Epherene, Al Roth, and Rose, a prosecutor of Yuren. The three who had descended into the cave within the volcano looked back and forth between Deculein and the criminal beside him.
“Mm…… I think it’s him, right?”
Rose muttered as she compared his face to the composite sketch.
Al Roth nodded without even looking at the wanted poster.
“It is. That is a doll I made.”
“That’s a doll?”
Startled, Epherene’s eyes went wide.
It doesn’t look like a doll at all!
Al Roth chuckled.
“A doll made by an expert in the field is different. It is no experimental mannequin made in a mage tower.”
“I imagine you used quite a few materials that are illegal as well.”
As Deculein said so and approached, Al Roth cleared his throat for no reason.
“Ahem. I was threatened.”
“No, more importantly, Professor. What were you doing here?”
To Epherene, who said that, Deculein asked first.
“Epherene. What happened with the mana stone?”
“Huh? Oh, that?”
Rustle, rustle—a single mana stone emerged from her pocket. She placed it in his hand.
“Here. It’s incomplete, but this one…… reacted.”
Deculein nodded. Then he flicked it behind him. With a soft thud, it landed somewhere on a bed.
“It is a possibility, Carla.”
At Deculein’s words, someone lying on a bed at the end of the cave stirred.
“C-Carla?!”
“Did he just say Carla?”
Indeed, at that ominous name, Epherene and Rose’s pupils widened.
Deculein looked back at Carla and added,
“With that, your heart can be made.”
“……Perhaps. Cough.”
Carla coughed with the mana stone in her hand.
Then, the person beside her spoke to Deculein.
“Deculein. You truly have the disposition of an apostate. In the way you try to defy providence, you resemble our apostates of old.”
“I will take that as praise.”
A man with red hair. No, was it a man? A woman?
In any case, looking at that handsome and beautiful person, Epherene blinked.
“Um. Who are you?”
“……Do you mean me?”
At that question, Epherene innocently nodded.
“Yes.”
“We should have met once before.”
“Huh? Who are you?”
“Back then, I called myself ‘God,’ but you said I was not ‘God.’”
In an instant, Epherene’s eyes filled with shock. Her hair stood on end, and she hurriedly thrust out a finger.
“No! You’re from back then!”
“Haha. Yes. Thanks to you, I learned one thing. And because of you, I decided to descend upon this continent. There is far too much I do not know about your continent.”
“……What?”
Those oddly kind and gentle words left Epherene needlessly flustered. The finger she had pointed so fiercely suddenly felt awkward.
“Ahem. Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Pretending to clear her throat, she quietly lowered her finger.
“Then, what’s your name?”
“……Name?”
“Yes. Your name.”
“Well. I would still like to be called God.”
“Aha~”
At that, Epherene nodded as though she understood. With a face as bright and innocent as could be, she asked,
“So your name was ‘Shin’? A one-syllable name?”
“…….”
At that moment, even God closed his mouth. He fiddled with his hair for no reason and answered,
“Call me ‘Quei.’”
“Quei? That’s a strange name.”
Kwaaaaaa—!
Suddenly, magma blazed up violently. The stench of “sulfur mixed with demonic energy” spread horribly throughout the cave.
Epherene retched without meaning to. Even on Deculein’s face, veins bulged for an instant.
It was the innate ferocity peculiar to Yukline rising to the surface.
“Uweeek—! Ah, what is this? What’s that smell? Professor, is this place okay?”
“It is not okay. This space itself is foul and squalid. However, this volcano will erupt before long.”
Deculein spoke firmly. Rose frowned, and Al Roth shrugged.
Epherene asked,
“Erupt?”
“Yes. It will cover this Ash Heap. If the volcanic eruption is more severe, part of Yuren will be swallowed as well, and a great calamity of sulfur rain will occur.”
With 「Psychokinesis」, Deculein neatly moved the materials scattered around them.
A demon’s fingernail, the heart of a Memelen, the blood of a dark troll, desert Roteo scorpion venom, and so on…… there were quite a lot.
“So it was you, Deculein, who swept them all up!”
“At any rate, with these, I intend to minimize the damage with my magic.”
Using the things he had purchased from the Ash Heap as materials, he would partially realize Dikaillen’s 「Art Magic」. He would refine a 「Barrier」 to plug the volcano’s vent.
“However, even with my magic, I cannot block all the damage from a volcanic eruption. The Ash Heap will, quite literally, become a heap of ash.”
After saying so, Deculein nodded in satisfaction.
“For the vermin who lead hateful lives in this Ash Heap, it is a satisfactory end.”
Al Roth’s face twisted, and Epherene’s expression also became somewhat ambiguous. Rose’s reaction was more intense.
“Hateful lives?”
“…….”
Deculein silently glared at Rose. His gaze was as sharp and oppressive as ever, but Rose did not shrink back.
“Hateful? That’s not right!”
“Prosecutor Rose. Then do you believe your life is on the same level as these lowly criminals?”
“It’s true that they commit crimes. Then I’ll put them in prison. I’ll criticize them. That’s only natural. But you can’t denounce the entirety of all their lives as hateful.”
Deculein stared at her, then twisted his lips.
