Silently subduing the chasing maid behind the steadfast noble's son, the Court Wizards followed him all the way to the room his father was in.

Of course, they had to keep their distance and be mindful of the other servants the noble's son passed by, so a considerable time has passed between the son entering the room and the Court Wizards crouched to the door to eavesdrop.

"Wh-" Joshua immediately closed his mouth, realizing the occupants behind the door might hear and put two fingers behind his ear, switching to [Telepathy]. The other two did the same.

Why are we crouching? (Joshua)

I don't know, we just did.

And you're still not making any difference standing or crouching, Joshua. Try not to doze off while you're at it. (Emilia)

Emilia's usual snark aside, which seemed to lessen after the years gone by as the other two Court Wizards noticed which was still none of their business, Joshua's height, even when he's on his knees did indeed had his head still over the doorknob. He had to duck down a little passing through some of the doorways of this mansion.

No one will see us like this, right?

That maid did say that the noble doesn't want to be disturbed, and this hallway is pretty isolated from this floor and looked recently cleaned too. I don't think any maid would want to come here, so we're safe. (Emilia)

"If you really are my father and not a doppelganger, why would you aid him, father!?" Suddenly, even with the door shut, the son's shout was heard by the Court Wizards from the outside. "We have lost so many Beacons and brother-in-arms to the Green Deity who killed my mother and sister! Your wife and daughter! Our family!"

Huh, looks like we're on time. (Joshua)

Joshua, their family is dead! (Emilia)

Indeed.

Sorry, that was insensitive of me. (Joshua)

However, Emilia only sighed as she gritted her teeth. Ronald too, though he didn't do the latter that she did, considering his family.

Well, the father should be giving his reasoning as to why he colluded with the Spawns right after this, given that the son has concluded that his father wasn't murdered and replaced by a Spawn.

Even still, the Court WIzards didn't throw the possibility of the noble being a Spawn in disguise out of the window completely, until now.

"Yes, the Spawns did indeed kill our family." Though faint, the father's stern voice was still audible. "When they invaded this land for that damn Beacon. Thrashing this mansion, killing everyone inside, leaving us the only survivors."

And we can definitely see that. (Joshua)

Even though it has been more than a decade since the Beacon in this area, around the north center, and a little bit to the east, of the world map of Geron Yor, was retaken, according to archives, the Court Wizards could see the mansion was still damaged. The noble does not seem to prioritize his money to fix it.

Yes... There are still blade marks on the wall. The maids probably hid even more behind the paintings which seem to be not enough to cover them all. (Emilia)

And the carpet doesn't do a good job hiding the holes made by Spawn acid, it literally sunk into it. (Joshua)

We had to watch our step because of that.

And the paintings we passed by don't even have the noble's family in it, just their ancestors and random art. It would be really helpful if there is some for whatever photographs Daisuke even took. (Joshua)

After the brief silence, allowing the Court Wizards to mind chat, "And where were the Yellow Deity's most loyal followers, who forced us to live here just because we were the great protectors against the Spawn for generations?" the father continued, seemingly increasing his volume for every word. "Having a deity-damned party to indulge the champion's skirt-chasing fantasy!"

Ah, I recall one of the things the Bell Branches could gather, other than his family name which is almost useless since we don't even know its members except the head until now, though it's too late to be any useful, is that this noble's family had great military records that they were assigned to defend this area's Beacon.

That'll be good to remind ourselves of before going in nearly blind. But from the sound of it, the entire family was forced to be here. The noble doesn't seem to be even allowed to at least send his civilian family to the east where it's safer while he fights the Spawn causing them to be killed when the Beacon fell. (Emilia)

I smell the rest of the nobility's trying to curb this noble family's influence since they're really good at killing Spawns by sending them so close to the Green Wall. I mean, he's still a count, you'd think he'd be higher than that with all of his family's achievements and it's pretty strange that his territory is all the way here. (Joshua)

Yes, the nobility made this family very obscure that it took the Bell Branches significant effort to gather information on them. Heck, it even took us a while to find him out as he crippled the Yellow Deity's forces that the Guardians decided to take him out without knowing what will happen.

How horrible, all because they were jealous of this family's triumphs that the noble now turned against humanity. (Emilia)

Well, it's just as you expect of the 'nobility,' a bunch of self-serving corrupt politicians. We even have a general idea of why this noble betrayed humanity now thanks to them.

