The Great Expedition

The images in the screen of light continued to unfold.

Ever since news of the Sin Archbishop of Sloth's death had reached the royal capital.

The Emilia Camp's name had been brought before everyone, along with that achievement.

Throughout the royal capital's streets and alleys, some still refused to mention her name, and some still believed it was merely Roswaal building up her reputation behind the scenes, but others began to waver.

Outside the screen, Anastasia watched the scene, lightly tapping her fingers against her fan.

[Anastasia: That achievement is already starting to have an effect.]

[Anastasia: Next, the other camps might not be able to sit still either.]

She did not speak in absolute terms.

But all the royal selection candidates understood.

The royal selection was, by its very nature, a contest for public support, achievements, and prestige.

With the Emilia Camp suddenly taking down the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, the Crusch Camp, which had stood among the frontrunners on the strength of its power and reputation, naturally could not remain silent.

Before another screen, Crusch watched the images in silence.

There were gaps in her memory, but even so, she understood what that situation meant for her.

If this were a battlefield, then the Emilia Camp had already seized a major banner first.

The Crusch Camp had to respond.

It had to produce a result that could outweigh the defeat of Sloth.

The images on the screen soon provided the answer.

The White Whale.

One of the Three Great Demon Beasts.

A calamity that loomed in the skies, devoured lives, and could erase even names and existence itself.

The Crusch Camp had set its sights on him.

As long as they succeeded in slaying the White Whale, Crusch Karsten's prestige would rise to a height no one could ignore.

It would be an achievement that shook the Kingdom of Lugunica.

It would also put the royal selection back in her hands.

On the screen, the expedition departed the royal capital in the early morning.

Banners snapped in the wind.

Knights adjusted their armor, merchants checked their wagons, and mercenaries inspected their weapons.

Ferris rode an earth dragon beside Crusch.

He still wore his usual cheerful smile and seemed to be saying something that drew helpless looks from the knights around him.

Crusch rode at the head of the procession.

Her back was straight, her long green hair lifting slightly in the wind.

At that moment, anyone could see her resolve.

This was a great expedition with the camp's future at stake.

Outside the screen, Ferris stared at Crusch in the images, his expression slowly changing.

Of course he knew this was happening in another world.

But the sight of that person's back still left him unable to look away.

[Ferris: Lady Crusch... will we win?]

The images continued to advance.

The moment the White Whale appeared, the entire sky darkened.

Thick fog swept over the plains like a tide.

The earth dragons grew restless.

Some tightened their reins, some shouted formation orders, and some raised their weapons, but the fog soon swallowed their voices.

A tremendous roar came from the distance.

A white shadow swept through the fog.

The first soldiers did not even have time to scream before that enormous body crushed them into the ground.

Wheels shattered.

Banners snapped.

Armor twisted under immense force, and blood mixed with muddy water splashed across the grass.

The Crusch Camp's command structure did not collapse.

They were still fighting back.

The wind from Crusch's sword cleaved through the thick fog, Wilhelm charged ahead, and Ferris desperately treated the wounded at the rear.

But they lacked far too much: the exact time of the White Whale's appearance, intelligence about his splitting ability, and an opportunity to unite all the forces.

They also lacked Natsuki Subaru, who should have brought back information about the White Whale on another path.

Outside the screen, Garfiel gritted his teeth.

[Garfiel: You've gotta be kidding!]

[Garfiel: How are you supposed to fight a monster like that? Was that the kind of monster the boss fought before?]

After a while, Otto's text appeared.

[Otto: Judging by the timeline on this screen, without obtaining intelligence beforehand, the losses from a direct encounter alone would spiral out of control.]

[Otto: Besides, the most terrifying thing about the White Whale has never been just his strength.]

[Otto: He erases people from everyone's memories. That ability is the most terrifying thing.]

Just as those words ended, the images on the screen cut to Ferris.

He knelt among the wounded, the light of healing magic shining from both hands.

He pulled one person back from the brink of death.

But before he could reach out, another was swallowed by the white fog.

Ferris's movements paused for an instant.

He looked at the empty ground, bewilderment appearing on his face.

Someone seemed to have been there just now.

But he could not remember.

Their name.

Their face.

Their voice.

All gone.

Ferris's fingers trembled slightly.

"Who...?"

He asked quietly.

No one answered.

Some of those around him had not noticed that spot, and even those who had would immediately forget.

The battle continued.

