Sophien’s life was concentrated into a particular span of time. The period of poisoning, when she repeated infinite deaths.
Yet, in truth, her anger over the reality of that time and the mastermind who had poisoned her was not so great. She did not even have much interest in it.
Perhaps that, too, was a kind of defense mechanism, and it was thanks to a certain professor bastard who had shared those memories with her.
The memories of that time in her head had been softened to some degree, and even if she killed every last person behind it, nothing would return to her.
“The reason you hate the Jeokgwe…… is that what you mean?”
However, Sophien harbored a strangely fervent hostility only toward the “Jeokgwe.”
“Yes.”
At Ahan’s question, Sophien leaned back. She let out a heated breath.
“The subjects of the Empire despise the Jeokgwe. Because they earn money with the power of ‘demons,’ and live better and eat better than they do.”
A very small amount of demonic energy flowed in the bloodline of the Jeokgwe. Because of that, each member of their clan possessed demonic abilities.
Mind reading, which allowed them to read another’s thoughts; psychometry, which extracted memories and sensations from certain objects; demon eyes, which provoked emotions with a gaze…….
The power of demons, distinct from magic in that it required no special study or training.
Among the Jeokgwe of the Empire, many had succeeded through those innate supernatural abilities.
“However, my reason is different from theirs.”
Gulp— Ahan swallowed. Then Sophien gave a faint laugh, looked out at the sky beyond the window, and murmured quietly.
“I have no reason for rejecting the Jeokgwe.”
“……Pardon?”
“I hate the Jeokgwe people without reason.”
“…….”
Ahan blinked blankly. Sophien’s expressionless lips twisted.
“That emotion grows more intense by the day, and now it is an impulse and desire pounding upon me. As though I were born for the purpose of hating the Jeokgwe…….”
Thus, the Jeokgwe were a race that signified Sophien’s flaw. They proved that she herself was not perfect, but rather filled with deficiencies.
But then, what of it?
The meaning of Emperor had never been “a perfect human” to begin with. It was merely one of the “positions” ascended to by a human born with imperial blood.
“Of course, some of those bastards have plotted the assassination of Kreto, as well as an attempt on my own life. And when I was young, there was a time when I mistook my curse to be because of the Jeokgwe.”
Sophien took a draw from her pipe.
“None of it matters now.”
Exhaling blue smoke, she looked down at Ahan. Ahan, too, slowly looked up at her.
“……Ahan. Did I not say so?”
In that instant, the air of the bedchamber turned viscous.
“That perhaps I might be a monster.”
Crimson pupils narrowed like those of a bird of prey. Those eyes drew a deep arc. A snake-like smile coiled around Ahan’s waist.
“No, no, Your Majesty—”
It was hard to breathe, and the skin of his body was damp. It felt as if blood were pouring in torrents through the open window.
On that bare floor, Ahan felt the threat of drowning.
“……Hmph. Enough. Whatever the case, I will suppress the Jeokgwe.”
Tak—!
The sound of the pipe striking the table.
That sound returned the bedchamber to normal. The boiling pressure subsided. Ahan exhaled the breath that had been blocked and lowered his head.
Sophien said,
“Even if he is the professor, he will not be able to defy that will of mine.”
A voice approaching bleakly, like a blade.
This was a warning Her Majesty was delivering to Deculein.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I shall keep it in mind…….”
Ahan now had a duty to convey these words to the professor.
* * *
Late at night. A full moon had risen outside the Magic Tower’s window, and Epherene was probably in an all-night meeting somewhere around the thirtieth floor at this hour.
—This is the Imperial Knights.
I was listening to the transmission of the radio transceiver currently in trial operation.
It was the line connecting the Imperial Knights in the capital to Reccordak.
—Knight Deia. What is the situation on your end?
—Reccordak is peaceful. The monsters approaching the wall are no different than usual, and the “collision value” is not particularly high, so there is no threat whatsoever.
Julie’s voice, stationed at Reccordak. A clear tone, still like her convictions.
I listened quietly while fiddling with the “bracelet.”
──「Burnt Bracelet」──
◆ Information
：Burnt Bracelet
◆ Category
：Damaged
◆ Special Effect
：An engraving of location tracking remains.
────────
To the naked eye, it was a worthless, insignificant object, but to Julie, it was her most precious treasure…….
—Understood. How is Knight Deia’s condition?
“…….”
However, the contents of that transmission bothered me a little. Before I knew it, my brow had narrowed.
—Condition…… you mean?
—Yes. I am curious about the condition of Sir Deia, who is responsible for Reccordak.
Listening closely to the man’s voice, it was Gawain. Julie’s junior and a famous senior knight in the capital.
