"...Lady Lily?"
Even for someone like him, he hadn't expected her to show up here.
Ermes murmured in a daze. Liliana turned to face him and met his gaze—but quickly looked away.
Because she knew that if she looked at him, she would cling to him. She would lean on him.
Now was not the time. Now was when she had to be the strong one. Understanding this, she turned her gaze forward once more.
"—Princess, huh."
Yet even she now faced the captain's distrustful stare.
"You've been sitting back and letting your subordinates handle everything, so what business do you have coming all the way out here?"
"I'm not simply sitting back and letting others do the work. I came here to prove that."
Her finest rebuttal. But the captain's expression only twisted further in displeasure.
"Oh, you! What's this—has the princess suddenly discovered philanthropy? Is this some whim of royalty? Sorry, but we're sick and tired of that kind of thing!"
"Urgh!"
"Must be nice, having such incredible people watching over you! With subordinates like that, you can get almost anything you want! And now you want to hold hands and play nice?! That's no different from an order, damn it!"
"Get out of here!"
"This isn't the place for you to be making a show of yourself!"
A storm of words born from his distrust—things he would never normally say.
And yet, for all that, Liliana felt fear, but not offense.
Because—she understood perfectly.
She, too, had been on the side that lacked those things.
When someone possessing power beyond anything you could ever hope to match appears before you—and you realize they *might* pose a threat—
You know all too well how quickly a person loses their composure.
"If you understand, then get behind someone useful and disappear already—"
And so, she—
"—You—!"
First, she screamed. As loud as she could, to keep from being swallowed by this storm of emotion.
Then, in the silence that followed, she asked—as though searching their hearts.
"What... what do you want? Here, in this northern rebellion, with us standing before you—what do you want to do? What are you looking for?"
It was, in essence, a reconfirmation of their demands.
They, as if wondering if she were mocking them, raised their voices again in outrage.
"That's obvious! We just want you lot to actually protect this land—!"
But she cut them off.
"—Wasn't it *you* who wanted to protect it yourselves?!"
"—!"
That was what she said. Words that pierced into something within them—something that had been twisted out of shape.
Liliana pressed on.
"You wanted to protect this land where you were born and raised! The homeland you love! The place you're supposed to defend! With your own hands—no one else's!
That's why—you became soldiers, didn't you?! Even without Bloodline Magic, even without enough power, you wanted to do your part to protect this place!"
"..."
And there, for the first time—
The captain, who had been spouting his passion without pause, faltered. His expression went blank, and his words trailed off.
He looked as though he had just realized something.
...Liliana did not blame him.
Because she understood.
If someone who excelled at everything appeared before you—someone who solved every problem with effortless grace, like a hero from a story, suddenly arriving to shoulder it all—
You would grow dependent. You would lean on them entirely. Without even noticing, you would come to understand your own smallness and drift toward the easy path.
Just like these soldiers now. And just like Liliana had been, once.
So first, she said this—to dissolve the poison that had unknowingly taken root in them, and to redirect their warped understanding back toward the right path.
In truth, the soldiers showed a confusion unlike anything they had felt before. ...Her words must have struck some chord, however faint. That stirring in their hearts—Liliana understood it better than anyone.
And precisely because of that—
She had anticipated the emotions that would follow.
"...Yeah. You're right."
Just as she had predicted.
The captain spoke on—in a voice that was quiet, but not calm. It was the sound of passion building up once more.
"We wanted to protect this place. We wanted to believe that even our strength could protect it! That we could take pride in that! But—!"
He let out his lament.
"It's impossible! We can't do a damn thing against the Northern Federation—that monster Lucius wiped us out on his own! And the Ermes who saved us is just as much a monster!
In the end, the future is always decided by people like them! We're just pawns, no matter what we do—we'll always be pushed around by them!"
He laid bare the flip side of all the resentment he had harbored toward those who held power.
"So what's the point anymore?! I—*we*—took this job because... honestly? We wanted the kind of power they have! The power to protect people! But—"
—She had been waiting for those words.
"—Then I will give you that power!"
Cutting the captain off, Liliana declared.
With her own eyes, she had witnessed the divide, the distortion of this northern rebellion. The breeding ground of tragedy that plagued this nation. To stop it. To build a new country. The conclusion she had desperately arrived at—she threw it into the open.
"The power you desire—power like theirs, the power to protect—I will give it to you! So please..."
"...Wh-what?"
The captain's voice came out tangled in confusion.
