episode_0149

It looks like the robe didn’t fit.

The emperor sat thoughtfully, holding his bag.

Lucas was able to escape because he was wearing the robe. Considering that he was able to block the Emperor’s sword energy and the swordsman’s sword energy, it can be said that the performance itself was definitely overwhelming.

However, there are limits to legal robes.

If the person wearing it is not insensitive to pain, or if they are not capable of escaping from a certain situation, they will eventually be rendered helpless by the continued attacks. Considering the pain caused by a single bullet fired by Sylvia, there may not be much need to worry by Imperial standards.

Not everyone who wears that robe can be like Lucas.

“It seems like your skills aren’t as good as Lucas’s.”

“… … Sorry.”

Jaden answered, bowing his head.

“No. What can we do? It was impossible from the start.”

“… … .”

The Emperor meant well when he said that, but Jaden didn’t seem to hear it that way.

The Empire’s Strongest Knight. You must be proud of that name.

Now that I think about it, I don’t think the two of them ever fought for their lives. At least I thought they had a certain amount of friendship among themselves.

“Verati isn’t dead?”

“Yes. He is currently recovering. His life is not in danger, but it is unknown when he will wake up… … .”

“Sylvia too.”

Jaden’s face crinkled. He probably thought it was because of Amarucas.

That was half true.

But the other half… …

“Okay. First, you go back to your mission.”

“Okay.”

Jaden was also wounded, but it didn’t seem to be that bad. Lucas was trying his best to escape. If it had been a real duel, Jaden wouldn’t have been safe either.

Jaden pretended to stand at attention, then turned around and left the audience room.

Alice had been staying in Sylvia’s room ever since. Even though she had heard that her wounds were not life-threatening, she still seemed uneasy. Although a caregiver was staying in the room, Alice wanted to help Sylvia with her own hands.

How did we become so close?

… … It must be because of Sylvia. From the moment she first came here, Sylvia was considerate of Alice.

“Hmm.”

The emperor opened the bag he was holding in his hand.

What was inside was Jibo.

It wasn’t completely unexpected. There’s no way he’d go all the way to the courthouse and cause a scene without taking anything with him.

But I didn’t know that this book would have such an effect.

“Because I’ve never met that kind of person before.”

The emperor muttered as if answering his own question.

“No, can you call it ‘human’?”

Most nations around the world, especially those with myths related to the Goddess religion, know that the Jibo is something important. Just by looking at the amount of magical power it holds, it is clear that it is a key that will be used ‘somewhere important’, but few people know exactly what its role is.

Yes, it was rare.

The Emperor was one of those ‘rare humans’.

There is a legend that can only be told from emperor to emperor, and only to the heir to the throne. It involves the griffon and the goddess.

But if we follow that story, Jibo was useless unless it was completed as one.

It would be nice to collect them all someday, but there was no need for the empire to be the target of the collection. The place where the treasure would have to be used was the Holy Land anyway. In the end, a war with the Dharma Kingdom was essential.

Even if the empire had only secured a single piece of will, it would eventually be forced to take it over and that would be it.

The gears of the machine that moves the world.

An unfinished machine device of Pangriphon that attempted to usurp the power of the Goddess.

The piece of broken gear was right there.

“I never thought that just one would have such power.”

A piece that forms a part of an important device. Common sense tells us that a single piece has no value. Even if it were, it wouldn’t be able to operate the device.

but-

Even if it’s broken, does that mean it’s an object imbued with the power of the goddess?

It wasn’t the masked woman that was important. It was the treasure she possessed that blocked Sylvia’s power.

Easygoing blocks the power of the masked woman. If you think about it that way, you’re right.

Of course, questions still remain. If Sylvia is a goddess or an incarnation of a goddess, why is she helping Pangriphon, who is no different from her enemy? Why is she trying to make Alice, not herself, the empress?

Perhaps, he is thinking the same thing as I am. The Emperor thought so.

If you wait for the moment when the Emperor collects the treasure and try to steal it at the end.

Even so, it would be necessary to check it out.

Sylvia was able to use her powers despite having support. The aftereffects were terrible, though.

And if the masked woman’s treasure isn’t nearby, there will be no restrictions on using her abilities after she wakes up.

It was absolutely necessary to gather Jibo in order to deal with any similar beings that might exist.

“This could be useful.”

The emperor looked down at the bag again and smiled.

*

I failed again.

She thought, dragging her creaking body.

Click, click. A mechanical sound was heard every time I moved my fingers. In fact, it wasn’t a sound that was necessarily made by moving my fingers.

Even when I was walking, even when I was moving my eyes to see something, even when I was thinking about something, I kept hearing it in my head.

I want to stop the sound, but I can’t. Because the sound of her moving is the only proof that she exists.

The body clearly had blood, bones, and flesh—

No matter where you look, what you see is the same. It feels like your body is floating in the middle of a kaleidoscope. Like you’ve become something infinitely small.

Every time I saw Sylvia, I heard a clicking sound in my heart. What I felt was joy, longing, happiness and sadness.

But, with this body, I can’t even make a sound properly. I can’t even laugh.

Alice—Am I Alice?

I have a memory. Since I have a memory, I must feel that way whenever I see Sylvia.

Sylvia had a sad expression on her face. Sylvia was shooting herself, ‘Alice’. But the shot missed—

Then Alice’s wings—

I regretted it constantly, endlessly.

No, would it be right to say that I ‘regretted’ it? Could I really have regretted it? That would definitely be the wrong expression. Alice wasn’t there at the time. To be exact, it hadn’t even happened yet.

Click, click. As my mind became more complicated, the sound of something moving grew louder. My head vibrated and shook.

In fact, aren’t the skin and flesh that cover this body nothing more than decoration?

If only these devices in her head were to prove that she exists.

Who created this body and put these memories in it?

Why did you just drop me in a place like that and not teach me anything? What on earth were you thinking, making me say such nonsense—

—Still, at least there was one thing I could do.

She might be able to tell you the truth about what she knows.

*

In the student council room, which I visited after a long time, I met a slightly uncomfortable person.

No, I guess I could just say ‘a little’. In a way, we were no different from enemies.

Especially from that perspective.

“Crowfield Youngae.”

When I spoke first, Crowfield raised his head and looked at me. There was a deep shadow around his eyes.

“… … What happened during the vacation?”

As Charlotte, who came in with him, asked that question before greeting him, Mia Crowfield’s condition was not very good.

If you see that the pupils have dried up, it means that they have cried hard.

It was understandable. It couldn’t be helped that he had heard firsthand that the family he loved so much… were such people. At that time, Mia Crowfield had fallen to the floor and screamed.

You may not know who to blame. It’s easy to blame one person, but if there are multiple reasons for it…

Still, there was hope, I thought.

It’s not like I quit the academy, nor am I just cooped up in the dorms. I couldn’t come to the opening ceremony today, but I was here in the student council room.

I think it’s safe to assume that you have the will to talk.

“… … .”

I thought I had to say something, but when I actually tried to say it, I didn’t know what to say.

Words that include the word ‘hello’ don’t sound good in English. Mia Crowfield was definitely not well. Likewise, ‘peace’.

Alice was glancing in my direction, and Charlotte, Claire, and Leo seemed to have noticed that the story was somehow related to me. All four of them stood a little distance away from me and Mia Crowfield.

“From now on… … ”

I slowly opened my mouth while organizing my thoughts.

“Let’s continue to get along well in the future?”

And the only words I could come up with weren’t very cool.

As I waited anxiously, not knowing how Mia Crowfield would react, Mia Crowfield nodded, albeit very weakly.

I was able to let go of some of my worries with that.