Chapter 281 – The Queen

000

The ice castle where the two entered was a place full of emptiness, silence, and loneliness.

There were traces of someone living here and there, but it seemed like it was a thing of the distant past.

Most of the objects were dusty and rolled around in an orderly manner, or were so badly damaged that it was difficult to recognize their shape.

It was quite sad to realize that even in a land of permafrost that would freeze even at such a time, something would rot and disappear.

If there was another thing that bothered me, it was that most of the abandoned objects were too large for human use.

As if the structure within the castle had a ceiling so high that it could reach the sky.

Also, for humans to walk around, the gap between the doors of the rooms was as wide as a playground, and it was huge like a castle gate.

“It’s a really big sword… Maybe even a giant lived here?”

[Giants… Giants. I don’t know if that’s the case…]

Gray was half joking, but Hermes took the story seriously and nodded his head.

“No… I’m joking. Giants have already disappeared a long time ago.”

[That’s why it’s possible. In particular, the ancient frost giants who divided the northern lands with the dwarves suddenly disappeared from the world one day. Perhaps, they may have been banished here as well.]

At Hermes’ words of her, Amelia recalled the image of the woman who had saved her earlier.

Even though she seemed small from a distance, she appeared to be a normal human being.

“How far is it to the very center of the castle?”

When Amelia asks, Hermes’ eyes twinkle and he looks beyond.

[If the place where the ‘queen’ is located is the center of the castle, there is still a little distance. Since this inside is so wide, it is natural if it is natural.]

“…Is that person living alone here? It’s such a large place, but I can’t feel any presence.”

At Amelia’s words, both Hermes and Gray had no choice but to keep their mouths shut.

To tell the truth, the two of them, if they were giants living in this place, were glad that they weren’t there.

Frost giants, in particular, are ferocious and dangerous beings known to be cannibals.

If I accidentally entered the territory where those frost giants lived, the end would be to be chewed up and turned into a piece of meat.

However, it was hard to believe that Amelia was unaware of such a danger and was speaking.

She just knew that in a place like this, she sympathized with her pain at being alone in a cold land.

“If you have any questions, you can pile them up one by one and ask the person responsible.”

Saying that, Gray grabbed Amelia tightly.

The space they are in now, where everything around is dark, and they say it’s better than outside, but where the cold air still lingers.

It couldn’t be helped that the mood naturally darkened, because even that gray had lowered the tension a little.

But even so, if they were swept away by this atmosphere and became dark, their hearts weakened.

Dig into that gap, and the magical powers of the other dimension will attack.

[Gray is right, Princess Amelia. This is the banishment area of ​​the final season. It is also a place where history is hidden that we do not know about. Guessing based on uncertain information only causes unnecessary anxiety.]

Hermes, too, took into account Amelia’s state of mind her and spoke words of comfort to her.

Amelia looked at the two of them quietly, then nodded, bringing life back to her eyes as if she had somehow gotten her mind back.

Seeing her that way, Gray smiled at her and held out her hand her to her.

“My hands get cold, so I’m going to hold the sword. This way, it’ll be a little warm.”

“…Yes!”

When Amelia said that and took Gray’s hand her, she certainly felt that her hand her was warmer than when she was walking alone, and that it gave her a bit more energy.

“Oh, and. The princess is taller than me, and we’re similar in age. It’s a sword that can be talked about.”

“…Then, let Gray talk to me too.”

When Amelia said that, Gray shut her mouth for a moment, then she smiled shyly.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to because I’ve rarely talked to anyone else.”

“Me too. …Huh, even if we don’t stop talking, we can feel the familiarity.”

When Amelia gave a small smile, Gray nodded her head as if she were right.

001

Had I walked like that for about an hour without resting?

After passing through the castle gate and moving a considerable distance, the party reached the center of the castle – a place passing with a sparkling blue light at its highest point.

When they found out that the true identity of the blue light was a magic crystal made of huge ice, the two couldn’t shut their gaping mouths.

It was because it was a crystal with so much condensed magical power that even if the magic power of all the people in the kingdom were gathered, it wouldn’t reach even half the size of the crystal.

