CHAPTER 291: THE DESERT’S FAREWELL

It was early in the morning when Camilla returned.

After receiving treatment and resting after clearing the battlefield, Carl saw Camilla fully revealed in front of him and jumped up from his seat without realizing it.

Camilla’s face, with red eyes, looked so sad and pitiful.

"...What happened?"

Carl hesitated for a moment, uncharacteristically, and then asked a question even he couldn’t fully understand.

Camilla, who had been staring blankly at Carl, weakly approached him and hugged him tightly.

Carl wrapped his arms around Camilla’s back and swayed her a little clumsily.

"Ha...."

Camilla let out a weary sigh.

With her body still not fully recovered, she had run through the desert for several days without rest. After barely reuniting with Carl, she had pursued Siana, who had escaped, and then met her father.

And then she came back here again, holding her dead father in her arms.

"I’m sorry. I missed Siana."

Camilla whispered, burying her face in Carl’s chest.

"What happened to Seid?"

Carl had already guessed what had happened to Seid.

Camilla finally couldn’t hold back any longer from Carl’s surprisingly affectionate consolation and burst into tears once again.

To anyone else, this might not even be considered comforting, but for Carl, it was the best consolation he could offer—containing the utmost emotion he could muster.

Why do tears that wouldn’t fall when one is filled with sadness pour out like a lie when mixed with joy?

"My father is a little further away. I think we need to investigate."

Camilla told him before Carl could.

It would have been a bit odd for Carl to tell Camilla now that he was going to ’investigate Seid’s body.’

Carl hesitated, pressing his lips tightly against Camilla’s as she sobbed in his arms, then carefully cupped her face with his hands and tried to lift her up.

But Camilla didn’t raise her head, only resisting obedience while rubbing her cheek against Carl’s hand.

"Camilla..."

"...I don’t want to show my ruined face."

Camilla said stubbornly.

Unlike her usual playful, tail-wagging, fox-like temptation, she used her mana to bury her face into Carl’s chest with incredible force.

Carl could feel her strong determination not to show her face even if she died.

Camilla’s father’s voice rang in her ears.

’But isn’t he too young compared to you?’

... ... She didn’t want to show her crying, sniffling face to the man she loved, who was almost 10 years younger than her.

But Carl did not give up and continued to caress Camilla’s cheeks and ears affectionately until she could no longer bear it.

Finally, Camilla hesitated and slowly lifted her face from Carl’s chest. Still, she really couldn’t raise her face.

But as Carl firmly cupped her cheek, Camilla’s face lifted, and she looked at Carl, as if her stubborn attitude from before was a lie.

Looking at Camilla’s face, swollen and red around the eyes, her nose constantly running while she was crying, Carl kissed her.

Her breathing stopped, and she could only feel warmth.

That she was not alone, that they were together.

They felt each other so much that it was impossible to help it—so close that they couldn’t stand not being even closer.

Just like that day, when Camilla had hugged Carl as he cried after losing his mother.

But now that so much had changed, Camilla somehow felt like everything was okay.

There was someone to share the burden she had been carrying alone.

There was someone who kissed her without hesitation even after seeing her ruined face while she cried loudly.

There was a man who loved her even though he could not love himself.

He might seem too young for her, but he clearly loved her—and he was the man she loved.

If the age difference had been just one year longer, it would have been a 10-year age difference, and that would have been really hard to bear.

"Phew... Hahah."

When Camilla, who was kissing him, suddenly burst into laughter, Carl was a little embarrassed and tried to pull his lips away.

He really couldn’t figure out why she was smiling in this situation.

But Camilla, as if she had never avoided Carl’s face before, wrapped her arms around Carl’s neck with the Master’s fierce strength, pulling him tightly and roughly pressing her lips against his.

Both of them were a mess of wounds, and the pungent taste of blood lingered in their mouths.

But that might not be a bad thing either.

---

The Hardion Army was able to find Seid’s body during a search conducted after daybreak.

Seid’s body was moved very carefully under the pretext of investigation.

Since this happened right in front of Carl, who was dragging his tired body out, it was possible to let it pass without any unpleasant incidents occurring.