Right now, their hearts were surely consumed by a single question.
Namely—*"How?"*
Before answering that question—Liliana looked once more toward Ermes.
With an expression of resolved determination, she spoke.
"...Master. May I make one outrageous request?"
"Of course. Go ahead."
To her surprise, the response came without a moment's hesitation.
Her eyes widened as she looked at Ermes... and then she understood. As expected of her Master—he had already grasped everything from the flow of this conversation.
Without hesitation, placing her trust in him—
She proposed the words that would begin it all.
"I will teach every single one of them the *Primal Inscription*."
Murmurs rose from Liliana's camp—from everyone except Ermes.
Confusion born from understanding the magic's special nature. Ermes gave voice to its true identity.
"If Lady Lily has decided this, I have no objections. This magic was conceived on the principle that *anyone can use it*. My own Master wouldn't fault me for it either."
"...No."
"But... you do understand, don't you? This magic cannot be used merely by *remembering* it."
Right.
It was precisely because they understood this point that the others were confused.
"Hey, what is it? What are you people talking about?!"
At the same time, the captain—having been left behind by that single bombshell—let out a shout.
But this time, it was not an accusation. It was a question. And the fact that he was asking questions meant—finally, he was ready to listen.
And so, with everything in place, Liliana began to explain. At times aided by Ermes's supplementary remarks—
The truth of magic he had once taught her. The nature of the *Primal Inscription*. And above all—how both Ermes and Liliana had once been what these men called "those who have nothing."
As this extraordinary story unfolded, they were bewildered—and at the same time, voiced their dissatisfaction.
"Hold on. ...Even if everything the princess says is true—"
"Yes?"
"—What good does that do us?! Like Ermes said, you can't use it just by remembering it, right? That magic!"
That dissatisfaction, too, had been expected.
And that was precisely why—right there, Liliana declared. The final step of the transformation she had envisioned.
"I said it, didn't I? This magic is Creation Magic. Its original function is to *create* magic. And I am also... though I cannot compare to my Master, a user of it."
Then, pausing, she swept her gaze across everyone present—and took a breath.
"Then—*I* shall create... *magic that anyone can use*."
That was it.
This was what Liliana had arrived at after stepping into the northern rebellion and being questioned by Ermes—a way of using the *Primal Inscription* that was uniquely hers.
Ermes had used it with the goal of creating his own *Unique Magic* that surpassed all existing magic.
What Liliana aimed for was different. It did not need to be superior to Bloodline Magic. It could be an inferior version of existing magic. But in exchange—
"If we use the *Primal Inscription* as a medium, anyone can use magic regardless of qualifications. My goal is to create as many of those as possible."
Yes. Her objective was the *creation of new General-purpose Magic*.
Magic even more powerful than existing General-purpose Magic. Magic that even the powerless, even those without qualifications, could wield—magic that would give everyone enough strength so they would no longer need to curse the weakness they were born with.
And beyond that—the future she envisioned. The vision she held as royalty, she declared clearly here and now, before the nation's people.
"Therefore, I, Liliana Josef von Yustia, hereby declare:
I will raise the magic level of every mage in this country—up to that of a Bloodline Magic user!"
That was her heartfelt wish.
Only she—who was born without Bloodline Magic and understood its cruelty better than anyone—could chart this course for the nation.
...Of course, she understood that realizing this would involve unimaginable difficulty.
The privileged nobles of the current order would uniformly push back. It was unclear whether it was even technically feasible. And the very act of "creating magic anyone can use" that she was about to undertake carried no guarantee of success.
But even so, the direction would not waver.
"So that you will not have to lament, as you do now, simply because you were not born with powerful magic! So that the distortions and tragedies born from the vast gap in power will cease to occur!
And above all—so that this becomes a nation where anyone can seek strength and magic through ambition and effort!"
By now, every person present was listening intently.
To her words—and to the unmistakable air of a true sovereign emanating from what should have been the youngest person in the room.
"As a first step toward that goal, I will create for you—using your strength—the magic you need to break through this crisis. I swear it!"
"...Ah."
"Or rather... please, let me create it. I cannot... I alone cannot do it. I have realized now that I cannot."
Before long, her tone gradually softened, returning to that of a girl her age.
"I hate this obsession with powerful magic that pervades this country. But... in the end, I was doing the very same thing—leaving everything to those who possessed it.
I am sorry. I will do better. And from now on, I need your strength as well. So please..."
