“You are every bit the professor I’d heard about.”
A high-class restaurant in Makan. Roseph said it while we sat across from each other, dining.
“There is a reason His Majesty trusts you, after all.”
I cut into the veal steak with my knife. The juices seeped out smoothly. It was the sort of dish Epherene would like.
“By the way, is the New Faith stepping forward now?”
Ihelm asked.
“I thought the New Faith would spend its whole life quietly inside cathedrals.”
He chuckled as he drank his wine. Roseph’s eyes were still narrowed like threads, curved like a fox’s.
“It is the cathedral’s duty to purge apostasy.”
“No, but still. The New Faith doesn’t believe in God anyway, does it?”
There are broadly three religions on this continent.
The “New Faith,” which follows the precepts, doctrines, and teachings of “Idsilla,” the human who came closest to God after the fall of the Divine Age, when God was said to have truly existed.
The Red Casket’s “Old Faith,” which believes in the gods from before the Divine Age.
And the heretical “Altar,” which seeks to resurrect that god.
Because the Red Casket lies at the intersection of those three, the extermination of the Red Casket is one of the great currents of continental history.
“Yes, that is correct. Sefern, Chapter 3, Verse 19: ‘The Lord said that he was not a god, but a person like us……’ Therefore, we serve only the Lord’s teachings, and do not worship a god.”
Roseph cut an asparagus stalk that resembled a green onion with his knife.
He did not kill, so he was vegetarian; liquor scattered the noble spirit, so he abstained from drinking; and because he followed only Idsilla, he was chaste.
“Of course, it does not seem as though there is such a great gap between the Lord and God.”
“Does the New Faith believe in the existence of God?”
The voice that asked was not Ihelm’s. Nor was it mine.
Primienne of the Public Security Bureau.
The Empire’s bureaucrats had gathered in Makan to handle the aftermath of Vahala, and Deputy Director Primienne of Public Security was one of them.
Roseph beamed.
“Ah, that is—”
“The first archmage was a believer who believed in God.”
At that, everyone in the restaurant turned to look at me. Roseph, Ihelm, and Primienne at the same table, of course, but even the high-ranking officials nearby.
I set down my knife and said,
“Since he believed in God, his believers cannot deny God.”
“Yes. That is so. Ah—Professor, you and I truly speak the same language.”
Roseph took a bite of asparagus. After swallowing neatly, he continued.
“That is correct. Since the Lord was also a believer, we follow him as well…… or so it goes, but in truth, that interpretation has room for debate.”
I quietly looked at Roseph.
“Whether the Lord truly believed in the existence of the Divine Age, or whether it was an addition by Rohan, the confidant who transcribed the Lord’s teachings…… In truth, the current New Faith finds the latter more persuasive. It was a ‘rhetorical device’ devised to persuade ignorant fools who refused to believe in the Lord’s power. Above all.”
Roseph also set down his knife. He wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin.
“There is no evidence that the Divine Age existed. Not a single thing remains on this continent. The claim that runic is the language of God is also a fiction created by later generations. However, the traces of the Lord remain all across this continent.”
Primienne looked back and forth between Roseph and me with an unruffled expression. Between us, Ihelm drank his wine.
“Therefore, the New Faith is a religion that believes in ‘a saint who once lived.’ The reason the Red Casket is apostasy is because they believe in a god whose existence is uncertain, and thereby disturb the continent.”
“I suppose so.”
I nodded. Roseph smiled brightly.
“As expected—”
“However, why doubt teachings that exist?”
“…….”
For an instant, Roseph’s face hardened.
“The scriptures are no different from a historical record that transcribed exactly what the first archmage taught in those days. Yet you doubt one part of them, claiming it to be an addition by his confidant, while accepting the rest as they are? From the moment you doubt a part of the scriptures, the scriptures’ perfection is broken.”
I tilted my head. An unconscious sneer settled at the corners of my mouth.
“If you are going to doubt, doubt all of it. If you are going to believe, believe all of it.”
Roseph quickly put on a smile again.
“……Such insight befitting a mage. To exclude faith and look only at the facts. That must be why you call the Lord the first archmage.”
Idsilla—the title of the Lord, as they call him—is “the first archmage.”
In fact, that is his official title in the game.
“That is so. Idsilla is the root of the continent’s magical world. I respect him as a subject, not as a religion. I understand the magic he left behind, and I also doubt it.”
I looked at my wristwatch.
