I Reject the villain’s ending.

Chapter 89.

I pulled the Western Continent Map from my subspace pocket, unfolded it, and made a small humming sound.
‘For now, I think we should get a rough idea of where this place is, do you have any ideas?’
The crown prince nodded at my question.
‘Well, the Cyanin Empire had a summer season, so at least it’s not ours, since the northern part of the Empire is probably a little cooler than summer at this time of year.’
‘Then it must be something further north on the continent than the Cyanine Empire, either the northernmost part of the Kingdom of Tanin or the Duchy of Halt, which lies above it.’
‘Why leave out the eastern continent? They could have sent them there.’
The crown prince’s words made me look like a fool.
‘You’ve got to be kidding, how could you send them to the Eastern Continent with teleportation magic, not even a dragon could do that, the distance is too great.’
‘Ah. I see. Even Leo can only teleport halfway across the Cyanine Empire.’
‘And once he does that, he’s stretched out with an energy discharge.’
‘Did you try it, or not?’
‘I tried it. How do you think we got from the temple to the capital?’
‘You came in a day, so I assumed you used a teleportation portal, but I never thought you’d let Leo get away with it. That’s just awful.’
‘I’ve heard all about that from Lord Leo.’
I shrugged lightly and studied the map.
‘I don’t think it’s the Kingdom of Tanin.’
‘Because the northern end of the Tanin Kingdom is covered in mountains?’
‘Yes.’
That narrows the field down to one.
‘The Duchy of Halt.’
‘The Duchy of Halt.’
We simultaneously shout out the correct answer and give him a troubled look.
He is correct; the Duchy of Halt is a land of ice and snow. Even in summer, it becomes slightly warmer, but the snow never melts.
In short, it’s the perfect place to freeze to death.
‘Diego, you son of a bitch-’
‘Calm down, you have a hard time later if you get too fired up, so let’s conserve our strength and get moving.’
‘What part of the Duchy of Halt do you think we’re in?’
‘I have a rough idea.’
‘……?’
‘I’m sure they’ve planned to completely exclude the possibility of us being found in a populated area and surviving.’
That’s true. I’m guessing Diego was the one who came up with the plan, so he’d have to have eliminated any chance of my survival.
‘Ah! But you can’t have…….’
‘Yes. A place in the Duchy of Halt that is forbidden and no one goes there.’
At the crown prince’s words, I could think of only one place.
‘The cursed plateau of Eclipse, northwest of the Duchy of Halt.’
‘Yes. A land of legend that has been called the Cursed Plateau of the Duchy of Halt since time immemorial and is off-limits.’
No one knows when or why it came to be called Eclipse.
It is clear that the Duke of Halt declared it off-limits, and no one approached it.
‘So our chances of meeting someone who can help us are… slim.’
‘As I understand it, there is a village to the south of Eclipse, so wherever it is, if we head south, we should be able to reach it over those mountains.’
I had to agree with the crown prince. But…….
‘Do you think we can get over those mountains?’
First, those mountains look smaller than my pinky nail, which means they are very far away.
The crown prince must have picked up on my subtext because he averted his eyes and laughed.
‘Still, somehow, even if we have to walk for days on end, we might have a chance of survival. It’s better than staying here and waiting for rescue and dying.’
‘I suppose that’s true, but whoa, we’re out of options, except to just go over the mountain.’
I pulled my compass out of my subspace pocket, clenched my fists, and looked into those wide-open eyes.
‘Let’s go, over that damn mountain.’
* * *
Mei was almost half out of her mind when she rushed in after hearing the news of Sierra and the crown prince’s disappearance.
She ran to Iros and cried out.
‘Guardian!!! I heard from Dian that the Saint, the Saint, the Saint is missing……. Hmph. Oh no, my saint.’
‘Mei, why don’t you calm down and come here with Jozef?’
‘Guardian, are you okay? Why do you seem so calm-’
‘Calm? You mean me?’
Iros questioned, turning to Mei as if he’d just heard the most egregious bullshit in the world.
Mei, seeing his pale face, quickly changed the subject.
‘Uh. No. I see you’ve already lost your eyes, then. There’s no way your guardian can be normal when the Saint is missing, amigo.’
Mei awkwardly averted her gaze, shivering under Iros’s piercing gaze, full of life. Only now did he look normal.
Iros pushed himself off the floor, squeezing his red, bloodshot eyes shut.
On the floor, a step away from him was a spell circle, intricately drawn and intricate, with blank spots all over it.
‘Mei, remember this. This is the magic circle that made the saint disappear.’
‘I remember.’
Mei nodded and stared at the floor, her voice heavy.
