To put Bercht as simply as possible: a village built on a ridge at the snowline.
Or an independent, borderless state of some thousand people, standing in the heart of eternal snow.
Bercht was divided in the form of gates into the First Gate, Second Gate, Third Gate, Fourth Gate, and the final Elder Hall, with entry and residence restrictions for each.
The First Gate allowed even civilians, including knights and adventurers, to come and go, but from the Second Gate onward, only mages were permitted entry.
Sylvia had already spent two nights at a hotel in that Second Gate.
“······.”
She was bored.
She had thought there would be something special. Aside from the occasional curious magical phenomenon, there was nothing to see.
There was still time before the Bercht Conference began, so the only thing she had to do was study.
“······Intelligence.”
And yet, her father’s words kept bothering her.
Intelligence that the train would be attacked.
Had that really been intelligence?
If not intelligence, then what had it been?
Could it have been instigation?
“Miss. They say fourteen families have arrived already.”
Just then, Sirio entered the room. He was licking an eternal-snow ice cream, one of Bercht’s specialties.
“Who came from the Twelve Families?”
“Hm? Ah, everyone except Yukline and Rewind has arrived. Oh, and they say there are quite a few accompanying assistants around your age. Of course, they’d still be three or four years older than you, but would you like to go meet them? There are people from the kingdom too. It’s a chance to broaden your horizons~”
Yukline.
More than anything else, that family weighed on her mind.
“No need.”
Sylvia shook her head, pretending it was nothing.
“I’m going out for some air.”
“Yes? Ah, yes. For reference, those assistants are enjoying tea time at a café called ‘Snow and Rain’~”
Sylvia left the hotel without listening to Sirio.
After trotting out, she hid herself in a place with few people and rummaged through her pocket. Her hand closed around a blue stone.
It was the mana stone Deculein had given her as a reward for passing the test.
“······With this.”
She closed her eyes and released her mana.
The medium for its condensation was the mana stone.
Mana gathered around the stone and formed a certain outline. At a glance, it was a silhouette difficult to discern.
Sylvia bestowed color upon those empty lines. Her “red, blue, and green,” spreading like multicolored smoke—in other words, the colors of the original—soon became breath and raised up a perfect living creature.
It was a hawk.
The first creative talent she had ever completed in her life. Sylvia staggered for a moment from dizziness, but soon marveled at its perfection.
As expected, I’m a genius.
“······.”
Still, she could not let her guard down.
The hawk flapped its wings, blinked its eyes, and moved as it pleased, but what mattered most was its function.
Sylvia took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Surely, with her eyelids shut, she should not have been able to see anything······.
Slowly, the darkness cleared, and an entirely different scenery appeared. The hawk’s vision had been transferred to her.
Sylvia opened her eyes in satisfaction.
“Fly. Fly, and show me what you see.”
Then the hawk nodded as if it understood.
“Follow the train tracks, and show me what’s happening.”
Kieeeeeek—!
The hawk flapped its wings and soared.
Sylvia watched for a long time as it pushed through the drifting sleet.
* * *
······Thirty minutes later.
Not long after the express train passed the fourth station.
They, seated upon the mountain range and looking down over the land, ignited the bomb they had attached to the underside of the train.
The promised time, the promised point.
Kooong──!
The explosion surged upward, shattering the train’s frame first.
The force of the charge lifted the carriages high and derailed them, and they should have rolled off the cliff and been crushed beyond recognition.
That was what should have happened.
“······!”
However, the train remained in midair.
A total of three carriages hung suspended, stopped comfortably in the air.
──As expected.
Though they had been momentarily astonished by that power beyond imagination, they had not been careless about Deculein’s magical talent. Had they not gathered here precisely to deal with it?
There was no need to kill him.
They only needed to keep him from attending Bercht.
The assassin gave the order to charge with a hand signal.
Dozens of them rushed toward the train in the air. First, they smashed the windows, then slipped swiftly inside.
At that very instant.
An unknown metal shot forth.
Ting-ting-ting-ting-ting—!
As though a trap had been sprung, spike-like fragments ricocheted in every direction and pierced vital points. The straight lines of steel dug into flesh far too easily.
Their number, once dozens, was reduced to five in an instant.
However, the remaining five were likely the core.
“······.”