7:55.
“Thanks to that doubt, I believe I know the answers to many of the questions the New Faith holds regarding the scriptures.”
“……Many questions?”
A faint crack formed between Roseph’s brows.
The greatest task of the New Faith, in other words the cathedral, is the analysis of scripture and doctrine. There are still many riddles and sentences whose interpretations remain ambiguous.
“For example, Sefern, Chapter 8, Verse 11. The question of who is meant by ‘the sheep that lost its way and donned the wolf’s mask.’ The question of how to interpret the final proverb Idsilla left behind before departing this world.”
There were many questions in the scriptures like this, but I knew most of them.
Some through game knowledge, some thanks to 「Comprehension」.
“……Is that so?”
Roseph forced a smile, but at my next words, his face hardened again.
“To my eyes, Idsilla’s final proverb felt like a map.”
A map. Evidence indicating the location of a holy relic, part of the main quest.
The cathedral should have researched that much by now as well. They had likely informed only a very few of that fact, in utmost secrecy.
“……Hmm. Fascinating. What else is there?”
Roseph still showed no sign of anything, and tick—
Just then, my wristwatch announced eight o’clock at night.
“It is time, so I will take my leave. In any case, it is only the conjecture of a nonbeliever, so you may ignore it.”
“No. It was a sufficiently interesting hypothesis.”
I rose from my seat. Roseph also beamed and nodded, but I could see the expression hidden beneath.
Impatience, anxiety, surprise, doubt.
Roseph was an honest priest, in his own way.
* * *
“Deputy Director. Deputy Director. How did it go?”
Night had fallen.
As Primienne came out of Makan’s restaurant, civil servants including the Director of Public Security swarmed around her.
“There was nothing in particular.”
“Hah, ah, that’s a relief, but wow, honestly. I thought you were crazy.”
The Director of Public Security wiped the sweat beaded on his bald head.
“How could you sit next to the professor so shamelessly like that?”
When all the high-ranking officials had gathered in Makan, and then entered the restaurant together, Primienne had been the first to attach herself to Deculein.
Of course, everyone in the Public Security Bureau had been shocked, but Deculein had unexpectedly left Primienne alone.
“Phew…… Fine. In any case, thanks to that insane thing you did, the Public Security Bureau’s prestige should have risen a little.”
“When does the work begin?”
“We only have to transport prisoners. We won’t be that busy.”
The reason they had gathered in Makan was to handle the aftermath of Vahala, which had been utterly annihilated. Among those duties were prisoner transport and inspections.
“At any rate, good. I don’t know how you managed to forge a connection with the professor with that damned personality of yours, but—”
“Now, now! All officials, attention!”
A voice rang out, cutting off the Director of Public Security.
It was Delric, an Imperial Knight with three stars on his chest.
“From now on, there will be a brief blood collection.”
“Blood collection?”
“That is correct. A single drop will suffice, and it is a newly invented magic. It is to simplify the reissuance process in case any of you should lose your civil servant identification.”
Most of the officials nodded, but Primienne did not. She knew what this blood collection meant.
Distinguishing the Red Casket.
She had prepared for it just in case. The blood donation pouch inside her coat—
“However, the Imperial Guard will conduct the blood collection directly. The pricking of the needle and the storing of the blood, all of it.”
“…….”
Primienne smacked her lips as she fiddled with the blood donation pouch in her inner pocket.
“Now, we shall begin.”
The Imperial Knights began attaching themselves to the officials one by one. To put it dramatically, it was a crisis of life and death.
In the middle of it, Primienne quietly thought.
“Mm.”
……Come to think of it, it was uncommon to summon everyone from section chiefs to directors of every department for aftermath processing.
It was uncommon, but there was no way to respond.
To think that from Barahal—in other words, from the very first operation—they would search the entire organization in an instant like this.
“Deputy Director Primienne. Your finger, please.”
At that moment, an Imperial Knight approached with a needle in one hand.
Primienne nodded and extended her finger.
“Yes. I will draw the blood.”
A single needle slowly approached her skin.
The heart pounding inside her ribs.
The single drop of blood she would shed.
Based on the confidential documents Deculein had leaked to her, the time required for the Red Casket test was only five minutes.
Would that be enough time to flee?
No. The Imperial Guard gathered here was not a group to take lightly. Not only Delric, but many Intelligence Bureau agents were likely gathered here as well.
“This is…….”
……a dead end.
Just as she was about to admit it.