Perhaps the fear had returned—she shrank under the soldiers' gazes, but refused to yield on this one point.
Through tear-filled eyes, she stood before Ermes once more, spreading both her arms wide.
"...Please... stop picking on my Master... any further than you already have..."
Her speech concluded where it had begun—at that first plea.
Silence settled over the area.
The heat the soldiers had carried at the start had long since dissipated.
Surveying the scene, the knight commander apparently decided now was the time to get through to them.
"...I owe you an apology."
The one who spoke was Toa, Knight Commander of the Harvest domain.
He first bowed his head, then addressed the soldiers.
"The fact that you could not come to me with your struggles, your unease—that you had to carry it all yourselves—that is my failing. Later, you may tell me every complaint, hurl every insult you wish. ...However—"
Even as he clearly acknowledged his own fault... he still had something to say.
"I ask you this. The person you just accused, condemned, and verbally abused—
*Who was it?*"
Every soldier present understood what Toa's words implied.
They turned their gaze forward once more. There, at the focus of their stares—
A girl who, even as she spread her arms protectively, trembled under the weight of adult gazes.
And a boy who had worn himself to the bone defending this place day after day, now broken in body and spirit.
One of the soldiers murmured.
"...They're children."
"Yes. Children. Even if they hold higher standing than anyone here, even if they possess greater magic than anyone here—
They are still young, still inexperienced, and still beings who should be protected. And yet—you all ganged up on them with verbal violence."
The instant they recognized this, the false image they had held of Ermes and the others shattered.
At the same time, a fierce sense of shame washed over them—the shame that any reasonable person would feel for having driven such children into a corner, for having, as Liliana said, "bullied" them.
Once Toa confirmed that shame had spread through the crowd, he moved to close the matter.
"You are in no state to make calm judgments right now. Consider this gathering dismissed."
"...Return to your posts, cool your heads, and think. Think carefully about the words Her Highness Liliana just spoke—the golden words that point to this nation's future."
No one defied Toa's command this time.
One by one—not abandoning, but reflecting—they left the scene.
◆
After confirming that the soldiers and Toa, who had bowed to them, were gone—
Liliana let out a breath and nearly collapsed—but caught herself through sheer willpower.
She would not be the one supported right now. That resolve held her upright.
And approaching her—observed by the surrounding retainers, supported on one side by Katia and barely standing—was Ermes.
"...Lady Lily."
At the sound of his tired voice, Liliana drew close—and embraced him.
Not clinging to him as she had before, but cradling the head of the kneeling boy in her arms. As though cherishing him. As though declaring that she would be the one to protect him.
"!"
"Wai—"
Ermes was startled, and Katia looked as though she might protest—but even she held back. She, too, understood the depth of Liliana's feelings.
After holding the embrace for a moment, Liliana loosened it slightly. Ermes's face, seen at close range, softened into a gentle expression.
"'Raise the magic level of every citizen,' did you? ...Now that you say it, that really was what was missing. Thank you, Lady Lily."
What came out was a word of sincere, unburdened praise. Liliana received it with visible joy, her cheeks flushing—but at the same time—
"...The one who should be thanking you is me."
"Hm?"
And so, she continued.
It was because Ermes had taken her as his student that she was here. It was because he had told her he wanted her to "find her own way of using Creation Magic" that she had discovered this wish.
And above all—
"The true reason I took on this wish... was because I wanted everyone to know about your great achievement, Master."
Yes.
Of course, her desire to reduce the divide and tragedy in this nation was no lie.
But beyond that... Ermes. After tremendous effort and an extraordinary journey, he had obtained that magic—and no one understood it. That was the most painful thing of all.
And so, she wished for it. So that everyone could understand magic—so that everyone could reach a level where they could comprehend Ermes's achievement.
That was her true wish. The heartfelt desire that made her worthy of creating magic.
"...I do not know if I can. More than that, I absolutely cannot do it alone. The magic I am going to create—the magic I must create—will require a great deal of your help, Master."
With that acknowledgment, Liliana spoke—having fully assessed her own capabilities.
"But, if I can do this—the magic I create... in the nation I build... I will never let you stand alone again, Master."
She embraced Ermes once more. With all the warmth and affection she could pour in.
And as her closing words, she made her usual request.
"So—please, stay with me. Stay as my Master from now on."
And so—
Having overcome the stratagem Archbishop Johann once used against Rose, Ermes and his companions pressed on.
And at the same time—
The first step on the path toward true revolution for this nation—the path to the throne—had been taken.