Knock, knock—
The first had been militant, but the ones that followed were peaceful. The Intelligence Bureau agent approached politely and knocked.
A rather courteous gesture, after having crumpled the entire car body.
“Professor. Please open the door.”
I rolled down the window. The agent beyond it looked Yuli and me over.
“What is it?”
The agent did not answer me. Instead, he asked Yuli.
“You are Lady Yuli, a knight from Freyden, correct?”
“…….”
Yuli silently looked at me. As if asking me how she should answer.
“She is.”
I answered in her stead. At that, the agent nodded.
“You escaped from the Picture Prison. We ask that you attend as a witness.”
The agent took some sort of letter from his inner pocket. It was a document bearing the signatures of imperial officials and every department.
“This is a request for cooperation from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security, and all other imperial departments. My lady, you are no different from the key to resolving a matter of grave importance for the continent—”
“I refuse.”
I answered, glaring at the agent. At that, the agent pressed his lips tightly together. His eyebrows twitched.
He asked in a heated tone.
“May I ask the reason?”
“I will conduct the research independently.”
“……Independent research.”
“Yes. No matter which mage of the Empire throws himself at it, when it comes to the progress of research and the interpretation of formulae, none would have as much credibility as I.”
It was a fact no one could deny.
At least, until ten days ago.
“It seems you have not heard the rumors going around these days.”
However, the Floating Island’s theoretical offensive had put my standing in jeopardy. It had dealt serious damage to Deculein as a mage.
To the point that they were apparently even considering lowering my rank.
“Do you, an Intelligence Bureau agent, act on rumors?”
I looked at the agent and twisted the corner of my mouth.
“Rumors with high credibility become articles, and among articles, some are facts.”
“Hmm. If that is so.”
At the agent’s words, I took out my checkbook. After scrawling out some hundreds of thousands of elne, I held it out to him.
“Everyone gathered here should be able to have a decent dinner. Take it and go.”
I pinched the check between my thumb and forefinger and fluttered it. The agent looked at the check with what composure he could muster, but his face reddened.
“Lady Yuli.”
The agent looked at Yuli again.
“We ask that you attend as a witness. The fate of the continent rests upon you, Lady Yuli.”
Speaking in an earnest tone, he handed Yuli a very small note. A faint surge of mana gathered within Yuli’s breast.
It seemed he had used an extremely small opening to deliver the note, but to my eyes, it was plainly visible.
“…….”
Even then, Yuli said nothing. The agent bowed his head slightly and left again.
He did not return the way he had come; more likely, he would continue following us while maintaining an appropriate distance.
“Go.”
I said to Ren in the driver’s seat. The car that had just been destroyed had already been restored.
It was the special effect of [Midas’s Hand]. Commonly called self-repair.
“……Yes.”
The car once again advanced along the forest road of Hadekain. A still and quiet atmosphere brushed past my ears.
The world was dark, but nature was beautiful, and the moonlight reflected on the grass soaked my heart with a warmth that felt strangely uncanny.
“Count.”
Then Ren spoke.
“Do you truly intend to put every Red Track into the canvas?”
I quietly studied Ren. He must have been gripping the steering wheel tightly, for veins stood out on his hands. His complexion reflected in the rearview mirror was somewhat red.
I answered.
“Yes.”
“……Might I ask the reason? When there is a common enemy called the Altar—”
“Someone like you does not need to know.”
I cut him off. Ren bit his lip in silence, and Yuli’s eyes widened as she watched the two of us.
“Yes.”
Ren answered. He focused on driving again.
Sssssss……
The sound of the car’s wheels brushing the road. Crickets chirped, and the stable scent of the forest seeped into the tip of my nose.
Within it, for some reason, I sank into languor. My heart was at ease.
More precisely, I felt good.
It was an emotion my reason could do nothing about.
Even the noisy assault from moments ago was soon forgotten, and I found myself simply wishing this moment would last, if only a little longer.
“…….”
Without a word, I turned my gaze to the side. Keeping my head still, I moved only my eyes, slowly.
And then, I was a little surprised.
“…….”
Yuli was looking at me. With a face white as snow and eyes pure and innocent. A form sculpted so that Deculein could not help but love her.
The moment our eyes met, a small smile spread across her lips. Her gentle heart came and touched mine.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
I came to realize why this mountain road felt so beautiful.
Because of her.
