……The dark path of the “Voice.”
I walk while watching Deculein’s back.
He is still upright, his stride regular. He does not waver in the slightest. As if nothing is wrong at all.
I do not know Deculein well.
The time we have spent together has not even amounted to a year, and only the time I spent hating him to death has been long and longer still. I do not think I ever made any effort to know him.
And yet…… now I am curious about Deculein.
What is he thinking? What feelings does he harbor?
And a little belatedly, I realize my own emotions.
I am grieving for Deculein.
Vaguely, I rewind the life of his that I know.
A father who did not trust his son. The pressure and conflict of his family. The one woman he loved within all of that.
But her hollow death. The love stolen away by the Devil’s Letter. Kagan Luna, who played a decisive role in that bereavement.
And I am his daughter.
Now, I understand.
Deculein would not be strange for hating me to death. Simply for being Kagan’s daughter, he has the right to dislike me.
……Even so.
He took me as his disciple. He understood my “betrayal,” when I stood on Ihelm’s side, and forgave my father. He recorded the name “Luna Kagan” as the co-author of a great thesis.
The reason…… I do not know.
I truly do not know.
The more I come to know Deculein, this man.
The more time I spend with him.
The more time passes.
The less and less I understand.
I become a fool.
Why did he take me as his disciple?
Why did he not reject me?
That is why I no longer hate Deculein.
I am only worried.
If he reunites with the lover who has been resurrected as a demon, and truly kills her. If he destroys her with his own hands.
If he must do so.
What, then, will remain in his heart?
A wasteland where not a single blade of grass grows. In his heart, where only embers already remain…….
“Epherene.”
Just then, Deculein called me. Startled, I answered noisily.
“Yeeees—!”
“……Have you gone mad?”
“N-No……. Why, what is it?”
“We’re going in.”
He indicated somewhere with his chin.
I looked up at it. There was a sign as large as a gate.
“……A hotel?!”
* * *
The hotel I arrived at with Epherene was, simply put, a “save point.” When you enter the Voice, you awaken in a random space, but if you use a hotel or house, you can begin from there.
[Room 303]
“O-Open it?”
“Open it.”
Epherene unlocked the door first with the key. She shuffled inside.
“……Tsk.”
A musty smell surged out from within. Moldy wallpaper. The bedding was uniformly disgusting and filthy.
“Wait.”
I used the trait 「Encryption」. With the 「Mana Code」 in my mind, I arranged clean furniture and cleaned everything with 「Cleanse」.
“Whoa…… That’s amazing.”
“Sit anywhere.”
Epherene looked around and sat in a chair.
“Yes. But, Professor. Why are we here?”
“First, I will explain this ‘Voice’ in detail.”
I spoke.
“Ah, yes.”
“This is a false world. It is the world of the Voice, that is, of ‘waves,’ created by a demon, and it differs greatly from reality. Things that cannot happen in reality occur here, and objects that cannot exist are present. Also…….”
I closed my eyes for a moment. With 「Comprehension」, I recalled the map blueprint of the “Voice” I had seen once.
Since Kim Woojin had been a game designer to begin with, it was not difficult.
I transferred what I had recalled onto paper exactly as it was.
“Commit this to memory. The structure of the Voice is concentric.”
Concentric circles. A set of circles that share the same center, but have different radii.
Therefore, this “Voice” grows wider the farther outward you go, and narrower the farther inward you go.
“The two demons are likely at this center.”
Numerous circles spreading widely like ripples on water. The two targets should be at the narrowest center, but…….
“…….”
Epherene, however, wore a face that had her attention elsewhere. She was only staring at me, as if she had something to say. Her lips needlessly wriggled.
Wriggle— wriggle—
I furrowed my brow.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Ah…… well…… Are you really going to kill her? Yourself?”
“I am.”
I nodded. Epherene’s face turned sorrowful.
I did not know why she was acting this way, but I explained the justification for now.
“It is not something to entrust to others. Destroying demons is the duty of Yukline.”
“That’s…… even so…… no matter what…….”
Epherene stammered.
Indeed, she was still lacking a mage’s cold rationality.
……No.
Perhaps rather, I was the one lacking something as a human.
“Wouldn’t it be too hard……? Maybe if you found another team member instead…….”
I did not unexpectedly dislike this side of Epherene.
Those fingers fidgeting for no reason. The sidelong glances as she perched on the bed and watched my mood. The way she worried about me as she pleased.
