An independent quest usually refers to a “quest allocated to a character.” As such, not every named character has one, but any named character who could be called important harbors at least one quest of their own.
Among them, Sophien’s independent quest—belonging to the person who could be called the most important figure in the world—was one I had never seen in any scenario.
“I shall grant your wish.”
I looked at Sophien. Those words of hers were more than enough to be called a “declaration.”
“Your Majesty. Even so, a wish is—”
“Hmph.”
At Creto’s attempt to dissuade her, Sophien sneered and raised a finger.
“However.”
That long, white index finger pointed at me. Perhaps she had taken my provocation quite seriously, for aura was shimmering at her fingertip.
Sophien asked,
“If you lose? What will you do then?”
I pondered for a moment.
I did not yet know whether ten mere days of practice would be enough to defeat Sophien, or whether it would fall short. I could not know until we played.
However, as long as this was Sophien’s “Independent Quest,” I could not avoid the challenge.
“There is nothing for me to do.”
“What?”
Sophien furrowed her brow.
“After saying something so arrogant, you mean to get away with—”
“As a member of the Empire, I have always sworn loyalty to Your Majesty. If there is anything Your Majesty wishes to receive from me, I am prepared to offer it at any time. My wish has always resided within Your Majesty’s heart.”
“……”
Sophien was briefly at a loss for words. She silently worked her lips for a moment, then thrust her face close to mine.
She seemed to be trying to read my emotions and sincerity, but at this moment, there was not even a speck of falsehood in me.
It was thanks to the fact that such words were a natural expression of my personality.
Deculein’s unique “elitism” meant, in other words, that he believed in the class system; he ignored and scorned bloodlines lower than his own, yet in the end, he showed boundless reverence and respect toward those nobler than anyone else.
Therefore, at least my feelings for Sophien were sincere.
I was “designed” that way.
“……Enough.”
Tsk— Sophien clicked her tongue and leaned back against the chair. Then she roughly opened the lid of the go stone bowl.
“I shall see your skill. Deculein, white or black? You choose.”
“I will take white.”
I brought the white stones over. Creto looked between Sophien and me with an excited expression.
“Good.”
With the black stones before her, Sophien rustled as she took one out.
“Let us begin the match.”
Tak—
Sophien’s stone descended. Her first move was the lower-right star point.
Tak—
I took the upper-left star point. Sophien took the lower-left komoku.
“Hmph.”
Sophien snorted, and Creto, who had somehow taken out a notebook, began recording the game.
Tuk— tuk— tuk—
The go stones embroidered the wooden board like raindrops, and the opening of the match flowed on without anything particularly unusual……
* * *
“Aaaaaaaaah——!”
Epherene and Sylvia ran like mad, and behind their backs, some gigantic earthquake was following close behind.
Thud—! Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!
A tiger. Its four paws, looking as if they might burst with muscle, produced terrifying rupturing sounds one after another.
The majesty and mana of a tiger, which Epherene was witnessing for the first time in her life, made her understand why the phrase “tigers and plague” was so widespread across the continent, why its infamy was so immense, and why there were so many legends and fairy tales related to tigers……
“Aaaaaaah—!”
As Epherene screamed, her life flashed before her eyes. The days she had lived streaked past like comets in the night sky.
At that instant, someone smacked her forehead with a crisp slap.
“You’re noisy, idiot.”
It was Sylvia.
She had created a wall behind them. It seemed she intended to stop the tiger, but when the beast swung its arm once, it collapsed— as if paper had been torn apart.
“Uoooooh—! That crazy orange monster——!”
“Be quiet.”
However, the wall was nothing more than a feint.
The debris the tiger had shattered scattered in every direction, and for a very brief moment, it obscured the beast’s vision. Sylvia seized that opening and “erased” the ground where it was about to step.
The floor vanished cleanly, as though swept away by an eraser. The next thing anyone would expect was for the tiger to plummet down below.
Grrrrrr—!
However, the tiger ran through empty air. It stepped on the air with its forepaws, kicked off with its hind legs, and soared upward like a surging fountain.
Thud——!
A roar accompanied by a shockwave. Epherene, who glanced back at the sight, nearly lost her mind.
The tiger was literally sprinting while “trampling on space”……
“This way.”
Yet Sylvia did not fall behind in the battle of wits. Because she had not underestimated the tiger’s ability, she erased the ground beneath their own feet as if she had been waiting for this moment.
Thud—!
At the same time as they fell, the tiger’s hind paw narrowly grazed the top of their heads.
“Follow me.”
The tiger immediately smashed through the ceiling and gave chase, but Sylvia calmly opened an escape route.
She scattered footprints, scents, and mana everywhere she ran, confusing the tiger. She placed dolls here and there and turned the area into a maze with numerous walls, but she refrained from using traps that might provoke the tiger’s anger.
If they needlessly stimulated it, nothing good would come of it.
“Haa. Haa……”
“Phew.”
And so, the two of them barely managed to escape. Epherene and Sylvia each let out ragged breaths.
“Wow. Wow. My heart…… Oh, right.”