Because of Yuli.
Simply because Yuli, even if she was not the Yuli of before, was by my side, the world became beautiful.
At least, the “world seen through Deculein’s eyes” became that tender.
“It is nothing. Nothing at all.”
Yuli smiled faintly and shook her head. In a voice filled with faith and trust, she said,
“Let us hurry on, to the place you desire, Professor.”
* * *
There were numerous facilities on the grounds of Hadekain’s lord’s castle. The knights’ order, magical facilities, the official residences of each department, and even an “evidence storage facility.”
Since Hadekain possessed an independent police force and knightly strength, all evidence from the crimes they solved was stored there.
Therefore, the canvas would be here as well.
[Evidence Storage Facility]
The evidence storage room, where I arrived without giving Yeriel even a hint.
The knights guarding the entrance were startled when they saw me and straightened their backs.
“……Count!”
I nodded lightly and gestured with my hand.
“Open the door. There is something I need to see.”
“Yes! However, the person beside you is?!”
“A witness.”
“Yes!”
Without any further questions, they immediately opened the door.
Yuli and I entered together. We walked down the wide passage leading underground. Soon, two escort knights and one person in charge attached themselves to us.
I asked the person in charge,
“Where is the canvas?”
“On the lowest level. We have stored it under multiple layers of security.”
“I see.”
Then I looked back at Yuli.
She was looking around here and there with her eyes wide open. With such an innocent expression, showing not the slightest suspicion toward me.
“This is the place.”
We arrived in the meantime at the lowest level of the evidence storage facility. A magical vault firmly sealed by an iron door.
“Count, you can open it with your palm.”
However, since my fingerprints and information had already been entered, there was no need for a complicated process. The moment I simply placed my palm against it, the door reacted noisily.
Clank—!
The iron door rattled open, and I spoke to Yuli as she tried to follow me.
“Wait here.”
“Yes? Why must I?”
Yuli asked in return.
“Preparation is necessary.”
If I opened the canvas carelessly, even I could be dragged in.
To put only Yuli inside, the formula required some adjustment.
“Yes. If you say so, Professor. I will wait.”
“Do that.”
I stepped inside the iron door. Yuli’s gaze was heavy on the back of my head.
Was it because of that?
As a thought suddenly occurred to me, I turned back to Yuli once more.
“……Hm? What is it, Professor?”
Yuli looked at me with harmless eyes like a deer’s.
But what she had just called me—no, the title by which she had been calling me all along, “Professor,” a position that had already become a thing of the distant past……
……Was it simply my misunderstanding?
Thud———!
While I was caught in that strange thought, the iron door closed, and the lights inside turned on.
A vast space larger than a schoolyard, yet empty, with only a single “white canvas” standing there alone.
I quietly swept my gaze over this ridiculously wasteful cavity. With [Vision], I observed the flow of mana emanating from that canvas.
* * *
Left alone, Yuli blankly looked around.
But in this gloomy underground, the barren iron door took up nearly all the space, so there was little to see.
“Hmm…….”
Instead, she took out the note from her breast. It was the paper the Intelligence Bureau agent had delivered to her.
[Deculein is dangerous. For some reason, he is cooperating with the Picture Prison you escaped from, and therefore, you are in danger as well. Deculein will surely bring you near the canvas. There, he will attempt to imprison you again. Leave at once. I repeat, Deculein is dangerous. However, we are on your side…….]
When she finished reading the note, which roughly contained such contents, it crumbled on its own. It seemed to be a note worked with magic.
Yuli nodded faintly.
—What do you think~?
In that instant, a voice seeped in from somewhere. It was from the ceiling.
Yuli quickly raised her head.
“That’s real~ It’s not a lie~”
With her feet stuck to the ceiling, Ganesha stood upside down, smiling brightly as she looked at her.
Yuli asked back,
“The note just now?”
“Yes~”
“……Hmm. Is that so.”
Yuli let out a small murmur. Then she muttered softly,
“Yes. I believe so as well. The Professor seems to be trying to put me back inside the canvas.”
Tap—
At that, Ganesha lightly descended from the ceiling. Scratching behind her ear, she asked,
“That’s what it seems like, right? Then come with us now. We’ll be taking over this place soon~”
“……Is that so?”
“Yes. Not only my adventure company, but all the forces of the Intelligence Bureau are here. For reference, even Vice Commander Isaac is here.”
