Well, the reign is longer than Mitsuhide’s.

A knight fleeing on the castle wall was hit by a spear thrown down by an undead airborne cavalryman.

“Guaah!”

The knight, who was pierced through the abdomen and fell down, was still breathing, but he was left without even being retrieved. There was no time to do so.

“≪Fire Ball≫!”

“≪Chain Lightning≫!”

The attack magic that surged toward the top of the walls was like a wave of assaults.

The walls themselves may be protected, but not the knights standing on top of them. The only option was to retreat to the gate towers or side defense towers. Those who fell were engulfed and lost their lives.

The knights’ movements were blocked and they could no longer knock down the hanging ladders, and the top of the wall was crowded with undead soldiers. The immortal army rushed into the towers and flanking towers from which the knights had fled.

“I won’t let any of you die easy! Once incapacitated, kill them by shredding their flesh bit by bit!”

René also entered her own two-fisted state, but it was no longer necessary for René to fight.

The First Knights, demoralized by Lawrence’s death, were being overrun by undead soldiers in desperation, and they were all being killed.

Some of them were so fierce that they could fight dozens of undead alone, but even they could not push back the momentum.

Under the wall, a mithril golem had been drained of its power and captured.

“Princess, it seems Hilbert is not here. Perhaps there is a hidden escape route…”

An incoming call came in on the call mar René had, and Alastair informed her.

Gerald, who was in the main camp, was receiving reports from each of the squad leaders and trying to grasp the overall situation.

The troops in control of the walls were looking for Hilbert at the same time, but they couldn’t seem to find him.

“Yes, he is. Here. Just below.”

As she widened her range of emotional detection, she saw a single suspicious response underground.

René jumped down from the walls to the front yard of the royal castle.

With a thought, she gave the command, and the undead soldiers quickly gathered around her.

René then chanted quickly and used her magic.

“…≪Diastrophism≫.”

With magic that manipulated the earth to change the topography, a hole opened up in the middle of the garden, and then.

“Woah!?”

A man jumped out of the hole like some cartoon performance. The ground rose up from underneath him and popped him out.

He was thrown out in the same position he had been crawling through the narrow tunnel, and landed awkwardly on top of the hole, which had been closed with a snap.

He was a man in more ornately decorated armor than Lawrence.

He was of medium height and not very dignified. He appeared to be in his late thirties. His hair and beard were reddish brown, and he kept them slightly puffed out, making his thin face look bigger.

There was no doubt that he was Hilbert, judging from the circumstances.

“Greetings, Uncle. I am Rene “Rosey” Ruvia Ciel-Terra. Would you like to die as a token of our closeness?”

Hilbert, who had been crawling on the ground, looked around, jumped up, and turned to René, drawing his sword.

His equipment and sword were lavishly decorated, and the power leaking out of them indicated that they were fine magic items, but that was all.

He did not have the immense power of Terra Ayur, and Hilbert, who carried it, was an ordinary warrior who, from the looks of it, had just learned ordinary swordsmanship.

Still, Hilbert stood there looking presentable and did not back down.

“Fu… Then I’ll name myself before I die. King of Ciel-Terra. Hilbert “Lionheart” Nicholas Ciel-Terra.”

“Oh, you’re gonna fight? I think it would be wiser to beg for your life.”

“I am the king of this country now, the one who carries it on his shoulders. I am the one who leads my people. I am the general of the army that fought against you. If I cannot escape, I will fight, even if I am the last man standing. That is all.”

René had read the fear in Hilbert’s heart, but looking at him, there was no hint of pride or fear.

It was his will as a king. If the man who was to be his flag was afraid and miserably dismayed, his troops would not be able to fight.

It would have been more endearing if he had begged for his life here. Hilbert’s attitude of trying to put on the appearance of a good king while he was the usurper of the throne was offensive to René.

“… It’s too late to be auspicious, Hilbert. How many pure and innocent outcasts have you deceived with your pretty figure? Even if it wasn’t you who wanted it, it was you who spilled my blood. Rest assured that your destination is poisoned grass fertilizer, even if you are dressed up.”

“O God…!”

With a prayer, Hilbert kicked the ground.

He lunged.

Slow.

“Gu, gah…!!”

The sword did not even reach René, and he was stabbed to death by the undead who intervened, leaving him in a reverse hedgehog state.

“Retribution… huh…”

A glob of blood spurted out of Hilbert’s mouth.

But he will not die. The same applied to Lawrence, whose soul was protected by a contract with God.

Once he was killed, the pain would never be felt again. The pain of death for a moment was not worth the crime, René thought.

“I won’t let you die easily……≪Corpse Repair≫”

René used magic that should never be used on people.

＊ ＊ ＊

“It’s been a long time. Last time I saw you was maybe a couple of hours ago?”

“What the ……!”

Bertil jumped out of bed when he saw the silver girl in his cell.

Except for the fact that for some reason he changed his clothes, he looked exactly as he did in the meeting conducted by the illusion call mark, but it was not an illusion It was real.

It was in the underground prison of the royal castle.

“Oh my, did they cut off your arms? What a terrible thing to do!”

René was arrogant, a far cry from the gentle manner in which she appeared during their meeting.

Strangely, however, the impression he got from René did not seem to have changed.

“Why are you here … no, I see… you got your revenge.”

