……I am looking out the window.
But there is no view to speak of from the chairman’s office on the highest floor of the Magic Tower.
Only the sky.
A height where things of the earth cannot reach, yet not on the same plane as the clouds; a height filled with emptiness. A canvas dyed in the many colors between morning and night.
I am watching the rain fall from there.
“……Rain.”
Rain that soaks the world.
In the modern age where Gim Ujin lived, and on the continent where Deculein lives, rain falls.
Even in that desolate desert, even in the frozen North, rain falls.
“What do you want?”
Someone asks me from behind. I turn my eyes and look back at him.
Quay.
He is seated on the guest sofa, writing his revelation.
I answered.
“Your defeat.”
“……Haha.”
Quay laughed and held up the revelation. It was a new script.
“What do you think? It’s a script I’ll distribute to the believers. I mixed the divine language and runes about half and half.”
This must be Quay’s own preparation. If the continent is destroyed, then the world after it must be entirely new.
I took his revelation. I deciphered it with 「Comprehension」.
“……The new beginning shall be with you. The new god shall bless your birth.”
“As expected. Your talent really is incredible.”
Quay smiled brightly in admiration.
“It’s the power to 「understand」, isn’t it?”
“…….”
Even though I did not answer, Quay murmured his own thoughts aloud.
“A long time ago, I had a friend with a power similar to yours.”
Quay’s friend. In other words, a “believer.”
I said calmly.
“It is probably the same power as your friend’s.”
“……The same power?”
“「Comprehension」 is a unique talent. A power of which only one exists in this world.”
Not “one person,” but “one.”
A unique talent never disappears. Nor does it change. Even after nearly ten thousand years have passed, it remains as it is, merely waiting for the moment it will one day dwell in someone.
“I suppose I inherited it.”
……And that moment of inheritance was, absurdly enough.
When I modified Deculein’s settings.
Those few clicks.
“…….”
Quay looked at me silently. Soon, as if convinced, he nodded.
“I see. Deculein. Then I’ll change the question. Do you want to live?”
Do I want to live?
I have never thought about it.
Is what I am trying to do now a sacrifice?
Or is it simply instinct?
“……How strange.”
I looked around.
A dignified office suited to every elegant word—refined, delicate, splendid, antique. A scene decorated by Deculein’s own personality.
This place, magnificent without excess, is simply beautiful in its natural state.
Nowhere within it exists the aura of death—that is, a “death variable.”
“I want to die, and yet the aura of death does not ripple anywhere.”
Is 「The Villain’s Fate」 malfunctioning?
Or does this mean this is my path to survival?
I want to die so badly, and yet death is growing farther away.
“Is that so? Then who is sacrificing themselves for you?”
Quay muttered. He snickered as he recited names.
“Yuli? Sophien? Or the Child of the Moon? If not them, Yu Ara?”
“…….”
“Will anything change if you die?”
Drip, drip.
Raindrops strike the window. As I watch them, a smile spreads across my lips.
“You are anxious, Quay.”
“…….”
Quay’s face hardened. I said to him,
“You have already lost. Sophien, Epherene, Sylvia, Keiron…… the entire continent will make it so.”
At that, Quay laughed. He swept back his hair.
“Even if I lose, there will be no happy ending. Rather, this continent—and your people—will become even more unfortunate.”
“That may be.”
For the greater cause, sacrifice is necessary.
To break the chain of hatred, there must be a great evil to shoulder that chain in its place.
Thus, there is no ending where no one is lost.
“However.”
Because a paradise filled only with happiness does not exist in this world.
“The train must run, even if dogs bark.”
I glared at Quay. I smiled with certainty of victory.
“For the mere barking of a dog will be drowned out by the whistle.”
* * *
Deculein and his faction advocated the expansion of the Empire.
The kingdoms of the continent, led by Leok, might already be cooperating with the Altar and therefore could not be trusted. Thus, they argued that the kingdoms should be struck first, after which all forces would be gathered to annihilate the Altar. It was the so-called “Continental Unification Scheme.”
Emperor Sophien kept silent.
Whether because she did not even wish to face Deculein’s faction, or because the might of that faction had surpassed her expectations, she merely shut herself away in her private chambers.
Deculein did not wait.