"No wonder the bloke tried to woo a female general Spawn and got his throat slit for it," the father spat. "The Green Deity even started to create more female generals after that! The champion of the Yellow Deity!"

Ugh, don't remind me about it. (Joshua)

Yes, it feels... insulting every time we take that mission, knowing the context behind it. (Emilia)

I believe the word you are looking for is called 'cringey' - apparently, this word should already appear on our 'Earth' a few years ago.

Ever since that perverted champion fell to lust, the Green Deity started to birth more female generals, making them more beautiful even, to replicate the same results. Rather than running the risk of it happening again, the Guardians opted to assassinate female Spawns whenever it's possible. It was a frequent mission they took which they did not like knowing how this repeated mission came to be.

"But the champion had still retaken the Beacon, right?" the son argued, not even denying that particular dead champion's perverse behavior. "Just as he promised to me!"

"The same promise when I was a child like you! By the slothful champion no less who let my parents and siblings die!" the father spat. "But once I have grown older, I saw just how shallow that promise was, he doesn't even look serious giving me that shameless excuse to hide his own laziness! Even if he had kept it!"

My goodness! He also lost his family when he was a child too!? (Emilia)

Hm, losing your family twice may have put the noble to the extreme.

"I have fought so hard to fend off the Spawns from killing us all, as every generation of our family did," the father continued. "But look back to the east, what do you see?"

"...The people happily living their lives in peace and hope." After a brief silence, the son answered, "singing praises to the champions who kept the Spawns from them and eventually defeating the Green Deity once and for all."

"And because of that the people, from the kings to peasants, remained aloof for centuries," the father growled.

Oof, that's a pessimistic way to put it. (Joshua)

"Yes, they may have shown the yearning to vanquish the Green Deity" the father continued, "but they are making light of it, for the war never touched their comfortable home!

"They never committed to the cause! The corrupt kings and aristocrats squabble amongst themselves, scrambling for the most glory and the champion's favor like a shiny new toy, all while the soldiers in the frontlines die the most gruesome deaths!

"And the common folk are no better! Picking up arms not to defeat the great enemy, but for the thrill and allure to fight alongside the champion against the Spawns, treating it like some sort of 'great adventure' until they realized it was nothing like what the 'epic stories' they heard upon acid in their armor!

"And the champion. Yes, the champion..." Then, it went silent, the father was probably taking a deep breath. "Just where did the Yellow Deity summon those wet-eared brats anyway!?" he shouted.

"The Yellow Deity does not have to summon a formidable warrior," the father continued in an annoyed tone. "Even a scholar would do - their knowledge can do more than taking up arms against hordes Spawns. But no~, it has to be some immature kid!

"Sure, they were an enthusiastic bunch and willingly risk their lives out of their volition hearing our plea, but they are just like the peasants, in the end. Only they are the 'hero' of this 'great adventure' just because they were blessed by the Yellow Deity.

"And you are not helping either! Giving your credit for each kill of the Spawn generals to the champion may seem honorable of you, but what you are doing is piling unrealistic expectations and an inflated ego to him! Especially when he contributed so little compared to the previous champions!"

He's definitely pointing his finger at his son right now. (Joshua)

Well, no kidding. (Emilia)

"I admit that the current champion is a bit cocky even though he did not take as many Beacons compared to the previous champions up until now, though that is thanks to you, and I had to save him multiple times. But the people need to feel hope and security in the champion now so he needed all the glory he can get," the son responded. "However, as you said, we have defeated many Spawn generals together, and even surviving against Gra, though all of that may be your doing as well. But that makes me sure that he will become a great champion in due time, I know this as his close ally since the start of his journey. "

"If you are really a close ally to the current champion, then you should know the strange things the champion says, correct?" the father suddenly asked, with the question seemingly disconnecting from the current flow.

"Huh?" And the son was equally confused. "Well... I guess he does say things I do not understand like the Spawns being something out of a 'zom-bee game' when he faced them for the first time, sometimes referring the common folk as 'en-pee-sees,' the Beacons as 'control points' with the Green Wall showing the progress, and that the Yellow Steel armor was 'oh-pee' being immune to Spawn blood.

"Oh, he also said that we were supposed to lose against Gra but survive the assault as we were attacked by a 'super-strong boss' like the Champions' Rival early on who should have appeared 'just before the final boss.' I think said that to console us with all of our comrades who fell to the champion killer and losing a Beacon in the process."