Deculein sat calmly and looked at them. His noble bearing was not damaged in the slightest, and the assassins could not approach rashly.
At first glance, he seemed full of openings, but they could not be deceived. There was no telling when those metals might spasm again.
“Huaaaam······?”
Just then, Allen opened his eyes. With eyes full of sleep, Allen looked at Deculein.
Deculein put into practice what he had learned from a martial arts manual.
In other words, he struck a pressure point around Allen’s neck and knocked him unconscious. Allen made a sound like air leaking from a balloon and fell asleep again.
“······?”
At that moment, Deculein felt a certain sense of incongruity. It was so alien that he forgot the situation and looked down at his hand.
The sensation at his fingertips was······ too soft. Supple. The Iron Man’s keen five senses could distinguish that faint difference in skin.
Allen.
He had already anticipated one of his secrets, but the other was—
“······.”
Deculein looked at the unconscious Allen, then looked outside the train again. Veron was approaching from afar.
The situation seemed to have been settled to some degree.
“It is over.”
At Deculein’s words, the assassins smiled silently. Then they fled back out the window. He wanted to capture them, but he lacked mana.
“······.”
Only then did Deculein rise. It was time to get off this train.
“You said your name was Roen.”
“······!”
Roen, who had been about to crawl out, flinched in surprise. Creak— Sweating profusely, he turned back to Deculein.
“Yes, yes. That······.”
“Take this child with you as well.”
“Ah, yes, yes!”
Roen hurriedly got up, carried the short Allen on his back, and was about to leave the train when he stopped.
The gap between the train floating in the air and the tracks on the ground was too far.
“Um······ if you could lower the train just a little······.”
Deculein shook his head.
This train was “metal,” his attribute, so despite its tremendous weight, he could apply a simple “halt” to it.
But any movement beyond that was impossible.
“Get down on your own.”
Just then, Veron leaped into the train.
“Ah, Sir Knight!”
Roen brightened, and Veron lifted Roen, who was carrying Allen on his back, as if he were luggage.
“I will jump down.”
“Yes? No, Sir Knight! I haven’t prepared my heart yet—”
“It will be fine.”
Veron jumped down to the ground.
“Gyaaaaaaa—”
Roen, who had let out a bizarre scream, fainted the moment they landed.
After setting Roen and Allen down on the tracks, Veron leaped back into the train.
“······.”
Then he stood still and looked at Deculein. Deculein thought he had come to get him.
But soon, he recalled a very important fact.
Veron had come this far.
By “walking.”
Deculein calmly summoned his treasured blades. Veron looked around the inside of the train suspended in the air.
“······The front of the train has already departed for Bercht. Follow-up measures will be taken soon enough.”
Veron spoke.
Deculein replied.
“Is that so.”
“Yes. Now, it is just the two of us.”
Deculein glared at Veron. Beside him, killing intent that had been hidden until now began to bloom.
Had it been carelessness?
Or had Veron been too perfect?
Whatever the case, he had deceived the eyes of Deculein’s trait with truly astonishing skill.
“Veron.”
“The rest of the passengers have all been saved.”
Veron spoke as if telling him not to worry.
“So now, it is your turn to die.”
At the bizarre flow of that logic, Deculein let out a hollow laugh.
“······Think carefully.”
“I have thought about it hundreds of times. You must die.”
There was not even time to ask why. Veron kicked off the floor and charged. The treasured blades that arrived just in time blocked his path, but the man drew his sword in a flash and swung it in a 180-degree arc.
Clang—!
With that single curve, ten treasured blades were sent tumbling.
The deflected shuriken rose again, circled around Veron, and attacked one after another.
Clang—! Clang—!
The sharp screech of metal scraping metal. Sparks flying violently.
There was not the smallest opening in Veron’s elegant swordsmanship. His defense had already reached a certain realm.
“······.”
The difference in level was clear.
At this rate, the moment his mana was exhausted, defeat was certain.
Therefore······.
Deculein withdrew his treasured blades. Veron, who had been on guard, charged in again with nothing but offense. Even against that fierce rush, Deculein did not close his eyes.
He merely released his psychokinesis.
It was a far better choice than being struck by that man’s blade.
“—Urgh!”
Kuuuuuuung──!
