……The following day, at noon.
The underground levels of the Imperial Palace were designated as the scene of a 'magic incident.' Access to the entire underground area was strictly forbidden, and the palace mages and knights were fully deployed.
Ria was no exception.
“……Haaaahm. What’s going on?”
Yawning with a tired face, Ria rubbed her eyes. Having sparred in a continuous relay with Dellik, Leo, and Kalos last night, and having brooded over Dekyullein on top of that, she was running low on stamina.
“Do not approach. It is dangerous.”
In the underground corridor of the Imperial Palace, near the library, a crowd was buzzing with commotion. Rather than mere curious onlookers, the crowd consisted largely of palace attendants. While the knights were keeping order, everyone was craning their necks and whispering among themselves.
Ria approached a knight and asked in a slurred, drowsy voice.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“Do not even be curio— …Ah. It’s Ria. Hmm… yeah, look over there.”
Then, as if recognizing Ria’s face, the knight gestured with his eyes toward the palace library.
“It’s a magic attack.”
“A magic attack?”
“Yeah.”
The Order’s doing?
Ria glanced over the knight’s shoulder.
Sure enough, the library was already a complete mess. The bookshelves had collapsed like dominoes, and books were scattered about like trash.
“Everyone who visited the library over the past three days has gone missing.”
“Missing?”
“Yeah.”
“So you didn’t know for three days?”
“……The palace library isn’t a crowded place. This was only discovered last night when a selected mage and an escort knight went missing. But there’s something even more problematic than that….”
The knight looked around briefly, as if checking his surroundings, then *ahem* cleared his throat. And he whispered in a small voice.
—The number of missing people in this palace is gradually increasing.
“……Really?”
The Imperial Palace was vast. So vast that many were unaware, but tens of thousands of people resided within the palace grounds. High-ranking officials and court attendants, as well as palace knights and mages, their attending servants, hundreds of foreign guests… Therefore, it was difficult for rumors to circulate if just one or two people disappeared.
“Is it time for me to step in?”
At Ria’s question, the knight smiled faintly.
“You want to go in? It seems dangerous even for you.”
“I’m fine.”
“Alright.”
And so she was granted entry.
Entering the library interior, Ria slowly looked over the people investigating the scene right in the middle.
There were quite a lot of people.
From the court mages scattering mana here and there, to men and women in suits who seemed to be from the Intelligence Bureau, to the deputy commanders of the Imperial Knights, Isaac and Gawain, and Sir Dellik.
“……What is going on, Sir Dellik?”
She asked Dellik.
“Huh?”
He, who had been conversing with agents, noticed her.
“Ah, Ria?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Dellik was kind. The way he smiled upon seeing her like this was surely because of Dekyullein.
No, perhaps thanks to Dekyullein.
“Right. A selected mage, a knight, and a librarian were sucked in.”
“Sucked into where?”
“This canvas.”
Dellik pointed to the canvas placed in the middle of the library.
“This seems to be the culprit, but… we’re currently investigating who put this canvas here. What, you want to join too?”
“May I?”
“Of course.”
*Whir—*
A sudden vibration rang out at that moment.
Dellik pulled a crystal orb from the inner pocket of his uniform. He stared at it for a moment, then *ahem* cleared his throat.
“Everyone, prepare. Count Yukraine will arrive shortly.”
“Yes, sir!”
At Dellik’s words, everyone including the Intelligence Bureau agents stiffened rigidly.
Was he truly the empire’s highest authority?
Ria felt uneasy about their loyalty for no reason, but decided to wait for Dekyullein, who would arrive soon.
*Clack—*
Just then, footsteps that could be recognized simply by hearing them.
Everyone gathered in the library turned toward the sound, and Ria swallowed dryly without realizing it.
*Gulp—.*
Her heart trembled for a moment. However, she calmed her mind with a deep breath.
Lest any sign show, lest she reveal anything, she composed her expression calmly.
“You have arrived!”
Dellik saluted. The other agents did the same, while Gawain and Isaac looked rather displeased. Those two knights, at least, showed no excessive loyalty.
Perhaps Ria might need those two’s help.
“A magic attack?”
Dekyullein spoke. His low voice resonated like a vibration.
“Yes, that is correct.”
Dellik answered.
“The presumed medium is.”
“This canvas!”
Canvas. Dekyullein glanced at it briefly, then strode over.