“Yes. The treacherous Knight Commander Lawrence and the Pretender Hilbert had just suffered a worse fate than death. I killed most of the First Order who were guarding the castle.”

Her tone held a hint of irony.

“You haven’t finished yet, … so I’m next?”

“Hmm… I came to see if it would put me in that kind of mood…”

René’s thoughtful appearance was endearing, like she was struggling with a knitting pattern.

It was hard to believe that she was pondering whether or not to take the life of the man in front of her, Bertil.

Bertil was so gazed into those mysterious silver eyes that he could not help but want to hug René, forgetting that she was a powerful Undead. Well, that would be impossible anyway, since he had no arms at the moment.

Strangely enough, the sight of René stirred up feelings of protectiveness in him. Even though she looked like an empress, full of dignity and showing the appearance of an absolutely strong person, she still looked somewhat fragile.

–I wonder why. I can’t help but feel like she needs … someone to hug her and pat her head.

“I pretty much don’t care.”

After long consideration, René passed judgment.

Frankly, Bertil was relieved.

“I can spare you, in case you are of use to me later. If you really want to fight me in that state, I can cut you up with all my heart.”

“No way. That’s a complete dog’s death. If I am allowed to go, I will cling to that warm-heartedness and survive. And I must save as many people as possible.”

“That’s the point. Though idealistic in thought, rational and compromising in action. When necessary, you are willing to negotiate with me. It is good to have such a person of great character left in the world.”

René laughed coldly, but happily.

“To clean up the remnants, you know.”

A cold sweat broke out on his face, and it was not only because of his injuries.

The feudal lords were still alive and well, and so were the people who lived there.

The king who was supposed to unite the lords was no longer a member of this world, and Lawrence, who had been the greatest individual force comparable to the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”, was also dead.

Now the people of Ciel-Terra were left with nothing to do but wait for the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” to be exterminated.

“I see that your revenge is far from over…”

Bertil felt as if his whole body had become heavy all at once.

Still, he looked up and smiled at René, dressed up at best in a rakish manner.

“Then I’m sure you made the right choice keeping me alive. His Majesty… Hilbert was the right choice. If I could buy the lives of my people by selling their heads to you, the heads of the nobles who gave Hilbert the power, I would do it gladly.”

René smiled with satisfaction.

If she thought he was useful, then there was room for negotiation.

Now that Lawrence was dead, Bertil was motivated by his pride that he was the one who should protect his people from the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”.

Crossing swords was not the only way to fight. Dealing with defeat in order to make the loss as good as possible was also a battle.

“Oh yeah. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Was it part of your plan for me to be here now?”

“Half of it was. The other half was Lawrence being stupid.”

Whatever the case, Bertil was set up, and René apologized for it.

The atmosphere was like ‘a child who has been caught doing something mischievous but doesn’t feel particularly bad about it, but only apologizes verbally because their mother will get angry with them’.

“… Doesn’t look like something you think is bad.”

“I don’t feel bad.”

Bertil was almost shaken to the bone when René came clean so easily.

“I don’t feel guilty, but I know I did something terrible. I think I should at least apologize formally to the person I’m likely to have a lasting association with.”

“I think you’re being too blunt.”

“It’s my way of saying I’m sorry.”

I see, Bertil thought.

René disclosed her position and thoughts on what she had done. She declared that she cared about it in a way that she did not feel guilty about.

In other words, René knew objectively that she was mentally bankrupt, and she was trying to be accommodating to Bertil.

Somehow, Bertil felt that “broken” was a more accurate description of René than “alien” mentality.

There were those who had completely destroyed a girl of just ten years old and turned her into a vengeful spirit.

–Ah, it’s still tragic…

“Will you serve me? Of course, alive.”

René suddenly asked.

Bertil was surprised at this.

She could have sent out as many undead as she wanted, but she went out of her way to invite him to join her.

Bertil shook his head, still feeling honored if he could afford it so much.

“No, I’ll pass. I will have no choice but to betray you, my lord. I have no interest in offering my sword to someone I know I will betray.”

Bertil’s goal was to save as many people as possible.

To achieve this, he would overlook a coup d’état or even sell his soul to the Evil God.

However, in the long run, this approach would fail at some point.

There would come a time when there would be nothing left to be sold. The day would come when René would reach out to what Bertil desperately wanted to protect. When that day came, Bertil would have no choice but to fight.

Bertil did not want to enter into a deceptive master-servant relationship, knowing that they would eventually cross paths.

“Yes.”

Bertil’s heart tightened as he realized that René looked just a little sad.

Hopefully, he couldn’t help but pray.

Hopefully someone would appear to comfort her in her loneliness.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye for now. Farewell, noble bat. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”

“It would be better if we never met…”

Bertil staggered to his feet, though he was not in an upbeat mood at the thought of the hardships that lay ahead.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to take one of those prosthetic hands as well. I think there is at least one magic-machine artifact in the treasury.”

“I allow it. I am giving it to you as a special gift of mercy. But you owe me this one. For now, every grain of sand in the treasury belongs to me.”

“Thank you for your blessings, Princess.”

“… Fufu.”

“Hahaha.”

Bertil thanked her in a condescending manner and they both laughed a little at the same time.

For a moment there was an air of peace, as though a warm breeze had blown in.