Epherene, who had been reduced to a wilted mess after only fifteen minutes of fleeing, belatedly pointed at Sylvia’s condition.
Her fingers had been horribly bitten off.
“Sylvia, your hand……”
“……”
Sylvia silently stirred her brush of mana. Then a new finger was drawn onto the cross-section of the finger that had been dripping blood.
She clenched and unclenched that finger a few times, then nodded.
Epherene’s eyes widened.
“Does that keep lasting?”
“My fingers are part of my body. My recovery is faster than the mana consumption, so it lasts forever.”
“But it must have hurt a lot. Are you really all right?”
Sylvia did not answer.
Epherene watched her expression, then asked cautiously.
“……Where are we?”
“A voice.”
“A voice?”
“A world entered through the medium of a voice.”
“Ah! The demon?!”
It was something she had heard from Rohakan. A demon’s world that an unspecified number of people could enter through “voices” at random points in time.
Epherene asked again.
“Then what was that tiger just now?”
“The tiger must have come here through someone’s voice too.”
“……Aha.”
Well, true. Broadly speaking, the sound of a beast was also a voice.
“Oh, right.”
At a sudden thought, Epherene rummaged through her pocket.
Clink— Two coins were caught in her hand. They were the brass coins Rohakan had given her before.
“Where did you get those?”
Sylvia looked at the brass coins with uncharacteristically startled eyes.
“Old Man Rohakan gave them to me. What are these?”
“Those coins are the currency of this world.”
“……Ah. I see. Here. One of these is yours too.”
Epherene handed over one of the two brass coins. Sylvia accepted it without refusal.
“What do you use these for?”
“Follow me.”
Sylvia put the coin into her pocket and rose from her seat. She led Epherene somewhere.
The two of them first walked down a corridor with a sign reading [Non-Combat Zone] attached to the ceiling.
They encountered a few people as they came and went. The others did not acknowledge them, but Epherene warned them to “watch out for the tiger.”
“Here.”
[Shop]
They arrived at some bustling place. It was a space arranged like a plaza, or perhaps a marketplace. Sylvia led Epherene through the dense crowd.
Before long, they reached a place called the [Soul Shop].
“You can use brass coins in places like this.”
The shop sold rather bizarre items. “Mana Elixir,” “Potion of Maturity,” “Perfume of Charm,” “Voodoo Doll,” and so on……
However, Sylvia’s eyes were fixed on only one display.
“Voice of the Dead”
“……”
Epherene watched Sylvia’s expression, then asked,
“You know.”
Sylvia turned to Epherene expressionlessly.
“What.”
“It’s just. Did the Professor really…….”
Did Deculein really kill your mother?
She wanted to ask again about the scene she had witnessed then, but she could not bring herself to finish. Epherene quietly lowered her head. Sylvia glanced at her and said,
“I forgot it.”
“……Huh?”
“Mom’s voice.”
“……Ah.”
“I want to hear it. I think I’ll remember if I hear it.”
That voice, speaking so calmly, was something she could understand to some extent.
No, even saying she understood was a luxury. Epherene had been able to feel her father’s traces for quite a long time through the video letters and voice letters he had made.
“……Yeah. I understand. Me too.”
Epherene placed a hand on Sylvia’s shoulder. Sylvia immediately shook it off—! Then she glared with narrowed eyes.
“Ahem. Sorry.”
Epherene cleared her throat in awkwardness for no reason, then closed and opened her eyes for a moment——
“I think I discovered something, you see? Look. This pebble has a ‘magical cipher’ embedded in it.”
——Drent said.
“……Huh?”
A sudden change. Epherene blankly looked around.
Sylvia had vanished without a trace, and she herself was not in the world of voices but on the special floor of the Magic Tower.
“Look.”
Drent thrust a notebook at her without warning.
“I’ll explain it to you.”
“……”
One brass coin was in her hand.
The fact that there was only one, not two, meant it had not been a dream.
“No, Ipal. I’m telling you to look.”
Ipal.
Epherene gave a hollow laugh and looked up at Drent. A cross-shaped vein bulged at her temple.
“I told you not to call me that fucking Ipal. Do you know what was just chasing me? I saw a tiger, a tiger!”
“……What are you talking about all of a sudden? And I’m still your senior, so suddenly cursing is a bit……”
“I didn’t curse. I just said not to call me that fucking Ipal.”
“That’s the same—”
“Don’t call me Ipal. I hate that fuck— Ipal.”
“……Yeah. Sorry.”
* * *
Sophien looked Deculein up and down.
The posture with which he faced the match was as aloof as a crane’s, and every gesture with which he placed his stones carried refinement and dignity. In Dadohae, they called go the pastime of immortals, and he was not much different from the Eastern masters she had seen in illustrations.
“……”
His go skill was also far from ordinary.
His openings and stone movement. The tactics he employed and his unique style.
Was this truly someone who had practiced for only ten days?
In a mere ten days, had he achieved this level of skill alone?
Tak—
His ability was even developing moment by moment as he played. Now that they had passed move 98 and reached the middle game, Deculein’s style was quite different from the opening. It was a little more elegant and natural.
An exceedingly strange rate of growth. Of course, it was not as if she could not win.