“Ah, Count. It is dangerous. Too mu—”
*Riiip—*
Despite Dellik’s attempt to stop him, he tore the canvas off without hesitation. He turned the blank sheet this way and that, examining it with one hand.
“……Do you know something?”
Isaac asked. Dekyullein nodded silently.
“What is it?”
This time, it was Ria’s turn. Dekyullein looked down at her quietly. And then he said something rather out of the blue.
“I suppose I’ll have to come down from the Floating Island.”
“……Pardon?”
Everyone looked bewildered. Then Dekyullein hung the canvas on the wall and spoke.
“It’s Ifrin.”
“…….”
Ifrin Luna.
A name familiar to both Ria and Dellik.
“It seems that girl is up to something strange.”
Right now, she was being pursued by the Floating Island’s Purge Officers. The charge against her was 'a seed of disaster that will destroy the continent.'
The true greatest threat lay with the Order, and within this Imperial Palace, yet the Floating Island was trying to take down Ifrin for no good reason.
It was understandable.
Ah, that didn’t mean she understood.
It was simply that, as the Floating Island was a separate world unconnected to the continent, the being most likely to pose the greatest harm to the organization—namely, one capable of undermining the very foundations of the current magical system—was Ifrin.
“Did you say Ifrin?”
“Yes. How many missing persons reports have there been recently?”
“…….”
Dellik looked at the Intelligence Bureau agent beside him. The agent quickly spoke.
“Inside the palace, 103 cases. Outside, a total of 830 cases.”
There were quite a lot of disappearances. Enough to surprise even Ria.
“…….”
Then Dekyullein seemed to fall into thought for a moment, before twisting his lips in something of a sneer and muttering.
“Foolish.”
She didn’t know what was foolish. But Dellik asked him as he quickly turned to leave.
“Count. Where are you going?”
He answered simply.
“I’m going to find her. Ifrin. The Floating Island has likely set out first.”
Ria retorted instinctively.
“What will you do once you find her?”
Dekyullein looked at Ria quietly. His sunken pupils were cold.
A sharp tone grazed the nape of Ria’s neck.
“……I’ll kill her, of course.”
Immediately after, Dekyullein left. Without looking back.
Saying he would kill Ifrin, his former disciple, he stormed out of the library.
From his retreating figure, Ria came to a conviction that was not quite a conviction.
———The current Dekyullein is dangerous.
* * *
I am running.
For now, my two legs are still faster than horse or carriage. If I use the 「Mirror Passages」 placed throughout every corner of the continent, I needn’t be constrained by distance.
Ifrin’s canvas.
Her intentions with it are obvious.
Somehow, I think I know.
She has done something similar once, long in the future.
No, she will do something similar in the future.
……She is arbitrarily preparing for the 'destruction of the continent.' She intends to save the lives of this continent.
With magic on a scale befitting one called a Grand Archmage.
“…….”
However, today I have not come for her.
A girl who hides quite well, no, one no longer bound by time, would likely be impossible to find even if I tried.
“Ether Dekyullein.”
Instead, I am facing the Floating Island’s 'Ifrin Purge Officer.' A heavyset man in a hooded robe.
“You’ve heard the news.”
The Purge Officer, Mayev. He asked me.
I silently looked around. The scenery was the foothills of the Empire. These people had built a cottage right in the middle of nature. I still didn’t know what they were trying to do.
Their heads were filled with nothing but magic and mana; they were practically missing a dozen screws.
“……If by news, you mean the disappearances?”
“Correct. Ifrin is up to something strange.”
Something strange.
Mayev narrowed the wrinkles on his face and continued.
“We clearly told you that Ifrin is an extremely dangerous mage. This is the consequence unfolding.”
“Explain in detail.”
“Ifrin has gone mad.”
He said. I was dumbfounded.
Well, it was understandable that they would think so.
“Ifrin’s magic is sucking people in. Not one. Not two. It’s a massive event occurring across the entire continent.”
He might be right.
Ifrin might be kidnapping people into the canvas.
Having gone mad within infinitely repeating time.
“She has gone mad within infinitely repeating time.”
The Purge Officer said exactly that. I swallowed a laugh inwardly.
“Can you catch her?”
“We can. Are you thinking of cooperating?”
“When have I ever refused to cooperate with you?”
I replied brazenly.
Come to think of it, I never had.
“But how do you intend to catch someone who has escaped from time?”
“Grand magic.”
The Purge Officer bandied about grand magic, and my brows furrowed.
“Grand magic?”
