#743 (Patreon)

Chaos (4) 

“My God, oh dear God..."  

Philip, Terence, Edith, Jane, Albert.  

One of these five companions called out to God in a half-dazed voice.  

It wasn't really important who said it because the sight before them was so appalling that anyone could have called out to God.  

It was indeed a horrific sight.  

How should one describe it?  

Yes, it was like kindling.  

The capital of the United Kingdom was ablaze, just like kindling that had just caught fire.  

It seemed trivial, but it was not.  

Though many were unaware, the first city that came to mind when thinking of the United Kingdom was Landa, a major global city.  

And now, that city was burning like kindling.  

It was an event that would mark a page in history.  

However, the reason they called out to God was not just because of the fire.  

It was because of the madness that the fire had wrought.  

"There he is! He just tried to start a fire!"  

"Grab him!"  

"Aaaaahhhhhh..."  

A man holding a torch shouted as he saw a poorly dressed child in the alley, and soon others swarmed like sheep, surrounding the child.  

Their eyes shimmered with anger, madness, and twisted pleasure, and they held makeshift weapons.  

Frightened, the child collapsed on the spot.  

Yet, the people did not allow even that.  

"Get up, now! We need to find out who ordered you to start the fire! Are you really a prince?! Did you set the fire on purpose for a ritual?!"  

As commanded, sturdy men grabbed the child by the arms and stood him up.  

The child sobbed in denial.  

"No, I didn’t start the fire..."  

"Lies! There's a torch that's just been extinguished. It's still warm. Proof that you just put it out!"  

"No, please believe me. It was just because it was dark, I used the torch..."  

"Then why did you extinguish it?! You were hiding because you put it out! If you hadn’t committed a crime, you wouldn’t need to hide! Everyone, he’s practically admitted his guilt!"  

"Right! Right!"  

Impressed by this quick deduction, the crowd yelled in agreement, and the people who had stood the child up dragged him away, likely to the courthouse.  

To the place where they execute (alleged) arsonists and prostitutes.  

Prince Albert and his companions had seen the execution site on their way here and knew what was done there.  

“Ugh...”  

Remembering the scene, Prince Albert gagged.  

The child being dragged away struggled to escape.  

“Eek! Eeeeek!”  

Although the results were not good.  

Thud!  

As the child convulsed like he was having a fit, someone swung a bundle familiarly, striking the child on the temple and knocking him unconscious.  

The child’s neck twisted sharply and hung limp, and seeing this, Prince Albert vomited the contents of his stomach.  

“Bleaaargh!”  

Due to this, the group’s progress was momentarily halted.  

It was impossible to walk while someone was vomiting.  

As they stopped, some of the citizens looked their way, especially scrutinizing Albert as he retched, as if trying to determine if he was another orphan.  

“There’s another orphan here! Catch him!”  

Just then, someone shouted that they had found an orphan, and the people looking at Albert turned away and ran towards the source of the shout.  

“Changing into these clothes was a stroke of genius.”  

Philip sighed in relief.  

The rioters had glanced their way and passed by, thanks to their inconspicuous, ordinary clothing.  

If they had worn ragged clothes like an orphan or clothes that were too fine, they might have drawn suspicion and become targets.  

Of course, with Philip and Terence around, even if dozens of rioters charged, it wouldn’t be much of a problem, but considering their current goal was escape, minimizing conflict was preferable.  

“Did you prepare for this?” Philip asked Edith.  

He responded as if it was obvious.  

“The essence of investment is preparation. And this place is an absolute mess... no, it’s a living hell.”  

Edith paused to survey the capital's streets.  

Philip and Terence nodded in agreement.  

Despite it being their home, they could not deny it.  

The calamity unfolding in the capital was horrific, even to the eyes of Philip and Terence, who had experienced terrible wars.  

The fire that had started was spreading, consuming the city, and the people, intoxicated by the heat, were more focused on catching orphans than extinguishing the flames.  

