The procession of mountain residents seemed endless. They entrusted all the property they had gathered in the mountains to Reccordak—bundles slung over their backs, carts loaded with grain, the livestock they had raised.
“’Tisn’t much, but please take good care of it.”
“Thank ye kindly! We won’t cause no trouble!”
“Hey! Hurry up and greet them. Politely.”
“Hello……”
Epherene listened to those simple, wavering voices.
They were people who reminded her of herself back in her old countryside days.
“……”
Whether it was nostalgia, or memories she did not wish to recall, Epherene was briefly lost in thought before she looked back at Deculein.
“Guard.”
He called over one of the guards.
“Yes, Professor.”
“From now on, select the commoners I point out.”
“Yes? Ah, yes! Understood!”
Epherene watched Deculein closely.
First, he carefully scanned the residents surging in. Then he singled one out, and the guard shouted in his stead.
“Hey! You there! Come over here!”
“……Yes?”
“Come here.”
“Ah, yes……”
The residents who were caught by Deculein’s radar were sorted into a nearby open space. All of them looked frightened.
“There! You too!”
Even after that, he picked people out as though choosing livestock.
“You as well!”
“You, come too!”
“Hurry over! Don’t dawdle!”
The number of mountain residents seemed to easily exceed ten thousand, but fewer than a hundred were marked by Deculein.
“Huh? Jupan!”
Among them was a boy Epherene had once met.
His name was Jupan. His occupation was herb gatherer. A remarkable child who would still be living amid the mountains of the North in the not-too-distant future.
Epherene spoke with half delight and half concern.
“Why did you come here?”
“My hometown is around here originally.”
“Ah~ Still, your legs are fast, so couldn’t you have escaped?”
Jupan shook his head. His face was dry, unlike a child’s.
“I have six younger siblings.”
“……Ah. I see. That’s a lot…… Did they all get here safely?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a relief, huh!”
Just then, someone pushed Epherene aside. It was Deculein.
“This should be enough. There is no one else to select.”
“Yes.”
The guard nodded. Epherene wondered why these people had been chosen.
Deculein said,
“Each of you, write down any noteworthy specialties you possess and submit them. Duties will be assigned according to your specialties, and appropriate compensation will be given.”
He had sorted out those who caught the eye of 「Magnate’s Wealth」.
In other words, if they were worth money, they would be useful.
Even people who were not named characters surely had specialties and talents.
“This is unusual for you.”
A voice rang out then, accompanied by approaching footsteps. Epherene turned that way.
“……Taking in even commoners reeking of earth.”
It was Ihelm, Julie, and the rest of Deculein’s peers. Each with different expressions, they watched the procession of residents.
“Guard, sir! Take this and have a bite. Haha. It’ll be tasty.”
“Hehe. It’s our way of saying thanks~ If it weren’t for you folks, we’d have been dead where we stood by now, wouldn’t we?”
Without a word, Deculein received the lists of specialties from those selected. Epherene also glanced at their contents from the side.
Herb gatherers, archers, woodcutters, apothecaries, wild ginseng diggers, hunters, and so on…… There were many specialized mountain professions.
“Hey, Deculein?”
Ihelm spoke again. Deculein clicked his tongue as though annoyed and answered.
“I merely need labor.”
“……Hm? Labor? What about supplies…… Ah. With the food those commoners brought? It looks a little insufficient.”
“That is none of your concern.”
Ihelm furrowed his brow with a slightly ambiguous expression, but soon nodded reluctantly.
“Well, true. You have always said commoners are a class that dies in place of nobles…… Dying in our place is also labor, I suppose.”
Julie’s eyes trembled faintly at those words, but Deculein did not particularly refute him. In truth, given his personality, it was something he could not help but agree with to a certain degree.
To the guard who was nervously watching for cues, Deculein said,
“Distribute Reccordak passes to the selected commoners. There is much for them to do.”
“Yes! Understood!”
* * *
There was much talk about Deculein’s acceptance of the mountain residents. It was that exceptional of a situation, but the Imperial Palace knights, who had seen his ideology and actions in the previous conference hall, did not interpret it in a favorable light.
“Still, perhaps he accepted them because, if there are many people, even if things go wrong, they can buy us time to escape……”
“What changes from taking in tens of thousands of commoners? It only means more mouths to feed.”
“Come now. Even if each one buys us just one second, that’s enough. Besides, the commoners came carrying all their assets with them. Use those as supplies, push some dangerous missions onto the commoners, and isn’t that killing three birds with one stone?”
“Hm…… True. Considering that professor’s extraordinary cunning……”
Such words drifted through the hollowed Reccordak like wind, but Deculein did not listen in the slightest.
No, he knew of the rumors, but made no effort to stamp them out.
He merely, quietly, added their names to his kill list.
