The Imperial Palace.
The heart of the empire, built upon the most perfect location in terms of both feng shui and magical theory.
The subjects thought of the Imperial Palace as a noble and immaculate “temple of the empire,” without even the smallest blemish, but that was half right and half wrong.
Because the Imperial Palace was a place intertwined with countless legends and tales of the imperial family, one could also find things on its grounds that did not suit it in the slightest.
This old mansion was the most representative example.
The so-called eyesore of the Imperial Palace. A cursed mansion where all manner of eerie incidents were said to occur…
…was incredibly vast.
Its scale was practically that of a theme park, and it was hardly any different from the main palace building. There were even maids and other attendants to welcome us.
Thanks to that, even the timid ones such as Epherene and Ihelm settled comfortably into their guest rooms.
[Room 26]
I unpacked in the room assigned to me. Not that there was much to call luggage.
No, my “luggage” had arrived here ahead of me.
“You do not even seem surprised to see Us here.”
The emperor sat on the bed in the guest room, staring at me.
“Yes. Your Majesty’s name was written on the card.”
The name written on my card was “Sophien Yekater August von Zyprein.”
But it seemed to be pure coincidence. If it had been some magical device or trap, there was no way it would not have appeared to my 「Vision」.
“Should you be revealing that to the person in question? Have you never played guardian angel? I hear they do it quite often at the Academy these days.”
Sophien shook her head. Phew—she even let out an affectedly cute sigh.
“May I ask, however, why you chose a place like this as the venue?”
“Exactly as Jolang said. For harmony. The empire’s spearhead will now advance toward Jeokgwe, the desert, and the Altar. It is the beginning of a full-fledged war. Before that, setting our insides in order is the most basic of basics…”
Sophien stopped speaking for a moment and placed a finger against her temple. She clenched her teeth and let out a faint groan of pain.
“Tch… this damned headache. These days, it grows worse by the day.”
“…”
Sophien was someone who had reached the realm of enduring pain. If even she suffered like that, then for an ordinary person, the pain would be enough to kill them from shock several times over.
I approached her without a word. I poured a portion of mana into my 「Vision」. I looked into her small head.
“…You seem to have come a little too close.”
Sophien, flustered, subtly drew her neck back.
“Please remain still for a moment.”
“Remain still for wha—”
“I am making a diagnosis.”
“…”
「Vision」.
The eye that sees what cannot be seen.
With the growth of my mana and mental strength, there was nothing I could not observe. The same went not only for mere disease, but also curses.
“…Hm.”
Sophien. I could see a small strand of mana flowing from her head.
It was Rohakan’s mana.
“Deculein. Why did you go to Rohakan’s vineyard?”
Just then, Sophien pushed me away and spoke.
“It seems Rohakan’s magic is entangled within Our head. Whether it is Rohakan’s or not, some magic is blocking some memory inside my head.”
As if her body felt stiff, Sophien lay down on the bed. She turned only her head askew and looked at me.
“Do you know? What that memory is.”
“Yes.”
“…What?”
Sophien’s brow furrowed sharply.
“I would have to look inside Your Majesty’s brain to know the details, but laying a blade upon the imperial body is a grave crime. However, I think I know what memory Rohakan hid from Your Majesty.”
“…What is it?”
Sophien asked. Her expression vanished from her face, and her voice sank into gravity.
“However, I made a promise with Rohakan.”
“A promise?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“It was a promise to keep it secret.”
“…”
Sophien clamped her mouth shut in displeasure. With a swish, she turned her face to the other side of the bed.
I did not say anything to her. I merely looked out the window of the old mansion.
There was someone outside the window.
Hup—! Hup—! Haaaaah──!
At dawn, when most knights would remain inside their guest rooms, she alone was exercising. Swinging her sword, training herself.
Julie.
“…Do you like her that much?”
Sophien asked. Still staring at the wall on the other side of the bed.
“The one trying to bring you down.”
“Yes.”
I gave a small smile. Sitting on the chair beside me, I answered quietly.
“However, I will not be able to be with her.”
“…You will not be able to be with her?”
As though her interest had been piqued, the emperor slowly raised herself. Then, with a newly frowning face, she asked.
“Why? Why do you say you cannot be with her?”
