The prosperous neighboring territory of Hove.
It had been reduced to an unbelievably gruesome ruin. Simon and Lethe walked through it with somewhat dazed expressions.
It looked as though a massive battle had already swept through. Every single building had collapsed, leaving behind dried bloodstains. Dead horses and livestock were buried under piles of ash, and large craters gouged the earth like the aftermath of a heavy bombardment.
There were also tragedies too gruesome to put into words. Lethe, who had been walking in silence, stopped in her tracks.
Lethe stood frozen.
Dozens of red crosses loomed over the hills of Hove. Corpses and skeletons, some looking as though they had been dead for a long time, hung from them.
They were the corpses of necromancers, the residents who had assisted them, or simply innocent people who happened to live here.
"Are you okay?" Simon asked worriedly.
She covered her mouth and lowered her head. It was impossible to tell whether it was the trauma of the corpses or shock at the atrocity committed by the Holy Federation.
Then, as if refusing to look away, she raised her head and stared quietly at the crosses.
"I might have taken things too lightly until now," Lethe said, taking in the sight of the ruined village.
"I thought that if a war broke out, I just had to fight. I believed I only needed to lead the warriors into Roc Island, expel the Witch of Death, and liberate the citizens of the Dark Alliance. That is what I always thought."
But that was only the tip of the iceberg.
Under the name of a holy war, the tragedies and horrors faced by the residents were thoroughly buried.
Efnel never taught us that such history existed.
"I can only think of how fortunate I am."
She sighed, brushing back her snow-white hair.
"Because I know this is the past, and that this war will eventually end. How painful must it have been for the people living in this era?"
They were children born in an era of peace, knowing nothing of war.
Yet just twenty-two years ago, this was their reality.
"The war might not end," Simon said firmly.
"If the Secret Society changes the past and drives a wedge between my parents, that is."
"Understood."
Nodding, Lethe took the lead.
"Let us hurry and find a carriage."
The two continued walking.
After thirty minutes, they found the first living person—a homeless man, to be exact.
When they asked him how they could get a carriage, he silently pointed ahead.
As they continued in the direction the homeless man had indicated, the downtown area of Hove, which was relatively less destroyed by the bombardment, revealed itself.
’So this is where all the survivors were!’
He had thought everyone would be wallowing in despair amidst the ruins, but the residents of Hove were living on, resilient and tenacious.
Signs reading ’Open’ hung on general stores and restaurants that looked precariously close to collapsing, and merchants had brought carts out onto the streets, haggling with people and eagerly selling their goods. A gentleman could be seen trading an expensive-looking framed painting for a single piece of bread.
It was noisy, and occasional bursts of laughter rang out.
Looking back, it was a pitch-black ruin, but the people were surviving as stubbornly as weeds. For the first time since crossing over to the past, Simon smiled.
"It’s because of people like this that Hove became prosperous again in our time."
"Yes, it seems so."
Lethe also smiled gently.
Since carriages occasionally roamed the streets, they could tell that coachmen were still operating. By asking around, the two arrived at a resting place for coachmen.
There, they began stopping anyone dressed as a coachman to ask for a ride.
"We wish to go here," Lethe said, pointing at the map to the former Neutral Zone, currently known as the Bahila Territory. The coachman’s face darkened grimly upon seeing the map.
"Nonsense. Miss, that area is a war zone right now."
"A war zone?"
"It’s one of the frontlines where Kizen and Efnel are fighting the most fiercely. A thousand lives wouldn’t be enough."
Every single coachman vehemently refused.
Now accustomed to such rejections, Simon revealed a jingling coin pouch from his bag.
"I’ll pay you whatever you want."
"Well, money isn’t the issue..."
Because of the war, the value of currency had plummeted drastically. Coins were nothing more than shiny pieces of metal.
"How about we simply buy a carriage?"
Lethe suggested the same idea as before, but Simon shook his head.
"The Neutral Zone. No, we don’t know how many battlefields we’ll encounter on the way to Bahila. We need the help of an expert who knows the roads well enough to avoid the fighting."
At least until they arrived in Bahila, they needed a coachman’s skills and know-how.
The two of them diligently went around asking the coachmen.
Just then...
"I’ll work today and buy something, so wait for me."
A coachman was stepping out of a ruined house. Over the wall, five children could be seen huddled together, seeing their father off.
As the coachman turned and started to walk away, Simon swiftly stepped in front of him.
"Whoa, you startled me."
"I want to go to the Bahila Territory. I’ll pay you whatever you want."
"Isn’t Bahila right in the middle of a war? And as for money..."
Just then, Lethe walked over.
"If money does not appeal to you, how about this?"
She lifted a sack. The coachman’s eyes widened as he inspected its contents.
"Are these... dates?"
The sack was filled to the brim with dates and various other fruits. In truth, Simon had packed them as a local specialty because they were Anna’s favorite fruits, but he never expected to use them like this.
An amount like this would easily last two months.
"We will give you half now, and the other half upon arrival. How about it?"
Ultimately, the coachman nodded.
With crops dead from the Ashen Judgment and people unable to freely pick and eat fruit, the value of food was far more precious than gold.
"Shall we depart today?"
After securing the carriage, it was now a battle of patience and waiting.