By his will alone, the massacre of the Jeokgwe resumed. However, it was not direct slaughter, but the annihilation of a people through the 「Canvas」.
The Jeokgwe throughout the Empire were searched out once more, and the Imperial Knights and the Knights of Hadecaine marched into the desert to seize tens of thousands of Jeokgwe, obtaining a “ledger” there.
It was a ledger containing the names of those who had secretly supported the Jeokgwe.
“What utter nonsense——!”
This was the residence of the old minister Romelock. A mansion far too plain and shabby compared to the renown of a family that had stood at the heart of politics for generations.
“How dare you say I joined hands with the Jeokgwe——! Do you think you will be safe after framing me like this——!”
On that wooden floor, Gawain watched Romelock resist the knights with rather sorrowful eyes.
“Deculein’s hounds, how dare you——! Let go——! I said let go——!”
The knights ignored him as he pointed and shouted, then rushed in and seized his arms. They threw him down before Deculein, almost forcing him to kneel.
“You, you!”
Romelock glared up at Deculein. Dressed in uniform, Deculein shrugged and chuckled.
“It cannot be helped, Romelock. Your name is written in the Jeokgwe’s ledger.”
“You, you bastard——!”
“Bastard?”
Deculein froze the spittle flying from Romelock’s mouth with 「Telekinesis」 and continued.
“Where in this Empire is there a loyal subject like me?”
“Loyal subject?! You call yourself a loyal subject—”
“For His Majesty, for this Empire, am I not catching the Jeokgwe? Is that not so?”
Deculein looked around. All the knights beside him wore crazed grins.
All except one—“Delric.”
Though he forced a bitter smile, he knew that what was happening now was not right.
“Leok has already fallen to the Altar, Romelock. The Duchy of Yuren is obsessed with insane ideology. All of this happened because they were not under the Empire.”
“Deculein! Are you not also a dog of the Altar!”
“Why would I serve the Altar? I merely seek out and kill those who would sell the nation to the Jeokgwe and the Altar.”
“You, you…….”
In that instant, Romelock’s expression stiffened. It was because Deculein had shown him the Jeokgwe’s ledger.
“Here, your name is written. No—not only yours.”
At that, Romelock’s breathing grew rough, and Deculein’s smile deepened.
“There are many names of the retainers who follow you.”
Deculein pointed to each name with his finger. He explained the contents of the ledger that would become their crimes.
“This one turned a blind eye to the Jeokgwe’s crimes, this one traded with the Jeokgwe, and this one even sponsored the Jeokgwe outright, it says.”
“……Does your conscience not prick you after fabricating such a thing?”
“Who knows. Since it is not fabricated, I cannot say.”
Deculein grinned and rose.
“Imprison him. Every last one of the bastards written in this ledger as well.”
“……Be satisfied with me, Deculein.”
Romelock gritted his teeth.
“How long do you intend to keep doing this? You are running wild.”
“Running wild?”
“Yes. You should be able to see your own face in the mirror.”
Romelock no longer had the strength to cry out.
In a low voice, he begged Deculein for mercy.
No, he offered him advice.
“……You, too, will need a way out. If Her Majesty moves, even Yukline will find it difficult to resist. Do not underestimate the imperial family’s true strength.”
But Deculein laughed. It was a clear sneer.
“Where is that dog barking?”
At that moment, Romelock’s eyes turned bloodshot. He roared like a beast and drew a dagger from his person, but a certain knight struck the back of his head with a scabbard.
Romelock collapsed unconscious.
“……Hmph.”
Deculein snorted and looked at that knight.
It was Delric.
“You did something needless. It was an opportunity to kill him.”
“……My apologies.”
At Deculein’s words, he bowed his head and looked at Romelock sprawled on the floor.
“Enough. We leave.”
——Yes!
Deculein departed with the knights in tow as if he were some emperor, and Delric raised his face again. With deeply complicated eyes, he stared at Deculein’s back.
“…….”
That Delric, and the pupils of a “true knight” shaking uncontrollably, were special to Gawain.
“Ahem.”
However, before Gawain, having cleared his throat, could approach Delric, Lia beat him to it. Before anyone knew it, she stood beside Delric and handed the knight a small note.
Then she quickly returned and gestured to Gawain with her eyes.
It was time for them to go as well.
