I Married the Beautiful Female Protagonist In Order To Survive

47. Using a borrowed knife!

To avoid delaying the Queen’s return from Northern Ireland to the Great Albion Empire, the memorial for Arthur, the Knight Errant Commander who was ultimately “eliminated” by the sprite Lance due to the effects of “Chaos,” began the following day after the Queen and I informed Lance and Kepher.

After all, the fact that Arthur had been “overwhelmed by Chaos and eliminated” was a top secret. And since the entire memorial plan was merely the Queen’s “private matter,” I agreed to her request and didn’t make a grand spectacle of it. The Queen, myself, Kepher, and Lance, who was fully qualified to attend, were enough.

The Northern Ireland region was still under the influence of “Chaos,” but outside the cities, as opposed to the previous dangerous situation of “beasts and monsters roaming,” it was surprisingly quiet this time. Could it be that this “Chaos” was no longer indiscriminately affecting creatures, turning them into mindless monsters? Apart from the wind and snow, there was nothing that could be considered an “interference” along the way. Even if we occasionally encountered some wild beasts, Kepher’s mere presence was enough to scare them all away.

Thanks to this, and with the script’s guidance, I effortlessly led the three women to the location where Arthur had been ultimately killed, eliminating the source of “Chaos” at that time.

At this moment, the wind and snow had long since covered the “battlefield.” Only the surrounding fallen trees, half-buried, reminded us of the scene. The Queen, without hesitation or delay, created a small object, rudimentary yet resembling a “tombstone,” for Arthur, and gave a deep bow.

“Forgive me, Arthur, but if there’s a next time, I’d still bring you to Northern Ireland.”

Following a speech that could only make me exclaim, “As expected of you, Queen,” she took a deep breath and accepted the robe I offered her.

“Ugh… this Arthur, is still going to give me some trouble in the future. As a half-elf, she has quite a few connections with the Prussian Kingdom. Now, I’ll have to figure out how to explain to Adele that a unique elf died inexplicably on my territory. What a headache…”

Don’t say such realistic but uncomfortable things in front of Arthur’s sprite, Lance.

I glanced at Lance, standing dazedly to the side. I knew exactly what this vacant look signified, so I didn’t want to disturb her at this time.

At the same time, the script appeared in my mind along with the Queen’s words.

[Louise IV concludes the memorial.]

“Phew… well, the last thing I was worried about has been resolved.”

The Queen exhaled in relief beside me, and then…

Turned to look at me.

As if confirming the contents of her recent words, the lingering sorrow swirling around her completely vanished. The Queen had returned to her usual “facade,” but its sudden appearance gave me an instinctive, unsettling feeling in my heart.

However, the Queen’s next suggestion interrupted my wild thoughts.

“Alright~ Arthur has been memorialized, but it’s still early… hmm~ How about we go and give simple memorials to the ‘locations’ of those Knight Errant members we found along the way? Everyone~ No objections, right? If we’re going to mourn, we should at least do the whole set~”

I… was uncertain how sincere the Queen was in making this decision. But at this moment, I had no reason to refuse, nor could I. After exchanging glances with Kepher, we mutually consented to the Queen’s minor additional request.

“But tracing our steps back like this will mean covering quite a distance. If we stick together, we really won’t make it back to North Ireland City before dawn. How about this, then?”

A smile bloomed, the Queen clapping her hands together. “Let’s split up into pairs! Keefeil and Lance together, and I’ll go with Euclid. That way, we all have someone to protect and look out for us. When we’re nearing the end, we can meet up on the road leading back to the city. We can use the connection between Keefeil and Euclid to find each other.”

“Everyone… agrees, right?★”

——

It wasn’t a decision that needed much deliberation. Although, for Keefeil, this would leave the Queen “alone with Euclid,” but… this was the frozen, snow-covered wilderness outside North Ireland. And they had to pay their respects to the fallen Knights of the Order they found along the way, those who “once existed”…

So, Keefeil didn’t hesitate much before separating from the Queen and Euclid with Lance, to find and commemorate the remaining members.

But, was it just the atmosphere? Gradually, Keefeil could feel that Lance, the Sword Fairy who had been following behind her, was becoming more and more “off.” Even as she knelt to pay her respects to a suit of armor belonging to a fallen Knight of the Order, she could hear Lance muttering behind her.

“Everyone… died because of me…”

“If I hadn’t done anything in the first place, if I had made the right choice…”

“Regret… so much regret…”

The self-talk, like a chanted prayer, wasn’t annoying, but… somewhat terrifying. And the content itself was nothing but Lance wallowing in self-pity.

“Lance, you don’t need to dwell on it so much. Your decision was a collective one made by everyone in the Order, so… as long as you don’t regret it yourself, no one has the right to blame your actions.”

Turning around, Keefeil waved, hoping to help Lance shake off this unnecessary guilt. “Alright, don’t overthink it. Come help me make a simple grave marker.”

As she spoke, Keefeil began searching the surrounding snow for suitable branches.

However, a moment, two moments passed… Keefeil had even found suitable wood and constructed the small grave marker… but Lance was still standing there, repeating similar words over and over.

Regret, if only, what if…

Keefeil sighed deeply, deciding that she would have to wait for Lance to calm down before trying to reason with her. So, she concentrated on the final touches of the grave marker. But, it was at that very moment…

That Lance’s muttering began to change, just slightly.

“I don’t want to regret… I can’t regret it, I can’t let them die for nothing… I can’t let anyone know I was wrong, I can’t…”

“I can’t… I can’t! I have to eliminate everyone who knows about this…”

“Keefeil, you… are one of them!”

As the words fell!

Lance, behind Keefeil, taking advantage of the moment Keefeil was completely unaware and unguarded…

Thrust the suddenly materialized light sword in her hand, right through Keefeil’s back and chest!

“I can’t… let you live…”

The action was decisive, without a trace of hesitation, as if Keefeil in her eyes was already an enemy.

——

The Queen’s uniform version colored illustration from before has been rejected.

I will modify it and find a more harmonious version to replace it with. The original version, well, you know. *Wink*