“Deputy Director Primienne.”
Someone called her. The needle that had been about to pierce her skin stopped.
At that someone’s voice, the Imperial Knight flung the needle away and immediately raised his hand in salute.
“Loyalty!”
Deculein. Dressed in full uniform like a soldier, he looked back and forth between her and the Imperial Knight as he spoke.
“Are you busy?”
“No, sir! It is fine, sir!”
Taking advantage of the gap while the knight shouted noisily, Primienne moved.
Pretending to pick up the needle, she punctured the blood pouch in her inner pocket and smeared that blood on the needle and her finger.
“……Take it.”
Then, she brazenly held out her bloodied finger and the needle.
“Ah, yes!”
Without even having the presence of mind to check in detail, the knight tucked away the drop of blood that was not Primienne’s.
“Loyalty! My business is finished! Please speak at ease, Professor!”
“Do so.”
The knight went back, and Primienne looked up at Deculein. Deculein looked down at her as well.
Gulp—
Primienne swallowed in secret and asked,
“What is your business?”
Deculein answered briefly.
“Prepare a horse. I have somewhere to go alone.”
A trivial order to prepare a horse.
“Where are you going this late at night?”
“The vineyard.”
“……I think you can take any horse from the stables.”
“Mm.”
At that, Deculein planted his cane against the ground and nodded. He also let out a small, incredulous laugh.
“True enough.”
“…….”
In that instant, Primienne felt a certain incongruity.
No, the incongruities she had been feeling since before began slowly transforming into a clearer sensation.
Somewhere between suspicion and certainty.
“However, there is a black one in the best spot in the stables. It is the horse our director rode here, and as much as he dotes on it, it has a reputation as a fine steed.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes. Whenever he has time, he even makes the lowest-ranked members of Public Security shower the horse.”
“Tell him I will borrow it for today.”
“Just take it entirely. I want to see that octopus cry.”
“I will be going.”
Step, step.
Deculein, who had been moving away with long strides, suddenly turned his head and looked at her. Primienne began to let out a sigh of relief, only to swallow it back down.
“Deputy Director.”
Deculein’s profile as he called her by her title was sharp. His eyes, nose, mouth, and jaw. All of it seemed as though it meant to pierce through her like awls.
“……Yes.”
“No matter what happens from now on, no matter what you predict, always keep in mind that your countermeasures may go awry.”
Words offered like advice to her, who was merely standing still.
His still-cold voice seeped into her ears.
“Because, for some reason, I seem to value you rather highly.”
“…….”
A sentence she could not understand.
He left like that, but Primienne watched his back. She watched him reach the stables while thinking many complicated thoughts.
And finally, when he mounted the director’s horse and left Makan.
“Go ahead and drop dead, you crazy octopus director.”
She did not know where Deculein intended to go, but inwardly, she shouted for joy.
“……Wait. The vineyard.”
Then, belatedly, the word echoed back in her mind.
……Rohakan’s vineyard.
* * *
Clang, clang, clang—
The campus of the Imperial University, where the spring sunlight seemed to pour down with a bright clang, clang, clang—
Along a university roadside brimming with vitality just before the semester began, Sophien, in disguise, was walking with the disguised Ahan.
“Oh-ho…… So this is what a university was like…… Hm?”
Then, in the distance, on a park bench, a familiar face caught her eye.
—……I was thinking that since I'm not sleeping, maybe not sleeping doesn’t make me feel so tired.
—Huh? What are you talking about, Ipi?
Deculein’s disciple and teaching assistant, Ifrin.
For some reason, the lad with dark circles under his eyes like a panda was staring blankly at the park pond.
—I don't know either.
—Ipi, are you busy revising your thesis? You look exhausted. Just sleep.
—I can't. Deculein hasn't come back, so I can't sleep either.
—What? Making you unable to sleep is abuse, isn't it? Ipi! Report him!
—Report him. Deculein.
—……Ah, I guess you can't report him. Because it's Deculein.
—It's fine. Out of twenty-five hours a day, five hours. Five. Five eight thirty.
—……Ipi. You're not normal right now.
“Has that lad lost his mind?”
Sopien withdrew her gaze from that direction and looked toward the Roteo Building among the university's many structures.
“Anyway. It seems I now attend this place too.”
“Yes, Your Maj——…… That is so, Lady Sollien. You hold the status of a student in the Business Department.”
“Business, is it. That’s right. The Emperor governs the empire.”