“……Understood.”
Gawain’s answer.
Lia’s smile.
Deculein’s course of action.
……Thus, the train is slowly running.
* * *
Once again, the mansion of Yukline.
Having returned home, I am looking at the study. This place is filled with books, including magic texts and histories, as well as my own writings.
Among them, the theoretical books on magic I invented will be of great help to this continent. They will be used for postwar reconstruction.
“…….”
I reached out my hand.
Thud—
I tried to take out a book, but dropped it.
Because my hand was trembling. I had only used a little 「Telekinesis」. Is even that much too much for me now?
“……?”
At that moment, a certain warmth touched my back. I turned my head and looked at someone.
Yuli.
She embraced me from behind.
I asked simply,
“……What are you doing?”
“Your back looked cold, Professor.”
“…….”
My back looked cold.
I had never felt cold, but it did not feel particularly bad, so I left her be.
After remaining like that, I murmured quietly.
“It seems to be growing warmer.”
At that, Yuli buried her face in my back. She placed her hands on my stomach and clasped them together.
A fragrance flowed from her. It was the scent of forget-me-nots.
At some point, Yuli had begun wearing the scent of forget-me-nots on her body.
“Professor.”
“……What is it?”
“I love you.”
Even at that confession, my heart does not tremble.
I merely smiled.
Yuli asked,
“Is the time remaining one month? Or two months?”
“……I do not know. I have not counted.”
Soon, the lighthouse will be completed, and the train will stop there.
My role is only to lay the rails upon which they will race, so I will not be at the destination they reach.
“Then I will remain by your side until the very end, Professor.”
Sincere and honest words. A transparent voice without the slightest lie. A woman who torments Deculein’s reason every time he hears it, who always makes him act on impulse.
I undid her embrace. Then I turned back to face her.
“I am glad I am not alone.”
“……Are you?”
Toward her, who smiled brightly and innocently, I slowly reached out my hand…….
* * *
“……It ends here.”
Sylvia turned off the crystal ball.
The people watching screamed at the same time.
“No! Why would you suddenly stop it here!”
“I think it would be fine to show us again.”
When Jackal and Carla glared first, Al Los cleared his throat and spoke.
“Ahem. I have a duty to verify the performance of my doll. So that it can perform any act—”
“Shut up.”
“…….”
Al Los merely fidgeted his lips for no reason.
“Am I not allowed?”
At that moment, Yuli cut in. Her face was already swollen like a steamed bun.
Perhaps because she had a fever, steam was puffing up from her head.
“I can watch, can I not?”
“Don’t push it.”
Sylvia shook her head coldly.
“……But.”
“Do not misunderstand. That Yuli is not you. She is a different person from you. Do not identify yourself with her. Everyone, go do your work.”
Shoo, shoo—Sylvia waved her hand.
There were many people in this painting prison now. Far too many.
For the moment, thanks to Zeit, they were being controlled to a certain extent, but merely organizing groups and a system required an enormous amount of effort and manpower.
Of course, whether Deculein had predicted even the situation inside this place, he was sending people in so that the population would be regulated as much as possible—even with the sense to send the most capable officials first—but there was still no avoiding the lack of time.
“You are doing this because you are angry, are you not? I know everything.”
Al Los said. Sylvia glared at him.
“Ah, I’m going, I’m going.”
In this world, Sylvia was no different from a god, so at a single glance from her, Al Los whimpered. He ran out of Sylvia’s mansion as if fleeing.
“……Tsk.”
But honestly, it was true.
Sylvia was angry.
If Deculein made love with someone—no, whether he made love or not was still unknown—but she did not want to see it. She could not bear the sight.
But because she wished for the current Deculein to become happy, even if only a little, all she could do was turn off the power.
“But.”
There was just one thing.
As Sylvia watched Deculein now, she made one single vow.
“You will not die so comfortably.”
She understood what he intended.
To become the greatest evil and, through his own death, sever every chain of hatred.
“Because at least we do not wish for such a sacrifice.”
However, the purpose of this painting prison that Sylvia had drawn was twofold.
One was to preserve the lives of the continent, and the other was…….
“Just as you saved me, just as you saved Epherene, just as you saved Yuli.”
To return, even if only a little, what she had received from Deculein.
That was all.