And, as if to protect that magic crystal, the ‘throne’ standing firm.

Sitting on the throne was a woman wearing a blue dress with her eyes closed quietly.

It was she, the queen who appeared when she rang the bell at her door.

Gray and Amelia met each other’s eyes.

It’s good that she came here, but she didn’t know how to reach her.

Since there was a considerable distance, Gray cautiously opened his mouth, thinking that he would not be heard if he spoke in a low voice.

“…How do I do it? Shall I go and wake you up?”

“W-wouldn’t that be a bit rude… ? Say hello… “

When Amelia also opens her mouth in a whisper to match that gray tone, the next moment.

“You don’t have to. Jim is up.”

A voice was heard from behind Amelia and Gray, and the two hurriedly turned around.

Then, there was a figure who looked exactly like the woman sitting on the throne, standing there looking down at Amelia and Gray.

In her hand her, she holds a cane the size of her own height, and even in such a cold place, her shoulders her shoulders are covered with a thin material, so just looking at it makes her spine cool.

Of course, Amelia was dressed similarly, so I couldn’t say anything.

[…Princess Amelia, Grey. Look towards the throne.]

At that time, if Hermes spoke out and the two of them did what he said.

There, just as we saw earlier, a woman was sitting with her eyes closed.

However, seeing that a woman with the same appearance existed right behind them at the same time, Gray exclaimed in amazement.

“Are they twins!?”

“No. Neither of them is Jim. It’s just that I’ve taken my soul out of my body, and I’m wandering around like this. My body can’t rise from that throne.”

When Gray’s guesses were nicely off the mark, she only shook her head in response.

Then, calling herself a spirit body, she walked between the two of them, approached her throne, and bent her knees as if she were sitting on her own body.

Then, as if her body that had appeared in front of them was absorbed into the body of her sitting on her throne her, it disappeared.

The body that had closed her eyes slowly opened them and looked at the two of them.

“Welcome. Children of this world. Your visit, I am happy to allow you.”

“… I’m Amelia. May I ask your name?”

Amelia asked the woman who said she welcomed them with her solemn expression.

As Amelia had said, there was a quality of her queen in her.

“Jim has no name. Because she abandoned ‘me’ to sit on this throne. Jim is just, the queen of this frozen land. The ‘Queen of Ice’.”

The Ice Queen replied as she looked at Amelia.

Her eyes were still cold, and she seemed so emotionless that I wondered if it was some whim of hers that had saved her.

Amelia felt her gaze her like a wind of her own blade cutting through her own body her.

The Queen continued her speech, keeping her gaze on Amelia.

“There must be many things you want to ask Jim. What kind of place is this place, why is there no one alive besides Jim here? What kind of existence is Jim, and why did he let you into this place? And, how do you get out of this place? Can you?”

The queen poured her truth out of her mouth without hesitation, literally.

Everything she said was exactly the information Amelia and Gray wanted.

Especially the last one. She said that if the Queen knew how to do it, she must have listened.

“First of all, I apologize, there is no way for you to get out of here.”

However, she declared in front of them, as if to say that such hope itself was fleeting.

Those who enter this place, give up all hope. Called.

What flowed out of her mouth her as if to help a wanderer who had stepped into hell was not a poem to guide her path her, but a closing word to conclude her journey her.

Neither Amelia nor Gray knew from her demeanor that she was not joking or threatening or trying to intimidate them.

I could feel in her voice that what she was saying was the absolute truth.

The Queen’s voice is ‘Truth’.

At least in this realm.

That’s why the two felt that their eyes went dark at the end of the journey that had come so easily.

But Hermes was talking.

[Wait. Queen. I understood that there was no ‘now’ way out. If so, could there be a way to get out later?]

“Yes, ancient soul. You have a mind older than mine.”

The queen looked at Hermes with her quiet eyes and replied.

“Please tell me, Her Majesty the Queen. How can I get out of here?”

At Amelia’s question, the Queen shut her mouth for a moment.

“Answering sword! We must return quickly…! Otherwise, everyone is in danger!”

