One week earlier.
The painting prison Quay had created and Epherene had modified.
Inside it, Yuli trained in swordsmanship.
She sparred with powerful figures like Zeit and Jackal, had them point out what she lacked, and refined her sword aura.
She completed Deculein’s forms into a sword art of her own.
Sylvia, meanwhile, was absorbed in finding a way to communicate with the outside.
Together with highly intelligent mages like Al Ros and Carla, she researched a solution to this phenomenon. They devised a 230-page spell formula crammed with all manner of bizarre ideas.
“……This is the best we can do. How is it? It’s connected, right?”
But perhaps because this prison was a “miracle” beyond magic.
Though three people just a hair’s breadth short of archmage had gathered, they still could not even dream of “breaking” it.
The technique they had spent an entire day with their heads together devising was nothing more than a “detour.”
“Yes. It does seem to be connected.”
The key was Al Ros and her dolls.
Al Ros was trapped here now, but on the continent there were still many dolls she had crafted, and among them were some that could be called masterpieces into which she had poured her heart and soul.
Naturally, “remote control” was possible.
“Try moving it.”
Sylvia said to Al Ros. Al Ros closed her eyes. Her brows and the tip of her nose trembled as if she were concentrating, but before long, apparently unable to manage it, she shook her head.
“As expected, it is difficult. The vision is shared, but making it move is terribly hard.”
“……I see.”
Sylvia let out a small sigh.
The spell formula they had chosen now was—“a line of mana.”
Since no way to escape from this place could possibly be imagined through ordinary magic, Sylvia had devised a method of sending out mana in an extremely thin strand and borrowing the doll’s eyes and body.
“It seems your spell formula is lacking, does it not?”
Al Ros muttered. Sylvia shot her a glare.
“What’s lacking?”
“No. This is the exact same method Quay uses, but you cannot do it, so it is you who is lacking.”
Just as she said, this was identical to what Quay used.
Quay, who existed separately outside the world, controlled dolls on the continent with magic extremely similar to this “thread of mana.”
“If you hadn’t made dolls for Quay in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Sylvia pouted. Al Ros snorted.
“……Even if I had not made him dolls, he would have found a way somehow.”
“No, he wouldn’t.”
“Yes, he would. You underestimate him too much.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
Ignoring the two as they repeated yes and no, Carla stared intently at the spell formula on the research blackboard.
A magic circle in which all manner of lines and circles were tangled like earthworms. As she gazed at the geometries, a thought suddenly came to her.
“I think there’s a way.”
Carla said.
“A way?”
“A way.”
Al Ros and Sylvia, just before they could grab each other by the hair, asked back.
Carla nodded.
“Yes. If we use a medium, I think we can amplify the ‘vibration’ that can be transmitted through the thread of mana.”
“I know that much. It is common sense. But the problem is that there is no medium.”
Al Ros replied indifferently.
A medium was the easiest way to amplify the efficiency and output of magic.
But there was not even an object in this prison that could serve as one.
“Instead, it seems there is a ‘person’ who can serve as a medium.”
Carla said.
“……A person?”
Al Ros asked back.
“Yes. I think it would be possible with Yuli.”
Yuli.
Carla’s calm and casual words made Al Ros and Sylvia’s eyes round.
“Wouldn’t we know if we searched through Yuli’s belongings right now?”
Carla pointed out the window. Sylvia and Epherene looked there without realizing it.
Yuli, in the middle of sparring with Zeit.
They could see her swinging her sword, sweat dripping from her.
“I think Yuli has a medium.”
Most likely, Yuli was the most special existence in here. Even across the entire continent, she would be rare.
She was someone whose memories and body had been completely rewound by Epherene, a person who was little different from a miracle in and of herself.
“No, Yuli definitely has a medium.”
Carla changed her question into certainty.
Right now, Yuli possessed an object that was clearly connected to the continent on the other side.
“Her diary.”
“…….”
“Oho.”
Immediately after, Sylvia and Al Ros also wore expressions of understanding.
Carla smiled brightly.
“We just have to use that as the medium.”
* * *
……As a result of that discussion.
Yuli was now looking up at Deculein’s mansion. The doll’s body was somewhat uncomfortable, and she could feel its lifespan running out moment by moment, but this much was tolerable enough.
She could endure it.
So long as she could meet him again.
“…….”
Without a word, Yuli picked up the newspaper that had fallen to the ground.
Right now, she had a duty to see and hear as much as possible.
