“D-Don’t spout such bullshit, you fucking bastard—!
Curses she had never once uttered in her entire life echoed like a lion’s roar.
The entire house shuddered violently, and Ipeurin stomped hard on the floor.
“You son of a— urk—!”
Mokgangcheol grabbed the back of her neck.
“Stay still.”
“Let go! Let go!”
Ipeurin flopped like a fish out of water, but Mokgangcheol calmly restrained her.
“It’s your dream. If you struggle, it’s your loss.”
“……No!”
“Think of what you’ve learned until now. How long do you intend to remain immature?”
“…….”
Those words truly seemed to be Dekyullein’s. Thanks to that, Ipeurin, having calmed down somewhat, glared at Dikailren.
The bastard was smiling.
—……Child. You will come to know someday. Your fate was decided from the very moment you were conceived…….
Just then, the metal fragments Mokgangcheol had scattered resonated. They blocked the exchange between the atmosphere and the medium. In other words, they obstructed the transmission of sound.
“…….”
Dikailren’s mouth moved, but his voice could not be heard.
Ipeurin looked up at Mokgangcheol, then fixed her gaze upon Dikailren again.
—…….
Soon, Dikailren shook his head. Yet Ipeurin read the movement of his lips.
‘You are all alone in this world. Trust no one.’
Dikailren vanished just like that.
……The room of the mansion quietly subsided into silence.
Ipeurin sat on the edge of the bed, breathing heavily.
“What the hell is that crazy bastard…….”
Ipeurin furrowed her face in displeasure. “Son of a pig—, Turd starfish—, Skull bastard—” She mumbled, chewing on her lips, then looked up at Mokgangcheol.
“Even nonsense has to make sense to be nonsense. Isn’t that right?”
Then Mokgangcheol looked down at her. From his expressionless face, not a single word came.
“……Isn’t that right? What kind of father would hate me.”
“…….”
“Pfft. Who would fall for that.”
“…….”
Still, there was no answer from Mokgangcheol.
“Honestly. It’s so absurd…….”
The face of Ipeurin, who had been smirking, slowly stiffened.
She turned to look at Mokgangcheol.
“……Hey, you.”
He, who had taken the form of Dekyullein, had kept his mouth shut from the beginning.
“Why don’t you say anything?
Ipeurin did not know the reason.
No, she thought she knew but desperately denied it.
“…….”
Mokgangcheol resembled Dekyullein. He possessed Dekyullein’s memories, and never told lies.
He would rather choose silence.
“You…….”
Ipeurin looked at Mokgangcheol with blank eyes. A fragment of emotion flickered in his cold pupils.
Pity.
“Why……?”
Tock—!
Mokgangcheol flicked his finger.
In that instant, the mansion’s room contracted, and Ipeurin woke from her dream.
“Urp!”
She shot her upper body upright. She opened her eyes quickly. She looked around her surroundings.
But something was strange.
“……!”
She couldn’t see in front of her.
As if all around her had suffered a blackout. Or as if she had lost her eyesight…….
“Ah, I can’t see!”
* * *
“Urp!”
A strange voice burst out. I turned to look.
“…….”
Ipeurin, who had been sleeping face down, seemed to finally have woken up, and perhaps because of the drool she had leaked, some paper was stuck to her face.
A work document titled [Rekoreudak Supply Survey].
The brat looked around in that state, then flinched—! Her body trembled greatly. And then she shouted fiercely.
“Ah, I can’t see!”
“…….”
“……Don’t tell me, that bastard!”
Who she was talking about, I didn’t know.
I shook my head, and Ipeurin waved her arms about in the air.
“I can’t see, I can’t, why, I can’t seeeeee———!”
Truly pathetically thrashing about. She seemed to become more of a clueless dunce with each passing day.
“My eyes can’t see…….”
I removed the paper stuck to the brat’s face with 「Telekinesis」.
“…….”
Flutter— flutter— flutter—
“…….”
The paper settled on the floor, and Ipeurin blankly followed its descent.
“…….”
Finally seeming to grasp the situation, this time she turned to look at me.
“……Ah.”
Sssss— steam rose from the top of her head, and her face flushed beet-red.
“I-I’m sorry. I dozed off for a moment and my mind is…….”
I floated a sheet of paper toward the brat. The moment she saw it delivered by 「Telekinesis」, Ipeurin flinched in surprise.
“It’s a written apology. Write down the cause properly.”
“……Yes.”
I picked up the fountain pen again. But there was no progress on the text.
This letter to be sent to the imperial palace would have to follow something of the format of a formal petition, and since it would be delivered not only to the Emperor but also to his ministers, it was quite difficult to compose as it was not at all academic.
The ratio of books I had read in this world was overwhelmingly scholarly, humanities, and magic rather than literature.
“Hmm…….”
However, there was a very famous petition on Earth, not in this world. A masterpiece worthy of reference, a past sage’s petition virtually synonymous with the very concept.
