“It's that simple.”
“Ohh, just this continent above the sky is too much for an accessory like me... Why was it necessary to invade Tristain and Germania?”
“How many times does it take for you to understand. It is necessary to join Halkeginia into one. To recover the Holy Land is the only way to follow the Founder and God's will.”
“To me, that is a part of being a clergyman. Though there is no mistake that recovering the Holy Land is a dream...”
“Then continue to dream.”
“The responsibility is too heavy! The enemy has invaded! Enemy in my country! The enemy has come to hang me like those incompetent kings! What should I do?! Tell me this isn't a nightmare. Miss...” Smiling, Sheffield squatted down in front of Cromwell and looked into his tear-soaked face. Cromwell raised his face. Lifting up his chin, Sheffield... “Stop acting spoiled,” whispered quietly.
“Yes!”
The polite and warm demeanor just now had disappeared, and Sheffield had made a complete change into a raptores-like face.
Her brunette hair, like deep darkness, fluttered and the eyes below it were releasing a bewitching radiance. Taken in by those eyes, Cromwell began to tremble.
“You dream a sweet molasses-like dream that a normal priest couldn't see even if he reincarnated a hundred times and now you say you don't want to see a nightmare? 'My country'? Your land doesn't even stretch fifty centimeters on this uselessly destitute country Albion.”
“I'm! I'm very sorry!”
Cromwell slid his face on the floor beside Sheffield's feet. Sticking out his tongue, he licked Sheffield's shoes.
“Forgive me... Fo, forgive me... Ha, hagi... Forgive me...”
“The Ring of Andvari.”
Timidly, Cromwell handed the ring he was wearing to Sheffield.
Treasure of the Water Spirit, the magic ring that can grant the dead false life...
Cromwell remembered the day where he went with Sheffield and Gallia's mage knights to Ragdorian Lake to steal this ring from the Water Spirit.
What caused the start of everything was him talking at a bar. He was heading towards Gallia's capital, Lutèce, because he was delivering something...
Cromwell was treating a beggar to a bottle of wine.
“Prelate, as thanks for the wine, I will grant you one thing you wish. Tell me.”
Being told that by the beggar, Cromwell said as a joke,
“Let's see, I want to be king.”
“King, is it?”
The beggar, with his face covered in a deep rope, smiled and asked.
“Yes,” Cromwell nodded.
Of course, he meant it to be a joke. Playing around after drinking. He wasn't serious about it. However, the next morning... This Sheffield came to the lodge he was staying at. She exclaimed,
“I will make you king. Follow me.”
At that moment, his life as a local prelate delineated to a different path. At a violent momentum...
Sheffield was patting The Ring of Andvari dearly.
The stone on the ring was, enchantingly, glowing deep light blue.
“What do you think is the power stored in this ring?”
Cromwell shook his head. He knew that it could revive corpses. That is the truth. There is no way he could know about the mechanisms of Void.
“Unable to control magic, I do not know. You are the one who told me to call this power 'Void', right?”
“Do you know about 'wind stones'?”
Cromwell nodded. It is the material used to allow flying ships to float. A magic stone said to be the condensed power of Wind. There are countless mines for digging out wind stones in Albion.
“This is a similar substance.”
“Then it isn't 'Void'?”
“Correct, this is not 'Void'. 'Wind stones' and this 'Ring of Andvari' are just drops of the source of the powers that rule this world. This is the material that becomes the source of power called Ancient Magic. There are all kinds of names it is called by though. Sage's Stone, Orb of Life... Historically, it would be called 'Void's enemy'...”
“I am constantly impressed by the profoundness of your knowledge.”
“That is why every time it is used, its magic is whittled and it gets smaller. See.”
Cromwell nodded.
“The point is, this is a crystallization of the Ancient Magic of Water. The condensed magic hidden in this is incomparable to the wind stones common around here... A rare stone. Which is the reason this is the protected treasure of the Water Spirit... The Ring of Andvari. In other words, the ancients' treasure...”
Sheffield stared at the ring.
Doing so... Her forehead started to shine.
The light was flowing from inside.
When Cromwell first saw this light, he was surprised. When Sheffield touched this 'Ring of Andvari', her forehead shone.
Are there times when people's foreheads shine?
Even when he asked Sheffield, she did not answer. This mysterious female would not teach him anything that mattered, anything essential. She only handed down orders.
With the stone, Sheffield lightly combed Cromwell's cheek.
“Ho, hohhhhhhh...”
Cromwell twitched and shivered. The Ring of Andvari vibrated slightly. Just touching it made him feel like an electric current was running through him.
When it touched Sheffield's hand, the Ring of Andvari awoke... it was that kind of vibration.
“Do you know? The trait of the power of Water?”
“H-healing wounds...”
“That is on the surface. The power of 'Water' rules over the body's constitution. The heart too.”
“...Ha, hah”
“Moving corpses is only one of the powers this ring holds.”
Chapter Five: The Ancient City of Saxe-Gotha
Roughly a mile out from the battlements at the city of Saxe-Gotha, at the staging area for the assault, the three hundred and fifty troops of the De Vineuil Battalion were awaiting the horn to signal the beginning of the attack.
Today, fifteen days after the landing, the allied army was finally launching their offensive.
Leading the 2nd Company, Guiche was shivering from head to toe, staring intently at the mist-covered city of Saxe-Gotha.
“Company commander, sir!”
The sergeant on guard at his side, Nicola, spoke in a soft tone.
“W-w-w-what is it?” Guiche stammered.
“You dropped your wand.”
Guiche immediately looked below at his feet and saw his rose-shaped wand lying on the ground.
He frantically picked it back up and shoved it into his chest pocket, while trying to maintain the solemn expression on his face.
“Company commander, sir!”
“W-what is it?”
“Although it might not be my concern, I still think it would be better for you to go take a leak first.”
Guiche immediately glared at him and exclaimed,
“I’ve already gone!”
“That’s good, then,” Nicola replied while grinning.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about. According to the reports in the past few days, the enemy’s cannons have all been destroyed by our fleet’s bombardment, and they’ve only deployed demi-humans to guard the streets.”
“Those d-demi-humans are incredibly ferocious, and their bodies are massive.”
“But they are foes that are incredibly easy to lure into traps,” Nicola remarked while watching ahead.
Guiche observed the small man carrying a musket. This was the first real battle he had participated in, and there was no one else he could rely on. With such thoughts in his mind, the man in front of him appeared to be larger than any lunkhead he knew.
“However… from where could we start our assault? The whole city is surrounded by those huge rock walls…”