Chapter 88

The next morning, when Fred woke me up, I hurriedly changed and headed to Lastock. Of course, my purpose was to confirm Camilla's reaction. Camilla, who had just woken up, was sitting on the bed in her room, talking to her maid, Rosalie.

"Then, you really haven't done any treatment at all?"

"Yes, she just fainted, so there's no need to worry..."

"I see..."

In Camilla's left hand, she held a hand mirror. She was probably checking the swelling on her face.

"Um... Lady Camilla, the bath is ready."

"Ugh... I understand..."

When Camilla entered the bathroom, Rosalie picked up the discarded knight's uniform, placed the change of clothes, and left the changing room.

"Fred, can you bring me the note you slipped into the documents yesterday?"

"Understood... Lord Kent is... carefully... monitoring Camilla..."

Camilla, while soaking in the bathtub, kept worrying about her left cheek. Normally, a princess like Camilla wouldn't be punched in the face. However, she must have seen someone who had been punched, which is why she was puzzled by the lack of swelling on her own cheek.

"Kent... I've brought it..."

"Thank you, Fred."

I hid the note Fred brought me under Camilla's change of clothes. After drying her body, Camilla put on her undergarments and shirt, and then stopped when she picked up the knight's trousers. She turned around sharply, searching the changing room in all directions, but unfortunately, she couldn't find us. Camilla dropped the trousers she was holding and, with trembling hands, picked up the note.

"No... way..."

Camilla, now pale, collapsed onto her knees, desperately feeling for her pulse with her trembling right hand, and then stopped, pressing both hands to her left chest.

"There's a heartbeat... and blood is flowing... but without any treatment, the lack of any signs of being punched... which is it, have I been transformed?"

Sweat trickled down Camilla's slender jaw. She stared at the note for a while, then, as if to calm herself, took several deep breaths, stood up, and began to get dressed. After finishing her preparations, Camilla faced the full-length mirror, took several more deep breaths, and then folded the note and put it in her pocket.

"Lady Camilla, Clemens has a message for you. He says he wants you to go to the training ground when you're ready."

When Camilla returned from the bathroom, she heard the message from Rosalie, who was making tea, and her face returned to the one she usually had in her office.

"Clemens... has something happened?"

Normally, she would have used this time for self-training, but after finishing her tea, Camilla headed straight to the training ground.

"By the way, I haven't seen the results of Reinhart and the others yet..."

"Perfect... no problems..."

Camilla's summons was undoubtedly due to that incident.

"What is this!"

When Camilla reached the spot to survey the training ground, she stopped and exclaimed in surprise. Indeed, anyone would be surprised to see a mountain of giant logs.

"Lady Camilla!"

"Clemens, what is this mountain of logs?"

"I don't know. When we woke up, it was already like this..."

"Did no one notice?"

"I apologize. We were focusing on patrols in the direction of the Demon Forest..."

"I see, that's right..."

"Lady Camilla, it's not just the logs. There are other materials as well... this way."

Guided by Clemens, Camilla arrived at a place where ropes, metal fittings, shovels, and other items were piled up.

"What is this...?"

"Lady Camilla, these items..."

The note handed to Camilla by Clemens read, "My servants, use these with care..." Upon seeing this, Camilla's body swayed.

"Lady Camilla..."

"I'm... fine... just a little dizzy..."

"Your face doesn't look good. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, don't worry..."

"Please don't overexert yourself..."

"I, this isn't the time for that!"

"Ah, my apologies. Lady Camilla, what should we do with these items?"

Clemens turned to see that other knights had gathered, waiting for Camilla's decision.

"Even though we don't know the source, it's an emergency. Check the quantity and quality, then put them to use."

"Yes! I'll get right on it! Hey, check the quantity!"

Following Camilla's orders, Clemens ran to the pile of materials.

"Is this the power of the Demon King..."

Camilla, speaking softly to herself, started walking towards her office with heavy steps.

"Alright, this seems to have had a good effect, doesn't it?"

"Very effective... we should press the advantage..."

"Alright, I'll get ahead and press the advantage."

I used shadow travel to get to Camilla's office first and added another note.

"Eventually, Reisenburg will be in my hands. If you wish to protect the people, use the materials provided and show your ingenuity in dealing with the goblin outbreak!"

I mixed it in with the documents so she would find it quickly. I'll watch her reaction from the shadows again. Camilla, with heavy steps, entered her office, closed the door that had been open until yesterday, and collapsed into her chair. After staring at the ceiling for a while, she slowly shook her head, slapped her cheeks to refocus, and approached her desk.

"What! This..."

While trying to organize the scattered documents, Camilla noticed the note. After reading it several times, she suddenly looked up and scanned the office. Giving up on finding any traces of us, Camilla returned her gaze to the note and sighed deeply.