Hah─! Huuup─!
Julie’s shouts as she trained her swordsmanship. The sight of her scattering mana, then wiping the sweat beading on her body.
“I will break off my engagement with Julie. Of course, it is already practically no different from a broken engagement, and only the meeting between the elders has dragged on somewhat, but in any case, this is not a body that will live long.”
“…”
“For her sake, it is right that I make way. And if that happens…”
I lifted the card. The card with Sophien’s name written on it. I gave it to her.
“I will protect Your Majesty for the remainder of my life.”
The proof of the world, Sophien. She was the most important figure in the main quest.
The empire’s central axis.
If I were to die, then until the moment just before my death, it would be right for me to be with her.
“…”
Sophien was blank-faced for a moment.
Then, for some reason, both her cheeks flushed red like a girl’s.
“Will you tell such a loyal subject, then? The reason Your Majesty suddenly held this event.”
“…Phew.”
At that, she let out that same cute sigh again.
She gave a hollow chuckle, as if in vain, and sat on the bed.
“…The Altar. We have identified all the locations of the temples those bastards scattered throughout the empire. A total of 397. Damned many, they were.”
“I see.”
“Yes. Right now, while the event is underway, the Imperial Guard and other key forces should be advancing in secret to smash those temples.”
And just as her words ended, a quest notification appeared.
[Main Quest: The Beginning of War]
The starting point of the latter half of the world.
In other words, the opening battle.
“If it is as Your Majesty says, then the most dangerous place in the empire right now is here.”
There was no way the Altar, whose temples had been bombarded, would sit still.
A counterattack would surely come, and its target would naturally be Sophien, left without her forces.
“It is a strategy worth risking.”
I preheated the Snowflake Obsidian. I attached ten of the nineteen Wood Steel blades to Sophien.
“You are truly reckless.”
“…Hmph. It would not be so bad to die like this.”
Sophien uttered irresponsible words. But contrary to her words, her preparations were thorough.
After all, she had effectively hidden herself in this old mansion, a “magical space.”
“It is an annoying and tiresome life. A damned life where, despite being emperor, I cannot possess the one thing I desire most.”
A snickering smile escaped me on its own. Sophien glared at me with eyes that seemed to say, What are you laughing at? and I knelt before her as she sat on the bed.
“…Then, Your Majesty’s life.”
The courtesy of a vassal and knight. Without the slightest disorder, I spoke within perfect formality.
“I shall protect it.”
* * *
──[ Rules ]──
1. Do not go about alone.
2. Do not come out of your guest room after the sun has set.
3. Do not be deceived by the mansion.
4. Remember that the store and dining hall are open only from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., and from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
5. In all other facilities, follow the rules of that facility.
───────
Early morning.
Julie was looking at the rule board hanging in the old mansion’s lounge. Beside her, the yawning Epherene was doing the same.
“Kraaaah—— Maybe because it’s morning, it isn’t that scary. I guess we just shouldn’t come out at night.”
“I thought your yawn was a pterosaur.”
“A pterosaur? What’s that?”
“Nothing. More importantly, as expected of a place where His Majesty is staying, the facilities are well equipped. There is even a training ground underground.”
The cursed old mansion. A place far kinder than its name suggested.
Epherene also found it rather fascinating. For one thing, the bed mattress had been excellent.
“This old mansion is a magical space within the Imperial Palace that is famous, yet not famous. You could say only those who know, know.”
Just then, two knights appeared behind them.
Gawain and Isaac.
“It is, so to speak, a museum-like space, modeled exactly after the appearance of the Imperial Palace where the first emperor stayed.”
Isaac spoke with a smile.
“It is not terribly dangerous, but it is best to obey the rules without fail. Is the dining hall open?”
“Ah, right. Food!”
Epherene shouted loudly. Then she dashed toward the dining hall like an arrow.
“Hahaha…”
Isaac, who had burst into an unnecessary hearty laugh while watching her back, composed his expression again and looked at Julie.
“Julie. Before the event, we requested a special petition regarding Deculein from His Majesty, and it has been approved.”
“…Is that true?”
A special petition. In other words, an “imperial hearing” had been prepared.
Julie’s face also hardened.