However……
Was it truly ten days?
Only ten days?
Tak—
Sophien grew tense before Deculein’s go.
It was not because she feared she might lose, but because, for the first time in her life, she felt a “difference in talent.”
In magic, in swordsmanship, and in academics, she had never seen a talent superior to her own. There were mages, swordsmen, and scholars currently better than her, but the limit called a ceiling did not exist for Sophien.
However.
Tak—
For the first time in over a hundred years, Sophien felt a certain emotion.
Perhaps, at least in go.
This man might be superior to me……
Tak—
Sophien deliberately exposed a weakness at the connection between the right side and the center that she had been steadily building.
A trap that looked like a bad move. It was a brilliant move that had flashed into her mind like lightning.
To anyone, it would look like an appetizing mistake, but the moment her opponent set foot there, they would be surrounded.
She sank into her chair and waited for her opponent’s move.
“……”
And Deculein fell for it exactly as Sophien had guided him.
“Hmmm……”
The white stone was placed, and Sophien leaned back. A small smile spread across her lips.
Tak—
Unaware that he had fallen into the trap, Deculein tenaciously gnawed at the ko threats. Sophien gave up bits of her flesh with a casual air, and then, at a certain moment, captured him with a single throw-in.
That was the end.
Deculein’s white stones did not move.
No, there was no room for them to move.
“Is it over?”
Sophien asked in a rather subdued tone.
The man silently pondered for a while, then tuk— at last placed a stone of defeat on the corner of the board.
It was an exceedingly calm admission.
“Oh!”
Creto looked back and forth between Sophien and Deculein. Still a beginner, he lacked the eye to properly read go, but he could tell from Sophien’s reaction. Deculein had put up quite a fight.
“……To think you reached this level after learning for only ten days.”
Black won by resignation on move 153.
Sophien had won, but she was not particularly delighted. She realized that the arrogance and recklessness Deculein had shown just before the game had, in truth, been warranted confidence.
“In about two months, you will be rather worth watching.”
“So it seems.”
Deculein answered calmly. Sophien’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Return now. It seems you did have some grounds for defying me, so I shall not punish you.”
“How about a five-game match?”
At that moment, Creto spoke. Sophien and Deculein both turned to look at him.
Sophien asked back.
“A five-game match?”
“Yes. Ending it with just one game would be unsatisfying for both Your Majesty and the professor, would it not? A clean best three out of five. I would also like to learn baduk while watching the games between Her Majesty Sophien and Professor Deculein.”
Sophien tapped—tap—the baduk board. Deculein silently gazed at the wooden board where the black and white stones lay.
Watching him, Sophien said,
“……What do you think, Deculein? If it were a five-game match, could you defeat me?”
Then Deculein raised his eyes. The light gathered in that blue gaze struck down like a flash of lightning.
Deculein said,
“Yes. If I lose just once more and learn from it, would I not win the next three in a row?”
“…….”
Sophien found his arrogance amusing. For the first time in her life, she felt as though she might lose.
However, she was no coward who would refuse a challenge.
“Very well. However, if you lose, challenge me prepared to offer your head.”
Sophien said it with a smile, and Deculein calmly nodded.
* * *
On the way back by car. Creto, seated beside me, asked,
“……Oho. Then this move here was the losing move?”
I nodded.
Move 143, which Creto was pointing at, had been Sophien’s trap. This trap move had not been in my data. However, since I had succeeded in “learning” it, I would never fall for the same move again.
“Oh…… You truly are a master when it comes to using your head. It is almost worthy of admiration.”
Mm—mm— Creto, who had been murmuring in satisfaction, suddenly flinched. Then he carefully stiffened his expression.
“By the way, Professor.”
“Yes.”
“May I ask you one thing?”
“Yes. Anything.”
Creto cleared his throat.
As if his mouth had gone dry, he swallowed, glanced out the window, watched the driver’s seat……
Why was he making such a fuss?
Only after casting a spell called 「Silence」 did he ask,
“Do you, by any chance, admire Her Majesty?”
It was not a particularly special question. I answered as a matter of course.
“Of course. I always revere her.”
“No, not that sort of thing. Every imperial subject does, does he not? What I am asking is…….”
Creto even took a deep breath before asking again.
“As a woman.”
“…….”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
What came next was even more shocking.
“……Something like an engagement, I mean. I hear you are preparing to annul your engagement this time.”
“…….”
“…….”
We stared at each other in silence.
“…….”
“…….”
As the silence stretched on, Creto’s face slowly turned red. As red as a tomato about to burst.
Before that embarrassment could explode, I said,
“There is no way that could be the case.”
“H-Haha. Of course, naturally.”
“Yes. But why would you suddenly ask such a question?”
“……Mm. Her Majesty told me to ask you directly. If you admire Her Majesty…… well, that would be a bit of a problem in its own way.”
To be honest, I was dumbfounded. I shook my head expressionlessly.
“It seems Her Majesty has made a slight misunderstanding. I do not have such feelings at all, not even a speck.”
“Ah. That is a relief.”
It was then.
Meow—!
From somewhere, I heard the cry of a cat.