After a thorough examination by the royal physician Milton, Seid was burned clean.

His body was turned to ashes without a trace and scattered across the desert where he had lived.

Despite being recognized as the Master and Siana’s confidant, the fact that he was able to cremate the corpse without dismembering it and exposing its head was because he had a good reason to do so.

"It is a trace of sorcery. It must be burned so that no trace remains."

"...Conjuration? Is that true? Then this... Master, is an undead?"

"Yes."

Imperial Physician Milton examined Seid’s body and discovered that he was an undead resurrected through necromancy.

Of course, the undead must be burned as soon as possible.

The story of a man who had reached the rank of Master and had become undead through sorcery was only carefully circulated among the upper echelons and was kept tightly shut to prevent it from spreading.

Since necromancy is the power to deal with death, it is not permitted to the living.

If it is a necromancy caused by natural fraud resulting from accumulated death, it may be possible to turn a Master into an undead.

But that’s unlikely, and there’s no reason for the corpse of a man who was a Master to be in such a place at such a time.

Carl thought about many things, but he couldn’t find an answer.

He didn’t know what the hell was going on in this world.

Carl, and those who had once fought alongside Garten, had an inkling.

In that battle, it had borrowed Garten’s body and created something similar to a flesh golem.

But what happened at that time was top secret, so he couldn’t tell anyone.

This would have to be reported directly to Madius or Balos later in Himmeln.

And one more thing.

’Was that Hadad?’

The spear symbolizes Hadad, the god of storms who brings abundance.

In the vision Carl had after destroying the Book of Siana, the being pointed its spear at the sky, blew away the storm, and brought back the sun.

Was the vision he saw after destroying Dureniodon really Duren’s? And this time, did he see the vision of Hadad?

Why and how.

No matter how much he thought about it, no answer came to him.

He could only guess that all of this was closely related.

This made him realize one more thing.

’The power of Dureniodon was to rule over humans. And the black tongue also ruled over humans.’

Carl felt a mismatch in that connection.

Garten, who had a Dureniodon that ruled over humans, had black eyes that could spew curses.

And Siana, who had a book that emitted violent black light, had a black tongue that ruled over humans.

Incidents involving Duren and Hadad.

And another sect of gods that was still silent.

The goddess of the Kingdom of Minardi.

Tenae, the goddess of wisdom and light that illuminates the darkness.

Three powers, three gods, three sects.

So, what was happening in the Kingdom of Minardi right now?

There might be someone with a black body and abilities like the book of Black Eyes, and the same abilities as the book of Siana.

Carl felt the outlines of something much larger than he had imagined begin to emerge.

It seemed as if they were being sucked into a vortex of sinister events involving three countries and three denominations.

So, how can we use this?

Carl thought about that first, even as he traced the outlines of the vast conspiracy.

Use everything that is available.

There was no way Carl would let such a big event slip away.

’Minardi will be a hindrance in the future. I hope it will be destroyed to a moderate degree without being completely destroyed.’

First of all, there would be a secret pact with Adrian, and after ascending to the throne as emperor, conflicts—whether it be checks and balances or wars—would inevitably arise.

He hoped Minardi would be destroyed to some extent, as it would be difficult to clean up if it was completely destroyed.

So, it would be better to approach this matter more cautiously.

Carl brought this matter to a close.

Anyway, the war was over, and now it was time to go back.

Hardion’s army, led by Carl, withdrew west again.

In exchange for giving up control of the central region of Tumaria that had been occupied, he received a lot of supplies and eventually decided to take only the western part of Tumaria that had been initially conquered by Carl.

In any case, the central region was outside of their influence, so it was impossible to rule it as a dependent territory.

Even after the war was over, Yusuf led his troops westward, clearly showing the people of Tumaria who the new masters of this land were.

And through formal proceedings, a peace treaty was signed with Hardion, and the two nations dealt with each other for control of western Tumaria for the next five years.

Carl did not intervene, as this was the business of Emperor Azgoth or of Aric, who was administering state affairs on Azgoth’s behalf.