……A long-held grudge was something that strangled a person to death.
Like a noose.
At any rate, with the residents’ entry, part of the Reccordak grounds was remodeled.
Epherene, Drent, Ihelm’s faction, and the many mages of the Imperial Palace numbered fewer than forty in all, yet they constructed hundreds of communal housing units in an instant.
“……Wow.”
In addition, Reccordak’s new main building was finally completed.
Julie and Reylie, of course, and all the knights looked up at the structure.
“This building is…… far too good to be at the Far North, isn’t it? I think I understand why that professor flew into such a rage…… If this gets destroyed, how much is it? How much money goes up in smoke?”
Since anything too tall would become a target for flying monsters, the main building’s height was moderate.
Its broad, weighty exterior was pure white, evoking the North and winter. The black patterns of Yukline engraved here and there added an antique elegance.
In addition, trees grew around it as though embracing it, serving as a natural protective wall, and to the left and right were numerous facilities such as dormitories, an armory, and a training hall.
“……He truly did invest a great deal. Hah, honestly.”
Even Delric, a knight of the Imperial Palace, let out a hollow laugh.
Just then, Deculein appeared.
At the entrance of the new main building, he said,
“Everyone, enter. From now on, I will assign offices to each knight and mage.”
The knights and mages, of course, as well as various uninvited guests including the Red Garnet Adventurer Party and Primienne, followed behind him.
* * *
……The standard for office assignments was one’s achievements in Reccordak.
I arranged hundreds of knights in order according to objective figures and gave them offices that suited them.
“Where should our adventurer party stay?”
“I have not yet been assigned one either.”
But these ones were unexpected.
Lia, Leo, and Primienne respectively. They had been trailing after me for some time, and as the assignments neared their end, they asked with sullen faces.
“Stay in the lodgings.”
“As the Deputy Director of Public Security, would I not require an office?”
“Yes, exactly. Us too. We’re an adventurer party. Our members will be coming soon too.”
“……”
I glanced at Epherene. The girl, who had been half-asleep, yawned—haaaah—and then stated the remaining offices.
“Room 301, 303, and 306 on the third floor are left.”
“Choose and take one. First come, first served.”
“Ah, yes! Leo! Follow me! I already picked one out!”
“Okay!”
The moment Lia and Leo heard that, they ran, and Primienne seized the children’s ankles with magic.
Thud—!
“Ugh!”
“Ack!”
The Deputy Director of Public Security in her early thirties snorted in satisfaction as she glared down at the two children who had fallen onto the floor.
“……Hey! What is this!”
“Hmph. Yielding is a virtue, little ones. Room 303 is the largest, so you may go to 301 or 306.”
“What kind of nonsense is that! Let us go!”
I ignored them as they began to quarrel and opened the door to my office.
—Let us go!
—Your manners are lacking.
—Eek…… Leo! Get ready!
—Okay!
—Stay still…… Are you trying to challenge me? Stop right there.
—Run!
—Hey. I told you to stop. Hey.
Something was happening outside, but for the moment, the scenery inside was satisfactory.
In truth, it was not much different from the 77th floor of the Mage Tower. I had deliberately furnished it familiarly.
“Ooh. It’s exactly the same as the 77th floor. I miss it. It feels like it’s already been a month or two. Three months?”
“Your seat is here.”
I tapped a certain desk.
“Mm, where……”
In that moment, Epherene’s expression stiffened.
“……”
A seat placed in one corner of the office, no different from a secretary’s station.
The place where Allen used to sit.
Honk─!
Epherene made a sound like a pig snorting and turned around.
Sniffle— sniffle—
Sniffle— sniffle—
After sniffling annoyingly several times, she sat in that place while still showing me her back.
“……Sorry. I’m sorry.”
Her reddened eyes were bothersome, but I said nothing.
I immediately began writing. I was composing a document to send to the Imperial Palace.
It was a letter to be sent not only to Sophien but also to her ministers, so it could be called a matter of some importance……
……Scratch, scratch.
……Scratch, scratch.
The sound of the fountain pen composing.
Epherene slowly closed her eyes, then opened them again.
Haaaaaah—
Yawning, she loosened her stiff shoulders.
“Ah, I almost fell asleep.”
This was all because of the white noise.
“Ugh……”
She stretched her hands behind her neck, yawned a few more times, and then, startled, muttered.
“Ah. Absolutely. I absolutely didn’t sleep. I was just tired…… Huh?”
Epherene belatedly looked around. Her eyes widened.
It was not the office.
“Here……”
This was Luna’s mansion from long ago.
Yes, back when the family still had the mansion. Before it was taken by Gileon……
“……It’s my room.”
Epherene looked around the room with a dazed face. She had not realized it back then, but it was quite spacious.