The White Whale rolled through the fog, his enormous body crushing the ranks again and again. Crusch swung her sword to cut through the fog, attempting to regroup the battle line, but every time an order went out, some of the soldiers vanished into the white fog.

One person was missing.

Ten people were missing.

An entire squad was missing.

In the end, no one even remembered what was missing; they only felt that this battle was extraordinarily difficult.

Outside the screen, Emilia's face slowly paled.

She finally understood that the terror the White Whale brought was entirely different from ordinary death.

The dead could at least be mourned.

Those swallowed by the White Whale were robbed even of the right to have others grieve for them.

Crusch on the screen still did not retreat.

The wind from her sword tore through the fog again and again, her long green hair soaked with blood and mud, yet her voice remained clear.

"Re-form the ranks!"

"Don't let the fog cut you off from one another!"

"Anyone who can still move, rally to me!"

She did not break down.

Nor did she give up.

But the balance of victory and defeat had already begun to shift.

The White Whale's roar bore down from above.

The thick fog suddenly surged.

Crusch looked up.

The next instant, a gigantic white shadow plunged out of the fog.

As if sensing something, Ferris abruptly turned.

"Lady Crusch-"

His voice cut off.

The fog swallowed a corner of the battlefield.

When the white fog dispersed, only shattered ground remained.

No Crusch.

No corpse.

No bloodstains.

No one even remembered who had been standing there a moment before.

Ferris stood rooted to the spot.

His lips moved.

He wanted to call out a name.

But that name never came; only a blank emptiness remained in his mind.

Tears slipped down his face without his realizing it.

Yet he did not know why he was crying. He only felt empty inside, as though he had forgotten someone incomparably important.

"I..."

Ferris lowered his head and looked at his hands.

The light of healing magic still shone in his palms.

But he did not know whom he wanted to save.

He did not know why he was standing here.

He did not know what he had just lost.

Outside the screen, Ferris's expression changed completely.

[Ferris: Stop!]

[Ferris: Don't show any more.]

[Ferris: Don't make Ferris watch this.]

Before another screen, Crusch was also looking at that empty battlefield.

She was clearly still sitting here.

Yet the other version of herself on the screen had not even left her name behind.

On that battlefield, no one remembered her raising her sword.

No one remembered her giving orders.

No one remembered her leading her entire camp to confront the White Whale.

Even Ferris had forgotten.

Only tears without a reason remained.

On the screen.

The grand expedition came to an end.

Across the wilderness after the white fog had dispersed, shattered wheels, broken banners, and armor trampled into the mud lay everywhere.

Soldiers' corpses lay scattered here and there.

Some had died with their eyes open.

Some had not even left a body behind.

And still more had been swallowed by the White Whale, names and all.

The Crusch Camp had lost.

Lost so utterly that not even its leader's name remained.

Outside the screen, Anastasia slowly closed her fan.

[Anastasia: With this, the Crusch Camp is finished.]

[Anastasia: They've lost their candidate, lost their pillar, and even lost their memories of her.]

[Anastasia: Even if the remaining people survive, they'll scatter.]

Julius's text appeared next.

[Julius: What the White Whale devours is far more than life.]

[Julius: He also takes away every trace of a person having been loved, followed, and waited for.]

Ferris did not respond.

He only stared at the version of himself kneeling on the battlefield in the screen.

That other self was still crying.

Crying pitifully.

Crying in bewilderment.

Crying as though her entire soul had been hollowed out, yet she could not even find where the wound was.

The scene within the screen of light slowly moved forward.

At the edge of the battlefield, a figure in black appeared.

Natsuki Subaru.

He had arrived very late.

The White Whale had already left.

The Crusch Camp had already collapsed.

He stood among the wreckage, glanced down at the shattered flag, then looked in the direction where the mist had dispersed.

There was no mourning.

No surprise.

Nor did he linger over this crushing defeat for long.

He seemed to be searching for something.

The remnants of the battle.

Information that could still be used.

And things left behind by this defeat.

Meili walked behind him, twirling her ponytail around her finger, her tone light.

"Big brother, things really are awful here."

Natsuki Subaru did not answer.

He stopped amid the chaos.

In the distance was a mountain path obscured by mist.

The end of the path seemed to lead to a cavern somewhere.

Natsuki Subaru looked in that direction and suddenly smiled.

"Found it."

Meili tilted her head.

"Found what?"

Natsuki Subaru walked forward.

"The spoils."

Outside the screen of light, Ferris's pupils abruptly contracted.

The scene finally stopped before a person whose eyes were empty and lifeless.