“It may be difficult.”
At my answer, Epherene raised her head sharply.
Yoo Ara. Killing a demon that resembled her might, perhaps, be a little difficult.
“However, I will not hesitate. Nor will I run away.”
“……Why?”
“Because killing the demon is what I must do, and what is right for me.”
“…….”
Epherene’s eyes wavered.
She lowered her face for a moment, then looked up at me again.
“……Professor. Then I…… there’s something I’m curious about, something I’ve been wondering all this time.”
“Speak.”
“Well…… why…… did you take me as your disciple……?”
It was a rather unimpressive question. Yet Epherene continued with the most serious face in the world.
“It’s true, isn’t it? Just as I hated you, Professor, it would be natural for you to hate me too. Because—”
“If you had been a worthless talent.”
I cut her off. I gazed steadily at her.
“I would have left you alone. You would have been nothing but trash, with no value to hate and no value to pay attention to.”
Epherene’s shoulders flinched.
“However…… Epherene. Listen carefully. I do not tell lies.”
Gulp— Epherene swallowed.
The corner of my mouth twisted slightly. Perhaps it was a smile.
“You are a talent who will change the era.”
Talent.
I know this girl’s talent. Even aside from the fact that she is a named character, the substantial growth visible through 「Vision」 has gone beyond the level of remarkable, making me certain of Epherene’s future as an archmage.
“You are a mage whose name will remain on the continent for ages.”
Her face went blank. A faint blush rose to both cheeks.
“That talent is separate from everything about you that I dislike. I recognized your talent, and I thought I could nurture it. That is all. Nothing more, nothing less.”
With that, I finished speaking. Epherene slowly nodded, but perhaps some part of what I had just said bothered her, for she muttered softly.
“Everything about me…… that you dislike?”
I neither like nor dislike her. However, based on Deculein’s memories, at the very least, disliking her would be more correct.
It would be a lie to say there was no envy or jealousy whatsoever.
“How much do you dislike everything you dislike……?”
Epherene spoke as if intending for me to hear. I stood up.
“Sleep. You can sleep more comfortably here than in the North, and you will be able to eat plenty.”
At that, she answered coyly.
“……There’s nothing to eat, though.”
“I will buy some.”
“Huh? No, no. That’s not what I meant. I’d rather go—”
“Stay still.”
I left Epherene behind and went out of the room.
Soon, I was outside the hotel. I looked around at the area swarming with people.
There were many street stalls. The smell of food was thick.
“…….”
Standing there, I looked into my heart for a moment.
Yoo Ara.
Was it because of the face drawn in that composite sketch? It felt as though a side of Kim Woojin, which I had forgotten for a long time, had briefly protruded like an awl.
“……?”
As I steadied my breath for a moment, suddenly.
I discovered a familiar face between the stalls. She saw me too. Our eyes met.
“……Professor.”
Julie. In both of her hands were hot dogs, and beside her was the boy named Leo.
“Oh! It’s Professor Deculein!”
Leo, his eyes wide, pointed at me with his finger.
“……So you were here as well.”
I swept my gaze over the area behind them. It was to find Carlos, the half-human, half-demon.
Leo said,
“Carlos isn’t here.”
“So it seems.”
If Carlos had been nearby to begin with, my blood would have reacted first.
Then Julie asked,
“Professor. Why are you looking for Carlos?”
“That professor is trying to harm Carlos.”
Leo’s calm words. A voice that blamed no one, that was not tattling, but simply conveying information.
Julie’s eyes widened.
“What is that…… Professor. Is that true? You would try to harm a child? Carlos is not even thirteen yet.”
“……You’ve already grown close? How sociable.”
When I sneered at her cynically, Julie’s expression turned cold. Then she glared at me, as if demanding an explanation.
I nodded.
“That is correct. It would benefit the world if that one died. If anything, he is worse than Red Garnet.”
“……No!”
Julie shouted.
“You, just how far do you intend to fall!”
I merely watched her.
As if she had had many things piled up to say, Julie poured out her sentences.
“Veron, Rockfell, and not only my knight order! The dozens of Red Garnet you buried alive and—”
“Are you defending Red Garnet?”
“That is not what I am saying!”
Having shouted so, Julie’s entire body heaved. Like an overheated kettle, fssssss.
“……Enough.”
Soon, she clenched her teeth and shook her head. Her face was not one of anger, but of resignation beyond it, as if she had given up entirely.
I said to her,
“Julie. You must hate me.”