Sopien, who had been walking with heavy steps, sat on a nearby cafe balcony.
Ahan also sat facing her with an extremely uncomfortable expression.
Matching eye levels like this was something unimaginable for a court lady……
Ding—
Just then, a message arrived on the ‘Magic Slate,’ the imperial palace’s communication network. Ahan’s face hardened stiffly as she received the report.
“……My Lady. There is a piece of bad news.”
The Magic Slate was the imperial palace’s communication network, similar to the ones used by the Tower of Magic’s mages.
Ahan, who had become the Emperor’s close aide, now occupied a position where she received almost all information from the imperial palace.
“Bad news? What is it.”
“Ah, it is……”
Gulp. Ahan swallowed and spoke haltingly.
“Last night, Deculein entered the vineyard, or so it is reported.”
“……The vineyard. You mean Rohakan’s vineyard.”
“Yes. It is information from the eunuchs, so it is certain.”
Ahan simply could not understand why this professor, Deculein, had suddenly returned to that vineyard.
Rohakan was the Empire’s worst criminal.
Simply going near the vineyard where he died would be politically disadvantageous.
“I do not know why the professor would do such a thing, but…… My Lady. Are you alright? The fact that Professor Deculein visited that place will surely become known……”
Deculein, the one who had killed Rohakan, had visited the vineyard where he killed him.
That alone was enough to be held against him.
No, it was much more than that. It would be more than enough for even Sopien to interrogate him personally.
Because Rohakan was a criminal of such magnitude.
“……The professor is a more political human than anyone in the imperial palace. He would not be unaware that if he visited the vineyard again, he would be torn apart by those courtier bastards.”
Sopien rested her chin on her hand and looked at the university campus.
College students, mages, knights, doctors…… The youth who would become the Empire’s future were coming and going.
“Yes. That is truly so. But why would the professor go to such a place again……”
Sopien smiled a smile she herself could not understand.
“Who knows.”
At times like this, she felt it, now and then.
“Is it not because he is human?”
“Yes?”
That even that cold one was, in the end, human.
“Do you not know. That Deculein, he is grieving. For having killed Rohakan with his own hands.”
That one who seems to have neither blood nor tears…… was, in the end, human.
“Y-you cannot mean.”
Ahan shook her head with a dumbfounded face.
“Surely it cannot be so. Professor Deculein—”
“No. It is certain. He must have gone to mourn Rohakan. Or to honor him. Or if not that, to reminisce.”
“Hah……”
Ahan was at a loss for words for a moment.
—Deculein grieves Rohakan’s death. Deculein grieving Rohakan’s death is, from Sopien’s position, a traitor.
Ahan’s thoughts assembled in that manner, but Sopien merely continued in a subdued tone.
“There is nothing to worry about. Is it not natural, in a way, to grieve?”
“……Yes?”
“The professor was Rohakan’s disciple, and Rohakan also seemed to cherish him. No, he was cherishing him. At least when he met with me.”
The one who, for Deculein, that is, for his own disciple, had come to the imperial palace prepared for death and warned me with only the truth.
The one who had, in the end, died by Deculein’s hand because that warning became the starting point.
Rohakan.
“I forced a fight to the death between master and disciple despite knowing that. Because ‘Deculein, whom Rohakan cherished,’ could not be trusted, but ‘Deculein who killed Rohakan’ could be trusted.”
“Ah……”
“Therefore, the professor chose me after killing Rohakan.”
The fight to the death between master and disciple.
Sopien had instigated it, and Deculein had carried it out without faltering.
“The professor appeared unaffected even after killing his own master……. However, it seems he was not unaffected after all.”
Sopien murmured softly and looked up at the sky.
The sun was clear, and there were no clouds.
“This time, I did a cruel thing to the professor. Therefore, I can permit him to reminisce, at least—”
“Excuse me!”
A sharp voice cut through the solemn atmosphere. Sopien and Ahan turned their gazes that way with blank eyes for a moment.
“It's one drink per person here, you know?”
“……”
The one who appeared shouting one drink per person was the owner of this cafe, as well as Deculein’s younger sister, who was visiting her alma mater for the first time in a while.
Yeriel.
“But there aren't any drinks at your table? Seems like students these days are still wasting seats as usual, huh?”
As she looked at her speaking sharply with arms crossed, Sopien felt, for the first time in a very long while, a fragment of the emotion called ‘joy’…….