A bed. A carpet. A wardrobe, and other luxuries……
“You’ve come again.”
“!”
Epherene snapped her head up.
At the room’s entrance stood Deculein—no, Woodsteel.
“Phew…… You startled me.”
She patted down her startled chest. After sweeping her gaze around again, she asked,
“So this is my dream again?”
“That is correct. Soon, Decalane, borrowing the power of the ‘Voice,’ will come.”
“……”
Epherene sat on the edge of the bed with a somewhat complicated expression. She gripped the bedspread.
The texture and smell of this space were nostalgic, even though she knew it was a dream. She did not even know whether this dream was real or fake.
“……You know.”
Epherene looked at Woodsteel again. Woodsteel, who looked like Deculein, was reading some book.
Just like Deculein.
“But how are you able to think and move so perfectly?”
“Because the master and I have a firm mutual understanding, because your high-quality and abundant mana is provided to me, and above all because this place is inside your dream.”
“Mutual understanding?”
“That is correct.”
Epherene suddenly grew curious.
“Then do you know everything in the professor’s heart too?”
“That is correct. Only up until the moment before I was given to you—that is, until the time I spent with the master.”
“Oh-ho……”
At that, Woodsteel looked back at Epherene.
“Are you curious? What the master thinks of you.”
“……”
Flinch. Her body trembled of its own accord.
“Wh-what, what are you talking about.”
She pretended otherwise, but the truth was, she was curious.
The feelings Deculein held toward her…… No, put that way, it sounded strange.
Rather than feelings…… thoughts?
“Wait. Can you tell me that?”
“I can.”
“How? Wouldn’t the professor dislike it?”
“It does not matter. I now live by your mana. In a manner of speaking, you are my new master.”
“Oooh~”
At that, Epherene wiggled her eyebrows slyly.
“Then obey me!”
There was no reaction.
Woodsteel only read his book.
Making her feel needlessly embarrassed.
“……Why aren’t you obeying?”
“I shall correct my words. Rather than my master, you are a child I must care for. Therefore, I refuse.”
“……Honestly.”
Epherene was slightly annoyed, but there was nothing she could do. For now, he was hundreds of times correct.
“But I am curious about that. How the professor and my dad thought of each other. What happened between them.”
A sensitive question asked as if it were nothing. The relationship between her father and Deculein.
At that, Woodsteel’s hand stopped dead. In inverse proportion, Epherene’s heartbeat shot up.
“……”
“……Why aren’t you saying anything? Do you know? Aha~ You don’t know.”
“I know.”
“……Really? What is it? What could it be? What is it~? I’m not that curious, but, well~ go ahead and say it~”
“……”
What did he know? Would he say it? While watching Woodsteel’s reaction from the corner of her eye, she needlessly fiddled with the dolls on the bed.
A rabbit and a puppy.
“……”
However, no matter how long she waited.
“……”
No words followed.
“……”
Epherene fidgeted with her lips and looked at Woodsteel. He was already staring somewhere.
“……What are you doing?”
In that instant, an unfamiliar voice resounded throughout the entire space.
—Deculein loathed your father.
A voice spreading eerily.
Epherene opened her eyes wide and rose. Part of the wall of the room was stained in darkness, and an aura of metal rose around Woodsteel.
“……Who are you?”
—Child. Do you still not know, even after hearing my voice?
Speaking in a voice that sounded clogged with phlegm, the one who revealed himself from within that darkness was—
—It is I.
A monster who resembled Deculein in appearance—no, who had passed his own appearance down to Deculein—yet was older and more horrifying.
“……Decalane.”
Epherene spat the name out as though chewing it. She preheated the mana throughout her body. She burned with the will to confront him at any moment.
—Yes. It is I, child.
Decalane smiled.
Skin that had lost its elasticity and turned dark and ashen. A face grotesquely twisting, resembling a corpse.
For an instant, nausea surged up in Epherene.
—Child, Deculein loathed your father. He scorned him. He hated him. Because his fiancée died because of your father.
“Shut up!”
—Moreover. You may not have known, but……
At that moment, Woodsteel stretched out a hand to stop him. He fired metal at Decalane, but the man had no substance. The metal passed straight through Decalane.
Instead, Woodsteel spoke to Epherene.
“Epherene, cover your ears.”
As if to render even Woodsteel’s words meaningless,
Decalane’s voice seeped into her ears.
—Your father…… hated you as well, just as he hated Deculein. He despised you, his own flesh and blood, truly terribly.
For a moment, Epherene’s mind went blank.
Unconsciously, she furrowed her brow.
That was how much—
She could not understand what she had heard, nonsense her brain refused to accept.
—Saying that the likes of you should never have been born……
Even as Decalane tried to continue, Epherene screamed one sentence at him.
“Don’t spout bullshit, you son of a b*tch—!”