A record of Zhuge Liang, beginning with the first line “Your subject, Liang (亮), humbly submits—”, which anyone with an interest in historical games would have read at least once.
“……”
I closed my eyes and began to fumble for the remaining text in my head with 「Comprehension」.
Referencing the heart of the man as he wrote his petition—though Ipeurin, who had been glancing at me from the side since earlier, was irritating—I wrote down my own prose on the white paper…….
* * *
……These days, the main hall of the imperial palace was bustling with meetings. Meetings were held several times a day, and fierce words were exchanged regardless of whether Sopien attended or not.
The subject was the movements of the demon beasts.
Reports that monsters were swarming not only along the edges of the continent including the north and west, but also in the central mountains and forests were ominous.
“Rohallak has completed its defenses, but the problem lies in the north.”
It was the words of some minister. Sopien sat upon her throne, looking down upon them.
“According to Rekoreudak’s reconnaissance, the number of demon beasts is said to reach astronomical figures.”
The reports from the north caused shock in the imperial palace.
The landscape of desolation described by the scouts. Dense hordes of demon beasts. Their numbers easily appeared to be in the tens of millions.
Sopien spoke.
“So what you mean is that Dekyullein’s prediction was correct.”
“……Yes. For now, that seems to be the case.”
Everyone in the hall momentarily bowed their heads. The ministers who had denounced him, and mocked him as a prophet, had no face to show.
“You always have to attach caveats. ‘For now’? You fucking bastards.”
Sopien skewed her jaw, resting her chin, and reproached them.
“‘We are deeply sorry…….’”
“I don’t want to hear that either! Every time, ‘we are sorry,’ ‘we are sorry.’ If you know you’re going to be sorry, don’t do things deserving of apology in the first place. Enough. Speak your thoughts! Is it right to send support to the north?”
Sopien asked. The ministers glanced at one another. They had things to say, but feared Sopien’s attention.
“……If Professor Dekyullein’s prediction is correct.”
Then the elder minister Romellok stepped forward.
“Stopping that enormous horde in the north is not a realistic endeavor.”
“Then?”
Sopien asked back. Romellok continued resolutely.
“Currently, Professor Dekyullein is focused on becoming the chairman and holding onto Rekoreudak, but I submit that it would be right to summon him and repel the demon beasts from a safer location.”
“So you’re saying we should abandon the north?”
“……For now, I submit that it is the most efficient method. Furthermore, we need only abandon half. The chokepoint is the ‘Getel Gateway’ connecting the north to the central region.”
It was a rational plan. If this was truly the most threatening monster Wave in nearly thirty years, no, in the entire history of the Empire, then abandoning about half of the north would benefit the national interest. In the first place, the north was not very fertile land, so even ceding half would not be much of a loss.
“The Getel Gateway is a naturally fortified stronghold capable of large-scale battles and sieges. If we waged an all-out war against the demon beasts there—”
Knock knock—
Just then, a knock sounded in the main hall. Sopien and all the ministers turned to the door.
“What is this?”
“Which insolent bastard dares interrupt a state conference?”
Romellok thundered.
“Who goes there!”
—A letter from the north, from Rekoreudak.
“……Rekoreudak?”
At those words, the ministers stiffened. And looked at Sopien. She spoke expressionlessly.
“Enter.”
“Your grace is immeasurable.”
Creeeak…….
Beyond the solemnly opening door, one adventurer trudged in. A scroll letter in one hand.
Romellok, frowning, asked.
“Who sent it?”
“The sender is ‘Dekyullein von Graham Yukraine.’ It is a status report sent directly from Rekoreudak.”
Romellok let out a hollow laugh.
“Hah, what?”
Then Sopien crossed one leg. She nodded in a rather delinquent posture.
“Words from the field are worth hearing. Come and read it.”
“Yes.”
The adventurer first knelt. And unfurled the letter.
“Ahem.”
A clearing of the throat, scraping his voice, watched by numerous ministers.
Soon, a sonorous voice reached the ceiling of the main hall.
—Your subject Dekyullein sends a single writing to Your Majesty from afar.
The late Emperor passed away before he could continue his grand will and banner, and Your Majesty readily shouldered the sacred undertaking at a truly young age. Your subject has harbored nothing but the desire to become Your Majesty’s strength.
That I strove never to be negligent was to repay even a single word of Your Majesty’s excessive grace. All the knights and ministers of the Imperial House are likely no different from this subject, each striving always to become Your Majesty’s strength…….
Sopien listened to those words sullenly. The ministers felt awkward for no reason. Some were slightly moved. Dekyullein’s writing defended the very ministers Sopien despised.
—This subject was originally but a professor of the Magic Tower, treading no special path, merely a self-absorbed egoist obsessed only with my own achievements. Yet Your Majesty took this subject as an instructor mage, believed in the trivial opinions I occasionally uttered, and soothed my foolish misspoken words with laughter. Overcome with emotion, this subject resolved to spare nothing of myself.
