“I’m sorry for making you go out of your way this time, King Lindor.”
In a room of the temporary Royal Castle of the Lindor Kingdom, King Admos spoke magnanimously to King Lindor.
His attitude, which showed not a hint of remorse, was noticeable, but Lindor, having received considerable support from Admos, was in no position to object.
“No, no, I am always in your debt, King Admos. Something like this is nothing at all.”
“Is that so?”
King Admos, pleased with King Lindor’s humble demeanor, gave a short reply and then looked satisfied.
If he could be pleased with something like this, he would bow his head as much as necessary. King Lindor, who was originally a high-ranking noble but not royalty, due to being a relative of the royal family, kept a smile on his face towards King Admos.
“Well then, shall we head to the Summoning Ruins right away?”
“Indeed. Time is limited. Let’s get this over with and return.”
King Admos agreed with King Lindor’s words, and the two decided to head to the ruins.
Normally, when welcoming royalty from another country, there would be various ceremonies and events, but the Admos side had refused them.
While a day or two wouldn’t make much difference, King Admos’s desire to summon the next Summoner as soon as possible was what drove him.
The loss of Nara seemed to be a considerable blow to King Admos.
He conveniently forgot that he had sent the still immature Nara to Kenta’s side out of personal reasons.
King Admos and King Lindor were about to head to the ruins, but on the way to the carriage, King Lindor’s aide approached him.
“…Your Majesty, may I have a word?”
“Hmm? What is it? Ah, I apologize, King Admos. Could you please head to the carriage first?”
“Very well.”
King Lindor, called out by his aide, instructed King Admos to go ahead and then moved away from King Admos.
“What is it at a time like this?”
King Lindor said, as if scolding his aide, and the aide spoke in a hushed voice with a serious expression.
“…Are you sure about this?”
The aide’s words seemed to carry several meanings.
A question of whether it was really okay to just follow King Admos’s demands…
“Ah, is it about that report?”
“Yes… I also went to investigate the site, and there are indeed anomalies occurring. Perhaps we should observe the situation a little more.”
“I understand, but…”
King Lindor had not completely ignored his aide’s words.
However, the reason Lindor was able to maintain its country was because of Admos’s support.
He couldn’t refuse Admos’s demands, and the fact that the price for that support was the right to use the Summoning Magic Circle, a request that cost Lindor nothing, was too appealing.
“Anyway, once this Summoning is over, King Admos will calm down. He won’t fail twice in a row.”
“I hope so…”
The aide was, after all, King Lindor’s aide, and had no respect or trust for King Admos, who was the king of another country.
The aide had no trust in King Admos, who had already lost the previous Summoner.
After such an exchange, King Lindor joined King Admos, and they headed to the ruins by carriage.
And then, he gasped at the sight he saw along the way.
“Th-this is…”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, King Lindor?”
“Eh? Ah, no…”
The scene King Lindor saw was something he already knew from the report.
However, when he actually saw it with his own eyes, he was speechless at its strangeness.
The plants that had been growing before were completely gone, and the scene was now a desolate wasteland.
King Lindor, who was also planning to inspect the area on the way to the ruins, had been paying attention to the outside of the carriage and noticed the scene, but King Admos, who was unaware of this, did not notice at all.
King Lindor thought to himself, (What should I do? Is it okay to proceed with the Otherworld Summoning like this? Maybe this scene will spread even further… But I can’t refuse Admos’s request…)
It was at that moment.
“!? W-what was that!?”
An enormous roar reached even the carriage.
The horses, startled by the sound, stopped, bringing the group to a halt.
“Good heavens! What in the world is going on!?”
King Admos, startled by the sudden roar, jumped out of the carriage, trembling with anger.
“Ah! No, King Admos! We still need to confirm what happened…”
Just as King Lindor said that, a blast wave hit the group.
“Nuwahhh!!”
“Uwahh!!”
King Admos, who had exited the carriage, was blown away, and King Lindor, who remained inside, was rolled around along with the carriage.
King Lindor was tossed around inside the violently overturned carriage, but thanks to his guard who quickly grabbed him, he was not seriously injured.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Are you alright!?”
“Ugh… It hurts… Ah, I’m fine, thanks to you protecting me. I’m not hurt.”
When King Lindor said that to his guard, the guard looked relieved, then immediately turned serious and looked inside the carriage.
“What in the world was that?”
“I don’t know. Can you tell what’s going on outside?”
“Yes! Please wait a moment!”
The guard said that and went outside through the door that had been blown off by the blast.
And then…
“Wh-what is this!?”
He couldn’t help but shout at the sight around him.
“Wh-what is it? What happened? Is it safe to go out?”
“P-please wait a moment…”
At King Lindor’s call, the guard checked the surroundings and then spoke to King Lindor.
“It seems there is no more danger. You may come out.”
“Understood.”
The scene that King Lindor saw when he stepped out of the carriage was beyond imagination.
Blown-away carriages, horses, and people were scattered everywhere, and groans could be heard from all directions.
Some horses were alive, while others were completely still.
The same was true for the people; some were moving and asking for help, while others were completely motionless.
King Lindor was speechless at the hellish scene.
“Wh-what is this…”
King Lindor muttered, but no one answered.
The scene was that chaotic.
And then, after observing the surroundings for a while, the guard seemed to notice something and turned his gaze in a certain direction.
“Ah, that is!”
“Wh-what is it!?”
King Lindor followed the gaze of the guard, who had involuntarily raised his voice, and his eyes widened in shock.
“Th-the ruins…”
What King Lindor witnessed there was the sight of the ruins, destroyed and leaving no trace.
“…There are traces of a blast wave radiating out from those ruins in concentric circles. It seems that the ruins were likely blown up by someone.”
King Lindor looked closely at the guard’s words and noticed that the traces of the explosion were spreading out from the ruins.
“…Someone, huh. Who do you think it was?”
King Lindor asked his guard, feeling something close to certainty.
“…I have seen this scene before.”
With just those words, he knew who the guard suspected.
“I see, so it is.”
Considering the situation, anyone would understand.
This Otherworld Summoning was being done to subjugate Kenta.
If such a thing was going to be attempted multiple times, it was obvious that he would come to stop it.
However, there was still a question.
“I know that’s the only possibility… but how did Maya-dono find out about it?”
“…I don’t know, but perhaps Admos’s information management was lax…”
Hearing that, King Lindor finally remembered.
“That’s right! What about King Admos!?”
“!?”
At King Lindor’s words, the guard finally remembered King Admos’s existence and began searching the surroundings.
After searching for a while, they found King Admos, injured and unmoving.
King Lindor’s spine momentarily froze at the sight, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he confirmed that he was barely alive.
If King Admos were to die in Lindor, it would be a situation where Admos could start a war with Lindor.
Even though he was seriously injured, he was still alive.
However, this situation was not good either.
It also meant that Lindor had failed to protect King Admos.
Therefore, King Lindor decided to shift the responsibility to someone else.
That was…
“Listen well, everyone! This time’s Summoning Ruins explosion is believed to be the work of the previous Summoner, Kenta Maya! In order to prevent those who would subjugate him from being summoned, he blew up the ruins themselves! Such barbarity is absolutely unforgivable!”
He declared that.
It was true that the culprit was Kenta, but the reason was different.
King Lindor, not understanding the situation, was relieved that he could pin the blame for King Admos’s serious injuries on Kenta…
He had no idea that, behind the scenes, he had incurred Kenta’s wrath.