Simon and Lethe repeatedly slept and woke inside the carriage. They grew accustomed to the fireballs and pure white lightning flying through the sky like a nightmare.
The corpses on the streets became a familiar sight, and they grew numb to the checkpoints manned by soldiers scattered everywhere.
Cutting across the shortest route like that, the two finally entered the Bahila Territory, which would be known as the Neutral Zone in the future.
"Is this really the Neutral Zone I know?"
Bahila was an incredibly lush jungle. It was completely different from the image of a desert that came to Simon’s mind when he thought of the Neutral Zone.
Lethe waved her finger as she explained.
"In the era we lived in, it is broadly referred to as the ’Neutral Zone,’ but in the past, Bahila was a region divided into twenty territories. It was a massive jungle with highly developed vegetation."
"But how did it..."
"The problem was that wars were frequent because it was the border region between the Holy Federation and the Dark Alliance."
Lethe rested her chin on her hand and continued speaking.
"They say that land polluted by black magic or excessively purified by white magic will recover its fertility over time. However, the issue is the constant repetition of black magic being fired, followed by white magic. The land completely dies, turning into a place where nothing can grow."
As desertification gradually accelerated, the people living in the Bahila Territory began to leave one by one in search of better places to live, and the territory’s influence and power drastically plummeted.
Following the subsequent Era of Peace treaty, the Dark Alliance and the Holy Federation decided to leave the useless land of the Bahila Territory as a sort of border to establish their boundaries.
Thus, a land belonging to neither faction, the current ’Neutral Zone,’ was created. The concept of a Neutral Zone only became widespread after the Era of Peace began.
Anyway, upon entering the Bahila Territory, explosions rang out incomparably more frequently than before, and scars of war were easily visible everywhere.
The terrified coachman eventually said he could go no further, offering to hand over the entire carriage instead. He stated that he would buy a horse nearby and return to Hove.
And so, Simon and Lethe continued their journey in the carriage, just the two of them.
Lethe drove the horses wearing the same coachman outfit she had worn when heading up to Leshill. Simon sat beside her, chatting about this and that.
"Listening to Nephthys, I was originally supposed to come to the past alone."
Simon smiled warmly.
"I can’t tell you how reassuring it is to have you with me, Lethe."
"Hmph."
Lethe snorted and smiled.
"Do not be mistaken. I did not come solely for your sake. This is a matter concerning Miss Anna."
"Yeah, of course."
"Ah! Have you ever seen Miss Anna wearing the Efnel uniform? There is a photo of her in the student registry at the Efnel library!"
Suddenly extremely excited, she pressed both hands to her cheeks and let out a short squeal.
"She is truly so, so, so, so beautiful and cute! Enough to make me want to bite her! Ahh. To think the day would come when I get to see a teenage Miss Anna in person!"
Simon briefly imagined Anna wearing the Efnel uniform that Lethe always wore.
"Uh, well."
Simon awkwardly scratched the side of his head.
"I can’t quite picture it."
"Ahh! You have to see it for yourself."
Stomping her feet in delight, she suddenly cooled down, resting her chin on her hand with a flat expression.
"Sigh, to think the man who snatched away someone as pretty, noble, and capable as Miss Anna had to be..."
"What’s wrong with my father!"
"He is a playboy necromancer."
There was no way to refute that.
Lethe spoke sullenly.
"Fate is truly cruel. To think those two must end up together for the sake of world peace."
"Are you sure you really came to help me?"
"Setting my personal feelings aside, I will execute the task perfectly, so do not worry."
She shook the reins and continued.
"I am merely troubled over how to best persuade Miss Anna to meet Richard. Honestly, I still do not understand what Richard’s appeal is."
Anna had thrown away everything she had built up until then to follow Richard.
Of course, in the future, she would give birth to Simon in the quiet Leshill and live a sweet, happy life, but that was the future.
From Lethe’s perspective, it was hard to understand what motive and reason would compel the young Anna of this time to give up everything and run off with a necromancer like Richard.
Lethe, who had been groaning in deep thought, looked at Simon.
"What kind of person was your father in his youth?"
"Hmm."
Neither Richard nor Anna were the type to go around blabbing about their past. It could put them in danger, after all.
Simon recalled all the stories he had managed to pick up about his father.
Out of rebelliousness toward his father and the Polentia family when he was young, he abandoned his real name and operated under the alias Yona.
An immense talent chosen by Pier.
Dropping out of Kizen in his second year.
Then, achieving a brilliant career as a Legion Commander and making countless contributions to the Dark Alliance.
Until, while saving Anna from a crisis, he was branded with the stigma of the Legion of Betrayal and completely vanished from the continent’s history.
’But it does seem like he had a lot of issues in his personal life.’
The people who had talked the most about Richard.
Erzebet and Jin, the Grand Duke of the North.
Putting their stories together...
’...A hopeless playboy who loved to mess around.’
Arriving at that conclusion, Simon shook his head vigorously and smiled.
"He’s still a magnificent Legion Commander."
"Yes, yes, I am sure he is."
Muttering that, Lethe suddenly flinched and looked up at the sky.
"Damn it, hold on tight."
"Huh?"
She hurriedly yanked the reins. Simon also looked up a moment later.
’Ah!’
A barrage of pitch-black meteors was raining down from the sky.

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