Ladon underwent a sudden upheaval. The once-prosperous city-state erupted into rebellion within an incredibly short span of time and was swiftly overrun. No one knew exactly what had happened. Everything had moved far too quickly.
On the throne, the king trembled as he watched the rebels pour into the chamber. He wanted to face his final moments with at least some heroic dignity, but when those cold weapons were pointed directly at him, the pampered ruler had no choice but to admit that he was terrified.
Suddenly, he no longer wanted to die quite so soon.
The sharp click of heels sounded against the floor as a blue-haired girl, seemingly no older than a teenager, walked steadily toward him.
When the king saw the blue-haired girl surrounded by the rebels, he gritted his teeth and rose from his throne. Pointing at her, he shouted furiously, "Why?! Why would you obey the orders of a little girl like her and overthrow me? What could she possibly have given you?!"
"Because I promised them Order. A true Order in which everyone is bound by the same law, rather than one where nobles and commoners live under two entirely different legal systems."
Cerydra continued toward the king. Despite her small stature, the presence she projected at that moment was no less imposing than that of any ruler.
"Damn you! I am the king! I am a descendant of the hero who founded this city-state! I command you to seize this madwoman! I will pardon every one of you and grant you titles of nobility!"
The soldiers only looked at the increasingly hysterical king with open contempt.
Every one of them had suffered under the nobility. They were commoners whose families had been destroyed by aristocratic persecution, and some had even been slaves themselves.
They were driven by hatred, and whatever authority the king had once possessed had already been shattered beyond repair. Who would listen to the desperate promises of a man whose reign was already over?
"Who... exactly are you?"
In the end, the king collapsed back onto his throne and asked in a defeated voice.
"The ruler who will conquer Amphoreus. You may call me Caesar."
The king was eventually hanged from the gallows, and for the first time, the name Caesar became known across the land.
Inside the palace, Cerydra sat in the study the former king had used for state affairs. She looked at Caelus and Sunday, who were calmly drinking tea nearby, then at the mountain of government documents piled in front of her.
"Teacher, I believe a ruler should have people around her who specialize in handling administrative work."
"You need to get used to dealing with this yourself. The conquest won't take very long, since we have more than enough intelligence to work with. Once the wars are over, you'll have to learn how to govern."
"All right, Teacher. You're right. I do need to become familiar with administrative work. No matter what, I have to understand how the system functions. Even if I eventually have enough capable people to handle these matters for me, I'll be easily deceived if I understand none of it myself."
Cerydra accepted Caelus's explanation, which sounded suspiciously like an excuse for him to avoid paperwork, and began seriously working through the documents in front of her. Most of them concerned trivial day-to-day matters, but she still treated each one carefully and did not rely on Caelus's almost omniscient intelligence network.
Sunday watched Cerydra work and a hint of nostalgia appeared in his eyes. He remembered that when the Dreammaster had first taught him how to handle the Family's affairs, he had been much the same.
"I wonder how Robin is doing on Penacony."
After Caelus returned to Amphoreus, the flow of time had once again been accelerated drastically. From Sunday's perspective, five full years had already passed. Even though he knew very little time might have passed outside, after so many years he could not help wondering how his only family was doing.
At that moment, however, one of the precautions Caelus had left behind on Penacony was triggered. He had been concerned that something strange might happen during the Holy Grail War, particularly when someone eventually used the Grail to make a wish, so he had deliberately left several safeguards behind.
The one that had activated was the mark he had placed on Robin.
Caelus projected a portion of his consciousness across the distance. After briefly examining the situation, he withdrew his awareness and turned toward Sunday. After a moment of thought, he stated the matter plainly.
"Sunday, your sister's mind and personality have been split apart."
The cup in Sunday's hand shattered.
"It seems to be the work of one of the Servants participating in the Holy Grail War. Your sister's consciousness and sense of self have been divided into several separate fragments."
"Please send me back for a while. I'd appreciate it."
"It's fine. We're friends."
Stelle stared at the microphone, halo, and lipstick floating in front of her, completely unsure of what to do. If Robin truly could not be restored, she had no idea how she was supposed to face Sunday afterward.
After all, once Sunday had emerged from the Eternal Dreamscape, he had contacted the Astral Express and expressed his desire to board the train and become a Nameless traveling among the stars.
With Robin now in this state, Stelle genuinely did not know how she could possibly explain it to him.
"I'm sorry, Master. I did everything I could. Miss Robin was split into too many fragments, and these are all I managed to recover."
Artoria spoke with obvious guilt.
"Sunday is going to kill me when he finds out!"
Curiously, none of them were actually producing any sound as they spoke. Their entire conversation appeared through text at the bottom of their vision.
It was just like an old silent film with no voice acting.
As the scattered pieces of Robin's personality and consciousness began discussing how they might restore themselves, a gentle male voice suddenly echoed through the silent-film Reality Marble.
"Do I truly give people the impression that I resort to violence without even asking what happened?"
"!"
The sudden sound of a familiar voice made Stelle freeze. She turned around and saw Sunday walking toward them.
"Sunday! Weren't you traveling with Caelus? How did you get back so quickly? And why can you actually talk in here?!"
"Caelus told me something had happened here. Once I learned what it was, I asked him to bring me back. As for why I can speak inside a domain like this..."
Holy light suddenly radiated from Sunday's body. One pure white feather after another drifted down from above as he raised his head toward the sky. There was no anger in his eyes, nor pity. Only perfect calm.
Then Sunday slowly raised his right hand and extended his index finger toward the heavens. The instant Stelle saw that familiar gesture, she knew what was about to happen and immediately looked upward.
The sky tore open in an instant.
An enormous arm descended from beyond it.
The colossal hand reached forward, its index finger seemingly touching the finger Sunday had raised toward the sky.
Golden ripples spread outward, tearing apart the dimly colored world of the silent film.
At the same time, the scattered fragments of Robin that had been hidden throughout the domain came together once more. Robin was restored completely and stood upon the ground, whole again.
In the beginning was the Deed!
Meanwhile, Director Grady, who had been hiding behind the scenes, was suddenly wrapped in layer after layer of golden thorns. His abilities were silenced and sealed outright.
He did not even have time to speak before the thorns bound his mouth as well. They tightened steadily, and the pain grew worse with every passing moment.
Sunday lowered his hand. Seeing Robin standing before him completely unharmed, he visibly relaxed and returned to his usual tone.
"My apologies. I became somewhat emotional. The last time something like this happened, I hated myself for not being there."
That had happened long ago, when Robin was touring Kablinaat-V. She had gone there to stop the war, save the people living on the planet, and assist in delivering supplies from the IPC. To spread the ideals of Harmony, she had traveled to the front lines and performed there.
Unfortunately, war was merciless. A stray bullet from an unknown source struck Robin in the neck. Whether her desire to spread Harmony had somehow been rewarded or she had simply been incredibly fortunate, Robin ultimately survived without lasting harm.
But the incident had remained a thorn buried in Sunday's heart ever since. Now that something similar had nearly happened again, how could he possibly remain calm?
(To be continued.)
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◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)