“Yes.”
An immediate answer without the slightest hesitation.
“I hate you.”
……It was too correct a thing to say.
“I despise you.”
It was truly a desirable emotion.
Yet the reason a corner of my heart ached for some reason was, after all.
Because I love this woman.
“……Good. However, I will give you one piece of advice.”
I looked at Julie.
This degree of hatred is not enough. If she is to heal herself, if she is to survive to the end and become a complete knight.
She still has far to go.
“If you are going to hate someone, hate them sincerely. Hate them enough to kill them.”
“…….”
In that instant, Julie clenched her fist.
“Is that a threat?”
“It is advice.”
Julie pressed her lips shut.
I turned my eyes elsewhere.
A street stall selling whole fried chicken. I approached and bought two birds to feed Epherene. I ignored Julie’s gaze, which glared as if to kill me.
“I’ll be going, then. I have a burden waiting for me.”
Like that, I returned to the hotel.
[Room 303]
I opened the door to the room.
Zzz…… zzz…….
Epherene was lying on the bed asleep. Drooling.
However, when I set the chicken down, sniff— sniff sniff— her nose moved first. After smelling it, she rose as if bewitched and reached out for the chicken.
“……Professor. Aren’t you eating?”
I shook my head.
“You eat.”
“Well, of course you wouldn’t eat something cheap like this…….”
Epherene tore off a chicken leg first. The sight of her sleepily stuffing her face was rather hearty in its own way.
Whiiing──
Just then, a small light and vibration arose on my right shoulder.
It meant that the time of the “Voice” was up.
“Epherene. Hurry and eat. We will return to the North soon.”
“Ah, yes, yes…….”
* * *
……A night when the Red Moon risen in the sky scattered red mist.
The heart of the Empire, the Imperial Palace, was soaked in strange moonlight.
Tick— tock—
Within that palace, in the Emperor’s most private bedchamber, where only the sound of a second hand flowing was quiet.
Sophien slowly opened her eyes. In the darkness, her crimson pupils flashed vividly.
“Hm…….”
Just as she, having returned from the “Voice,” let out a low breath.
Step—
Not far away, a presence arose. Sophien turned that way.
In that instant, a vein bulged at her temple.
“……You?”
Beyond the darkness.
In the bedchamber where no one was permitted entry, how dare he.
A man Sophien knew all too well was standing there.
His appearance was so brazen that it was absurd.
“How did you…….”
“It has been a long time, Your Majesty.”
“Do not call Us with that filthy mouth of yours, Rohakan.”
A man who, in a different sense from Deculein, set her indolence ablaze.
The murderer of the Empress, Rohakan.
Sophien raised her upper body. She muttered in a voice filled with rage.
“You have now come to Us with your own feet. To the bedchamber where the Empress you killed once stayed?”
Rohakan nodded and answered.
“I did not want to come either, but recently I heard a rumor that Your Majesty has been exchanging letters with Deculein. That is truly unusual. For Your Majesty to exchange ‘personal’ letters with someone. I thought it impossible…… but it was true.”
Sophien completely rose. Mana close to infinite surged like a whirlwind.
Everyone in the Imperial Palace woke from sleep, and the knight order, having detected the intruder’s entry, set out.
“Your Majesty.”
Enduring that enormous mana…… Rohakan asked her,
“By any chance, have you developed feelings for Deculein?”
Snap—
Sophien’s mana cut off for a moment. She narrowed her eyes and glared at Rohakan.
“Why are you asking such a thing? No, did you intrude here for something as paltry as that?”
“It is not paltry. It is extremely important.”
Rohakan spoke. That grave voice grated on Sophien.
“You truly are a damned fool.”
“Your Majesty. Though imperfectly, I can see the future.”
Foresight. A miracle that literally allowed him to see the future, and Rohakan’s power, which grew clearer as his lifespan dwindled.
He continued in a low voice.
“……Among those futures, I saw one related to Your Majesty, a fragmentary yet extremely important scene.”
“If you truly desire suicide, We will gladly—”
“In that future.”
Dadadadada──
The footsteps of knights approached. Sophien released mana—or rather, murmured runic words and bound Rohakan’s entire body. So that he could not escape……
Rohakan spoke while bound in place.
“Your Majesty confessed your love to Deculein.”
“……?”
That instant, it was as if the time of this world had been severed entirely.
It was so utterly absurd that Sophien’s expression crumpled like a steamed bun.