Some were even gathering people to attack the palace, and beyond the buildings, screams and gunfire could be heard.  

It was a scene of chaotic slaughter.  

In some ways, it was more hellish than a battlefield where people killed each other.  

“Can’t we help?”  

Having vomited not just his food but also his gastric juices, Prince Albert asked in a pale, sickly state.  

The subject was omitted, but it wasn’t hard to guess what he was asking for help with.  

It was likely about rescuing the orphan who had just been dragged away.  

Prince Albert had just seen what happened to the child at the courthouse.  

Naturally, Edith and the others had seen it too, and they also remembered how the prince had reacted to the events at the courthouse.  

The prince was shocked.  

Proud of his worldly knowledge, he was profoundly impacted by the raw, unfiltered reality he witnessed.  

However, Philip firmly refused the prince’s request.  

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. Right now, our priority is to get you out of here."  

It was a harsh but necessary choice.  

As Philip had said, their primary goal was Prince Albert's evacuation, and escape took precedence over rescue.  

Attempting an unplanned rescue could jeopardize their original mission.  

"Besides, even if we try to help now, there are only so many we can save. It would be better for Your Highness to escape and thus reduce the risk of failure in the ritual, which could save more people."  

Faced with irrefutable logic, Prince Albert nodded weakly.  

He had spoken out of shock at the terrible scene before him, but he knew all too well that he could not help.  

Perhaps his asking if they could help was merely an act to lessen his own feelings of guilt.  

It was too shameful and painful for him, a prince, to be merely fleeing.  

"Everyone! Listen to this! There's news!!"  

Just as Albert stopped retching and was about to move again, a man shouted against a backdrop of giant flames.  

The flames cast dramatic shadows on the man, momentarily giving him an imposing aura.  

He lifted a radio above his head, reminiscent of a prophet holding a stone tablet.  

"Everyone, listen to this story!!"  

At the man’s shout, the citizens holding weapons listened to the radio broadcast.  

Of course, Prince Albert and his companions heard it too.  

It wasn’t pleasant news.  

[Attention, citizens! We have discovered that Prince Albert, the younger brother of Edward X, has fled the palace. Everyone, please look for him! We need him to stop the dirty tricks of the royal family. The royal army is defending the palace, so we can’t stop them head-on! Therefore, we must find Prince Albert! Only then can we stop the evil plots of the royal family!]  

The radio broadcast from the city, now a living hell, not only reported Prince Albert's escape but also explained why it was crucial to capture him.  

The streets, flooded with citizens, suddenly fell silent, and it felt as if everyone was looking at Albert.  

Fortunately, it was just a feeling.  

The sensation that everyone was looking at Prince Albert right after the radio broadcast was merely a misconception.  

That was normal.  

Under the dark sky, with the fire as the only source of light, it was nearly impossible to recognize Prince Albert amid the crowd.  

It was just a tingling sensation in his own feet, a misperception.  

"But the problem is that we thought such a misconception."  

Edith started speaking as they moved to a secluded alleyway along with the rest of the group.  

"If we think everyone is targeting us, we'll have to be more cautious, and that will eventually make us stand out."  

Edith presented a theory derived not from scientific causality but from personal experience.  

If there’s a suspicion, eventually, it will be revealed.  

It might have been dismissed as nonsense, but Philip and Terence did not.  

They agreed because they felt the same way.  

It was a kind of jinx.  

Similar to how traffic jams at crucial moments or important information always leaks.  

But the problems didn’t end there.  

"Now the rioters will search every child."  

Jane mentioned another issue.  

So far, they had been safe because Albert didn’t look like an orphan.  

The crazed people's target had been the orphans.  

But now that target had expanded to Prince Albert, who had fled the palace, meaning ordinary clothes no longer guaranteed safety.  

As Jane said, boys who looked to be about the prince's age would all have their faces checked.  

Therefore, the chance of Prince Albert's identity being discovered had greatly increased.  