“Most of them are the sort who deserve to die.”
“No human deserves to die.”
“That is only your ideal. A strange ideal. There certainly exist humans who deserve to die.”
“Ha.”
Rose let out a hollow laugh. As if dumbfounded, she shrugged.
“You can say that because you have noble blood. Acting all lofty for no reason—”
“You too.”
Deculein cut off her words.
“You can say such things because you are a noble.”
“…….”
“If you were a commoner, do you think you would be able to have such a…… conversation with me now?”
He briefly closed his mouth, then looked into Rose’s eyes as if he found it absurd.
“You can entertain such thoughts because you are a noble. If you were a commoner, those treasonous words and actions would already have cost you your head.”
Rose’s teeth ground together. Deculein shook his head and said,
“Then again, the nobles of Yuren must have an inferiority complex. Compared to the Empire, their bloodlines are terribly base.”
Turning away, he spoke to “Quei,” who had been watching the two with amused eyes.
“There is still a week until the eruption. The fair is before then, so you should be able to look around sufficiently.”
“Mm? Will you truly show me around?”
“In exchange, change that red hair to something less conspicuous.”
Quei smiled brightly and tapped his temple.
His long hair, which had seemed to blaze like fire, changed in an instant into a black two-block haircut. Until just now, he had looked like a woman, but this time, he looked completely like a man.
“Wow. That’s amazing.”
Epherene murmured, and Rose, huffing as if swallowing her anger, approached that “Quei” and put handcuffs on him.
“This is the execution of official duty. You are under arrest on suspicion of stealing approximately twenty-seven items from estates, auction houses, and various brokerage halls in Yuren. You have the opportunity to explain yourself, you may refuse to make statements unfavorable to you, and you may request a review of the legality of your arrest from the court…….”
* * *
Maho, the princess of Yuren, was processing reports from officials in the palace. All while sighing deeply.
“Heeyu…… Phew…….”
“You sound like a train.”
Her escort knight, Charlotte, chuckled at her sigh. It was to ease the tension.
Even so, Maho still buried her face in the report as if she felt guilty.
“What should we do? The conversion formula…… If that really is worth one billion elne, if it is……. We don’t have money either because of the new business we launched this time…….”
The problem was, as expected, Deculein’s conversion formula. It had been stolen, of all places, from an airship bound for Yuren…….
“If the incident had at least happened outside Yuren’s airspace, there would be some room for excuses, and we could brazenly insist it happened in Imperial airspace……. But it even happened inside Yuren, didn’t it, sob sob sob sob sob…….”
Maho pretended to cry as she thought. She needed a way to gain as much of Deculein’s sympathy as possible and lessen the damage of this situation even a little.
“Mm…… Huh? What did you say?”
At that moment, Charlotte placed a hand on the earphone at her ear. It seemed she had received some report.
“Ah! I see. That’s a relief.”
“Why! Whywhywhywhy!”
Maho hurriedly lifted her head.
“Did they find the conversion formula? Did they?”
“No. Not that, but they say they caught the great thief.”
“The great thief…… Ah~ The culprit who stole nearly fifty million elne in the span of a week?”
“Yes. That audacious great thief was caught by Prosecutor Rose of the Sion family. She has already arrived and is on her way to the palace now.”
Maho’s eyes also went round.
Rose. Recently, she too had been paying attention to her as a key talent for the “founding of the republic.”
“As expected, important work is done by people from noble families.”
“……I don’t think it’s because of her family.”
At Maho’s reaction, Charlotte cleared her throat for no reason.
Then she asked carefully,
“However…… does that plan remain unchanged?”
“Yes.”
This answer from Maho, at least, was resolute. Without any hint of tears.
Maho wanted a perfect republic.
A nation formed not by bloodline or family, but by the support of its citizens. A democracy in which the votes of the majority determined the leader.
To remove the title of “principality” from Yuren and establish a new foundation as a republic.
“It will be dangerous. In these times.”
“It has to be now. The Emperor of the Empire has a fiery disposition. If the Empire becomes even more of an empire, Yuren will not be able to stand upright. They will instead try to swallow even Yuren.”
The Principality of Yuren was absurdly lacking in political standing and justification. To begin with, its origins were “the remnants of a kingdom that had already disappeared.”
Therefore, Maho wanted Yuren to cast off the shadow of that past and become a new history as a republic.
“Deculein, a major figure of the Empire, is here right now. He is intellectually outstanding. He will notice in an instant, and if that happens…… it will be a serious problem.”
A plan that would be disastrous if Deculein heard it. The moment he heard it, he would try to interfere, try to refute it, and report it to the Emperor of the Empire.
Of course, Maho knew that as well.
“The Empire will not tolerate a republic, nor the very concept of voting. To begin with, the residents of a nation being subjects? I still do not understand that process.”
“It’s simple. What happens if only the imperial family remains in the Empire?”
With a firm face, Maho continued.
“The position of ruler is inevitably created by those who are ruled. Therefore, the master of a nation is…….”
Knock, knock—
A knock rang out then. Maho and Charlotte both gave a little jump like cats, then looked toward the door of the office.