Every experience she went through, every emotion she felt, every word she spoke would be conveyed to the people on the other side.
[The prime suspect in the mass disappearance incident is Deculein’s disciple, Epherene…….]
However, it seemed that Deculein in this current situation was under attack.
He appeared to be being driven into a corner as an incompetent man who had failed to stop his disciple Epherene’s crime early, and as a shameless man who had plagiarized countless papers until now.
“Mm…….”
Yuli read all of it.
Line by line, she took it into her retinas as if chewing it over.
Rustle—
Then, from somewhere, came the sound of a branch shaking.
Yuli lifted her head. She looked up at the great zelkova tree.
There was only the faintest “trace” of someone there, but a small smile spread across Yuli’s lips.
“It’s you.”
Creeeeak———
At that moment, the door of the mansion opened. Yuli flinched.
Whooooosh……
A luxury Yukline automobile quietly rolled out.
Yuli stared blankly at the movement of that massive body. As if it had noticed her as well, the car stopped nearby.
No, it stopped openly right beside her.
Whirr—
The window lowered.
Yuli looked inside.
It was Deculein.
“…….”
He looked at her without saying a word. His eyes seemed a little surprised, and a little puzzled.
“Did you escape?”
At length, he asked. Without any concern for the circumstances or any greeting to ask after her well-being, in a manner so very like him.
“Knight Yuri. Answer me.”
He called her Yuri, not Yuli.
Yuli felt her chest well up without realizing it, but she merely smiled and answered.
“Yes. I escaped.”
At that, Deculein’s expression turned ambiguous.
Well, it was only natural, given that she had escaped from a space where escape was impossible.
“You will be recruited as a key witness. How did you escape?”
Yuli answered his question at once.
“It is a secret.”
“…….”
Deculein’s brow twitched.
He pressed his index finger to the space between his brows, then glared at her again and said,
“Are you joking right now?”
“I am not joking.”
“……Then I ask—”
“It is a secret.”
His face crumpled harshly.
He stayed still like that for a while, then let out a small sigh and opened the door.
“Knight Yuri. Get in.”
“……Why?”
“You are an important person of reference. You need to state in detail how you escaped from that place.”
“Mm. I suppose so.”
At those words, Yuli smiled faintly. Then she climbed into Deculein’s car. She set her hips down on the seat.
The finest leather wrapped gently around her body.
“Where will you go first?”
Savoring that texture, Yuli asked. Deculein answered with a somewhat tired complexion.
“Hadekain.”
“Mm? Is it all right not to go to the Imperial Palace?”
“……There is no need.”
“Pardon?”
Yuli tilted her head, her eyes round, but Deculein did not say any more. There was no need to say anything.
After all, he intended to put this Yuli back into the canvas.
* * *
Meanwhile, Lia was in an unnamed tavern beneath the Empire.
This place, where the scent of wooden oak casks mingled with alcohol and grapes, appeared at first glance to be an ordinary tavern, but it was a temporary office of the Intelligence Bureau.
To begin with, the Intelligence Bureau did not specify their bases of activity, so they flexibly chose places that were easiest to disguise.
“……This is the agenda Deculein submitted to the Imperial Palace.”
There, Lia was making contact with the Intelligence Bureau.
The Intelligence Bureau had obtained the agenda Deculein had proposed to the Imperial Family and His Majesty today.
“Regarding the punishment of the Red Prison…….”
Sitting side by side with Ganesha, Lia unfolded the documents they handed over.
“Annihilation?!”
The very first word visible on the first line was “annihilation.”
Lia’s eyes widened as if they would pop out, and Ganesha’s face grew quite serious.
Clicking her tongue, Ganesha turned the page.
“……[Of course, the white paper is absorbing countless people, but this is still at a level that can be sufficiently dealt with magically. Therefore, there is no need to treat it as a grave matter. Rather, it would be right to consider ways to make use of it…….] Ha.”
As she read the sentence, Ganesha let out a hollow laugh. As if dumbfounded, she smacked her own forehead.
“What is wrong with this man~?”
By official figures alone, 500,000 people had already gone missing. Among them were several acquaintances of Ganesha.
This major incident that was shaking the continent—Deculein was not only dismissing it as nothing and attempting to conceal the scale of the incident, but was also arguing that they should use this people-swallowing black hole to erase the Red Prison.
“I know.”
Lia, who was reading the agenda Deculein had proposed, also fidgeted with her lips.