"Was this intended from the beginning?"  

Terence muttered.  

He speculated that they had turned the city into a living hell to catch Prince Albert, but then he shook his head, dismissing it.  

It was like burning down a house to catch a flea; the measure was more drastic than the problem warranted.  

Even though it's crucial to capture the fleeing prince, it was hard to justify making such a desperate move as exposing one's own scandal to the public.  

Unless there was another hidden agenda.  

Terence, along with everyone else, temporarily set aside such doubts to focus on the immediate issue at hand—finding a new way to safely escape the city.  

"Don’t be shy with your ideas, just put them out quickly. It's dangerous to stay here."  

Edith urged the others, noting the absence of good ideas.  

Indeed, staying in a deserted alley amidst such chaos wasn't a wise move.  

The alley had been swept by citizens hunting orphans, but there was no telling when people consumed by madness might return.  

They needed to make a decision before that happened.  

"By car... impossible."  

Philip offered an opinion but negated it within seconds.  

The capital’s roads were now impassable for vehicles due to the debris from burnt buildings and the multitude of people.  

Philip’s armored vehicle was no exception.  

Moreover, driving such a vehicle would attract undue suspicion.  

"It seems impossible for us to escape the capital with just our current group. We need reinforcements. Someone to protect His Highness."  

After much deliberation, Terence voiced his opinion.  

The idea itself wasn’t wrong, but the problem was how to summon such support.  

Philip seemed to recall something.  

"Are you talking about the paladins?"  

"Yes."  

Terence nodded.  

Whether by divine intervention or sheer coincidence, the headquarters of the United Kingdom’s Paladin Order was nearby.  

Naturally, being the capital’s branch, it was quite large.  

Though the numbers fluctuated slightly each year, there were about 300 paladins, and with the servants who assisted them, the force was comparable in size to a brigade.  

"With that many, it would be easier to conceal His Highness’s identity, and if necessary, we could forcefully break out."  

"Would they help us?"  

Edith skeptically posed a practical question.  

The paladins, once empowered by divine blessing with extralegal authority, had fallen into decline so rapidly in recent days that one could call it a collapse.  

They had lost their greatest weapon, the divine blessing and Holy laws, and along with the Parter Church, which had maintained human order, their very existence was threatened.  

"Even so, they still maintain that force."  

"Having forces is useless if there's no will. The paladins, now virtually empty shells without their Holy laws, would they help Prince Albert? I don’t think so."  

"They will help."  

Prince Albert, who had been quietly listening, spoke up for the first time.  

Seeing the prince's serious demeanor, Edith refrained from scoffing and instead asked why.  

Prince Albert gave an unexpected answer.  

"Probably, because she will be there. Child of the angel."  

"Paladin Joanna?"  

Philip mentioned the true name of Child of the angel.  

He too had met Joanna briefly in the New World.  

"It's not certain, but she might be at the paladin headquarters right now. If she is, she'll help us."  

Albert recalled his conversation with Joanna.  

She had warned him about the suspicious circumstances surrounding Crown Prince Edward, taking a risk to inform him of potential dangers.  

If she was indeed at the United Kingdom's Paladin headquarters, the likelihood of receiving help was high.  

"Oh, that changes things. If the Child of the Angel is helping, the paladins will likely assist as well. If they don't, it would be an admission that they're no better than empty cans."  

Edith, who had been skeptical, was the first to agree.  

"So, the remaining issue is how to safely transport the prince."  

"Since it's close, can't we just go as we are?"  

"We could, but it's better to be cautious if we have another option."  

"It might be impolite to suggest, but how about this?"  

Jane picked up a half-burned tarp lying in the corner of the alley and made a suggestion.  

Philip immediately understood.  

"Wrap the prince in it and carry him as if he's cargo? Disguised as luggage?"  

"Yes, it would have to be carried by either Colonel Philip or Terence, but I think this method is safer."  