Gray, too, raised her voice as if urging the Queen.

However, the queen did not change her expression even at the urging of the two and answered.

“This is the land of the frost giants. You, before the queen. I show no mercy to those who do not prove themselves worthy.”

Clearly, even though she was speaking quietly, her voice that resonated from her throne her spread loudly and shook the entire room.

Her voice contained strong magical energy, and it became a powerful pressure and crushed the two of them.

“Aww…!”

“I’m sorry…”

Gray and Amelia fell on their knees in front of the queen at the same time, palms to the ground.

It was because a huge and heavy magical pressure attacked at the same time.

[Wait, Queen. Crossing these two is unforgivable.]

Hermes tries to talk to her, but her queen the next second raises her staff and lowers it to the ground.

Just like that, Hermes froze and fell to her ground.

“Heh, Hermes…!”

Gray, feeling the pressure as if her body was being crushed by a heavy stone, barely looked at it and let out her voice her.

“The reason I brought you here is to test you and see your worth. In a land of severe cold, where there are no stars. In the garden of ice where life suffocates, your weakness will be exposed. .The frostbitten mind will reveal its true form as the outer part rots away.”

The queen’s blue eyes began to glow even bluer.

When the blue jewel at the tip of her heavy staff she carries glows brightly.

Amelia and Gray created a large mirror in front of each.

It was shining on the two people inside, but for some reason it gradually faded and seemed to swallow them.

“Arrangement of the ancients, princess of tragedy. Prove your worth in the trials created by your agony.”

As the queen said so, she struck the ground again with her wand.

A huge vibration shook their bodies, and Amelia and Gray lost consciousness at the same time.

Soon, the two fell over the mirror.

Hermes just looked at it, barely maintaining his consciousness even in his frozen state.

002

Everything in the world has a ’cause’, so there is a ‘effect’.

If, when the opportunity to change one’s life comes.

If you haven’t missed it.

Also, if the result is what you want now.

If you think you’ve seen this kind of question somewhere, it might be.

Because peeking into another life is something everyone wants to do.

Amelia Chaldearis- No, a girl who has now abandoned the name Chaldearis and the name Amelia.

Her colleagues call her ‘Mea’.

It’s a bit of an obvious pseudonym, but now it’s a name that suits her better.

Growing up to be a well-to-do 17-year-old maiden, she decided to use her powers her as a Saint Princess, not just in the capital, but throughout the kingdom.

The first time she went outside of the royal capital with Aurelia and checked it out.

Because Amelia felt that her strength was needed in so many places.

She asks Aurelia to disguise herself as dead and she is free from her life of confinement.

Shedding all ties of her past her, she made her vow that she would live her life her only to do the right thing.

She melted down her pendant her, which gave her the power of her Spirit her, and interweaved the pieces into her mace and shield her.

Even though she lost the power to transform into a warrior to destroy demons.

In the fight against the undead, demons, and all unclean beings that do not belong to this dimension, the shield and weapon demonstrated outstanding power.

And her colleagues standing by her side of her.

Having lived together for more than 7 years, the relationship has now become like that of her family.

“Mea. Happy 17th birthday to her.”

After safely completing her adventure that day, Quon spoke to Mea who returned to Elesia.

What she handed over was a rosary that Quon himself created and imbued with divine power.

“Wow… Thanks! Quon!”

Mea smiled and gladly accepted her colleague’s gift her.

“When I first met Mea, I was so short… Now I’m the only one who’s grown up.”

Quon spoke as if he missed her first meeting her seven years ago, and Mea scratched her own blonde hair, a bit embarrassed.

“Really. I was surprised at that time. When he suddenly brought her little boy and said he would be her mate her. I thought she had kidnapped her somewhere.”

“Ke, Cleon-san couldn’t be like that~”

Lyla, a red-haired wizard who was drinking while standing next to him, and Sanacia, who has now become a famous hunter on the continent, talked.

7 years ago. Amelia was entrusted to Cleon, an adventurer who solved the academy’s problems.

To be precise, Cleon had accepted a request from Aurelia.