—I am fine.
—Are you eating properly?
—……Yes.
That ordinary conversation twisted something inside me for no reason.
Was this also the effect of Deculein’s personality? Was this why Deculein had tormented Julie and those around her?
—That is a relief. The capital has not yet forgotten Sir Deia. Once the Myeolji Expedition is confirmed, we will likely be able to meet there again.
Listening to Gawain’s voice, I thought. I felt some cancerous emotion boiling from the depths.
“……Should I kill him?”
It was clearly supposed to be a work-only communication, yet seeing him spout that nonsense, perhaps this Gawain or whatever he was called was a rotten bastard.
It was good that I pushed Delric.
—Yes. If any other special emergency occurs, please contact us by radio.
Just as Julie was about to end the transmission.
Clack—!
The office door suddenly opened. I turned that way.
“Oh my?”
A short chairwoman. It was Adrienne, clutching a staff taller than herself in one hand.
“Professor Deculein! You were still here!”
“…….”
I glared at her and said,
“Are you a culprit caught in the act of office intrusion?”
“What?! A culprit caught in the act?! This is also within the chairwoman’s authority!”
Adrienne proudly held out a master key with a flourish.
A key that could open every floor from the first to the ninety-eighth at will.
I shook my head.
“……Do you have a reason for visiting?”
“Well! I was just bored!”
Adrienne toddled over and sat across from me. Then, smiling brightly, she asked,
“Oh, right! I heard you objected to Her Majesty’s words!”
“…….”
When did she hear that rumor? No, how had it spread already?
Adrienne wiggled her eyebrows slyly, and I made a sour expression.
“Who is the source of the rumor?”
“Huhuhu. So it’s true! When figuring out rumors, probing is important too!”
“……Probing?”
“Yes! The news itself came from the Imperial Palace! They said Her Majesty was in a bad mood all day today! They said the audience hall was like thin ice~! So I thought, could Professor Deculein possibly be the reason?”
“…….”
Certainly, when it came to judging rumors and taking action, Adrienne was the best. If one thought about it, that ever-smiling expression of hers was also a poker face.
I had been caught off guard at a moment I had not expected.
“And the reason you fought was probably~ the Jeokgwe matter!”
“It is confidential. Chairwoman, you should also keep it confidential.”
I said. Adrienne made a strange expression.
“You’re asking me to keep a secret! Isn’t that too naive?!”
“…….”
“Anyway! Professor, you didn’t like Her Majesty’s Jeokgwe policy, did you?! Because the intensity of the policy was too lacking?!”
……The intensity of the policy was lacking.
Fortunately, Adrienne seemed to have missed the point at the most important part.
“But what exactly did you not like about it?! From what I’ve heard of Her Majesty’s policy, it sounds like she intends to kill all the elderly Jeokgwe and round up the rest of the Jeokgwe villages to throw them into camps!”
“Do you think I would tell that to someone I cannot ask to keep a secret?”
At that, Adrienne narrowed her eyes.
“Hmph! Then I’ll just think whatever I want!”
“Yes. Do as you please. I do not know if you will be dragged away for treason.”
“Me, treason? Pfft. They treat me so well because they’re afraid I’ll go to another country! No, more importantly, isn’t it strange?! Why does Her Majesty hate the Jeokgwe so much?! When she seems rather gentle toward other minority races!”
As she said, Sophien hated the Jeokgwe.
However, the reason was “unknown.”
Not that it had not been revealed, but that the setting itself was unknown.
“I can understand why the professor hates the Jeokgwe! Since you’re from the Yukline family!”
While I was letting Adrienne’s chatter go in one ear and out the other.
Suddenly, a certain thought flashed through my mind.
“As for Yukline, well, you can use demons and demonic energy as an excuse! Even if you kill them recklessly, you just have to say that guy was a demon! Everyone believes it!”
I looked at Adrienne, who was muttering away. Sensing my gaze, she also stopped talking for a moment.
“What is it?”
“……Tell the world, then.”
“Yep?!”
“That Deculein pressed for an even harsher policy.”
Adrienne’s mouth was loose, but surprisingly, her credibility was high. In her position as chairwoman, she heard the Empire’s private words, and she did not convey “rumors that were more than half wrong.”
In other words, she was a nightingale whose persuasiveness was at least acknowledged.
“That Deculein pressed for a cruel and frightening policy beyond what Her Majesty proposed, namely ‘extermination,’ but Her Majesty instead refused…… and they quarreled because of that. That would not be a bad rumor.”
“…….”
Adrienne studied my expression, then nodded.
“……Really?”
“Convey it that way.”
For Her Majesty’s sake, I could become an infinitely evil being.