Had there been such a time? Sopien chewed over those words, fumbling for old memories.
—……Thus, this subject examined various facts and figures scattered across the continent and presented a prediction that might help Your Majesty, if only a little. I had hoped that my fleeting thought might not be right, but Heaven is indifferent, and it seems a cold, fierce wind will soon sweep the continent.
However, this subject will not stand by and allow internal and external enemies to bring calamity upon the Empire.
Therefore, now is the time for imperial and divine authority to unite as one, and for resolute will and fair reward and punishment to be necessary. When the bitter winds of winter blow, the scholars and warriors of the imperial palace will surely become Your Majesty’s strength.
At those words, the ministers briefly bowed their heads in solemn silence.
Dekyullein’s text continued thereafter.
Worrying for the continent from the harsh north, encouraging the ministers, speaking of Your Majesty’s grace—it was the writing of a true loyal subject.
—……This subject has always wished to be of help to Your Majesty, and Your Majesty has always trusted this subject. This subject has a duty to repay that trust.
Your Majesty. The matter of the north has been handled by the north until now, but I shall remain here and demonstrate Your Majesty’s will. Even in this winter of trials, even if countless demon beasts covet the Empire’s borders, your subject Dekyullein shall never show his back. I shall demonstrate Your Majesty’s will…….
Sopien leaned her back against the throne. Her previously languid body had gone slack, and a tiny sigh escaped.
—Your Majesty is a hero who shall become the light of the Empire and the continent, possessing qualities that no past sage could match.
This unworthy subject shall remain this winter, trusting in Your Majesty.
May Your precious health be robust, may you always be at peace, and please, be happy.
And with that, the long petition came to an end. The adventurer, who had been solely focused on reciting, lowered the scroll and bowed his head.
“…….”
The main hall was silent.
The final sentence remained in Sopien’s heart.
—Please, be happy.
Why was this bastard so obsessed with my happiness? Did bean crumbs fall upon him if I was happy?
But what was slightly more unsatisfying than that.
“……For someone who writes letters so well.”
Why did he send only a single sentence to me before?
“Bring me that letter.”
Sophien clicked her tongue and spoke. The adventurer extended the letter with the utmost courtesy.
She unfolded the letter once more and read it with her eyes. In silence, she listened to the professor bastard’s heart.
At length, the conclusion the emperor reached.
“……I shall keep this letter.”
She tucked the scroll into her bosom. At the same time, she indicated Romellock with the tip of her chin.
“Romellock, continue what you were saying.”
“…….”
Before Deculein’s letter had arrived, Romellock had been insisting that they abandon the North. Now, for a moment, he was struck dumb.
* * *
Reccordak, an old-fashioned Yukline mansion built in the middle of the Snow Forest.
“If Dikaillen keeps appearing in your dreams, then there’s no help…….”
I had entered Epherene’s room, but for a moment, words failed me.
Pink was plastered all over the place.
“……Ah. This. It’s not like I decorated it myself…… No, I mean, why did you suddenly come in…….”
Epherene panicked. She used telekinesis to whisk away the rabbit doll on her bed.
I shook my head and said,
“In any case. Today, we enter the ‘Voice.’”
“……Ah, yes.”
Epherene nodded, fidgeting. She hugged her pillow tightly to her chest.
“Sleep first. We will meet when the time comes.”
“Ah, yes……. Well…….”
Epherene hesitantly lay down on her bed. I sat in the rocking chair near the fireplace and opened a book.
“Um, Professor. Is it really fine if I just sleep like this?”
I nodded without a word. Then I read my book.
“……I just have to sleep?”
I glared at her.
“If you ask any more—”
“Ah, I won’t ask, I won’t ask.”
“…….”
Epherene finally shut her mouth, and I resumed reading.
Suddenly, I wondered what had become of the letter I had sent to the Imperial Palace. I had sent it hoping, in my own way, for personnel support.
“You know, Professor.”
Epherene opened her mouth.
“I…… My fa—!”
I sealed that mouth of hers with 「Telekinesis」.
“Mmph— mmmph!”
“Just go to sleep.”
“……Tch!”
Epherene glared at me and shook her head. She whipped around and pulled the blanket over herself.
Just as I wondered if she was finally going to sleep.
“Zzz— Zzz—— Zzz————”
Epherene fell asleep in three seconds.
“…….”
It was an absurd talent, but all the better.
I approached her and placed my hand on her forehead.
“……Tsk.”
The feeling of bare skin touching bare skin was repulsive. However, wearing gloves would make this meaningless, so there was no helping it.
I forced my eyes shut and released my mana.
The magic I intended to realize was of the Harmony series—「Dream Contact」.
With this, we would be able to enter the “World of the Voice” together…….