“Yes, yes! Yesyesyes~”
—It is Prosecutor Rose of the Sion family.
“Yes~ Come in. I’d like to hear about the arrest as well~”
Then the door opened, and Rose, her face tense, bowed her head to Maho.
“No need for formalities. Come in~”
“Yes. Thank you. Also, there is something urgent I must tell you. Professor Deculein said about the volcano…….”
* * *
The detention center of Yuren’s palace. Epherene was looking at Quei, who was locked behind iron bars.
“No matter that it is an experience, I dislike bars.”
With a displeased face, Quei tapped the bars.
“Being locked behind bars isn’t an experience you get often, is it? Weren’t all experiences supposed to be good?”
“I already have the experience. A very long time ago.”
“What? Were you a criminal?”
When Epherene narrowed her eyes slightly, Quei only smiled in silence.
“No, more importantly. Why did you steal these?”
The list of stolen goods the prosecutor had handed over.
The number of things Quei had stolen was considerable. All sorts of jewels and books—he had put every last one into his own pocket.
“I merely looked at them because I found them interesting. I intended to put them back in their original places later.”
“That’s what stealing is.”
“Haha. I see.”
Epherene shot him a glare through the bars, then sat down on a nearby chair and opened a thesis.
Fortunately, though it was a detention center, the facilities were not that bad. Rather, it was clean like a library, still and quiet.
“You said your name was Epherene, yes? Are you not going?”
“The Professor told me to keep watch over you, Mr. Quei.”
“Ah…… but what is that.”
Kweyi showed interest in the thesis. Ipeulin let out a short laugh and replied.
“It’s a thesis my father and the professor wrote together…… I’m studying it. I haven’t even fully understood thirty percent of it yet. It’s urgent. I need to master everything up to the parts I’ve considered within a week.”
“Why the rush? Aren’t you still young? No matter that humans are mortal, you live until old age.”
Ipeulin took out a pen. She spoke while writing on magic paper.
“A volcano is going to erupt. I’m trying to stop the volcano first. This property called a ‘homogeneous substance’—it seems like it would be quite helpful in stopping a volcanic eruption.”
“Hmm? Isn’t that Dekyullein’s responsibility?”
“You know the professor doesn’t intend to protect the ashes.”
“…….”
At that, Kweyi’s eyes clouded slightly with puzzlement.
“I’m learning this so that, in addition to the professor’s magic, I can try to block even the ashes.”
“……Are you defying your teacher?”
“No? No, more than that.”
Ipeulin stopped writing and suddenly glared at Kweyi.
“Just what are you trying to do by coming down here? What kind of plan are you hatching? You said you would become a god.”
“Yes.”
“How do you become a god?”
Kweyi looked at her.
How does one become a god. How does one purify a continent stained with too much entrenched filth.
She asks about that which he has pondered for countless years so simply, yet it is precisely because of that he does not hate her.
“First, I shall make it stop. The world, this time, space. And then I shall melt them all into something new, and recreate them.”
“…….”
At that, Ipeulin opens her mouth. With an incredulous expression, she lets out a snort.
Kweyi spoke.
“Of course, I shall separate out those humans who are qualified. Among them is you.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
“Where is a god locked in an iron cage?”
“Ah~”
In that moment, Kweyi smiled brightly and took a step.
“Is it done now?”
Looking at Ipeulin’s face from outside the bars, he asks,
“Are you my mother?!”
“Ipeulin. By the way, where is Dekyullein and what is he doing?”
“How did you get out…….”
He didn’t even have handcuffs on; she was genuinely curious.
Ipeulin looked at Kweyi with narrowed eyes, then convinced herself with a reason like ‘well, he is someone who wants to become a god—’ and pointed outside.
“Would you like to see the professor?”
“……?”
“He’s outside right now.”
“Why?”
Ipeulin snickered.
“He’s your lawyer. Professor Dekyullein is your lawyer, Mr. Kweyi.”
“……He’s defending me?”
“Yes. You said you wanted to see the exhibition, didn’t you? Then you have to get out of here. Legally.”
Kweyi seemed to fall into thought for a moment, then closed his eyes. In that state, he seemed to be looking somewhere.
“……No. It seems the defense already ended long ago.”
“Is that so? Can you see it?”
“I can. He is now…….”
What Dekyullein is doing.
Kweyi, who had been about to say that, suddenly stiffened his expression.
“Why? What is he doing?”
“……He is writing characters.”
“Characters? What kind of characters?”
Since she couldn’t see it herself, Ipeulin felt frustrated.
“They are letters from the Divine Era. They are called the Divine Language. That…….”
Kweyi opened his eyes again and laughed as if dumbfounded.
“Did he grasp the linguistic structure from merely hearing it in passing? What is he trying to do by learning that?”
Ipeulin shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, perhaps he wants to have a proper conversation with you, sir? Anyway—”
Just then, the detention center door burst open.
“Kweyi. You are temporarily released…… no! How did you escape!”
The few guards standing beyond it, seeing Kweyi with his handcuffs undone and standing outside the bars, gasped,
“Hands up! Hands up! Ms. Ipeulin, you come out too!”
and pressed handcuffs and revolvers against their lower backs again…….