9.2.2
In the early morning, just as the world began to awaken, Ram lifted her head, sensing an indecipherable presence.
She was midway along the road cutting through open fields that stretched from the mansion to Earlham Village. Since Emilia had faced a bad experience with the villagers, Ram had left her back at the mansion on her way to prod and persuade the villagers to evacuate.
"—"
There was a slight rustle in the forest. Ram knotted her shapely brows as she sank into thought for a single moment.
Ram was a demon who had lost her horn. By nature, demons were acutely sensitive to changes in the forest and mountains. A sixth sense that differed from the other five informed her of a shift in the wind blowing from the direction of the highway.
Her small nose snorted. Ram, confirming that there was no hint of danger in the immediate vicinity, went down on one knee and concentrated on her forehead. She was activating her supernatural ability of Clairvoyance.
Clairvoyance was a secret art passed down among the demons that enabled them to synchronize with the vision of others, stealing their vision and seeing through their eyes.
Few demons had mastered the art to begin with; currently Ram was probably the only one. While it was activated, her awareness of her own surroundings was greatly diminished, limiting the places she could use it, but it was the crown jewel of reconnaissance abilities.
The master to whom Ram had pledged fealty had many enemies. For that reason, too, the supernatural ability was very helpful.
"—"
She disconnected herself from those deep feelings, concentrating the effect of her supernatural ability, and entered the vision of others.
Even where there were no people to affect, that was no hindrance so long as there were living creatures with the sense of sight. However, creatures with compatible wavelengths were limited, and in the past few days, she had been unable to grasp anything inside the forest where it mattered most.
However, that was not the case this time. She detected multiple compatible wavelengths from the direction of the highway that connected to the village. She entered one of them, seeing through its eyes.
"—"
The creature from which she borrowed that sight was a humanoid riding a giant beast of war—a great dog known as a liger. The rider was small in stature, slowly surveying the area with ferocious energy. He was not on guard, but nor was he at ease.
It was a power to see through the eyes of others. Naturally, his moving in contrast to Ram's will inflicted motion sickness upon her. Ram immediately shifted to a different set of eyes from the next compatible vision, ascertaining the situation anew.
Fortunately, this set of eyes politely stared straight at the road ahead. The height of his gaze matched that of the previous set of eyes, and he too was riding a giant dog. She could scarcely tell the difference.
"…What numbers."
However, that doubt evaporated when a great throng entered her borrowed field of view.
They were a group of forty or fifty people, each and every one armed. They galloped along the highway, tens of minutes away from the village. And she recognized the crest of the lion rampant on the armor of several of the armored men. This was the crest of the House of Karsten, proof they were of the same faction that had declared war via the blank letter the night before.
In other words, it was offensive action by a rival in the royal selection—
"Seizing on Master Roswaal's absence to make their move…!"
Ram understood that it was an emergency situation, urgent circumstances demanding an immediate decision. If their goal was to inflict damage upon the Emilia camp, they would surely occupy Earlham Village.
She had to strike before that could happen, using every means available to her…
And just when Ram gritted her teeth, ready to cut the clairvoyant connection and race to the village—
"…Huh?"
—she let out a dumbstruck voice.
Her feet, ready to set off in a sprint, stopped, and Ram's face grimaced extensively at the sight she beheld through the Clairvoyance.
It was that painful to comprehend just what she was seeing.
"—Barusu?"
A black-haired young man rode a land dragon at the forward tip of the formation, carrying a sign that he turned in every direction—as if to ensure it could be seen from front, back, left, and right.
Upon that placard was written in large characters:
THE LETTER IS WRONG. MY BAD.