"You mean... Queen Polly and Prince Gallagher are both dead?"
Colin stared at the ashen-faced Great Knight and repeated in surprise.
Burns remained silent. Even if Queen Polly had brought her fate upon herself, as a Guardian Knight of the Royal Family, it was his dereliction of duty.
"Let's head back," sighed Colin.
He had not expected such an event to occur...
"Yes," Burns responded softly, hopping on one leg beside the bodies of Polly and the other, hefting them up one by one.
Perhaps because he was standing on one leg, what should have been a simple action seemed nearly enough to make him fall over.
"Your leg... is injured?" Colin asked.
"Mmm," Burns nodded silently.
Colin pondered for a moment, then conjured a force field to lift the bodies of Polly and the other off Burns's shoulders.
He looked around at the deep dark jungle and continued,
"Let's go, I'll fly you back."
Without waiting for Burns to respond, he grabbed his shoulder, leaped up, and flew towards the cave.
Although they had dealt with the Beast-faced Wizard, Colin was not sure if other dangers lurked nearby.
And with Delaisi and others currently alone in the cave... it was better to bring Burns back quickly and regroup to avoid further accidents.
The wind howled past, Burns gritted his teeth against the pain, blood seeped from his calf wound, then whipped away by the biting cold wind, quickly freezing into tiny droplets in the air.
Seeing this, Colin frowned slightly and slowed down a bit.
'After all... if Burns's left leg was rendered useless, he would need to expend energy caring for him during the rest of the journey.'
'Pity, his own abilities were too limited, thinking about it now, he hadn't mastered a single healing witchcraft... Resources, especially knowledge resources, were still so lacking.'
While thinking, they soon returned to the cave.
Perhaps because a fire had been lit inside, as soon as they entered, the temperature difference between the inside and outside was distinctly noticeable.
The icy edges by the cave entrance seemed also to have softened somewhat.
Before long, the dark and cold cave walls gradually brightened, illuminated by the flickering orange-yellow firelight.
"Colin..." Delaisi was about to greet him, but as he saw the scene before him, his pupils constricted, and his mind felt like it had been struck by a hammer, dizzy and disoriented.
Eliel, however, had a calm expression, like an undisturbed ancient well.
Colin slowly set down the bodies of Polly and the other, calmly saying:
"Let Burns explain the specifics to you."
With that, he paused and then added solemnly, "Your Majesty, you have ten minutes to handle all of this."
"After ten minutes, to avoid possible new troubles, we will continue our journey, leaving here as quickly as possible."
Delaisi finally came to his senses, nodded silently, then took a deep breath and started questioning Burns.
Colin turned and walked away, giving them space.
"Burns, tell me what exactly happened here."
"Tell me why Polly and Gallagher died, yet you are still alive!"
Behind him, Delaisi's voice gradually rose, filled with uncontrollable anger.
As a Guardian Knight, no matter the circumstances or whatever crisis he faced, Burns should have died before Polly and the other!
In such a situation where the master dies yet the Guardian Knight lives on, he wondered how Burns would explain this to him!
"Your Majesty, it is Burns's incompetence..." Burns knelt on one knee, head bowed in silence.
In a place unseen by Delaisi, a flicker of resolve crossed his eyes.
'Everything was for the Holy Flame Royal Family!'
'Wizard Colin is right beside... What Queen Polly did must not be known to him... Otherwise, if it angers the Holy Flame Royal Family...'
"You!" Delaisi, in a fit of rage...
Colin shook his head, silently blocking out their conversation, and sat cross-legged beside the fire, beginning to study the newly obtained Crown Ornament.
Taking out the Crown Ornament, and looking at its delicate craftsmanship and the interwoven gold and silver appearance, he suddenly felt a surge of thought and pulled out the Tin Saint School Token given to him earlier by Delaisi—a similarly gold and silver woven delicate feather badge.
Placing the two together in his hands, from the craftsmanship, style, and color, it was clear they were related.
Thinking for a moment, Colin continued to probe with spiritual power and magic power.
...
The ten minutes passed in a flash.
Colin slowly opened his eyes, confusion evident.
This Crown Ornament, whether due to damage or some other reason, gave no feedback whether he probed with spiritual power, magic power, or both combined...
'No need to rush, it's more important to hurry on our way now.'
Shaking his head, Colin extinguished the fire, and got up with the Renee sisters.
"Are you ready?" Colin asked Delaisi, holding the reins of the horse beside him.
"We're ready," Delaisi nodded, his expression calm, showing no signs of sorrow.
Click-clack-click...
Walking a few steps, Colin suddenly stopped and looked around, confusedly asking:
"What about Burns? Isn't he coming with us?"
Delaisi's expression turned cold as he softly said:
"Lord Colin, he is staying behind to dig graves and erect tombstones for Polly and the other..."
Upon hearing this, Colin nodded slightly, without saying much more.
Such occurrences of a lord dying and the servant perishing too were all too common… He was not surprised.