiles have been defeated, although it is unclear whether all Gentiles in the ruins have been dealt with. Even if there were a few left, it would be suicide to attack the area of the shrine with a few guards. There's no danger anymore.

But not everything went as expected.

Eliza's body was missing.

The body was nowhere near the shrine because of the amount of blood left behind.

I can only assume that the Gentiles took it away. It is not enough to take Eliza's life, and to despise her dignity even after her death is against the way of man. Exactly the way out. It is not something that can be forgiven.

"But I can't be in grief here forever...... Food is limited, too. Once we get back to Zorlen, we need to get back on track."

Until now, the barracks were managed uniformly by Eliza.

Food and consumables were also procured from somewhere and distributed to the troops. It's not possible to do this alone, but Eliza is noble. Even if there were no knights, there would have been as many servants as there were family members.

And Eliza died, and they were gone.

Until now, it has been normal for food and essentials to be offered without saying anything. But it was all realized by Eliza's arrangement.

Once again, I thank Eliza for her dedication and hatred of the Gentiles.

"Eliza... I hate Gentiles...!

If we can't secure the station, we have to go back to resupply.

Eliza, who was a pipe player, is gone, but the Marquis of Morizzo is waiting for Zorlen. I don't suppose it's enough to procure supplies.

But it was even more unfortunate to have waited for the Knights of Portleigh to return to Zorlen.

Arrows were fired from the city by the Knights of Portleigh as they approached Zorlen.

The arrow seemed to be thrown by a few Gentiles. Those who killed Eliza.

Somehow, I don't even see the Oral Knights stationed in Zorlen.

Perhaps so, the Gentiles have held Marquis Morizzo and Count Trupparan captive and shown their pathetic appearance.

At this point, the Second Knights and Third Knights who had followed the Ernest surrendered.

It's not impossible.

If the Marquis and the Earl are killed, they will all die, too.

Their loyalty is inherently devoted not to the royal family, but to each nobleman.

And the nobles swear allegiance to the royal family.

This is a measure to transfer power when the regime changes without lowering military power as much as possible. If all the knights' lives were held by one king, the knights would have to be renewed each time they succeeded to the throne.

That's the shape that came out in the back.

To reduce the risk of losing their power, the two nobles were asked to wait for a safe Zorlen, but there was nothing that could be done about that Zorlen being subdued by the Gentiles.

Yes, perhaps, but this Zorlene has been overwhelmed by the Gentiles.

The evidence is that the Oral Knights are invisible in shadows and shapes.

The Oral Knights appeared to be somewhat smaller than the Knights that Ernest brought in from his home country. The Gentiles have the strength to put Ernest in such a crisis. There must have been no such thing as kicking the Knights of the Orals out of the city.

"What scumbags...!

"What will you do, Your Majesty?"

The Gentiles are that ruin and have been straight for Ernest's life alone.

It was stopped by Eliza's dedication, but I'm sure she hasn't given up yet, as long as she's shooting arrows at Zorlen like this.

"... Zorlen has no choice but to give up. We have to replenish it somewhere else...."

"So, do you want to abandon the ruins and take a route to retreat to your home country?

A line of protest from the Second and Third Knights flew into the conversation with the Knights of Kintetsu.

To retreat means to abandon the Marquis of Morizzo and Count Trupparan.

In Ernesto's troubled eyes, he saw a man walking from Zorlen, an elf.

Gentiles.

Probably a messenger.

I thought it would be a good idea to be alone in front of the army, but when you think about it, the Gentiles will be resurrected even if they die. That means there's nothing wrong with dying. Really, what cowardly people.

"─ ─ The only purpose we have is Ernest, King of Portry! The Marquis of Morizzo and Count Trupparan, who are under our protection, are ready to be released unharmed if you hand them over!

Ernest and the Knights of the Kinsai were indignant when they heard about it.

"Stupid!

"The lives of two nobles, the King of a Nation and his superiors, cannot be put on the balance!

But only the Kingsguard Knights - the First Knights - were outraged.

It is true that the weight of life differs between a king and a nobleman, but only when he is in his own country does his reason make sense. It is only reason that the majority of the people recognize the King's values, which are essential to the nation.

On this occasion, more knights take precedence over the king than over the two nobles.

