Hidden Backers (2)

[Black, sweet, and fizzy, our friend Coca-Cola! For picnics! Energy boost while studying! Find it at your nearest retail store!]

[….]

[…This is Voice of the West Continent, back after the commercial break. Next news. On the 11th, during the Twin Moon Festival, an unprecedented incident occurred at Polaris Academy.

The shocking fact has been revealed that Cornelio Difind, a deserter wanted by the Failon Kingdom and former 6th seat of the Kingdom’s Seven Swords, had infiltrated Polaris Academy.

According to information released by Polaris Academy, the victims are Instructor L from the knight department, first-year knight department student Miss D and Miss A. And it has been revealed that Princess Knight Evangeline, who was at the center of the special enrollment issue several months ago, was also involved.

According to testimony from related parties, during the Human-Demon War, Sir Difind had repeated friction with his superior, Princess Knight Evangeline, due to his loose conduct, and appears to have carried out the attack targeting Miss D, who had a close relationship with the Princess Knight, out of resentment toward her.

However, it remains a mystery how he was able to infiltrate Polaris Academy, which maintains strict security measures, and with whose help he was able to survive without being arrested or shot after desertion.

The Kingdom has shown an unusually strong reaction. Karl Failonde, the 4th King of Failon, used the strong expression ‘challenge to the kingdom’ and demanded that ‘regardless of who is behind it, this situation will not be tolerated, and all authority regarding this matter, including the handling of Difind’s remains and the initiative in the investigation, should be handed over to the kingdom.’

Regarding this incident, Raiude Delonzo, Foreign Minister of the Delmaria Republic, stated that he ‘fully understands the Kingdom’s feelings’ and declared that ‘the Republic will also not tolerate this situation and will spare no cooperation in the investigation led by the Kingdom.’

Meanwhile, unlike the reactions of each country to the harm done to Miss D from the Kingdom and Miss A from the Republic, the Solaion Holy Nation, the home country of Instructor L, has not issued any statement.

Regarding this unusual response from the Holy Nation, some are spreading unfounded rumors that it is because Instructor L was a commoner in the Holy Nation….]

“Bio bomb?”

“A tactic used by the Demon King’s Army during the Human-Demon War.”

This was Instructor Lore’s explanation.

“First, they implant a bomb inside a Magical Beast, then feed it drugs to make it go into a frenzy, an excited state, and charge into enemy lines. Once the Magical Beast, which has been slaughtering soldiers in excitement, falls exhausted, they detonate the bomb.”

“That’s…”

“…”

Delphina muttered with a shocked expression, and I kept my mouth shut, grimacing.

“Yes. Judging by that expression, the Princess seems to understand somewhat.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“If you think about it purely calculationally, bio bomb operations are a groundbreaking biological weapon that provides ‘advantage’ to one’s forces with a terrifying exchange ratio.”

“But!”

To Delphina’s question, Lore answered quietly.

Toward him, Delphina shouted.

“Then, the Magical Beast with the bio bomb implanted…”

“Dies. Definitely.”

Instructor Eric continued from Delphina’s words.

“That’s why the academy’s current view is leaning toward the Demon King’s Army being behind this incident. It’s unimaginable that a person would do such a thing to fellow humans…”

“…”

“Looking at the case of Cornelio’s ‘Magical Beast transformation’… the only ones capable of such an act, transforming a normal person into a Magical Beast, would be those guys.”

Eric nodded and said quietly.

“Cornelio probably joined hands with the Demon King’s Army.”

“Are you saying the Demon King’s Army has begun reinvasion?!”

Delphina exclaimed in surprise.

“Surely not… it hasn’t even been half a year since the war ended…?”

“Of course, a full-scale invasion would be difficult yet.”

Lore nodded and continued.

“But if their leadership knows how to think, they wouldn’t take their defeat in the last Human-Demon War lightly.”

“…”

“It’s reasonable to expect that they would attempt some kind of deception to slowly crumble the Western Continent from within, investing more effort and time than the last war.”

“But the Kingdom is monitoring the movements of the Eastern Continent by flying near the Death Swamp…”

“We know nothing about the Eastern Continent. It wouldn’t be strange at all if they had ways to secretly infiltrate the Western Continent without being detected by human surveillance networks.”

At Eric’s words, Delphina’s shoulders drooped with a somewhat dejected expression.

“…Will there really be another war?”

But to her final murmur, no one could readily offer an answer.

“What are you thinking about so deeply, Princess?”

After the disposal of Cornelio’s exploded corpse and a brief statement taking.

Delphina and I returned to the guest house within the academy, escorted by security guards.

“…”

Delphina carefully asked me as I sat on the sofa, staring blankly into space.

“…Huh?”

“You have an expression like something doesn’t add up.”

Delphina had an expression of genuine concern for me.

“Is something wrong?”

“Many things have happened…”

“No, no. Not that, but…”

Trailing off, Delphina looked around briefly, then lowered her voice to a whisper.

Being a holiday, there were no servants in the guest house.

“…You met the Saint of the Holy Nation.”

“……Ah.”

Only then did I realize the nature of the uneasy feeling I had been experiencing.

‘I will not give up on you until the end.’

‘…No, could it be.’

The possibility that Cornelio might have been a lackey of the Holy Nation.

Conversely, it was such a blatant assumption that I hadn’t even considered it until now.

‘No, no, no, no. If we consider circumstantial evidence, things somewhat line up… but there’s absolutely no physical evidence.’

But what if, really, Cornelio’s ‘backer’ was none other than the Holy Nation?