No one objected to Jane's idea.  

Though one of their strongest protectors would be sacrificed, it was safer than moving the prince while exposed.  

The only concern was—  

"—I'm fine with it, Sir Philip."  

Prince Albert spoke up before anyone could ask.  

"Really?"  

"Yes, I'd actually feel sorry for you guys. I'm fine."  

With Albert's permission, Philip bowed slightly to show his gratitude, then, without hesitation, wrapped the prince in the partially burnt tarp, disguising him as a bundle and holding him close.  

Fortunately, the prince, in his early teens, did not seem too burdensome for the muscular giant over two meters tall.  

With preparations complete, the group moved again.  

"Terence, lead the way. Miss Jane, stay by my side, and Edith, please watch our rear."  

"Mmm... Okay."  

"Is there a problem?"  

"There's something on my mind, but now doesn't seem like the right time to talk about it."  

Unsure of what to make of the ambiguous comment, Philip tilted his head but decided to ignore it for now.  

The prince's evacuation was the immediate priority.  

The group refocused on their goal and, using the city's fires as their beacon, they cut through the darkness and crowd, rushing towards the paladin headquarters.  

"We're almost there."  

Terence, leading the charge, called out quietly.  

As he said, once they passed this alley, the paladin headquarters would be right there.  

Essentially, they had arrived.  

"But...?"  

However, as they emerged from the alley, the expression that escaped Terence’s lips was not one of joy at reaching their destination, but a puzzled question.  

No wonder, as they emerged from the alley, instead of the shadow of the paladin headquarters, they encountered a completely unfamiliar street.  

"What, what is this?"  

"Where are we..."  

"Something's off, what is it?"  

Voices of people intermittently pierced through the noise of flames consuming buildings.  

Coincidentally, those voices mirrored the sentiments of Terence and everyone else.  

What is this? Where are we? Something's strange here.  

Philip held the prince even tighter and asked, "Did we take a wrong turn?"  

"No... No, this is the right place. Definitely, this is it..."  

Despite emerging in a completely different location, Terence asserted they hadn’t taken a wrong turn.  

And this was true.  

The fact that Edith, who was quick to scold nonsense, hadn’t yelled at them was clear proof of this.  

Yet, despite this, they saw no sign of the paladin headquarters, only an entirely unfamiliar street.  

They had certainly taken the correct route, yet ended up somewhere completely wrong.  

There was only one explanation for this.  

"Philip. Do you remember when I said there was something bothering me earlier?"  

"Yes... I remember."  

"Do you know what time it is now?"  

"3 PM."  

Philip checked his watch and answered.  

Hearing his response, Edith gave a strange laugh and looked up at the sky.  

At a sky that was beyond gloomy, now dyed completely black.  

"But, there's no sun visible. It's like the night sky."  

"And your point?"  

"It seems the ritual has already begun. It's affecting space, twisting it. It sounds like nonsense, but what else could explain this messed-up situation?"  

Edith argued that the worst-case scenario they had tried to avoid had arrived.  

Just as Philip was about to say something, he spotted something from the corner of his eye, looking at a burning building.  

Terence also sensed it and quickly used his body as a shield, deploying a magical barrier, and right after, a massive fire explosion erupted from beyond the building wall.  

Pfffahahahaha━━!!  

An ominous sound that seemed to swallow and digest the air.  

It wasn’t just a simple explosion.  

If it had been, the magical barrier Terence had deployed would not have broken, and they wouldn’t have been thrown back.  

This explosion was orchestrated by a human disguised as a fire, researched and executed to kill.  

"Pinkman..."  

Philip recognized the culprit behind the explosion and pulled out a miniaturized longsword from his side.  

As he did, someone on the other side shouted.  

Though dressed like those inciting the riot, he was a formidable magic user and pointed at Philip, shouting, "There! The prince, Albert Prince!! There is the prince, trying to sacrifice us as offerings!!!"