The next day, those who had come as relief forces began to leave Crossroad one by one.
"The city-states all want to be of help to Crossroad and Prince Ash."
Valen, the leader of the Southern City-State Alliance, stroked his impressive beard and gave me a knowing look.
"I hope we can maintain a constructive relationship in the future."
"I look forward to working with you, Lord Valen."
We shook hands firmly. Valen then led his militia out of the city.
"...Should the monsters stir again, do not hesitate to ask for our support."
The chieftain of the 'Mirage,' a nomadic tribe from the west, adjusted his turban and said this.
"The people of the west are born to kill monsters. It brings us joy to slay them, whether they are greenskins or not."
"I will be sure to contact you again soon, Chieftain."
He placed his hand on his left chest and bowed slightly.
It was a Western-style salute, and I returned the gesture in kind.
The other leaders also came one by one to say goodbye before leading their soldiers away.
I bid each of them farewell with due politeness.
Only three forces from the relief army remained.
The Dragonblood Knights from the Bringar Duchy, the Fairy Scout Troops led by the Elf Queen herself, and the warriors from Princess Yun's Ariane Kingdom.
"I can never thank Duchess Bringar enough."
I nodded at Dusk Bringar standing beside me.
She had summoned all 500 of her soldiers regrouped in her homeland to Crossroad, and they had been a great help as part of the relief forces.
To my thanks, Dusk Bringar shrugged her shoulders.
"Shouldn't you be more than just thankful? Right now, there are 500 of my soldiers and thousands of my refugees in your territory. Be careful, or you might be devoured by me."
Dusk Bringar joked with a flash of her sharp teeth. I smiled wryly.
"I trust that you are not that kind of person, Duchess."
"Hmph, spineless lad..."
Muttering, Dusk Bringar rolled her round eyes at me, then suddenly patted my back.
"There is a saying, 'Victory and defeat are common in war.' Neither victory nor defeat should overly elate or depress a commander. Always be prepared for what comes next."
"Really?"
I thought I had maintained a poker face, but it seems this Dragon Lady saw right through me.
I smiled wryly again.
"Thank you for the advice, Duchess."
"Hmph, it's not like I said it to be thanked. I just couldn't stand seeing a young one struggle so much."
Snorting, Dusk Bringar walked towards her knights.
"I will go north to fetch the refugees who fled. We'll see each other again later."
Dusk Bringar mounted her horse and galloped away with her subordinates.
Next to approach me was an elf woman, walking calmly with a large stag beside her.
Queen Skuld.
She bowed to me demurely with a smile.
The four teardrop marks under her left eye were strikingly noticeable. I returned her bow.
"Finally, we can have a calm conversation, Prince Ash."
"I've been looking forward to this too, Your Majesty."
I hesitated for a moment on how to address her.
She was the representative of an entire race, much older than me.
But after the racial war a hundred years ago, elves had been reduced to almost a slave-like status, and it would be ridiculous for me, a prince, to address her too formally...
Seeing my hesitation, Skuld covered her mouth and laughed.
"Hehe. I'm just a representative of the elves left in the autonomous district. You can speak to me informally."
"No, I couldn't possibly do that... May I address you as 'Your Majesty'?"
"Of course. Call me as you feel comfortable."
With a compassionate smile fading, Skuld turned serious.
"The reason I sought to have this conversation with you is about the future of the world..."
I was listening intently when Skuld suddenly stopped speaking. She looked past me with wide eyes.
"...Wait. Just a moment."
"Yes?"
"I think I saw something strange..."
I turned to see what Skuld was looking at.
"..."
There, hiding behind a wall in the alley and peeking at us, was... Verdandi...
"Eek!"
Having realized our gaze, Verdandi hastily hid further into the alley.
But, it was too late. We had already seen her.
Skuld, with her mouth agape, cried out in a surprised tone.
"Verdandi, sister?!"
"Aaargh!"
Startled, Verdandi dashed out of the alley and ran off in the opposite direction.
What? Why is she running away!
"Sister?! That's you, right, Verdandi?! Oh my Goddess of the World Tree! Stop, sister! Sisteeer!"
Skuld hurriedly chased after Verdandi, followed by a group of fifty Fairy Scouts.
"..."
What was that about? What was she going to talk to me about?
Watching the elves' chase, I chuckled and looked ahead.
The last leader of the relief forces, Princess Yun, was standing in front of me, beaming.
"Have you been waiting long, Your Highness? Is it my turn now?"
"Princess Yun. I appreciate your help and wish you a safe journey, but..."
Princess Yun Ariane had shed her armor for more comfortable attire.
But it wasn't just comfortable; she was in pajamas and slippers.
A fluffy robe and slippers.
Noticing her outfit, I asked with a bead of sweat running down my forehead.
"It seems you want to stay a bit longer?"
"Rather than returning empty-handed, I thought I'd see more of the world while I'm out."
"There are many good tourist spots, no need to stay in this dangerous place..."
"It's a harsh place, so there's much to learn. Being next to the Third Prince, it should be easier to grasp the imperial situation."
I smiled awkwardly.
Well, having a hundred strong warriors from the Ariane Kingdom stay as guests is a welcome thing from my perspective.
"Don't worry. I won't be a nuisance. So, I'll take that as permission to stay..."
Yun narrowed her yellow eyes and smirked, then suddenly trailed off.
Her eyes widened in shock as she stared behind me.
What now? Why does everyone I talk to keep seeing something behind me?
Reluctantly, I turned around.
In the alley behind me, Kuilan and the members of the Penal Squad were making a noisy procession.