It would mean that the Holy Nation possesses some method to transform humans into Magical Beasts, and has reached the point of understanding and being able to apply the mechanism of bio bomb technology used by the Demon King’s Army during the Human-Demon War.

It’s not entirely impossible. During the Human-Demon War, the Holy Nation, which was directly involved in the war, succeeded in capturing as many Magical Beasts as they killed.

If they had produced some meaningful results through several biological experiments on Magical Beasts?

‘But, is such a thing realistically possible?’

Unlike the relatively closed diplomatic relations of the Holy Nation, the Kingdom has taken a relatively open attitude toward Magical Beast research, inviting numerous renowned scholars or experts from the Empire or Republic to collaborate on research, or even disclosing parts of Magical Beast research to other countries.

Common sense would suggest that the Kingdom’s Magical Beast research would be ahead of, or at least not behind, that of the Holy Nation.

And even within and outside the Kingdom, apart from the achievement of synthetic chimeras, they haven’t produced any significant results yet.

Successfully achieving the transformation of humans into Magical Beasts, not just taming them?

Plus, reproducing the bio bomb technology used by the Demon King’s Army?

‘Realistically, it doesn’t make sense.’

Literally, unless some miracle occurred, the possibility that the Holy Nation is behind this…

Circumstantial evidence points to the Holy Nation, while physical evidence points to the Demon King’s Army.

Given that I had agreed to keep the contents of my conversation with the Saint confidential, I couldn’t easily lean the weight of judgment toward either side.

As I was deeply contemplating, thinking thoughts upon thoughts in my mind, it happened.

-Riiiiiiing!!!

“Uwaaah?!”

At the loud ringing of the telephone, I jumped up from my seat and shouted.

“…T-the phone?”

“Ah, I’ll get it.”

Delphina got up and approached the telephone.

“…”

But before answering, Delphina looked around, on high alert.

At her gesture, as if playing some kind of spy game, I spoke to her.

“Delphina, what are you doing not answering?”

“I-I was just about to.”

-Click.

As she picked up both the receiver and transmitter hanging on the telephone, the loud ringing abruptly stopped.

“Hello?”

Delphina said with her mouth to the transmitter.

After quietly listening with the receiver to her ear, Delphina exclaimed in surprise.

“…Prince?!”

Why is he showing up again?

“Hello.”

[Princess Evangeline! Are you injured anywhere.]

At the excessively fussy, sickly sweet voice that resonated as soon as I put the receiver to my ear, I shuddered and moved the receiver about a handspan away from my ear.

“Don’t speak so loudly, it’s ringing in my ears.”

[S-sorry.]

At my complaint, Prince Oscar spoke in a slightly deflated voice.

“…I’m fine. A knight department friend named Alice was injured quite badly, but they say her body is fine.”

[What about Miss Delphina….]

“Tell him I’m fine.”

Though the sound from the receiver is small, Oscar’s voice is naturally loud. Delphina, with the excellent hearing typical of aspiring knights, heard his voice and waved her hand as she spoke.

“…Well, as you heard.”

[I didn’t hear anything?]

Right, he’s not a knight.

“She says she’s fine. She’s a bit injured, but she’s a knight after all.”

[That’s a relief.]

Through the receiver, I could hear Oscar letting out a sigh of relief.

[Princess Evangeline?]

“What is it?”

[If it’s alright with you, may I come over there now.]

“Are you in your right mind?”

I said with a hardened face.

[B-but. Out of concern for my fiancée.]

“The sun is already setting, Prince.”

A dejected voice from across the receiver. I sighed and continued speaking into the transmitter.

“If you’re really concerned, I’d be grateful if you could just lend some strength to investigating Cornelio’s backers through Princess Yuriana’s faction. My father is raging right now.”

[The King of Failon, you mean?]

“Yes, well. It’s understandable, of course.”

I said with a small laugh through the transmitter.

“Who knows? Perhaps when Princess Yuriana ascends to the imperial throne later, the Kingdom might take a more active side.”

My group, including Delphina, stayed at the academy main building for about a day for statement taking and preparation against possible secondary attacks.

They were so quick that in the meantime, the Failon Kingdom had simultaneously issued an official statement on this incident and expressed their opinion to Polaris Academy.

Excluding all diplomatic rhetoric, the conclusion was essentially a notification stating, ‘Our kingdom will absolutely not remain silent about this incident, and we will take the lead in investigating all circumstances surrounding this incident.’

In a way, it was only natural—I, a member of the Failon royal family, had experienced a life-threatening situation. It would have been strange if the entire kingdom hadn’t been turned upside down.

Through the receiver, Oscar continued.

[Actually, my sister is also very worried.]

“I see, the Princess… If possible, could you please convey my sincere thanks to her?”

[Ah, yes. But, actually, that’s…]

However, Prince Oscar couldn’t continue and mumbled strangely.

“What’s wrong?”

[Well, my sister… saying she was worried about her future sister-in-law, arbitrarily sent a shadow puppet.]

-Knock knock.

Simultaneously, the sound of someone knocking came from the entrance of the guest house.

Delphina, without saying a word, picked up her hammer and headed toward the entrance.

-Creak.

The front door opened, and beyond it, a pitch-black shadow puppet waved its hand.

The shadow puppet opened its mouth.

[Hello, Evangeline! This is Yuriana von Valentine! I was worried about my cute little brother’s fiancée….]

“Kyaaaak!!”

-Thwack!

Delphina’s reflexively swung hammer crushed the shadow puppet.

[──Building 424, Room 4!!!!!]

From across the receiver, the distant sound of someone screaming echoed.