At that moment, an Intelligence Bureau agent spoke.
“Deculein has fallen. He has converted to the Altar. The loyal subject Deculein of the past is gone.”
That was the core of it.
Deculein’s current course of action was clearly different from the past, but if it was “conversion,” then everything could be explained.
“But this painting prison is probably not Epherene’s doing, but the Altar’s.”
Lia first changed the topic.
The painting prison was the authority of Quay, not Epherene, known as the “Outside of the World.” Lia knew that setting more clearly than anyone.
“Yes. If so, that would make it even more certain that Deculein is aiding the Altar.”
“…….”
But it returned to Deculein again.
Lia scratched the back of her neck, and Ganesha smiled faintly.
“So. What is His Majesty planning to do~?”
“……Discussions of a preemptive strike are emerging within the Imperial Palace.”
A preemptive strike.
Since the location of the Altar’s “Sanctuary” was certain, the ministers and high officials were strongly insisting that they wage a swift war before the Altar could throw society into further disorder.
“However, Deculein is opposing it, as expected. His Majesty has not taken any position…….”
At that moment, the Intelligence Bureau agent stopped speaking. As if receiving a report from someone, he pressed the crystal orb in his ear with his index finger.
“……What!”
The agent, who considered composure a virtue, shouted in great shock. Ganesha and Lia also opened their eyes wide in turn.
“What happened?”
The agent sprang up from his seat.
“Urgent report. News has come that Knight Yuri has escaped from the painting prison.”
“……!”
Lia also quickly shot to her feet.
“Escaped? From inside there?!”
“Yes. However, Deculein has secured her person first. He is said to be heading for Hadekain now…….”
“Then we’re going too!”
Lia shouted loudly and dashed out, and Ganesha and the agents followed after her.
* * *
On the road to Hadekain.
Inside the car, I find Yuli’s gaze burdensome.
“…….”
Yuli in the seat beside me—no, Yuri—has been looking at me constantly since earlier. Blinking her bright, clear eyes like a goldfish.
“What are you staring at?”
In the end, I asked.
She answered without the slightest guile.
“What are you planning to do when we get to Hadekain?”
“……There is a canvas in Hadekain as well. It was transported there to be used on Rohalak.”
Epherene’s canvas. I will stuff every single person in the Rohalak detention camp into it.
……And, while I am at it, this Yuli as well.
“But why are you going there?”
Yuli seemed to have many questions.
Well, given the gap in time, there must be much she does not know.
I answered.
“Because I have work to do.”
“I see.”
She smiled faintly. Then she lowered the window. A cold wind surged in.
“It is refreshing.”
“…….”
I closed the window with Psychokinesis.
“Mm?”
Right now, to be honest, it is a miracle that I am maintaining my intact mind and body at all.
Because I am dying.
Since the Extermination Officer incident, all of my remaining strength has been poured into keeping my life from shattering, and that is still the case now.
“Ah, are you feeling unwell?”
Yuli asked. I shook my head.
“You have become talkative.”
“What do you mean, I have become talkative? Did you know me before?”
“…….”
I gritted my teeth. However, I could not say anything.
To begin with, the current Yuli is quite dangerous. Merely being by my side makes her a “death variable.”
Because every time I see her, my heart aches, stings, and hurts.
Deculein’s programming is still being applied.
“But Professor, why aren’t you saying anything?”
Gooooo……
The quiet, cozy mountain road leading to Hadekain. Because of that, Yuli’s voice felt especially loud—no, far too clear.
“I have nothing to say, so be quiet—”
……At that very instant.
Bang——!
A massive weight came down onto the hood of the moving car. In that moment, the impact spread through the interior, the car body crumpled, and our bodies were thrown forward.
Not an accident, but an attack.
I immediately mitigated the damage with Psychokinesis, and Yuli shouted.
“It’s an attack!”
“I know.”
As I answered, I checked the condition of my body. I examined the faces of the enemies around us.
“The Intelligence Bureau, is it?”
Most of them were Intelligence Bureau agents, and one had landed on the hood and was tap-tap—knocking on the windshield.
I did not know whether they had formally obtained a warrant, but first I checked the mana in my body.
To some extent, at least enough to use the Snowflake Stone, remained.
“Do you intend to fight?”
Yuli asked.
I answered simply.
“I suppose I must.”
If there was a way to escape from the painting prison, I could not let it be known.
“I do not want to hand you over.”
Because that plan must be Epherene’s alpha and omega.