Kurone saw the wooden wall of the village after passing through a row of bushes. Was anyone still there? Probably not.
Amelia did not participate in the battle against Edward because she was in charge of evacuating the villagers. Along with the young woman were Linda, Edgar and the priestesses who came with Inri.
The coachwoman at first didn't agree with the idea of staying behind, but it was enough for Kurone to say ‘Please, you're the only one who can do this…’, for her to agree.
"Hey, wake up! We're coming!" Kurone shouted to the sleeping girls at the back of the carriage.
Rory was the first to wake up.
"I told you I hate being woken up by screams! Do you want to die?"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry. Next time I'll wake you up with a kiss."
"You! You've gotten very sloppy! I'll have to train you when we get to the village!"
Elisabella watched from the corner as the pair interacted as usual. She was surprised when Kurone mentioned that Rory was also an E.T.
"What are you staring at?" The rude little girl looked at Elisabella.
"N-Nothing!"
"Idiot! She's the princess of the kingdom!"
"I don't care."
"Uhhh. Are you guys fighting already?" The Black Beast said in a sleepy voice.
"As usual, Kurone and Rory always get along so well." Inri also teased Rory.
"How annoying!"
"Uhhh. Speaking of which! Kurone Nakano!" The Black Beast pointed at the young man. "I demand that you give me a name!"
"Huh?"
"Everyone here has a name. I demand one too!"
"A name... I am horrible at these things…" he said looking at the little girl next to him. "But if there's no way, then let's go… hmmm...."
Kurone stared at the tan-skinned loli next to him and then put his hand on his chin.
The choice of a name was something that should be taken seriously. However, the young man was never good at naming names. In online games, he always took advantage of nicks generated by the game.
'Kurory...? No, it looks like Rory's.'
'She's small... She has tan skin... White hair... How about Shiro? No! Too generic... She's a dragon…'
"I got it! How about Dora?"
"Dora?"
All the girls made a confused expression.
"It comes from ‘Doragon’.
"Dora-a-agon?" The little girl tried to pronounce it.
"Where I come from," Kurone winked at Elisabella, "the word 'doragon' means dragon."
"How lazy." Rory commented.
"Dora... Dora... Yes! I like Dora!"
"I'm glad."
"Very creative, Kurone." Inri commented.
"Don't flatter me, it was just convenient."
"I was wondering that... But why is her name Rory?"
"It's just that…"
"Here we are!" Naoh announced.
The carriage was stopped near the bridge that led to the entrance of the city. The little girl, now called Dora, was the first to jump out of the carriage, jumping over Noah's head.
Sophia arrived on the scene two minutes later.
"I wondered if they had left too." Kurone scanned the grounds with his eyes.
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Before leaving the village, the group of religious people from Avios Bishop tried to stop Kurone from taking the Black Beast. After a few minutes of arguing, Edgar and Linda joined with some adventurers and started a battle against Bishop's group.
None of them were there. Where would they have gone? Who won the battle? Kurone would have to put these questions aside for the time being. Their priority now was to get the children to where the villagers were. Probably Edgar and Linda were there too, as well as Orcus, who had joined them in the fight.
"Where did the villagers go?" Elisabella asked.
"To the nearest safe place from here." Kurone answered.
"Nearest and safest...?"
"The Sophiette manor!" Sophia answered this time. "Let's let the horses rest here for a few minutes and then go there."
"Sophiette Manor…"
Elisabella had seen the Sophiette mansion only once, as a child. She could vaguely remember the building, but she knew it was big enough to accommodate all the villagers and still have plenty of room.
"Then we will take you to the capital." Sophia concluded.
"I see."
"There must be food in the guild storeroom, I'll go check it out." Ana said, running towards the guild building near the entrance.
The flat terrain of the hill was devastated — due to Dora's attack —, and the village was in a sorry state. If compared to what Kurone had seen when he first arrived in this world a few weeks ago, it looked like the uninhabited lands of a ghost town. As a matter of curiosity, the place where the young man and Rory were summoned could be seen from where they were — Kurone glanced up and sighed.
"There's someone coming!" Noah pointed to the opposite side of the place where Kurone had arrived in this world.
A cloud of dust was rapidly approaching where they were.
In the distance he recognized the blue pointed hat, adorned with a white feather on top: it was Amelia.
At the girl's side was an unknown man. As they came closer, she noticed that the stranger was wearing very extravagant clothes for a villager. Could he be one of the nobles who supported Sophia?
He didn't have one of the best memories, but Kurone could tell he didn't remember that man at Sophia's trial.
The distance between them decreased even more. They were twenty meters, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen...
The man next to Amelia had a terrible expression, not a good sign. What could have happened in the space of less than a day?
When they came within ten meters, Amelia pulled on the reins and the carriage skidded through the ashen earth — the place where it skidded was exactly where Inri had erected the barrier to protect everyone from the fire of the Black Beast — the carriage stopped two meters from Kurone and his group, and, the unknown man jumped out of the carriage.
"Holland!" Elisabellla shouted.
"Princess! Princess! Oh, princess!" The man named Holland fell to his knees and crawled over to where Elisabella was standing.
"Do you know him?" Kurone asked.
"He's the castle messenger... But what happened? You look pale!"
"I found him near the lands of the Marquise Sophiette. He was attacked by bandits and they took everything but the clothes from his body." Amelia explained.
"Holland, what happened?"
"Princess…"
Holland fell to his knees and exhaled at length through his large nose. The messenger raised his face toward Elisabella's and showed crying eyes. He swallowed dryly several times before he uttered his next words:
"Princess…" he said in a hoarse voice. "The thing is... I-I... Your father…"
"Just say it!"
"It's your father, Princess! He's dead."
"Eh…"
The news left not only the princess, but everyone in shock. Kurone still remembered vividly the face of the old blind king. At Sophia's request, he had entrusted the young man with the mission to confront Edward and rescue the children.
How had he died?
Despite his age, the man did not seem to have any health problems. Kurone realized that he was someone who exuded vitality when he heard the king's furious roar, "KILL THIS HEREGE!". He remembered that cry well too.
An uncomfortable sound brought Kurone back to reality. Yes, he was again lost in thought.
It was Elisabella. The girl fell to her knees, at the same height as the messenger, and began to sob.
A deafening scream echoed through the grounds of Grain village, and was amplified by the mountains.