You know, I'm pretty sure I heard Gra being called the 'champion killer' by the Yellow Deity's forces in the frontline. Not just by the noble's son we hear now.

Yeah, that's his unofficial title which is an open secret among the soldiers. Champions' Rival is the official one to keep the morale of the civilians. (Joshua)

Well, I guess it would cause unease for the people to hear of a single Spawn general dubbed as the 'champion killer'. (Emilia)

"And he is not the only champion who preached such nonsense, many summoned champions I have met spouted such words. Sure, it was confusing at first, but after hearing it enough times, I understood," the father said in a strangely calm tone. Then, he exclaimed, "they think of this world as a chessboard! Our war a game to them! They do not even think of us as living people! We are but mere puppets meant only to serve them in their 'quest'!

"The local champions from the far-flung villages are at least better than that! Even if they are the same as the rest of the peasants and get cocky being chosen as the champion, they know the stakes once they have tasted their first battle!"

He's got a point, you know. Summoning some kid from the twenty-first century ain't champion material, they always see the whole mission they're summoned for as a game. (Joshua)

And I am quite thankful that my world's deity chose local heroes to fight against demon lords instead of summoning them. (Emilia)

If I'm not wrong, for centuries, it has always been a modern 'Earth' teen that's summoned, correct?

According to our lost records, yeah. We haven't discovered Geron Yor Earth yet, so the time flow between the two worlds is still different by who knows how many centuries faster for Geron Yor compared to the other. (Joshua)

"You can give your encouragements to the other dead champions as much as you wish, especially to the immoral champion you so admire! But you cannot deny it, son!" the father exclaimed. "Humanity is a lost cause! Trapped in a perpetual state of taking and losing Beacons for centuries as those in charge bicker amongst themselves while the ignorant masses put their hope on the champions who see our conflict as a big game! I can see why the Green Deity wishes to destroy us, and he had noticed that same feeling within me."

I wouldn't put it like that. People are always under the yoke of corruption and self-interest. Just because the Yellow Deity's followers couldn't put their act together doesn't mean they're doomed. (Emilia)

Whatever it is, we got an insane guy who thinks humanity should die. (Joshua)

"You are insane, father," the son growled.

See? (Joshua)

"Bah! Say what you want! You cannot stop me!" the father spat. "In fact, you should even join me, son. Especially when I shall do this!"

Wait, what is he doing? (Joshua)

SHIING

"You will not!" With the sound of a sword being drawn, the son shouted, "I will stop you from impairing us right here, right now!"

"Just try!" the father taunted.

Alright, enough idling around. Move in! (Emilia)

GUBRAK

A loud noise masked the swing of the door as the Court Wizards saw the noble's son lept and plunged his sword to his father's heart, toppling over the desk between them. The middle-aged noble himself had a green glow in his hands as he crashed to the floor with his son. Spawn magic.

Did we even need to intervene?

"It is over now, father." After spending a few seconds in that position, the noble's son got up and pulled his sword before turning around to see the masked robed and cloaked figures of the Court Wizard. "And who are- Urk!"

"What the!?" Joshua exclaimed.

The noble's son was interrupted by a crude, yet sharp greenish spear protruding out of his torso, piercing through the Yellow Steel armor meant to protect him.

Eyes widened, the noble's son wordlessly looked back to see a rotten green armored humanoid figure, literally halfway coming out of a green circle on the floor. It gradually rose from the floor, holding the spear which struck the young aristocrat while pressing down on the dying elder noble who was smirking with its other green hand.

By the Otherworldly Court's term, it was a green-skinned acidic human. To the people of Geron Yor, a Spawn.

"Heh," the noble chuckled, spouting blood, having the last laugh. "I told you... c-can not stop me, son." And the noble closed his eyes, breathing his last.

SHAMBLE SHAMBLE

That wasn't the only one. Green circles formed around them one by one, with the same rotten faces of the Spawns coming out of them. As the Court Wizards looked out to the balcony behind the dying son, there was an aurora of green, seemingly surrounding the entire mansion.

"This is bad," Joshua muttered as he went into combat stance.

"Understatement of the year," Emilia replied sarcastically as she materialized her Cherished Armaments.

"Just focus or we'll all die," Ronald sterned as he faced the nearest Spawn whose head's only out, curling his hands as he prepared his family's signature Order, [Burning Fist].

Emotion suppression on.