“Yes. A grand magic that halts time within a specific space.”
Those words sounded strange somehow.
Magic that halts time in a space.
In other words, logic related to 'time.'
A smile briefly flitted across my face. I shook my head and glared at the Purge Officer.
“……Have you accepted Ifrin’s theory?”
“…….”
They gave no answer.
At the very least, regarding time, all the mages in this world could be nothing more than latecomers following Ifrin’s lead.
“Well, they do say know yourself, know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.”
At my words, several of the Purge Officers barely nodded their heads.
“Correct. Ifrin’s theory remains dangerous, but we have mastered it so that we can handle and seal it according to our capabilities.”
Truly a disgusting rationalization.
Too revolting to be called cute, too pathetic to be called cunning.
“Hmph. I suppose that serves as an excuse. When do you intend to carry out this grand magic?”
“In three days.”
The Purge Officers said.
Three days.
I thought about that time. I considered my full strength.
The number of Purge Officers was six. Individually, their strength was considerable, even for me. They were seasoned killing experts when it came to facing mages.
However, it was not impossible.
Preparation and precaution were the specialties of a villain, so to speak.
If I didn’t discriminate between means and methods, I could win.
I asked.
“Can you complete it by then?”
Thus, those three days would be both the period in which they prepared their grand magic, and the time in which I devised my scheme to kill them.
“Of course it is possible.”
I quietly looked them over.
The plan was not difficult to formulate.
“Hmm. I see.”
The first plan came to mind immediately.
“I believe I can manage as well.”
……Beating every last one of them to death.
* * *
“……Dekyullein seems to be trying to cooperate with the Order.”
At the same time, in the Imperial Palace steeped in darkness. Within a guest room wrapped in 「Silence」, Ria finally spoke.
“I don’t know why, but….”
The recipients were Ganesha. And Jeokgwe Ellesol.
To them, with whom she had been maintaining urgent contact these past days, Ria had finally delivered the difficult words.
“Is that so?”
However, contrary to expectations, Ganesha did not look surprised. Ria found this suspicious.
To Ria, who tilted her head in confusion, Ganesha flashed a faint smile.
“I see.”
“……Why are you reacting like that?”
“What?”
“You aren’t surprised.”
Ganesha giggled. And then she let out a small sigh.
“I wonder why I’m not surprised~? Could it be because I’ve already received a certain mission~?”
At Ganesha's words, Ria furrowed her brows.
As if Ria looked cute, Ganesha kept smiling and continued speaking.
“If you found out, others must have too. Right?”
“Others? If you mean others….”
Ria’s words cut off abruptly. Her expression hardened seriously. Leo and Kalos beside her were the same.
“Yes. Exactly.”
Ganesha’s complexion changed as well. She nodded with a somber face.
And then she pulled out a carefully sealed royal letter from within her bosom and held it out.
“It’s a mission request directly issued to us by the Imperial family.”
Ria unfolded it. Her eyes widened in shock.
“……Hah.”
If Ria knew, then of course some corner of this Imperial Palace would vaguely suspect as much.
That corner of the Imperial Palace was the shadow at the very bottom.
The 'Imperial Intelligence Bureau' that worked solely for His Majesty.
“The Imperial Intelligence Bureau suspects Dekyullein as well.”
——[Mission Request: Crimson Garnet Adventurer Party]——
◆ Commissioned to tail and investigate the target. Report immediately if there is any sign of treason or conspiracy.
◆ Target: Dekyullein von Grahan Yukraine.
————
Ria set down the letter. She looked at Ganesha blankly.
“But the problem is whether His Majesty the Emperor will believe us. Ah, of course we’ll need evidence too.”
Ganesha rested her chin on her hand. And then she spoke with intrigued eyes.
“What shall we do, Ria? Shall we take on the challenge? Shall we go after Dekyullein?”
Following Dekyullein to reveal the fact that he is a spy cooperating with the Order.
Obtaining that evidence and submitting it to the Imperial Intelligence Bureau and His Majesty the Emperor.
“……We have no choice.”
Even if it means betraying Dekyullein, there was no other way.
“Because right now, he is trying to complete the 'Lighthouse.'”
Even if Dekyullein had become like this because of her, because of the setting of a former fiancée named 'Yuara' that she had added without much thought…….
No, rather, precisely because of that.
“We must correct him. If persuasion fails.”
Ria clenched her teeth.
“Even if I have to kill him… without fail.”