Apparently, they had been mobilized to clean up goblin corpses all night and were covered in green blood.
Seemingly heading to the public baths to wash off, they had stripped down to their waist, each holding a towel.
"What... what are those men?"
Mesmerized, Yun stared at them. I explained.
"They are from the Leaf Tribe, a beastkin group. They are under my command."
"Look at those muscles... Such great pectoral..."
Yun's jaw dropped open, and she even swallowed hard.
Ah, that's right. This woman said her ideal type was muscular and towering. That's considered attractive in the northern countries...
"And that red fur...! It looks so soft and warm...!"
"..."
The Penal Squad members were currently in a hybrid mode between humans and beastkin, with slight red fur covering their bodies.
Seeing this, Yun seemed even more fascinated.
What, was she into some strange furry thing?
"Those amazing muscle furs... no, I must have a talk with those warriors!"
Yun left me behind and quickly ran towards the Penal Squad.
Unaware of what was about to happen, Kuilan suddenly found Yun jumping onto his back and clinging to him.
Surprised by the sudden attack, Kuilan let out a shocked scream. Yun, unfazed, rubbed her cheek against his fur...
"..."
Considering his past encounter with the Troll Queen, Kuilan did have an unexpected popularity. I turned my head away.
'Good luck dealing with that, Kuilan...'
Right beside where I had bid farewell to the leaders of the relief forces, Serenade's airship was landed, and adventurers from the base camp were gathered around. I headed in that direction.
"Geronimo! Oh, Geronimo! You were alive, you were alive!"
For some reason, Kellibey was roaring.
Near the airship, Kellibey was almost crying, hugging the hull of the airship and causing a scene.
Sweating, I asked those around me,
"What's going on with him?"
Hannibal, Kellibey's assistant, answered awkwardly with a smile,
"This airship was designed by Master Kellibey himself."
"Ah, I see..."
"Yes. He thought it was completely destroyed and sunk, so he's quite emotional seeing it return."
Even so, crawling into the thruster seems a bit dangerous...
Anyway, I left Kellibey to his emotional reunion and extended my thanks to the other adventurers.
Most had been indifferent to me, despite my attempts to build rapport. Yet, they had all come out of the base camp to save Crossroad.
"There's no need to thank us."
One adventurer gestured towards someone else.
"We were dragged here by Nameless's threat."
"Nameless?"
"If we didn't help save Crossroad, she threatened to withhold her help in the Lake Kingdom's exploration... We had no choice. In those lake depths, she's the only rule."
I turned around quickly at that and saw Nameless standing there, with Serenade beside her.
I approached the two, who both brightened upon seeing me.
"Ash."
"Your Highness!"
"Nameless. Serenade. You've all worked hard."
I smiled wearily at the two of them.
"I'm always in debt to you."
"Don't say that. We did it because we wanted to. It's our pleasure to be of help to you, Your Highness. Please don't talk about debts."
Both smiled brightly. Ah, so dazzling...! I even dabbed at the corner of my eyes, pretending to wipe away tears.
"What were you two talking about?"
They seemed an unlikely pair. What common topic could they have?
"We're both merchants, aren't we? We found we had some things in common."
"We were exchanging information that we both need."
"Ah, right, both of you are merchants."
One is the only merchant in the Lake Kingdom's dungeon, and the other runs the world's largest guild.
I hadn't thought of it, but they did have that in common.
"Anyway, I'm about to head back down to the lake... but Kellibey is like that."
Kellibey had apparently rolled into the airship's thruster and was now inside the engine.
There were thumping and clanging noises coming from inside the airship... What's he doing?
Nameless gestured with her chin.
"I'll leave Kellibey behind for now, so send him back later."
"Will do."
I thanked Nameless again.
"Thanks, Nameless. For your help. And for rescuing Lilly..."
As I began to list the things I was thankful for, Nameless raised her hand to stop me.
"The invasion of monsters from the lake is my Lake Kingdom's responsibility. In a way, you and your people are paying for the sins we committed. I am the one who should be sorry."
"..."
"I am truly sorry for not being able to hold back the monsters properly."
Then, Nameless gave a faint smile.
"And, thank you."
"For what?"
"For surviving. For not collapsing, for enduring."
"Not collapsed, eh? Endured..."
I swallowed my words and looked around at the ravaged city.
Did Crossroad really not fall? Did we truly endure?
Am I... still okay?
"You will continue to overcome these attacks. I believe in you."
Nameless gave my shoulder a firm squeeze before turning around.
"Let's meet again, Ash."
Nameless, with her robe fluttering, took the lead, followed by the adventurers from the base camp.
After the adventurers had gone, I slowly turned to look at Serenade.
"Serenade."
"Your Highness."
"Thank you. Truly, for everything."
From the airship to lobbying for the relief forces, and so much more...
How can this person be so dedicated to me?
Words were overflowing within me, but none could make their way out.
I silently held Serenade's hand. She shyly smiled at me, about to say something when,
"Eep!"
She suddenly shuddered, suppressing a scream.
"Serenade? What's wrong?"
Alarmed, I quickly checked on her and then noticed.
The bandages wrapped around Serenade's shoulder and waist, just below her shirt.
Serenade frantically waved her hands.
"Do, don't worry about it! It's just a few goblin arrows that grazed me during the battle..."
"..."
"Really, I'm fine! It's just a scratch. Elize overreacted a bit, so I ended up bandaged like this..."
Yet, through the bandages wrapped around her slender arm and waist, bright red blood stains were seeping through.
Serenade kept smiling and assuring me she was fine, but her voice didn't seem to reach me properly.
Inside me, something felt like it was crumbling away.