"Ha... Alright. I will protect the people of Lastock. Even if I fall into the hands of the Demon King, I will protect the people."

Camilla slammed the organized documents on the desk, stood up, and walked to the window.

"Clemens! Is the tally done yet? There's no time to waste!"

When Camilla turned around, her expression seemed to have returned to the confident one she had until yesterday.

"Huh? Did I fail?"

"She's decided to face it... the effect is unclear..."

"Ugh... since I've already given them the materials, it's fine, I guess."

I returned to the boarding house, had breakfast, and then went to the guard quarters to check on everyone. As expected, the temporary quarters were in a state of chaos, as the students had likely overheard the loud conversation between Mr. Nakagawa and others last night.

"Teacher! Teacher! Is it true we can't go back?"

"Answer us! Is it really true we can't go back?"

"Hey, is this for real? It can't be a joke, right?"

"Mr. Nakagawa yelled that the return spell is gone, so it must be real."

"No way! Come on, say it's a joke!"

In front of the room where the teachers were discussing, the students were gathered, and the atmosphere was tense. If I showed my face here, I'd probably be mobbed. I entered the room directly without being seen.

"Mr. Oda..."

"Ah, Kunitake... What's up?"

"Well, not what's up, but what are we going to do?"

"We were just discussing that. We'll gather everyone after lunch and explain, so you should attend too."

"Are you going to tell them about the lack of the return spell?"

"It doesn't seem like we can keep it a secret..."

Mr. Oda looked towards the door and muttered.

"I hope it doesn't cause a big commotion... What are we going to do from here?"

"Of course, we don't intend to give up on returning to Japan. However, we have no idea when we can go back. In the worst case, we might have to live in this world."

"Some people might say they don't want to work..."

"We plan to extract as much funding as possible from Reisenburg, but we don't know how much or when it will be available, so we'll need everyone to work."

"Oh... we need to register everyone with the guild... I completely forgot."

We had been so busy with the goblin outbreak, the dinner invitation, and the arrival of the Reisenburg envoy that we forgot to register the students we rescued later.

"Can you take care of that?"

"Yes, and while I'm at it, I think I'll report to Mr. Claus about the lack of the return spell... What do you think?"

"Sure..."

After thinking for a moment, Mr. Oda made his decision.

"Eventually, they'll find out, and since we'll be here for a while, it's better to be honest."

"Understood, I'll go to the guild first and then come back."

"Alright, I'll leave it to you."

At the guild, the morning rush had ended, and the atmosphere was a bit relaxed. After greeting at the counter and requesting to see Donovan, I was smoothly led to the staff area.

"Is it okay?"

"Yes, Donovan said to let you through."

Normally, we can't go past the counter, so I'm not sure whether to be happy or sad about this special treatment.

"Good morning, Donovan."

"Hmm... What is it?"

"Yes, I've come to report on the initial negotiations with Camilla and to register the students."

"Right, about 150, I believe. Fine, I'll send staff to the temporary quarters this afternoon."

"Thank you."

"So, how did the negotiations go... I don't need to ask, it didn't go well, did it?"

"Ugh... that's right."

"Can't go back, huh?"

I couldn't answer Donovan's question and just nodded.

"This is a welcome development for Volzard, but not for you."

"Yes, the temporary quarters are in chaos, and the teachers plan to gather everyone this afternoon to explain."

"I see... You should report this to Claus, it's fine at this time."

"Understood."

I bowed to Donovan and returned to the counter, then went upstairs and knocked on the office door.

"Who is it?"

"Good morning, it's Kent."

"Ah, come in."

"Thank you."

When I opened the door, Claus was looking at me, having paused his paperwork.

"Is something wrong?"

"Yes, I've conducted negotiations with Camilla Reisenburg."

"It doesn't seem to have gone well..."

"Yes, well... but it's not a bad thing for Volzard..."

"Hmm... You can't return to your original world, can you?"

"Yes..."

Donovan and Claus have such good intuition, it's like they're psychics. Or maybe it's all written on my face.

"Have you told everyone?"

"No, I haven't clearly told them, but most of them seem to know. The teachers reported it last night, and many overheard. They plan to gather everyone this afternoon for a formal explanation."

"It's going to be a mess, isn't it?"

"Yes, probably..."

"Alright, I'll attend the meeting."

"Really? You, Claus?"

"Hey, I'm the lord of Volzard. If we're going to live here for a while, it's not strange for me to speak to the people of the town."

"Oh, right, that makes sense."

I was surprised by the unexpected offer, but thinking about it, it's not strange for the lord to greet the people.

"Sorry to bother you during this busy time..."

"Don't worry about it. I don't want to deal with more trouble if a commotion breaks out, and besides..."

"Besides what?"

"It seems my son-in-law is in a bind... but wait, if you can