It was her request to take her to her, Amelia to her, leave her to her royal capital, go somewhere far away from her, and take care of her.

That was also Amelia’s will her, and when Cleon heard Amelia’s circumstances, he could only nod his head her.

Cleon first referred to her as his daughter her.

Of course, Cleon was only 20 years old at the time, so he was lying.

What can I point out to the magic swordsman who opens his eyes terribly and talks?

Eventually, Amelia—no, Mea—grew up as Cleon’s daughter, whom she had been adventuring with all this time.

As an imprisoned princess, she has been locked up for more than ten years.

It was to the point where I felt that the one year spent with Cleon and his comrades was much more valuable.

Run together in the vast meadow, or run away from traps in a dark underground dungeon.

Searching for treasures and rescuing people in trouble along with adventure.

Her long braided blonde hair her, destroying evil with a mace and shield, is already famous among adventurers and citizens of the kingdom.

She came to be nicknamed the former maiden of the flash (Valkyria).

I was a little sorry when I saw Cleon, who was bitter about me saying, “I’m still just a ‘magic swordsman’…”

“So? Where is he?”

Layla sits in her seat her and rests her chin on her, looking for Cleon.

“Looks like you’re talking to Mr. Lutios. It looks like the next request has already come in…”

“It’s not bad that my work doesn’t decrease thanks to Mea. I can constantly earn research funds.”

“However, it seems that the number of monsters has clearly increased since the incident in the royal capital.”

The incident in the royal capital that Sasha was talking about happened exactly six months after Amelia left the capital.

A large-scale attack by demons took place in the capital.

As a result, most of the kingdom’s soldiers stationed in the capital lost their lives, the Great Hall was burned, and many were sacrificed.

Among them was the previous king, Amelia’s father.

However, with Crown Prince Cassius commanding the soldiers and somehow driving out the demons, the capital regained stability.

After that, it seemed certain that the number of demons and demons rampaging across the continent had increased, and for adventurers, the peak season had been going on for several years.

“…Mea, I think something is restless.”

“Eh!? That’s right? Ah,haha!”

Mea flinched at Lyla’s point and flinched at her.

The reason Mea did this was nothing else, it was because of that Cleon.

Today is the day I turn 17.

It was because it was the day Cleon and himself made a promise.

A large amount of alcohol was given to Lila, and Quon seems to be moderately aware, so she exchanged glances.

Sasha… I’m sorry, but she decided to ask Perdia to separate them.

And, if you create a situation where you are alone with Cleon-

“Oh, there he comes.”

Then, as she heard Layla’s voice in her, she saw Cleon coming down the stairs.

From 7 years ago until now, unchanging black hair and black eyes. And when a young man wearing a suit of armor, a bit worn out but familiar, appears.

Mea got up from the spot and she ran to Cleon.

“Cleon!”

“Ugh… Meah. If you suddenly rush in like this, everyone around you will stare at you…”

Certainly, there were many people who looked at Cleon with the eyes of an envious child.

“It’s okay. It’s my birthday today. Let me fool around for a day.”

“Although I’m always accepting of your foolishness. First, let’s go to our seats.”

When Cleon said that, Mea looked around for a moment and whispered in Cleon’s ear her.

“…Tonight. This is my room.”

“…”

As Mea pressed her pounding heart, she spoke to Cleon as if asking.

“…Will you keep your promise?”

“…If that’s your truth.”

Cleon shook her head helplessly and patted her on the shoulder.

Amelia and Cleon made a promise.

On Amelia’s 17th birthday, she decides to take her first her.

Others didn’t like it.

If it weren’t for Aurelia and another person who saved her – Cleon.

The thing that can bring her the ‘happiness’ she wished for as a child.

Because she thought it was just that.

Amelia returned to the table where her colleagues were waiting, hoping for a quick night.

The woman she was now had everything.

If only I could show this to myself 7 years ago.

She thought she might have left the royal road a little sooner.

A tingling sensation was felt on her shoulder.

“…?”

Amelia tilted her head a little at the sudden sensation, but she shook her head and forgot about it.