To begin with, lessening Sophien’s burden was likely one of the processes absolutely necessary for clearing the quest.
“Yes! Well! Now that I think about it, that sounds right to me too!”
Bzzzzzt—
The noisy frequency of the radio transceiver rang out. The chairwoman and I looked at it at the same time.
—Emergency situation. An “island” has appeared in the Empire’s territorial waters.
“Huh?!”
—There is a rumor that inside that island, people who have already died are alive.
Adrienne turned to look at me. I answered.
“The Voice has succeeded in its ‘encroachment.’”
The world of the “Voice.” That bastard that had only drawn concentric circles in the middle of nothingness had finally revealed its scenery to the world.
“Encroachment?!”
“Yes. It seems the ‘Voice’ has become identified with the world.”
Originally, this was not a matter that should have progressed so quickly, but the “repeated regressions” must have caused some distortion.
—At present—
I grabbed the microphone of the radio transceiver.
“This is Deculein of Yukline.”
—Ah! Professor! Yes!
“If the rumor has spread widely enough to reach you, adventurers will soon flock there.”
Adventurers were no different from hyenas in that respect.
“By order of the Captain of the Imperial Guard, I command that all those heading there be barred from entry and detained. There is no appropriate ordinance yet, but if any adventurers are discovered, detain them all on the charge of ‘trespassing in territorial waters.’”
—Yes. We will proceed immediately.
“Also, only a portion of them will be selected and brought along as the raid party.”
As I said that, I put on my coat.
“Relay the coordinates.”
—Yes.
“I will depart there soon as well……?”
My collar was seized tightly just as I was about to leave.
“Professor Deculein! I can go too, right?!”
Adrienne was looking up at me with sparkling eyes.
* * *
Paaaaaa——!
A countless swarm of boats was cutting through the Empire’s territorial waters.
The number visible to the eye alone was roughly more than thirty. Quite a few adventuring parties had rushed out here the moment they heard a certain “piece of news.”
“……There are a lot.”
Among that great procession, Lia of the Red Garnet Adventuring Party murmured as if in admiration.
“Well, adventurers are all like this by nature. They’ve all experienced the ‘Voice’ too, so they know there’s a gold mine over there, don’t they? Wherever there’s money to be made, even if it’s hell, there will be adventurers.”
Ganesha steered the boat skillfully. Fragments of the sea wetted her hair.
“Over there, Miss Sylvia, how are you? You look very nervous.”
Sylvia. A mage who had formed a party with them since the “Voice” before the encroachment.
Her face was even stiffer than usual, and she did not answer Ganesha’s question.
“You must be very nervous…… Huhut.”
Just as she laughed, simply finding it cute.
“……Ah.”
Ganesha’s face stiffened slightly. She quickly hit the brake.
Paaaaaa——!
Suddenly, the boat resisted the current and came to a hasty stop. The passengers, including Sylvia and Lia, were shoved roughly and fell over.
“Ah!”
“Ugh!”
“……Leader. What’s going on?”
Carlos asked.
Ganesha tapped the crystal orb on her earring and answered.
“Tsk. Apparently Professor Deculein is doing something over at the entrance.”
“……”
At that, Carlos’s expression visibly darkened.
Lia, who had quickly gotten up, asked,
“Professor Deculein?”
“Yeah. They say if we go now, we’ll all get arrested.”
As though timing itself to Ganesha’s words, Kwaaaaaaaaa——!
A dozen or so boats that had been ahead of them rose into the sky along with the waves. They were fixed in place in midair.
It was Professor Deculein’s 「Psychokinesis」.
—……I inform all those who have entered the Empire’s territorial waters.
At the same time, someone’s voice resounded.
—Unauthorized adventurers may approach no farther. If this warning is ignored, it will be interpreted as a violation of the Imperial Territorial Waters Act, and you will be detained.
The voice of Professor Deculein, far too familiar and also alluring.
—If you have any complaints, or if you wish to raise an objection, come find me at any time. I am Deculein of Yukline. The channel of communication is open.
The words that the channel of communication was always open—meaning far too clearly that he had no intention of communicating.
“Sigh. We should’ve come a little earlier.”
Ganesha sighed and plopped down on the boat’s deck.
Deculein.
She did not know what was going on, but if that professor had moved first, it was best not to needlessly go against his mood for now.
“……For now, let’s have a meeting here? About what to do.”
“Yes!”
Lia answered energetically, Leo was still asleep, and Carlos had already hidden below deck.
Only Sylvia was glaring beyond that sea, revealing a thick hostility.
“Okay. I’ll take that as everyone agreeing~”
Ganesha grabbed Sylvia’s wrist and dragged her below deck.