This place was as good as surrounded.
Lia, Leo, and Carlos, who together could even take on Zeit, as well as most of the Intelligence Bureau’s forces, and even Vice Commander Isaac had all gathered here.
All because of the witness called “Yuli.”
Ganesha asked with a smile,
“But how did you really come out, Lady Knight~?”
“How did I come out? You mean from inside the Picture Prison?”
“Yes~”
Looking at Ganesha, whose face was filled with a smile, Yuli answered briefly.
“I did not come out.”
“Yes?”
“This is a secret from the Professor, but I am a doll.”
A doll. Ganesha was momentarily flustered, but soon snapped her fingers as if she understood.
“……Aha~ You connected only your consciousness to a doll from inside the prison?”
“It is similar, but no.”
However, Yuli shook her head.
Ganesha blinked, and Yuli answered with a soft smile.
“I have never entered that prison.”
She had never entered the Picture Prison.
Therefore, she had never come out of it either.
“What does that……?”
To the bewildered Ganesha, Yuli explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“I am Yuli, Captain Ganesha.”
* * *
“……About ten days.”
I analyzed Epherene’s canvas. I grasped the intent of the mana being emitted from within it.
Ten days remaining.
In ten days, this canvas would suck in every person on this continent. It would confine every living being inside the Picture Prison.
More precisely, it would “preserve” them.
During those ten days, my objective was to spread as many canvases as possible across the continent.
To stand against the Floating Island and the Altar, so that this canvas would not be destroyed, so that the magic of the canvas would not be broken.
Shwaaaaaak——!
At that moment, a sharp flash surged toward my heart.
Crackkkkk— [Snowflake Obsidian], reacting even before I did, froze that streak.
The surprise assassination was thus defended against, but the burden on my body was extreme. The opponent was that strong as well.
“……Isaac.”
Vice Commander Isaac of the Imperial Knights. Dressed not as a knight but in a robe, he stared at me with a hard face, melting into the shadows.
“Deculein.”
He called my name. He infused mana into his sword.
“You are trying to destroy the continent and the Empire right now.”
“…….”
“Is it because of your former fiancée? Or because of Yuli?”
I activated Snowflake Obsidian. Isaac looked at it and sneered.
“Having lost love again and again, have you come to hate the continent? For that alone, are you betraying His Majesty the Emperor and trying to destroy the continent?”
Swaaaaaa……
Isaac’s sword energy drew a cold line. He took the stance of drawing his sword and prepared for a battle of an instant.
“I cannot allow you to do that.”
As such, Isaac considered me a traitor of the highest order. He was convinced I was a villain who deserved to die.
If so, the moment had now truly come to seek the “end.”
It was time to commemorate our finale and tie off the knot of the main quest.
“……Hup!”
Isaac breathed. At the same time, his sword extended.
In an instant that could not be expressed in time, the blade and mana bent like a snake—yet at some point, they stopped.
They were caught by a pure white current that had surged in from somewhere.
They froze cold.
“……?”
Immediately after, Isaac’s eyes widened.
Snap—
I snapped my fingers.
Then the canvas activated, sucking Isaac inside.
Uoooooogh————
With a strange scream, Isaac disappeared into the blank paper.
I quietly watched the uninvited guest’s departure, then turned back again.
I confirmed the identity of the person who had blocked Isaac’s sword.
“……Professor.”
She was someone who called me Professor.
A knight who called me Professor.
A woman who called me Professor.
Therefore, the person I loved.
“……Yuli.”
She smiled as she looked at me.
“Yes. Is that the canvas?”
She pointed at the paper into which Isaac had been sucked and asked with perfect composure.
I nodded.
“……I see. Then, I am probably inside that. Right now, she must be borrowing my eyes and watching us.”
Yuli spoke.
And yet, from hearing it only once, I understood who she was.
I did not even need [Comprehension].
“……You.”
At that single word, Yuli answered.
“Yes. It is me.”
In that instant, Deculein’s heart reacted.
It lurched violently.
“Professor.”
Professor.
At the title by which she called me, at the words of the woman who had vanished long ago—no, who had already died—I lost my words for a moment.
“Right now, I have borrowed the body of a doll, and the medium connecting my consciousness is the ‘diary.’”
The diary Yuli had written someday, before she abandoned all of her memories.
Now those memories had returned to me and were calling my name…….