The fall that had been suspended by psychokinesis, the stopped time, began to move again.
The train, having left the tracks, was seized by gravity and descended.
* * *
······It did not fall all the way to the bottom of the cliff.
Fortunately, the train caught on the cliff’s jagged face. It looked as though only one VIP carriage had been skewered.
“······Ribs.”
The impact of the high-altitude fall had broken several bones, but that was all.
This was the body of an 「Iron Man」 reinforced by the defensive power of my suit. Mere fractures would heal soon enough······.
Killing intent awakened my consciousness.
A flash of lightning surged up. Almost instinctively, I rolled aside. At the same time, I called my treasured blades. One of the blades that had been left somewhere hurriedly rose and struck the knight’s shoulder.
Tung—!
Blocked by his protective aura, it did not inflict much damage.
“You are tenacious.”
Veron muttered and swung his sword upward. I applied psychokinesis to his blade, but the sword energy repelled my interference.
With no other choice, I created distance with a backflip. He surged forward without giving me an opening. I twisted my waist to evade the blade that sought to cut down my shoulder and thrust my fist toward his neck.
He was slightly faster.
He struck my side with his elbow. The impact was enough to send my body flying, and as I slid down the slanted surface of the train, sword wind was launched at me.
“······!”
Wind akin to a real blade battered me from collarbone to hip. Blood flowed from my mouth. The damage he dealt was vastly surpassing my speed of recovery.
As I grabbed a seat and tried to stand, I suddenly looked behind me.
It was a sheer, dizzying cliff.
“You are stubborn.”
He walked straight toward me.
I had no choice but to admit it.
Veron was far stronger than I was now.
Even if we had fought each other in perfect condition, he was an opponent I would have been pushed back by.
I had consumed too much mana holding the train.
“······Are you betraying Yulie?”
Even so, this body and this mouth remained full of vigor.
Not only the 「Personality」, but also the effect of a 「Trait」.
──「Though I May Break」──
◆ Grade
：Rare
◆ Description
：Though I may break, I will never bend.
：Activates during combat, and maintains mental strength at a constant level until combat ends. Nearly all mental-interference magic is ineffective.
──────
One of Deculein’s basic traits, which I had not added myself.
Even in the face of death, there was not the slightest tension.
It was a crisis no different from standing on the line between life and death, yet Deculein’s heart still beat steadily.
“Only if you die will my liege live.”
Veron spoke. I let out an unconscious sneer.
“Am I dead now? Or is your liege dead? Even if no one dies, no one will die.”
He did not answer and swung his sword. I lined up woodsteel. The woodsteel became a shield and blocked his path.
“······Hup!”
With a simple horizontal slash, he destroyed the shield.
Through the woodsteel scattering like fragments—one demon surged forward.
······Words will not reach him.
That man is killing intent itself.
Veron raised his sword.
For a moment, it was as if time had slowed. Watching the scattering sword-light, a simple thought came to me.
If I’m cut by this sword, will the game end?
As if nothing had ever happened.
Will I open my eyes in the office again?
Or else…
…And yet.
It was a strange phenomenon.
A distortion appeared around the wrist of the man about to bring down his sword. Like a heat haze rising, that entire space rippled chaotically.
Veron, too, looked at his own wrist in bewilderment.
Crunch—!
All of a sudden, his wrist twisted out of shape and blood sprayed. It had been severed cleanly, and the sword that had lost its master went tumbling away.
“───!”
Veron’s eyes bulged with pain.
It was incomprehensible, but I could not let the opportunity pass. A shuriken shot toward his staggering ankle.
“Gah!”
Losing his balance, Veron slipped out of the train. His entire body was shoved away by the gale.
“……”
At last, silence had come at an unexpected moment.
But he was not dead yet.
His killing intent was still overflowing.
Clutching my side, I rose. Supporting myself on the seats, I walked over and looked beneath the train.
Whooooosh──!
A raging wind. Within it, he had driven a dagger into the underside of the train with his remaining left hand. He was holding on like that.
“……So you had a hidden blade.”
Veron spoke calmly and smiled. Anger surged up from within me. It was a feeling close to fury.
Yet the words that came out of my mouth were utterly calm.
“Veron. Do you think this situation is right?”
“……”
Veron shook his head as the bitter wind tossed him about. For someone who would die the instant his grip failed, he was abnormally composed.