“Yes. There is a courtroom here as well. In any case, this is a map of the old mansion. Take it. You have no sense of direction.”
“…I have gotten a little better, though.”
Julie cleared her throat and accepted the map of the old mansion. Julie’s inability to find her way was a tradition and legend of the old Imperial Knights.
“The hearing will likely take place inside this old mansion. We brought all the evidence with certainty, so…”
Gawain spoke.
“We will win.”
“…Yes.”
Julie nodded. She clenched her fist tightly. She bit her lower lip.
Now, it was time to steel her heart.
…
—Julie. Before the event, we requested a special petition regarding Deculein from His Majesty, and it has been approved.
Room 29 of the old mansion.
Epherene, who had entered not the dining hall but her guest room, listened to the conversation between Julie and the knights recorded by her Wood Steel.
“What kind of petition is it?”
The reason she had gone so far as to eavesdrop like this was, as expected, the gift Sylvia had given her.
[Stupid Epherene. There’s footage inside this. When the Professor is in danger. But when he’s stupidly just staying still. At that time, give this to that stupid woman Julie.]
Why had she told her to give it to Knight Julie, of all people? Since she did not know the reason, she ended up suspecting the knight for no reason.
Of course, she still did not know what footage was contained in this magic stone.
Not that she should, since opening someone else’s gift in advance was extremely rude.
—The hearing will likely take place inside this old mansion. We brought all the evidence with certainty, so…
—Yes. Julie, you have the evidence that Deculein killed Beron, do you not?
—Yes.
“!”
At that moment, Epherene’s eyes widened.
Evidence that he killed Beron?
Murder?
—He killed the knight who escorted him all the way to Bercht, blinded by jealousy. If that is true, then even His Majesty would not dare do anything about it. It is also an undeniable fact.
“…”
Epherene’s mouth fell open.
He had killed an escort knight out of jealousy.
If those words were truly the truth, then he really was one rotten bastard.
“No. No way. There’s no way the Professor would…”
She closed her mouth for a moment and thought quietly.
Deculein.
The things Deculein of the past had done. The countless wicked deeds passed down like legends.
He had once been insanely jealous of everyone around Julie, had loved her enough to devote everything he had, and had been just as fanatically obsessed with her—“there was” that much…
—Furthermore, we received all evidence from the Intelligence Bureau, including that regarding Rockfell’s death. All of it confirms Deculein’s orders to commit murder.
“…Hurk.”
Epherene hurriedly rummaged inside her robe.
Gulp—
She swallowed, then looked at Sylvia’s gift. The old and worn magic stone. And then…
Bang—the door opened.
“…Hm? Epherene, didn’t you eat?”
Luina returned to the guest room. Startled, Epherene buried herself in the bed and blanket.
* * *
The cursed mansion.
However, the afternoon of the old mansion was so peaceful that one could not even think of any curse. The sky was clear, and the wind was warm.
On that balcony of gentle nature, I was reading a book.
“What is that? The Blue Eyes remake?”
Sophien, sitting across from me, asked.
“Yes. It is the novel Sylvia newly revised this time.”
Sylvia, of course, was still trapped on “Sylvia’s Island.”
However, from within, she had communicated with several adventurers, and to one of them—more precisely, to Ganesha—she had handed the manuscript of Blue Eyes.
Asking for it to be republished.
“…Is that not the novel We introduced to you before? She remade it?”
“Yes. The author herself.”
“It was a well-written novel even before.”
Sophien chuckled as she sipped her black tea.
Around then, the sun slowly set. Scattering a red sunset, it sank below the horizon, lower and lower.
“…?”
And then, I saw it.
Beyond the balcony, the scenery changing.
The Imperial Palace slowly shrinking, the appearance of the capital slowly transforming…
“There is no need to be surprised, Professor. Did We not tell you? This place is the cursed old mansion.”
The scenery outside was dyed ash-gray, and at the same time, perished.
Ghosts rose like mist, and time and space fell into disarray.
“This old mansion touches the outside of the world.”
Sophien spoke.
“In other words, it is the afterlife. They say our predecessors sometimes received counsel from the spirits of their ancestors here.”
In a plain and indifferent tone, as if she were watching a flowing stream.
“Is it not quite a fitting place to hide oneself?”