‘I didn’t see all of it, and I don’t remember some parts, so it’s for the best, Jozef.’
‘Hmm…….’
‘I need you to find out what kind of magic circle this is, and where they sent the Saint, as soon as possible.’
‘I’m afraid the teleport coordinates are not visible., but I’ll have the mages dig it out.’
‘Mei will draw them on a new piece of paper for you, and we’ll study them together.’
‘What are you going to do?’
Jozef looked at Iros, who seemed to have lost his mind, and his worry rose. He didn’t know what the bastard would do when his eyes returned.
To his anxiety, Iros answered, looking as ravaged as he had in hours.
‘I’ll find the remaining half-humans, and I’ll break every bone in my body to find where the Saint is.’
‘There will be bloodshed in the Empire for a while.’
‘Excuse me, Guardian.’
‘What is it, Mei.’
Mei raised her hand cautiously, meeting Iros’s gaze.
‘I heard on the way here that the High Priestess, or rather, Diego, has disappeared with a group of priests and priestesses participating in a hunting tournament.’
‘He must have run away because of what he did.’
‘Doesn’t that mean that the half-humans in the Empire could have gone into hiding at the same time that they sent her into the backcountry?’
‘……!’
‘Perhaps even if we tried to find the demi-humans now, they’d be long gone, most likely in their lair.’
Mei’s name is also ‘Wisdom’, after Eldrakis. The former maid might be clumsy, but her brain was reliable.
Jumping to conclusions, Mei ducked her head in shame as Iros, Jozef, and Diane stared at her.
Even Jozef, who had rivaled Eldrakis for the title of Sage of the Age, chimed in. He agreed with Mei.
‘Mei’s right, there are no half-elf halflings in the palace, the temple, or anywhere else in the empire right now, and since they killed the holy woman in the first place, they’re probably hiding and waiting for an opening.’
‘She’s not dead yet.’
‘I know how you feel, Iros, but-’
‘She’s still alive and unharmed. I know that. Because I imprinted her.’
‘What do you mean?’
Jozef asked, and Iros revealed the secret he’d been hiding from Jozef and May, who were staring at him distantly.
‘I’m half-human, half-horse.’
‘What?’
‘What?!’
‘…….’
Diane sighed and turned her head away. Jozef and Mei’s jaws dropped, and they came to their senses.
‘Well, then, why isn’t Diane surprised?’
‘Because she already knew.’
‘Uh, how?’
‘Because I’m a half-human half-horse.’
‘……?!’
At Dian’s words, Mei yelped and backed away. She hid behind Jozef, poking her face out, and stammered.
‘I, are you going to capture me?’
‘…Sometimes I don’t understand why Mei was chosen for her wisdom. Did all the stupid ones apply for this exam?’
‘Hmm. I’ve never heard of demi-humans eating humans, and I’m almost human, so I don’t have the same urges that demi-humans do.’
At Iros’s sarcasm, Diane smiled wryly and agreed.
‘It doesn’t make any difference that we’re half-humans, Mei, you just need to concentrate on finding out where the saint might have fallen.’
‘I’m pretty surprised you guys are half-man-half-horse, but they’re my favorites, so I guess I’ll have to keep my secret, haha. Two of my guardians are half-man-half-horse.’
Unlike Mei, Jozef didn’t look too surprised.
To be honest, he was the sort of person who would have been happy to walk past anyone who interrupted his research.
‘So it was the imprint of the half-demon that caused you to fall in love with the saint?’
‘That’s right.’
‘From what I understand, the imprinting causes your body to react when the other person dies or is injured, is that right?’
‘Yes.’
‘So that’s why you concluded that the saint was unharmed, not broken or injured in a single place.’
Jozef summed up the situation perfectly and snapped his fingers.
‘Okay. So the half-man-half-demon decided it was impossible to kill her right away, so it sent her somewhere to die a slow death, and we just need to find the place.’
‘……!’
‘Don’t worry. I’m going to check with the magic circle and see if we can find as many empty spots as we can, but before we do, let’s see if we can come up with some candidates for where she might have fallen.’
‘Really. That’s the first time I’ve ever felt lucky to have you.’
‘I’m counting on you to find my brother’s girlfriend.’
‘I stand corrected, I’m glad you’re smart, but everything else is unreliable.’
God is fair, after all. He must have given him the brains and not the rest, Iros muttered.
Jozef howled at that, then smirked and patted Iros on the head.
‘Are you calming down now? You were acting like you were about to die.’
‘…….’
‘Don’t worry, mate. I’m here, Mei’s here, and I’ve got the mages of Galil’s Tower and my researchers with me, so we’ll find him.’
Iros shook his head and clenched his fists at Jozef’s reassurance, the first time he’d ever sounded like an older brother.
‘I will find him, wherever he is, and bring him back.’
‘Yeah, man. We’ll find him.’

Jozef’s brown eyes softened at Iros’s vow.