“Of course it is not right. But I remember. Every evil deed you committed against my lord.”
Venom seeped into Veron’s voice.
“Though you may not know.”
“……No. I know.”
I know. I know all too well.
This death variable was the backlash from the countless evil deeds Deculein had brought upon himself. What Deculein had done in the past could not be compensated for with any treasure.
…Even so.
“Veron, you are a patient.”
At the words I ground out, Veron laughed.
“……That is true, and yet it is not. A patient can recover, but I cannot. Therefore I am not a patient, but a dead man.”
Veron closed his eyes. He seemed to be recalling some memory from a corner of his heart. No, it seemed as though his entire heart was made up of that single memory.
“I am a body that died long ago.”
I could not see the scene he was remembering.
“I still remember that day, when she saved me, a thing no different from trash, fated only to be trampled to death beneath horse hooves. I remember her smile. I remember everything about that day. The moment I took her hand and rose, I died, and was born anew.”
The rough currents of the cliff stirred. Veron slowly opened his eyes and smiled.
He was still lingering in that time.
“My life belongs entirely to her.”
I could not help but laugh hollowly.
“……You could have at least asked Yulie what she wanted.”
“My lord would naturally have refused.”
“Then why did you act on your own?”
“That, too, is because I am a dead man.”
At some point, a snowstorm had begun to rage. Fragments crumbled from the dagger he had driven in. It was a support that would collapse before long.
“I know. I know that my emotions are a burden to her. I know that the mere existence of my obsession weighs upon her.”
Strength entered the hand gripping the dagger.
“However, you alone had to die. Because one day, without fail, you will destroy my lord.”
Veron muttered with conviction.
Looking into his eyes, I nodded.
“……You are right.”
He was utterly right.
Deculein’s twisted love had made Yulie break her own convictions. It had made Yulie kill Deculein with her own hands.
“And you are also wrong.”
But I am not Deculein, so he was wrong.
I will change Deculein’s future. I do not doubt that I can change it myself.
Therefore.
“……Believe me.”
I reached out my hand to him.
“I will not harm Yulie.”
Veron said nothing. He merely remained silent and extended his right arm. As if asking me to take it.
“……”
I did not grasp his arm.
Rather, an unknowable heat was scorching my heart.
It was an ember burning at the bottom of my consciousness.
“……Veron.”
I clenched my teeth.
“Even if I save you like this……”
Veron. The murderous intent he gave off grew denser, transforming into a savage blaze that flickered wildly.
“You intend to kill me.”
A flame that would never be extinguished.
A fundamental hatred that could not be resolved, nor soothed.
No matter what happened, he would kill me.
“……Yes.”
Veron was honest.
“In any case, I have no hands. A knight without hands cannot be of help to her. He cannot remain by her side.”
This was Deculein’s karma.
“I want to kill you with the hand I have left.”
At the same time, it was Veron’s foolishness.
Holding back my rage, I muttered.
“……You dull, stupid thing.”
My cherished wood-steel shuriken flew into my grasp. Clutching it tightly, I continued.
“Listen well.”
Veron closed his eyes.
“I…… because I love Yulie.”
Thud─!
The train trembled.
Veron’s murderous intent was still searching for a way to kill me. He shook the dagger. To send the train falling off the cliff.
“I will let Yulie go.”
This damned man was no knight.
He was a deranged fanatic who served and looked up to only one person, worshiping and venerating her.
A mad lunatic.
“But your choice today……”
Drip, drip, drip.
Blood flowed from the hand clutching the shuriken. Those drops of blood struck Veron between the brows and scattered.
“Will torment Yulie for the rest of her life.”
My mana was already exhausted, so,
“You……”
I would do it with my own hand.
I would kill you.
“Are a piece of vermin that gave up on being human.”
With the strength of my wrist and arm, I threw the shuriken. Fired like an arrow, it pierced through Veron’s neck.
Crunch─!
……
Now, there was only silence.
Even the wind ceased for a moment.
It was as if the sounds of the world had vanished. Quietly, Veron let go of the hand gripping the dagger.
And so……
With the light gone from his pupils,
he fell into the unfathomable cliff, and at last.
His killing intent vanished.
The disappearance of his killing intent was his death.