"Stupid......! What are you thinking, you guys!

All the Second and Third Knights put their hands on the sword of their hips with a sad expression, and turned their bodies towards Ernest.

They will do anything to help their master, Count Morizzo and Count Trupparan.

"Damn, Knight Commander! Fall back! Let's get out of here!

Ernest managed to leave Sollen behind while being protected by the Knights of the Guards.

There was no trace from the Second Knights or Third Knights.

Believing in the word of the enemy, who is not sure whether he will be protected, he chose to watch his master around the city rather than chasing Ernest.

Or maybe you're looking at the gap and thinking about recapture, but even if that happens, it's hard to smile at them in the future.

The Second Knights and the Third Knights will no longer be seen as enemies.

The Gentiles' way of taking that hostage is truly the extreme of the masses, but its effect is enormous.

Anyway, we have to run now.

"Your Majesty, what shall we do now? There's no more food. Seeking help from the Oral Kingdom and fleeing to that country?

"... I see... That's all I have left ─ ─"

However, the misfortune of attacking Ernest did not end there.

At this moment, Ernesto was the only one who knew.

I was no longer king.

It is unlikely that the royal family will have only an Ernest, and that the Ernest will no longer be king. If anything, it's only when a country called Portley-- no longer exists.

I recall the reports I received from various places before I left my country.

Bandit damage is on the increase, and a swarm of insect monsters have been identified.

Originally, Ernest came on an expedition to Pairé until he left the country to break the status quo in the impossible Portley-kingdom.

We didn't make it.

Everything Ernesto has done to rebuild his father's home country, which is gone, is gone.

"- Your Majesty? Did you get a squid?

All of a sudden, the Knight Commander is worried about Ernest's unusual state and calls out.

But Ernest doesn't have the strength to respond to it anymore.

"... it's over... I'm already....."

Ernesto broke.

It was good when Eliza was there. Everything was going well.

There were a number of problems and obstacles, all of which Eliza addressed or gave me a solution.

Eliza and I had no doubt that we could control all of this continent beyond the sea.

But Eliza is gone.

And from that moment on, every gear began to go crazy.

There is no point in Ernest being alive now that he has lost his loved ones, his knights, and his country.

"- Your Majesty! Don't say such a weak thing!

"That's right! We're on!

"Even if all of the Knights, no matter everything in the world has turned to the enemy, as long as we have a Kingsguard, Your Majesty can do it all over again!

The Knights of the Guards encourage Ernest individually.

From what you've said, you already know the situation.

The knight is supposed to convey the thoughts and emotions of his lord.

Ernesto's despair must have been painfully conveyed.

"... you guys..."

The lives of the Knights of the Guards are with Ernest.

Then, even if you lose other knights and your country, Ernest is responsible for their lives.

"... I see. I still have... no, I still have you."

In the past, when I was immersed in the grounds of King's Landing, this kind of rough tone was better received.

I don't know what the guards think, but this is a ritual. It's the ritual we need to break up with Ernest Portley.

"─ Let's go, you guys.

As you will recall, my proud Portley-kingdom has now been lost. In that case, even though it is a former friendly country, the Oral Kingdom is not always on our side. That country seemed to be doing well with Gentiles. Perhaps the Gentiles will take precedence over the destroyed nation in the future. "

Lord Hugelcup, who once saw it in Zorlen, once said: The state doesn't have any real friends.

If you see that as a warning to your own good friend Eliza's master, it is likely that Oral is not already a friend to Ernest, as the saying goes.

If so, it is dangerous to trust Oral.

Alternatively, if it turns out that the Gentiles were the ones holding the Eliza, it may be different, but I don't think we can create a place where we can speak directly with Lord Hugelcup in this situation.

"Anyway, you have to survive.

Now we wait for a chance to survive and rise again. No longer can any country be trusted. Everything but ourselves is the enemy.

We will survive any act of banditry and one day we will rid the continent of all Gentiles. "

Eliza said she was her best friend, and even if she told the lord the truth, it wouldn't be nice if the Gentiles were wandering around.

Eliminate all Gentiles, uncover all truth, and rebuild the Portry Kingdom.

If there's a way to reward the late Eliza, that's all.